Scallion Pancakes (蔥油餅)

I've been helping porpsy make scallion pancakes and various other baked bread goods since i was a kid.  My grandma and I made this batch on March 20, 2011.

prepping and cooking time: 1.5 - 2 hours

Ingredients

• 1 bunch green onions
• 9 cups of sifted white flour
• ~1.5 cups of warm water
• ~1.5 cups of cold water
• salt
• extra flour for kneading
• a stick of butter
• oil for frying

1) Put 9 cups of flour in a large mixing bowl. Slowly add in warm water while stirring with chopsticks.

 2) Slowly add ~1.5 cups of cold water while continuing to stir with chopsticks.  My grandma does it the old fashioned way - dripped straight out of the kitchen faucet.  Keep stirring with chopsticks until the flour starts clumping together, then start forming a dough with your hands.

3) Transfer the dough to a flour-covered counter top and continue kneading.

3) Knead the dough until smooth.  Cover it with a moist cloth or paper towel and let it rest for 15 minutes.  

4) Chop the green onions while you let the dough rest.

5) Knead the dough a bit more to wake it up.  It should be soft and malleable but not sticky.

6) Roll the dough into a log, almost like a loaf of bread.

7)  Cut the dough log into chunks about 2-3 inches wide.  Each chunk will form one scallion pancake.

8) Melt the stick of butter in a pan on the stove. 

9) Take a dough chunk and squash it against the counter to flatten it. Roll it out as thin as you can without tearing it.  Pro tip: as you roll it out, leave the center slightly thicker, and roll from the center to the edges.  This prevents you from ripping a role in the center.

10) Add about a tablespoon of melted butter to the rolled out dough and spread it out.

11) Sprinkle some salt on top.

12) Add 1-2 teaspoons of chopped green onion.

13) Roll the dough in starting from one edge.

14) Roll it all the way up.

15) Roll the dough again now inward, like you're making a snail shell pattern.

16) Squash the end of the rolled up dough into the center of the snail shell pattern to hold it in place.

17) Gently roll out the rolled-up dough again, but not too thin this time.

18) Repeat steps 9-17 for the remainder of the dough chunks.

19) Start cooking the scallion pancakes.  Fry them over medium heat until brown and crisped on both sides.

20) Eat while hot!

Even the burned ones taste pretty delicious!

21) Store uncooked scallion pancakes in freezer bags.  Have grandma label them in chinese.  :)