Easy Peasy - Chive Pancakes

Chive Pancake, originally uploaded by lilithny.

or, "How to Use Your Herb Garden"

The first time I ever had scallion pancakes was at the now defunct Zen Palate in Union Square. I remember it vividly - I was down in the city with my boyfriend at the time and an old co-worker from Co-op and his girlfriend. We had just waited on line for about an hour to get a ticket to get student/discount tickets for De La Guarda. It was a little chilly and the boys were trying to climb the building.

That was seven years ago. Crazy.

I've eaten at Zen Palate a handful of times since then, and I always ordered the scallion pancake. I've also tried them at other places, but it was never right. It tended to be on the oily side, and always served with some soy sauce mixture. Bleeech.

I had a hankerin' for these pancakes, so I set out to make my own batch. I used chives instead of scallions, only because there is tons in the backyard. You can use scallions in yours.

I wasn't sure how to get the chives dispersed throughout the dough so I googles. For the most part, most recipes tell you to roll the dough out thin, sprinkle the scallions on top, and roll it up like a fruit roll up. Once rolled up, you roll it out again- and woosh! Dispersed scallions!

Chive Pancake

* 2 cups flour
* water (~1 cup)
* 3 handfuls of chives, minced
* oil for frying
* salt
* hoisin sauce (for dipping)

Mix the flour with enough water to form a dough ball. Cover with a moist cloth and set aside for at least and hour. (I was watching the Women's all-around when I made these)

Lightly flour your work area. Divide the dough into eighths. Roll to ~1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle minced chives over rolled dough. Tightly roll up the dough, and roll out again.

Heat up a frying pan with enough oil to coat the bottom. Fry dough pieces until golden brown on each side. Dry on paper towels. Serve with hoisin sauce.