When I was a young girl, I marvelled at my cousin Yang-Hua’s remarkable talent for crafting dumpling wrappers.
Yang-Hua, the eldest daughter of my second aunt, had a unique family background. My aunt had joined the army and met her husband in Northern China. Upon their return to Guangzhou, my aunt underwent retraining in the technical field, specializing in medical equipment.
My aunt, possessing both intelligence and innovation, ingeniously fashioned our very first television from an abandoned heart-rate monitor. Its screen measured a mere 3 inches in diameter, but it became the sole television set in our neighbourhood. Children from all around would gather to watch a green and grey rendition of ‘The Sound of Music.’
Much like her mother and deeply rooted in her northern heritage, my cousin Yang-hua was a true maestro with a rolling pin. She could effortlessly produce hundreds of dumpling wrappers in no time. Their home was perpetually filled with the tantalizing aroma of delectable noodles, succulent dumplings, and aged vinegar, which served as a delectable dipping sauce
Proudly hailing from the southern region, my proficiency with a rolling pin leaves much to be desired, often proving frustratingly slow. To compensate for my shortcomings, I cleverly employ my Italian pasta machine to efficiently roll out wrappers. The secret lies in initially forming a small dough ball, flattening it into a round disc, and then running it through the pasta machine twice, each time rotating it by 90 degrees.
With these skills, I crafted garlic chive pancakes inspired by northern cuisine, featuring eggs, Chinese mushrooms, and shrimp shells. While the traditional pancake boasts an abundance of garlic chives and a potent flavour, my rendition incorporates a smaller quantity of garlic chives, along with chicken and mung bean vermicelli, to introduce additional textures and flavours.
Ingredients – dough
- 1 cup warm water
- 2.5 cup plain flour
- more flour for dusting
- a few pinches of salt
Ingredients – filling
- 100g garlic chive, remove the tough ends, washed, chopped to 0.5cm length
- 100g chicken fillet, finely diced
- 3 eggs, scrambled and diced
- 25g Chinese mushrooms, soak in hot water for 20 minutes, remove steams, squeeze out excess liquid, finely diced
- 10g shrimp shell
- 50g mung bean vermicelli, soaked in warm water for 15 minutes; drained, finely diced
- 1 tbsp. oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp. sesame oil
- salt and white pepper to taste
- cooking oil
Method
- Combine the flour, salt, and warm water, and knead the mixture into a dough. Cover and let it rest for 30 minutes or until the dough has completely cooled.
- In a frying pan, heat some cooking oil over medium heat. Add the chicken and Chinese mushrooms, sautéing until the chicken is almost cooked. Then, add the shrimp shells and continue cooking for a few more minutes. Stir in the oyster sauce, sesame oil, mung bean vermicelli, and mix well. Add the egg pieces and toss everything together. Remove the frying pan from heat, and season the filling with garlic chive, salt, and white pepper to taste. Transfer the filling to a plate to cool.
- Roll the dough into a long cylinder and then divide it into 10 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball using your palms, then flatten it into a round disc. Roll out each disc into a round wrapper using a rolling pin. Alternatively, you can use a pasta machine, running the disc through it twice while rotating it by 180 degrees each time.
- Spoon a couple of tablespoons of the filling onto each wrapper. Brush a small amount of water along the edge of half of the wrapper, then fold it over tightly to create a half-moon-shaped pancake. Repeat this process with the remaining wrappers and filling. Place the pieces on baking paper so they won’t stick.
- In a frying pan, heat plenty of cooking oil over medium heat. Pan-fry a few pancakes at a time in a single layer until they turn golden brown, which should take approximately 15-20 minutes. You can use a lid to keep the moisture in and expedite the cooking process.
- Serve the pancakes while they are warm, optionally accompanied by chilli sauce. Enjoy!
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