Crispy and Flaky Chinese Scallion Pancake (蔥油餅)

These Chinese scallion pancakes are crispy, flaky, aromatic and flavorful. My step by step instructions with tips and tricks that I picked up from my 10+ years of experience will help you recreate these amazing scallion pancakes at home.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the scallion pancake is one of the most popular and ubiquitous dishes in Taiwan.  It's so popular there that we would eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner or just as a snack. You can easily find it at restaurants, street vendors or in the frozen aisle of grocery stores.

I am very picky with my scallion pancakes.  To me, the ideal scallion pancake should be flavorful, crispy, flaky, soft within, and yet delivering a good bite with its many layers. 

After over 10 years of experience with making scallion pancakes, experimenting with many different methods, I can finally make scallion pancakes that are even better than some of the ones I got from street vendors in Taiwan.

Why You Should Try This Recipe

• Clear and easy to follow instructions along with pictures at each step of the process will give you the best chance to succeed at making your own delicious scallion pancakes!
• You only need a few simple ingredients to make this recipe and don't need any machine.
• You will receive useful tips and tricks for making delicious scallion pancakes that I learned from my 10+ years of scallion pancake making experience.
• While frozen scallion pancakes may be more convenient, these will taste much better!

Ingredients You'll Need

Here are the main ingredients you'll need for making this recipe. Check the recipe box below for the full ingredient list with actual measurement.

Note

• Lard - This not only gives the scallion pancakes a flakier texture but also provide a unique aroma and flavor that you won't be able to get from using vegetable oil. You can either render it yourself (see tips and tricks below) or use store bought lard. However, if you are vegetarian or just don't want to use lard, you can replace this with sesame oil or just regular cooking oil.

Step by Step Instructions 

Step 1 - Make the dough

Pour hot water In a mixing bowl with all purpose flour, stir and mix with chopsticks until it becomes clumpy. After the dough cools slightly, knead the dough by hand for 2-3 minutes until the mixing bowl and your hands become relatively clean. Add more cold water if needed.

Put the dough in a Ziploc bag or wrap it in a piece of plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes to 2 hours.  Don't worry if the outside of the dough looks rough like the moon's surface, after resting it will all become smooth.

Step 2 - Make Oil Paste

Mix lard, vegetable oil, salt and flour in a small bowl and set it aside.

Step 3 - Assemble Scallion Pancake.

After the dough is done resting, divide it into 4 equal pieces. Tuck the edges into the bottom, apply some oil on the surface, cover and let it rest for another 10 minutes. 

Work on the dough one at a time while keeping the others covered. Roll the dough into a long rectangular shape, with around ⅛ inch thickness.

Apply a thin and even layer of oil paste on the surface and put scallions on top of it. Add desired optional toppings.

Roll the dough from the bottom all the way up while squeezing out the air inside. Using the resulting log of dough, form two spirals from the two ends of the log, with one spiral being smaller than the other (see pictures below for reference).

Tuck the small spiral under the larger one and press the large spiral down over the smaller one. Repeat for the 3 other lumps of dough. Cover resulting buns with plastic wrap and let them rest for around 30 minutes (could be stored overnight in the fridge for using the next day).

Step 4 - Cooking scallion pancake

Roll the spiral lumps of dough out on an oiled surface into 7 inch pancakes.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet over medium heat before pan frying the pancake for one minute on each side. Continue flipping and cooking until evenly golden brown. Add more oil when needed as each pancake is being cooked.

Finally, here's a trick my grandma taught me (she said she learned from a street vendor) -- after the pancake is almost finished, use two spatulas or tongs to scrunch the pancakes from two sides 2 to 3 times to "fluff it up" and accentuate the layers right before serving.

Of course, the most important part is to enjoy your pancake as soon as possible!  They taste the best immediately after they come out of the pan.  After it cools, no matter how you reheat it, it will never quite be the same again.

Serving Suggestions

I like to either eat these by themselves or top with a bit of pepper salt (椒鹽粉), you can also eat them with some hot sauce or sweet soy sauce if you like.

Another option for your scallion pancake is to cook a fried egg onto it.  To do so, heat some cooking oil and crack an egg in the pan.  Next, cover the egg with  the pancake before pressing them together to combine them. 

Cook your scallion pancake with egg to the degree of doneness you like.  I put on some sriracha with white pepper powder and a little bit of salt and fold it in half before taking a bite, and the results are amazing! With a cup of soy milk or milk tea, you can enjoy a traditional Taiwanese breakfast at home!

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