one of the only times that it's best to be flaky

In honor of Lunar New Year, I have decided to finally post about a fun food experience I had last month.

When I was at home this winter break, my boyfriend and I spent a lot of time traveling around California visiting relatives, friends, and places we used to frequent and love. Of course, California is kind of a mecca of great food and great fun; during our trip, we went to some amazing places and had delicious food. This list includes: my favorite Thai restaurant in Los Angeles (Palms), a delicious hot pot and sushi meal made by Hayes's uncle, my favorite Creole restaurant (Creola), great pho and bun bo hue, steak at Harris Ranch, pizza in Berkeley (Zachary's and Cheeseboard), Suppenkuche (known for "das boot" of beer), my favorite Korean food (So Gong Dong), artisanal ice cream (Ici, Bi-Rite, and Mitchell's), In N Out, and so much more. Even though we had all this great food, my favorite culinary experience by far was at my grandmother's house in Sacramento for Christmas.

My grandmother pulls out all the stops for dinner and makes many Hunan style dishes when we come over. I am always impressed by her cooking and I know Hayes and I hope to get tips from her next time we visit. This time, she taught us how to make scallion pancakes. This dish seems so simple to make, but in order to make it multi-layered and flaky, much time, work, and strength is required. Many companies and restaurants make these in a haphazard way and the pancakes still taste good, but they pale in comparison with regards to taste and texture.

Here is what you'll need (you can experiment with amounts of each based on your preferences):
-Flour
-Water
-Oil (roughly 2 tbsp. for each pancake)
-Salt (1 tbsp. to taste)
-Scallions (cut up, as much as you like)
-Surface to roll dough on
-Rolling pin
-Pan or wok

First, you will want to combine flour and water to make a thick dough. You can use your hands to knead the batter (My grandma's advice is to keep pushing the dough down rather than mixing it around) through and through such that there are no dry flour bubbles remaining. This can be left overnight to make sure that it thickens and leaves well.

The next morning, when you are planning to eat the pancakes, you will want to divide the dough into several parts, depending on how many pancakes you want to eat.



The key to a good pancake is making sure it has plenty of layers; this is done by taking the dough and spreading it very thin (and consistently the same thickness throughout). My grandma has a really cool pull-out chopping block that we used and also a standard rolling pin. Her advice is to flatten it out, going from different angles from time to time to keep all parts of the pancake the same thickness. Also, make sure to flour the top of the surface you are using so that the dough doesn't stick to it.

After the dough has been thinned out, you will want to sprinkle salt all around the surface; a tablespoon of salt should do for the whole pancake. You then will want to put about one tablespoon of oil on the surface as well; this can be distributed on the pancake easily with a basting brush.

Next, you will want the dish's namesake: scallions! You should have the scallions cut up already and you can take about a handful to put onto the pancake, making sure to distribute it evenly and not too lumpily.



At this point, you will roll the pancake like a burrito, making sure to keep the ends closed off so the oil does not seep out.




Now you will come across the second step to ensuring perfect layers. Here, you will take the "burrito" and keep wrapping it around while pressing down on the dough. It ends up looking like this, until you use the rolling pin to completely press it down.




After using a rolling pin to press the pancake down to its shape (which is much smaller in circumference than when you first rolled it out), you should be able to see the scallions peeking through.



You are now ready to cook this sucker. The best way to do this is to use a wok or a pan that is non-stick. You will need some oil and then will put the pancake in to cook, flipping regularly until lightly browned.

Your pancake is finally done! You can cut it as you please and repeat as many times as necessary to use up the dough you have made. I assure you that you will enjoy this wonderful breakfast treat, which goes well with some soy milk. It is not the most healthy option, but it is important to indulge once in a while.



Enjoy!