Make Chinese Scallion Pancakes
Forge to Table knives started in a JWU dorm room by Noah Rosen, and local chef Sam Burgess came up with this recipe using the knife.
Scallion pancakes by chef Sam Burgess.
Forge to Table is a brand of crafted knives, cooking accessories and apparel that was born out of a Johnson and Wales University dorm room in Providence. Noah Rosen began the company while a culinary arts student. He started his culinary education in high school, and worked as a cook and ran a pop-up restaurant even before attending college.
While at JWU, he custom-designed his first knife, the eight-inch Gyuto, by working with forge owner and bladesmith Alex Zheng. After he and his culinary school peers agreed the blade was superior to others, Rosen began commissioning more of his design and Forge To Table became a brand.
Rosen graduated in 2019 from Johnson and Wales with degrees in Culinary Arts and Food and Beverage Entrepreneurship. He is a member of the American Bladesmith Society, a National James Beard Scholarship recipient and an amateur bladesmith, trained by Alex Zheng. Zheng is a third-generation forge in southern China, and the family operation was launched in the 1920s by his grandfather. He creates beautiful knives by “combining traditional Chinese and Japanese techniques infused with modern innovation.”
Invest in a Forge to Table knife and use it to make chef Sam Burgess‘s recipe below for scallion pancakes. The vegan pancakes are great for a snack, quick breakfast or lunch. “This recipe makes a big batch, so they’re great for a party appetizer or meal prep for the week,” says Burgess, who developed the recipe for Forge To Table.
Chinese Scallion Pancakes (Cong You Bing)
Recipe by Sam Burgess
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Makes 20 seven-inch pancakes
Pancakes
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1 Tbs kosher salt
2 tsp onion powder (optional)
1 cup scallions, sliced thin, divided (~ 1 bunch)
1 ½ cup boiling water
2 Tbs sesame oil
Vegetable oil, as needed
Dipping Sauce
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar (optional)
In a large mixing bowl, add all-purpose flour, salt, onion powder and ½ cup sliced scallions, and mix with a wooden spoon to incorporate. Add the boiling water and mix until cool enough to handle. Knead the sticky dough for 5-10 minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic. Cover with a damp towel and let rest for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix together soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and sugar until sugar is dissolved.
Once the dough has rested, dust a work surface with flour and roll the dough into a long cylinder. Use a rolling pin to roll out to ¼-inch thick and brush dough with sesame oil, leaving one-inch closer to you dry. Evenly sprinkle remaining ½ cup scallions over the sesame oil. Start to evenly roll up the dough towards you back into a cylinder, starting from the oiled side.
Use a Forge To Table eight-inch Gyuto to trim the ends, then cut the roll into 20 even pieces, keeping covered so they don’t dry out. Dusting with flour, flatten each piece on the swirl side and roll into a ¼-inch thick pancake (about seven-inch diameter).
Heat a thin layer of vegetable oil over medium heat in a cast-iron pan or large skillet, until lightly shimmering. Gently place a pancake into the skillet, cooking until browned and bubbly, about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side, another 2-3 minutes. Repeat with remaining pancakes, reserving on a paper towel-lined plate to let cool. Serve while warm with prepared dipping sauce.
Watch the slide show to see the steps:
Chef’s Notes:
– If you want to save some for later, let pancakes cool to room temperature before placing paper towels or parchment paper between each pancake, and arrange in a bag in the freezer. When you’re hungry, take a few right out of the freezer into a toaster or preheated skillet until crispy again!
– The recipe ingredients can easily be cut in half for more manageable batch size.
