(Photo: Ethan Finkelstein)
Scallion pancakes was the first recipe I had in mind when I decided to start making cooking videos. It’s a simple dish, but one where it’s very beneficial to see the process in video or photos before starting out. In my new cookbook The Chinese Takeout Cookbook, I have a photo guide on rolling out the pancakes, but it seemed fitting to do an accompanying video as well.
This recipe is a more simplified version of a recipe involving yeast that I first published in May 2009. But it’s no less delicious. The secret to getting flaky layers is all in the folding. Just watch the video and refer to the recipe below!
Of course, there are countless Chinese restaurants where you can satisfy your cravings for scallions pancakes. 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. But I’ve eaten or seen too many that are too thick, too oily, or lack the flaky layers that define Chinese scallion pancakes. Also, they aren’t supposedly to be as enormous as a Frisbee. As with many other foods, scallion pancakes are really best made at home and served hot off the stove.
For the dough, all you need is flour and water. The basic ratio I use is 3 parts flour to 1 part water, but of course, there are many variables to getting the dough right. Some flours are higher in protein content, so they absorb more water. Sometimes in more humid climates you’ll need a bit more flour, and in dryer climates you’ll need a bit more water. However, the 3:1 ratio works well in most circumstances, so start with that and adjust if you need to.
Once you get used to rolling out the dough, these pancakes 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 flat-bottom skillet for pan-frying.
(For the recipe from 2009 using a yeast dough, see here.)
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more if necessary
- ½ cup warm water
- 3 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil, plus more as needed
- 3 scallions, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Oil a large mixing bowl and set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, mix together the flour and water until a smooth dough forms. If the dough seems sticky, as it tends to do in humid weather, add a little more flour (starting with 1 tablespoon and up to ¼ cup total, if needed) and mix again until the dough is no longer sticky.
- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface and knead for 5 minutes. Place the dough in the greased mixing bowl and turn until it is lightly covered with oil all around. Cover the dough with a barely damp towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- Flour your work surface again and roll out the rested dough. Divide the dough in half, then roll each half into a 1-inch-thick cylinder. With a pastry scraper or butter knife, slice the dough into 2-inch-long segments. Dust your rolling pin with flour and roll out each segment into a 5-inch circle.
- Lightly brush the top of each circle with peanut oil, about 2 tablespoons total for all the pancakes. Sprinkle with the scallions and salt.
- Roll up each circle into another cylinder, making sure the scallions stay in place.
- Coil the dough so that it resembles a snail.
- With a rolling pin, flatten again into disks about ¼ inch thick. The pancakes will get a little oily from the scallions popping through the dough. Place the rolled-out pancakes on a plate and repeat with the remaining dough. If you stack the pancakes, put a piece of parchment paper between each layer to prevent sticking. (Whatever you don’t cooking immediately can be frozen for future use.)
- Heat a nonstick flat-bottomed skillet or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat and add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Working in batches, pan-fry the pancakes until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes on each side. If the sides or middle puff up during the cooking, press them down with a spatula to ensure even cooking. (You may also need another tablespoon of oil between the batches.) Transfer the pancakes to a plate, cut into wedges, and serve, either alone or with chili sauce or soy sauce and vinegar on the side.
Diane – These scallion pancakes look so, so good! Thanks for the step by step, photo by photo instructions.
I make these at home all the time but have never tried it with yeast. Yours look delicious!
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.
I love this snack! Thanks for the photo-by-photo steps! Will definitely try this.
Um … you pour boiling water on the flour? Doesn’t that kill the yeast?
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!
Thanks for sharing this recipe and tutorial! I love these and have always wondered how to make them.
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!
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!
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 that! Fixed.
CondoGarden – You separate the flour, mix boiling water with 1 half, warm yeast water with the other half.
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 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 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 been wanting to try scallion pancakes for a while now.
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.
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 first, at least 15 to 20 minutes at room temp, before pan-frying.
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.
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.
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 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?
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.
…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.
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.
My kids love thesepancakes but now are allergic to gluten-anyone know a recipe for gluten free scallion pancakes?
My kids love these pancakes but now are allergic to gluten-anyone know a recipe for gluten free scallion pancakes?
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
Wow!I just tried these out, they are amazing! The Best
No need to add extra salt on after rolling it together. Just put in when mixing it with the flour.
thank you for posting. im definitely trying this recipe this weekend.
question: what is the serving size?
It makes about 20 to 24 medium-sized pancakes (the size of an outstretched hand.) Hope that helps!
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
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?
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
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.
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.
Thank you so much. Since I have moved to Virginia I haven’t been able to find these.
Thank you again soooooo Muuuuch. 8)
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!
Sammi:
Green onion cake tastes best if made with pure lard. So you might want to substitue sesame oil with pure lard.
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!”
just made these a couple of nights ago… i will never order them in a restaurant again! easy and delicious.
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.
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 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.
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!
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.
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.)
I made these last night and they were oh-my-god-fantastic! When I combined the doughs I had to add about a 1/4 cup of flour to bring it together, but it worked out really well.. It would be great if you could add some pictures from that part of the process! I can’t wait to eat the extras in the freezer!
These were time consuming but easy, and absolutely delicious. Following a reviewer’s suggestion, I bloomed the yeast in only 1/4 cup water, which was perfect. We made a few dozen 2-3″ scallion cakes and served them with tamari. Thank you for a great recipe!
I made them today and they tasted great!! Thanks for sharing
That’s correct. I just took a food prep class in college and the use of a plastic fat (solid fat, not an oil) will make it more flaky. Oil produces a “mealy” product. Not sure if that substitution will work well in this recipe, but might be worth a shot.
im chinese and i suspect ive been missing out on a huge part of my culture. these look like the perfect meal for me. I definitely have to try them out in a heartbeat!
I also needed at least another cup, some of which I kneaded into the risen dough(it was crazy sticky). Going to roll them out now.
i love my traditional pancakes but this one is so unique even how it is made.
I’ve tried making scallion cakes before quite a few years ago. Can’t remember how they came out but it was passable. Giving this recipe a shot right now. True the dough came out a bit too wet. Added what seems to be about another half cup or so of flour. It’s rising now, so we shall see. Making some simple plain congee to go with this. :)
My dough came out really wet, so I added a lot more flour. I am waiting for the dough to rise right now. I am making these at 9,000 ft altitude, so wish me luck!
Good luck! I have never tried making this at 9,000 ft altitude, so I’m very interested in how this turns out!
Adding scallions is pretty awesome. I tried following the recipe last week and it came out great. My friends like it. I was thinking of adding other ingredients that are a little unique like the scallions. What do you think should it be? More spices? or should I add fruits this time?
Just now… Hope they’ll be good, I’m making these for the first time. As some other ppl, dough is now resting, but very sticky. I’ll try adding some more flour. Anyways, thanks for sharing this recipe. They’ll be a perfect starter for my red braised pork :)
Adding the scallions is a special procedure in this recipe. Scallions are among my favorite spices. They can give that gamy taste which makes the whole flavor unique and very interesting.
Try them with a sliced duck breast dusted in 5 spice powder and hoy sin sauce.
What is the purpose of 2 different balls of dough?
This is an awesome recipe. I use it all the time. Just like they have in restaurants! Thanks so much for sharing!
You can’t have scallion pancakes without the ginger dip, though. For all those comments who said they wanted that “something extra” try making this dip for your scallion pancakes:
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup rice vinegar
¼ cup sliced scallions
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon sugar
I have read three scallion pancake recipes in the last half hour, each more complicated than the next (spiral what and twist three times?). This was an incredibly helpful visual – thanks!
I tried them yesterday and they turned out pretty good. The dough was pretty tricky to work with as it was very sticky, I kept needing to add more and more flour. I love your easy to follow instructions!
Hanna – Thanks! I’m glad the visuals helped!
Deepa – Thanks for your comment. I’m working on a more simplified recipe for these scallion pancakes, and it should solve the stickiness problem, so stay tuned!
Should we be chopping the whole scallion, or just the white and light green sections?
Quentin – Either! I usually chop up the whole scallion to not waste any of it, but you can use just the green parts too. ( I also like my scallion pancakes to have more than a few specks of scallions.) The only difference is the green parts are milder, whereas the white parts have a stronger onion-y flavor. Hope that helps!
I made these few weeks back and they turned out great although a bit too sticky to handle.. Tasted delicious!
Your scallion cakes are one of the best I’ve ever had. I made this recipe last week after having so many scallions in my garden and not knowing what to do with all of them. These are absolutely delicious!!!
Used to go to a Korean restaurant that had something called KoonJuk (or KunJuk can’t recall for sure the spelling) that was a vegetable pancake looked very similar…had zucchini, potato, onion, carrot, daikon radish in it—not a lot just like shoestring pieces…but they were TO DIE FOR…sooooooo good.
Used to go to a Korean restaurant that had something called KoonJuk (or KunJuk can’t recall for sure the spelling) that was a vegetable pancake looked very similar…had zucchini, potato, onion, carrot, daikon radish in it—not a lot just like shoestring pieces…but they were TO DIE FOR…sooooooo good. Crispy…YUM!
Hi Diana, I’m looking for a gluten-free version of scallion pancake. Do you have recommendation for what to substitute for the all-purpose flour?
Thanks.
Health Bee – That’s a good question. I’ve never personally made gluten-free scallion pancakes. However, these links below may provide some helpful info. A couple of bloggers seemed to have made scallion pancakes from flour blends that included some of the following: rice flour, corn flour, sorghum flour, tapioca flour, potato flour, and xanthan gum. I’ll try to dig up some more info and report back!
http://renegadekitchen.com/scallion-pancakes/
http://glibmaster.blogspot.com/2010/10/gluten-free-egg-free-scallion-pancakes.html
Hi Diana, Thanks for looking into it. Looking forward to the information.
Hi Diana, I made these today and they came out great, although I had to add about 1/2 to 3/4 cup extra flour as did many people here. I was using King Arthur All Purpose Flour. I’ve looked at many recipes for these online and yours differs in 2 ways 1) adding boiling water to only half the flour and 2) using yeast. Curious about why. I’m assuming the reason for #1 is that the boiling water would kill the yeast if you added it, but what made you decide to use yeast in the 1st place?
Just found these the other day and was THRILLED because I haven’t had them since childhood! I whipped up a batch for dinner last night and posted on my site-I gave you credit and linked back here-please let me know if you’d like me to do more! Thank you so so much for the nostalgic recipe!
The recipe is more than Amaaaaaaaaziiing Daina, I loved it and defineitely gonna do it over and over again … a big thank you from Egypt ^_^
Hi, thanks for sharing this recipe. Like many others, I have never made this with yeast before. My dough is proofing and I look forward to the end result!
I just wanted to add that it would be helpful if you added the addition of hot water into the ingredient list, because I was surprised to see it once I got going with the instructions and had to stop to boil some water. Also, I am an avid bread baker so I noticed that the amounts of water you ask for the yeast dough and the regular one was out of proportion. I therefore cut out some water from the dough with hot water. It’s still quite sticky.
It would be really helpful if you added these anecdotes to your recipe- just for those of us who skip the 80+ comments because we trust that your recipe is accurate enough. Thanks.
In the recipe, it says, “1 teaspoon salt”, twice. Do I add 2 teaspoons of salt, or just one?
Paul – Thanks for your comment; 1 teaspoon is for the dough and the other is for sprinkling with the scallions. Apologies for the confusion! I have adjusted the recipe to make it clearer. Also, I will publish an updated post soon with a simpler scallion pancake recipe in addition to this one. Stay tuned!
Hi, In Thursday’s class you gave this recipe for a dough without the yeast. So which one is better? Thanks for the relaxed class and simple but tasty recipes.
Hi. I stayed at a hotel near the main railway station and would walk in the local hutong just behind the hotel. There was a little bakery that made green onion pancakes along with all their other pastries. These were quite light and fluffy with a nice spicy kick. I have yet to find any green onion pancake recipes to rival these delicious morsels. Are all chinese onion pancakes similar to you recipe? Was this possibly a version that came from a different region of China. I still crave them and have not, in all my internet searches found a recipe that is similar to these exquisite pancakes.
Phyllis – The yeast dough makes a slightly flakier pancake, but not too noticeably so. I like simpler dough for its convenience, and still love the pancakes that come out as a result. Will post it up here shortly! And I’m glad you enjoyed the class!
Dennis – Was this in Beijing or another area of China?
I love scallion pancakes but have never had a good recipe for them. Judging by the fact that I want to jump through the screen and bite these, I feel I must try this one! Thanks and Happy Year of the Dragon!
This looks fabulous! I hope I won’t offend any purists out there, but my time is limited and I was wondering if this could be done successfully with a pancake mix??
You saved my life! i am a culinary student and this recipe is part of my practical final. i am so excited! THANK YOU DIANA!!!
So easy and I taught my wife too. She was impressed!
You saved my life also! Here where I live there is only one brand of the store bought ones that are good and the store no longer carries them and I cannot find them anywhere. I have bought 4 different brands and they were all so bad I couldn’t even eat them, they went right in the trash. I made yours tonight and they are as good as the ones I’ve been paying a heck of alot more for.
I love you – thank you!!
Thank you so much for this recipe and the photos! My (now) husband got to taste his first scallion pancakes when he met my family for the first time — at a dim sum restaurant! Ever since then, I try to make them for him as a treat but my batches never tasted right.
So I tried your recipe last night and holy smokes, they were perfect! They have just a bit of flakiness, a great chew, with the right amount of scallions. The photos definitely helped — they made me realized what I was doing wrong in my previous attempts!
My husband practically devoured the whole platter (he loves dipping them in a mix of light soy sauce, rice vinegar, chopped garlic, and red pepper flakes). Now he’s texting me from work begging for me to make them again to go with dinner. So seriously Diana, you rock and thank you for the awesome recipe!!
I love scallion pancakes! I will be sure to send this off to the MIL so she can enjoy as well!
Great video. These are seriously so easy to make. My kids learned how to make them in Mandarin class and so I get them to make them whenever we need a little ‘extra’ for a meal.
We use sesame oil instead of peanut oil.
Diana,
So if I were to make these for part of a client’s weekly meal…couldn’t they heat these up in the oven…to keep them somewhat crispy?
I used to get a Korean fish pancake that was AMAZING!!! I think they used rice flour instead of wheat flour.
Thanks!
Kathy
I loved this recipe. Now I really want to get your cookbook too!
Wonderful and easy!
Hey! I actually preferred the yeast recipe one better than this one. Could you post that one somewhere, so I can use that one? Thank you!!! Love your site!
I want to try this asap!! However, I wonder if I can use other fresh herbs in place of Scallions, as I don’t consume onions or garlic. If there is a good substitute, please let me know! Thank you!! Also, am hoping to win the fab. cookbook!
This is one that I keep looking at and saying I will make, but somehow haven’t yet. I’ve made the turnip cake (reminds me of my childhood), mapo tofu, one of the eggplant dishes. Love your recipes!
Hi Diana, really appreciate your page, recipe. I made the version with yeast couple years ago which you mentioned from 2009 but it’s no longer here. Do you still have the recipe with the yeast version we are absolutely in love with that version and would love to make it again as it came out great, loved the poof effect kinda like a scallion bread. The dough combining whether hot water etc method was also the best compared to any other page. Would love to recreate =D thanks in advance
I found out about your site through a friend who took one of your dumpling classes. These scallion pancakes look great! Looking forward to trying them.
The dough was so easy to roll out! I made a full recipe and now my boyfriend is begging me to make your scallion pancakes again. Thank you for sharing this!