Introducing our first menu item!
Drum roll please…for our scallion pancake x cheeseburger mashup!
The scallion cheeseburger features two beef smash patties, two slices of American cheese, Chinese black vinegar caramelised onions, lettuce and tomato – all sandwiched between two scallion pancakes.
This dish is inspired by Chinese flaky scallion pancakes that are commonly sold at street vendors. I remember having my first scallion pancake in Guangzhou, China when I was a kid. It was fragrant, crispy on the outside and slightly soft on the inside. The scallions were so fragrant.
I wanted to create something like a cheeseburger because it’s such a classic on a fast food menu. But I knew that I wanted to bring a Chinese touch to it.
At first, I tried to make a dumpling burger – but that didn’t work out for a number of reasons.
So I ended up turning that dumpling dough into scallion pancake dough! It was simple – all I had to do was add a scallion paste and fold it in a certain way.
And that’s how our scallion cheeseburger was born!
I turned my homemade dumpling wrappers into scallion pancakes.
All I had to do was add scallion paste – which was a mixture of oil, flour and scallions – and roll it in certain shapes to achieve the flaky texture.
You can adjust the amount of scallions you add. I prefer my scallion pancakes to have lots of it, so I was very generous.
Also bonus tip! The quality of your scallions are very important. After all, it is called scallion pancake for a reason. I made it with less fresh scallions before, and it didn’t taste great. But with fresh scallions, you’re onto something.
When you’re pan frying the scallion pancakes, keep your heat to a medium so the exterior gets golden and crispy, while the inside cooks well.
Another tip when cooking scallion pancakes is to not be shy with the oil. Yes, scallion pancakes are oily. There’s oil inside the dough, and then you use a lot of oil to pan fry it too.
But trust me, without much oil, the pastry just doesn’t taste the same.
Try to keep your scallion pancakes all the same size. I would also recommend matching the size to your burger patties.
Look at all the layers and flaky texture.
For the scallion cheeseburger packaging, I decided to make a burger sleeve that had a red pocket theme, to symbolise good luck and fortune.
I personally love adding the red border, I think it makes the packaging look super unique and stand out. What do you think?
Bonus picture – this was my prototype after recipe testing.
I didn’t use fresh scallions, so straight away you can tell the colour of the scallions is more yellow/dull. The scallion pancake dough was burnt and undercooked, and the oil was seeping through the food packaging.
I’m showing you this because I want you to know that it’s ok if you don’t get it right the first time!
Scallion Cheeseburger
Ingredients
Method
- In a large bowl, pour the warm water into the flour. Stir with chopsticks until it briefly forms into a dough.
- Knead briefly with your hands until it comes together into a ball.
- Lightly flour your bench or a non-stick silicone mat.
- Transfer the dough onto the bench/mat and knead for 5 minutes. It does not need to be completely smooth.
- Cover and rest the dough for 10 minutes while you prepare the oil paste.
- In a small pot over medium-low heat, add the vegetable oil and flour.
- Stir continuously for 3-4 minutes, until the mixture thickens into a smooth paste.
- Remove from heat and set aside.
- Gently knead the scallion pancake dough for 1 minute.
- Roll the dough into a long log, then cut it into 8 equal pieces.
- Working with one piece at a time, roll it into a thin rectangle.
- Brush on a generous amount of the oil paste, and sprinkle scallions evenly over the dough.
- Roll the dough up tightly from the long edge to form a log.
- Coin the log into a spiral (like a cinnamon roll) and flatten gently.
- Use a rolling pin to roll it into a thin pancake.
- Repeat with all the remaining dough pieces.
- Heat a pan on medium-low heat. Add oil and cook each pancake for 2-3 minutes per side, or until golden and crispy. Set aside.
- In a pan over medium heat, add the oil and sliced scallions. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the sugar and stir for another minute.
- Add about 2 tbsp of water. Let it evaporate, stirring occasionally.
- Repeat, adding 2 tbsp water at a time and letting it fully evaporate, until the onions are soft and jammy.
- Add the soy sauce and black vinegar. Stir constantly for another 1-2 minutes.
- Set aside.
- Divide the beef mince into 8 equal meatballs.
- Heat a pan over medium-high and add oil.
- Place the meatballs into the pan and press each one down with a burger press (or a flat cup lined with baking paper) to form thin patties.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Cook until the bottom develops a caramelised crust, then flip and cook the second side for about 1 minute.
- Repeat with remaining meatballs.
- Layer each burger in this order: scallion pancake -> mayonnaise -> beef patty, cheese -> beef patty -> cheese -> tomato -> lettuce -> caramelised onions -> scallion pancake.
- Serve immediately and enjoy!
