Pan Fried Scallion Chive Bread Chong Yu Bing Food

CONG YU BING (SCALLION PANCAKES)

Steps:

• Process 2 cups flour and baking powder in a food processor. With motor running, add 2/3 cup cold water; process until dough forms (about 40 seconds).
• Transfer to a plate and set aside. Add remaining flour and salt to food processor, and with motor running, add 2/3 cup boiling water; process until dough forms (about 30 seconds).
• Return reserved dough to food processor. Pulse until both doughs come together (about 35 seconds). Transfer to a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth (4 minutes). Transfer to a greased bowl, cover. Let sit at room temperature for 2 hours.
• Halve dough. Using a rolling pin, roll 1 dough half into a 10 inch x 20 inch rectangle. Brush with 1 tbsp canola oil and half the sesame oil. Sprinkle with half the scallions, half the chile flakes, and half the white pepper.
• Beginning with one long side, tightly roll dough like a jelly roll. Cut roll crosswise into 3 pieces, slightly stretch each piece and starting from one edge, coil piece horizontally tucking the end underneath.
• Using your hand, gently flatten coil into a disk. Using a rolling pin, flatten into a 5 inch circle.
• Repeat with remaining pieces and second dough half. Follow above instructions for the following ingredients: 1 tbsp canola oil, remaining sesame oil, scallions, chile flakes, and white pepper. Let pancakes sit for about 10 minutes.
• Heat oven to 200 degrees F. Heat 2 tsp canola oil in a 10 inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 1 pancake to skillet. Cook, swirling skillet and turning once, until golden and crisp (about 10 minutes).
• Transfer to a baking sheet and place in oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining oil and pancakes. Cut into wedges to serve.

PAN-FRIED SCALLION & CHIVE BREAD (CHONG YU BING)

Steps:

• Combine oil and chili oil in a small dish and set aside. Combine scallions, cilantro and chives in another bowl and set aside.
• Combine flour and baking powder in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the flat paddle. With machine running on low speed, add hot and cold water in quick succession. Stop machine as soon as dough comes together in a soft ball. If it's very tacky and sticky, add a bit more flour.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest 15 minutes. (If the dough has been made in a food processor, let rest 40 minutes.) Roll gently into a smooth log. Cut evenly into 4 pieces, then put each piece, cut side down, on the lightly floured board. Cover with plastic wrap.
• Working with a piece at a time, shape dough by rolling into a thin, even circle about 7 ½ inches in diameter. Brush top with a generous film of the oil mixture, then sprinkle evenly with a rounded ¼ teaspoon salt. Heap dough with 2/3 cup of reserved greens, then spread evenly over top. Roll up dough into a fat cylinder - it doesn't need to be too tight. Grasp one end of the dough and wind other end around it in a tight spiral. Tuck tail end underneath and press lightly with your hand to flatten. Gently roll out into a 6-inch circle. Put aside on a freshly floured spot, then repeat with remaining dough.
• Cook breads immediately to prevent a soggy texture. Heat an 8- to 10-inch heavy skillet over high heat until a bead of water evaporates on contact. Add enough oil to glaze bottom by 1/8 inch, swirling to coat; reduce heat to moderate. When oil is hot enough to foam a pinch of flour, add first bread to pan. Cook until bottom is golden and a bit crusty, 3 to 4 minutes. Adjust heat so bread doesn't scorch. Flip and fry until golden, about 3 minutes longer. Remove to paper towel-lined plate. Repeat process with oil and remaining dough.
• Serve breads fresh from skillet, each cut into fourths. Or let cool and hold at room temperature up to 8 hours. Reheat in 350°F oven until hot, about 5 minutes.

YEASTED SCALLION AND SESAME BING (羌 饼, QIāNG BĭNG)

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the warm water, sugar, and yeast. Let sit for 5 minutes to bloom to ensure that the yeast is indeed active. Foamy bubbles should appear on the surface.
• Stream the yeast mixture into the dry ingredients slowly while stirring with a pair of chopsticks. When the dough just comes together, add the lard. Mix until a workable dough forms.
• Use your hands to knead the dough in the bowl until it is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise, or until the dough has doubled in size, 1½ to 2 hours.
• Punch down the dough and, on a lightly floured surface, knead again for 5 to 7 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 20 minutes more.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and with a rolling pin, roll it into a large ¼ inch (6 mm) thick rectangle, about 20 inches (51 cm) long and 15 inches (38 cm) wide. Brush the dough with vegetable oil and sprinkle with salt to taste and the chopped, dry scallions.
• Roll the dough into a log, starting on one of the long edges. Let rest for 5 minutes. Then, starting with one end of the log, roll it up to form a spiral. Using your hands or a rolling pin, flatten the entire spiral to about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick. Sprinkle some water over the surface and use your hands to spread the moisture. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the top to cover.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a flat-bottomed nonstick skillet with a lid over medium-high, and then carefully transfer the dough to the skillet with the sesame seed side up. Turn the heat to low, and cover the skillet. Slowly cook the bread for 15 minutes. Carefully flip the bread and cook, covered, for another 10 minutes. Remove the lid and flip so the sesame seed side is up again and cook for another 5 minutes.
• Tap the surface of the bread with the tips of your fingers-the sound should be hollow. Remove the bread from the pan and slice into 8 wedges. Serve hot!
• Cooks' Note
• Make sure the scallions used in the filling are very dry; moisture can hinder the cooking of the bread and cause the edges to be soggy.

CHUNG YUL BANG (SCALLION PANCAKES)

Steps:

• In a medium heatproof bowl, stir together the flour and sugar. Pour in the boiling water, quickly mixing everything together with a wooden spoon until the flour absorbs all the water. It will look a bit dry and flaky. Stir in the cold water. A dough should form and begin to pull away from the side of the bowl. If needed, add more cold water a teaspoon at a time. The dough should not be sticky, but dry to the touch.
• Dust a work surface with flour. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, adding more flour if necessary, 3 to 5 minutes. Lightly cover the dough with a clean damp cloth or plastic bag and let it rest for 1 hour.
• Redust the work surface with flour and knead the rested dough for a few minutes, or until it is smooth. Divide the dough into four equal pieces and roll into balls. Cover three of them with the damp cloth or plastic, then use a floured rolling pin to roll the fourth into a 7-inch round. Cover the round with the damp cloth or plastic, then roll out the remaining three pieces, keeping any unused dough well covered while you work.
• Brush each round very lightly with the sesame oil and sprinkle each with 1/4 teaspoon salt and a quarter of the minced scallions. Tightly roll each circle into a fat rope, then tightly coil each rope so that it looks like a snail's shell, pinching the end of the rope into the bun so that it seals. Cover the rounds with the damp cloth or plastic wrap, and let them rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Redust your work surface with flour and roll each cake out with a floured rolling pin into a 7-inch round. Set aside to fry when the oil is ready. Or, refrigerate in an airtight container dusted with flour for up to 1 day. Let the chilled dough sit at room temperature for a few minutes before frying. You can also stack the rolled dough between parchment paper, wrap tightly in plastic, seal in a resealable plastic freezer bag and freeze for a few weeks. Unwrap and let them come to room temperature, about 15 minutes, before you fry them.
• Line a plate or baking sheet with paper towels. Heat the oil in a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok over medium until it is hot but not smoking. Working carefully, as the oil will spatter, add a scallion cake to the bottom of the pan using a metal spatula or tongs, and let it fry until golden brown on the bottom, just a minute or two. Carefully flip the cake over and fry until the other side is golden brown, 30 seconds to 1 minute more. As it fries, adjust the heat to maintain a steady sizzle and lightly press the center of the cake with a metal spatula to make sure the center is cooked through, being careful of oil spatters. Alternatively, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high and pan-fry a round of dough until golden brown and cooked through, about 4 minutes. When the cake is done, transfer it to the paper towels and fry the three remaining cakes, adding 1 tablespoon oil per cake if pan-frying.
• Sprinkle the scallion cakes with a little more salt, cut them into 6 to 8 wedges, and serve them immediately.