Yesterday (January 23) marked the beginning of the Chinese New Year! It’s the year of the dragon, the most auspicious year of the twelve zodiac signs, marked with good fortune and success.
Fun fact: China is expecting a huge baby boom this year! Everyone wants a dragon baby destined for greatness.
I have to admit that I normally wouldn’t pay more than a few minutes’ attention to the Chinese New Year celebration show on the satellite TV at home, or really care all too much about it at all. But since I’ve been thousands of miles away from home, everything familiar sparks a little more nostalgia than usual.
My dad made these scallion pancakes one of the days before I left. They aren’t a particularly festive food, but they’re traditional nonetheless, and these taste like home sweet home to me. So in honor of the new year, I am posting this rather unconventional recipe.
This is something that my parents can just throw together without any sort of recipe, a skill that I have yet to learn. I found a similar description of the process on Kirbie’s Cravings that looks just about right. All you need is flour, vegetable oil, green onions (scallions), and salt!
Knead it up
Roll it out
Add your vegetable oil…don’t skimp! This is what makes the lovely flakiness
Scatter the scallions! (What great alliteration)
Repeat the process–roll out the dough at lightning speed!
Now it’s ready to be pan fried until flaky and crisp.
It’s a flaky, chewy, savory delight.
Happy New Year :)
Scallion Pancakes
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cups boiling water
Vegetable oil
Salt
1 cup green onions (diced)
1. Knead the flour and water for a few minutes. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour. If too dry, add a little more water. We kneaded our dough for about 10 minutes.
2. Take a small piece of dough (about the size of your fist) and roll it out as thin as possible. The shape doesn’t matter.
3. Drizzle some oil and rub it in with your hands so that the entire surface is lightly covered, but there are no pools of oil in any one spot. Don’t be stingy on the oil or your pancakes will be too dry. Make sure there is a nice thin layer on each one, and make sure it is spread across the whole dough.
4. Sprinkle some salt evenly across the dough. Then sprinkle on the diced green onions. It’s up to your personal preference how much you like.
5. Roll the dough into a long rope. It’s okay if oil and onions squish out the sides. Coil that rope into a circle.
6. Flatten the circle with your hand and then use rolling pin to roll out the pancake and thin it to your desired thickness. Ours we about 1/4 inch thick.
7. In a pan, heat up a bit of oil over medium/low heat. Put your pancake on heated pan and let it cook until golden brown, and then flip to crisp the other side. Serve immediately.
Bianca Tang Photography 