A shortcut to regular scallion pancakes is introduced here. We are making a scallion pancake from batter directly.
Scallion (green onion) pancake is one of our favorite breakfasts. My daughter loves it so much. I have already introduced a more authentic version with a crispy shell and soft inside version, and this is a super great shortcut version. With this version, you can make around 4 to 5 minutes within 20 minutes. I highly recommend this for hurry meals. Just magic happens and there is no kneading task at all.
Ingredients needed
- All-purpose flour – work perfectly for pancakes
- chopped scallions or green onions
- Salt
- Chinese five spice powder – optional but it gives the pancake a super lovely mixed spice flavor
- Cooking oil-– recommend peanut oil
Tips
I am using a pan 27cm in diameter and I end up with 4 pancakes by using this amount. This is perfect for me because I need to serve four family members currently. But you can use any pan. On the first attempt, if you find it difficult to make it a round pancake. It does not matter, as you will get yummy pancakes too. As for the shape, just keep practicing. You can also use a scraper to spread the batter.
You can also add eggs to this mixture to make an egg-flavored scallion pancake.
Instructions
Mix salt with Chinese five-spice powder with the all-purpose flour. And then mix with water. Continue stirring to get a smooth and consistent mixture. At this stage, you may feel the batter is a little bit dry, don’t worry it will be thinner after adding the chopped scallions.
Add chopped scallions, and mix well. Then set the batter aside for 5 minutes. So everything can combine together.
Heat a non-stick pan first, then add around 1 tablespoon of oil, and swirl to cover. Scoop the batter into the pan. When pouring over the mixture, do not place all of them in the center, swirl it evenly by rotating the spoon to make a basic round pancake. And then use a smaller spoon or a scraper to make the pancake as well distributed as possible.
Add extra oil when you feel the pancake is too dry and super easy to get burnt.
Pan-fry over medium fire for around 2-4 minutes until one side becomes golden brown. Turn over carefully to fry the second side for another 2 minutes. Then fry each side for another 1 minute for a darker color and crisper taste.
Repeat the process and finish all of the pancakes. Cut into wedges, and serve directly or with a dipping sauce.
Other Shortcut and Pancake recipes
- Steamed Peking duck pancake– which is made with dumpling wrappers.
- Easy spring roll wrapper with a brushing method.
- Chinese scallion pancake–the real street style.
- Chinese meat pie with beef filling
How to serve with this pancake
This will be great to serve with congee, porridge, or soups. Following are some of my favorite serving choice for this scallion pancake. All of those recommended dishes are super easy and require very short cooking time, so you can finish up a quick meal.
Chinese Scallion Pancake—Simplified Version
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour , measure after shifting
- 440 ml water
- 1 cup finely chopped scallion , wash and drain well
- pinch of salt
- 1/8 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder , optional
- vegetable oil for frying
Chili dipping sauce
- 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 1/2 tbsp. chili oil
- 1 tbsp. chopped scallion
- 1/8 salt
- 1 tsp. sesame oil
Instructions
- Mix salt with Chinese five-spice powder with the all-purpose flour. And then mix with water. Continue stirring to get a smooth and consistent mixture. At this stage, you may feel the batter is a little bit dry, don't worry it will be thinner after adding the chopped scallions.
- Add chopped scallions in, and mix well. Then set the batter aside for 5 minutes.
- Heat a non-stick pan first, then add around 1 tablespoon of oil, and swirl to cover. Scoop the batter and pour it into the pan. When pouring over the mixture, do not place all of them in the center, swirl it evenly by rotating the spoon to make a basic round pancake. And then use a smaller spoon or a scraper to make the pancake as well distributed as possible.
- Pan-fry over medium fire for around 2-4 minutes until one side becomes golden brown. Turn over carefully to fry the second side for another 2 minutes. Then fry each side for another 1 minute for a darker color and crisper taste.
- Repeat the process and finish all of the pancakes. Cut into wedges, and serve directly or with the dipping sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
Hi, what is a good substitute for the scallions?
Chive is a good substitute or other herbs you love.
when I’m out of scallions, I use onions!
Hello Elaine,
I found that it was difficult to have the interior of these pancakes fully cooked without the tops and bottoms becoming over cooked or slightly burned. Any suggestions?
Herman
Use more oil, Herman next time! And add oil immediately when you feel the bottom is too dry.
My pancakes didn’t really turn out like your images. More like a pancake pancake with a view darker spots. they don’t seem fully cooked on the outsides! what pan did you use?
Slow down your fire and move the pancake more frequently.
I just made it according to your recipe and it is amazingggg…my hubby loved it too…thank you for this recipe, it’s simple and delicious
Can you tell me how the saturated fat & sodium levels are so high. I’m looking at the ingredients & there doesn’t seem to be that much for these percentages to be so high.
Lisa,
There should be some error happens when calculating the nutrition fact. I have already updated it.
I’ve used your Easy Spring Onion (Scallion) Pancake recipe so many times over the past few years but only just getting round to leaving a comment. This is my go-to recipe whenever I crave some spring onion pancakes and need a quick fix. It’s such an easy & straightforward recipe that always produces great and tasty pancakes for me. I sometimes change it up a bit using regular or red onions when I don’t have any spring onions, or I’ll add a bit of sesame oil to the batter. The pancakes are usually eaten for breakfast or brunch with some scrambled tofu or fried/braised seitan/wheat gluten. Sometimes I’ve had the pancakes as a side dish with my evening meal, or simply eaten them as a snack. They’re so versatile with how you choose to eat them.
Thank you for this recipe, and the many others that I regular use from your wonderful site. 🙂
You are so kind Yoyo. Thanks!!
I was looking for a recipe to recreate my mother’s green onion pancake recipe and came across yours. I could never get her thin chewy consistency. She uses chicken broth and an egg in her batter, and adds minced/diced shrimp for extra umami. I’m def going to try yours.
That sounds a lovely version, Jane.
Can I pre make them and freeze them?
Yes, assemble well and then place in air-tight bag. You can use oil paper to separate one pancake from the other.
Thank goodness for this recipe because I was in no mood to knead and roll dough! These are so yummy, I cooked them in a comal with butter and made a dipping sauce with 1.5tbsp soy sauce, 1tbsp rice vinegar, 1tsp red pepper flakes, and 1/4tsp sugar. I served them as a side dish but found myself eating them as snacks while cooking haha!
I am image how good your version can be with that fabulous dipping sauce. Well done!
I would love to try this recipe, unfortunately I’m celiac so I’m curious if there’s a non gluten flour recipe? Buckwheat, rice or oat maybe? (Cause on top of being celiac I’m allergic to soybeans, nuts and almonds 🙁 )I’ll definitely try figuring it out but thought I could ask before I start experimenting since it tends to take a bit of time to figure out measurements of ingredients that works well 😛
This is a wonderful recipe, quick and easy. I made it last night to go with my family’s meatless night offerings. It was a big hit with my children, according to them better than the more traditional scallion pancake recipe. They devoured them 🙂
I had to add extra water to my batch to get a thinner consistency and figure out oil to heat ratio. But that is always the case when trying new recipes 🙂 This will definitely become be made in my house!
Thank you for this recipe and many of the others I have tried over the years.
Emmeri!
Thank you for your lovely feedback. My children loves this version much better than traditional version too because this one is crisper. It is really super super great!!! It is ok to add some extra water to make the batter thinner so it would be easier to spread out.