{"id":162458,"title":"Authentic Cong You Bing (Scallion Pancakes)","modified":"2026-08-10T21:10:18+02:00","plain":"Ultra-crispy Chinese scallion pancakes, rich and succulent thanks to a lard filling, then finished in the oven for the perfect texture.\n\n\n\nYou smell it before the pancake even arrives : scallions sizzling in hot lard on a blazing iron griddle. The cong you bing browns and blisters, and the first bite crackles before yielding to a supple, elastic center. \n\n\n\nIn a good one, steam has lifted the layers apart without soaking them in grease, and your fingers stay almost clean. This street food needs only four things : flour, fat, heat, and scallions. It seems too simple to be that good… until the first bite.\n\n\n\nAnother crisp, pan-fried Shanghai specialty : sheng jian bao\n\n\n\nWhat is cong you bing ?\n\n\n\nC\u014dng y\u00f3u b\u01d0ng (\u8471\u6cb9\u997c) translates roughly as \u201cscallion-oil bing.\u201d The word bing matters : in Chinese cuisine, it refers to a whole family of wheat flatbreads, not the equivalent of a thick cr\u00eape. \n\n\n\nThe dough is kneaded rather than poured, and its lift does not come from fermentation, but from steam swelling between thin films of fat and separating the layers. The center stays elastic, never spongy like a leavened da bing, nor thin like a jianbing or a Korean pajeon made with a runny batter.\n\n\n\nThe method starts with tang mian, a boiling-water dough that gelatinizes part of the starch and softens the gluten, allowing it to be rolled out almost translucent without shrinking back. \n\n\n\nThe dough is spread with yousu, a mixture of hot lard, flour, salt, and sometimes five-spice powder, then topped with a layer of green scallion stems. The whole thing is rolled into a tight log, coiled into a spiral, and flattened without crushing it, trapping the fat and tiny pockets of air. \n\n\n\nIn Shanghai, the xian jian hou hong (\u5148\u714e\u540e\u70d8) finish first sears the pancake in fat, then transfers it to the oven : the griddle creates the blistered crust, while radiant heat cooks the center.\n\n\n\nIn the same family of hand-worked wheat doughs : biang biang noodles\n\n\n\nFrom wheat fields to the streets of Shanghai\n\n\n\nCong you bing belongs to the long wheat-growing tradition of northern and eastern China. In ancient texts, bing was a broad term covering many wheat preparations, whether boiled, steamed, or grilled. \n\n\n\nAs early as the 6th century, the agricultural encyclopedia Qimin Yaoshu described these methods and already noted the use of animal fats to enrich doughs, a direct precursor to the fat that defines the scallion pancake. Sesame seeds, introduced via the Silk Road, also gave rise to hubing, a radiant-heat flatbread sprinkled with seeds.\n\n\n\nAt breakfast, it is often dipped into a bowl of piping-hot congee\n\n\n\nUnder the Song dynasty, the growth of cities transformed these rural foods into street food. Chronicles such as Dongjing Meng Hua Lu describe capitals where vendors sold oil pancakes at all hours. \n\n\n\nThe modern version took shape in the stalls of Shanghai, where double cooking became a signature : the crust is browned first, then heat and steam finish the center. Artisans such as \u201cA Da\u201d made this thick, springy, fried-then-roasted style famous.\n\n\n\nOne clarification is in order. The story that cong you bing inspired pizza via Marco Polo comes from a recent parody, not a documented source. Its flakiness comes from the know-how of street artisans, precise heat control, and the repetition of well-practiced gestures.\n\n\n\nThe key ingredients in cong you bing\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA wheat flour with about 10 to 11% protein provides enough structure without the rubbery chew of bread flour. \n\n\n\nHot water does the rest : adding most of the liquid at around 90 to 100 \u00b0C gelatinizes part of the starch and weakens the gluten, allowing the dough to be stretched paper-thin. A little cold water restores just enough spring, and a rest evens out the moisture.\n\n\n\nIn the Shanghai version, lard does more than add flavor; it creates the layers. Semi-solid at room temperature, it forms barriers between the sheets of dough, then melts as the steam pushes them apart. \n\n\n\nRendered poultry fat comes close, but liquid oils soak into the dough, while butter adds water and dairy notes that throw off the balance between fat and scallion.\n\n\n\nFor a heartier meal, serve a little char siu on the side\n\n\n\nThe yousu, hot fat mixed with flour and salt, distributes the richness and protects the rolled-out dough from the moisture of the scallions. The green stems provide the aroma : tender, washed, thoroughly dried, and finely sliced, because the white parts can pierce the dough and release too much water. \n\n\n\nFine salt seasons the layers without tearing the sheets, while a heavy iron or cast-iron griddle ensures even browning. Used on its own, sesame oil is too dominant and strays from the classic profile.\n\n\n\n\n\n\tAuthentic Cong You Bing - Scallion Pancakes\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\tDough150 g boiling water5 g salt500 g wheat flour (medium gluten content)160 ml cold water (adjust based on the flour's absorption)25 g lardOil Paste30 g neutral oil (canola, sunflower, corn\u2026)30 g flour3 g saltFilling270 g scallions (chopped)200 g pork fat (blended into a paste (raw pork fat, not rendered lard))cooking oil (as needed)\t\n\t\n\t\tPreparationCut the pork fat into small pieces, then blend it into a paste in a food processor. Set aside.In a bowl, stir together the boiling water and salt until the salt dissolves.Add the flour and mix to combine.Knead until the mixture forms a shaggy dough, then add the cold water and lard (adjust the amount of cold water based on the flour's absorption).Knead until smooth; the dough should remain slightly sticky. Cover and let rest for at least 1 hour.Make the oil paste by mixing the flour, neutral oil, and salt until smooth and lump-free. Set aside.ShapingOnce the dough has rested, do not flour the work surface. Oil the surface and your hands, then divide the dough into 6 pieces of about 130 g each.Take one piece of dough and flatten it thinly with oiled hands. Spread one portion of oil paste over the sheet of dough.Top with plenty of chopped scallions and place a portion of pork fat in the center. Fold the top down, fold the sides inward to enclose the filling, then roll it up.Stand the roll upright and let it rest for 10 minutes (while shaping, stretch the edges of the dough as thinly as possible).After resting, press down on the center with the palm of your hand to form a pancake (or use a pancake press).CookingHeat a cast-iron skillet and add the cooking oil, ideally to about one-third the height of the pancake.Place a pancake in the skillet and press down firmly. Fry until the first side is golden brown, then flip and brown the other side.Transfer to the oven and bake at 180 \u00b0C for 4 minutes. Serve hot.\t\n\t\n\t\t\nEach batch of pancakes takes about 20 minutes.\nIdeal texture: a very crisp surface (almost firm) with a tender, soft interior.\nThe pork fat makes the filling juicier and more succulent.\nWith too little oil, the pancakes will be less flavorful and less crisp.\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\tPlat principalChinoise","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}