葱油饼 (Scallion Pancakes)

I really want to try making more Chinese baked goods. That said, I did just make a batch of milk bread, so I don't want to go too crazy with the baked goods until we've finished off the bread. I couldn't resist giving these scallion pancakes a try in the meantime though.

I found the dough for these pancakes to be quite stiff and dry. And I couldn't get the sesame seeds to adhere no matter how much I pressed or rolled them on. I'd be tempted to try adding a bit more water next time.

These pancakes are fairly plain on their own. The scallions are nice, but there's not much to them beyond that. Which, I guess, is why the recipe author recommends serving them with sauce. I had some leftover hotpot dipping sauce in the fridge, so I just used that. I think my sauce was pretty similar to the recommended soy-vinegar concoction though.

The sauce adds a nice bit of salt and umami to the pancakes, but I think what I relly wanted today was one of the flaky, high-fat pancakes. (I had been hoping to make one of those recipes today, but I was low on both scallions and energy.) If you want a nice, relatively lean, simple pancake though, this one fits the bill. And they freeze well too. So you can always roll them out and then freeze them to be cooked up later.

Hanzi/汉字: 葱油饼
Pinyin/拼音: cōngyóubǐng
English/英文: scallion pancakes

葱油饼

Slightly adapted from Woks of Life

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c. (+1-2 Tbsp.?) very hot water
• 2 scallions, sliced
• salt, to taste
• canola (or other neutral) oil, for brushing
• sesame seeds

Directions

1. Mix the hot water into the flour to form a dough.
2. Turn out and knead for 5 minutes.
3. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
4. Divide into three equal portions.
5. Working with one portion at a time, roll out into an 18-20cm (7-8") circle. Keep rotating the dough as you roll to keep it even and prevent it from sticking.
6. Brush the dough with a little bit of oil.
7. Sprinkle with salt and scallions.
8. Roll up the dough jelly-roll style.
9. Now curl the jelly roll/tube around into a spiral and tuck the end underneath.
10. Press the spiral flat and then roll it out into a 15cm (6") circle.
11. Sprinkle sesame seeds on the pancake and press firmly to adhere.
12. If not eating immediately, pancakes can be wrapped in waxed paper and frozen at this point. Frozen pancakes may be cooked direclty from frozen, but may need a little longer to brown and cook through.
13. Heat a cast iron (or similar) pan over medium-low heat and add a little oil to the pan.
14. Cook the pancakes ~3 minutes per side.
15. Serve with your favourite dipping sauce.