Green Onion Cakes with Cilantro and Sesame Oil
Did you know you can make Green Onion Cake for yourself at home? This version has cilantro and sesame oil added for extra flavor.
I first published this recipe 10 years (!) ago in the early days of Domestic Dreamboat. When I lived in Wisconsin, when I wanted a Green Onion Cake, I had to make them from scratch because they were pretty hard to find. Sure, you could get them at a few restaurants (and we did), but you couldn't just buy them frozen at the grocery store.
Here in Edmonton, you can get them EVERYWHERE. Green Onion Cakes are pretty much considered one of Edmonton's official foods (along with Donairs). You can get them at the majority of restaurants, and you can buy them frozen at almost all grocery stores, either pre-cooked, or raw, locally made or not.
The moral of the story is that I almost never make them from scratch anymore, because I just don't need to. But I was going through some of my old blog posts and realized that this oldie-but-a-goodie needed a bit of a refresh, so I made a batch. And I remembered just how good Green Onion Cakes are when they're homemade.
How to make Green Onion Cakes:
Now I'm going to give you a bit of a heads up: while making your own homemade green onion cakes is not difficult, it is time-consuming. They involve a lot of hands-on work, like making dumplings or decorating cookies.
When I make green onion cakes, I usually double or triple the recipe and make a whole bunch at once. Because of this, I break it up into steps so I'm not doing it all at once. First I make the dough, which has to rest for 30 minutes or so. While the dough is resting, I prep the filling ingredients: wash and chop the green onions and cilantro. Then I assemble the pancakes (which goes much faster if you have someone helping you).
The first part of assembly involves cutting the dough into pieces - 4 pieces for a single recipe. Make sure you keep the pieces of dough you aren't working with covered so it doesn't dry out.
Form each piece of dough into a ball then roll it into a rectangle - roll it so that the long side of the rectangle is closest to you. Try and get the dough as thin as you can - this will make for more flaky layers in the finished green onion cake. Then brush a thin layer of the flour-oil mixture all over the dough (avoid the top edge). Then sprinkle on the green onions and cilantro mixture.
Roll the whole thing into a rope, as if you were making cinnamon buns. Then form the rope into a coil, like a snail shell. Now roll that coil again to flatten it. Don't make it too thin this time - aim for about ½-1cm thick (¼ to ½"). Repeat all of these steps with the remaining dough balls.
At this point, you have a few options. You can either cook them now, or freeze the raw green onion cakes to be cooked later. To freeze them, put 2 layers of parchment or wax paper between each green onion cake so they don't stick together. Then stack them in a large freezer bag and place them on a flat surface in your freezer to freeze.
You can also freeze the green onion cakes after they've been cooked and reheat them in a toaster oven.
Cook them in a covered skillet over medium-high heat after brushing both sides of the pancake with a thin layer of canola oil (about ½ teaspoon per side). If they are browning too quickly, turn the heat down to medium. Flip the pancake when it starts to brown and keep the lid off while cooking the second side.
My favorite way to serve green onion cakes is with homemade chile oil, but they're also good with sriracha, chile-garlic paste, or if you like things a little milder, Thai sweet chili sauce.
Green Onion Cake Ingredients:
- All-purpose flour
- Salt - Some will go in the dough, and some will go in the filling.
- Boiling water
- Canola oil - or any other neutral-flavored cooking oil. Some will go in the filling, and some will be used for cooking the Green Onion Cakes.
- Sesame oil - This is for the filling, and it gives the Green Onion Cakes a nice, subtle sesame flavor. Find sesame oil in the International aisle, or in the aisle with the other oils. If you don't like it or don't have any, replace it with additional canola oil.
- Green onions
- Cilantro - I like the flavor cilantro adds to my green onion cakes, but if you are one of the people who don't like it, feel free to skip it.
Featured Review 💬
Finally got a chance to try these out today! Lovely! Thanks so much for such clear directions and a tasty side!
- Nat
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Green Onion Cake Nutrition Notes:
The nutrition information in the recipe below is for one whole green onion cake if you use the recipe to make four green onion cakes. It doesn't include any dipping sauces you might serve with it.
This recipe is dairy-free and vegan as written.
Green Onion Cake with Cilantro and Sesame Oil
Equipment
Ingredients
Instructions
- Whisk 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour and ½ teaspoon salt together in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Turn the mixer on low speed and slowly pour in ½ cup boiling water. Continue mixing the dough at low speed until well combined. If there is still flour left in the bottom of the bowl, add more water 1 teaspoon at a time until dough comes together. The dough should be stiff and not sticky. Move dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until a smooth ball forms, about 30 seconds. Place dough in a clean bowl and lightly brush with oil. Let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- While the dough is resting, prepare the filling ingredients. Stir together 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour, 1 ½ Tablespoons canola oil, 1 ½ teaspoons sesame oil, and the remaining ½ teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Set aside. In a separate small bowl, stir together the minced green onions and 2 Tablespoons minced cilantro. Set aside.
- Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces. Cover the pieces you aren't working with with plastic. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough balls, one at a time, into rectangles, as thin as possible, with the long side closest to you. Brush dough with a thin layer of the flour-oil mixture, being careful to avoid the top 1-2cm of the rectangle, then sprinkle with ¼ of the green onion and cilantro mixture, keeping the onion mixture to mostly the bottom-right corner.
- Roll the dough into a rope, as if you were making cinnamon buns, then roll the rope into a coil, tucking the end underneath. Roll the coil with a rolling pin to flatten, leaving it about ¼" thick. Don't worry if the dough splits and some of the green onion mixture comes out. If desired, roll between two pieces of parchment to prevent sticking to the counter. Repeat with remaining dough pieces.
- If you're going to freeze your green onion cakes for later, place two layers of parchment or wax paper between each rolled-out pancake. Stack the pancakes and paper in a large zipper bag, and freeze flat.
- Green onion cakes can be cooked immediately, or cooked from frozen (no need to thaw first). Brush each side of the pancake with a thin layer of oil (up to ½ teaspoon per side). Heat a cast-iron or non-stick skillet over medium-high heat place a pancake in the skillet, and cover. Cook until the bottom is lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes. Flip the pancake and cook the other side without the lid until lightly browned, about 2-3 more minutes. Turn down the heat to medium if the pancake is browning too quickly. Repeat with remaining pancakes Serve with chile-garlic sauce, sriracha, Thai sweet chile sauce, or chile oil.
Nutrition
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Finally got a chance to try these out today! Lovely! Thanks so much for such clear directions and a tasty side!