Friday, July 18, 2008

scallion pancakes: the snake and the snail


scallion pancakes - an easy snack

I love food friends. My friend Lily, from Shanghai, likes to show me how to make asian food. It's usually so simple, just something I wouldn't think to make. I like that for her, it's regular weekday food, not a party trick. Plus we get to eat on all her lovely asian pottery.

Last time she made Chinese spring rolls, of which I ate about 20 (I'm such a pig!). This week she showed me how to make scallion pancakes (and sushi, but that's for another post). It was so easy and so fun. Her son calls it "the snake and the snail" because that's what it looks like when you roll it up. My picky 4yr old loved them and the next day, begged me to make them again - music to my ears. I'm hoping I can include grated veggies in my next batch to make this a healthy snack.

1. Mix 2 cups flour with 1 cup water (or more or less, just keep the ratio 2:1) until it becomes a smooth ball. The recipe I used had me put the flour in the food processor and pour boiling water through the feed tube as it processed. This was effective, but probably not necessary. The recipe also said to let the dough sit covered for an hour but I used my after about 10 mins with good results.



2. Tear off a section of dough, a bit bigger than a golf ball. Roll it into a thin circle. Brush with oil and sprinkle on sliced spring onions and salt (don't skimp!).

3. Roll up the circle into a snake (as shown above).

4. Then roll up the snake on itself like a snail, tucking the end under one flat side of the circle so the onions don't fall out.



5. Smash the circle flat and roll it out thin again. It might tear a little with some oil and onions peaking out. Don't worry. It'll still taste yummy.

6. Heat a pan to med-high and brush with a little oil. Fry up the pancake, a couple minutes on each side. You want it golden brown and cooked long enough that the inside isn't doughy.

7. Slice and serve.

8 comments:

Astrid said...

Beautiful! I'm so glad to hear from you again. And what a coincidence, I have scallions in the fridge right now, waiting to be turned into scallion pancakes. It's true! I don't have a lovely Asian friend who teaches me how to cook, sadly, but I saw a few blog posts that inspired me. And now with yours, I have no excuse not to try.

Alice said...

YUM!

Zurich Mama Geek said...

Those scallion pancakes look awesome! Just like my grandmas! I must get sesame oil soon.

I have to say, your blog does give me hope that one day I'll get off my sorry Po and start cooking interesting things again. But for some reason I'm in a rut of getting the same old things at Migros and Coop and cooking the same old dishes.

jorge vicente said...

yummy yum yum

Jessica said...

OMG..

Please, if you weren't married I might have to steel you away and have you make these pancakes for me daily... then again, that would be weird. You are right... you can make more than the pancakes if you want. ;)

These remind me of what I used to eat all the time when I lived in Korea. Thanks for sharing.

(Ps. if you would like to run away and make me these pancakes just say the word...)

Tanya D said...

Thanks for all the encouraging comments. It makes me happy :)

Susan C said...

can't wait to try these! You are truly amazing.

SwissMiss said...

What a fun recipe. Have to try.

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