Spring Onion Pancakes (cong yu bing)
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 4 pieces
Cong yu bing, a flaky, coiled, spring onion pancake ubiquitous across China. It's sustained me on many a long journey in China hot off the pan.
Making these involves a particular set of processes that includes binding, rolling, folding, squashing and frying. Make it in bulk.
Add 30 minutes rest time to the prep.
Ingredients
For the pancakes:
- 275g plain flour, plus 2 tbsp extra
- Fine sea salt
- Coconut oil
- ½ tsp Chinese five spice powder
- 6 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
For the sesame sauce:
- 30g tahini
- 75g sweet white miso
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 tbsp white-wine vinegar
- ½ tsp chilli oil sediment plus 1 tbsp oil
Method
Prepare the dough
- Fill and boil half a kettle of water. In a large heatproof bowl, use a fork to mix the flour, a big pinch of salt and 165ml freshly boiled water until it comes together into a rough dough and is cool enough to handle.
- Knead for five minutes, then cover with a clean tea towel and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.
Prepare the filling
- While the dough is resting, prepare the filling. Melt two tablespoons of coconut oil in a nonstick pan, then pour into a small heatproof bowl.
- Put the pan to one side, but don’t wash it up – you’ll use it again later, to cook the pancakes.
- Add the five spice, the two extra tablespoons of flour and a quarter-teaspoon of salt to the melted oil, stir to combine and set aside.
Prepare the sauce
- Mix all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl, add two tablespoons of cold water to loosen it a little, and set aside.
Make the pancakes
- Once the dough has rested, rub a little coconut oil on a worktop and on a rolling pin, then roll the dough into a roughly 20cm x 30cm rectangle.
- Spread the five spice mix evenly over the top (take care not to tear the dough) and sprinkle the sliced spring onions on top of that.
- Starting at one short end of the dough rectangle, roll up the whole thing into a tight cigar. Move the dough sausage so it’s horizontally in line with the edge of the worktop, then cut into four even slices.
- Put the slices cut side down on the worktop and, using the greased rolling pin, gently press each slice into a round pancake shape measuring about 13cm across.
Cook the pancakes
- When you are ready to cook the pancakes, melt two tablespoons of coconut oil in the nonstick pan, gently lift in one pancake and cook for three to four minutes on each side, until golden brown all over.
- Remove from the pan and keep somewhere warm while you repeat with the remaining oil and pancakes (keep a close eye on the heat under the pan – you may need to reduce it to make sure the pan doesn’t get too hot).
Serve the pancakes hot with the sauce for dipping or drizzling over the top.
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