May 30: Scallion Pancake

With work being hectic and my project to take down the tree, I've been wanting to make something in the kitchen.

I was looking through books at the library and came across a dim sum cookbook.

Dim Sum: The Art of Chinese Tea Lunch by Ellen Leong Blonder, 2002.

One recipe that looked simple to make was scallion pancakes.

Scallion Pancakes

1 1/2 C All-Purpose Flour [I weighed out 215 g]
1/2 C Boiling Water
2 T Cold Water
4 to 6 Scallions (white and green parts, thinly sliced about 1 C) [I used 1/2 green onions and 1/2 Chinese chives totaling about 3/4 C]
1T Vegetable Shortening or Toasted Sesame Oil
Salt [I used Kosher]
2 to 4 T Vegetable Oil

Sift flour into a large bowl.
Stir in the boiling water and blend well. Add the cold water.
Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 4 to 5 minutes or until the dough is firm and elastic.
Dust the dough with flout and wrap with plastic for a 30 minute rest.

Instead of sifting, I added the flour to the food processor and let it run for 10 one second pulses.
After, that the boiling water was added and pulsed ten times... The dough will appear crumbly.
The 2 T of water was added and the dough started pulling away from the sides... about 20 pulses.


After kneading, the dough was smooth and not as stiff as I expected.
Wrap for a 30 minute rest.


My toppings: Green onion (aka scallions) and chive mixture; Kosher salt and sesame oil.


After 30 minutes, the dough was divided into 6 equal portions.
The dough was rolled out to about an 8 in round.
Sesame oil is brushed on the pancake.


A couple pinches of kosher salt and 1T of the scallion mixture is sprinkled onto the dough.


Folded over sides (about thirds)


Rolled into a cylinder.


Stand on end to....


mash down for more rolling...


Roll to about a 5 " diameter.


Using the veg oil Pan-fry over medium heat about 3 minutes per side.


Cut into wedges and serve.


Overall, had a nice oniony flavor and the texture was chewy.

Feb 02: Water Chestnuts

Found some fresh water chestnuts at the local Asian market. Water chestnut is a corm that stores sugars and starches for the water chestnut plant. The centers are crunchy and sweet which can be eaten raw or cooked.

Preparation is straight forward.
Trim the top and bottom.
Peel the skin off the sides.... Now it's ready to slice and dice.
The flavor of a raw piece was sweet. The texture was reminiscent of a crisp apple.


With fresh water chestnuts, I decided to make a pork dumpling - shu mai.

A shu mai is pretty much a pork meat ball wrapped with a thin won ton wrapper and steamed.

I've never made shu mai so I wanted to give it a shot.
This recipe is a work in progress.

Shu Mai - Pork Dumpling
1 pound Ground Pork
3 Water Chestnut, minced (about 1/4 C)
1/2 tsp Ginger, Grated
2 Green Onions, chopped
2 T Bamboo Shoots, finely chopped
1 Clove Garlic, minced
1 Dried Mushroom, reconstituted and chopped
1/2 tsp White Pepper
3 T Soy Sauce
2 T Oyster Sauce
1/2 tsp Sesame Oil
1/2 tsp Salt
1T Corn Starch - used to give the ground meat a smooth texture

Combine and thoroughly mix all of the ingredients.


I found round wrappers in the market.
Place 1 T of filling into the center.
Fold the edges up and use your fingers to maintain a cylindrical shape. Use the thumb from your opposite hand to tamp the filling down (to remove air bubbles too).


Shu mai arranged on a steamer which was sprayed with Pam.
I'm not sure which is the best way to steam... open face up or open face down so I tried both.


My improvised steamer using an old pie tin with holes added to form the base.


Cover and steam for 10 to 15 minutes.


Served with a quick soy sauce vinaigrette... soy sauce, vinegar, sesame seed oil and chili sauce. Rough quantities,
1 T Soy Sauce
2 T Vinegar
1/4 tsp sesame seed oil
chili sauce to taste.
A little chopped green onion


The shu mai was okay... The filling is best made ahead of time so the flavors can meld. Also, could use more ginger, green onion and garlic. I should look up some shu mai recipes for a point of reference.

Finally, the best way to steam is open face down. When the wrapper touched the steamer, the shu mai tended to stick to the steamer.