Chinese Scallions pancake also known as green onion pancake or Congyoubing is one of the famous and traditional Chinese street foods and ideal Chinese breakfast. Those crispy and aroma pancakes are available all around China. Making your own scallion pancake at home is easy and enjoyable.
I know that many Chinese restaurants in the world providing this lovely pancake. However, making some at home is a nice experience. Only with simple and everyday ingredients, we can make our own extremely aromatic scallion pancakes. In China, there are, actually, several types of scallion pancakes. In northern provinces, scallion pancake (this version) is thinner, chewy and with less oil. In Southern China, for example, Shanghai, scallion pancakes are thicker and fried with a larger amount of oil and create a even more crispy shell and softer inner part.
Cook’s Note
- In order to make the pancake chewy but still easy to cook, I use both hot boiling water and cold water. Hot boiling water dough (烫面) is soft when well cooked, while cold water dough (冷面) producing a chewier texture.
- I suggest using only the green part of scallion or green onion. The hard white part usually pierces the wrapper.
- It is quite important to rest the well shaped pancake just before the last rolling out.
- In every step of this recipe, cover your single dough with wet cloth to prevent drying out.
Ingredients
- 2 cup unshifted all purpose flour (nearly 300g)
- ¾ cup water (1/2 hot boiling water + ⅓ cold water) + 10ml for adjusting
- 1 tbsp. vegetable cooking oil
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 2 cup chopped scallion (use green part only)
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 tbsp. Chinese five spice powder (for garnishing)
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.
Then roll out the pancake to large around circle. Be gentle and use your hand as most as possible. To get a perfect round pancake for beginners, get yourself a small pan (18 to 20cm in diameter) and push with fingers to spread the dough over the pan.
Brush some cooking oil on a pan and then place the rolled scallion pancakes.
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.
Other pancakes to try
- Simplified scallion pancake, fried directly from batter.
- Shanghai style scallion pancake
- Red bean paste pancake
- Peking duck pancake
What to Match with Scallion Pancakes
Scallion pancakes can be matched with savory soups lotus root soup, tomato egg drop soup, kelp soup. Or you can match it with a sweet soy milk.
- 2 cup unshifted all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup water , 1/2 hot boiling water + 1/4 cold water
- 1 tbsp. vegetable cooking oil
- 1 tbsp. cooking oil
- 2 cup chopped scallion , use green part only
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tbsp. Chinese five spice powder
- 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 1 tsp. oyster sauce , optional
- 1/2 tbsp. sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 tbsp. chili oil
- chopped green onion and coriander
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Mix salt with all purpose flour.
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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.
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Remove the circle out and cut into wedges.
- For a softer texture, add slightly more water.
- If you need to add the amount, during the process of making the circle, do cover the rest of dough with a wet cloth so that the dough will not be too dry.
I made this recipe today, it came out great! Very beautiful looking pancakes. Thank you.
So happy to hear this feedback, Samantha!
Do you just pour the hot water in and let it sit for 10 minutes, or do you mix it into the flour and salt and add the cold water 10 minutes later?
Hi Mackenzie,
Add hot water along with stirring. Then set aside for a while and add cold water. No need to stir it for 10 minutes. Stir the flour when pouring the water.
I haven’t tried this yet because I have a question about the hot water. Should I stir the hot water before adding the cold water or just let it sit?
Maryann,
Add hot water directly to the flour along with mixing. Then add the cold water. There is no direct mix for hot and cold water.
I’ve never commented on a recipe before but this turned out fantastic. The instructions were really clear and accessible. Thanks for a great post and a great dinner!
Thank you Alice!! This is a fantastic comment too!!
Hello! Is it possible to prepare up to the penultimate step, leave overnight in the fridge and carry out the roll out and fry the next day? Thank you!
Hazel,
Yes. Be sure to wrap them well to avoid drying out.
Hi! When I made these they turned out chewy, is there any way to make them crispy?
You can use more oil to create crisper texture. By the way, slightly turn up the fire to shorten the frying time.
Fantastic step by step instruction. Is it ok to use whole wheat flour instead? Thank you!
How do you reheat the pancakes after it has been cooked? I made some yesterday & they were great. But I want to reheat the rest today. What is the best way?
Lynn,
Microwave the best or fry again (in a short time).