Cardio and Cooking: Green Onion Cakes

I'm excited for tomorrow because it's going to be the first day of badminton club :D I hope there are some nice people there. It would be awesome to have friends. (Lol?) I've been getting some cardio in since I walk to class every weekday. That's a guaranteed 30-40 minutes of walking - half being down the hill, the other half being up. But badminton...I do miss that. I haven't played for over a month :(

Eating, however, I have been doing very well in. I recently had a craving on Friday (well, Saturday morning) at 2 AM for something crunchy. I was texting with P, and he was out with badminton friends having bubble tea and green onion cakes. Feeling rather envious, I made myself some "cong you bing" or green onion cakes. When I have time, I'm going to buy myself some tapioca pearls and tea leaves to make bubble tea. Maybe I can make friends that way - inviting people over for homemade bubble tea and green onion cakes. Ehh?...Ehh? ;)

Things that I learned on Friday about green onion cakes:

- Green onion cakes are also known as "cong you bing" or "onion...oil...cakes" in Chinese. They are also called scallion pancakes, or chive pancakes, but chives are not green onions. 

- They are very easy to make, and freeze well, so great for late night snacking. They kind of cost a lot at bubble tea shops for what they're made of and how easy it is if you just make them yourself.

- They taste awesome with sriracha or chili garlic paste or some sort of hot sauce to dip in. 

They puff up slightly when you cook them. I love the texture combination of crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

I have to go out to buy my chili garlic paste today, so I had them with sriracha. So good...

Frozen and separated by parchment paper :) I was getting a little stingy on the parchment paper, so some of them got squished in the fold and became somewhat rectangular. That can be fixed while cooking though.

Green Onion Cakes

*Makes 9 hand-sized pancakes*

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup water

1 green onion

Cooking oil

Salt

1. In a medium bowl, add flour and water, and mix until combined. Knead a few times until the dough comes together in a ball. If it's too sticky, add a little bit more flour. 

2. Brush or smear the surface of the dough ball with oil, and leave to rest in the bowl covered with plastic wrap for 30 minutes. You can chop the green onion into small pieces while the dough is resting.

3. Split the dough into 3 equal portions. 

4. Flour your counter, roll or flatten one portion of dough out into a long rectangle so that it is thin, but won't break. 

5. Sprinkle the surface with 1/3 of your green onion pieces, and some salt.

6. Like you're making a small cinnamon roll, roll the rectangle so that you get a long log with all of the green onions tucked inside. 

7. Divide the log into 3 equal sections, and roll them into circular coils. Use the palm of your hand to flatten it into a circular pancake, and set them aside.

8. Repeat steps 4-7 for each of the remaining portions of dough.

9. When cooking, add some oil into a pan over medium heat, and cook each side of the pancake for about 2 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy with some hot sauce or plum sauce!

10. When storing in the freezer, separate the pancakes with squares of parchment paper or wax paper, and place in a ziploc bag.

The next phase is to make homemade bubble tea...

-M