Hey everyone, it’s Kevin here! Today I have a recipe for another common Chinese comfort food, scallion pancakes (congyoubing).
In Chinese cuisine, there are a lot of food made with dough. There are countless types of buns, dumplings, pancakes, and more. As a kid, my favorite food was definitely scallion pancakes. I remember being so excited whenever my mom would tell us that we’re having them for dinner. I loved them so much that I wouldn’t eat anything else just so I could fill myself up with scallion pancake.
What Makes a Great Scallion Pancake?
To me, there are two important features that separate the okay scallion pancakes from the great ones. The first is a flaky, crispy exterior. The second, and the most important, is a chewy center that is composed of many visible layers of dough. The layers allow the pancake to be relatively thick without being too doughy since they will trap some air. The combination of these two creates an experience that is unlike eating any other pancake.
If you’re missing either one of these components, it just won’t be the same. If there are no layers, then you’ll just have a crispy exterior, but the inside will be too doughy. Alternatively, you could roll it extremely thin and end up with a cracker. If the exterior isn’t crispy, then again, the pancake will taste too doughy, even if there are layers. The contrast of the crunchy exterior and the chewy interior is what makes scallion pancakes taste so good.
How Do You Get Layers in a Pancake?
Since layers are clearly so important in the making of a scallion pancake, we have to go over how to get as many layers as possible to create the perfect interior.
First, we roll the dough out as thinly as possible. This will allow us to get more layers when we roll it back up. Then, we spread a layer of oil over the rolled out dough. This will make it so that the dough doesn’t bind back onto itself when rolled back up.
There are many different ways I’ve seen of rolling a scallion pancake. The way I will describe is how my family has always done it and how I was taught to do it.
With the flattened dough, roll the long edges towards the center. This will create the majority of the layers in the final pancake, so you want to roll these as tightly as possible!
After that, slice the dough in half lengthwise since we’ll be making two pancakes. Stretch out one half of the dough as long as you can, since we’ll be rolling it up again! Now, roll the two ends of the dough towards the center again. When they meet, stack one roll on top of the other and push them together. This is your final pancake! Now you just roll it out and cook it. Watch the video below to see how this is done.
It may sound complicated, but it’s really not! The videos should make it clear how to roll it, but if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!
Now let’s get started!
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Authentic Chinese Scallion Pancakes
Course: Main Course, BreakfastCuisine: ChineseDifficulty: Intermediate2
servings30
minutes10
minutesThese simple scallion pancakes have a crispy exterior and a deliciously chewy interior (hint: the secret lies in the layers). They’re so good that you’ll want to eat it for every meal of the day!
Ingredients
3 cups flour
1 1/4 cups water
3/4 tbsp salt
5 tbsp oil (3 tbsp for the pancake, 2 for cooking)
3 scallions (chopped)
- Equipment
Large mixing bowl
Rolling pin
Pan large enough to hold the scallion pancake
Directions
- Pour the flour into a large mixing bowl. While mixing the flour with chopsticks or a whisk, slowly add the water 1/4 cup at a time. Stop when the dough has mostly started to come together
- Knead the dough with your hands until it completely combines into a nice round shape. If it’s too dry to come together, add more water 1 tbsp at a time, but be careful not to add too much! If it’s too sticky, it’ll be difficult to roll out the dough. If you accidentally add too much water, just use a bit more flour
- Let the dough sit covered for about 15 minutes
- Prepare a large cutting board, or thoroughly cleaned countertop, by covering it with flour. This will prevent the dough from sticking when you roll it out. Also rub some flour on top of the dough so your rolling pin doesn’t stick
- Roll the dough out as large as you can in a rectangular shape. The larger you roll the dough now, the more layers you’ll get! Keep some flour on hand though, because as you roll the dough, it’ll probably start sticking again and you’ll need to add more flour underneath
- Rub the salt evenly across the dough. Then rub the oil across the dough evenly as well. Finally, add the scallions
- Now we start rolling! This is where all the layers will be made. Start by rolling the top long edge of the dough towards the center, then roll the bottom up so they meet in the middle (check out the video in the blog post if this is confusing)
- Cut the dough in half since we’ll be making two pancakes.
- Set one half to the side. With the other half, gently pull on the ends while bouncing it to stretch it out. Roll the ends of the stretched out dough towards the center. When you reach the center, put one rolled up side on top of the other and press them together (again if this is confusing, check out the video in the blog post).
- Roll the dough out again and let rest for a few minutes before cooking. The dough should be rolled out to about 1/3 inch thick.
- Heat up 2 tbsp of cooking oil over medium heat. When the pan is hot, put the scallion pancake in. Cook until the dough starts turning golden brown, about 5 minutes. Flip and cook the other side the same way.
- Repeat steps 9-11 for the other half of the dough. Serve hot and enjoy!
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What to eat this with?
You can dip it in soy sauce and eat it with a side of your favorite vegetable or meat dish. We love it with our Chinese Tomato and Egg recipe.
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I loved this recipe! Honestly rolling the dough like that was so much fun and soothing haha. I loved how it was little work and ingredients for such a BIG reward. Simple and delicious. I’m not too into lots of salt so I added some sour cream for each bite and it helped mellow out the salt. The flakiness and warmness of this pancake was so satisfying. Thank you for this great recipe!
I’m so glad you liked it so much! It’s one of my favorite dishes, so I’m always so excited when someone else loves it too!