The Way Rice Should Be: Taiwanese Beef Stuffed Scallion Pancake

My home country of Taiwan is known throughout Asia for its bustling night markets and the amazing street food. Every night at 9 p.m. in the evening you will start seeing food carts, stands and trucks setting up on the streets of Taipei. And that is also the time when many people come out to get their xiao yieh which means night snack. For many Taiwanese, xiao yieh is an important meal because it’s a chance to go out with family and friends to unwind after a busy day. Street food is a huge part of our culture and it is also one of the things I miss the most about Taiwan. This week I want to share with you one of the most popular street foods from Taiwan, the Taiwanese beef stuffed scallion pancake.

Scallion pancakes, which originated in the Shan Dong province of northern China, have become a well-known dish around the world. Some people even call the flaky flat bread layered with fresh scallion a “Chinese Pizza.” In fact, my mother used to make pizza with a scallion pancake crust instead of regular pizza crust which is absolutely delicious. Scallion pancakes are tasty on their own as a snack or topped off with a fried egg for breakfast. In the night market it is also commonly stuffed with some spicy steak along with a sweet soy sauce paste.

You will need:

Ingredients

(Serves 3-4 people)

For the scallion pancake dough:

2 cup all purpose flour

2⁄3 cup hot water

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1⁄2 tsp. granulated sugar

pinch of salt

scallion fillings:

5 scallions finely chopped

11⁄2 tsp coarse salt

1⁄8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

4 Tbsp. vegetable oil

For the beef:

1 lb. thin steak

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp ginger

1 hot pepper

2 scallion

11⁄2 tsp. cooking wine

3 tsp. soy sauce

1 tsp. brown sugar

1 tsp. Chinese five spice

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil +

2 tsp. for frying

For the sweet soy sauce paste:

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

11⁄2 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 Tbsp. AP flour

2 Tbsp. cold water

Other:

3 fresh scallions

Hot sauce of your choice

Vegetable oil for pan

frying

Directions:
Start by marinating the beef, then roughly cut the thin steak into large pieces, about the size of your palm. Mince the garlic and mix it in with the steak along with the cooking wine, brown sugar, Chinese five spice, 1 T vegetable oil and 2 tsp soy sauce. Let it marinate for at least 30 minute to and hour.

Now mix the dough and kneed it for two minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover it up and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

In a separate bowl, mix the scallion fillings. I’ve added 1 tsp fried shallots in my mix which is optional. You can get them at the Chinese grocery store.

While waiting, we can make the sweet soy sauce paste. Using a small stainless steel pan on medium high heat, whisk together the vegetable oil, soy sauce and brown sugar until the sugar dissolves and starts bubbling. Mix in the flour and keep whisking until the flour dissolves, about 30 seconds. Quickly whisk in the water. Once the sauce has thickened up into a gravy consistency, remove from the stove and transfer into a bowl. Any of the soy sauce paste not used can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three weeks. You can use it as a spread on any Chinese buns and even mix it in noodles.

After the dough has rested, roll it into a log shape and cut it into 6 to 8 pieces.

Then roll the dough out individually and spread a layer on the scallion filling on the surface.

Roll it into a log shape again, starting from the bottom to the top.

Then roll the log into a spiral, making sure to tuck the end into the bottom to prevent it from unrolling. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes. The relaxed dough will make it easier to roll it out flat for frying.

After the dough has rested, use your palm to press down the dough.

Now, very gently roll the dough out. Don't worry too much if some of the scallions runs out.

Use a non stick frying pan on medium high heat fry the pan cakes individually along with a little vegetable oil. Once you see the pancake's surface starts bubble with air pockets, it's ready to flip sides. Fry until both sides are golden brown, about 2 minutes on each side.

After all the pancakes are cooked, turn the heat up to high and toss in the remaining ingredients for the beef: vegetable oil, soy sauce, ginger, hot pepper and scallion. Sauté for a 20 seconds until you can smell the spices intensively in the air. This process is called “bao xiang,” which literally means explosion of flavor and is an important step in almost all Chinese cooking. Next, add the steak and cook for about 4 minutes until the it is fully cooked.

Now it's ready to assemble.