Its seldom that Im stunned by a food hack.
Im often wowed, surebut this scallion pancake trick had me sit-down-shook.
Grab some dumpling wrappers and lets get layering.
What are scallion pancakes?
Made-from-scratch scallion pancakes require a dough usually made from flour, water, salt, and maybe oil.
Like all doughs, consistency is important, and this one has to be flexible, but not sticky.
If this sounds confusing to make, it can be.
The trick to these scallion pancakes is forgetting the hand-made dough completely and using round dumpling wrappers instead.
They usually come in packs of about 50, all stacked up and wrapped in plastic film.
Fill and fry them like a scallion pancake, and its no wonder why theyre spot-on.
The round dumpling wrappers are your dough, pre-made and shaped.
All you have to do is layer.
Finely chop a couple of scallions, and have salt and oil at the ready.
Take one round of the thawed dumpling dough and place it on the counter.
Theyre dusted with cornstarch to prevent sticking so you dont need to worry about flouring your work surface.
Use a pastry brush and slather a thin coat of neutral cooking oil onto the wrapper.
Sprinkle on a pinch of salt, and about a teaspoon of the scallion bits.
Lay a second dumpling wrapper on top and press down.
Repeat the oil, salt, and scallion pinch so you have a total of five dumpling wrappers.
Using a rolling pin, start in the center and roll out.
Turn the dough to roll out the opposite end.
Its normal for the oil and cornstarch to make a paste and ooze out a bit.
Pick up the pancake and flip it over, so the bottom is now facing up.
Roll again to get a circular shape.
If you dont flip top to bottom, the bottom wrapper wont stretch along with the others.
Add about a tablespoon of neutral oilI use canolato a frying pan, and heat over medium-low.
Fry the pancake for about two or three minutes per side.
Each side should have deep brown, blotchy areas and little bubbles along the dough.
see to it the pan has enough oil in it.
This is a fried dough, so just embrace it now and bask in its glory.
This pancake is legit.
Its crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside, slightly salty, and intensely scallion-powered.
Every bite is flaky (thank you, layered wrappers) and threaded with tender green slivers.
Like all properly fried foods, mysteriously, it wont feel greasy.
The only thing I missed about handmade dough is the tendernessemotionally and physically.
A handmade pancake has a soft stretchiness to it that you cant get with the dumpling wrappers.
That being the only small downside, these fill my scallion pancake needs through and through.
Try it out, and enjoy a fabulous allium-centric snack.
Youll use this to brush the wrappers.
The rest of the oil will be for the frying pan.
Place a dumpling wrapper onto the counter and, using a pastry brush, swipe with oil.
Sprinkle a pinch of salt, and a pinch of the minced scallions on top.
Add another dumpling wrapper and repeat.
Do this until you have five wrappers and four layers of scallions.
Use a rolling pin to flatten the pancake until it is a circle about five inches across.
The dough will become quite thin and all of the layers will stick together as one.
The finished pancake will have deeply browned patches and small bubbles.
Repeat with all of your pancakes.
Cut into quarters and serve.
