Cōng Yóu Bǐng 蔥油餅 are a fantastic snack at any time of day. In Shanghai, they’re a breakfast favourite. These crispy layered pancakes are made from unleavened dough and speckled through with green onions and sometimes little cubes of salt pork, then pan fried and served hot. Crisp and crunchy on the outside, with warm flaky dough in the middle, a little like a paratha, a lot like the best hot, salty snack you can taste for under 30 cents.
This is Number 5 in a series of posts about Shanghai’s delicious street food. You can read about the others here:
Number 1 Roast Sweet Potatoes
Number 2 Snack-on-a-stick
Number 3 Liangpi – a spicy cold noodle dish
Number 4 Langzhou Lamian – hand-pulled noodles
Number 5 Cong You Bing – fried shallot pancakes
Number 6 Baozi – steamed buns, Shanghai style
Number 7 Jian Bing – the famous egg pancake
Number 8 Dan Gao – street cakes
Number 9 Shao mai – sticky rice treats
Number 10 Summer on a Stick – fresh fruits
Number 11 You Tiao – deep-fried breadsticks
Number 12 Dan Juan – egg rolls
Number 21 Suzhou Shi Yue Bing – homestyle mooncakes
Number 22 Gui Hua Lian’ou – honeyed lotus root stuffed with sticky rice
Number 23 Cong You Ban Mian – scallion oil noodles
Number 24 Guotie – potsticker dumplings
Number 25 Nuomi Cai Tou – fried clover pancakes