Scallion Sesame Pancakes with Teriyaki Tempeh

Finally! The first real culinary masterpiece to come out of my sweltering kitchen in quite some time.

This heat wave seemed to have lasted forever (in reality, it was about 10 days) and I have been at odds with my inner chef. I’ve had no desire to create anything that took much work for fear of overheating and dying right in the middle of my kitchen. After an eternity of humidity (OK, I’m being a little dramatic), I could finally turn on the stove without the fear of spontaneous combustion. And I finally had an idea for the MASSIVE bunch of green onions I’d got at the farmer’s market last week.

I had a craving for scallion pancakes some time ago, but the insanely high temps kept me from constructing them. Today was the first day that temps stayed in the low 90’s and the humidity wasn’t at 100%. Hooray! Time for a labor intensive recipe.

I still cheated a bit by buying a pre-made sauce, but everything else is from scratch. I’m sure if you wanted to be completely homemade you could make an awesome sauce out of some soy sauce, ginger, garlic and flour. But considering my kitchen was still a  bit toasty, I didn’t want to overdo it.

These Chinese pancakes and sweet and sour tempeh are truly beautiful. I considered them a work of art and the dish took an absolutely stunning photo. You may see an enlarged, framed picture of this meal hanging over my mantel in the near future. It is THAT good.

1 8 oz package of organic tempeh

1 cup teriyaki sauce

2 cups organic all purpose flour

6 scallions, chopped

1 cup warm water

1 tbsp olive oil, plus for for frying

1/2 tsp sea salt

Scallions and sesame seeds to taste

Sauteed bok choy, optional

• Pulse flour, water and sea salt in a food processor until a sticky dough is formed
• Roll out onto a floured surface and divide into six equal pieces-roll each piece into a ball
• Spread each ball into a thin pancake, then drizzle with about 1/4 tsp olive oil and spread over pancake
• Top with 1/6 of scallion pieces and about 1/4 tsp raw sesame seeds
• Roll pancake up into a long, thin piece (like a snake or cigar) and then roll into a cinnamon bun shape
• Press this down into another thing pancake
• Repeat with each ball until every pancake is made
• In a cast iron skillet over medium heat, pour in enough enough to coat the bottom of the pan
• Once it begins to sizzle a little, cook each pancake in the oil for about 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown
• Remove from skillet and dry on paper towels on a plate
• Meanwhile, divide tempeh package into 6 equal pieces and cook in another frying pan over medium heat in a bit of olive oil, about 3 minutes on each side
• Add teriyaki sauce, a bit of sesame seeds and scallions and cook for one minute, shaking continuously
• Cover, reduce to low medium/low heat, and keep shaking pan every minute or so for about 6 minutes, then flip and cook on the other side for 5 more minutes or until all the sauce is absorbed
• Serve tempeh over scallion pancakes, with sauteed bok choy in between, if desired