Chinese Mandarin Pancakes

Chinese Mandarin Pancakes

Chinese mandarin pancakes are used in special dishes like Peking duck or moo shu pork to hold the ingredients in a burrito like package that can then be eaten by hand. Up to four of these 6-7 inch in diameter steamed pancakes are served to each diner along with some hoisin sauce to spread on them. One at a time each diner spreads some sauce on a pancake, adds 2-3 spoonfuls of the duck or pork mixture and then rolls it into a burrito style package.

Making these flour based pancakes is not difficult but it can be time consuming. Fortunately, they can be made ahead of time and frozen in individual serving sizes. Then, when you need them, they can be steamed, reheated in an oven or even microwaved. This recipe makes 16 pancakes, which is enough for at least four servings. It is easy enough to double this recipe if you have a large family.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Preparation Time:

60 Minutes

Cooking Time:

60 Minutes

Ingredients:

2 ½ Cups All-purpose Flour

½ Teaspoon Salt

1 Cup of Boiling Water

4 Tablespoons of Sesame Seed Oil

Cooking Instructions:

1. Sift the flour and the salt into a large mixing bowl.
2. Add the boiling water slowly while kneading the mixture. Be careful not to burn yourself by adding the water too fast.
3. Knead the mixture until it is soft and smooth. Cover the bowl with a cloth and let stand for 20 minutes.
4. Roll the dough on a floured table until it is 2 inches in diameter and cut the tube into 4 equal sized pieces.
5. Working with each piece separately, roll it into a 1-inch in diameter tube and cut the tube into 4 equal sized pieces
6. Roll each of these pieces into balls. You should end up with 16 equal sized ball.
7. Working with two balls at a time, flour and roll each ball into 3 inch in diameter pancakes.
8. Brush one of the pancakes with sesame seed oil, place the other one on top of it and roll them out together into 6-7 inch in diameter round pancake pairs. You should now have 8 pairs of large pancakes separated by a layer of oil.
9. Heat a large frying pan (preferably cast iron) over low heat and cook on both sides until they puff up slightly but do not brown them.
10. Separate each pair and stack in piles of four, separated with aluminum foil.
11. At this point you can freeze them for later use or reheat them for 10 minutes in a 250 F oven.
12. Each package of four pancakes is a full serving for a hearty eater.

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