葱油餅 Cong you bing - Scallion Pancakes

We can have 葱油餅 Cong you bing - scallion pancakes for breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner. These savory pancakes satisfy cravings for Chinese comfort food.

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<Cooking time: 2 hours, including 1 hour waiting time>

Ingredients:

• 200 grams (1 2/3 cups) all-purpose flour (optional: substitute up to 20% with whole wheat flour)
• 140 ml (1/2 cup & 1 tbsp) hot water (70% hydration)
• 1-2 green scallions chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon oil or sesame oil for the pancakes
• oil for the pan
• servings: 2 pancakes

Steps for scallion pancakes:

1. In a large bowl combine the flour, salt, and hot (boiling) water with a spatula or a pair of chopsticks. Once the dough starts to come together and not too hot to touch, transfer the dough onto a floured surface.
2. Knead the dough into a ball until the surface becomes smooth.
3. Cover the dough with a cloth and let it rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes to 1 hour.
4. Divide the rested dough into half and transfer one half onto a floured working surface and leave the other half under the cloth.
5. Roll out the dough as thin as possible — thinner the more pancake layers.

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6. Oil the surface of the rolled out dough with 1/3 -1/2 tablespoon of oil or sesame oil, and then sprinkle half of the chopped scallions evenly over the surface.
7. Starting from the long side of the rectangular dough and roll the dough into a log, and pinch the seams together.
8. Take one end of the log and twist it into a flat spiral.
9. Gently roll out the spiral into a 1/4" disk, make sure not to push too heavily onto the dough otherwise the scallions and the oil will leak out from the cracks.

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10. Transfer the pancake onto a parchment paper or a non-stick surface until cooking, Repeat the same process to the remaining half.
11. Heat and oil a flat pan and then place the pancake. Cook on medium heat for 3-5 minutes on one side and then flip and cook the other side for the same amount of time until golden-brown. Turn the heat down to low and cook both sides for another 2-3 minutes for additional crispiness.
12. Cut the pancakes into wedges and serve.

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Freezing Scallion Pancakes:

To freeze, place each freshly made pancakes between parchment papers or plastic film wraps and store in zip-lock bags. I doubled the recipe portion and divided the pancake dough into 6 portions so that the pancakes were small enough to fit zip-lock bags (gallon size). To heat the pancakes, just remove the pancakes from the freezer and directly heat on the pan without defrosting.

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