葱油饼 - Scallion Pancakes

One of my favorite chinese breakfasts and one of Chinese Breakfasts That Are Amazing.

This recipe is stolen from 小高姐 on youtube.

The way it works is basically:

• Make the main dough and let it rise
• Make the pastry scallion-y dough
• Twist it up, then fry it

Main Dough

• 250g (~1cup) all purpose flour
• 175g (0.75 cup) water
• 1tsp yeast
• 1 tbsp sugar

Mix alllll that up real nice. It will be all sticky.

Let it rest covered for 15 minutes, then knead it again just a little bit.

Then, let the dough rise for another 1.5 hrs in a warm place.

Prep the scallions

Cut a lot of scallions. A lot! Separate the white bit (bottom 1/4) from the greener bits. We’ll use the white bits when making oil.

Put the green bits in a bowl and add 1/8 tsp of baking soda.

”Pastry” Dough

Not sure what to call this exactly. Pastry? In chinese, they called it “酥饼”.

Add in a bowl:

• 80g (1/2 cup) of flour
• 1/8 tsp five spice (五香粉) if you have it
• 1/8 tsp sichuan spice powder (花椒粉)
• 1/2 tsp salt

Now, what we’re gonna do is make the scallion oil! Bring some oil up in a pan, and add the white bits of scallion from earlier. Pay attention closely. When the scallions start to change color, turn the heat off and add it to the bowl of stuff from above ^ including the oil in the pan.

Mix it all up into a pastry pastey thing.

Now, add in all the green scallions from earlier and mix it all up. It should be a pastey mix of mostly green scallions.

Roll it in the palms of your hand and turn it into 6 or so small balls.

Combining the two doughs

Okay, so remember the dough that we let sit for an hour and a half?

When it’s done, uncover it and break it also into 6 small pieces. Put some flour on the table in preparation for the next step.

• Flatten each piece into a pancake-ish sized 3/4 inch thick round slab.
• Now, the tricky part: wrap each scallion pastry ball in the dough pancake thing.
• Put all 6 in a row, and go in order in which you rolled them, one by one:
  • flatten it into a shoe-sized oblong/rectangle shape. About 1/4 inch thick.
  • Fold the sides inward, like a taco.
  • Flatten it a little with your hand
• Now you should have all 6 in taco shapes. Next, one by one:
  • VERY GENTLY flatten the taco shape into a long strip. The onions should start to poke through.
  • Flatten it to about 1/4 inch thick
  • Roll it up gently
  • Cut it in half (you should be able to see the layers you just rolled up) and set it aside

Now, you should have a pile of 12 or so little dough roll things.

Flatten each roll into a cake using a roller or your hand, make sure to have the layered side of each roll facing up when you do this.

At this point, you can cook the rolls directly for a crispier pancake, or let them sit for another half hour for a more soft pancake.

Frying the rolls

Put oil on the pan + heat to medium. Start with the layered side facing down. Flip back and forth until it’s cooked.

Note: use LOTS of oil. Don’t turn the pan too hot — medium! And flip a lot.