A green onion pancake is a Chinese dish made from a stiff dough rolled out in layers with oil and green onions in between. The dough is cut into pieces, rolled into thin sheets, brushed with oil, and cooked until crispy. It can be served with a dipping sauce or toppings like bean paste and sour cream.
A green onion pancake is a traditional Chinese dish made by forming a stiff dough and rolling it out in a series of layers with oil or butter and green onions spread in between. Unlike a more traditional pancake which would be made from very melty liquid batter, a green onion pancake is made from dough that more closely resembles the type that would be used to make unleavened bread such as Indian paratha. Once the green onion pancake has been rolled out to a flat disc, it is fried in butter or oil until cooked through and crispy on the outside. While pancakes can be eaten unaccompanied, as they might be when served as street food, they can also be served with a hot sauce or some soy sauce.
The dough for a green onion pancake consists only of water and flour. The water used, however, should be very hot. A variation of the recipe involves first adding boiling water, then tempering it with cold water after some kneading. Either way, the hot or warm water will help loosen the glutens into the flour. Once the water has been incorporated, the dough is kneaded until smooth and slightly elastic, after which it can be left to rest.
The green onion pancake dough is cut into several pieces and each one will become an individual pancake. First, the dough pieces are formed into balls and rolled into a flat, thin sheet. The surface of the sheet is brushed with oil, butter or any other type of fat that is used. Diced green onions are spread over the fat and the whole pancake is loosely rolled into a long cylinder.
The cylinder of dough for the green onion pancake is then twisted until it wraps around itself, forming a small spiral disk of dough. The disc is turned on its side and flattened, pressed down with a rolling pin, and worked into a flat pancake of the desired thickness. Thicker pancakes will cook more slowly and may remain a little chewy on the inside while a thin green onion pancake will tend to crisp up and get crunchy on the outside. The result of rolling the dough this way is that the finished pancake will have several layers on the inside which, when the fat starts cooking and steaming, will make it lighter than if the dough were cooked as one solid piece .
After the pancakes have been cooked in oil or butter until cooked through, they can be served flat on a plate like a traditional pancake, or they can be folded and eaten as a snack. A dipping sauce such as soy sauce or hot pepper sauce can be featured with pancakes. Bean paste, sesame oil, and sour cream are also appropriate toppings for pancakes.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
