Green onion pancake 591330 224960578 2008-07-11T05:18:50Z Badagnani 308437 {{Chinese|pic= Tsongyoubing.JPG|t=[[wikt:蔥|蔥]][[wikt:油|油]][[wikt:餅|餅]]|s=[[wikt:葱|葱]][[wikt:油|油]][[wikt:饼|饼]]|p=cōng yóu bǐng|l=scallion oil pancake}}<!--Cantonese:蔥油餅 --> A '''green onion pancake''' (also called '''scallion pancake''' or '''scallion bread''') is a [[Basic taste|salty]], non-[[Leavening agent|leavened]] [[Chinese cuisine|Chinese]] [[flatbread]] folded with [[cooking oil|oil]] and minced [[scallion]]s (green onions). Unlike a true [[pancake]], it is made from [[dough]] instead of [[batter (cooking)|batter]], similar to the [[Indian cuisine|Indian]] [[paratha]]. It is available in [[China]], [[Taiwan]], and other areas of the world with significant Chinese populations in restaurants and as a [[street food]] item, and is also commercially available [[frozen food|frozen]] in plastic packages in [[Asian supermarket]]s. [[Image:Green onion pancake.jpg|thumb|250px|Green onion pancake]] [[Image:Green onion pancake internal layer.jpg|thumb|250px|Peeled pancake]] ==Variations and innovations== Other ingredients, such as chopped [[fennel]] greens and [[sesame]] seeds are sometimes added with the green onions. One could substitute the green onions with another topping of choice such as corn and diced bell peppers. There is actually a Chinese dessert called red bean pancakes (豆沙鍋餅) where the green onions and salt are replaced with a sweet red bean paste. Another method for cooking green onion pancakes is to fry them with eggs coated on one side. There is another Chinese snack called egg pancake (蛋餅), which is almost identical to the green onion pancake except that the dough of the egg pancake is thinner and moister. A similar pancake may be made with [[garlic chives]] instead of scallions. Such a pancake is called a ''jiucai bing'' (韭菜饼) or ''jiucai you bing'' (韭菜油饼). One variation involves leavening the dough and not flattening up the coil into a pancake. The coil is then fried or baked into a bread. In [[North America]], the pancakes are often served with [[soy sauce]], hot [[chili sauce]], or [[Vietnamese dipping sauce]]. ==Chinese myth surrounding the invention of pizza== There exists the in China and Taiwan the erroneous belief that [[pizza]] is an evolution of green onion pancake, brought back to Italy by [[Marco Polo]].{{Fact|date=February 2008}} Here is one version of the legend: <blockquote>Marco Polo missed green onion pancakes so much that when he was back in Italy, he tried to find chefs willing to make the pancake for him. One day, he managed to meet a chef from [[Naples]] at a friend's dinner party and persuaded him to try recreating the dish. After half a day without success, Marco Polo suggested the filling be put at the top rather than inside the dough. The change, by chance, created a dish praised by everyone at the party. The chefs returned to Naples and improvised by adding cheese and other ingredients and formed today's pizza. <ref>Xinhua, 12 September 2007, ''Pizza and Ice Cream: The Chinese Delicacies Marco Polo Brought Back to the West (Chinese)'' http://big5.xinhuanet.com/gate/big5/news.xinhuanet.com/overseas/2007-09/12/content_6707259.htm</ref></blockquote> ==References== {{reflist}} ==See also== *[[paratha]] (Indian variant) *[[Laobing]] *[[Pajeon]] *[[Banh xeo]] [[Category:Chinese breads]] [[Category:Flatbreads]] [[Category:Unleavened breads]] [[zh:蔥油餅]]