Scallion Pancake Nachos
Did you ever think scallion pancakes would work great as nacho chips? I did! And I am so glad I thought of it cause these scallion pancake nachos came out awesome! Spicy pork belly and a cucumber salsa are the perfect toppings for this spicy, savory, and sweet Tex-Mex-Chinese mashup! You can find this recipe and others like it in my Nachos for Dinner Cookbook.
The inspiration for this recipe
After eating Chinese takeout a few weeks ago and having some scallion pancakes that were much crispier than normal, I decided that they would work great as chips for nachos. Chinese boneless spareribs are one of my favorite takeout options, so I used some of those flavors as inspiration for a spicy pork belly topping. I fried up the pancake chips so they were very crispy, piled them up with all the toppings, and threw them into the oven. These scallion pancake nachos tasted so awesome and would be a great appetizer or snack for Chinese takeout lovers.
Preparing the spicy pork belly
I bought this pork belly already chopped up and put it onto a baking sheet with some 5 spice, chile paste, rice vinegar, honey, garlic, ginger, and more. 300 degrees for about 2 and a half hours and it was perfectly crispy, chewy, sweet, and spicy!
There will be a lot of excess fat in the pan so just drain it out a bit and it’s ready to serve! This is obviously way more than you need for these scallion pancake nachos but I made some extra for later.
The cucumber salsa
I made a quick salsa with cucumber, thai chilis, cilantro, scallion, soy sauce, and lime juice.
The scallion pancakes
I have included instructions on making your own scallion pancakes for these nachos, but Asian grocery stores have really fantastic frozen scallion pancakes. It’s up to you! They come raw and you fry them up and they taste homemade. The first time I made this recipe, I made them from scratch, but after that I used store bought. The photo below is store bought!
It’s hard not to just eat them all at this point. Make sure you make a little extra for a snack!
Build the scallion pancake nachos
Cut up the scallion pancakes into nacho shape. I like to do 6 “chips” from each circle. If they don’t feel crisp or firm, you may want to cook them a little more! You can preheat the oven to 450 for the nachos, but put just the cut scallion pancakes in for a few minutes to firm up a bit.
Then spread out the chips in a single layer on a baking sheet with a little bit of overlap. Top with the cheese first, then the pork and a little more cheese. bake at 450 for about 10 minutes.
When the scallion pancake nachos come out of the oven, top with the cucumber salsa and serve! Alternatively you could give people a side of salsa to use at thrit discretion. It’s spicy!
These nachos came out so damn good. the sweet and savory pork was perfect with the crunchy but tender chips.
Twists on this recipe
I mentioned earlier the debate between making your own scallion pancakes or using store bought. You could also just order a bunch from a chinese restaurant and use those! You could top this with any flavors you want. Maybe some taco meat for a more fusion version of the dish.
If you want a detailed look at making your own scallion pancakes, this is a great guide.
For more nacho goodness, check out my eggs benedict nachos, backyard BBQ nachos, or these grilled chimichurri steak nachos! Or buy my cookbook Nachos for Dinner!
Scallion Pancake Nachos
Ingredients
Pork
- 1 pound pork belly diced
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon grated garlic
- 1 teaspoon 5 spice powder
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons sambal chili paste
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey plus more
Pancakes
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 1 bunch scallions
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil or so
Toppings
- 2 cups jack cheese
- 2 jalapenos thinly sliced
- hoisin
Salsa
- 1 english cucumber diced
- 6 thai chilis sliced thin
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 2 scallions sliced thin
- 1 lime juice
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
Instructions
Pork
- Preheat oven to 300
- Mix the pork with all the sauce ingredients and stir to combine.
- Spread on a baking sheet and cook about 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until slightly browning around the edges and tender on the inside.
Pancakes – Homemade
- If using store bought scallion pancakes, skip the next 2 steps
- Add the hot water to the flour in a bowl and stir well. Season with salt. When the dough starts to come together, move it to the counter. Knead once its cool enough to handle. Continue kneading until the dough is soft and well formed, about 15 minutes. Cover and set in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Split the dough into 3 pieces and roll each out into a thin pancake. Paint on some sesame oil with a brush and top with scallions. Roll up the dough in a tight spiral, and then roll the log into another spiral. Press down on the dough to flatten it. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough. Roll the dough out into thin rounds. If you are unfamiliar with this process, there is a link above that will help you!
Pancakes – cook/store-bought
- Heat a thin layer of oil in a frying pan. Add one or two of the scallion pancakes, as many easily fit in the pan. Cook and flip to brown on both sides. Set aside on a rack until you do all of them. Cut into 6 "chips"
Salsa
- Make the salsa by mixing all the salsa ingredients. Add some salt to taste.
Build and cook the nachos
- Preheat oven to 450. If the "chips" seem soft or not crispy enough, add them to a pan and cook about 10 minutes in the oven.
- Build your nachos starting with the chips, then adding cheese, pork, and then more cheese.
- Bake at 450 for about 10 minutes until the cheese is melty and delicious.
- Top with the salsa and serve
These look amazing! fantastic idea.