Traditional Chinese Scallion Pancakes Food

CHINESE SCALLION PANCAKES

Steps:

• Mix salt with all purpose flour.
• Prepare a large mixing bowl. Dig a small hole in center and then pour the hot water in. Wait for 10 minutes and then stir in the cold water and vegetable oil. Grasp everything to form a ball, cover and rest for 5 minutes and then knead until very smooth (around 3-5 minutes ). The dough should be quite soft. Cover the rest for 20 to 30 minutes.
• After resting, the dough should be quite easy to roll out. Divide the large dough into 4 pieces and roll each piece into a large around circle. Brush some oil, sprinkle Chinese five spice power and chopped scallion (leave the 1 cm of the edge empty).
• Roll up the circle into a cylinder. And further roll into the shape of a snail. Cover with wet cloth and rest for 10 to 15 minutes.Roll the snail out to another thin circle.
• Brush some cooking oil on the pan and move the circle into the pan. Use middle fire to pan-fry until the surface becomes brown around 2-3 minutes. And turn over to fry for another 1 to 2 minutes. Use a spatula to press the circle from time and time especially the central part to ensure the circle is evenly fried.
• Remove the circle out and cut into wedges.

CHINESE SCALLION PANCAKE-SIMPLIFIED VERSION

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, stir water to flour and keep stirring with an egg whisk. Make sure that the water and flour is combined completely. Set aside for several minutes.
• Go to the scallion, finely chopped and throw into the bowl with flour and water. Add pinch of salt and five spice powder; continue to stir until everything combined well.
• Heat up around 2 tablespoons cooking oil in a pan (either big or small, it does not matter). Scoop the mixture and pour into the pan. When pouring over the mixture, do not place all of them in center, swirl it evenly by rotating the spoon to make a basic round pancake. And then use a smaller spoon or your pancake turnover to make the pancake as well distributed as possible. Pan-fry over medium fire for around 2-4 minutes until one side becomes golden brown. Turn over carefully to fry the second side for another 2 minutes. Then fry each side another 1 minute for a darker color and crisper taste.
• Transfer out and then absorb the extra oil by kitchen paper. Repeat to finish all the pancakes.
• When serving, as I usually make larger ones because of time issue, cut into small wedges and enjoy with family.

TRADITIONAL CHINESE SCALLION PANCAKES

Steps:

• Combine warm water, sugar, and yeast in a bowl. Add 1 cup flour; stir dough with a spatula.
• Mix the remaining 1 cup flour, hot water, 2 tablespoons oil, and salt together in a separate bowl until dough-like in texture. Add the dough from step 1; knead together into a round ball, dusting with flour as needed. Place dough ball on a lightly floured work surface; cover with a warm, damp towel for 30 to 40 minutes.
• Pinch dough ball into 2 pieces. Roll each out and sprinkle half the scallions on top. Roll up each piece into a tube; pinch each in half. Roll and flatten into large pancakes, dusting with flour, if needed.
• Heat the remaining oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook pancakes until browned, 3 to 4 minutes per side.

CHINESE SCALLION PANCAKES

Steps:

• Mix flour and 1 teaspoon salt together in a large bowl; pour in boiling water and quickly mix together until water is absorbed. Work cold water, about 1 tablespoon at a time, into flour mixture just until dough forms. Knead dough for 10 minutes. Cover bowl with a damp cloth and let dough rest for 40 minutes.
• Turn dough onto a lightly floured work surface; divide into 4 equal pieces.
• Roll 1 piece of dough into a large thin round; brush the top with vegetable oil and sprinkle with about 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 the green onions. Pick up 1 end of the round and roll dough around green onions into a long scroll-shape. Take 1 scroll end and roll dough into a disk. Repeat with remaining dough, letting each disk rest for 10 minutes.
• Heat about 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Place 1 disk on a floured surface and roll into a 1/2-inch thick round; cook in the hot oil until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Repeat with remaining disks.

CHINESE SCALLION PANCAKES

Steps:

• Place flour in a large bowl; stir in boiling water until dough forms a ball. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 4-6 minutes. Place in a large bowl; cover and let rest for 30 minutes., Divide dough into 8 portions; roll each portion into an 8-in. circle. Brush with 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil; sprinkle with 1 heaping tablespoon of green onion and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Roll into a thin cylinder (jelly-roll style); starting at one end, twist cylinder onto itself forming a coil, pinching to seal. Flatten slightly. Roll each coil to 1/8-in. thickness., In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon canola oil. Over medium-high heat, cook 1 pancake at a time until golden brown, 2-3 minutes on each side., Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients. Serve with pancakes.

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.