Last week I made my way back to Nom Wah and sampled some more of their goodies. (Those of you who follow me on Instagram may remember this photo?) And it’s official - they can do no wrong!

I have never had a scallion pancake up until that evening and as soon as I tasted the crispy, chewy awesomeness, I knew I had to make it at home as soon as possible. I found this recipe on The Sophisticated Gourmet blog and it can easily go down in history as one of the easiest recipes ever; the dough consists of only four ingredients, one of which is water.

This treat can play the role of a snack or replace chips/crackers at a cocktail party.

Recipe source: The Sophisticated Gourmet

(Yield: 8 pancakes)

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1 ¼ teaspoons fine grain sea salt

3 scallions, divided (chop the green parts; thinly slice the white)

½ cup boiling water

Neutral tasting oil, for frying (not olive oil!)

Hoisin sauce for garnish or dipping

Procedure: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt and the green parts of the scallions. Then slowly start to add the water and knead with fingers until it’s no longer sticky. If the dough is too dry, keep adding tablespoonfuls of hot water until a soft dough forms; it should be similar to the consistency of chewing gum. Remove the dough from the bowl, and knead on a lightly floured surface until soft and smooth, about ten minutes. Cover the dough with a damp cloth or plastic wrap, and let it rest for 30 minutes, or up to a day in the refrigerator.

Then divide the dough into 8 pieces.

…And shape into balls.

Using your hands, form each piece of dough into flattened rounds. Using a rolling pin, roll each round of dough into pancakes on a floured surface, with about a 5″-circumference. To get perfect discs, give the dough a ¼ turn each time you roll. Then, heat a dry stir-fry pan, cast-iron skillet, or heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high.

Pour in about ¼-inch of oil into the pan or skillet. Shallow fry each side of the pancake until light golden brown (about 1 minute for each side), pressing down around the edges of the pancake with a large spoon or spatula. Add more oil to the skillet and repeat the same for the remaining pancakes. Drain on paper towels, cut pancakes into quarters, drizzle with hoisin and top with remaining scallions. Serve immediately.