I have a small patch of Spring onion planted in my raised bed, it has been almost 6 years, I never uproot them, I will cut only the green parts for cooking and it never failed to regrow throughout summer. They go into hibernation during the winter months and if I fertilize it well, it will come back stronger and thicker than before!
Last weekend I harvest a bunch of the spring onion and make this mini pancakes for lunch, it is crunchy on the outside and soft in the inside, we all savoured it well.
Ingredients:(Yield 12 pieces of 3-inches pancakes)
1.5 cups/200 gm All Purpose Flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup piping hot water
1/4-1/3 cup of room temperature water (depending on the flour and humidity level)
1 bunch spring onion(Use only the green part)
For Oil-mixed paste:
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup/ 60 ml Lard/Vegetable oil
1/4 tsp Sichuan pepper powder
a pinch of Chinese Five Spice Or Pepper powder
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1. Mix the all purpose flour with salt, using a spatula or a pair of chopstick, slowly mix the hot water into the flour until the flour becomes flaky, add room temperature water slowly to form a very soft ball. It should feel like the softness of your earlobe when pressed. Leave the dough aside to rest for 10-15 minutes, cover with a wet towel or cling paper.
2. Mix 1 tbsp of all purpose flour,sichuan pepper powder and five spice with Lard/vegetable oil and salt to form a runny paste. I had some fried shallot at hand, so I threw it in too. It gives very good fragrance.
3. Washed and drained spring onion/scallion, spin dry and chopped as fine as possible.
Note: it is important to spin the water out of spring onion, to prevent breakage.
4. Spread some vegetable oil on working surface and on hands. Divide dough into 12 equal parts, roll it out into a oblong shape, around 1 mm in thickness.
5. Spread a thin layer of oil-flour mixture (around 1 tsp) over the sheet, leaving 1 inch space at all corners, sprinkle as much chopped spring onion as you can handle.
6. Carefully roll the sheet starting from the top to form a long strip. Rolled the strip up to shape like a spiral shell, tucked the end underneath. Leave the spiral shells to rest for another 20-30 minutes.
Note:You can make these doughs in bulk, it stays well in the fridge for 2-3 days and up to a month in the freezer, just defrost/thaw the dough one night before you want to fry it.
7. Heat up a skillet at medium heat, place the pancakes on skillet and cook for 10-15 seconds, flipped it over, with the help of a flat spatula or Roti/wooden presser, press hard to flatten the pancake, flipped to another side and press to flatten the pancake until it is about 5mm in thickness and the size of 3 inches in diameter.
8. Cook the pancake until both sides golden in color and crispy. Serve warm.