← Nouns Cooking · Chinese

Ingredients

• 300 g Plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting
• 190 ml hot water (just off the boil)
• 1 tsp Salt, divided
• 5 Spring onion, finely sliced
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil, for brushing the layers
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil, for frying
• 2 tbsp Soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Chinese black vinegar
• 1 tsp Chilli oil (optional)

Method

1. Put the flour in a bowl with half the salt. Pour in the hot water while stirring with chopsticks until shaggy, then knead for 5 min into a smooth, soft dough. Cover and rest for 30 min.
2. Divide the dough into 4 pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll one into a thin rectangle about 25 × 20 cm. Brush it generously with oil, then scatter with a pinch of salt and a quarter of the spring onion.
3. Roll it up tightly from the long side like a cigar, then coil the rope into a snail and tuck the end underneath. Repeat with the rest and let the coils relax for a few minutes.
4. Gently roll each coil into a pancake about 18 cm across. Some spring onion may poke through; that is fine.
5. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Fry one pancake for 2–3 min per side, until deep golden and crisp, pressing it down now and then.
6. Lift it out, then scrunch it from the edges towards the middle with a spatula to fluff the layers. Cut into wedges and serve hot with the soy-vinegar dip.

Tips

• Hot water dough is softer and easier to roll thin than cold water dough.
• Rolled, uncooked pancakes freeze well between sheets of baking paper; fry them from frozen over lower heat.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

RecipeTin Eats The Woks of Life