Chinese Pancake Wrappers
When I found out how much it costs to buy pancake wrappers for eating peking duck at home I kind of freaked out. I decided that to look into making them because I figured they couldn’t be that hard. Yes this takes time to cook (you could set up two frying pans and cook two at a time) but you’re rewarded with a number of pancake wrappers that will go well with a whole roast duck. I dislike slicing roast duck up but I always make sure when I invite people over to eat, there’s always someone who can do it for me. Roast duck is not the same as the duck you get in a restaurant where you Peking duck but it’s close enough and with enough hoisin, cucumber and spring onion – it’s all delicious.
INGREDIENTS
2 cups plain flour
1 cup water, just boiled
Vegetable oil for cooking
METHOD
Place the flour in a bowl and pour the hot water over the top. Mix with a spatula or wooden spoon till it comes together. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. If the dough is too wet, you can add an extra tablespoon of flour. If it’s too hot to handle, wait a few minutes.
Knead the dough for a few minutes till it’s smooth. Shape it into a ball.
Place it in a lightly greased bowl and cover the bowl with cling wrap or a beeswax wrapper.
Let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into approximately 30-35g balls. Work with one piece of dough a time and make sure to cover the rest with a tea towel.
Flatten the piece of dough and roll it out with a rolling pin.
Brush oil on one side of the pancake and place that side down in a frying pan that’s been preheated till hot. Cook on low-medium heat for 2-3 minutes and then flip over and cook for another minute. You’ll know it’s ready because both sides have a nice golden blistered look to them and they puff up whilst you cook them.
I roll out the next piece of dough whilst I’m waiting for each pancake to cook.
Cooked pancakes should be placed a plate lined with paper towel and covered with a tea towel to stop them drying out.
Serve these pancakes warm with roast duck, cucumber, spring onion and hoisin sauce to make peking duck wrappers. Leftover pancakes can be frozen. I usually place a piece of baking paper in between each pancake.