Shallot Pancake + A Variation
There was a time last year when I made shallot pancakes. Those who are familiar with them will know of the addictive chewy, stretchy, greasy and multilayered flavoursome properties of these flatbreads. Hmm the recipe I tried last year or so however did not really yield satisfying results. I just shrugged though, consoling myself saying there’s no way I can have the same results as the ones they make out there, they must be msg-laden, use extreme amounts of oil to get the results we so love. And so excuses piled up and I forget about ever making these cursed ‘pancakes’ at home again. That is until I saw Mandy from Lady and Pups post on them. Her blog also happens to have many creative, some over the top recipes which with the addition of her witty writing style immediately makes you LOVE it so check it out!
The results were goooood. Though I might not have put enough baking soda in mine as it doesn’t look as puffy as Mandy’s ones. However, I’ll be sure to keep this as my go to recipe for shallot pancakes! So thanks again Mandy )) You’ve helped me return all that self esteem I lost the year I made a fail batch of these.
On another note, I was just chatting to a friend last night about our primary school days. You might think I’m too young to be reminiscing about ‘old days’ but I say, like dreaming, there is no age boundary for reminiscing. We talked for a good solid hour about how we always used aggressive approaches to the boys we liked, and the boys too would tease, flick foreheads, mimic you to show interest, I’d be the girl who wanted to be part of the few cool girls the boys liked to play handball with, running to the girls’ bathroom as a safehouse when playing chase- though there’s always that one daring boy who would actually run into the bathroom as the girls all squealed, flushed with adrenaline, how we’d appear of and on on msn just to get that one boy to notice you, how I used to lie during ‘show and tell’ because other kids’ stories seemed more interesting than mine- even though there were shady patches of questionable truth in their woven up stories, when sitting up straight cross legged on the floor till your back arches in the most unnatural angle was the supposedly ideal position to be liked by teachers, when my gratitude journal would be full of things I wasn’t exactly grateful for but I knew were appropriate answers- like the sun, or my friends, when teachers who gave scratch and sniff stickers were the coolest bunch of adults we’ve ever known, when classmates talked like parents as they said ‘I beg your pardon’ everytime they couldn’t catch what you were saying, the difficult times when you weren’t sure which colour pens you should use to draw up your title pages, when those title pages were actual homework. And the list goes on… Those were the days that have passed. They were good times, but I know my life ahead will have a new sort of good moments too. And to that, I look forward to. Share with me some of you fave moments, if you’d like to reminisce together, maybe as you wait for your dough to rest on the bench. Come back here then and tell your stories. I’d love to hear them!
Shallot Pancake
Recipe adapted from Mandy @ Lady and Pups
For the Dough:
- 1 cup (130 grams) of all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (140 grams) of bread flour (I did not have bread flour so used a total of 2 cups AP flour)
- 2 tsp of sugar
- 1/4 tsp of salt
- 1/2 cup (120 grams) of warm/hot water (150ºF/65ºC)
- 1/4 cup (60 grams) of cold/room-temperature water
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) of vegetable oil
For the Scallion oil and filling:
- 2 cups (105 grams) of diced scallions, divided into 1 cup each
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used half vegetable, half sesame because I love the flavour or sesame oil!)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground white pepper, divided into 1/2 tsp each
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- Coarse sea salt to taste
OR
For the cheddar, herb and capsicum filling:
- 1/2 cup marinated chargrilled capsicum, let excess marinade drip off
- a few sprigs of rosemary and thyme (just the leaves, discard the thicker branch parts)
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground white pepper, divided into 1/2 tsp each
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 cup grated cheddar or whatever cheese you like.
1. To make the dough: Mix all-purpose flour, bread flour, sugar and salt together in a stand-mixer bowl with dough-hook. With the machine running on low, add 1/2 cup of the hot water into the flour-mixture. Mix for 1 minute or so. It will still have big lumps but that’s ok, proceed. Add 1/4 cup of cold water and mix for 1 minute, and then add 1/4 cup of vegetable oil. Turn the machine on medium-high speed and knead the dough for 5 minutes until shiny and elastic. The dough will be very wet and sticking to the side of the bowl in the beginning (if it seems tacky already, add 1 tsp of water), but it should slowly pull away cleanly at the end of kneading. When you lift the dough-hook, the wet dough should droop down from the hook slowly. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for at least 1 hour.
2. To make the oil paste: Add 1 cup of diced scallions, vegetable oil, salt, 1/2 tsp of ground white pepper and 1/4 tsp ground black pepper in a blender and blend until smooth. Transfer into a bowl. Take 3 tbsp of the mixture out into another bowl and add 1/8 tsp of baking soda, mix until combined and keep both in the fridge. Mix the rest of the 1 cup of diced scallion with 1/2 tsp of ground white pepper, set aside. So now you’ve got 3 bowls of different scallion mixtures: one scallion oil paste WITH baking soda, one scallion oil paste WITHOUT baking soda, and just a cup of seasoned chopped scallions.
OR
2. To make the oil paste: Add capsicum, herbs, oil, salt, pepper in blender and blend until smooth. Add 1/8 tsp of baking soda and mix until combined, keep in fridge until needed. To assemble: spread paste on the flattened dough and scatter grated cheese and proceed folding as instructed below.
3. On a floured surface, divide the dough into 4 portions and set on a well floured surface. Take 1 portion, dust with more flour and roll into about 1/8″ sheet. Apply a generous layer of scallion oil (mixed with baking soda) and sprinkle 2 tbsp of diced scallions over the sheet, then fold it in the same direction 3 times (like folding a letter) into a log, then fold the log length-wise 2 times into a squarish round-shaped dough (try to eliminate as much air as possible while you fold). Set aside (to let it rest) and repeat the same with the other 3 portions.
4. Get back to the first dough you worked on (which had a few minutes to rest) and press it down gently into a thick, flat disk. There will be air pockets in between the layers which will make it hard to roll out, so pierce the dough a few times with a fork and dust with only enough flour to prevent sticking, then roll into a large circle slightly thicker than 1/16″ (careful not to over-roll it because you’ll risk flattening all the layers)(if the dough springs back stubbornly, rest it for another 2 min). If you want to keep the flat breads in the freezer, laminate the rolled-out doughs in between two sheets of parchment paper and tuck inside a zip-lock bag. Keep frozen until needed.
5. To cook: Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large, non-stick skillet over medium-heat. Carefully lift the dough up and transfer to the skillet. Cook over medium-low heat, add more oil if needed, until golden browned on both sides. Right off the skillet while it’s still hot, brush the top with more scallion oil (without baking soda). Serve immediately with sesame sauce, soy sauce and a good sprinkle of coarse sea salt. Makes 4 large pancakes.
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