Chef Rich Ho's Scallion Pancakes
Chef Rich Ho of Ho Foods makes some of the best scallion pancakes we've ever had (maybe because they're made with lard from our heritage breed pork). They make a great accompaniment to his Lu Rou Fan recipe.
Sometimes these heritage breeds carry a little bit more fat, it’s what makes them tastier! But sometimes we just don’t want to eat all that fat at the same time, so at the shop we render some of that belly fat and use it to make scallion pancakes.
There are a million versions of this (from small to giant, yeasted, and using hot water, warm water, cold water, sourdough etc…) Hopefully this is a simple and fun one to do at home.
Tips before you start:
- Warm water lets you roll this out slightly faster, even though you still gotta rest it.
- This is an oil rested dough, it’s got pros and cons, but at the very least you don’t get as much flour everywhere! (Just a bit)
- These can be frozen, and cooked straight from the freezer.
- Salting the scallion softens them up, so they don’t pierce through the dough.
Ingredients:
- 400g all purpose flour (plus a little extra on the side for dusting)
- 220g warm water
- 300g of sliced scallions
- 30g salt
- Lard
Preparation:
- Mix flour and water until it comes together, no need for it to be smooth.
- Portion to 150g balls.
- Let rest in oil, covered preferably, for about an hour.
- Roll out into a thin sheet, as thin as you can go without breaking.
- Spread on a thin layer of lard.
- Scoop a packed tablespoon of the salted scallions and spread it around the dough evenly.
- Dust with flour.
- Roll and rest for 30 minutes.
- Swirl then rest (see the video below)
- Flatten to as thin or thick as you like, about 3mm is a nice place.
- Cook on a medium low heat until the middle is cooked, then crisp up at a medium high heat until brown.
- Eat! Keep it whole and rip it apart. So fun and tasty that way.
Watching this video explaining how to swirl the pancakes: