Everyone has a different name for these, ranging from Scallion Cakes to Green Onion Pies. Regardless of what you call them, these Chinese treats are wildly popular for good reason. They are savory, wonderfully aromatic, crispy, and flaky. Nothing is quite like a good scallion pancake, fresh and hot off the skillet.
Chinese Scallion Pancakes and I go way back. We’re such old BFFs that I can’t even remember the first time we met.
Whenever I sink my teeth into a crispy, flaky, salty scallion cake, I think of a couple of hole-in-wall Chinese restaurants that were favorite destinations for my parents to take us. Piping hot savory pancakes fresh off the frying pan. Total bliss.
Scallion Pancakes never disappoint. They’re always mouthwatering, satisfying, and completely addictive. There’s nothing else quite like ’em…
Now that we no longer live near those authentic hole-in-wall Chinese restaurants that make the most awesome scallion pancakes, my options are to settle for frozen ones from Asian grocery stores or make them myself.
In a desperate pinch, we’ll go for toasting up some frozen scallion cakes. But we all know store bought can’t hold a candle to homemade. Homemade scallion cakes are simply phenomenal.
Chinese scallion pancakes are supposed to be an appetizer, but we seriously eat so much of them that it’s more like the meal itself. I’m the Best Mom in the World when I serve these up. The Littles and the Hubby snag ’em up so fast, I always help myself to my fair share before putting them on the table.
It takes only a few ingredients to pull off these homemade scallion cakes. The itty bitty trick is rolling them up and out. That’s what gives these pancakes their flaky layers inside. You just have to get one scallion cake up your sleeve and you’ll have it down.
Classically, scallion pancakes are made with lard. Previously infamous lard is actually enjoying a little comeback, but I’m still not doing it. We sub it out with real butter, and it works beautifully. Score.
Enjoy!
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Scallion Pancakes (Green Onion Cakes)
- Yield: makes 6 pancakes 1x
- Category: appetizer, asian
Description
These Scallion Pancakes are made with butter instead of lard. They are flaky, crispy, salty, and completely addictive. Plan ahead for a bit of rest time for the dough. Serve these guys immediately after frying, and watch them disappear.
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1/3 cup cold water
- 6 T salted butter, softened
- 6 T chopped green onions
- table salt
- oil for frying
Instructions
- Place flour in a large bowl. Add boiling water and mix with wooden spatula (will be thick and rather dry.) Let cool a few minutes. Add the cold water and knead the dough 5 minutes, until it is smooth. If dough is too sticky, add a bit more flour. Dough should be pliable and smooth, a bit tacky (like play-dough) but not sticky.
- Cover with cling wrap and let rest 1 hour at room temp.
- Transfer dough to a floured working surface. Divide into 6 even pieces and roll each piece of dough into a 10-inch round. Spread about 1 TB of butter on top of each round. Sprinkle each round evenly with 1/4 tsp table salt, followed by about 1 TB green onions evenly over the surface of each.
- Roll each round tightly up like a jelly roll (think taquito.) Then take one end and roll it up to the other side into a wheel (think cinnamon bun.) Secure ends tightly pinched. Let the buns rest, covered, for 15 minutes.
- On a floured surface, gently press bun down to flatten (swirly side up) and roll out to 1/4 inch thick pancakes. Butter may seap out a bit during the rolling.
- Heat 2 TB oil in a large nonstick pan, over medium-low heat. Once oil is hot, gently place one cake into pan and fry until crispy and browned, shaking pan often. Flip over and fry other side the same way. Repeat with remaining pancakes. Pancakes can be kept on a paper towel lined baking sheet in a slightly warm oven, until all are prepared.
- Cut into wedges and serve immediately.
Source: Chew Out Loud
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I have never heard of these and I think I have been missing out. They look soooo flakey. Thank you for the introduction
Ooh, you have to try them, Carol… you can always try them first at an authentic Chinese (Mandarin or Taiwanese style) restaurant. These are so good 🙂
Love all your Chinese recipes. Thank you and have a great Tuesday.
This was so much fun to make! Tastes like the real thing! I used half part butter and half part lard. I stuck the leftovers in the freezer and will reheat as needed. Hopefully they will taste just as good reheated. Thank you for sharing!
Whoop Whoop! So happy to hear it, Jennie 🙂 Sometimes ppl are fearful of lard, but it’s actually perfect for this; good call! They are easily reheated from frozen by putting in toaster oven or toaster, too 🙂 Thanks for coming over today and hope you continue finding recipes you love here at COL!
I made them but, I used self rising flour and exquisite lard from Pennsylvania. They were very big and fluffy. I would make them smaller next time possibly for an appetizer with different chili dips and spicy jams.
Self rising flour will have ingredienta that make them fluffy. For traditional results, use all purpose flour. Glad you enjoyed; dip ideas sound yummy!
Your photo was stolen from this website, which features authentic green onion cakes. http://www.iheartradio.ca/virginradio/edmonton/trending/man-who-brought-green-onion-cakes-to-edmonton-is-hosting-cooking-classes-recipe-inside-1.3748305
Your recipe is different than the authentic, so how could they possibly have the same flakiness?
Thanks for letting me know; yes, they must have grabbed my original copyrighted photo from my site. Unfortunately, this happens 🙁 Try the recipe; I think you’ll love the flakiness 🙂
Great recipe!!! Can’t seem to order these nice and crispy during the quarantine so decided to make some! Thank you for this! It hit the spot!
★★★★★
Katie, so so happy you enjoyed these! They definitely hit the spot when you can’t get them from a restaurant.
Would this work with gluten free flour? Hmmmm
Hannah, you can try using a reliable GF flour mixture that includes rice flour. The only other thing that may need modifying is the water:flour ratio… it really depends on how “absorbent” your flour is. The key is dough that is pliable, soft, and feels like play-doh. It should come together easily; just sticky enough but not overly so. Hope that helps!
Any way to sub out the butter/lard for a vegan version?
You can try shortening, if you’re staying away from butter or lard 🙂
Just made these in Derby, UK during lockdown, because I miss my best friend in Edmonton and the ones we got there. Thanks for the recipe, they were fantastic and I dipped them in ponzu and chilli oil x
★★★★★
So happy you enjoyed these! Coincidentally, my best cousin is from Edmonton 🙂