Bacon Fat Scallion Pancakes

I've been making scallion pancakes the same way for years using a recipe I got from one of my chef friends, but recently I tried a different recipe based on a recommendation from the same friend and discovered this one makes just as good, if not better scallion pancakes in a lot less time!

One of the main ingredients for the recipe she sent me was lard, but since I don't usually have that in stock, I tried substituting with bacon fat.  I'm surprised no one else came up with this combo before because it's basically combining two of the greatest tasting things in the world into one.  I fiddled around with the other ingredients a bit to balance out the extra flavor from the bacon fat and ended up with this recipe.  I think it's flavorful enough to not need a dipping sauce, but if you really want one, you can mix up some soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, and hot sauce to your liking.

Bacon Fat Scallion Pancakes
makes 5 pancakes

300 gram all-purpose flour
6 grams kosher salt, divided
10 grams sugar
175 grams warm water
30 grams chopped scallions (about the amount from 1 bunch of scallions)
50 grams bacon fat, melted
Vegetable oil for frying

Mix the flour, 2 grams of salt, sugar, and warm water together and knead for 5 minutes until it forms a cohesive ball of dough.  Cover and let rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.

In the meantime, chop the scallions, melt the bacon fat, and measure out the remaining 4 grams of salt.

Divide the dough into 5 equal portions (I like to use the scale for this).  Roll out one of the portions into a rectangle.  Flip the dough occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the work surface.  When it won't get any thinner with a rolling pin, gently stretch the dough out with your hands to get it even thinner, but stop if the dough starts to rip.

Spoon a fifth of the melted bacon fat on top of the dough and spread it all around with the back of the spoon.  Sprinkle a large pinch and a half of salt all over and then do the same with a fifth of the chopped scallions.

Starting from the long edge, roll up the dough to form a long rope.  Don't worry about making a tight coil; focus on making the dough as thin as possible by continuing to gently stretch it out as you roll it up.  Once you've formed a long rope, coil it up into a spiral with the seam side down and tuck the end underneath.  Use your palm to squash the coil into a flatter disc.  Set aside and repeat with the other 4 pieces of dough.

Heat up a frying pan over medium high heat with enough oil to generously coat the bottom.  If you have any leftover bacon fat you can add it to the oil.  While the oil is heating, use your hands or a rolling pin to flatten one of the discs even more.  Aim for the pancake to be a little less than 1/4" thick, but don't flatten it completely or else you'll lose all the layers.

Fry the pancake until golden brown on one side and flip.  It's okay if you need to flip it a few times to get it evenly browned on both sides.  While you're waiting for it to cook, go ahead and flatten the next pancake.  When the pancake is done, transfer it to a wire rack.  Make sure you have enough oil left in the pan and fry the next one.

If you have any leftovers, I like to quarter and freeze them so that I can use my compact air fryer to reheat them.

Next:  Mochi Waffles
Previously:  My Communion Bread
Last Year:  Pork, Cabbage, and Tofu Dumplings
Two Years Ago:  Cranberry Curd Tart
Four Years Ago:  Puppy Chow Pie
Five Years Ago:  Miso Pumpkin Soup
Six Years Ago:  Thomas Keller's Lemon Tart
Nine Years Ago:  Tim Tam Slam Ice Cream
Ten Years Ago:  Curry Turnovers

Korean Pancake Face-Off

As much as I love the traditional Chinese scallion pancakes, I have to admit, I love Korean pancakes (pa jeon or pajung or whatever) even more. I love how they're so moist on the inside but still super crispy on the outside. And even better, it's a great way to get rid of leftovers, which I really appreciate because some weeks I have a lot of leftover hot pot ingredients that I need to get rid of.

The only problem is, every time I ask a Korean how to make this from scratch, they just tell me that their moms make it from the mix. Seriously? I can't think of a single thing that my mom makes that uses a mix! Fortunately, I live close enough to several Korean grocery stores and can pick up the mix, which does deliver an almost no-fail pancake every time.

Looking at the list of ingredients, though (wheat flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, MSG), it just seems incredible that it can't be replicated from scratch. I've tried both David Lebovitz's and the New York Times versions, but they both couldn't compare to the mix. The last week I saw this post on The Kitchn. Could it be that I finally found a recipe that could replicate or even supersede the mix?

It seemed likely. Not only did this recipe include rice flour, which I always assumed was used in pa jeon because of the light, moist texture, but it also used seltzer water to add airiness to the batter. So I decided to have a side-by-side comparison of the two pancakes. The ground rules:

1. I used the same filling for both: scallions, diced and sweated bok choy stems, sliced fish cake, marinated and sauteed beef, sliced and sauteed Chinese sausage.
2. I would use the same non-stick pan and the same amount of oil (exactly 2 tablespoons of canola) for each.
3. I would cook both the same way: 4 minutes on each side at medium heat.

Homemade Korean Pancake from Scratch (based on this recipe)
makes 1 big pancake

1.2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cups cold unflavored seltzer water
1/2 tablespoon canola oil, plus extra for the pan

In a large bowl, gently mix flours, eggs, seltzer, and oil until smooth. Let rest a few minutes and then stir in filling, tossing to coat.

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and coat with 2 tablespoons of canola oil. When pan is hot, add batter and spread out so it's no more than a half-inch thick. Turn heat down to medium-low.

Cook about 4 minutes, flipping when pancake no longer resists, then cook about 4 minutes on the other side. Pancake should be crispy and brown, with no liquid inside.

As you can see from the pictures, I had a hard time flipping the pancake over in one piece, but that's due to user error and not one of the criteria for this contest.

Korean Pancake Mix (from the back of the bag)
makes 1 big pancake

1 cup Korean pancake mix
3/4 cups water

In a large bowl, mix mix and water until there are no lumps. Add filling, mixing to coat.

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and coat with 2 tablespoons of canola oil. When pan is hot, add batter and spread out so it's no more than a half-inch thick. Turn heat down to medium-low.

Cook about 4 minutes, flipping when pancake no longer resists, then cook about 4 minutes on the other side.

The batter for the mix version was definitely a lot drier due to the fact that there was no egg or oil added, and you definitely had to "push" the batter around in the pan to get it to an even thickness. And once again, I tore the pancake in two trying to flip it over. So I guess both versions are even there. =P

For the dipping sauce, I mixed equal portions of rice wine vinegar and aged soy sauce and added a splash of sesame oil and a pinch of sugar.

Side-by-Side

Comparing the two, all testers found that one was definitely more moist and generally had a preferable texture (less dense) to the other. Otherwise, there didn't seem to be too much of a difference in flavor, although Jenny did mention that because we were using a dipping sauce, just about anything would've tasted the same.

Can you guess which version won the taste test? Answer in the next post.

Taiwanese Scallion Pancakes

This is the first recipe in Sugar and Soy Sauce, and because it's not my mom's, I'm not forbidden to share it. =) Karen Kirkup taught me the recipe, which she learned while working at Icarus. I've tried making scallion pancakes from scratch before but could never get them quite as light and flakey as I like; they were always just a little too chewy. You don't get that problem with this recipe because the secret is in letting the dough rest so that the gluten relaxes enough to allow you to stretch the dough out really, really thin. The recipe is super simple, but just make sure you give yourself sufficient time; the results are worth it.

Scallion Pancakes (Cong You Bing)
makes 6 pancakes

1 lb. all-purpose flour
1 cup warm water

Chopped scallions
Vegetable oil
Salt

Mix the flour and water together and knead for 5 minutes. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes at room temperature. Knead for another 5 minutes and let rest for another 30 minutes at room temperature. Knead one more time for 5 minutes.

Divide into 6 (4 oz.) portions. Roll into balls and cover liberally with oil. Cover and let sit in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Let the dough come back to room temperature. On an oiled stainless steel surface (I used my non-stick baking tray), roll out one ball of dough and stretch out as thin as possible into a rectangle, being careful not to make any holes in the dough. You should be able to cover almost the entire surface of the baking tray, if you're using one.

Brush the top with oil and sprinkle with salt and scallions.

Starting at one long end, start "flipping" inches of the dough towards the other long end so that you are kind of rolling it up into a long snake. Once it is all folded up, twist the dough like a rope and then coil it up into a spiral. Flatten the spiral with your hands to form pancake discs. Repeat with the other balls of dough.

Heat a liberal amount of oil in a frying pan. When it is hot (but not smoking), add one pancake. After a few minutes, flip once it is golden brown on the bottom. Wait another few minutes until the second side is golden brown as well. Repeat with the other pancakes.

Slice the pankcake into wedges and serve hot with a dipping sauce of soy sauce mixed with vinegar, sugar, and sesame oil.

To store the pancakes, freeze them in a freezer bag and re-heat on the pan with additional oil. You can also try toasting them in the oven, but it will get dry.

Flaky!