Flatbreads · FFET10186
Cong You Bing (scallion pancake)
A pan-fried flatbread of dough rolled up with oil and chopped scallions, coiled, flattened and fried golden, often eaten for breakfast.
A plain white porcelain plate holds golden pan-fried flatbread with an oily sheen, dotted with chopped green scallion, toasted white sesame seeds and minced garlic, with wooden chopsticks resting beside the plate.
Shaobing, griddle bread, guokui, naan, spring pancakes and other wheat flatbreads.
Cong you bing is a pan-fried flatbread: dough is rolled out, brushed with oil, sprinkled with chopped scallions, rolled up, coiled and flattened, then fried golden on both sides. It is eaten for breakfast or as a snack in many places, including Taiwan and Hong Kong, with dough variants including glutinous rice flour. No place or date of origin was found; a 2024 news report's title links it to the Jin-dynasty monk Zhi Dun, but the report was not consulted and no supporting classical text was found, so the link does not establish a date.
What
Cong you bing is a pan-fried flatbread of wheat dough: the dough is rolled thin, brushed with oil, sprinkled with salt and chopped scallions, rolled up, coiled, flattened and fried in a pan until golden. Variants include doughs with glutinous rice flour and different kinds of oil.1
When
A 2024 news report's title links it to the Jin-dynasty monk Zhi Dun, also called Zhi Gong, under the name Zhi Gong bing; however, the report was not consulted, and no supporting classical text or text establishing a date was found, so the link does not establish a date.1
Where
Cong you bing is eaten for breakfast or as a snack in many places, including Taiwan and Hong Kong. The available material does not identify a place of origin, so this entry leaves it unspecified.1,2
How
The dough is made with hot water, rested, rolled thin, brushed with oil, sprinkled with salt and scallions, rolled into a rope, coiled, flattened and fried golden. One recipe rests the dough 30 minutes and fries about 3 minutes a side; another makes a thicker, layered pancake, rests the dough about 1 hour and fries about 5 minutes a side.3,4
Impact and influence
Related pancakes include jianbing and chive boxes. An entry of the same name lists only Chinese cong you bing and Korean pajeon, without giving a history.1,2
No tale about this food has been found.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is cong you bing as I make it at home, a simplified home version: I make the thin coiled and flattened pancake, not the thicker layered kind. The amounts and method mainly follow one recipe by a named author, with 1 1/2 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of hot water, a 30-minute rest and about 3 minutes of frying a side. Another recipe by a named author makes a thicker nine-layer pancake, rests the dough about an hour and fries about 5 minutes a side, and I did not follow it. The amounts of scallion, salt and oil are my own choices at home.
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups (a cup here is a 240 ml measuring cup)
- Hot water 1/2 cup (about 120 ml)
- Scallions about 4, chopped; this amount is my own choice
- Salt 1/2 teaspoon, sprinkled on the dough; this amount is my own choice
- Cooking oil, for brushing the dough 2 tablespoons; this amount is my own choice
- Toasted white sesame seeds 1 tablespoon; this amount is my own choice
- Cooking oil, for frying 1 tablespoon
- Light soy sauce 1 tablespoon, for the dipping sauce; this amount is my own choice
- Black vinegar 1 teaspoon, for the dipping sauce; this amount is my own choice
- Garlic 1 clove, minced, for the dipping sauce
Steps
- Put the flour in a bowl, pour in the hot water a little at a time while stirring with chopsticks until it forms flakes, then knead it into a dough for about 5 minutes.
- Cover it and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 3 pieces and roll each into a thin round about 18 cm across.
- Brush each round with oil and sprinkle it with salt and scallions.
- Roll each round up from one side into a rope, coil the rope into a spiral, press it flat with the palm of your hand, and press sesame seeds onto both sides.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a flat pan over medium heat, put a pancake in, and fry about 3 minutes a side until both sides are golden.
- Stir the soy sauce, vinegar and garlic together for a dipping sauce and serve it with the pancakes. When a pancake comes out, press the middle: it is ready when it springs back and has no soft, raw feel.
Tips
- Dough that has rested is much easier to roll, so I always give it the full 30 minutes; this is my own experience.
- I blot the chopped scallions with a paper towel before sprinkling them on, so they release less water and stick less in the pan; this is my own habit.
Allergens: wheat, soy, sesame