This extra flaky scallion pastry, originating from Northern China, can now easily be made at home with pantry ingredients! It is great for breakfast or as a snack, and perfect with chili oil. 

This spiral scallion pastry is fragrant with green onions and spices, and is extremely flaky. The flakiness is unique to this pastry and can be achieved by wrapping an oil dough inside of a yeast dough. Unlike the popular Chinese scallion pancake, this pastry is more bread-like has a crispier exterior. The pastry itself is flavorful with traditional Chinese five-spice, but I highly recommend dipping it in some Chinese chili oil for added flavor!

The old practice of making flaky pastry was to use lard, but lard is not frequently used anymore because it is not suitable for vegans or vegetarians and of its high price. In place of lard, I used butter, which resulted in a more biscuit-like recipe. Using vegetable oil would result in a crispier pastry, which would taste just as good. I have not tried this specific recipe with vegetable oil instead of butter but will certainly test it out in the future! Please watch the recipe video to help visualize the cooking process. The written instructions can be confusing and it is important to follow the steps correctly to yield the spiral texture and appearance.

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Spiral Scallion Pastry

 

yield: 6 pastry

total cook time: 1 hr.

Ingredients:

For yeast dough:

• 230 g. all-purpose flour (1 2/3 c.)
• 3 g. yeast (1 tsp.)
• 5 g. granulated sugar (~ 1 tsp)
• 25 g. vegetable oil (~2 tbsp.)
• 140 g. warm water (~0.6 c)

For butter dough:

• 200 g. all-purpose flour (~1.4 c.)
• 110 g. softened, unsalted butter (1 stick butter)

For filling:

• 85 g. chopped green onions
• 2 g. five spice powder (1/4 tsp.)
• 1 g. white pepper powder (1/4 tsp.)
• 4 g. salt (3/4 tsp.)
• 1 g. garlic powder (1/4 tsp.)
• 0.5 g. ginger powder (1/8 tsp.)

Directions:

1. To make the yeast dough, in a medium bowl combine the all-purpose flour, yeast, and sugar. Add in the vegetable oil and combine until coarse crumbs form. Add in the warm water in two batches and mix until a smooth bread dough forms. Knead for 1 min. and cover and set aside in a warm place for 30 min.
2. To make the butter dough, combine the flour and butter and mix until a smooth dough forms. Cover and set aside.
3. Combine the filling ingredients and set aside.
4. Once the yeast dough has doubled in size after 30 min, punch the dough down and knead for 2 min. Form the dough into a log shape and cut into 3 equal pieces.
5. Form the butter dough into a log shape and cut into 3 equal pieces.
6. To form the pastry, take one yeast dough and lightly flatten it out. Wrap one butter dough in the middle and seal the edges. On a lightly floured surface, gently flatten and roll out this dough ball into a flat dough.
7. Fold both sides of the dough towards the middle and roll out the rectangular dough. Roll up the rectangular dough and slice the dough in half. You should now have 2 spiral halves.
8. Take one spiral half and using the non cross-section side, pinch the insides to form an indent. Place about 1 1/2 tbsp. green onion in the middle and seal the dough. Gently flatten out this stuffed dough into a pastry and set aside. Repeat for the 5 other pastry.
9. In a skillet over medium heat, add about 3 tbsp. oil and pan fry the pastry, flipping until each side is golden brown. Allow the pastry to cool and enjoy!

*Nutrition Facts are estimates