Flaky, layered Chinese flatbreads laced with scallions and garlic, pan-fried until golden and crisp.
Cong you bing, or scallion pancakes, are a staple of Chinese breakfast stalls and home kitchens, built entirely around lamination technique rather than a leavened dough. A simple hot-water dough is rolled thin, brushed with oil and packed with chopped scallion (and here, a bit of garlic), then rolled up into a log and coiled before being rolled flat again — that coiling is what creates the dozens of thin layers that separate and flake when the pancake fries. The hot water in the dough is essential: it partially cooks the flour's starches, giving the dough a pliable, slightly chewy texture rather than the tougher result you'd get from a cold-water dough. Pan-frying in a generous amount of oil over moderate heat is what turns the outside deeply golden and shatteringly crisp while the inside stays soft and layered. Served hot, cut into wedges, these are eaten plain or dipped in a simple soy-vinegar sauce, and they reheat well in a dry skillet for a quick breakfast any day of the week.
Serves 4
Stir boiling water into flour and salt with chopsticks until shaggy, then add cold water and knead into a smooth dough, about 5 minutes. Cover and rest 30 minutes.
Divide dough into 4 pieces. Roll each into a thin rectangle, about 3mm thick, then brush generously with oil.
Sprinkle chopped scallion, minced garlic and a pinch of salt evenly over the oiled dough.
Roll the dough up tightly into a log, then coil it into a spiral like a cinnamon roll, tucking the end underneath. Flatten gently with your palm, then roll out again into a disc about 18cm wide.
Rest the coiled dough for 5 minutes before rolling flat — this keeps the layers from tearing.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Fry each pancake 3-4 minutes per side, pressing occasionally with a spatula, until deep golden and crisp on both sides.
Cut into wedges while hot. Mix soy sauce, black vinegar and chile oil for dipping.
Use boiling water straight off the heat, not just hot tap water — the temperature difference matters for how pliable the dough turns out.
Don't skip the resting time after rolling into a coil; skipping it makes the layers tear when you roll the pancake flat.
Fry over medium, not high heat, so the inside layers cook through before the outside burns.
Add a spoonful of finely chopped Chinese five-spice-cured sausage into the filling for a heartier version.
Use a mix of scallion and chives for a slightly different aromatic profile.
Make them ahead and freeze the rolled, uncooked pancakes between parchment; fry straight from frozen, adding a couple extra minutes per side.
Refrigerate cooked pancakes up to 2 days, or freeze uncooked pancakes up to 1 month. Reheat in a dry or lightly oiled skillet over medium heat to re-crisp; microwaving makes them chewy and flat.
Scallion pancakes have been documented in northern Chinese cooking for centuries as a simple, unleavened flatbread, and the coiling technique used to create their signature flaky layers is shared with other Chinese laminated doughs like sesame flatbreads.
Yes, the dough can rest covered in the fridge for up to a day; bring it to room temperature before rolling so it's pliable.
This usually means the dough wasn't rolled thin enough before adding the oil and scallions, or the coiled log wasn't rested before the final rolling.
You can bake at 220C (425F) for about 15 minutes, but you'll lose the deep, oil-crisped exterior that defines a proper scallion pancake.
Per serving (150g / 5.3 oz) · 4 servings total
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