Name: Cong You Bing Scallion Pancakes Recipe {Yummy Healthy Way}
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 12
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 660 grams, all-purpose flour, organic, about 4 cups; 30 grams of avocado oil; 1/2 tsp Himalayan pink salt; 350 grams of water, approximate, you may not need the entirety, see notes; 4 tbsp avocado oil; 4 tbsp organic all-purpose flour; 1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground; 1 tsp Himalayan pink salt; 4 stalks of green onions, finely chopped

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Cong You Bing {葱油饼}, or scallion pancakes, is a popular savory Chinese unleavened flatbread. It features crispy outside with thin layers of soft bread inside filled with enticing spiced fragrant and flavor. Simple ingredients of green onions, oil, black pepper, and salt genuinely work like magic here.

Now you can make this super delicious Chinese food at home, from scratch, and via an easy and healthy style.

Yummy Healthy Cong You Bing {Chinese Scallion Pancakes}

What Ingredients Do You Need to Make Cong You Bing?

For the Dough, you will need organic all-purpose flour, avocado oil, salt, and room temperature water.

For the Filling, you will need green onions, avocado oil, organic all-purpose flour, black pepper, and salt.

Filling Ingredients for Cong You Bing — Filling Ingredients

Helpful Kitchen Utensil or Tools:

A mixing bowl for making the dough.

A rolling pin to roll the dough into a flat sheet, a small cooking brush to brush the filling onto the flat dough sheet, and a mini rubber spatula to scrape the filling together.

Ingredients, Tools and Freshly Rolled Cong You Bing — Ingredients, Tools and Freshly Rolled Chinese Scallion Pancake 葱油饼

A mini whisk to mix the filling.

Pan-fry Cong You Bing on a 10.5-inch cast iron griddle works like a charm. I pan-fry adding no oil which not only makes this scallion pancake healthier but also tastes better with such a refreshing, naturally delicious satisfactory flavor and texture.

Cast Iron Grill to pan-fry Cong You Bing — Cast Iron Grill to Pan-Fry Chinese Scallion Pancake 葱油饼

A quality slotted turner makes it easier to flip the scallion pancake during the pan-frying process.

Slotted Turner for Flipping Cong You Bing

How do you make healthy & tasty Cong You Bing {葱油饼} Scallion Pancakes from scratch?

See the Recipe for a detailed step-by-step tutorial. I prefer a modular approach, which is making one scallion pancake at a time.

Here are the high level key steps:

1. Make the dough and let it rest

Make a soft dough using organic all-purpose flour, avocado oil, a pinch of salt and room temperature water.

The gluten inside the flour needs to sufficiently activated to make a flaky, soft and tasty Cong You Bing. Cover the dough with a damp kitchen towel and let it rest at room temperature for about 1-2 hours.

If you store the dough in the fridge over-night, make sure you remove it from the fridge 2 hours beforehand to have it warm up to room temperature.

Dough after Resting — Freshly Made Dough

2. Prepare the Filling for Cong You Bing

Whisk avocado oil, organic all-purpose flour, freshly ground black pepper and Himalayan pink salt together into a smooth batter. This is the key to the signature savory taste.

3. Roll the dough into a long cylinder and cut into equal portions

This recipe makes about ten (10) 8-inch Cong You Bing.

4. Use a rolling pin to flatten each portion of dough into a thin sheet

Knead the dough slightly, use two hands to organize into a thick flat slab and then use the rolling pin to roll into a thin flat sheet.

5. Generously brush the Filling over the flat sheet and sprinkle with finely chopped green onions

6. Starting from one end and roll the flat sheet into a roll

7. Turn the roll 90-degree, press down using hands, and then use the rolling pin to flatten it into a thin sheet

8. Roll this flat sheet into a roll and then stand it up on the countertop

The roll is much shorter compare to the initial roll.

Gently hold and press the roll using two hands to ensure the outer layer is together with the core.

9. Use one hand to press down and turn it into a round disk

Turn into a Round Disk — Press Down the stand-up Roll

Use a rolling pin to flatten the disk into a thin round sheet

10. Pan-Fry Cong You Bing on a griddle on medium heat

Turn the heat to medium, heat the cast iron griddle for 2 minutes. Place one rolled scallion pancake onto the griddle, cook for 1 minute and then flip it and cook the other side for 1 minute.

Please note that the griddle heats up more as the cooking continues. After about 5 scallion pancakes into the cooking, turn the heat to low in order to keep the consistent 1 minute per side flow.

Enjoy a super satisfying semi-crunchy outer layer but soft, savory thin layers inside Cong You Bing!

Satisfyingly Delicious Cong You Bing 葱油饼

Cong You Bing {葱油饼} Frequently Asked Questions:

How do you make Cong You Bing {葱油饼} in advance and store them in the Freezer?

This unbleached 8-inch round parchment paper becomes handy to help you accomplish just that.

A. Place freshly rolled Cong You Bing between two sheets of unbleached parchment paper.

Lay down a parchment paper and then put the freshly rolled Cong You Bing onto it.

Put one freshly rolled Cong You Bing onto a parchment paper — one freshly rolled Cong You Bing on a parchment paper

Cover with another parchment paper and then repeat until you have completed all Cong You Bing making.

Place Freshly Rolled Cong You Bing Between Layers of Parchment Paper

B. Store the stack of layered Scallion Pancakes into a freezer Ziploc bag

Place Parchment Paper Sandwiched Freshly Rolled Cong You Bing into a Freezer ZipLoc Bag

A gallon-sized freezer version Ziploc bag is perfect to place the stack of freshly made scallion pancakes layered by unbleached parchment paper.

C. Gently press to remove air, seal the bag, and store it in the freezer.

These scallion pancakes are good in the freezer for up to 6 months.

How do I cook my previously frozen Cong You Bing?

Cook as normal process. You do not need to de-thaw the scallion pancakes beforehand.

Turn the heat to medium and heat a 10-inch griddle for 2 minutes. After that, add one frozen scallion pancake onto the griddle.

Gently press it down using a slotted turner. When it softens and cooks, about 1-2 minutes, and then flip the scallion pancake and cook the other side, about 1 minute.

How do I warm up a cooked Chinese Scallion Pancake?

Similar way as you cook it. Turn the heat to medium and warm up a griddle for 2 minutes, and then place cooked scallion pancake onto the griddle. Cook for 1 minute and then flip and cook the other side for an additional 1 minute. If needed, flip again and cook for additional 30 seconds, so on and forth.

Why do I need to remove Cong You Bing from the griddle as soon as they are done?

If not, the remaining heat will continue to cook it and turn it into a crunchy flatbread. Even after you have turned off the heat, there is still plenty of residual heat left in the griddle.

When and How do you eat Cong You Bing {葱油饼}?

This is such a versatile and naturally tasty food that you can eat at breakfast to go with a cup of tea, or as a side dish to pair with a soup or a protein & vegetable dish for lunch or dinner.

These Soups are perfect to pair with this Chinese scallion pancake:

Cong You Bing complement these protein dishes wonderfully:

Home Freshly Made Chinese Scallion Pancake

Cong You Bing Scallion Pancakes Recipe {Yummy Healthy Way}

Yield: 12 servings

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Cong You Bing {葱油饼}, or scallion pancake, is a popular savory Chinese unleavened flatbread. It features crispy outside with thin layers of soft bread inside filled with enticing spiced fragrant and flavor.

Ingredients

For the Dough:

660 grams, all-purpose flour, organic, about 4 cups
30 grams of avocado oil
1/2 tsp Himalayan pink salt
350 grams of water, approximate, you may not need the entirety, see notes

For the Filling:

4 tbsp avocado oil
4 tbsp organic all-purpose flour
1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
1 tsp Himalayan pink salt
4 stalks of green onions, finely chopped

Instructions

Make the Dough:

Gather the ingredients for the dough
Place the empty mixing bowl on the kitchen scale. Press "TARE", measure out, and add 660 grams of organic all-purpose flour, 30 grams of avocado oil, and add 1/2 tsp Himalayan pink salt into the mixing bowl. Remove the mixing bowl from the scale.
Place an empty 2-cup measuring glass on the kitchen scale. Press "TARE" and measure out 370 grams of water.
Make a well in the middle of the mixing bowl, and gradually add the water while mixing and kneading until forming a soft dough.
Cover the mixing bowl with a damp kitchen towel and let the dough rest for 1-2 hours.

Make the Filling:

Gather the ingredients for the Filling
Add avocado oil, all-purpose flour, salt, and black pepper into a small bowl, and whisk well using a mini whisk. Finely chop the green onion, put them into a bowl, and set it aside.

Roll Cong You Bing:

Roll the dough into a long cylinder and cut it into 12 equal portions, with each portion weight ~80 g.
For each portion of the dough, Knead the dough slightly, use two hands to press & organize it into a thick flat slab.
Use the rolling pin to roll into a thin flat sheet.
Generously brush the Filling over the flat sheet and sprinkle with finely chopped green onions.
Starting from one end and roll the flat sheet into a scroll.
Turn the roll 90-degree, press down using your hands, and then use the rolling pin to flatten it.
Roll this flat sheet into a roll and then stand it up on the countertop. Note this dough roll is much shorter compared to the initial roll. Gently hold and press the roll using two hands to ensure the outer layer is together with the core.
Use one hand to press down or both hands to press & rotate in the palm and turn it into a round disk
Use a rolling pin to flatten the disk into a thin round sheet.
Start in one direction to flatten out the folded disk of dough
And then turn to the other direction, flatten the whole thing into a thin layer of circle
Excellent, one Cong You Bing is done! Repeat for the rest.

Cook the Cong You Bing:

Turn the heat to medium and heat a 10.5-inch griddle for 2 minutes.
Place one Cong You Bing flat onto the griddle and cook for 1 minute or till the edge is slightly browned or tiny bubbles start to form.
Flip the scallion pancake using a slotted turner, and cook the other side for 1 minute.
All done. Remove it from the griddle and put it onto a plate and wait for a couple of minutes to let it cool down slightly before serving.
Repeat until you have cooked all scallion pancakes. After a while, the griddle will be heated much more, you may need less time, say about 30 seconds on each side or 1 minute total.

Notes

For easy measurements, I use grams as a unit of measurement. Use a kitchen scale with different unit options that also have a "TARE" function to measure incremental weight.
The water required to make a soft dough depends highly on the humidity level of the environment. I have used as much as 370 g of water during Chicago's dry winter, and as little as 330 g during the humid summer. After adding 1 cup of water, please go extra slowly and add water little by little, to allow the flour to absorb the water. The goal is to knead it into a smooth & soft dough.

Keep in mind that it may take time for the flour to fully absorb the water, therefore the dough may initially look dry. Please do not add too much water too fast. Use both hands to pull the dough apart and press them together along the way to help the flour absorb the water faster and make the dough softer.