Win Son's Bacon, Egg & Cheese Scallion Pancake Recipe on Food52 (2024)

“At Win Son Bakery, we wanted to serve Taiwanese breakfast staples like soy milk, fan tuan, and our milk buns with egg, but we also really wanted to figure out a way to serve an American-style bacon, egg, and cheese in a uniquely win son, or Taiwanese American, way. So Trigg went back to his family meal vault for this one, recalling a time when some leftover dan bing were griddled with melted cheese and bacon. It reminded us of street-cart scallion pancakes served with fried eggs in Taiwan. We ultimately decided to fold bacon and cheese into that streetcart speciality to keep it simple for our Taiwanese American BEC. And as another option, we serve our BEC on a milk bun at the bakery, too.

We source our bacon and much of our meats through Heritage Foods, a nearby distributor of heritage meat founded by Patrick Martins, a good friend of ours. His wife, Anne Saxelby, founded Saxelby Cheesemongers, and Anne personally chose a cheese to tie this sandwich together. She introduced us to Reading Raclette from Spring Brook Farm, an Alpine-style semi-firm raw cow’s milk cheese inspired with a sublime melt. We were going for the meltiness of American cheese—but with a more nuanced flavor that you immediately knew was way better. And we love being able to support craft cheesemakers in our region, too. Look for it—or search for a nice, melty Swiss style from your local cheesemonger.”

Recipe excerpt from the new bookWin Son Presents A Taiwanese American Cookbookby Josh Ku, Trigg Brown, and Cathy Erway. Text copyright 2023 by Josh Ku, Trig Brown, and Cathy Erway. Photographs copyright © 2023 by Laura Murray. Published by Abrams.
—Food52

These pancakes can also be cooked and served on their own, sans breakfast sandwich. Here's how:

“When you’re ready to cook them, you can start off with a fresh or frozen scallion pancake. In a skillet, heat 3 to 4 tablespoons of neutral oil over medium-high heat and once hot, place a pancake down in the center. Reduce the heat to medium and let it cook until nicely browned and bubbly on the bottom, reducing the heat to medium-low if it’s starting to brown too dark in spots. Flip over and let the other side cook until the pancake is golden brown and air bubbles arise. In total, each scallion pancake will take 4 to 6 minutes. Remove from the pan and cut each pancake into quarters for serving.” —Food52

Directions

1. Make the scallion pancakes: In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the flour and tepid water on low speed until the dough comes together and is smooth. It should feel moist to the touch, but not stick to your finger. If the dough looks shaggy or too dry, add more water a tablespoonful at a time. Place the dough on a lightly oiled prep surface.
2. Roll the dough into a long snake and divide into 8 evenly sized pieces. Roll the pieces into balls. Let rest for 20 minutes on an oiled tray or sheet pan covered with parchment paper or plastic wrap. Once fully rested for 20 minutes, the dough will be slightly deflated. On another sheet pan, place 2 cups (250 grams) flour. Place a dough ball into the middle of the flour and cover the top with flour. Just press the dough ball lightly with your four fingers spread so that you can flatten it enough to add on the next dough ball and repeat to create a stack. Proceed like this until all four dough balls are stacked. Make sure there’s plenty of flour covering the dough. Press lightly with the heel of your hand so that the dough balls flatten together into personal pizza–style disks, about 6 inches (15 centimeters) wide. Press twice with your hand so that you don’t overwork the dough. Overworking the dough yields a hard pancake.
3. Pick up the stack and gently shake the disks as you turn the stack in your hands, kind of like you’re shaking sand off a beach towel. The weight of the dough and gravity will do mostof the stretching work. When you separate the disks onto the prep surface, they should be 7- or 8-inch (17 or 20 centimeters) disks. Next, sprinkle a pinch each of salt and MSG on each pancake, then 2 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions, and finally a tablespoon of melted shortening or pork lard onto each pancake. Roll up each disk, and stretch the rope gently so it elongates to 10 to 12 inches (25 to 30.5 centimeters). As you stretch the snake as long as you can, try not to tear it. If the dough starts to break, that’s an indication that it didn’t rest long enough, that it has been overworked, or that it is too dry. Curl up each side of the ropes until the opposing coils meet, then slide one side under the other. Set each coil onto an oiled tray, covered with parchment or plastic wrap, and let rest for 30 minutes.
4. On an oiled prep surface, press the pancakes into disks using your four fingers—no rolling pin is needed. You simply (and gently) smash the coils with your four fingers. The dough is soft so it compresses very easily into a flat disk, similar to the way they were pressed into disks earlier on in the recipe; however, now there’s a lot more fat in the dough so as long as the surface of the table is oiled, the coils won’t stick as you press them into flat pancakes. Be careful to press them evenly so they cook evenly. Put the pancakes onto oiled layers of parchment and take them right to the stove if cooking immediately. Or fold them into layers of plastic wrap in order to keep them separate and freeze them.
5. Make the Ginger Deluxe Sauce: In the bowl of a food processor, place the ginger, scallions, and garlic and pulse several times, stopping to scrape down the sides, until the mixture is very finely chopped. Add the mayonnaise, ketchup, pepper, paprika, mustard powder, garlic salt, fermented bean curd, Worcestershire, and salt and/or MSG (if using) and blend. Taste for seasoning, adding extra salt and MSG, if desired. Store the sauce covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
6. Assemble the sandwiches: In a large mixing bowl, whip the eggs with the oil and 2 teaspoons salt and transfer to a small pitcher so you can pour from it. It’s important to really whip the eggs and emulsify them. If you have a handheld immersion blender or a regular blender, use that. (This is a great trick for making scrambled eggs fluffy or omelets super smooth.)
7. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Pour about 2 ounces (60 milliliters) of the beaten egg in the pitcher into the center of the pan and reduce the heat to low. Immediately place a slice of Raclette cheese and 3 slices of bacon on the egg. Working quickly, lay the scallion pancake over the eggs, bacon, and cheese, and season with 1/2 teaspoon each of the salt and MSG, then flip the whole thing over. Still working quickly, fold the edges of the pancake inward, like a C-fold, and flip it again so the seam is facing down. Cooking the seam in the pan will lock the pancake closed. Flip and cook for another 2 minutes, or until the pancake is golden brown.
8. Repeat with the remaining eggs, cheese, bacon, pancakes, salt, and MSG. Let cool for a few moments before cutting the pancakes into bitesize slices, or in half like a sandwich. Serve with Ginger Deluxe Sauce on the side.