

We’ve been making Chinese Onion Bread in our kitchen for years. It’s a flatbread sold from street vendors in northern China that I read about in one of my very first Asian cookbooks, Pacific Flavours. I love Hugh Carpenter’s amazing flavour combinations and interesting interpretations of Asian cuisine. That cookbook forever changed what we eat in our kitchen.
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Chinese Onion Bread is sometimes called scallion bread, scallion pancakes or onion pancakes. Since this onion bread is not made from a batter pancake would be technically incorrect. Regardless of the name, this Chinese Onion Bread is a flatbread made without yeast. A simple mixture of flour and water, although nothing about gluten free flour could be called simple.
I was recently inspired to recreate a gluten free version of my old Chinese Onion Bread recipe. I came across a recipe using chickpea flour and tapioca starch so I tried it. My first attempt was good but I wanted it to be a little lighter. I tried using my EGFG flour blend but experimented by adding some other flours.
The final recipe I’m posting uses my EGFG flour blend plus the addition of chickpea flour. I do most of my experimenting like this. I start with “my blend” but replace some of the total flour amount with a different flour. This is an excellent way to learn about different flours. In my research I found recipes using oat flour, millet flour, corn flour or masa harina. I can’t try all of those but I find it interesting to see what others are trying.
After writing my yearlong blog series on How To Use different gluten free flours I feel more confident with substitutions. Life gets easier for gluten free bakers once they know more about the flours they have. It’s a great skill to be able to substitute and notice how different combinations affect the final product.
Let me know in the comments below if you tried this Chinese bread and how it turned out.
If you’re new to gluten free Asian cooking check out my blog post titled a Gluten Free Asian Pantry.
Sesame oil is used as a flavouring rather than a cooking oil in Asian recipes. It has an assertive taste that works well in soups, breads, stir fries and salad dressings. If you purchased sesame oil for the first time here are more ways to use it.
1½ cups gluten free flour (I used my EGFG flour blend*) |
½ cup chickpea flour** |
½ tsp xanthan gum |
¾ cup boiling water |
TOPPING |
1 Tbsp sesame oil |
1½-2 tsp salt |
2 Tbsp minced green onion, white and green part |
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro |
½ Tbsp sesame seeds |
tapioca starch or sweet rice flour for dusting |
generous amount of oil for frying |
*EGFG flour blend is sweet rice flour (300g), potato starch (300g), sorghum flour (200g), millet flour (200g) |
**See recipe description for suggestions of different flour substitutes. |
Ingredients |
Directions |
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