These little crispy, fluffy, chewy pillows of scallion-y deliciousness were a must-order at the Chinese grocery store we used to frequent in the vast wild blue yonder of suburban NJ (as opposed to the vast, wild gray setting we find ourselves in now. Harumph). So, as a continuation of our recent all-purpose Chinese bun (man tou) dough post from three days ago, we’re a-gonna teach ya’ll how to make these here twisty thingies.
So normally, these scallion rolls, or hua juan (literally in Chinese, flower rolls), are twisted or braided into much more intricate shapes (never fear! we have an easier way).
We decided to roll them and cut them much like one would with cinnamon rolls, and then press them into these sort of “butterfly shapes” to keep them from expanding and rolling apart.
Now, you can make the traditional (also vegetarian) version, which is largely just scallions. Or you can get crazy and add:
Bacon.
Anyone seen How I Met Your Mother recently? Ted realizes that the lifelong “bacon allergy” he’s harbored is all just a cruel ruse concocted by his controlling mother, and proceeds to eat an entire hotel pan full of the stuff. I believe his exact words were, “I have seen the face of God.”
If you would like to join Ted in emerging from “the bacon-less Hell he’s been living in his whole life,” then by all means, sprinkle as much of the stuff as you want in the middle of these rolls. There are many Chinese bakeries out there that combine bacon and scallions into a whole range of baked goods, so you have cultural permission to follow suit.
In any case, we encourage you to try both the traditional scallion version and the Ted-Mosby-loves-bacon version. To the recipe!
You’ll need:
- 1 recipe mantou dough
- 3 scallions, chopped
- Oil
- Salt
- 4 oz. cooked bacon, chopped or 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- water
Take half of the dough and roll it out into a rectangle about a half-inch thick.
Stir together the chopped scallions, a few tablespoons of oil, and salt, to taste. Spread half of the scallion mixture evenly over the dough.
Sprinkle over half the bacon or 1 tablespoon sesame seeds. Or both the bacon and the sesame seeds, you party animal, you.
Roll the dough into a long cigar shape.
Slice into 3-inch pieces.
Use a chopstick to make a big crease through the middle of each roll. Yes, they do look a little bit like……..well. The point is, they won’t expand and come apart too much when cooking. Get ‘yo mind outta the gutter, yo!
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Place the rolls in the pan and let fry for a minute or two.
Pour a half cup water into the pan and cover. Steam for about 12 minutes. Check regularly to make sure the pan isn’t drying out and add a little more water if necessary.
Remove the cover and allow the water to evaporate. Continue to fry, adding additional oil if necessary, until the bottoms of the rolls are golden brown. Because……crispy.
Serve these scallion rolls hot! You can use the rest of the ingredients to make another batch, or wrap up the dough and store in the refrigerator for later.
Enjoy ’em!
Chinese Scallion Rolls (Hua Juan)
Ingredients
Instructions
- It takes about 2 hours to make the basic mantou dough
- Take half of the dough and roll it out into a rectangle about a half-inch thick. Stir together the chopped scallions, a few tablespoons of oil, and salt, to taste. Spread half of the scallion mixture evenly over the dough. Sprinkle over half the bacon or 1 tablespoon sesame seeds.
- Roll the dough into a cigar, slice into 3-inch pieces. Use a chopstick to make a crease through the middle of each bun. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Place the buns in the pan and let fry for a minute or two. Pour a half cup water into the pan and cover. Steam for about 12 minutes. Check regularly to make sure the pan isn’t drying out and add a little more water if necessary.
- Remove the cover and allow the water to evaporate. Continue to fry, adding additional oil if necessary, until the bottoms of the buns are golden brown. Serve! You can use the rest of the ingredients to make another batch, or wrap up the dough and store in the refrigerator for later.
These were very good, but next time I make it, I will be adding 1/2 teaspoon salt to the dough. I saved some time in cooking bacon by using the Costco Kirkland Brand Bacon Crumbles. In the instructions it says to roll the dough into a rectangle 1/2″ thick, your pictures show a much thinner dough. How large is the rectangle?
I saw this bun done somewhere else and they called it a flower bun. Of course I consulted my go-to source for all things Chinese cooking, The Woks of Life, to see what the real recipe should be and found this one. I can’t wait to give it a try this weekend.
I like the way in the video they did a few things. They rolled out the dough quite thin, stacked two slices together before pressing with a chopstick, then pulled the dough apart slightly from each end, twisted both sides and joinEd the ends together, which became the bottom of the bun. They just steamed them and they turned out beautiful. A real showstopper.
They also used milk in their though similar to your whole wheat version. Their rationale was that it would make the bun appear whiter, which I’m not sure I buy.
As one other person commented, they also used Chinese sausage, lap cheong, in one of the recipes. And they even added some Monterey Jack to one with bacon and scallions, it seemed very pizza like. So many different things to try.
I wish I had tackled this over the pandemic winter, but we have a few more weeks before our summer starts here in the PNW.
Thanks for being my trusted source on all things Chinese cooking.
Thank you so much for your love and trust, Stevie. BTW, here is our steamed lap cheong bun recipe that you can use as a reference :-)
I loved this recipe! It was so so easy and yummy! I fried half and steamed the other half! Was just wanted to get advice on the Fried one though, they kept sticking to the pan even though I put oil and all that. I managed to save majority of them but some got the whole crispy bottom ripped off when I tried to shimmy them out of the pan! Anyway love your blog, I can’t get enough of making your recipes!
Hi Stephanie, sounds like this post is for you: :-)
Hi! I just made your wheat mantou recipe and it was so good! Have you ever tried the whole wheat version and added the same fillings? Wondering if I could use the same technique but use your whole wheat version…
Hi Jane, I think the whole wheat mantou dough is less light and fluffy. What you can do is to add a little more water to the whole wheat mantou and make a softer dough.
These turned out incredible! I used Chinese sausage instead of bacon since I didn’t have any and it was amazing. How would you recommend storing these? Thanks again!!!
Hi Alice, you can put them in a zip-lock bag and freeze them. To reheat, just steamed them again for 10 minutes.