Flaky Spring Onion Pancake

The Dough

• 300 g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp salt<
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 80 g room temperature water

Paste/Filling

• 5 spring onions, (3 whites finely sliced and greens roughly sliced, and 2 in large chunks)**
• 50g plain flour
• 50ml vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns or Chinese five-spice (optional)

• In a mixing bowl, add flour and salt and make a small well in the middle of the bowl. Using chopsticks or by hand, pour in hot water and mix till water is evenly distributed (dough should still be very dry). Add room temperature water and bring together dough with your hands. Once a dough forms, tip out onto the work surface and knead for 3-5 minutes or until smooth. Do not knead the dough for too long, we want it to stay quite soft. Wrap in plastic wrap and rest for minimum 2-3 hours, or overnight. The longer you rest the dough, the thinner the layers and the softer the final pancake will be.

• To make the paste, in a small bowl combine flour, salt, spring onions, and Sichuan peppercorns ( optional). Bring oil and spring onions to a gentle simmer to slowly infuse the oil, around 10-12 minutes on low heat or till spring onions are light brown. Remove spring onions then pour hot oil over into the bowl and wait several minutes till sizzling subsides. Mix till a thick paste forms. If the paste is still very thin, add more flour.

Rolling out the dough

• Divide the dough into four pieces and keep covered in plastic wrap. With a rolling pin or wine bottle, roll into a thin rectangular sheet, as thin as possible. Dust with flour to prevent dough from sticking to the work surface. Spread one or two large spoonfuls of paste over the sheet, leaving a small lip around the edges of the rectangle. With the longest side of the rectangle, roll the dough like a cigar halfway up. Then, repeat with the opposite long side of the dough till it meets the other. Gently pinch the tops of both sides to seal in the filling. To create the double-snail coil, roll one end of the dough till halfway, then repeat with the other end. When you have a "S" shaped dough, fold the two coils over each other. With your hands or rolling pin, gently flatten the dough into a disc, around 2 cm in thickness.

Frying

• In a frying pan on medium heat, cook spring onion pancake on one side covered with a lid for 3-4 minutes. Repeat on the other side. Take the lid off and fry both sides till crispy and light brown. At this stage, use two spatulas and scrunch up the sides of the pancake. Cook for longer if you prefer a crispier pancake.