Scallion Pancakes (葱油饼)

葱油饼

Scallion Pancakes (葱油饼) — Northern snackNorthern China / street food home cooking.

Ingredients

• all-purpose flour
• hot water (not boiling)
• neutral oil + 1 tbsp flour (for paste)
• scallions, finely chopped (dry them on a towel)
• salt
• oil for frying

Instructions

1. Mix flour and salt. Slowly pour in hot water, stirring with chopsticks, until it forms shaggy clumps. Knead into a smooth ball. Cover, rest 20 minutes. (Dough comes together into a smooth, elastic ball)
2. Meanwhile make the oil paste: whisk oil + flour until smooth. Dry the chopped scallions on a paper towel (wet scallions make soggy layers). (Paste is smooth, pale, and spreadable)
3. Divide dough into 4 balls. Roll each into a thin rectangle (about 2-3 mm). (Rectangle is thin enough to be slightly translucent)
4. Spread oil paste thinly over the dough, sprinkle with scallions. Roll it up tightly into a long log, then coil the log into a spiral. Rest 5 minutes. (Coil holds its shape; layers are visible at the cut edge)
5. Roll each coil gently into a flat pancake, about 5-6 mm thick. Don't press hard — you want to preserve the layers. (Pancake is even thickness, spiral pattern visible)
6. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a skillet over medium. Fry the pancake 2-3 minutes per side until golden and crisp. (Golden-brown patches; pancake puffs slightly and layers separate)
7. Move to a cutting board, rest 1 minute (traps steam = flaky). Cut into wedges. Repeat for remaining pancakes. (Pancake steams slightly as it rests; layers lift when cut)