Scallion Pancakes!

Sorry for the mini hiatus from blogging, between being sick and trying to plan a big surprise birthday party (will have to reveal the guest of honor later, just in case she is reading!), I really didn't have much time to cook or blog. But we can't live on frozen pizza forever, so I managed to make a few things.


The super hot days of summer is finally here, I love the heat and love being able to have my little toddler run around with only diapers on. I love spending more time outside, so instead of making a full dinner with rice, meat and veggies, we have been eating alot of noodles and light meals. Our noodles are usually very simple, accompanied by either some steamed dumplings or fish balls, but I was craving something greasy and yummy the other day and decided to make some scallion pancakes instead!

I came across this recipe while reading one of my all time favorite food blog - A Daily Obsession! I love scallion pancakes, it is flaky, warm and crispy! I was really excited to try this recipe, I was pleased to know that it only took 5 simple ingredients to make these pancakes. The recipe seemed easy enough, so with Tyler occupied by his favorite show - Fresh Beat Band, I started to tackle the recipe!

Scallion Pancakes adapted from A Daily Obsession
(Makes 6 pancakes)

3 cups plain flour
1 1/3 cups boiling water
3/4 cup finely sliced scallions
Salt
Shortening (always have this on hand for cake icing!)

1. Sieve the flour into a bowl, pour the boiling water in and use a pair of chopsticks to mix, swirling round and round until all the flour form lumps. Gather into a ball (be careful, it's hot!). Mix in 1 heaped tbsp of  shortening. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Add more flour if too soft, or more water if too hard. Overall, the dough should be soft-firm when you press it with a fingertip.

2. Divide the dough into 5 or 6 pieces. Roll one piece of dough into a cylinder and flatten into 'ox-tongue' shape (oblong) of about 1/2 cm thick. Spread shortening over entire surface. Sprinkle the pastry with a generous pinch of salt (need quite a bit of salt), followed by the scallions (but leave the furthest edge clear so that the scallions will not get squeezed out when rolled) and roll, tucking in snugly. Now coil the roll, the seam inside the coil so that it can't open (this part is really important or all the scallions will fall out).  Press the coil cake with your palm and then roll into a thin pancake with the rolling pin.

 

 

 

3. Heat up some oil (1/4 cup or less) in a frying pan and fry the pancakes one by one until crispy. Turn over once only. The oil must be quite hot so that the layers of pastry'll separate and puff. Cut pancake into wedges and serve hot with a dip of black vinegar and light soy sauce if like.

 

My pancakes turned out a bit more dense than expected, but the flavor is great. I think the key is to roll the pancake thin and make sure the oil is super hot.  Some people might ask why go through all this trouble when frozen scallion pancakes are available everywhere, but for me, I love making things like this from scratch. I really enjoyed making it, the leftover pancakes can be stored in the freezer (pre-cook) for another quick meal.