Text 1091, 101 rader
Skriven 2008-01-21 09:31:30 av DAVE SACERDOTE (1:123/140)
Ärende: Scallion Pancakes revisited
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Reprinting a revised copy of my scallion pancake recipe.  This recipe is
also available with photo illustrations on my blog at
http://davescupboard.blogspot.com/2008/01/how-to-make-scallion-pancakes.html


3 1/2 cups of flour
1 heaping teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups of boiling water
Sesame oil
1 bunch of scallions (3 to 5 scallions)
Oil for frying

This is easiest with a stand mixer. If you don't have one, you can 
do the initial mixing and kneading by hand.

Put flour into the bowl of your mixer and add salt. Using the dough 
hook, turn the mixer on low speed and allow the salt to stir into 
the flour. Then drizzle in 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Allow 
the mixer to incorporate the oil into the flour while you bring 
1 1/4 cups of water to a boil.

Turn the mixer to medium speed and add the boiling water slowly. 
As the water is combined with the flour, turn the mixer speed up 
and let the dough hook do the work. You may have to scrape down 
the sides of the mixing bowl a couple of times to get the water 
worked into the flour evenly.

When the dough holds together well, turn it out from the bowl and 
knead it a few times by hand on a lightly floured surface until 
you have a smooth, elastic dough. It will be very firm, appear 
silky, and not be sticky at all. Lightly oil a bowl with a little 
bit of sesame oil. Put the dough into the bowl and turn it a few 
times to coat the dough's surface and keep it from drying out. 
Cover with a damp towel and allow it to rest for at least twenty 
minutes. If you're going to do this step ahead, it's okay to 
let the dough rest longer - up to a couple of hours if you 
need to. Letting the dough rest allows the gluten in the flour 
to relax after the kneading, and there's no hurry.

While the dough is resting, trim the roots and nasty bits off a 
bunch of scallions and then chop them very finely into rings as 
thinly as you can manage. You'll need anywhere from three to 
five scallions, depending on how big they are. When they're all 
chopped, set them aside in a bowl.

After the dough has rested, roll it into a rough cylinder and 
divide that into eight equal segments. On a lightly floured 
surface, flatten each cylinder slightly with the palm of your 
hand and then roll it out to about an eighth of an inch thick. 
Sprinkle the pancake with flour lightly if you need to prevent 
sticking.

Rub a light coating of sesame oil all over the top surface of 
the pancake using your fingers. You don't need much; just a 
light glaze - enough to make the pancake shiny with oil. Then 
sprinkle it lightly all over with the finely chopped scallions. 
Don't use too many - just a tablespoon or so will do. If you put 
too many on, the pancakes won't cook well and the scallions 
will break through the flour and make a mess.

Carefully roll the pancake into a tight rope like a miniature 
jelly roll, making a scallion-filled dough stick. Then take 
that stick and form it into a coil, keeping the seams on the 
inside. Pinch the trailing end closed and tuck it under the 
coil to keep the scallions on the inside.

Gently press the top of the coil with the palm of your hand to 
flatten it a bit. Dust the coil with a bit of flour on both sides 
to prevent sticking, and roll it out into a thin pancake. Try to 
get the thickness between 1/8 and 1/4 of an inch. You'll see the 
scallion bits through the thin layers of pancake, and some of the 
scallions on the edge might break through a bit. Don't worry about 
them, that's OK. You should end up with about a 7- or 8-inch pancake 
when you're all done. After each pancake is rolled out, rub the 
top and bottom surfaces with a bit of sesame oil and stack them 
up between sheets of waxed paper. You can store the stack in a 
plastic bag in the refrigerator until you're ready to cook them, 
and they can be made up to three days ahead of when you need them. 
If you wrap each pancake individually in waxed paper, you can even 
freeze them for later use.

To cook: Put less than half an inch of cooking oil in a skillet a
nd heat it to about 350 F. Using tongs, carefully place a pancake 
into the oil and fry it until it is browned. As it fries, you may 
notice the center of the pancake lifting above the oil on the 
steam it generates. Use your tongs to slightly lift the edges 
and let the steam escape so the center browns, too. Turn the 
pancake over and brown the other side, too. As the pancakes cook, 
you'll see the trapped air bubbles in the pancakes expand and 
brown. The pancakes will be flaky, crisp, and all in layers. 
Drain on absorbent paper and serve hot, with a dipping sauce 
if you like. I make a simple dipping sauce of 1/4 cup soy sauce,
 a teaspoon of oyster sauce, 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar, 
a teaspoon of honey, some of the chopped scallions left over 
from making the pancakes, and some crushed red pepper.

---
Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, 
minutus carborata descendum pantorum
 * Origin: Doc's Place BBS Fido Since 1991 docsplace.tzo.com (1:123/140)