Chinese Style Spring Onion Pancakes

Name: Spring Onion and Kale Pancakes
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups OO Flour; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 tablespoon Organic Sesame Oil; 1/2 cup hot water; 1/2 cup chopped spring onions; 1/2 cup chopped kale; 1 lemon - zest; 1 tablespoon coconut oil ((melted) plus extra for cooking); 1 1/2 tablespoon Tamari ((or Soy Sauce)); 1/2 tablespoon sesame Oil; 1/2 long red chilli chopped ((or more if desired)); 1 teaspoon grated palm sugar; 1 cm fresh ginger grated; 1 lime - juice; fresh coriander leaves

+ Chilli Dipping Sauce

We live in a regional area of Victoria and to date eating dumplings has meant making them from scratch or buying them from the Farmers Market. We had a period of time where we ate them every Sunday. The kids adored them. After a while I became sick of the sight of them so we phased them out and started “Sunday Snacks”, featuring a range of light finger food that we enjoy on the deck relaxing as a family at the end of the week. There is no dinner cooked on a Sunday night.

Recently we have had a Dumpling restaurant open near us and one of the items that we ordered from the menu was Spring Onion Pancakes. It was love at first bite. Totally addictive, crisp on the outside, soft in the middle and fabulous dipped in a chilli-based sauce.

This recipe recreates those pancakes, my way. I have added in some fresh garden ingredients. To date we have not been fully utilising the spring onions from the garden but that has now changed and I planted some more yesterday. We still have some lemons left from this seasons harvest so I also added the zest from a lemon to freshen up the recipe plus some gorgeous home grown kale. I foresee that these will probably feature on our Sunday Snacks menu for a little while and also across the Christmas entertaining period as they make a great finger food.

The Chilli dipping sauce that I have made to accompany these pancakes is a little bit spicy, but not too full on. Add a whole chilli if you like it hot. This recipe would also make a great dipping sauce for rice paper rolls. Alternatively, my home made sweet chilli sauce would work also.

Note: The flour that you use is important in this recipe. I attempted to make these pancakes with other types of flour – Organic White Spelt Flour and Organic Rye as well as Organic White Flour and they did not work as well. They were less fluffy, more dense. The recipe requires a very light flour thus the use of OO Flour.

Spring Onion and Kale Pancakes

Prep Time

40 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

Total Time

50 mins

Crisp on the outside and soft in the middle. Chinese style spring onion and kale pancakes with lemon zest and a chilli dipping sauce.

Course: Appetiser, Side Dish

Cuisine: Chinese

Servings: 3

Author: Kyrstie Barcak - A Fresh Legacy

Ingredients

Pancakes

1 1/2 cups OO Flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Organic Sesame Oil
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 cup chopped spring onions
1/2 cup chopped kale
1 lemon - zest
1 tablespoon coconut oil (melted) plus extra for cooking

Chilli Dipping Sauce

1 1/2 tablespoon Tamari (or Soy Sauce)
1/2 tablespoon sesame Oil
1/2 long red chilli chopped (or more if desired)
1 teaspoon grated palm sugar
1 cm fresh ginger grated
1 lime - juice
fresh coriander leaves

Instructions

To make pancakes

Add the flour, salt, sesame oil and hot water to a bowl and mix to combine
Use your hands to knead the dough until it is smooth in texture and springy and soft to touch
Cover with a clean tea towel and set aside to rest for 30 minutes
Once the dough has rested divide it into 3 pieces and roll out each one thinly into a round shape
Brush each piece of dough that you have rolled some melted coconut oil
Add some of the spring onion, kale and lemon zest to the top of the dough after it has been brushed with oil, pick up the edge closest to you and roll it away from you into a log. Flatten it slightly with your hands
Brush the top of the log with some more melted coconut oil and then roll up again in the opposite direction (see image below)
Flatten with the heel of your hand and then roll out flat again - not quite as thin as previously.
Repeat with each third until all are complete.
Set a pan to medium hot heat and add coconut oil for cooking
Cook each pancake for a couple of minutes, turning over a few times until cooked through (this takes about 3-4 minutes)
Cut into wedges and serve hot with the dipping sauce

Chilli Dipping Sauce

Add the ingredients to a bowl and stir to combine
Extra sauce will keep in the fridge for a couple of days

Recipe Notes

An iron pan is perfect for cooking these as it provides a high, even temperature.
It is important to use a good quality organic, cold pressed sesame oil or the flavor will be too strong and overpower the other ingredients.

What are you snacking on this weekend?

Serena says:

October 15, 2014 at 8:32 am

I’m sorry I don’t understand what OO flour is. Not organic spelt, not other organic? These look amazing and I want to try!

Kyrstie Barcak says:
October 15, 2014 at 10:11 am

Hi Serena, oo Flour is a very finely ground flour. It is typically used to make pasta and pizza dough. You can generally find it in the flour section of the supermarket or any food deli. Enjoy!