Shrove Tuesday falls on 17th February this year and Chinese New Year (it’s the year of the goat which is my sign) follows on the 19th. To celebrate both days, I’ve tried my hand at jiucai you bing. Jiucai you bing is also known as scallion pancakes (scallions is ‘American’ for spring onions).

Apparently they’re eaten in China at breakfast time and are a widely available street food. They’re more like flatbread than what we’d usually recognise as pancakes. In fact, what they’re more similar to is Indian paratha.

I don’t think I’ve ever come across these for sale in UK Chinese restaurants or supermarkets but after looking online they seem to be quite popular in the States.

This was my first attempt at making them and they went down so well I think I’ll be giving them a go again very soon.

They’d make a great starter paired with a little bowl of soy sauce, peanut sauce or chilli, garlic ginger sweet dipping sauce.

Jiucai you bing

Chinese spring onion pancakes

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Course Side Dish

Cuisine Chinese

Ingredients

  

• 500 g/18oz plain flour plus extra for rolling out
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• ½ bunch thinly sliced spring onions about 6 stems
• 2 tsp chilli flakes
• ½ tsp cracked peppercorns
• 1 tbsp sea salt
• vegetable oil for frying

Instructions

 

• In the bowl of a food mixer, combine the flour, baking powder and sea salt. Make a well in the centre
• Add 315ml/11fl oz water into the well and, using the dough hook attachment, mix until the dough comes away from the sides and forms a ball (less than a minute)
• Cover the bowl with cling film and allow the dough to rest at room temperature for about an hour
• Turn out on to a lightly floured surface, divide into halves, putting one back into the bowl and recovering with cling film
• Roll the first ball of dough out into a rectangle ½cm thick
• Brush the rolled out dough with 1tbsp sesame oil
• Sprinkle 1tsp chilli flakes, ¼tsp cracked peppercorns and half the sliced spring onions
• Roll up the dough tightly along the long side into a cigar shape and cut into 3 equal pieces
• One by one, gently stretch each piece before rolling it into a spiral and tucking one end under
• Flatten each spiral into a disc of about 1cm thickness
• Repeat stages 5-10 with the second half of the dough
• Put a heavy bottomed frying pan or skillet over a medium flame and add vegetable oil
• Once hot, fry the pancakes for 5-8 minutes on each side until browned
• Serve hot with soy sauce and/or sweet chilli, garlic, ginger dipping sauce

Keyword flat bread, flatbread, pancakes