Mock Mandarin Pancakes Recipes

MANDARIN PANCAKES

Steps:

• Prep Dough: Combine the flour with boiling water in a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon or chopsticks. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, gather up all the shaggy dough and knead it until smooth, about 3 to 5 minutes. If the dough is too sticky, keep adding flour as needed, about a tbsp at a time. Cover with a clean towel and let it rest for ½ hour.
• Shape Pancakes: Shape the dough into a 16" log. With a sharp knife, cut into into 1" pieces, you should 16 equal size pieces. Roll out each piece so that it's about 2-inch in diameter. Brush the top of each round with sesame oil. Lay one round on top of the other, oiled sides together. Flatten the pair, so the two rounds stick together. Continue with remaining rounds, you should end up with 8 pairs.
• Roll: Roll each pair with a rolling pin, to create a thin pancake that's about 6 to 7 inch in diameter.
• Cook Pancakes: In an ungreased cast-iron skillet or nonstick pan cook the pancakes one at a time, over medium-high heat. Cook the first side, until it starts to bubble and the dough starts to get light brown spots on the bottom, should take about 1 minute. Flip and cook for another 30 seconds on the 2nd side.
• Finish & Serve: Stack the pancakes on a plate and while the pancakes are still warm, separate each one. Take a pancake, find its seam and peel it into two pancakes.

MANDARIN PANCAKES

Steps:

• Place flour in a medium bowl. Add the boiling water in a thin stream while stirring with chopsticks or a wooden spoon. It helps to set the bowl in a heavy saucepan lined with a dish towel to keep it stable, or a friend stabilize the bowl as you do this. Add the cold water in a thin stream, continuing to mix the whole time. Stir the mixture until it turns into a shaggy ball, then dump the ball out onto a lightly floured work surface.
• Knead the dough with your hands until it forms a smooth ball, about 5 minutes. Cover the dough ball with a damp dish towel and let rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or up to a couple hours.
• Roll the dough into a log roughly 10 inches long, then cut it in half crosswise. Line up the two small logs, then section each one in 6ths to form 12 pieces (for approximate 8-inch pancakes); in 8ths for 16 pieces (for approximate 7-inch pancakes) or in 10ths for 20 pieces (for approximate 6-inch pancakes).
• Roll two pieces into smooth balls between your hands, working with one piece at a time. Then, using a rolling pin or wine bottle, gently roll each of the two pieces into circular disks about 1/4-inch thick. (You'll cook two pieces at a time and proceed through the end of Step 7 before rolling out the remaining balls.)
• Brush the top of one disk with a thin, even layer of oil, then stack the second disk on top. Using a rolling pin, roll the stacked disks into a 6- to 8-inch circle. The size will depend on the number of balls you made in Step 3.
• Heat a cast-iron, carbon steel, or nonstick skillet over medium until a drop of water flicked onto the surface immediately bubbles and evaporates (about 2 minutes), then add the rolled, stacked disk. Let cook on one side until blistered and browned in spots, about 1 minute. Flip and cook until second side is blistered and browned. Sometimes the pancakes will bubble up with steam as they cook, preventing the second side from making good contact with the pan. You can gently press down on them with a flat spatula if this happens.
• Remove the cooked disk, then carefully peel it apart into two thin pancakes while still hot. Transfer to a plate and cover with a clean dish towel.
• Repeat Steps 4 through 7 for the remaining dough balls, adjusting heat as necessary to make sure the pancakes brown in spots but don't blacken. Finished pancakes should be served while still warm. To store leftovers, place the pancakes on large squares of plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then roll them up like a jelly roll and refrigerate. Reheat covered in the microwave, or briefly heat one at a time in a hot, dry skillet.

MANDARIN PANCAKES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt and create a well in the middle. Add the boiling water, mix it in with a spatula, and then incorporate with your hands until you have a mealy shaggy mixture. Mix in the cold water and bring everything together into a dough. Turn it out onto a work surface and knead, adding additional flour if it gets too sticky to work with, until you have a smooth and slightly sticky dough, 7 to 10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let rest for 15 minutes.
• Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces. Form them into balls and keep them covered when you're not working with them. Use your palms to smash 2 balls of dough into equally sized discs about 2-to-3-inches-wide. Brush the top of one disc with a thin layer of oil and stack the other disc on top of it to create one thick disc. Using a rolling pin, roll the disc into a 7-to-8-inch-wide pancake, dusting your work surface and rolling pin with flour if needed to prevent sticking. Place it in the dry skillet and cook for about a minute on each side, until splotchy with brown marks. Transfer to a plate and cover with a towel. Repeat with the remaining dough, stacking the cooked pancakes on top of one another and keeping them covered so that they steam. When they're cool enough to handle, peel the two halves of each pancake apart so that you have two very thin pancakes (NIFTY, HUH?!) and enjoy immediately while they're still warm. Leftovers that have cooled completely can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator for a few days. Reheat in the microwave covered by a damp paper towel.

MOCK MANDARIN PANCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Brush one side of each tortilla with some oil and stack on a large sheet of foil. Wrap tortillas loosely in the foil and heat on middle rack of oven until warm, about 10 minutes.
• Serve pancakes whole or halved.

MOO SHU PORK WITH MOCK MANDARIN PANCAKES

Steps:

• Thinly slice green onions reserving 1/4 cup for garnish.
• Coursely chop water chestnuts with a food chopper.
• Combine hoisen sauce and 2 teaspoons of oil in a cup and set aside.
• For the pancakes, heat remaining teaspoon oil over medium-high heat for 1-3 minutes or until shimmering.
• Lightly beat eggs in a coating tray.
• Dip 1 tortilla into eggs, and place tortilla in skillet.
• Cook 20-30 seconds or until lightly golden brown, turning once.
• Repeat with remaining tortillas.
• Cover pancakes and keep them warm.
• Flatten pork with toothed end of a meat tenderizer, and cut into 1/4 inch strips.
• Add pork to skillet, cook 2-3 minutes over medium heat or until no longer pink.
• Add remaining green onions, water chestnuts, cole slaw mix, and hoisen sauce mixture.
• Cook 2-3 minutes or until heated through, tossing to coat.
• Spoon pork mixture into pancakes, and garnish with reserved onions.

MANDARIN PANCAKES

Steps:

• In a mixing bowl put the flour, and gradually stir in the water, mixing to make a thin batter.
• When cool enough to handle, work the dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth.
• Place the dough in a bowl, cover with a dish towel and let rest for 30 minutes.
• Place the sesame oil in a small bowl.
• Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out to 1/4-inch thickness.
• Cut into rounds with a 3-inch cutter.
• With your fingers, daub a small amount of oil on top of 1 round.
• Place another round on top and press together.
• Roll the 2 rounds together to form a circle about 6 or 7-inches in diameter.
• Cover with a damp kitchen cloth until ready to cook, and repeat with the remaining dough.
• Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat.
• Cook 1 pancake at a time until barely golden and dry on both sides, turning once, about 1 minute.
• Remove from the pan, and when cool enough to handle, carefully separate the 2 pancakes.
• Wrap in foil until ready to use, or refrigerate.
• (To reheat, place in a steamer insert and steam, covered, for 5 minutes.).

MANDARIN PANCAKES

Steps:

• Whisk flour and salt together in a large bowl. Gradually stir in boiling water until a dough forms. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes. Return dough to bowl and cover with a damp towel; let stand 30 minutes.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough 1/4-inch thick. Using a 3-inch round cutter, cut out circles from dough. Working with 1 round at a time, gently brush one side of dough with sesame oil, using your fingertip or a small pastry brush; top with a second round. Using a rolling pin, roll both rounds together into a 6-inch circle. Cover with a damp towel and repeat process with remaining dough rounds.
• Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add one pancake to skillet and cook, turning once, until lightly golden and dry, about 30 seconds per side. Remove from skillet and let cool slightly; separate into 2 pancakes. Repeat process with remaining pancakes. Pancakes can be made ahead and wrapped with plastic wrap; to heat, unwrap pancakes and steam in a steamer basket set in a saucepan with 1 inch simmering water until warm.

CRISP-SKINNED DUCK WITH MOCK MANDARIN PANCAKES

Steps:

• Rinse ducks inside and out and pat dry. Remove excess fat from cavities and truss ducks. On a metal rack set in a large roasting pan arrange ducks, breast sides up and several inches apart. Let ducks dry, uncovered and chilled, 3 days.
• In a small bowl stir together boiling water, honey, and vinegar and cool to room temperature. Brush ducks with some honey mixture, keeping them chilled, and brush again every 20 minutes for 1 hour. Let ducks dry at room temperature 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Pierce skin of ducks all over with a fork to allow fat to drain and help skin get crisp. Roast duck in middle of oven until mahogany brown and a meat thermometer inserted into fleshy part of a thigh registers 180°F., about 1 hour 15 minutes. Let ducks stand 10 minutes. Discard string and carefully pour out juices from cavities.
• Cut around entire breast of each duck with a sharp paring knife and carefully peel off crisp skin in large pieces. Cut skin into 2 1/2- by 1-inch strips. Cut away and discard any fat on breast meat and remove breast meat from bone. Slice breast meat diagonally into 1/4-inch-thick slices and arrange on a platter with crisp skin. Remove legs from duck and arrange on another platter. Duck meat may be reheated and skin recrisped in a 350°F. oven until just hot.
• To make scallion brushes:
• If serving mock pancakes halved, 48 scallion brushes (one for each half) will be necessary for rolling inside the pancakes. If leaving the pancakes whole, 24 scallion brushes will be needed.
• Trim roots and green parts from scallions, leaving about 2 1/2 inches of stalk. Fringe ends of scallions by cutting slits about 1/2 inch deep all around both ends of each stalk, leaving about 1 inch of solid scallion in center, and spread fringed ends gently. Put scallions in bowl of ice and cold water. Chill scallions 2 hours, or until fringed ends have curled
• Drain scallions well.
• To assemble pancakes:
• Using a scallion brush spread some hoisin sauce on a pancake (whole or half) and top with the scallion brush, some breast meat, and some crisp skin. Roll up pancake to enclosed filling. Make more pancakes with remaining scallion brushes, hoisin sauce, breast meat, and crisp skin in same manner.
• Serve duck legs on the side.