Recipe: Cilantro-Scallion Pancakes

St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday for eating green foods, right? Just kidding! I know it’s actually about looking for leprechauns and lucky four-leaf clovers.

Green foods are some of my favorites and they’re so easy to cook right now, when asparagus, fresh herbs, miner’s lettuce, and other verdant shoots are pushing their way up from the ground. No reason to use any artificial food coloring for your all-green St. Patrick’s Day menu.

I sent this recipe out to Recipe of the Month subscribers (scroll down to sign up!) and wanted to share here, too. The only rule that I must insist upon for cilantro-scallion pancakes is: eat them while they’re steaming hot from the pan. That’s when they taste best.

Cilantro Scallion Pancakes

Makes eight (8-inch) pancakes

1 bunch fresh cilantro

Toasted sesame oil

Fine sea salt

3 cups/375g all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling

¾ cup/180ml boiling water

8 green onions, roots trimmed, green and white parts thinly sliced

Vegetable oil, for cooking

Rinse the cilantro and while it’s still dripping wet, put it (stems and all) in the bowl of a food processor. Add 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and a pinch of salt and blend to a puree.

Transfer the puree to a large bowl and add the flour. Pour in the boiling water and stir with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms. Turn out the dough onto a floured work surface and knead it until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into 8 equal-size pieces. Using a floured rolling pin, roll each piece into a circle about 8-inches in diameter. Brush with a thin layer of sesame oil, scatter about 1 tablespoon of the chopped green onions, and sprinkle with a big pinch of salt. Roll up the dough, then coil the roll around itself. Flatten the coil to an 8-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick.

Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the pancakes, one at a time, until golden and crisp on the first side, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side until golden and crisp, another 2 to 3 minutes. Serve hot.