A
green onion pancake (also called
scallion pancake or
scallion bread) is a savoury, non-
leavenedA leavening agent is any one of a number of substances used in doughs and batters that cause a foaming action which lightens and softens the finished product...
ChineseChinese cuisine originated in China and has become widespread in many other parts of the world — from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa. In recent years, connoisseurs of Chinese cuisine have also sprouted in Eastern Europe and South Asia...
flatbreadA flatbread is a simple bread made with flour, water, and salt and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened—made without yeast or sourdough culture, although some flatbread is made with yeast, such as flatbread made with whole wheat flour...
folded with
oilCooking oil is purified fat of plant origin, which is liquid at room temperature.Some of the many different kinds of edible vegetable oils include: olive oil, palm oil, soybean oil, canola oil, pumpkin seed oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, peanut oil, grape seed oil, sesame oil, argan...
and minced
scallionA scallion is an edible plant the genus Allium. The upper green portion is hollow. It lacks a fully-developed root bulb. They are milder than most onions. They may be cooked or used raw, as a part of salads or Asian recipes. Diced scallions are used in soup, noodle and seafood dishes...
s (green onions). Unlike a true
pancakeA pancake is a thin, flat cake prepared from a batter and cooked on a hot griddle or frying pan. Most pancakes are quick breads; some use a yeast-raised or fermented batter. Most pancakes are cooked one side on a griddle and flipped partway through to cook the other side. A crêpe is a very thin and...
, it is made from
doughDough is a paste made out of any cereals or leguminous crops by mixing flour with a small amount of water and/or other liquid. This process is a precursor to making a wide variety of foodstuffs, particularly breads and bread-based items , including flatbreads, and pancakes, noodles, crusts,...
instead of
batterBatter is a liquid mixture, usually based on one or more flours combined with liquids such as water, milk or beer. Egg is a common component. Often a leavening agent is included to aerate and fluff up the batter as it cooks, or the mixture may be naturally fermented for this purpose as well as to...
, similar to the
IndianThe cuisine of India is characterized by sophisticated and subtle use of various spices, herbs and other vegetables grown in India and also for the widespread practice of vegetarianism across many sections of its society. Each family of Indian cuisine is characterized by a wide assortment of dishes...
parathaA paratha is an Indian flat-bread that originated in the Indian subcontinent...
. It is available in
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
,
TaiwanTaiwan , also known as Formosa , is the largest island of the Republic of China in East Asia. Taiwan is located east of the Taiwan Strait, off the southeastern coast of mainland China...
, and other areas of the world with significant Chinese populations in restaurants and as a
street foodStreet food is food obtainable from a streetside vendor, often from a makeshift or portable stall. While some street foods are regional, many are not, having spread beyond their region of origin. The food and green groceries sold in farmers' markets may also fall into this category, including the...
item, and is also commercially available
frozenFrozen food is food preserved by the process of freezing. Freezing food is a common method of food preservation which slows both food decay and, by turning water to ice, makes it unavailable for most bacterial growth and slows down most chemical reactions....
in plastic packages in
Asian supermarketAn Asian supermarket, sometimes called an "Oriental supermarket", is a grocery store in non-Asian countries that stock items imported from the many countries in East and Southeast Asia...
s.
Other ingredients, such as chopped
fennelFennel , is a plant species in the genus Foeniculum . It is a member of the family Apiaceae . It is a hardy, perennial, umbelliferous herb, with yellow flowers and feathery leaves...
greens and
sesameSesame is a flowering plant in the genus Sesamum. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India...
seeds are sometimes added with the green onions.
A
green onion pancake (also called
scallion pancake or
scallion bread) is a savoury, non-
leavenedA leavening agent is any one of a number of substances used in doughs and batters that cause a foaming action which lightens and softens the finished product...
ChineseChinese cuisine originated in China and has become widespread in many other parts of the world — from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa. In recent years, connoisseurs of Chinese cuisine have also sprouted in Eastern Europe and South Asia...
flatbreadA flatbread is a simple bread made with flour, water, and salt and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened—made without yeast or sourdough culture, although some flatbread is made with yeast, such as flatbread made with whole wheat flour...
folded with
oilCooking oil is purified fat of plant origin, which is liquid at room temperature.Some of the many different kinds of edible vegetable oils include: olive oil, palm oil, soybean oil, canola oil, pumpkin seed oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, peanut oil, grape seed oil, sesame oil, argan...
and minced
scallionA scallion is an edible plant the genus Allium. The upper green portion is hollow. It lacks a fully-developed root bulb. They are milder than most onions. They may be cooked or used raw, as a part of salads or Asian recipes. Diced scallions are used in soup, noodle and seafood dishes...
s (green onions). Unlike a true
pancakeA pancake is a thin, flat cake prepared from a batter and cooked on a hot griddle or frying pan. Most pancakes are quick breads; some use a yeast-raised or fermented batter. Most pancakes are cooked one side on a griddle and flipped partway through to cook the other side. A crêpe is a very thin and...
, it is made from
doughDough is a paste made out of any cereals or leguminous crops by mixing flour with a small amount of water and/or other liquid. This process is a precursor to making a wide variety of foodstuffs, particularly breads and bread-based items , including flatbreads, and pancakes, noodles, crusts,...
instead of
batterBatter is a liquid mixture, usually based on one or more flours combined with liquids such as water, milk or beer. Egg is a common component. Often a leavening agent is included to aerate and fluff up the batter as it cooks, or the mixture may be naturally fermented for this purpose as well as to...
, similar to the
IndianThe cuisine of India is characterized by sophisticated and subtle use of various spices, herbs and other vegetables grown in India and also for the widespread practice of vegetarianism across many sections of its society. Each family of Indian cuisine is characterized by a wide assortment of dishes...
parathaA paratha is an Indian flat-bread that originated in the Indian subcontinent...
. It is available in
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
,
TaiwanTaiwan , also known as Formosa , is the largest island of the Republic of China in East Asia. Taiwan is located east of the Taiwan Strait, off the southeastern coast of mainland China...
, and other areas of the world with significant Chinese populations in restaurants and as a
street foodStreet food is food obtainable from a streetside vendor, often from a makeshift or portable stall. While some street foods are regional, many are not, having spread beyond their region of origin. The food and green groceries sold in farmers' markets may also fall into this category, including the...
item, and is also commercially available
frozenFrozen food is food preserved by the process of freezing. Freezing food is a common method of food preservation which slows both food decay and, by turning water to ice, makes it unavailable for most bacterial growth and slows down most chemical reactions....
in plastic packages in
Asian supermarketAn Asian supermarket, sometimes called an "Oriental supermarket", is a grocery store in non-Asian countries that stock items imported from the many countries in East and Southeast Asia...
s.
Variations and innovations
Other ingredients, such as chopped
fennelFennel , is a plant species in the genus Foeniculum . It is a member of the family Apiaceae . It is a hardy, perennial, umbelliferous herb, with yellow flowers and feathery leaves...
greens and
sesameSesame is a flowering plant in the genus Sesamum. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India...
seeds are sometimes added with the green onions. One could substitute the green onions with another topping of choice such as corn and diced bell peppers. There is actually a Chinese dessert called red bean pancakes (豆沙鍋餅) where the green onions and salt are replaced with a sweet
red bean pasteRed bean paste or Azuki bean paste is a sweet, dark red bean paste originating from China. It is used in Chinese cuisine, Japanese confectionery, and Korean cuisine. It is prepared by boiling and mashing azuki beans and then sweetening the paste with sugar or honey...
.
Another method for cooking green onion pancakes is to fry them with eggs coated on one side. There is another Chinese snack called egg pancake (蛋餅), which is almost identical to the green onion pancake except that the dough of the egg pancake is thinner and moister.
A similar pancake may be made with
garlic chivesGarlic chives are also known as Chinese chives, Chinese leek, ku chai, jiu cai, Oriental garlic chives or, in Japanese, nira ; in Kapampangan it is known as Kuse/Cu-se; in Korea known as buchu , sol , or jeongguji or in Vietnamese, hẹ...
instead of scallions. Such a pancake is called a
jiucai bing (韭菜饼) or
jiucai you bing (韭菜油饼).
One variation involves leavening the dough and not flattening up the coil into a pancake. The coil is then fried or baked into a bread.
In
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
, the pancakes are often served with
soy sauceSoy sauce , soya sauce or is produced by fermenting soybeans with the molds Aspergillus oryzae and Aspergillus soyae along with roasted grain, water, and salt. Soy sauce was invented in China, where it has been used as a condiment for close to 2,500 years...
, hot chili sauce, or Vietnamese dipping sauce.
Chinese legend surrounding the invention of pizza
There exists in China and Taiwan a belief that
pizzaPizza is a world-popular dish of Italian origin, made with an oven-baked, flat, generally round bread that is often covered with tomatoes or a tomato-based sauce and cheese. Other toppings are added according to region, culture, or personal preference.Originating in a part of Italian cuisine, the...
is an evolution of green onion pancake, brought back to Italy by
Marco PoloMarco Polo was a merchant from the Venetian Republic who wrote Il Milione, which introduced Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, voyaged through Asia and met Kublai Khan. In 1269, they returned to Venice to meet Marco for...
. Here is one version of the legend:
Marco Polo missed green onion pancakes so much that when he was back in Italy, he tried to find chefs willing to make the pancake for him. One day, he managed to meet a chef from NaplesNaples in Italy, is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples. The city is known for its rich history, art, culture, architecture, music and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,800 years old...
at a friend's dinner party and persuaded him to try recreating the dish. After half a day without success, Marco Polo suggested the filling be put at the top rather than inside the dough. The change, by chance, created a dish praised by everyone at the party. The chefs returned to Naples and improvised by adding cheese and other ingredients and formed today's pizza.
See also
- paratha
A paratha is an Indian flat-bread that originated in the Indian subcontinent...
(Indian variant)
- Laobing
Laobing is a type of unleavened flatbread sold in parts of northern China and used in Beijing cuisine. It is sometimes referred to as a Chinese pancake....
- Pajeon
Pajeon is a variety of jeon, a pancake-like Korean dish made mostly of eggs and flour, with green onion similar to a Chinese Green onion pancake. It is sometimes referred to as a Korean version of pizza, since one may add several different ingredients to it. Kimchi and seafood, such as squid, are...
(Korean)
- Banh xeo
Bánh xèo are Vietnamese savoury pancakes made out of rice flour, water and turmeric powder or coconut milk , stuffed with slivers of fatty pork, shrimp, and bean sprouts and then pan fried...
variant of okonomiyakiis a Japanese savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients. The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning "what you like" or "what you want", and yaki meaning "grilled" or "cooked" . Okonomiyaki is mainly associated with Kansai or Hiroshima areas of Japan, but is widely available...
(Japanese)