Scallion pancakes

A Chinese snack, but loved by all. This recipe is for two large pancakes, but can easily be doubled to make four pancakes.

I prefer to use a scale, but have adapted to approximate cup measurements if you don’t have a scale. If you have any left over or want to prepare these a day ahead, they reheat very easily in a non stick or cast iron pan without any oil.

Ingredients

1 bunch of green onions (aka scallions), small chop, mostly green part.

200 g flour (all purpose) or 1 1/4 cups

170 g boiling water or 3/4 cup

4 TB sesame oil for brushing pastry before

sea salt for seasoning

sesame oil for frying

Dipping sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons or to taste chili oil (I make my own with Szechuan peppercorns, but commercial is fine)

Equipment needed

Lodge cast iron skillet or non-stick, cast iron seems to give a better colour on the pancakes

Rolling pin

pastry brush

Method

Mix the four, boiling water, and salt. Knead it for 10 minutes. Kneading will make it less sticky and help develop the gluten. Cover it for 20 minutes with a damp kitchen towel or Saran Wrap.

Knead again for 5 minutes, cut in half.

Roll one piece of the pastry into a rectangle onto a lightly floured surface, very thin but thick enough so it doesn’t tear.

Brush with 1/2 of the sesame oil. Add more if you need to cover the pastry.

Sprinkle half of the chopped green onion all over the pastry to the edges.

Roll the pastry from the long side into a long tube. I used my pastry scraper to get underneath it where it was a little sticky.

Roll the pastry into a tight snail shape

Repeat with the other piece of pastry dough.

Rest the rolled, filled pastries for 15 minutes.

While the pastries are resting, make your dipping sauce dressing by combining the soy sauce, rice vinegar, and chili oil. Set it aside.

Heat up your pan to medium low. Add a little sesame oil to coat the pan, this is not a deep fry.

Flatten one of the coiled, filled pastries so it’s round and flattened. You can use a rolling pin or your hand. Place in the pan and flatten more so it’s less than 1/2 centimetre thick.

Cook it low and slow, until nicely browned on the bottom before flipping and browning the other side. This can take about 5 minutes or more per side. Once you cook your second pancake and set it aside, I would put the first one in the pan to re-heat it.

To serve, cut into wedges. Drizzle with the dipping sauce and serve remaining on the side.

Recipe adapted from Paris based, Chef Taku Sekine.