Crispy Flaky Chinese Scallion Pancake

Don't worry, scallion pancake has no resemblance to the fluffy buttermilk pancake that shows up on your breakfast platter. It's a savory side dish, popular in mostly northern Chinese regions (where wheat is the predominant grain of choice). For southerners like me (hardcore rice consumer), it's one of the first wheat dishes that we liked enough (lie, we loved it) and accepted into our rice-centric diet.

It's this flat pancake like disc, usually pan fried (or "tandoori'ed") to create a laminated dough and scallion heaven. Even for scallion non-eater (i.e. yours truly), it's delicious and worth making an exception for. It's also very quick to make with ingredients readily available in most western supermarkets. So for stranded (used to) international students living in the heart of westerners' communities, it's one of those few items that we can recreate that authentic taste without making any sacrifice nor going out of our way to purvey the ingredients.

I have attempted scallion pancakes before, but the problem is....I always end up making a dense salty dough with a hint of scallion, instead of what I remembered, this flaky + crispy thin disc of scallion harmony. So, despite knowing the dish probably could rank one of the most profitable dishes on a restaurant menu, I'd always order it.

Until this weekend! Thanks to Youtube, I finally attempted and successfully made a scallion pancake that's even better than many of the local Chinese restaurants' version (remember, I live in metropolitan, highly diversified Bay Area)... The secret: a different rolling method and a nutty roux that intensify the flavor.

I was inspired while binge watching The Scent of Clay, she is a farmer's wife from northern China. The channel details her daily life in the countryside: what she does, what she cooks, the lives of others etc. It's quite fascinating and addictive to watch, especially because people's lives are SOOO different from how I grew up (in the city in the south) and she's really lovely. If you are curious about how rural life in China is like, I highly recommend it.

Chinese Scallion Pancake
Yields 16 12cm round pancakes

Ingredients:
300g AP flour
~250mL hot water
Roux: 50/50 ratio of AP flour and oil (pretty much any mild flavored oil would be fine)
1 bunch of fresh scallion (the standard bunch from grocery store)
3 Tbsp raw sesame seeds
~1 tsp salt (divided)

If you haven't prepared hot water yet: boil some water, then let cool for about 15 min before use. The water should be slightly too hot to touch, but not boiling hot.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and about 200mL of hot water. Gently mix the dough and add more water as needed. The final dough (at this stage) should be on the dry side, but soft to handle. The hot water would work its way into the dough and hydrate it while the dough rests. (see link below on Scent of Clay's technique)
This part is completely opposite to typical western bread dough making. If you get the dough to typical bread dough wetness, you've added way too much water and will need to add more flour back in to balance it out.
Continue gently kneading the dough till it resembles a shaggy ball. Cover and put it aside to rest for minimum 15 min.
Grab a skillet and toast 1/4 cup of flour, stir frequently, till it's nice and with a hint caramel (very very light) color.

Once toasted, add oil and incorporate well to make a thin paste. Remove from heat and set aside. (See video link below for demonstration)
This step, for me, was the most time consuming step of the whole process. So if you want, you can totally make a bigger batch of roux so that you can save time in the future. It keeps pretty well in the fridge for a couple weeks.
Take the bunch of scallion, rinse it well and then pat dry. With one end (the white end) still fastened by rubber band, thinly slice the scallion to yield almost a cup of scallion. Use kitchen paper towel, again pat dry the scallion to remove moisture. This will make spreading it much easier later.
In the skillet that just made roux, toast the sesame seeds till fragrant. Remove from heat and lightly grind it (with a mortar) to release its aroma. Set aside in a small bowl.
Now turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently knead the dough to become a smooth elastic ball. Divide the dough into two, forming 2 smaller balls. Put one back to the mixing bowl, cover for later.
Roll out the dough into a rather rectangular shape, about 1/8 inch (3mm) thick. The thickness here dictates the numbers of layers later, the thinner the dough, the more you'd be able to roll it later.
Spread a thin layer of roux on the dough, followed by about 1/4 tsp salt sprinkled on top. (I just grabbed a pinch and sprinkle from about 2-3ft height, it will be nice and thin and even)

Then sprinkle half of the toasted sesame and sliced scallion on top, making sure that an even layer is achieved.
Gently roll the dough (length-wise) from one end to achieve a thin long roll. Divide the dough into about 8 pieces, and cut it with a sharp knife to make sure each small roll piece is separate.
You can now go back and prepare the other dough ball that still needs to be rolled out, or you can just wait till later after you've done eating what you've made.
Gently pinch the outer layer of the dough to close off the rolled cross-section. If there's some inner roll sticking out, gently press down to make a indentation to help closing the seams. Do the pinching/closing for both sides of the roll so that it now look like a puffy envelope. Turn the pinched side facing up, cinch the seams together so that you'd make a small cylinder out of that puffy envelope. Repeat for the other side as well, then set the dough right-side up on floured surface, like a chubby little drum.
For efficiency, it's better to repeat this step till all dough pieces are closed off.
Gently press the cylinder down to a round disc, then slowly roll it out into a thin disc.
Heat up the skillet (yes the one for toasting sesame) and add about 1/2 Tbsp of oil. Once the pan is hot, gently place one rolled out pancake disc into the pan. The pancake should start sizzling right away, flip it to the other side after 10 seconds, so that both sides will be coated with oil. Then taking turn to flip every minute or so until the pancake is golden brown, crisp, and translucent. The pancake will now be ready for you to enjoy, while you fry up the next pancake. Make sure to add some oil in between to prepare for the next pancake's arrival in the skillet.

I highly recommend pan-frying these pancakes in oil, because of the loose flour we used while working with the dough. I tried a couple without using oil, while the pancake didn't stick to the pan, it had this flour taste in my mouth that's not worth the calories saved.