some people would disagree.
Well, the thing I have noticed with a lot of Asian joints is it is their aim to rip you off. Before people became aware of Chinese cooking or what good Chinese cooking was, they would nod and smile and eat up every single concoction of deep fried wonderment that Asians would serve them, not even knowing if the person who served them were in fact from that part of China, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia (etc, you get my point) they claimed they were from.
People are falling in love with spring onion pancakes all over again, or even for the first time.
Here’s a secret: they’re not meant to be thick, doughey slabs of deep-fried. If they’re deep frying it, they’re being lazy and not creating the layers for you.
Firstly, this recipe is from Pei Mei’s Chinese Cook Book (Volume 1), written half in Chinese and half in English. It was my father’s and I inherited it when I moved out, it was also published in the 60’s.
But, I will write it here, translated into English that we can all understand and call spring onions, spring onions and not scallions, or green onions.
3 cups plain flour
1 cup boiling water
1/3 cup cold water
lard or vegetable oil
2/3 bunch of spring onions, finely sliced
salt
oil for frying
Sift the flour into a large bowl and add the boiling water, the next instruction was to mix it immediately and vigorously with chopsticks, which I actually did before I read it but you can use a fork if you like. Allow it to cool for a bit and then add the cold water, mixing to combine. Knead until it becomes all silky and comes together.
Then, roll into a large ball and cut into 6 pieces.
Then, take one piece and roll it out into a flat disc. Brush with lard or vegetable oil (I used rice bran oil because that is all I had) and top with the finely sliced spring onions and salt.
Roll it up.
And then coil it (into the shape of a snail, according to Pei Mei).
Then, flatten it with your palm and roll out with a rolling pin.
Now, heat up a heavy skillet over a high heat and add a tsp of vegetable oil, not olive oil.
As you cook it, shake the pan, this will crisp up all the layers that you have created, then flip after a minute or two and do the same. You may not need to add more oil as you are cooking it as the heat from the pan is enough to not make them stick.
When it is cooked and golden brown on both sides, take it off the pan, cut into quarters or sixths, depending on the size you like and serve with a soy/black vinegar and fresh chili dipping sauce.
There. Now you know the difference between a deep-fried puck of flour and a spring onion pancake.
13 Comments
fucking delicious
OK – I know what I’m cooking tomorrow night now…look delicious!
haha! my mum has not one, but inexplicably, two copies of pei mei vol 1. old school, but still good.
I LOVE SPRING ONION CAKE!.
I LOVE DIPPING IT IN BLACK VINEGAR! (is that weird?)
my partner from shanghai think it is, but i converted her after the years together. do add some chilli oil though.
YUM
I discovered your blog on Sunday night and stayed till 2am to read, when I have to be at work on a Monday morning. It was that captivating – cynical & non-pretentious. Count myself a new fan.
Reemski- indeed it is.
Essjayeff- made any yet? How did it go?
Mon- How good are they? So rare and awesome. Broken englisha nd cooking with chopsticks, my kind of cooking, really.
Hutyi- I have mine with vinegar and soy and fresh chilies when they’re around. Not weird at all.
Chien- Aww, shucks. Thanks, I hope I can keep entertaining you.
oh yeah baby! or should i say “fly pancake, velly good!”
how come my parents never gave me cool Chinese cookbooks like that. i needs some of that. now.
These are such an example of ’simple is best’. Although I frackin hate it when they’re doughy and not cooked on the inside, like some we got from New Shanghai in Chatswood a few weeks ago. The best ones in Sydney (IMO) are at Uighur Cuisine , of all places. Yours look pretty dang good too.
Confucious say everything old is new again, well, he probably didn’t, but they look damn fine examples of the genre. Cool parents to give you such a great gift.
Made these delicious salty carbo snacks last night. Yum! I’ll post my photos soon.
Awesome! I made these tonight to serve with some prawn and mushroom dumplings. They worked really well and were surprisingly easy to make! Thanks.
Oh man, how am I meant to go to bed now??? Am so making these this week.
Well, I didn’t quite make them when I said I would, but I did just make them and OH MY. Delicious.
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