Making Lotus Pancakes

 
My dad invited some old university colleagues of his for a long lunch at our house. It was a lazy afternoon so I offered to give my mum a hand and whip up some lotus pancakes - the sort you'd normally use to make little parcels filled with Peking duck skin.

This is another recipe from my old paperback edition of The Chinese Chef by Martin Yan. His recipes are proving quite reliable so far, although I'm somewhat reluctant to try the ones that suggest the use of dry sherry. Basically all you have to do is make the dough, rest it, roll it into a long sausage, chop it up into equal-sized bits, squash them flat with a cleaver, stick them together, roll them out then cook them over a low heat and separate them. One recipe makes enough for one whole Peking duck and four hungry people. I suggest cooking them as you roll more out to save time unless you have four similar sized pans that you can use simultaneously.

Mandarin Pancakes

from The Chinese Chef

2 C. flour (250 g), plus extra for dusting
3/4 C. boiling water (188 g)
2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil

Place flour in a bowl and make a well in the centre.

Pour in the boiling water and mix in with a spoon.

Knead for 5 minutes until smooth.

Dust with flour, wrap in clingfilm and rest at room temperature for at least half an hour.

Lightly dust bench and roll into a long cylinder 16" long (about 40 cm).

With a cleaver cut into 1" pieces.

Place each piece cut side down and squash flat with the side of the cleaver.

Brush one side with sesame oil, being sure to cover completely then sandwich together with another piece of dough.

Repeat for all.

Roll each sandwich into a thin 6" circle (15 cm).

Cook over low heat in a non-stick saute pan for about 2 minutes each side.

Do not use oil. Pancakes should not colour.

Separate after cooking.