Scallion Pancake

A coiled flatbread with oil and flour rolled through it, so it cooks into separate layers rather than one slab.

Vegan.

Ingredients

Dough

• 300 g plain flour
• 180 ml boiling water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Oil paste

• 3 tablespoons plain flour
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

To finish

• 6 spring onions, finely sliced
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, for frying

Method

1. Stir the salt into the 300 g of flour, then pour the boiling water in while mixing with a chopstick or a spoon. Boiling water rather than cold is what keeps this dough slack and easy to roll thin.
2. When it is cool enough to handle, knead it for 5 minutes until it stops tearing. Cover it and leave it to rest for 30 minutes. Rolling it straight away will fight you.
3. Make the oil paste: warm the 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a small pan, take it off the heat, and stir in the 3 tablespoons of flour, the sesame oil and the salt. It should be a loose paste that just holds a line.
4. Divide the dough into 4. Roll one piece out as thin as you can get it without tearing, into a rough rectangle.
5. Spread a quarter of the oil paste over it, right to the edges, and scatter a quarter of the spring onions on top. The paste is doing the separating; without it the layers weld back together.
6. Roll the rectangle up into a long rope, then wind the rope into a flat coil and tuck the end underneath. Press it down gently with your palm and leave it 10 minutes.
7. Roll the coil out to about 18 cm across and 5 mm thick. Roll from the centre outwards and stop if paste starts to break through.
8. Fry in 2 to 3 teaspoons of oil over medium heat for about 3 minutes a side, until both faces are patched with brown and the edge looks dry rather than doughy.
9. Squash the finished pancake between your hands while it is hot, or slap it on the board. That is what breaks the layers apart. Repeat with the other three.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under China · All recipes