November 13, 2019

Chinese Spring Onion Pancake 蔥油餅

Chinese, recipe, Amaranth, Soup, easy,  紅莧菜, 湯
By Published: 2019-11-13
Oooo...yummy...I love, love, love bread and this one just happens to be a childhood favorite!  This utterly scrumptilicious savory flatbread is what my grandma 奶奶 used to make for us as an after school snack if we were good 乖 and didn't bother her too much as she began to prepare dinner.  

How I loved this Chinese Spring Onion Pancake 蔥油餅, crunchy on the outside, chewy layers on the inside, salty bits of fragrantly pungent spring onion flavoring the bread...it was after school heaven! 

Especially after my usual dismal school lunch of a slice of bologna stuck between two slices of dry bread.  Sigh...no mayo, no butter, no lettuce, no nothing...just a slice of bologna stuck between two slices of dry bread.  My dearest grandma, magnificent Chinese cook that she was, never quite grasped the western concept of 'sandwich'.  

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But then again she didn't really need to, did she, if she could make me this tasty Chinese Spring Onion Pancake to gobble up after school.  Only pancake in shape, mind you, it's totally bread in spirit.  

Just look at this layered flatbread, bursting out with savoury flavour, fragrance and crunch!  And the most divine thing of all is that this pancake, no sorry...bread, is secretly quite easy to make!  

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The flour is mixed with the secret ingredient, boiling water, until the flour is raggedly and coming together a bit.  The boiling water gelatinizes the starch in the flour, helping to create a more tender  flat bread.

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Once the boiling water is mixed in and cooled just enough room temperature water is added until the dough comes together.  The next thing is to let the dough rest.  Must do this or the dough will be hard to roll out.  Just a wee bit of a massage and then let the gluten  r   e   l    a    x...

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This is the oil salt flour paste for brushing onto the rolled out dough.  Just like in western pastries, the secret to making incredibly thin layers in breads like croissant is to have a layer of fat between each layer of dough.  The thing that makes the Chinese style of layering easier is that the oil or lard that is used as fat between layers doesn't need to be cold to create the layers, unlike the cold butter needed to create layers for the croissant.  

Traditionally lard is used.  We like lard and make our own lard.  Lard adds a lot of flavour and creates crisp layers.  But any kind of oil can be used as well.

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The dough is rolled out thin after resting.  Because it has been rested and the gluten has had time to relax it is easy to roll out quite thin.  The oil paste is spread over it all  and then chopped spring onions are sprinkled liberally over all.  Be reminded: there is no such thing as too much spring onion... the more the merrier! 

Tip: Alternatively, if you are too lazy to make a paste, you can try this method: 1) rub or brush oil evenly over rolled out dough, 2) sprinkle flour all over and rub it in gently with fingers, 3) sprinkle salt on.

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Once you have your spring onions piled and sprinkled to your personal satisfaction it's time to roll it up.  That's the beginning of the layering, it's that easy, just roll it up any which way!

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Once your dough is all rolled up press the roll flat gently with your hand and then smooth a layer of the oil paste over the top.  

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Roll that rolled up dough again.  Looking kinda like a snail shell now.  Note you are rolling up on the layer of oil paste that you have applied.  By rolling up again you are creating yet more layers.

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Here's how to finish the snail shell roll.  Tuck and gently press the end of the roll into the middle of the spiral.  This will be the bottom of your Chinese Spring Onion Pancake.

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Your rolled up dough from the top.  Definitely looks like a snail shell!  Sprinkle some flour over and start rolling it out.  To keep a round shape remember to roll, turn the dough one quarter turn, then roll again.  Repeat this action to roll out a nice circular pancake shape.

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The snail shell is rolled out!  Can you can see the definition of all the layers?  And the lovely green spots of the spring onions just waiting to for the heat to release their wonderfully pungent flavours.   I love the spring onion, it's a really amazing and underrated aromatic.  

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The actual cooking is a two part process.  First a dry heat to bake the bread.  Slap the bread on to a medium heat non oiled pan.  It is important that the pan is not oiled, allowing the dough to dry out or basically bake in the heat of the pan and form its layers.  

When the dough is a chalky white on both sides remove it from the heat.  Cook all your breads like this first.  At this stage you can freeze the breads.  When you want to eat them, just take em out and proceed to the second stage.

For the second stage, it's time to golden crisp them up.  Add oil this time to the pan, then the bread.  When golden brown, flip and crisp the second side, adding more oil as necessary.  And that's it!  

Except for slicing into pie wedges.  And eating them hot and crispy and deliciously fragrant.  With a tall glass of soy milk...yummm...  And eating another couple of wedges...  Darn it...might just have to make some me some more of these delectable Chinese Spring Onion Pancakes tomorrow...

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Chinese Spring Onion Pancake
蔥油餅

(makes 4 piesPrep time: Cook time:

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups all purpose flour, 240g
  • 1/2 cup boiling water
  • 1/3 cup water, plus more as necessary
  • 1 tbsp all purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp lard or peanut oil
  • 1 cup spring onion, chopped

Directions:

Add boiling water to flour and mix with spoon until ragged and water absorbed.  Add in room temp water and knead until the flour comes together and is soft and smooth.  If needed add more water, 1 tbsp at a time.  Cover and let rest for about 20 mins to allow the gluten to relax.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix 1 tbsp flour, salt and lard until a very liquid and spreadable paste forms.  If too stiff add more oil.

Flour your working surface.  Cut dough into four equal pieces.  Shape into balls and cover three of the balls.  Roll out the fourth ball of dough thinly, about 9" round.  

Use a brush and brush the oil paste in a thin layer over the entire circle.  It's important to cover the entire surface.  Sprinkle 1/4 of the chopped spring onions evenly over.  Roll up the pancake.  Once rolled up, use palm to gently flatten.

Add a layer of oil paste over the flattened roll then roll up the flattened roll into a spiral.  Tuck the end of the spiral back into the middle of the spiral, pressing gently to secure.  Flour working surface and lay down the spiral with the tucked in end underneath.  

Roll out the spiral to 7" pancake, adding flour as necessary to prevent sticking.  Roll out all the other three dough balls in the same manner.

Heat non stick or better yet cast iron pan over medium heat.  Do not add oil.  Add the rolled out spring onion pancake to the hot pan and let cook until dry and turns white.  Flip and repeat.  Now repeat for all the pancakes.

Next add 1 tbsp oil to your hot pan.  Slip the already dry cooked pancake in and let cook over medium high heat until golden and crispy.  Flip and repeat.  Do the same for all your pancakes.
Cut into six wedges and serve hot.  Enjoy!

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4 comments:

  1. Thanks for the recipe! Turned out perfect!

    ReplyDelete
  2. call me crazy, but I just remembered I have duck fat in the freezer -- do you think that would work for the paste instead of lard or oil? I think I'm gonna try it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes! It would totally work and duck fat is so delicious! That's a great idea ~ellen

    ReplyDelete