Chewy, flaky, and savory scallion pancakes are one of our very favorite Chinese restaurant treats. This pan-fried bread has a lot in common with Indian parathas and other simple flatbreads, and if you follow a few simple steps, they are easy to make at home. Here are instructions on how to make addictively delicious Chinese scallion pancakes in your home kitchen!
What You Need
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups white flour
1 cup warm water
Canola or vegetable oil
Kosher salt
1 bunch scallions
Equipment
Spray oil or cooking spray
Rolling pin
Large metal baking sheet
One 10-inch heavy skillet or sauté pan
Thin spatula
Kitchen scissors
Instructions
1. Mix 2 1/2 cups flour with 1 cup water until it forms a smooth dough. Knead by doubling the dough over and pressing it down repeatedly, until the dough is even more smooth and very elastic. Coat this ball of dough lightly in oil and put it back in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let the dough rest for about 30 minutes.
2. Cut the dough into 4 equal parts. Lightly oil the back of a large metal baking sheet. Roll out one part of the dough on the back of the baking sheet. Roll until it is a thin rectangle at least 12 x 9 inches.
3. Finely chop the bunch of scallions and have them ready, along with a small bowl of kosher salt.
4. Lightly brush the top of the dough with oil, then sprinkle it evenly with chopped scallions and kosher salt.
5. Starting from the long end, roll the dough up tightly, creating one long snake of rolled-up dough.
6. Cut the dough snake in two equal parts.
7. Take one of these halves and coil into a round dough bundle.
8. Roll out the coiled dough bundle again into a flat, smooth, round pancake.
9. Heat a 10-inch heavy skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat, and oil it with a drizzle of canola of vegetable oil. When the oil shimmers, pick up the pancake dough and lay it gently in the pan. It should sizzle, but not burn. Cook for 2 minutes on one side.
10. Flip the pancake over with a spatula and cook for an additional 2 minutes on the other side, or until golden brown.
11. Cut the pancake into wedges with a pair of kitchen scissors, and serve immediately with soy sauce or another dipping sauce.
Additional Notes:
• If you would like to make a few pancakes but save the rest for later, you can save the dough in the fridge for up to 5 days. Just make sure the dough is oiled and well-covered. You can also roll out individual pancakes and stack them between well-oiled layers of wax paper.
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(Images: Faith Durand & Emma Christensen)
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You just made my life easier, a friend was asking me for this recipe, now I don't have to type it out! Thanks!
I am very excited to try this recipe - I love scallion pancakes!
This looks great. Question, though: in your pictures, it looks like you are using just the green ends of the scallions. Is this correct? Either way, I am so trying this tonight.
Great recipe - I prefer to make smaller ones and smash them flat with my fist!
Good question msingerman; I did end up using the entire scallion, eventually. I just used half in this first batch, but later I chopped the rest and added those as well. If you make this whole recipe as written you'll definitely need the whole scallion.
I'm getting scallions in my CSA box this week and was wondering what I would do with them. These look delicious!
Just made some last week. My recipe called for boiling water, just wondering if that does anything different to the dough.
Also, I brushed the dough with sesame oil instead of vegetable oil and it gave it a nice flavor.
Yum! Does anyone know what goes into the dipping sauce that usually comes with these?
ericahd,
Dipping sauces vary, but many contain red or black rice vinegar. My mom's version is a mix of red vinegar with soy sauce and a touch of sesame oil.
These are a childhood favorite!
Acapunto - I use boiling water to make the dough and sesame oil for brushing the dough too. I fry them in peanut oil, which adds a nice taste, I think. (BTW, I use Knife Brand Peanut Oil from Hong Kong which I find in Chinatown, NYC, it's wonderful. Is there any widely distributed peanut oil people recommend?)
Yum! I love green onion pancakes, but never tried to make them before. I admittedly just buy the uncooked pancakes frozen at the Asian grocery store and fry them up in the skillet. I'll have to give this recipe a try!
I'm pretty sure the boiling water makes the flour more starchy/glutenous, which results in a chewier texture in the finished pancakes. Yum!
Can't wait to make these; they look fantastic.
PunchNYC & Acapunto- Do you mean that you cooked them in boiling water instead of frying in a skillet?
@babytroutdog, no -- they mean they mixed boiling water into the flour instead of cold or warm water.
I did try making the dough with boiling water as well, and I didn't notice a measurable difference. It did, however, make it harder to knead the dough as thoroughly and quickly (since it was really hot!) so I specified warm water.
Actually you can make it much easier. You don't need to make a dough. You can just mix water, flour and some salt and make a pancake style batter. You can add some seafood like shrimp or calamari.
injoooo I've made them like that too! But they didn't have the chewy, flaky texture that the dough pancakes have. Maybe I missed something, though?
I made these with unbleached whole wheat the other day, and I couldn't get them to turn out flaky. It was more like oil-dough with scallions embedded in it. Wasn't bad, but it wasn't really like a scallion pancake. I'm not sure if I did something wrong, or if whole wheat flour just doesn't work for these.
Cyli - thanks for doing what I was going to try. I don't think you can do a 100% substitution but I'm going to try 25% whole wheat and 75% white next time I try these. I use this proportion to make the "no knead" bread recipes and it works fine.
There is a recipe for the "no dough" scallion pancakes called Minute Scallion Pancakes in Helen Chen's Chinese Home Cooking - they are quick and tasty. Here's another that appeared in the NYTimes:
http://bitten.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/recipe-of-the-day-fast-scallion-pancakes/
PunchNYC: Looking forward to hearing how that turns out!
mmmmm. I love these and I haven't made them in ages. Thanks for the reminder.
For dipping, I'm fond of a thick, sweet soy with lots of chopped ginger in it.
I make scallion pancakes all the time. I grew up in Taiwan and they are one of my favorite snacks to eat along side Chinese beef noodle soup.
There are a few strange things in this recipe though. First of all you don't have all the resting periods that allow the dough to get thinner and therefore more flaky when you put it all together. Second- you don't use Sesame oil which is essential for the flavor. Third- you don't use any shortening which is a secret ingredient used by many to get these extra flaky. If you want these to turn out correctly you have to spend the time.
Always let the dough rest for 30 minutes before touching it. My recipe calls for boiling water which I would recommend. Then after resting take all of the dough and pull it into a long snake, dividing that snake into 4 or 5 sections (number of cakes you want). Take each of those sections and roll it as thin as you can. Then make a paste of shortening, sesame oil, and green onions and spread the paste evenly over the rolled out pancakes getting as close to the edge as you can. Roll each pancake up starting at one edge into a cigar shape. Then starting at one end of the cigar- roll it into a cinnamon bun shape. When they are all rolled just let them sit again for another 30 minutes. After resting- heat your pan with a decent layer of peanut oil in it. Press each cinnamon bun shaped roll back into a pancake and then fry. Do not use a rolling pin or you will destroy the flakiness. Just use your hands and be gentle. Fry each side about 3 minutes. Pull out- put on paper towels- and cut with the scissors. Absolutely delicious.
Serve with a sauce made of high quality soy sauce, fresh cut spicy red peppers, rice vinegar, and sesame oil.
In chinese these are literally called Onion Oil Cakes.
MMMMmmmmmmmm...
@paristaiwan thank you for all the great tips! Very helpful! Also, I do want to point out that the recipe above does indeed call for a 30-minute rest period after kneading the dough.
I will try these with sesame oil next!
Thank you for sharing this! I added some five spice powder at the same time as the scallions. Delicious!
I'm a little confused by all the times the dough is divided. You cut the original dough into four parts, and then each of those into two... So this is eight little batches? Just checking because after each division, the rest of the dough is never mentioned again...
Surplusj - yes, this makes 8 pancakes in total. My problem is that these aren't a chinese takeaway standard in the UK - so I've never had them! So.. I made a batch, they tasted nice, but I'm wondering how big they should be, and as a consequence, how thick they should be! I'm presuming they shouldn't be as thin as a pancke that you get with shredded duck, they mention parathas in the article - should I be aiming for a similar thickness to those? If someone could tell me how big they rolled each pancake out to (using the quantities in the recipe), I'd be very grateful!
I made these this morning with some poached eggs and put a little parmesan cheese on top.. perfection!!
Good point! Yes, this makes 8 pancakes. When cut into wedges these will easily feed 4-6 people as a side dish or bread for a meal. (Of course, 1 or 2 people COULD eat these all by themselves!)
As far as size goes, I rolled each pancake out to a diameter of about 6 inches. It's hard to estimate how thick they were; I would just eyeball it using those photos above. But they are not paper thin; they have multiple flaky layers inside. And yes, parathas are a good standard for these - I think they are quite similar.
About the size issue:
You can find every size of these in China/Taiwan. Some places like to make them thin and crispy and large (diameter wise), some places like to make them smaller and thicker. It is really up to your taste. When I make a recipe this size I only divide into 4 parts, not 8. Then each part makes a cake that is approximately 2cm thick and average frying pan sized. I then cut this into 8 pieces for eating.
And remember- the second resting time is also important. So rest for 30 minutes before you roll it out- then rest for another 30 minutes after you put the filling in and have rolled it back up.
When you get the recipe down pat- you can start experimenting with other items to put inside as well. One place in Taiwan that I have gone to before makes these thin and large- then puts spicy thin sliced beef and full stalk green onions on the inside and rolls it up like a burrito almost. This is served at breakfast places.
I love these! Never have had them before, but really, whats not to like? As a single person, its super easy to make the dough once, and have a couple of the pancakes as an accompaniment to a main course (or simply as a snack) withe the rest of the dough for a few other times in the week. As a dipping sauce, I just sloshed together some soy sauce, ponzu sauce, fish oil and sesame oil. I think it should be about what you have on hand and what you're in the mood for. Especially on those days when you really just want something EASY, tasty, satisfying.
Have been considering some alternative fillings. Today, was out of scallions so just coarsley grated some carrots and ginger over the rolled out pancake. YUM!! A little sweeter than the scallion, but would be a nice assortment if having pancakes as appetizers.
Made this recipe as written and they turned out fantastic! Definitely serve them right away as mine got tough as the night went on. It was totally fun rolling up the dough and twisting the tubes into those little knots!
My Chinese neighbor taught me how to make these 37 years ago. They are one of my favorites. Thanks for posting this. They are addictive. She just used green onions, not scallions.
Thanks so much for posting this. I had been meaning to find a restaurant with these... and now i've been trying to make my own! This tutorial is really helpful. But I must say that I like the dough better when I use Martha's recipe http://www.marthastewart.com/340906/scallion-pancakes?backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/ramp-scallion-and-spring-onion-recipes#slide_10
Thanks for inspiring me!
Thanks for the great recipe. I tried it today. I had all kinds of trouble rolling onto a baking sheet - it wouldn't stay still, so I kind of made them pizza dough style - which made them a little chewy. I think I need a little practice, but it hasn't stopped me from scarfing down a bunch! I didn't have anything special for a dipping sauce so I'm just using soy sauce. I made a great beef and cabbage soup and a big pot of rice and I'm just in heaven.