Scallion Pancakes

[dockhl]

So, greyelf just posted a picture of Shanghai Beef Roll (Five Spice Beef, sliced thinly dressed with hoisin and wrapped in a Scallion Pancake. ) that is so gorgeous it makes me want to cry. Instead, I think I will make Scallion Pancakes. I've made them in the past but never been totally happy with the texture....they aren't the crispy flaky pancakes that I get in a restaurant. I use a basic recipe but....

Any suggestions? I am really getting hungry....

BTW, HERE is the Chinese Food Picture Album thread with all the unbelievable pictures.

[fmed]

It takes a lot of experience and skill to create a flaky scallion pancake like you can get at a restaurant. (I've tried...and haven't yet come close.)

It's similar to attempting a perfect pizza crust or pie crust....practice, practice.

[prasantrin]

If you browse around eGullet, Ling has posted some awesome pictures of homemade scallion pancakes. I think she may have posted her recipe, too, but I'm not sure.

[hzrt8w]

So, greyelf just posted a picture of Shanghai Beef Roll (Five Spice Beef, sliced thinly dressed with hoisin and wrapped in a Scallion Pancake. ) that is so gorgeous it makes me want to cry. I

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Gotta give the oscar to the right person.

It's fmed who posted the pictures.

I agree that I have made those scallion pancakes at home before. Very far from what they make in the restaurants. I am not skillful enough...

Would a good home-made Mexican tortilla recipe work about the same? They are very similar. Just add some oil and chopped green onions.

Edited March 1, 2008 by hzrt8w (log)

[dockhl]

So, greyelf just posted a picture of Shanghai Beef Roll (Five Spice Beef, sliced thinly dressed with hoisin and wrapped in a Scallion Pancake. ) that is so gorgeous it makes me want to cry. I

←

Gotta give the oscar to the right person.

It's fmed who posted the pictures.

I agree that I have made those scallion pancakes are home before. Very far from what they make in the restaurants. I am not skillful enough...

Would a good home-made Mexican tortilla recipe work about the same? They are very similar. Just add some oil and chopped green onions.

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Ah Leung~

As usual, you are correct ! fmed, I am sorry that I gave the credit to another ....greyelf was simply expressing the same sentiment as I ! LOL

[insomniac]

If you browse around eGullet, Ling has posted some awesome pictures of homemade scallion pancakes. I think she may have posted her recipe, too, but I'm not sure. 

You are spot on Rona, Ling did post the recipe...it is Henry's mother's...I copied it down so carefully I can't find it!

[dockhl]

Hmmm, well if it Henry's mama's I just have to have it ! I'll PM Ling or look around.

Tried to make them this evening for dinner but was thwarted by the Too sensitive smoke alarm. Made me pretty cranky , because I think I had a good dough, enough oil on it, lots of scallions.....it was coming together ! But none of them got cooked quite enough since when they'd get 2/3 done the damned smoke alarm would go off. So I was running back between the stove when I'd put a new one on, and the alarm with a big cookie sheet, flapping away at the ceiling. Boy Dog was outside looking at the house, waiting for it to blow up Girl Dog was jammed between me and the stove, between my legs (she weighs 100+ lbs )

So, I may try again after I get the batteries out of the smoke alarm. I think I was on the right track, altho the dough was pretty soft. They weren't bad, especially after I put them in a 350' for a little bit. A tad bitter. (Me, or the pancakes? Maybe both.... )

[prasantrin]

I found this one from Ling, but I think it was from before she and Henry started dating.

Maybe the other one is in their foodblog?

[dockhl]

Well, it looks like I was doing everything right....I wonder if frying in peanut oil was a mistake.

[fmed]

I think that this is one of deceptively simple dishes that takes a number of tries to get right. You'll also read in the thread that duck fat or lard is often used to enhance the flakiness. The bitterness you experienced is probably from burnt scallions. Try a lower temperature. It's also important that the scallions are completely encased in th thin dough and not exposed to the hot oil directly.

That is mamster's recipe in the Seattle Times link above. Maybe he'll weigh in.

(I wonder if we could convince Cooks Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen to do a piece on it. It's that kind of a dish )

PS...Szechuan Chongqing, the restaurant mentioned in the article, is still in business. It used to be my 'go to' restaurant because of proximity (I live within a few minutes of there). It's still a good place...but I don't go there much now. It still has excellent scallion pancakes, but the overall quality of the restaurant has declined somewhat since it's heydays in the late 80's. It's still better than most Sichuan restaurants anywhere else in NA, but the standard bar is so much higher now.

[dockhl]

the scallions are completely encased in th thin dough and not exposed to the hot oil directly.

might have been part of the problem; also, I may have been cooking at too high a temp.

CI sounds like a great idea. I wish I had somewhere around here to get them

[jo-mel]

The flakiness is not so much as the amount of oil (or the temperature) they are fried in, as much as the amount of oil/fat or whatever, is encased in the dough.

When the dough is rolled out, make sure it is nice and thin, then don't spare the oil when you spread it on the dough. I've used regular oil and sesame oil, but crisco or lard is even better. When the thin layer of dough is rolled up, cut, and then rerolled, all that fat is trapped in layers in the pancake.

Back a while, Chef Robert Tsou had a wonderful pictorial on-line. I have a copy of it, but I can't find it on a google search, no matter how I try.

But the secret is in using plenty of fat within the pancake and then frying in a small amount of oil over moderate heat.

[WillLack]

They do these at the Red Pepper, Causeway Bay in HK - I love them

and also at the American Restaurant in Wanchai HK

I don't see them on the menu in China Town in London - although I have had them at Oriental City in north London ( Colindale ) there is a food court there and there is Beijing place that does them ....