You asked for it, and now here it is - my recipe for scallion pancakes! I based my recipe on this one by Lisa Lin (@hellolisalin), but mine has a few crucial changes. I’ve made these about 4 times in the past two weeks, and I think I’ve come up with some helpful tips to get them just right: crispy on the outside but still with that great chew in the middle, that perfect flake, screaming green onion flavor, and the perfect accompaniments. I also spent about 11 months in Taiwan over the past 2 years, and I can say with confidence that these come pretty close to the flattened variety of scallion pancake (as opposed to 爪餅, which is a fluffed up version with barely connected layers) that can be found at at least one street cart in every neighborhood there. The flavor and textures really reminds me of my time in Taiwan, but the best part is the smell, which fills the whole house every time I make these completely mood-changing, mind-altering, tummy-filling treats.
For this recipe, the most important part is kneading the dough for quite a long time up front. I’ve tried it with a little less kneading, and I found that the layers turned out less distinct, and the pancakes even ended up soggy. The second most important part is brushing the dough with oil before adding the filling and rolling it up. The oil really helps to both cook the interior of the pancake as well as keep the layers totally separated. By the end of the cook, your kitchen will 100% just be covered in oil, but it will be worth it and the clean up is pretty quick, I promise.
I accompany these pancakes with a chili sauce made out of about 4 Tbsp fermented chili mixture (豆瓣醬, which can be found in jars at any Asian market. Sriracha is a fine substitute), about 3 splashes of soy sauce, one splash of sesame oil, and about one tsp of sugar. Just stir it up and it’s ready to serve. In Taiwan, they slather some kind of similar mixture, known ubiquitously as “brown sauce” all over the pancakes before folding them in half and stuffing each pancake into it’s own individual incredibly wasteful yet absolutely essential plastic bag.
Ok honestly I can talk about scallion pancakes and Taiwan for hours and hours, but I won’t, so just get to cooking!
Butter Count: SO much oil
INGREDIENTS:
300g flour
1 tsp salt
185g water, room temp
8 green onions, thinly sliced, divided
~3 Tbsp garlic powder
Canola oil for frying, about 1 cup, divided
INSTRUCTIONS:
Mix the flour and salt in a pretty large bowl. Gradually add the water while mixing with a fork. When most of the flour is absorbed, use your fingers to squeeze any batter off the fork, and then press the dough into the bowl to pick up any loose flour.
Begin kneading (I just do it in the bowl itself), adding just a small amount of flour if the dough gets too sticky. Knead thoroughly, quite hard, for about 7 minutes.
NOTE: Stop kneading about every 2 minutes and allow the dough to recover for about 30 seconds. This will prevent it from getting too elastic, but it will also allow a very slight skin to form over the ball, which will help with stickiness if you feel like you’ve added too much flour.
When the dough is pretty smooth, as in there are none or very few visible micro-tears, and it’s basically homogeneous, splash some oil into the bowl and use the dough ball to coat the bowl with the oil. Cover with a damp towel for 90 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a cutting board and cut it into quarters. place three quarters back into the bowl and cover them with the damp towel again.
On a clean work surface (I use my fake marble counter top), pour about 1 Tbsp of oil and use the bottom of the dough to sweep it around the work surface so that you have at least a 1ft-by-1ft area covered in oil. Use your hand to give the area a single good wipe, ensuring that there is only a thin layer of oil on the work surface.
Place the dough ball on the oiled work surface and squish it down into a disc with your palm. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into literally any shape you want, as long as it is as thin as it can possibly get without tearing. You want to almost be able to see through it.
Note: Usually I end up with some weird amoeba shape that has like spikes and curves and weird indentations. It absolutely does not matter.
Pour about a Tbsp of oil onto the dough and use your hand to spread it all over the dough. Again you want a thin layer of oil here.
Sprinkle the oiled dough with garlic powder in a thin, even layer.
NOTE: It is impossible to tell you how much garlic powder to use here because there is no way the shape of your dough will be the same as mine, but basically just add it to taste. If you like garlic, add more. If you don’t add less.
Sprinkle 1/4 of the green onions all over the dough and use your palm to gently pat them flat.
At one end of the dough, fold it inward about 1/4 of the way to the center. Repeat this with the opposite end of the dough. Keep repeating until there are basically two halves of the dough. Stack them on top of each other so that it is a single tube with a single seam. Place the tube seam-side-down on the work surface. Pull the edges of the dough to make it taught (you can kind of squeeze the middle too to move some of the green onions toward the ends if you want, but it’s not necessary).
Starting with one end of the tube, roll it inward on itself so that it is a spiral shape, tucking the outer end underneath. It should look like a cinnamon bun. Use your palm to squish it down once so that it is slightly more flat. Set that spiral aside and repeat the process with the remaining three dough balls.
Pour about 1/4 cups of oil into a pan and place it over medium-high heat.
Take one dough spiral and flatten it a little with your palm. Place the rolling pin at the center of the pancake and roll it in one direction. Place the rolling pin in the center of the pancake and roll it in the opposite direction. Repeat this in all directions until the pancake is a pretty flat disc, about 1cm thick.
NOTE: Don’t worry if the pancake tears or green onions begin to fall out. I actually prefer it that way because the exposed green onions will char and become super crunchy and great.
Place the disc in the hot oil and fry it for about 3 minutes until the edges are nice and browned (my stove is super powerful so I usually flip it after 1 minute. While it fries, resist the temptation to push down on it with a spatula - that is the fastest way to a soggy pancake.
Flip the pancake AWAY FROM YOURSELF and cook the remaining side, a little less long than you did the first side (because the oil will be hotter at this point). If there are any super raw parts on the side that was fried first, just flip it over again for a quick final fry.
Transfer the pancake to a wire rack and dab the top with a paper towel.
NOTE: Don’t place the pancake on towels - you want the oil to remain hot for as long as possible to continue crisping up the dough as it cools. However, I do find that dabbing the top with towels helps to prevent long term sogginess, like if you manage to not eat it all in one sitting and you have to refrigerate it over night.
Turn the stove off and drain the oil.
Repeat steps 12-17 with the remaining dough spirals.
Serve hot with chili sauce!