Chinese Scallion Pancakes - A Photo-by-Photo Recipe
I have the hardest time not ordering scallion pancakes when I go out for Chinese food. They make great appetizers when the entrees happen to take longer than five minutes. They absorb the sauce of your moo shu pork like a sponge. And your vegetarian friends can eat them with abandon. That said, few scallion pancakes beat the homemade version, when they come off the skillet hot and golden brown.
This recipe is long overdue. I put off posting a recipe until I had enough photos to go along with the instructions; like folding dumplings, making scallion pancakes is much more visual than your average stir-fry. I've eaten or seen too many that are too thick, or lack the flaky layers that define Chinese scallion pancakes. Also, they aren't supposedly to be as enormous as a Frisbee.
The good news is that once you get used to rolling out the dough, these will easily become part of your reportoire. There are few ingredients, most of which are pantry staples. And once you coax the dough into little patties, they can be refrigerated or frozen for future use. The one requirement is to put your woks away; use only a nonstick flat bottom skillet for pan-frying.
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Chinese Scallion Pancake
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (cake flour also works, but lacks elasticity)
1 teaspoon yeast dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water + 1 teaspoon sugar to activate yeast
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup finely chopped scallions
1 teaspoon salt
Sift flour into 2 equal portions into separate bowls. In the first bowl, slowly add the yeast-water, mixing with a spatula, until a dough forms.
In the second bowl, sprinkle the salt into the flour. Slowly pour in 1/2 cup of the boiling hot water while vigorously stirring (this "cooks" the dough.) Add more water and keep stirring until a rough dough forms. (If you accidentally add too much water and the dough is too soft, add a little more flour.) Mix in 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Roll the doughs out on a lightly floured surface and knead them together. Cover with a damp towel and let rise for 30 to 40 minutes.
On the same floured surface, roll out the risen dough. Form into a 1-inch thick log, and slice into Ping Pong-ball sized segments. With a rolling pin, roll each segment out to 4" or 5" circles.
Lightly brush the top of each circle with vegetable oil. Sprinkle over with chopped scallions.
Roll up the circle, semi-tightly, making sure the scallions stay in place.
Now, roll it again lengthwise until it forms a coiled ball.
Turn the spiral side face-up, then flatten again into a circle with the rolling pin. Place on a plate and repeat with the remaining dough until you have a stack of scallion-studded spiral patties. (Whatever you don't cook immediately can be frozen for future use.)
Heat a flat-bottom skillet on medium high heat and add remaining 1 tablespoon cooking oil. Working in batches, pan-fry the pancakes until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Serve warm.
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Other snacks and appetizers:
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OMG - They look fantastic!
Diane - These scallion pancakes look so, so good! Thanks for the step by step, photo by photo instructions.
I love these too!
I make these at home all the time but have never tried it with yeast. Yours look delicious!
Love it!
I still remember the first time I made it for my hubby, I was worried that he might not like it but he absolutely loved it! I brush it with sesame oil and sometimes put sesame seeds in as well.
When I make these, I make loads and pop them into the freezer so I can have it whenever I want, haha.
Why Sesame Oil?
Sammi:
Green onion cake tastes best if made with pure lard. So you might want to substitue sesame oil with pure lard.
yum yum
I love this snack! Thanks for the photo-by-photo steps! Will definitely try this.
Boiling water?
Um ... you pour boiling water on the flour? Doesn't that kill the yeast?
CondoGarden - You separate
CondoGarden - You separate the flour, mix boiling water with 1 half, warm yeast water with the other half.
*drool*
These look fantastic! I've always loved scallion pancakes but have never tried making them! Thanks for the tutorial, I will definitely be trying this!
Finally -- a great tutorial!
Thanks for sharing this recipe and tutorial! I love these and have always wondered how to make them.
*drool*
These look fantastic! I've always loved scallion pancakes but have never tried making them! Thanks for the tutorial, I will definitely be trying this!
*drool*
These look fantastic! I've always loved scallion pancakes but have never tried making them! Thanks for the tutorial, I will definitely be trying this!
1.5 lbs of flour?
Diane, just want to clarify, is it 1.5 cups or 1.5 lbs of flour - that would be 6 cups? Can half of that (3 cups) form a dough with just 1/2 cup of water?
Kelly - Cups! Sorry for
Kelly - Cups! Sorry for that! Fixed.
Thanks for posting this
Thanks for posting this recipe. I have to try it this weekend.
Just wanted to clarify that I would use 1/2 cup of the WARM yeast water with 3/4 cups of flour and 1/2 cup (or more) of HOT water with the remaining 3/4 cups of flour.
Mary Ann
Wow - thank you for posting
Wow - thank you for posting this recipe. If I had to choose only 2 cuisines from the world that I had to eat for the rest of my life it would be Chinese and Italian. Your step-by-step photos are great because it shows exactly what you need to do with the dough.
*Bookmarked*!
Your scallion pancakes look
Your scallion pancakes look amazing. I honestly did not know they were so involved. I grew up watching my mum simply throw scallions into a basic pancake mix. I'll have to try them your way now.
Those look good! I have
Those look good! I have been wanting to try scallion pancakes for a while now.
I am making these now and
I am making these now and the yeast/flour came out so so wet. I kept adding more flour and it is still really sticky.
I tried following the recipe
I tried following the recipe and the dough came out really wet too. When I tried it again, I used just 1/4 c of warm water to bloom the yeast. Much better.
fresh bread
Love fresh bread and just realized I should make these, freeze them and then I would be able to satisfy a craving any time. Would you de-frost first or just throw them on to a hot pan?
Thanks. I enjoy your postings.
Liz - I would defrost them
Liz - I would defrost them first, at least 15 to 20 minutes at room temp, before pan-frying.
Dough too sticky!
I followed the exact measurements but the dough turned out to be way too sticky. Had to add almost another half a cup of flour.
Sesame oil
I used to make these often but instead of just brushing with vegetable oil, I'd use toasted sesame oil - yummy! I don't recall using yeast - will have to try that next time.
Family Loved them and a production idea
My family loved (!) these. The review from my 16 yo daughter was that we should "always keep some of these on hand." So thank you.
Additionally, I had an idea. Those are always dangerous. I know that people have been making these for hundreds of years and the method is pretty perfected. However, for me, a short cut to the cut off a ball, roll out, roll up, make snail, roll out would be to initially roll out a large quantity of dough into a rectangle. Sprinkle with scallions and roll up into the snake, Then cut pieces of that off to roll into the snail. It would eliminate the individual rollings in the first go round. I plan to try this method the next time.
Thanks again!
I don't think that would
I don't think that would work, since it would not seal the edges, and the scallions would come out the sides. it would be similar, but not have as many layers.
Not flaky
I made these a couple of days ago and the taste was spot on (really brought my Beijing days back) but there weren't any flaky layers at all. What do you suggest? more oil? less pressure with the rolling pin?
Flaky Layers
Ruikai:
Please don't use vegetable oil, sesame oil or hydrogenated lard. Use pure lard instead, and you'll notice the difference in flakiness.
As Jacque Papin said, "Happy cooking!"
Wonderful recipe, thanks!
My pancakes required about an extra 1/2 cup of flour too. They came out really well, thanks Diana! I used a thin chilli paste instead of scallions.
For anyone interested... flour composition varies geographically and different types of flour absorb different amounts of water. In the presence of water (and with a bit of kneading action) proteins in wheat flour combine to form gluten. Flour types with a higher protein component absorb more water. More protein, more water absorbed, more gluten formed, more elastic dough with better rising properties.
Made these again and...
...measured out the extra flour this time. I needed to add over a cup. I don't think regional flour differences would account for this magnitude of difference. Still, end result delicious with Nonya style chicken curry.
chinese scallion pancakes
well, I'm not stupid, but it really wasn't clear about how much 'boiling water' to have on hand!
Are we supposed to guess.
I understand about the flour, and the separation into two bowls, and the 1/2 cup of yeast water, sugar.
but the boiling water into the other flour? don't get it., sorry.
I have made my own anyway in the past, and like this recipe, but will reserve judgement until I try it.
gluten-free recipe?
My kids love thesepancakes but now are allergic to gluten-anyone know a recipe for gluten free scallion pancakes?
gluten-free recipe?
My kids love these pancakes but now are allergic to gluten-anyone know a recipe for gluten free scallion pancakes?
Two Salt Additions
The recipe lists two separate salt additions. Do we add both tsps to the second bowl of flour? Or, do we add 1 tsp to the bowl and reserve the other tsp. of salt to sprinkled on the pancakes after they are rolled out prior to adding the scallions? Thanks
Chinese food Rule!
Wow!I just tried these out, they are amazing! The Best
The answer to Linda
No need to add extra salt on after rolling it together. Just put in when mixing it with the flour.
awesome recipe
thank you for posting. im definitely trying this recipe this weekend.
question: what is the serving size?
It makes about 20 to 24
It makes about 20 to 24 medium-sized pancakes (the size of an outstretched hand.) Hope that helps!
room temperature???
hi,
i love these pancakes, but i freeze the rest for later usage. do i leave it at room temperature before cooking them or straight out of the freezer because it didn't seem to raise that??? strange
Nice Photos
Wow what great shots making these. I've been trying to get a good version of these, but have found they haven't photographed well in my attempts at food photography.
What do you use for lighting in the action shots? Do you have a light box set up for this or just good natural lighting?
Todd - I try to use natural
Todd - I try to use natural lighting whenever possible. But sometimes I have to make do with a light tent, which tends to wash out the subjects. When I don't have the tent, I just get a tripod or make-shift tripod, set my camera to aperture priority and make my aperture as big as possible, and hope for the best.
Never seen anything like this!
never heard, seen or ate anything like this before. So yummy and pretty a unique recipe! Two thumbs up for this one.
Ron of Filipino Recipes
printer friendly?
The recipe sounds amazing but when I tried to print it out I only get the first page of the recipe and then the rest of the pages (nine of them) print advertisements with a blank section where the recipe should be.
copy-and-paste into word
I had the same problem and ended up highlighting the body of the post and copying it and pasting it into Microsoft Word, then printing from there.
Thank you thank you
Thank you so much. Since I have moved to Virginia I haven't been able to find these.
Thank you again soooooo Muuuuch. 8)
Oh so good!
Love these, though never tried with the yeasted dough half, definitely have to give that a whirl. My variation is to use sesame oil instead of plain vegetable for for oomph, yum!
thanks!
just made these a couple of nights ago... i will never order them in a restaurant again! easy and delicious.
mahalo
This was the only scallion pancake recipe I've seen that uses yeast, but it was worth every effort to bloom the yeast. The taste is absolutely wonderful, and I love the fact that the salt is in the dough! Mahalo (thank you in Hawaiian) for sharing this recipe.
I got these at a Chinese
I got these at a Chinese restaurant for the first time last week and HAD to find a recipe to make them at home: this one does not disappoint! Give them a try because they're fun to make and just as good as the restaurant version!
sticky dough
I just want to mention that, like a number of other commenters, I had trouble with extremely sticky dough. Like them, I needed to add a ton of flour to make it kneadable (and even then it wasn't easy to knead). Happily, the pancakes ended up tasting good, though they didn't look right because I couldn't roll them properly. (I added lots of extra flour but was nervous about deviating from the recipe too much so didn't add enough to make it easy to roll them.)
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