This scallion pancake breakfast sandwich is inspired from Win Son bakeries Taiwanese American bacon egg and cheese.
The Deets
This is a recreation of one of the best breakfast sandwiches I have ever had. If you have never been to Win Son, it is a Taiwanese American bakery in Brooklyn. They have a famous breakfast sandwich which is essentially a Taiwanese American bacon egg and cheese, cooked in a scallion pancake. The pancake folds right into the bacon, egg, and cheese and gets super crispy and delicious. It’s so flavorful and such a breakfast treat. Serve with their famous Ginger Deluxe Sauce and that’s it! Making it at home is not quite as good as going in person, but this is definitely the next best thing. The full recipe for these is below and from Food 52
The Scallion Pancakes:
If you want to make your scallion pancakes from scratch, the recipe for the Win Son version is below. However, you can also opt to buy premade scallion pancakes to save a few steps. I suggest the Trader Joes scallion pancakes. They are super tasty, and certainly save you some time. However, I thoroughly enjoyed making the scallion pancakes from scratch, and they are easy to freeze for future use.
More on Win Son:
This is a expert from the Win Son Presents A Taiwanese American Cookbook speaking to the origin of the Scallion Pancake Breakfast Sandwich “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.”
Scallion Pancake Breakfast Sandwich
Ingredients
For the scallion pancakes:
- 4 cups All-purpose flour, plus more for brushing
- 1 1/2 cups Tepid water (105 to 110°F/40.5 to 43°C)
- Neutral oil such as soybean, for greasing and pan-frying
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp MSG
- 4 tbsp Melted pork lard, vegetable shortening (such as Crisco), or melted butter, or more as needed
- 1 bunch scallions thinly sliced
For the Ginger Deluxe Sauce:
- 1 3-inch / 7.5-centimeter piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into thin coins
- 4 scallions roughly chopped
- 1 garlic clove peeled
- 1 cup Kewpie mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup Ketchup
- 1/2 tsp Cracked black pepper
- 1/4 tsp Smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp Mustard powder
- 1/4 tsp Garlic salt
- 1 tbsp Jarred fermented bean curd with chili dou fu ru
- 1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- Salt and/or MSG optional
For the sandwich:
- 8 Eggs
- 4 tsp Salt divided
- 4 tbsp Neutral oil, such as soybean
- 4 slices Raclette cheese or another melty, Swiss-style cheese
- 12 slices cooked crispy bacon
- 4 scallion pancakes
- 1 tsp MSG
Instructions
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 most of 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.)
- 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.
- 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.
