Mark Bittman's Quick Scallion Pancakes: fast, cheap, addictive

My Hero

Having conducted "Scallion Pancake Week" and revisited with Super Simple Scallion Pancakes, I was not prepared for the ease and deliciousness of Mark Bittman's "Quick Scallion Pancakes" from The Minimalist Cooks at Home.

Fast, cheap, and addictive In 20 minutes, you can make a pile of beautiful green pancakes with 4 bunches of scallions, an egg, flour, salt, and pepper. It is as easy as boiling water, which is the first step. You'll need a blender or food processor, a small bowl, and a non-stick pan.

These will stay warm in the oven at 300 F. If you are frying for company, these will have the same effect on your guests as potato latkes. They will hover around the pan.

Cooks' notes: Know your stove and frying pan. It is pointless to write "on medium high heat" because yours might be blazing hot or vaguely energetic.  The goal is to cook them through, with either lightly brown or deeply brown (my favorite) exteriors.

Lots of scallions

Ingredients

4 bunches of scallions, washed and trimmed
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 cup of all purpose flour
Oil for frying, salt & pepper
Lemon slices
additions (see below and use your imagination!)


Directions

1. Boil a pot of salted water.
2. Scallions:  Mince one bunch and reserve. Rough chop three bunches.
3. Add the chopped scallions to boiling water. Boil 5 to 6 minutes or until the thickest scallions are tender. Drain, but do not rinse.
4. Puree scallions in a food processor or blender.  Remove to a medium bowl. Add the flour, slightly beaten egg, soy sauce, salt, pepper, and reserved scallions.
5. Heat 2 T oil in a non-stick pan.
6. For dollar-sized pancakes, drop the batter by tablespoons. For larger pancakes, use 1/4 cup or eyeball with a large spoon.



Green in the pan

7. Cook the pancakes 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until brown. I like brown-and-crispy, so I lean toward 3 minutes. Serve with lemon slices.

Unable to leave well enough alone, I also added:

Garlic: throw 2 or 3 peeled cloves into the boiling water with the scallions.
Ginger:  Process a 1-inch piece of fresh ginger before adding hot scallions.
Chili pepper: With the ginger, I processed skin and seeds of a jalapeno. Feel free to use some (a technical term, indicating as much or as little as you want, taking into account the Scoville rating of the pepper and your ability to cope with it) fresh or dried pepper.