Scallion Pancake Goodness

One sad thing about my apartment is the lack of nearby Chinese food. There's plenty of Thai and Japanese, but I've yet to find some really good Chinese within walking distance (although I did notice a little storefront the other day when I was wandering around). So, to compensate, I was forced to try my hand at one of my favorite Chinese orders, scallion pancakes.

That having been said, I can't say these are at all authentic - just tasty. I picked the recipe up from a friend in college, and I've kept it more of a "make it however you want, decide what tastes good" recipe. So just work the dough until it feels right, and add the oil, scallions, and salt and pepper as you see fit.

And I've never been sure of the sauce that scallion pancakes are served with, so I just combined some Ponzu and the leftover chopped scallions, and this seemed to be pretty good. Is there a real recipe for the dipping sauce?

As a side note, does anyone have a suggestion for best scallion pancake in Boston?



Scallion Pancakes
2 cups flour
1/2 cup warm water
1 bunch scallions, finely chopped
sesame oil
salt and pepper

Mix together flour and water in a large bowl until the water is absorbed and the dough is not sticky. Add more water a tablespoon at a time if all the flour doesn't incorporate. Once the dough is formed, knead it about 20 times, then cover with a towel and let rest for 30 minutes.

Cut dough into 6 equal pieces. Roll out each piece as thin as it will go, then spread the dough with about a teaspoon of oil, salt and pepper, and a sprinkle of scallions. Starting at one edge, roll the dough up into a cigar shape, making sure the scallions don't escape or get all bunched up together. Then coil the cigar into a spiral and press the spiral down with your hand. Roll this until it is thin, about 1/8 of an inch. Repeat with remaining dough pieces.

Fry each pancake over medium heat in a little vegetable oil. Stack all the fried pancakes and cut into triangles.