SCALLION
PANCAKES
Everyone
loves scallion pancakes, and once you have Blue Ginger Cracker Dough
on hand, they couldn’t be simpler to make.
Yeh-Yeh, my paternal grandfather, used to
stuff his scallion pancakes with ground pork or beef. For the ultimate
version, why not treat the pancakes
like pita bread or tortillas and wrap them around a beef
stir-fry? Or fill them with cold chicken salad? The combination of the
hot bread and the cold salad is
tremendous.
These are
served with a sambal-spiked dipping sauce.
Makes 4
pancakes
DIPPING
SAUCE
-
1
tablespoon Traditional Spicy Sambal or store-bought sambal
-
1/4 cup
rice wine vinegar
-
1/4 cup
naturally brewed soy sauce
-
1
tablespoon Asian sesame oil
-
3
tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
-
1 pound
Blue Ginger Cracker Dough
-
2 cups
scallions, white and green parts, cut diagonally 1 1/6 inch thick
-
Kosher
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
-
1
tablespoon grapeseed or canola oil
1. To
make the dipping sauce, combine the sambal, vinegar, and soy sauce in a
small bowl and mix. Set aside.
2. In a
small bowl combine the sesame and olive oils and set aside.
3.
Flour a work surface and on it roll the dough into a rectangle 1/8 inch
thick. Brush the dough with the oil
mixture, sprinkle with the scallions, and season with salt
and pepper.
4.
Starting with one long side nearest
you, roll the dough jelly-roll fashion to make
a tight log. Cut the log into 4 equal pieces.
5.
Roll 1 piece with your palms to make a
skinnier log about 12 inch in diameter. Twist
each end of the log in opposite directions 4 or 5 times (this will make
additional pancake layers),
then wrap the log around itself to make a coil, tucking the outside
end beneath the coil. With a rolling pin, flatten the coil to 1/4 inch
thick. Repeat with the
remaining dough to make 3 more pancakes.
6.
Heat a large nonstick sauté pan over
medium heat. Add the grapeseed oil and swirl
to coat the pan. Depending on the pan’s size, add 1 to 2 pancakes and
cook until brown and crispy on
both sides, turning once, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Cook the
remaining pancakes. Slice each pancake into 4 wedges. Serve the pancakes
with the dipping sauce.
VARIATION
For
a savory pancake addition, mix 2 cups of finely chopped raw shrimp in a
bowl with the scallions.
Sprinkle the dough evenly with the mixture, and proceed with the recipe,
frying the pancakes 3 to 4 minutes per side.
