Sourdough scallion pancakes

Work has been really busy with a 6 week series of workshops.  By the end of each working week I am always glad to have a quiet day of work from home.  Occasionally on these days I stop a bit longer for lunch.  I enjoy that flexibility.  Last week I had a 90 minute lunch break to make sourdough scallion pancakes while Sylvia was out with my parents.  I have wanted to make these for so long and was delighted at how good they tasted.

I have enjoyed scallion pancakes at Asian restaurants over the years.  My best memories are of the thick crusty flaky coils of fried scallion pancakes at ShanDong Mama years ago.  I have read about making them at home and it always seems difficult.  I was searching for a much simpler recipe when I came across the one on Halicopter Away.  I understand that adding sourdough into the mix is probably more complex for a lot of people but if, like me, you look for interesting ways to use sourdough discard to keep the starter healthy, then you will embrace the idea.

I have embraced the idea of scallion or spring onion pancakes because not only do I often need to use my sourdough starter to keep it healthy, but I also like to buy bunches of spring onions for salads.  Some weeks we use lots of them but on other weeks I have lots of spring onions to use up.  All those greens in the fried flatbread make it seem so much healthier.  But who am I kidding!

I was pleased that these worked well with wholemeal flour.  Oiling the surface rather than flouring it seemed to help make the dough soft but the 30 minute rest made a surprising difference to the texture.  I am curious as to whether it was because the starter was healthy and bubbly or if this would work with a more neglected starter.  Thirty minutes seems like a long time to wait when you are squeezing it in at lunchtime but, as you feed the starter, chop the spring onions and empty some bins, it whizzes by.  

I like mine rolled out a bit thicker for the chewy flaky taste.  You can see the swirls in this pancake I have rolled out.  This was one of my roundest pancakes.  I found that I had to tuck in the end of the scroll to stop it being a loose piece of hanging off the edge.  It was also difficult to roll it out without a ripped edge where a clump of spring onions broke through the dough.  But these edges fried crisp so no need to aim for perfection. 

I read that if you have some gaps when rolling it up, this can make it more flaky.  That means next time I might not squeeze the air out of the sausage of dough before scrolling it up.  I have dreams of making this recipe regularly and tweaking it each time.  There are so many scallion pancake recipes out there and lots of ideas to try.

However my reality is that I never have enough time in the day.  Work and home life have been busy.  If that elusive work-life-balance meant never having enough time for either than I could claim great balance!  So I am grateful for all the support I get.  This extends to my parents who, on the day I made the scallion pancakes, came to admire Sylvia's constantly expanding garden of pot plants, took her out for a coffee and then did the dishes for me before they went home.

We have been having home made pizza most Fridays lately but I have not made much bread.  My starter has been a little neglected, especially in a week when I don't make pizza.  So one reason I made these pancakes was to give me a reason to feed the starter a few times in a week to bring it up to healthy.  Not only does this mean I have good starter when I want to use it but it also means I was able to give some starter to my friend Sarah who was down from Sydney.  I am very proud of my starter's offspring now travelling interstate and look forward to hearing about it in the new home.

More recipes for flat sourdough "bread" on Green Gourmet Giraffe blog:

Antipasto focaccia
Banana sourdough flatbread (v) 
Fast track sourdough pizza bases (v)
Kale sourdough tortillas (v)
Sourdough toss-off flatbreads (v)

Sourdough Scallion Pancakes
Slightly adjusted from Halicopter Away
Makes 4 pancakes

• 1 cup (200g) sourdough discard (mine was quite bubbly and bouncy)
  
• 1 cup (100g) plain flour (I used wholemeal)
  
• 1/2 cup neutral oil, approx (I used rice bran)
  
• 1 tsp salt, approx
  
• 1/2 cup scallions (I used 3 fat spring onions), finely sliced
  

Mix sourdough discard and flour until shaggy and then use hands to knead in bowl until comes together.  Knead dought for a few minutes on floured surface until smooth.  Cover and leave for about 30 minutes or until slightly puffed and a little softer (this resting time makes it easier to handle).

Heat frypan before starting to prepare the pancakes.  (I use a cast iron frypan which can cope with a lot of heating and also is great at giving lovely golden brown color when frying pancakes.  I heat mine on high and then reduce to medium heat about 5 minutes before frying.)

Cut dough into four pieces. Roll out to about 18cm long oblong.  (I used oil for rolling and handling dough.) Spread or rub with a small spoonful of oil (about 1 tsp), sprinkle with about 1/4 cup of scallions and grind some salt over the dough.  Roll up from long edge as tight as possible into a sausage.  Roll it tightly into a scroll.   Flatten slightly with your hands and tuck the end of the scroll in tightly so it is part of the circle rather than a tail hanging out.  Roll into a round pancake but don't get too worried if a clump of spring onions rips through the dough.  Imperfections just mean more crispy edges!  When rolling it as thin as I could it was still smaller and thicker than the original oblong of dough that I rolled out.  You can choose to roll it as thin or thick as desired.  It is a personal decision.

Heat about a tablespoon of oil over medium heat in the frypan.  Place your pancake in the pan for about 3-5 minutes on the first side or until golden brown.  Flip over and fry for another few minutes for the second side or until golden brown marks. Press down on the second side while it fries. 

While each pancakes was frying, I rolled out the next pancake until all the four pieces of dough were prepared.  Eat warm.  I also found they made a nice snack once cooled.

NOTES: 

• My starter was in a healthy bubbly bouncy state and ready to use.  I often use sourdough starter in flatbreads no matter what the state.  If it is thin and a bit old I find it requires a little more flour.
  
• My dough was a bit dry.  Perhaps the wholemeal flour made it drier.  Next time I would use slightly less flour and add more if needed.  I think it was helped by the 30 minute rest which made it much softer.  It also helped that instead of using flour to knead and roll the dough, I used oil to keep it from sticking to the surface and rolling pin.
  
• I would like to try this recipe with an old thinner starter discard and to roll out the dough without the 30 minute rest to test how it works when I don't have much time and need to use up discard that should have been fed days ago.
• I am interested in the scallion pancake recipe at red house spice which make a paste of flour, oil and seasoning to spread on the rolled out rounds of dough before sprinkling with spring onions.  It also makes the point that pancakes can be rolled out thin or thick and that it helps to cook them with a lid on the frypan.
• Recipes I have seen include a dipping sauce.  While we often use tamari or ponzu for dipping sauces, I really enjoyed these without any accompaniments either hot or room temperature on the same day of frying.
  
  

On the stereo:
Chaos Angel: Maya Hawke