Green Onion Pancakes

My first experience with Green Onion Pancakes

was when I visited
Shanghai for the first time. One morning, I was
feeling jetlagged so I headed
down to the hotels lobby for an early morning
breakfast. The breakfast set
menu was traditional Chinese fare: freshly made soy
bean milk, you tiao (fried
cruller), tea leaf egg, and Green Onion Pancake.
As soon as my order arrived, I got a whiff of the
green onions. The Green
Onion Pancakes were crispy yet doughy in the
middle, each bite was mildly
salty and then the oniony fragrance surfaced. I
enjoyed the pancakes
thoroughly, especially with a glass of warm soybean
milk, on that sleepdeprived
morning.
The best Green Onion Pancakes are made with lard,
so feel free to use lard
(instead of oil) if you like.
Makes 8 pieces or serves 4 as an appetizer
11/2 cups (200 g) all-purpose flour
11/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup (125 ml) water
3 green onions (scallions), green parts only, trimmed
and cut into small
rounds, to yield about 1/3 cup
2 tablespoons oil
Some additional all-purpose flour, for dusting and
rolling

Oil, for frying

1 Sift the all-purpose flour into a big bowl and then add the
salt into the flour. Combine
well and set aside.
2 Bring the water to a boil. Slowly add the water to the flour
and knead the dough until
its no longer sticky and the surface becomes smooth, about
10 minutes. If the dough is
too dry, add 1 tablespoon of water to the dough. Cover the
dough with a damp cloth and
let it rest for 30 minutes.
3 Add the green onion into the dough and combine well.
4 Make the Green Onion Pancake by following the
instructional picture guide on page 47.
5 Add about 1/4 inch (6 mm) of oil into a stir-fry pan or skillet
over moderately high heat.
Transfer a piece of the pancake into the pan or skillet.
Shallow fry each side of the
pancake to a light golden brown, about 1 minute. Flip the
pancake over and shallow fry
the other side. Add more oil, repeat the same for the
remaining pancakes and serve
immediately.
HOW TO MAKE THE GREEN ONION PANCAKES
1 On a flat and floured surface, divide the dough into 8 equalsized pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a ball using your
palm.
2 Working with one dough ball at a time, roll the dough to a
thin disc using a rolling pin.
Dust the rolling pin with some all-purpose flour as you go.
3 Brush the surface of the disc with the oil.
4 Roll