How To Make Scallion Pancakes That Rival Your Favorite Chinese Takeout

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Scallion pancakes go with everything. Just like clockwork, when you order from your favorite takeout joint the thought, “And… an order of scallion pancakes” just rolls off your tongue. They’re the perfect tool for mopping up extra sauce on your plate and pretty ideal for sharing. Unlike regular fluffy buttermilk pancakes that are made with batter, scallion pancakes are a savory Chinese snack made with dough. The unleavened bread is folded with oil and minced scallions and sometimes elevated with other savory flavors and fillings.

You’ll see these Chinese pancakes served as both a street food and as an appetizer on restaurant menus. The only drawback to ordering scallion pancakes from a restaurant is that you have no idea what kind of ingredients they’re made with and what kind of semi-questionable oils they’re fried in. The solution? Make them yourself. Here’s how to make scallion pancakes that rival your favorite Chinese takeout. 

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How To Make Scallion Pancakes

The kind of dough you use for scallion pancakes is a little different than the kind you would use for pizza. Hot-water dough, which is also used for dumpling wrappers and other Chinese pastries, is made by combining hot water and flour. This gives you the tender and light taste that you’re used to with scallion pancakes. It’s way easier to roll out the hot-water dough because there’s less elasticity. You won’t believe how easy it is to make these pancakes yourself. All you need is flour, water, sesame oil, scallions, vegetable oil and coarse kosher salt.

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Another thing to note is that scallion pancakes fall into the category of laminated pastry dough, which means layers of dough separated by layers of fat, and in this case sesame oil. This is what makes scallion pancakes so light and flakey, but indulgent at the same time. Remember you should never skimp on the salt.

Here’s the gist of making scallion pancakes. Make the dough by combining flour and warm water and mix gently until you get a smooth dough ball. Cover the dough ball and let it rest for about 20 minutes or so.

Chop up a bunch of scallions, both the green and white parts. After your dough has had time to rest, knead it for a couple of minutes on a floured surface, roll it into a log shape and cut it into four equal sections. Roll out each section of dough individually, evenly spread the sesame oil around, sprinkle the scallions, roll it up into a snake shape, coil the snake-shaped dough and then roll out the coil. You’ll see all of the scallions evenly distributed throughout the dough at this point. Heat up some oil in a non-stick pan and evenly cook the pancake on both sides, making sure to brush each side with more sesame oil to get that crunchy outer layer. Check out the step-by-step video above to get a better idea.

Here’s a recipe by The Woks Of Life for 9-Layer Scallion Pancakes. We can’t promise you won’t get addicted to these crunchy pancakes once you learn how to make them yourself.

The Woks Of Life