Project (Scallion) Pancake

When my son was a baby starting on solid foods, I fed him plenty of good stuff like vegetables and fruit.  We bought our fair share of jarred baby food but as he got older, I also steamed fresh vegetables like carrots, squash, and sweet potatoes for him and fed him fruit like kiwi in hopes that he'd grow into an adventurous, healthy eater if he started off with a diverse diet.

You know...it didn't really work.  Once he realized there were other foods, he wasn't too keen on the kiwi and green beans anymore. My son is a fairly picky eater.  There are plenty of foods he loves to eat (like meat, for instance; and he loves salmon) but when it comes to fruits and vegetables, there's just a cozy group of those that he'll eat (some more willingly than others) as of now.  Because of that, we're constantly having a rotation of sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, potatoes, corn, avocados, apples, watermelon, and bananas.  Leafy vegetables, he is not a fan of.  Green might be his favorite color but that favorable opinion doesn't seem to apply to vegetables for some reason.

Somewhat surprisingly, he's always loved scallion pancakes.  I suppose these crispy pan-fried pancakes, dunked into a salty-sweet dipping sauce, pretty much renders the often itty-bitty amount of scallions hidden in them barely noticeable but I was nonetheless surprised when he first had them years ago at a restaurant and didn't insist on picking out every speck of green.  We used to call them "Chinese pizza" but whatever you call it, it's an appetizer that's hard to resist.

When I realized that scallion pancakes aren't nearly as difficult to make as I assumed, I thought it would be fun to make them with my now 8-year old.  If you'll indulge me, let's consider this the final trilogy in the "P" Projects - Project Pancake after Project Pizza and Project Pretzel.  I think I have a permanent little helper in the kitchen now so that these kitchen "projects" will hopefully becoming more everyday fun for us.

This project gave us another opportunity to play with dough.  No yeast this time - you need little more than all-purpose flour, water, and those scallions. We got a nice little workout kneading the dough.  After kneading and a little rest time (during which time we made a simple dipping sauce - a must), the dough changes from a stiff ball into a soft mound that was surprisingly pliable and easy-to-roll out.  

One recipe makes 8 small scallion pancakes, and you can freeze any you don't cook right away.  You make each by rolling a piece of dough into a small circle, topping it with scallions, and then rolling it up into a cylinder.  Then you curl the cylinder into a round, snail-like shape, flatten it, and roll it out again so that the scallions are embedded into the dough (see photos after the jump). It is time-consuming and I have to tell you that the rolling pin and I are not exactly close friends (we only see each other occasionally).  My little guy was a great helper but I took over the trickier part of the second roll with the scallions.  The Giants were playing the Broncos that afternoon so I let him loose after making the first few to enjoy the game while I continued to roll and roll these babies out...

For a few of the pancakes, I took some of the toasted sesame seeds I was using in the dipping sauce and added them into the pancakes themselves. The sesame seeds didn't make a big impact on the finished pancakes but it goes to show that you can add some other spices and ingredients to your scallion pancakes if you want to be adventurous.

I pan fried the scallion pancakes on a lightly oiled cast iron pan.  Rather than deep frying, this makes these pancakes a lot lighter - one of the reasons I love re-creating restaurant food at home.  Taste-wise, maybe deep frying makes for a more satisfying or "robust" scallion pancake but my fellas and I really enjoyed devouring this lighter version.  We stored extra pancakes in the freezer and took them over to impress grandma and the rest of the extended family about a week later during one of our family dinners!  

You only need a few basic ingredients to make these scallion pancakes.  The dough is simply all-purpose flour and warm water!  You'll also need some vegetable oil to brush onto the dough and to cook the pancakes in, scallions for the filling and some salt.  Playing around a bit, I also used some toasted sesame seeds I had on hand for my dipping sauce and sprinkled some into a few of our pancakes.

To start, simply mix 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour together with about 1/2 cup warm water in a bowl, adjusting the amounts if necessary so that you end up with a smooth dough that is not sticky.  Turn the dough out and knead it for 5 minutes.  Work it!

The little one learning to knead the dough

Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl and cover for about half an hour. During the rest time, we made a simple soy sauce-based dipping sauce (see recipe below). You'll find the dough nice and soft after half an hour.  Turn it out and divide it into 2 pieces.  Roll each piece into a 1-inch thick cylinder.

Then slice 2-inch long pieces from each cylinder or log.  I got a total of 8 segments but the recipe says 6-8.  It's flexible...you'll just end up with slightly larger or smaller pancakes.  

These little pieces of dough remind me of my grandfather.  He used to make dumplings - and food - of all kinds and I remember sitting at the kitchen table with my cousin a few times where he'd given us a piece of the dough to play with while he did real work.  The dough pieces looked a lot like these segments.  It was so much fun and I can see that kids just love playing with all kinds of dough!

To get on with the pancakes, take each piece, roll it out into a rough 5-inch round.  The dough is quite soft and easy to work with.  Lightly brush it with some vegetable, peanut, or canola oil.  Add some scallions and a sprinkle of salt.  For a few, I also added some toasted sesame seeds.

Then roll it up into a cylinder.

Coil the cylinder into a round mound, or snail shape.

Lightly flatten the snail dough and roll it flat again with a rolling pin.  Dust your pin with a bit of flour as needed.  Some scallions will pop out but that's okay.  Just tuck it back in as much as possible.

I'm looking at this picture and thinking: when did my son's hands get so big?

One done, 7 more to go!  I stacked them up between sheets of wax paper. Cover and place any you don't cook right away in a freezer bag and store in the freezer for another time.

To cook, I heated a cast iron pan with a bit of canola oil.  If you have a cast iron pan, I think it's the way to go here since it heats up so well.  The pancakes only need a couple of minutes on each side and are ready when they turn golden brown.

Cut your pancakes up and serve right away, while they're still hot, with some dipping sauce...and that's "Project (Scallion) Pancake"!  

Recipes:

Scallion Pancakes
Adapted from The Chinese Takeout Cookbook

- Makes about eight 5-inch round pancakes -

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup warm water
2-3 tablespoons peanut, vegetable, canola oil
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon salt
Optional: 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Place flour and water into a large mixing bowl.  Mix together using a wood spoon (or your hands) until a smooth dough forms.  If the dough is sticky, add a bit more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 5 minutes.  Place dough into a lightly greased bowl, turning the dough around so it's lightly filmed with oil all around.  Cover the bowl with a barely damp towel and let rest for 30 minutes.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into two pieces. Roll each half into a 1-inch thick cylinder or log.  Using a bench scraper or knife, slice each cylinder into 2-inch long segments.  You should end up with 6-8 pieces of dough segments (I got 8).

To make each scallion pancake, roll each segment into a rough 5-inch circle using a lightly floured rolling pin (the dough should be soft and easy to roll out).  Lightly brush the top of the circle with oil and sprinkle on some scallions and salt.  Also sprinkle over some toasted sesame seeds, if desired.

Roll the circle up into a cylinder, making sure scallions are tucked inside.  Coil the dough into a round, resembling a snail shape.  Lightly press down on the dough and roll out again with a rolling pin (dusting with flour, as necessary) until it is again about a 5-inch circle.  Some of the scallions may pop out of the dough.  Just gently tuck it in as best as you can.  Place the pancake onto a plate.  Repeat with the remaining dough segments, stacking the assembled pancakes between sheets of parchment or wax paper.

To cook pancakes, heat a cast iron pan or non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add about a teaspoon or so of oil and pan fry the pancake until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side. (For a darker, crispier pancake, fry them in a bit more oil.) Press down on the pancakes as it cooks to ensure even cooking and color on the pancakes.  Continue with remaining pancakes, adding more oil between batches.

Slice each pancake into four pieces and serve with dipping sauce (recipe follows).  These pancakes are best eaten immediately, hot from the pan!  If you don't plan to cook all the pancakes, place remaining uncooked pancakes - with wax paper or parchment paper between each - into a freezer bag and freeze for a later date.  Take frozen pancakes out of the freezer to sit on the counter for roughly 15-30 minutes (or until softened), then pan frying until golden brown.


Soy Dipping Sauce for Scallion Pancakes
Adapted from Martha Stewart

(You could always double the recipe depending on your needs but a little goes a long way)

1/4 cup soy sauce (I used a mix of regular and low-sodium)
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Mix all ingredients together until sugar is dissolved.