Scallion Pancakes

How to Cook Scallion Pancakes

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1. Stir the just-boiled water into the flour and salt with chopsticks, then add the cold water and bring together. Knead 6 minutes to a smooth, soft dough.

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2. Cover and rest 30 minutes.

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3. Make the roux: heat the oil until shimmering, take off the heat, and whisk in the flour and salt to a loose paste. Cool.

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4. Divide the dough into 4 and roll each into a thin rectangle, about 2 mm.

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5. Spread a quarter of the oil roux thinly over the whole surface and scatter with spring onions.

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6. Roll up tightly from the long edge into a rope, then coil the rope into a spiral and tuck the end underneath.

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7. Rest the coils 15 minutes, then flatten each gently with a rolling pin to a 16 cm disc. Do not press hard — you want the layers intact.

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8. Fry in a heavy pan with 1 tablespoon of oil each over medium heat for 3 minutes a side until deep golden and crisp.

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9. Whisk the dipping sauce together. Cut the pancakes into wedges and serve hot with the sauce.

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Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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Keep an Eye on These

1. Roll the dough as thin as you can before filling. Thin dough plus a tight coil is what makes the layers.
2. The flour-and-oil roux is what stops the layers merging. Plain oil leaks and gives a solid pancake.
3. Slap the cooked pancake between your hands or squash it in the pan to separate the layers before serving.

Swaps and Variations

• Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
• Dried chilli flakes can stand in for the chilli. Heat varies a great deal between chillies and between jars, so start with a small pinch and add more to taste.

About This Recipe

Boiling water gelatinises some of the flour's starch and denatures its gluten, which gives a dough that stays soft and rolls thin without springing back. The layers come from a roux of flour and hot oil painted between them — plain oil alone leaks out and the pancake fries as a single sheet.

What to Serve It With

The soy and vinegar dipping sauce · Congee, as breakfast · Hot Chinese tea

Leftovers

Uncooked coils freeze 2 months; roll and fry from frozen. Cooked ones re-crisp in a dry pan.

Common Questions

Scallion Pancakes Nutrition Facts

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.

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