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Scallion Pancakes
Serves 4 Prep 1 hr Cook 20 min Total 1 hr 20 min Type Snack Origin Taiwanese

Scallion Pancakes

Taiwan's scallion pancakes: hand-rolled flaky discs laminated with sliced scallions, sesame oil and salt, pan-fried shatteringly crisp outside, chewy within.

Serves 4 Prep 30 minutes (plus 30 min resting) Cook 20 minutes Units Rate

Overview

A boiling-water dough rests until pliable. Each piece rolls thin into a long rectangle, gets a brush of sesame oil, salt, and a generous sprinkle of sliced scallions. Rolling the rectangle into a log and coiling it into a spiral creates the laminated layers. The spiral flattens to a disc and pan-fries in a thin slick of oil until each side is deep gold with crispy frilled edges.

Ingredients

Dough

  • 300 g plain flour (plus more for rolling)
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 200 ml water (just-boiled)
  • 2 tablespoons cold water

Filling

  • 6 spring onions (white and green; thinly sliced)
  • 4 tablespoons sesame oil (toasted)
  • 4 tablespoons vegetable oil (mixed in for the brush)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon white pepper

Frying

  • Vegetable oil

Dipping sauce

  • 4 tablespoons light soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar (Chinese black or rice)
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 2 cm ginger (finely grated)
  • 1 spring onion (finely sliced)
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • A pinch of sugar
  • A few drops chilli oil (optional)

Method

Stage 1 - Dough

  1. Place the flour and salt in a wide bowl.
  2. Pour the just-boiled water in slowly while mixing with chopsticks or a fork.
  3. Add the cold water; mix.
  4. Once cool enough to handle, knead 5-6 minutes until smooth. The dough will be soft.
  5. Cover and rest 30 minutes.

Stage 2 - Sauce

  1. Whisk all the dipping sauce ingredients. Set aside.

Stage 3 - Filling oil

  1. Combine the sesame oil and vegetable oil in a small bowl. This brushes onto the rolled dough.

Stage 4 - Roll, fill, coil

  1. Divide the dough into 4 equal balls.
  2. Take one ball; on a lightly floured surface, roll into a thin rectangle about 25 x 35 cm.
  3. Brush all over with the oil mixture.
  4. Sprinkle with a quarter of the salt, white pepper and sliced spring onions.
  5. Roll up the rectangle from the long side into a tight log (jelly-roll style).
  6. Coil the log into a spiral (snail shape); tuck the end under.
  7. Flatten the spiral gently into a disc with your palm.
  8. Roll into a 18-20 cm pancake about 5 mm thick (the spring onions will poke out - that's fine).
  9. Repeat for all 4 pancakes; stack with parchment between to prevent sticking.

Stage 5 - Fry

  1. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wide non-stick pan over medium heat.
  2. Lay one pancake in carefully; cook 3-4 minutes until the underside is deep golden with crispy edges.
  3. Flip; cook 3-4 minutes more on the second side.
  4. Lift onto a wire rack (not paper - paper traps steam and softens the crisp).
  5. Repeat with the rest, adding oil as needed.

Stage 6 - Serve

  1. Cut each pancake into 8 wedges.
  2. Eat hot, dipped in the soy-vinegar-ginger sauce.

Notes

  • Boiling-water dough: Hot water gelatinises the flour, giving a softer, more pliable dough that takes the lamination well. A cold-water dough turns chewy.
  • Lamination is the technique: The roll-coil-roll process creates layers that puff slightly and shatter when bitten. Don't skip the steps.
  • Eat fresh: Crisp lasts about 30 minutes. Reheat in a hot dry pan to revive (don't microwave).

Storage

  • Best eaten immediately. Frozen unfried pancakes (with parchment between) keep 2 months - fry from frozen, adding 1-2 minutes per side.

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Chilli oil

Chilli oil

Two-stage flavour build: first a spice infusion (whole spices soaked briefly in water, then simmered slowly in vegetable oil with spring onion and ginger), then a sizzle (the hot strained oil poured over a heat-proof bowl of chilli flakes, smoked paprika, soy and Chinese vinegar). Cooling. Mixing in the textural elements: caster sugar, salt, chicken stock powder, crispy fried shallots and crispy fried garlic. Jarred, rested 24 hours so the flavours marry, stirred vigorously before each use because the oil and solids separate.

Snacks 25 hours 20 minutes Serves1