Pancakes with Garlic Chives and Ground Pork - 韮菜肉餅

Have you ever had garlic chives before?

They look almost like scallions and chives,

Thanks for Wikipedia, you can learn more about garlic chives on its website.

The most common place to see garlic chives is --- inside a dumpling,

It's like one of the all time favorite flavors for dumplings among Chinese people,

There's only one reason I can think of if I don't wanna order garlic chives flavored dumplings in a restaurant,

I don't wanna scare people away!

But why?

You should be able to figure out the reason,

"Garlic" chives,

Just like garlic, garlic chives taste so good but yet people will definitely know if you had it for lunch.

So what do you do if you're really craving for garlic chives?

Just make all your friends to eat it with you,

Now that everybody smells the same, no one will have the rights to complain!

Anyhow, after such a long talk about dumplings,

I decided to use that idea about garlic chives stuffing and give it a little twist,

Instead of dumplings, let's make a big pancake with garlic chives and ground pork!-

Ingredients?

1 lb of ground pork

1 egg

1 small bundle of garlic chives (about 10 stems, chopped into small pieces)

1/4 small onion (chopped into small pieces)

1 teaspoon of grated ginger

Soy sauce

Extra virgin olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

Salt

1 tablespoon of cornstarch or tapioca starch

1/2 cup of all purpose flour

Thai chili sauce

How?

Let's marinate the ground pork first with some soy sauce (about 1 tablespoon),

Mix them well and set aside for at least 15 minutes.

While waiting for the meat to absorb the flavor from soy sauce,

We can go ahead and start chopping all the ingredients.

After you're done with all the knife works,

Have a big bowl ready,

Toss in chopped onions, grated ginger, chopped garlic chives, and marinated ground pork,

Don't forget to add the egg, cornstarch, and all purpose flour.

Sprinkle some salt (about 1 teaspoon) and black pepper (I used a lot),

I also added one more tablespoon of soy sauce into the mixture.

Here, please use your hand to combine everything together,

Sometimes hands work way better than food processor,

Don't be scared, just close your eyes and dip your hand into the mixture,

It's not that hard, just a little bit sticky.

Keep your hand there and start mixing!

You'll know it's ready when every little bits of flour are combined well with other ingredients,

Set aside,

Now, go wash your hand.

Have a skillet ready,

Drizzle some olive oil, or you can substitute it with cooking spray,

Just make sure your pancake mixture won't stick to the skillet later.

Wait till the skillet turns really hot,

Pour in the mixture and spread it out evenly,

Cook for about 3 minutes or slightly browned on each side.

I was gonna make a big round pancake instead of breaking it up into smaller pieces,

Sadly, there was this little accident in the kitchen,

..............................................

Ok fine, it was my fault,

I tried to flip the pancake over and the next thing I know..

My one big round pancake turned into pieces of uneven-shaped pancakes,

With some smaller bits scattering on the stove and on the counter....

Hey, practice makes perfect yeah?

Until the next time.

Serve with Thai chili sauce.

The crunchy edges definitely give this pancake...ok these pancakes an irresistible kick!

Makes a perfect snack to munch on!

Cindy's Rating: 7