flat as a pancake

I used to buy frozen green onion pancakes from the Chinese supermarkets. They were cheap and easy to prepare and were best eaten with chicken curries or beef rendang but also nice by themselves as a snack. I recently discovered a super easy recipe online and decided to attempt them fresh. A good friend of mine also has a recipe for these pancakes on her blog - Taiwanese Recipes, but I have yet to attempt her version.

Now that I know how easy they are to make and how much better they taste fresh, I won't be looking for them in the frozen section any more.

dough divided into 8 balls

spring onion pancake before it is shallow fried

crispy spring onion pancake

spring onion pancakes
created: 9 january 2012

[ingredients]:

• 200g plain flour
• 1tsp salt
• 125ml hot water
• 3 spring onions (green bits only), finely sliced
• 1tbsp sesame oil
• extra plain flour for dusting
• vegetable oil for frying

[method]:

• shift the plain flour into a mixing bowl.
• add the salt and combine well.
• gradually pour the hot water into the flour mixture and in a circular motion, bring together the flour and water using your fingers.
• knead the dough for about 5-10 minutes until the dough is no longer sticky and has a smooth appearance. Shape into a large ball.
• cover the dough with a damp cloth and set aside for an hour.
• lightly dust the work surface with plain flour.
• divide the dough into 8 equal sizes and shape into a ball.
• roll out each ball into a thin disc (about 2mm thick). Add spring onions and reshape into a ball.
• repeat for all 8 pieces.
• lightly brush each ball of dough with sesame oil.
• then lightly dust each ball of dough with flour and roll out each individual ball into a thin disc (about 2 mm) using a rolling pin.
• sprinkle each disc/pancake with flour and set aside on baking paper until ready to fry.
• in a fry pan, add 1 to 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil. 
• add the pancake when the oil is hot and fry each pancake until crispy and golden. This will take around 1 minute on each side.
• you may have to keep adding oil to the fry pan after each pancake it cooked.

Best consumed immediately.

Makes: 8 mini pancakes