Cabbage Pancakes with Scallions
Salt and squeeze the shredded cabbage, stir it with scallions into a thin flour-and-egg batter, then pan-fry in oil for 3 to 4 minutes per side until deep golden and crisp. Cut into wedges and serve with the soy-rice vinegar dipping sauce.
Cabbage pancakes succeed or fail before the skillet ever gets hot. The shredded cabbage is salted for 10 minutes first, then squeezed hard to remove the water it gives up. Skip that and the batter gets diluted, the pan temperature drops, and your crisp pancake becomes something closer to a damp vegetable coaster. Once the cabbage is dry, it goes into a thin batter made with flour, egg, and ice-cold water, along with the white parts of the scallions.
Cook the pancakes in shimmering oil over medium-high heat and leave the first side alone long enough to become deeply golden before flipping. The cold batter against the hot pan helps create a light, crisp exterior while the cabbage inside softens without disappearing. A quick dipping sauce of soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, chile, and sesame seeds brings salt, acid, heat, and nuttiness to every wedge. Scatter the scallion greens over the top and serve them hot. The recipe makes cabbage feel less like a responsible vegetable decision and more like something you would steal off somebody else’s plate while they were looking for a napkin.
