Vegan scallion pancakes require few ingredients but are full-on in flavour. Although they may look tricky to make if you’ve never done it before, the technique is actually very simple – just flatten, roll, coil, flatten and fry. Follow along with the pictures and you’ll be just fine.

This is a dish that you’ll find on many Chinese restaurant menus but be careful; although they seem innocent, they may or may not contain lard or butter.

My vegan scallion pancakes get their flavour from the green onions (obviously), a brushing of sesame oil and a ginger-soy dipping sauce rather than weird and gross animal fats.

Vegan scallion pancakes are great served as an appetizer or to go with a main dish such as sesame-ginger soba or orange and ginger-glazed tofu. Vegan Miam smears their scallion pancakes with miso paste and stuffs them with fresh veggies to make these delicious vegan scallion pancake rolls.

And you are certainly not limited to just green onions. You can also chop up and sprinkle on other veggies like mushrooms, carrots or bell peppers. This vegan scallion pancake recipe is so simple why not get creative?

I first found a recipe for scallion pancakes in my vegan Chinese cookbook bible The Chinese Vegan Kitchen. However, while most of the recipes are excellent and I cook from this book all the time, her instructions for rolling the scallion pancakes were beyond my comprehension.

Fortunately, not long ago I got my hands on a copy of Cook’s Illustrated which just happened to have a recipe for scallion pancakes with very helpful photos. Turns out it is super simple.

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So how to make scallion pancakes? Start with a basic dough that’s just flour and water. After resting for 30 minutes, divide the dough into 4 pieces (here’s where I differ from the Cook’s Illustrated recipe. I found that two larger pancakes were difficult to roll out and flip in the pan) and roll them out as thin as you can.

Brush with oil and sprinkle over chopped scallions. Roll into a cylinder and then a coil (follow the pictures!), flatten to your desired thickness and fry. See? Told you it was easy!

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Vegan Scallion Pancakes

Yield: Serves 4

Prep Time: 35 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Vegan scallion pancakes are easy, tasty and make a great vegan or vegetarian appetizer or side. The technique may look tricky, but it's actually very easy!

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Ingredients

For the scallion pancakes

• 1 ½ cups plus 1 tablespoon flour, divided
• ¾ cups boiling water
• 1 ½ tablespoons vegetable oil, divided, plus more as needed
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 4 green onions, thinly sliced

For the ginger-soy dipping sauce

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon minced ginger
• 1 teaspoon thinly sliced green onions
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Instructions

1. Place 1 ½ cups of flour in a bowl and pour in the boiling water while stirring. When the dough is cool enough to touch, knead it into a ball. Continue kneading on the counter until you’ve got a smooth ball – about 5 minutes. The dough should be tacky, but not overly sticky. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and leave to rest for 30 minutes.
2. In a small bowl mix together 1 tablespoon of flour, 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and the sesame oil.
3. Cut the dough into 4 pieces. Flour your counter and roll out one piece to a rough circle approximately 15 - 20 cm (6 – 8 inches). Brush the entire surface with half a tablespoon of the oil-flour mixture, sprinkle over a quarter teaspoon of salt and a quarter of the chopped green onions. Roll into a cylinder then coil the cylinder into a spiral, tucking the end underneath. Roll the spiral out into a circle approximately 12 – 15 cm (4 – 5 inches).
4. Heat ½ tablespoon of oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Fry the pancake for 2 minutes each side or until golden brown. Continue with making the next pancake while the first is frying. Remove the fried pancake from the pan and drain on a paper-towel lined wire rack. If necessary, add more oil to the pan and continue frying the remaining pancakes.
5. Combine all the ingredients for the dipping sauce. Cut each pancake into 6 triangles and serve with the dipping sauce.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 98Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 971mgCarbohydrates: 4gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 1g

Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only.