More like a flatbread than a pancake, these Chinese Spring Onion Pancakes are easy to make at home. Super tender, chewy and flaky layers of dough with pungent spring onions folded through which sometimes get crispy and caramelised. Make sure you make a batch because they are super addictive and easy to eat.
I absolutely love Chinese Spring Onion Pancakes and order them every time I go to a Chinese restaurant. To be honest, I was a little intimidated at the thought of making these myself for the longest time, thinking they would be complicated, sometimes it’s nice to be wrong :). The dough is a simple dough made of flour, salt and a mix of hot and cold water. The hot water helps denature the proteins in the flour which results in a very tender dough giving it that chewy flaky texture. The filling is just sesame oil and spring onions. Very minimal ingredients required to make something so delicious.
How to make Chinese Spring Onion Pancakes
The trick to getting the layers so flaky and chewy is the technique in how you roll the dough. To begin you want to roll the dough super thin, brush on sesame oil, sprinkle with spring onions and shape into a sausage which you’re then going to roll up into what looks like a snails tail.
After letting the dough rest again for 10 minutes, roll out into a pancake shape about 1/3 ” / 0.5 cm thick. Some spring onions will poke out of the bread, that’s okay, those ones become crispy and caramelised.
For the crispy edges you want to make sure you have enough oil to coat the pan in a thin layer and have the pan and oil hot before adding the pancake, flip several times during cooking if needed to ensure even crispiness on both sides. They should only take 2 minutes each side!
Usually served as a side or snack, Spring Onion Pancakes are awesome as a meal especially if you add some chilli plum jam (or any asiany style of sauce ) and eggs – omelette in my humble opinion is the best.
Simply because you can wrap it up and eat it with one hand and on the go if needed.
If you try this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, or tag me on Instagram (@tillyeats). I love seeing what you create! 😛
Other Chinese recipes you might love:
- Chinese Chive Dumplings – a mixture of Chinese chives, noodles and seasoning wrapped in dough and pan-fried so the bottom becomes crispy.
- Wonton Soup – juicy pork wontons in a Chinese style chicken soup served with Chinese broccoli. Hearty and filling!
- Tangyuan Rice Dumplings – little sweet and chewy dumplings filled with black sesame and served in a ginger syrup.
Usually served as a side or snack, Spring Onion Pancakes are awesome as a meal especially if you add some chilli plum jam (or any asiany style of sauce ) and eggs – omelette in my humble opinion is the best.
- 2 cups plain flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup boiling water
- 1/4 cup cold water
- up to 1/4 cup sesame oil for brushing
- 2 cups chopped spring onions
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Mix flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Pour over the hot water, evenly, mixing with chopsticks.
Add cold water, a tablespoon at a time whilst still mixing until all the flour has been hydrated. Bring the dough together and cover and let rest 5 minutes
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After its rested turn onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth (5 mins). The Dough should be quiet soft. Cover and rest again for 30 minutes.
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Divide dough into four even pieces and roll into a smooth ball. Roll each ball into a large circle. Brush with oil and scatter over spring onions, leave a little space at the edge empty.
Roll dough into cylinder/sausage shape and then curl into the shape of a snails tale. Cover with a wet cloth and let rest 10 minutes. Roll the snail into a flat thin circle.
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Heat oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Place the pancake in and cook until browned, around 2 minutes. Flip and cook a further 2 minutes.
Calories are a rough estimate done by an online calculator and may not be fully correct
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NOTE: All images and text on this website are protected by copyright. Please do not post or republish this recipe/images without permission from me -Tilly. If you want to share this recipe, please share the link rather than the whole recipe. Thank you so much! 🙂
Peter Thomas
Excellent Tilly! Shared.