Scallion Pancakes | Green Onion Pancake | Chinese Pancakes
Scallion Pancakes is a Chinese street food and breakfast snack of flatbread stuffed with scallions or green onions or spring onions. These pancakes are crispy and flaky from outside and soft from inside. This recipe is made with whole wheat flour and vegan.
In a saucepan take 1.25 cups of water. Keep pan on a medium to medium-high heat for the water to boil.
Let the water come to a boil.
Add the boiling hot water in the flour in parts. First add ½ cup of water and mix with a spoon. If required then add more hot water till the mixture starts to leave the sides of the bowl and comes together.
I added 1 cup water to get a soft, supple and smooth dough. So go easy while adding water as the water absorption will depend on quality and texture of flour. If using only all-purpose flour, then you may just need to add ⅓ to ½ cup boiling hot water.
Let the heat from the mixture become easier to handle and then begin to knead the dough.
Knead to soft and supple dough and keep aside covered to rest.If the dough is sticky then add more flour. If the dough is dry then add more water. Mix and knead till all the water is absorbed and dough becomes soft. Cover and keep aside.
Rinse the scallion or spring onion stalks in water a few times. Drain all the water. Then finely chop the spring onion greens. You can add a bit of whites too, but finely chop them or else they pop out from the the dough while rolling. Ensure to add more greens and less of the whites. You will need ⅔ to ¾ cup finely chopped scallions.
Assembling & Making Green Onion Pancake
Take the dough and roll it into a log shape of 10 to 11 inches.
Slice the log in 7 to 8 equal parts. Keep the sliced dough circles covered in the same bowl in which the dough was kneaded.
Take each part and roll it to a round shape first between your palms. Place it on a rolling board and flatten slightly with your fingers. Sprinkle some flour on the board as well as on the flattened dough.
Roll to a large 8 by 10 inches rectangle with a rolling pin. Do not roll the dough too thin.
Spread or brush toasted sesame oil all over the dough.
Sprinkle the finely chopped spring onions. Also sprinkle a light pinch of salt all over the scallions. Adding salt can be skipped. At this step you can also add black pepper, green chillies for some spicy taste if you prefer. A pinch of sichuan pepper powder or Chinese 5 spice powder can also be sprinkled. For a Indian flavor, you can add a pinch of garam masala.
From any side of the rolled dough, gently roll the stuffed dough. While rolling, tighten and then roll. Do not keep the roll loose. It should be a tight roll.
Pinch and close the edges.
Now hold one of the edges and begin to roll the dough around it in the shape of a spiral. Press and seal the last edge at the sides or beneath the spiral roll. This way make all spiral rolls from the dough and keep them covered.
Take one stuffed spiral roll. Sprinkle some flour on the roll as well as on the rolling board.
Roll to a slightly thick bread having a 5 to 6 inches diameter.
Frying scallion pancakes
Heat a skillet or pan - preferable a cast iron skillet or pan. Add 1 tablespoon oil and let it become hot. When the oil becomes hot, gently place the pancake in the oil.
When one side is cooked and golden, flip over. Cook the second side.
When the second side is fried and you see the crispy, crusty golden spots, flip over.
Fry both sides till golden. You can fry a couple a times if the pancakes look undercooked. Fry on medium heat. You can fry for some more time to get a more crispy and crusty layer.
Place them on kitchen paper towels. Fry all the pancakes this way. For frying the next pancake, add ½ to 1 tablespoon oil in the pan.In a similar manner, roll the stuffed spiral dough and later fry the onion pancakes in the skillet in batches.
Serve scallion pancakes hot with your favorite dipping sauce.
Notes
Depending on the quality of whole wheat flour less or more water can be added. Thus add water in parts while mixing. Knead to a pliable and soft dough.
If using all purpose flour instead of whole wheat flour then you may need to add less water - about ⅓ to ½ cup boiling hot water.
Roasted sesame oil lends a smoky aroma in the pancakes. If you do not like this smoky aroma, you can use sunflower oil or peanut oil or butter or ghee or any neutral flavored oil.
Usually, the white part of the green onions is not added. I prefer adding them along with the greens. If using onion whites then chop them very finely or else the pancakes will break while rolling. Note that if you are using the scallion whites, then use the greens more than the whites.
For a bit of heat and spice, 1 to 2 finely chopped green chillies can be mixed with the scallions. You can even add sichuan pepper powder or Chinese 5 spice powder or crushed black pepper. A pinch of garam masala can be also be sprinkled on each pancake for a take on Indian fusion.
It is best to use a cast iron pan or a thick bottomed pan for frying as this gives a crisp crust in the pancakes. Using a small shallow frying pan helps in giving crisp edges and crisp crust as the oil does not spread out over a large surface area.
Toasted sesame oil can be skipped and any neutral flavored oil or butter or ghee can be used.
For frying scallion pancakes, any neutral tasting oil can be used. You can even use butter or ghee for frying.
1 tablespoon oil is used for frying each pancake. 1 tablespoon of oil makes the pancakes crispy. You can use less oil if you prefer. If you feel the oil is more in the pancakes, then reduce it to ½ tablespoon or even less per pancake.
Stuffed and rolled uncooked pancakes can be frozen for about 1 to 2 weeks. Keep a parchment or butter paper between each pancake. Stack them up and place in an air-tight container or box. Thaw before frying the pancakes.
The dough can be mixed and kneaded even in a stand mixer.
The approximate nutrition info is for 1 Scallion Pancake made from this recipe.