The Art of Making Scallion Pancake Beef Wrap with Eric Sze

As we enter the 886 Taiwanese restaurant, we are greeted by none other than Eric Sze, also known as the "Sze Daddy." In this video, he is about to take us through his process of making a delicious scallion pancake beef wrap. To begin, Eric explains that they make their own chili oil every week at the restaurant, and yes, his face is on it. He jokingly remarks that he didn't think of this idea himself but credits Andy Chuang for coming up with it.

Eric starts by explaining the ingredients needed to make the scallion pancake, which include 50% bread flour and 50% all-purpose flour. The bread flour provides a nice structure and a QQ texture, while the all-purpose flour is just that – all purpose. He adds sugar, salt, and black pepper to the mix, as these are his personal preferences. The secret to making a good scallion pancake lies in doing hot water and cold water, which helps cook the flour slightly. Mixing it well ensures that the seasoning is evenly distributed.

As Eric continues, he explains that the dough for a scallion pancake is over-hydrated, so don't be alarmed if it looks super wet and sticky. He adds room-temperature water to the mixture after the hot water has been incorporated, and then lets the dough rest for about 40 minutes to allow the glutens to relax. This resting period is crucial in achieving the perfect texture.

Moving on to the beef, Eric explains that they are going to toast their spices before adding them to the pan. The spices include star anise, angelica root, citron pepper, and a few cinnamon sticks. Angelica root is a traditional Chinese herb that is very strong and should be used in moderation. Eric toasts the spices dry without any oil, which helps activate all the flavors.

Once the spices are toasted, Eric adds some cut-up ginger and garlic to the pan. He then adds beef shanks, boneless, which will be braised later. The condiments added to the beef include rice wine, soy sauce, water, doubanjiang (a bean paste), rock sugar, white pepper, and scallions. The flavor profile of the beef should be very soy-sauce-centric, as it's part of the seasoning for the entire scallion pancake.

As Eric continues with his recipe, he explains that the key to making a great scallion pancake is not having them too thick, as this can cause the layers to leak water. He recommends using both the green and root parts of the scallions for added color and flavor. Scallion pancakes are a staple in Taiwan and can be found everywhere, from street stalls to restaurants.

To make the scallion pancake wrap, Eric rolls the fresh scallions into the pancake, making sure not to over-hydrate it. He then adds the beef mixture, which will be braised for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The result is a delicious and flaky scallion pancake wrap that is perfect for enjoying with your favorite condiments.

As we watch Eric work his magic in the kitchen, it's clear that making a scallion pancake beef wrap requires patience, skill, and attention to detail. However, with Eric Sze as our guide, we can learn how to make this delicious dish at home and experience the flavors of Taiwan for ourselves. So, let's get cooking!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en-We have our own chili oilat the restaurant.We make it every week.So, that's my face on it,actually.I am the Sze Daddy.This is the most narcissisticthing somebody has thought of.I didn't think of this,by the way.Andy Chuang did.♪♪What's up everybody?My name is Eric Sze.I am from 886Taiwanese restaurant,and today I'm going to show youhow to make the scallion pancakebeef wrap.So first, we're going to makethe scallion pancake.Here we have 50% bread flour,50% all-purpose flour.The bread flour kind of gives ita nice structure,a very nice QQ texture,chewiness.And all-purpose flouris all purpose.Add some sugar, some salt.My personal preference,a little black pepper.Mix it up a little bit,you know,get it well incorporated,the seasoning.And so, the secretto a good scallion pancakeis actually doing hot waterand cold water.Hot water helps kind of cookthe flour a little bit.Mix it real well.Well, the dough for a scallionpancake is over-hydrated.So don't be alarmedwhen it looks likeit's super, super wetand sticking to my fingers.So, once the hot waterhas been incorporated,we add in room-temp water.As you can see, it's very wet.Super sticky.Don't be alarmed.I've made this many times,and every time at this step,I question myself.But as long as it's notsticking to the bowland just, like, your hand,it's fine.So this guy restsfor about 40 minutes or sojust to let the glutens relax.And I think we'llmove onto the beef.We're going to toastour spices.We will beginwith our star anise.Angelica root.Citron pepper.And a few cinnamon sticks.Angelica root is a verytraditional Chinese herb.It is very strong, though.It's kind of like cinnamon.A little bit goes a long way.So, we're toasting the spicesdry, without any oil.It becomes a lot more aromatic.It kind of activatesall the flavors.Now these are done toasting.We're going to pop thoseinto this pan.I'm going to cut upsome of this ginger.Ginger in.Garlic.Any of this, you cankind of just eyeball.We have beef shanks here,boneless.We're just going to addthese guys in cold.Do not be alarmed that weare not browning them at all,because this is a braised beef.It's just going to go intothe scallion pancake.You have a bunch of differentcondiments that'll help it.Here, we have rice wine.I'm just going to add itall generously in.We have soy sauce, water.This is doubanjiang,which is a bean paste.Very fermenty, pungent.It's the main ingredient,actually,in mostof the citron-style cuisine.So this is a verycitron ingredient.Rock sugar.White pepper.Scallions in.Again, very rough,'cause you're not goingto need this anyway later.So, the flavor profileof the beefshould be very soy-sauce-centricbecause it's supposed to bepart of the seasoningof the entire scallion pancake.I'd say this a is verytraditional beef shank recipefound throughoutChinese cooking.It eventually made its wayinto Taiwan.This guy's just got to gofor about 2 1/2, 3 hours.So these scallions,fresh from the Munchies garden,best in America.They might actuallybe best in America.I've never seen such beautifulscallions here stateside.We are going to roll theminto the pancake.They are calledscallion pancakes.The key is to not have themtoo thick,because if it's too thick,then it's over-hydrated,then it leaks waterinto your beautiful layers,flaky layers,of your scallion pancake.A lot of recipes in Taiwancall for just the green partor the root part.I like both.The green part obviouslyhas great color.The root part has great flavor.Scallion pancake is everywhereto be found in Taiwan.You have street stallsthat specialize in it.There are so many differenttypes of scallion pancake.You have the yeasted kind.The one I'm used to eatingis probably from Shanghai.It's thinner. It's flakier.It's non-yeasted.And then you roll shit in it.In Taiwan, you would literallygo up to a street cart,and they would be like,\"Oh, one scallion pancake.Egg or no egg?Do you want ham, SPAM, bacon?\"Stuff like that.Frankly, you can add anythinginto a scallion pancake.This is my favorite version.My grandma is from Sichuan,so this braised beefis very Sichuanese.Just a nice, little homageto my grandma.Alright.So, now the dough has rested.We're going to take it outand start rolling it.You can see it's stillkind of sticky,but it's not reallysticking to my hands,which means it's niceand elastic.You can pull it like this.You're going to wantto oil your surface.Dough goes on.Kind of roll it.Pull it a little bit.Give it a nice, little help.And this makes three.So, one, two.So just roll this guy out.If it springs back a little bit,don't worry about it.You don't have to besuper even with it, either,because you're just tryingto create the layers.Alright.This is good enough for me.Here, we have lard.Lard, if you don't know,is fat from a pig.I rendered this myselfat the restaurant.I don't understand why Americanshave such a thing against lard.It's the most natural formof fat.It's better for you.It creates the bestpuff pastries.So I think lard should reallymake a comeback.Lard is always better,in my opinion.That's how it's donein Taiwan, so...Spread the lard evenlyonto the pancake.And then we sprinkle a verygenerous amount of scallions.You want to also make surethat it's even,or else you'll get,like, dough bits.Those are never good.And here, what you want to dois roll this guy upas tight as you canso you don't leave outany of the scallions.Roll it up, up, up, up.Here we are.You'll see these two ends.Just kind of close itlike this.And here we're goingto roll it up again.Twirl it up.So I like to do one, two, three.And then one, two.Stack it together,and then press it down.This guy just needs to rest,and then it can be rolled out.So, the cucumbers,we're going to julienne.And it's for when we wrap it inwith the beef.Gives it a nice crunchand refreshing flavor,because the scallion pancakeis going to be slightly oily,on the greasier side.And this gives it that balancethat everybody likes and needs.So, the beef has been braisingfor about 3 hours.Take this guy out.So, this guy is very hot.It's going to bea little hard to chop.If you want to be fancy,you can chill them.It's nice and tender.You can tell how tender it is.This little knife test again --Oh!Super tender.So, we want large chunks.When we assemblethe scallion pancake beef wrap,we are goingto kind of form theminto the long shapefor the scallion pancake.When you bite into it,you get beef and everythinginstead of just scallion pancakeand cucumbers.So, the scallion pancakeshould rest at room temperaturefor a minimum of 40 minutes,up to 3 hours.And if you want to do itovernight, refrigerate it.Now you can see all the layershave kind of come into one.We're just going to roll it outinto one nice sheet.I'm going to be very delicatewith it, or else --There are air bubbles insidethat will kind ofeventually pop.Thickness is reallyup to your personal preference.But you don't wantto get it too thin,or else it doesn't flake up.I'm just going to add a littlebit of oil to this frying pan.We want the oil to be hot.Just want to press itjust so it's got even cooking.And the scallion pancakeis beautiful.Nice and golden, crusty, GDB.It's going to be nice and flakyonce we cut into it.The scallion pancakeshould be done at this point.You can see it's nicegolden brown overall.It's not overcooked.It's very importantthat you let it rest, though,or else is going to be super,super greasy.Okay. So nowwe're going to assemble.I'm going to takea scallion pancake.Nice and crispy.Here we have somesweet bean paste.It's called tianmianjiangin Chinese.Add it. It's kind of likea hoisin sauce,like a Peking duck sauce.And we're going to addKewpie mayonnaise.This isn't super traditional,but I think the creaminessbrings it up a notch.Going to add a little bitof chili oil.Just a drizzle.And here, you kind ofjust mix it all up.You want it to be very,very well incorporated.So, we have our cucumbers.We're going to lay it outin two sections.I'm going to break up the beefa little bit.See how tender it is?Going to add it right here.So, you bring over one layer,like this,and then you roll it overagain, like this.You press it down...and voilà.You go one...two, three.It can be as big or as smallas you want to it to be.Here you have it --scallion pancake beef wrap.Can I just comment onhow beautiful the layers are?Just look at the layersin this scallion pancake.I'm going to dig in.It's crunchy.It's crispy, flaky, spicy.And then you get that freshcrunch from the cucumbers.It's just -- It's incredible.Alright. That's my recipe forthe scallion pancake beef wrap.If you'd like to know therecipe, click the link below.If you're too lazy,just come to 886, man.\n"