Super crispy and flaky on the outside and slightly chewy inside, my dim sum favorite, scallion pancakes, make a wonderful snack that you’ll love! {Vegan}
Chinese scallion pancakes are always such a hit at dim sum. You’ve likely seen them as an appetizer or side dish to go with all those stir-fry dishes that you love. But did you know you can make an even tastier version at home?
The secret to scallion pancakes is the crispy, flaky exterior that gives way to a slightly chewy interior of thin layers. When fresh-off-the-stove, it is extra crunchy and addictively fragrant. They are such a treat that you can enjoy them on their own, and they’re perfect for snacking. And your kids will adore them!
Once you’ve tried the homemade version, there’s no going back to takeout scallion pancakes.
Why this recipe
I shared a recipe a few years ago and since then I’ve been perfecting the method. Today I want to share an updated version that uses even simpler ingredients to yield a better result.
- A dough that’s easy to work with and takes minimal time to prepare and rest.
- Delightfully crispy and flaky texture with thin layers inside.
- Extra green onion stuffing, giving it a more aromatic flavor.
- Skipped the animal fat while maintaining the flavor and the texture of the dish.
After many tests, we found out the perfect flour-to-water ratio to create a dough that is elastic and not too soft. So you will be able to work in more layers and create a better texture.
My previous scallion pancake used chicken fat. It was super delicious but it did require an extra grocery run. Plus, I’ve received many requests for a vegan/vegetarian version. Using this recipe, you can simply use regular vegetable oil with more green onion to create a very delicious result.
Ingredients
All you need are some basic pantry ingredients to make great scallion pancakes – all-purpose flour, water, salt, vegetable oil, and green onion.
To further boost the taste, you could add some ground Sichuan peppercorns to the filling, but it’s totally OK to skip them.
Extra green onion
How you cut the green onion can greatly affect the outcome of your scallion pancakes. Instead of thinly slicing it into round shapes, I prefer to:
- Halve the scallion lengthwise.
- Thin slice them into very small half-moon pieces.
The smaller the green onion pieces, the easier it will become when you roll them up in the dough. This cutting method creates fewer air pockets and allows you to stuff more green onions.
What oil to use
Traditional Chinese scallion pancakes use lard, which makes it easy to work in the layers, and it adds a fragrant taste. I used to enjoy using chicken fat, because it creates an even more fragrant taste.
Over the years, I’ve tried to make my diet healthier, so I’ve tried using plant-based oil instead of animal fat. I found out that many oils work. My favorite is peanut oil, which adds a nutty taste to the pancakes. Olive oil and coconut oil work great too, if you enjoy their unique taste. If you use a neutral vegetable oil, you can blend in 1 tablespoon sesame oil to add fragrance.
Cooking process
Cooking scallion pancakes might look daunting at a glance. My detailed step-by-step photos will help walk you through how to prepare the dough and shape the pancakes like a pro.
Part 1 – Prepare the dough
If you’re making a big batch of scallion pancakes, you can use a stand mixer to make the dough. But I found it easy enough to knead the dough by hand.
- Slowly add the hot water to the flour and mix it at the same time.
- Mix until the hot water is fully absorbed
- Slowly add the cold water and continue mixing
- Dough flakes should form once all the water is added
- Start to press everything together with your hand
- You can add a bit more water if there’s too much dry flour left. Or you can slightly add a bit more flour if the dough is very sticky. Once you’ve pressed all the dough flakes together, you should have little or no dry flour left.
- Knead about 5 mins until a tough dough is formed.
- Let rest for 20 mins, then knead for 1 minute to form a smooth dough.
Part 2 – prepare the filling
The best way to make the scallion pancake filling is to make an oil flour paste (not simply brushing oil onto the dough). This way you can work in layers easily without pressing out the oil as you roll out the pancakes.
To make the filling, simply mix the dry ingredients with the oil until it forms a smooth paste.
Part 3 – Forming the scallion pancakes
- Cut the dough into 6 pieces and work on the pieces one at a time. Use your hands to shape the dough into a rectangular shape.
- Roll the dough
- The dough should form a very thin rectangle.
- Add the flour oil paste
- Spread out the paste, leaving about 1” (2.5 cm) on both a long and a short end without the filling (your top and left)
- Add the green onion, concentrating most of it towards a long and short end with the filling
- Gently roll up the dough, as tightly as possible
- Press the air bubbles out of the dough strip
- Further roll up the long dough strip
- Tuck the end on the bottom
- Gently press the tall pancake
- Let it rest while you work on the rest of the pancakes
PS. I prefer to rest the formed pancakes for a few minutes before rolling them out, to let the gluten relax, so you can roll them out easily.
NOTE: the photos were shot on the opposite side of the table from where the pancakes were made. If the recipe description looks upside down or confusing, check the video at the bottom of the recipe so you can get a better idea.
Part 4 – Roll and cook the pancakes
- Roll out the pancakes when you’re ready to cook
- Heat up a pan with a layer of oil on the bottom, add the pancake, and wiggle the pancake a few times so it won’t stick
- Let the pancake cook covered first
- Flip the pancake and cook covered again
- Then cook uncovered, until both sides of the pancake are browned
- You can use a spatula to press the pancake, to help with even browning
NOTE:
- You can either use a cast iron skillet or a nonstick pan. Either will work. If you use a cast iron pan, you will need a generous amount of oil to prevent the pancakes from sticking.
- It’s possible to use less oil to cook the pancakes. But for the best result – golden brown surface and extra crispy texture, you will need a thin layer of oil to cover the bottom of the pan (not just a few drops).
- It’s important to cook the pancakes covered at first, to cook through the interior.
How to store scallion pancakes
The best thing about these pancakes is that they can be stored raw or cooked.
If you’d like to get the best fresh result, freeze the scallion pancakes raw after you roll them out. Carefully stack them with a piece of parchment paper in between, then transfer everything to a large ziplock bag. Press out as much air as possible and seal the bag. Freeze the pancakes for up to 3 months.
To cook the frozen pancakes, simply let them thaw at room temperature for 8 minutes and cook them using the same method.
If you cook all the pancakes and have leftovers (very unlikely!!), you can put them in a bag and store them in the fridge for a few days. You can either reheat them in the microwave or on the stovetop. Note, if you reheat a cooked pancake, it will still be quite crispy but the texture will turn a bit chewier.
Afterthought
Chinese scallion pancakes do take a little time to prepare and the recipe might look ridiculously long. But compared to other classic Chinese dim sum, this one is actually easier to make. If you’re new to dim sum making but love bread, this is a great place to start.
These scallion pancakes taste so good that I would refrain from making them often, because I’ll just eat them all (lol). But these are my favorite and they taste so much better when you make them at home. Since you can make them ahead and freeze them for later, they are perfect when friends or family come by. If you’ve never had them before, you’re absolutely going to be in love at first bite!
Dishes to serve with
Complete your Chinese restaurant style dinner with these dishes below:
- Mapo Eggplant
- Salt and Pepper Pork Chops
- Chinese Egg Drop Soup
- Chicken Fried Rice
- Sweet and Sour Pork
- Chinese Chili Garlic Shrimp
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Chinese Scallion Pancakes (葱油饼)
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 cups (300 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) boiling water
- 1/4 cup cool water
Filling
- 1/3 cup (50 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup peanut oil (or your favorite oil like olive oil, melted coconut oil, melted butter, or melted chicken fat etc.)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 8 green onions , split down the middle and chopped (yield 1 cup)
Cooking
- Vegetable oil for pan frying
Dipping Sauce (Optional)
- 1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Chinkiang vinegar (or rice vinegar)
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
Make the dough
- OPTION 1 – USING YOUR HANDS: Combine the flour and salt in a big bowl. Stir to mix well. Slowly drizzle in the hot water while mixing it with a pair of chopsticks (or a fork), until the water is fully absorbed. Slowly drizzle in the cool water, continuing to stir until many dough flakes form. Press the dough together, and try to combine the wet dough with the dry flour. Drizzle in a little extra water if there is any dry flour remaining. Knead until a firm ball is formed, about 5 minutes. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.
- OPTION 2 – USING A MIXER: Combine the flour and salt in the mixer bowl with the dough hook attachment. Turn it to the mix setting and slowly drizzle in the hot water followed by the cool water. After a minute of mixing, drizzling in a little extra water if there is any dry flour remaining. Turn to setting 4 and knead until a ball of dough is formed, about 3 minutes. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.
Make the filling
- While the dough is resting, combine the flour, oil, and salt in a small bowl. Mix until a smooth paste is formed.
- If making the dipping sauce, combine all the ingredients with 1 tablespoon of water in a small bowl and mix until the sugar is dissolved.
Form the scallion pancakes
- When the dough is done resting, knead for another minute until it is smooth. Cut the dough into 6 even pieces, about 76 grams per piece. Form the dough into balls using your hands.
- Work on one dough ball at a time, covering the rest with plastic wrap to prevent drying out. Roll each dough ball into a thin rectangle with a rolling pin, aiming for around 6×10” (15×25 cm). Lift and turn the dough regularly as you roll it to prevent sticking. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the filling onto the dough and spread it evenly with the back of a spoon, leaving about 1” (2.5 cm) on top and the left end without the filling. Sprinkle 2 heaping tablespoons of green onions onto the paste, concentrating most of it towards one side of the length and one side of the width, creating a loose L shape (see the blog post above for the step-by-step pictures).
- Begin rolling the dough from the longer side of the dough where the green onions are concentrated, until you have one long tube. Lightly flatten the tube using your hand. Pinch the side with more green onion to seal it. Take the sealed side and gently pull and roll it towards the unsealed side, using your hand to smooth out the dough to push any large air bubbles out. Tuck the loose end under the rolled bun. Gently press down on the round disk with your hand to seal the pancake.
- Set the formed pancake aside and cover it with plastic wrap. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until each pancake is ready.
Roll out the pancake
- Roll each prepared pancake into a circle, about 7-8” (17-20 cm) wide. Flip and move it as you do to prevent sticking. Don’t worry if air bubbles burst through or some green onions fall out.
- If you plan to store the pancakes and cook them later, place each pancake onto a piece of parchment paper and stack them. Transfer the pancakes to a large ziplock bag, squeeze out as much air as possible, and seal the bag. You can freeze the pancakes for up to 3 months.
Cook the pancakes
- Heat a 9” (23 cm) cast iron pan (or a nonstick skillet) over medium-high heat and add enough oil to fully coat the bottom. Once the oil is hot, add a pancake. Use a pair of chopsticks (or a spatula) to swirl the pancake around to spread the oil and prevent sticking, for a few seconds. Cover the pan and turn the heat down to medium. Let the pancake cook, covered, for 1 minute. Remove the lid and flip the pancake, cover, and cook for another minute. Remove the lid. Use a spatula to press the pancake, to ensure even browning. Continue to cook, flipping regularly, until both sides are crisp and browned, about 3 minutes. Turn to medium-low heat if the pan gets too hot. Transfer the pancake to a cooling rack or a cutting board to cool. Repeat to cook all the pancakes you plan to serve.
- Once the pancakes are slightly cooled enough to handle, cut into 6 pieces and transfer to a serving platter. Serve hot with the dipping sauce as an appetizer.
Cook frozen pancakes
- Let the frozen pancakes thaw for 10 minutes then proceed from step 8.
Store and reheat cooked pancakes
- Place the leftover pancakes in a ziplock bag by stacking them together. Store in the fridge up to 3 days. To reheat, add a pancake to a pan and heat over medium heat, cook, flip occasionally until the pancakes turn warm throughout.
Video
Nutrition
If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.
Other classic dim sum recipes
- Pineapple Buns (Bolo Bao)
- Chinese Steamed Custard Buns (nai wong bao, 奶黄包)
- Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork, 叉烧肉)
- Char Siu Bao (Steamed BBQ Pork Buns) 叉烧包
- Chinese Chive Pockets (韭菜盒子, Chinese Chive Dumplings)
- Chinese Turnip Cake (Lo Bak Go, 萝卜糕)
Lilja Walter is a part of the Omnivore’s Cookbook team and worked closely with Maggie to develop and test this recipe.
This recipe is quite easy, the instructions are great and outcome is fantastic! Crispy chewy and delicious!!
I really enjoyed watching this beautifully laid out video, and including the crunchiness of the cooked pancakes was spectacular! You hit the spot – mouthwatering moment.
The pancakes turned out amazing and I’m excited that I can freeze the extras to have these as snacks on hand 🙂 Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Hi Maggi… Watching your video is so therapeutic! I tried this recipe once and swore I will not try it again. Yet, here I am reviewing your video again and planning to get 8 big spring onions. I was sweating buckets especially when it comes to the rolling, shaping. Quite a lot of work. I also found the pancake kind of rich. It could be because I used butter instead of oil??? I will try using oil this time. When I used butter, the paste did not have the same consistency as your video. It was way too thick and unspreadable. Maybe butter is not the best option?
Hi Gayle, I’m glad to hear that you decide to give this dish another try.
Re butter – did you fully melt the butter before making the paste? I’ve never used butter personally but I’ve used chicken fat, which has a similar thick texture. You might need to slightly reduce the flour or add more fat to get the spreadable texture. However if you think butter is too rich, I highly recommend using regular oil. It is really delicious and it let the green onion flavor shine through.
Good luck and I’m looking forward to hear your feed back!
I have tried a fair number of recipes for scallion pancakes but until now, has not found one that is comparable to a family favorite at a restaurant. Unfortunately the restaurant closed down recently. This recipe bought so much joy to my boys who misses the restaurant chongyoubing. Thank you for sharing it! The oil+flour filling is magical!
These were amazing and simple to make!
Hi Maggie,
I enjoy your blog and regularly get inspiration for the next meal or snacks!
Thanks for a well-described recipe (Scallion pancakes) and video! I made this last night as part of a veggie-inspired dinner. I used goose fat for the filling but had to add canola oil as the paste was too thick (glad I watched your video and saw how the filling/paste looked like).I was disappointed at the results though. The pancakes turned out flaky/crispy on the outside but didnt taste very much. My husband who loves to try new foods missed the savoury flavour that comes with Chinese food – spices, black pepper, salt. I followed your recipe to the letter except that I used more green onions. Perhaps I should have added more salt and turned on the black pepper mill and some 5-spice powder to the filling to get some flavour?
Hi Marirow, I’m sorry to hear the recipe didn’t work out for you.
I did reduce the salt level after many testing. Because you can serve the pancakes with a dipping sauce, I was afraid some people would think they’re too salty.
I used to add ground Sichuan peppercorns (you can also replace them with black peppers) with my pancakes. But I decided to skip it to let the scallion shine through. You can definitely add some peppercorns if you prefer. I wouldn’t use 5-spice, which is quite pungent. If you want to add it, I would use a very small amount (like a pinch) and mix it in the filling paste, so it will be distributed evenly.
Hi Maggie,
Thanks for replying! I’m not sure what went wrong with my pancakes. Looking back, I thought the scallions were not strong enough but I used more than what was asked for in the recipe and still it didn’t help. I did use a lot of freshly ground black pepper and added some salt to the fried pancakes and these helped. My husband thought that the pancakes were good enough without the dipping sauce but needed the extra spices to stand on its own.
Btw, I made your Chinese Tea eggs and they were yummy! They looked exactly what you showed on your video! I kept the eggs for some days in the marinade to let the flavor of the marinade come through the yolk. Thanks for this lovely recipe!
I recently made your cumin lamb noodles and they were a hit. This prompted me to try something else yesterday during a storm. I made these following the recipe exactly. Definitely had some air bubbles and took me a few pancakes to get the rolling down but they came out delicious! Super crispy and flavorful. Added a bit extra water to the dipping sauce as my husband is a vinegar phobe and that made it perfect for his tasting. Another 5/5. Thank you!
Very clear instructions. Definitely will try to make it. Thank you
Simple recipe, few ingredients, and easy to make. The sauce is to die for perfect as well – just make it ahead of time to allow the flavors to meld.
it has come out great both times I’ve made it, thanks for the recipe. I made the same mistake both times, I mixed the scallions into the filling goo, which makes it harder to spread. So if anyone reads this far, leave out the scallions until you spread the filling mix
I made this recipe today, it came out great! Very beautiful looking pancakes. Thank you.
Great recipe. Easy to make. Dough came out perfect. I think the trick of using boiling water really made a difference to creating an excellent dough. I did use a pasta roller to make the initial rectangle. That saved some work.
Part 1. Number 5. What does it mean to Start to press everything together without hand?
It’s bad typing and auto correction. Sorry about that! Just updated. It should be “press everything together with your hand.”
I made these last night and they were DELICIOUS! The filling past quantity didn’t seem enough so I did need to make a little extra but otherwise this turned out perfectly.
Made the pancakes today as I was craving for it. Steps are easy to follow. The video is a bonus. I’m definitely a fan of your recipes.
I have made this recipe a few times already and every time it comes out a little different the scallion pancakes always come out great. The variation probably comes from the different brands of flour that I have used – they each have had slight different levels of germ or whole wheat so the moisture in the dough changes. I have begun to look out for the proper texture for the dough to get the final texture right. Also, the use of chicken fat provided the best flakiness (I have used vegetable oil as well as lard for comparison).
I admit I was afraid to make this recipe but the ingredients and Step by Step with pictures and Video were so Helpful !! My only comment was that the filling came out a little thicker than yours so I added more olive oil.
Recipe came out Delicious and I was super happy to finally be able to try something that is my Sons Favorite !
THANKS !!!
So amazing, the tip to cut the scallions lengthwise and then chop made all the difference. I also had some leftover bacon fat which I mixed with vegetable oil and sesame oil to make the oil mixture. Will definitely make this recipe again.
Great recipe, very easy to follow and the pictures were very helpful. I loved them so much I’m making them again tonight!