Scallion pancakes

Name: Scallion pancakes
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Ingredients: 300 g all-purpose flour; 180 ml water, half boiling, half cold; 1 tsp salt; 3 tbsp neutral vegetable oil; 6 spring onions, finely chopped; ¼ tsp white pepper (optional); 2 tbsp soy sauce (optional)

Vegetarian

蔥油餅 · cōng yóu bǐng

Flaky, chewy flatbreads layered with spring onion and oil, coiled and pan-fried until crisp — a favourite street snack in Taiwan and northern China.

Scallion pancakes is a Chinese bread from China, ready in about 1 hour 10 minutes and made with all-purpose flour and spring onion. It serves 4 and is rated intermediate to cook.

Start cooking

Tasty Korean scallion pancakes served with sesame dipping sauce on a ceramic plate, styled with chopsticks. — Photo: Marvin Bayer / Pexels · Pexels License

Prep: 25 min
Cook: 15 min
Rest: 30 min
Total: 1 h 10 min
Serves: 4
Level: Intermediate
Calories: 370

Ingredients

4 pancakes

300 g All-purpose flour (opens in a new tab)Contains wheat, gluten
180 ml Water (opens in a new tab), half boiling, half cold
1 tsp (6 g) Salt (opens in a new tab)
3 tbsp (41 g) Neutral vegetable oil (opens in a new tab)1 tbsp mixed with 1 tbsp flour into a paste for the layers; the rest for frying.
6 (90 g) Spring onions (opens in a new tab), finely chopped
¼ tsp (0.5 g) White pepper (opens in a new tab) (optional)
2 tbsp (34 g) Soy sauce (opens in a new tab) (optional)Mixed with a little black vinegar, for dipping.Contains soy, wheat, gluten

Equipment

Method

1
Step 1
Stir the boiling water into the flour, then the cold water, and knead into a smooth, soft dough. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
- 5 min
Hot water makes a tender, chewy dough that rolls out without springing back.
How it looks · Photo: Klaus Nielsen on Pexels
2
Step 2
Divide into 4. Roll one piece into a thin rectangle, brush with the oil-flour paste, sprinkle with salt, pepper and spring onion (opens in a new tab).
- 4 min
- Rolling pin (opens in a new tab)
How it looks · Photo: Klaus Nielsen on Pexels
3
Step 3
Roll up from the long side into a rope, coil it into a snail, tuck the end under and gently roll out to a 18 cm round. Repeat.
- 12 min
How it looks · Photo: Katerina Holmes on Pexels
4
Step 4
Fry each pancake in a little oil over medium heat for 3 minutes a side until golden and crisp, pressing and scrunching it with the spatula at the end to fluff the layers.
- 14 min
- medium heat
- Frying pan / skillet (opens in a new tab)
5
Step 5
Cut into wedges and serve with the soy dipping sauce.
- 1 min
How it looks · Photo: Willians Huerta on Pexels

About this dish

Origin: China · Commonly attributedAlso popular in TaiwanMore food from China
Dish: Breakfast · Snack · Breads & flatbreads · Street food
Cooking method: Pan-fried
Taste: savoury, aromatic / warmly spiced, salty
Diet: Vegan · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients
All labels
Vegan · Plant-based · Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Ovo-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · DASH-style
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for: Budget-friendly · Street food · Freezer-friendly
Cook more with: All-purpose flour · Spring onion
Techniques: Pan-frying · Boiling · Kneading

Allergens

Contains: Wheatfrom all-purpose flour, soy sauce
Contains: Glutenfrom all-purpose flour, soy sauce
Contains, can be adapted: Soyfrom soy sauce

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

370 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 154 g · recipe makes 4

Where the energy comes from

Protein 9%
Carbohydrate 64%
Fat 27%

Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
Nutrient	Per serving	Per 100 g*
Energy	370 kcal	240 kcal
Protein	8.2 g	5.3 g
Carbohydrate	58.9 g	38.2 g
Net carbohydrate	56.3 g	36.5 g
Sugars	0.7 g	0.5 g
Added sugars	0 g	0 g
Fibre	2.6 g	1.7 g
Fat	11 g	7.1 g
Saturated fat	0.9 g	0.6 g
Trans fat	—	—
Cholesterol	0 mg	0 mg
Sodium	589 mg	382 mg
Salt equivalent	1.5 g	1 g

Vitamins & minerals per serving

Potassium: 142 mg
Calcium: 32 mg
Iron: 3.8 mg
Magnesium: 22 mg
Vitamin A (RAE): 11 µg
Vitamin C: 4 mg
Vitamin D: 0 µg
Vitamin B12: 0 µg
Folate (DFE): 233 µg

How these numbers were made

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
*Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
Optional ingredients are not included: white pepper, soy sauce.
“—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

Stack rolled, uncooked pancakes between baking paper and freeze; fry from frozen.

Common mistakes

Rolling the coil too hard, which squashes the layers together.

Serve with

Taiwanese breakfast stalls fry them with an egg on one side.

Storage

Freeze uncooked pancakes for up to 2 months.

Reheating

Re-crisp in a dry frying pan.

Variations

Egg scallion pancake (Taiwan): Pour a beaten egg into the pan and press the half-cooked pancake on top, Taiwanese style.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added 26 Oct 2026 · Updated 8 Nov 2026

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Compare with

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

All-purpose flour300 g
Spring onion, finely chopped6 piece · 90 g

Used in steps 1, 2

Baker’s notes

Customise in Bread & Bakery

Timeline and readiness cues

Mix and knead · about 25 min
Knead until smooth and soft; it should feel like an earlobe.
Rest · about 30 min
Covered so it doesn't dry out; relaxed dough rolls and shapes without springing back.
Bake · about 14 min
Puffed with golden-brown spots on both sides.
Start to finish: about 1 h 9 min. Times are a guide — warmth changes everything; follow the cues.

The dough

The dough in baker's percentages. Flour = 100%.
Ingredient	Role	Weight	Baker’s %
All-purpose flour	Flour	300 g	100%
Water	Water	180 g	60%

Total flour: 300 g
Hydration: 60%
With milk, eggs…: 60%
Wholegrain: 0%

Hydration = water ÷ flour × 100. Milk is about 87% water and eggs about 75%, so they’re shown separately as “with milk, eggs…”.

Medium dough (55–65%) — soft and easy to knead; sandwich loaves and rolls.

If something goes wrong

Pale crust
Likely causes
- Oven too cool
- Too little sugar or no milk/egg for browning
- Over-fermented (yeast ate the sugars)
What to do
- Check the oven with a thermometer
- Brush with egg wash or milk
- Shorten the fermentation
Burnt bottom
Likely causes
- Tray too close to the heat
- Dark tray absorbs more heat
- Too much sugar in the dough
What to do
- Bake on the middle shelf
- Double up trays or use a light-coloured one
- Lower the temperature 10–15 °C and bake a little longer
Tough or chewy flatbread
Likely causes
- Dough too stiff
- Not rested
- Cooked too slowly on too cool a pan
What to do
- Add water until the dough is soft and slightly tacky
- Rest 20–30 minutes covered so the gluten relaxes
- Cook on a very hot tawa or pan — quickly

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

Dan bing (Taiwanese egg crepe)
Taiwanese · 15 min · 265 kcal · Contains egg
Pork baozi (steamed pork buns)
Chinese · 2 h 25 min · 244 kcal
Taiwanese beef noodle soup
Taiwanese · 3 h · 551 kcal
Gua bao (Taiwanese pork belly buns)
Taiwanese · 3 h 10 min · 773 kcal