Scallion Pancake

Round two of scallion pancake, getting there but not ready to put in my pocket. I've made them before, as an add-on/afterthought to Mapo Tofu, serious this time around.

Scallion Pancake round 1


Scallion Pancake round 2


Not real time, this is over the course of a week or so, I'll try to go two more rounds next week.

Hi Gary,

My favorite scallion pancake of all time was at Szechuan Garden, in my home town of Norfolk, VA. Over the years, I tried out many recipes for the dough, but basically use the one I found in Time Life's "The Good Cook, which I mix in my food processor. I've occasionally used my version as Hor's d'Oeuvres at all three Clubs I've worked for over the last 20 years.

I tweaked the recipe in many aspects. I won't make them w/o schmaltz or better yet, rendered duck fat for brushing. I add large amounts of chiffonade scallion and cilantro and press Kosher salt into the dough before rolling into a coil. After making the coil, I roll out both sides of them in as heavy as possible a layer of sesame seed.

I like to use a sweet, tart dipping sauce with heavy garlic and ginger and a drop of sesame oil. Sort of like Szechuan Gardens, but amped up. I like to roll them out to somewhere between 9-10".

Good luck with your experimentation. I'm sure you'll nail it!

Evil Ronnie wrote:I won't make them w/o schmaltz or better yet, rendered duck fat for brushing.

I love you, I truly do love you................

Not sure what you are using as your base recipe, but I have had tremendous luck with http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/04/extra-flaky-scallion-pancakes-recipe.html.

botd wrote:Not sure what you are using as your base recipe, but I have had tremendous luck with http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/04/extra-flaky-scallion-pancakes-recipe.html.

First few times I made scallion pancake I used classic rolling/frying technique with leftover yeast risen bread dough. Tasty, crispy crunchy, lots of flavor, but certainly not classic.

Then I went with a straight up rendition of the Serious Eats technique you reference, hot water dough, double coil/roll, flakier, more distinct layering, crisp in a slightly more shattery fashion. Now I was getting somewhere!

I'm now (mostly) using the Serious Eats technique with a trick or two from here

Going forward I plan on trying Evil's suggestion of chicken or duck fat and an idea from Dorie Greenspan's recipe using mostly cake flour. I'm also going to try 80/20 AP flour/rice flour, my own idea, and probably give a small percentage of potato starch a go at some point.

I've used sesame seeds on a couple of occasions, my personal jury is still out on those, but toasted sesame oil, omitted in a surprising number of recipes, is a must have. I'll also give Evil's scallion/cilantro a run.

I've been doing my scallion pancake testing at home, not at work, and my bride has gently informed me "I'm not as wild about them as you"

Regards,
Gary 'the fun is in the process' Wiv

They look pretty damn good to me!

Took a cue from Evil Ronnie and used 80/20 schmaltz/neutral oil as pan frying medium and a smattering of sesame seeds. I think I'm starting to get the hang of Scallion Pancake.

awesome pics, gwiv. i've got to try to make those scallion pancakes. i've always got some schmaltz waiting in the freezer, so i'm good to go....

Gary,
Keep those cards and letters coming. I've tried it twice, first time with a recipe IIRC from the NYT, second time from Serious Eats. Both results were nice to eat but far, far, far from classic: no layering perceptible, for one thing; no flakiness, for another. I'm thinking maybe the rice flour addition might be a useful move--I use it for a Korean seafood pancake I make and it has some interesting properties. But on this one, I'm going to let you lead the way: so lead on, and keep reporting. (BTW, maybe E. Ronnie could be persuaded to give us a run-through on his process. )

Waiting eagerly,

Geo

Hi Geo,

Here it is:

Dough ingredients:
2 C AP flour
about 2/3 C water
Pinch salt

Mix in food processor until it comes together, then process/machine knead about 10 seconds

Flour lightly, cut in 1/4's, rest 30 min in fridge.

Meanwhile, chiffonade more scallion and cilantro than you think you'll need.

Get your schmear. (Room temp chicken or duck schmaltz.)

Roll dough on lightly floured surface into thin approx 10" X 10" square.

Sprinkle w Kosher salt before pressing salt into dough w rolling pin.

Shmear it baby!

Then sprinkle with more veg than you think you'll need.

Roll fairly tight into pinwheel. (Like making cinnamon rolls)

Shape pinwheel into tight coil

Lots of sesame seeds pressed into both sides before rolling.

Roll into 8/9" circle, lightly flouring work surface as needed. Schmaltz, cilantro and scallion will randomly burst through here and there, but ignore that and keep rolling.

( I layer them between wax/ parchment and freeze in ziplock bag. These thaw in about 10/15 min.)

Fry in peanut or veg oil

(These have a great, very crisp texture with plenty of layering/ laminated dough effect from the coiling and then rolling. They're both chewy and shatter into crispy shards.)

Enjoy!

It's hot/boiling water, right?

Tnx Ronnie! Onward! (and I assume the same as SteveZ ^^^^^^)

Damn I love those things!

Geo

stevez wrote:It's hot/boiling water, right?

Steve...this recipe, loosely adapted from Time-Life's "The Good Cook"
(Snacks and Sandwiches volume) calls for room temperature water. ( But this is their dough recipe, verbatim.)

Behold, Scallion Pancake Shrimp Toast!




Scallion Pancake Shrimp Toast, count me a Fan!