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 + 1/3 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.
Hi there from a cold wintery Perth in Western Australia! Just made these pancakes as a side dish to some Korean bulgogi (beef bowls) and it was fantastic!! Easy to follow and pretty easy to make!
Will be doing again for sure……..
Haha, pancake with bulgogi, such a satisfying combination!!
My husband made these for dinner and we couldn’t get enough of these pancakes! Definitely making again
Thanks Rewari for your lovely feedback.
Hi, I am not sure if anyone has alreadyasked, but how do you make the dipping sauce seen in your pictures? Looks pretty delicious. Have nice day.
Hi El,
I already updated the ingredients for the dipping sauce.
Thank you for a wonderful recipe! Your instructions and photos for working with the dough were very clear and helpful. I had never made dough before but thanks to this recipe the pancakes turned out amazing. I’m happy to have found your website and will be referring back to it for dishes to come.
Melissa,
Thanks for such a warm feedback. I am so happy to be helpful. Hope you get great experience in the future cooking.
Great recipe! We have these at our local Chinese restaurant but now I can make them at home. Great dough recipe too.
Thanks for the feedback, Rosanne.
I’m in the process of making this right now and I can’t figure out the 26-minute total time. Wait 10 minutes, let rest 20-30 minutes and then again for 15… That’s nearly an hour right there. Maybe consider adjusting the recipe?
She probably means 26 minutes hands on time. Most recipes are written this way but will often also add the amount of “resting” or hands off time as well.
Just read through the entire recipe before starting so you can get your timing right.
It really so yummy
Thank you honey for the feedback!
This has such a great texture! Treating the dough with hot and then cold water makes a world of difference and I’m just sobbing at my kitchen counter at how differently it affects the texture of my scallion pancakes – Thank you so much!! 😭 Also I’ve made this several times and once when I only have a tiny window of time and sorta cut the waiting time almost by half – it wasn’t as good when it cools but is surprisingly great when eaten hot! Just in case someone’s life is as much a dumpster fire as mine and you don’t have the time for the full wait XD
Again, thank you for this amazing recipe!! Have a wonderful and blessed year ahead of you! ❤️
Yes, you get it Sasa. The dough makes the real difference! Thanks so much for your lovely comment. Happy cooking!