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Title: Beijing Pancakes (Bao Bing)
Categories: Blank
Yield: 20 Servings
| FLATBREADS & FLAVORS; ALFORD | ||
| 2 | c | Flour |
| 1 | c | Water; boiling |
| 2 | tb | Oil, sesame, toasted |
| 1/4 | c | Flour; for rolling out |
| Oil | ||
Sift flour into mixing bowl. Pour in boiling water and stir with wooden spoon until all flour is incorporated and dough has formed.
Dust kneading surface lightly with flour and turn out dough. Knead 10 minutes, until dough is smooth and soft to touch. Rinse out mixing bowl. Place dough in bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let stand 15 minutes or as long as 3 hours.
Place small dish of sesame oil near work surface. Cut off 1/3 of dough and leave the rest covered. Working on lightly floured surface, roll dough out to thin sheet, no more than 1/8" thick. Work from center outward as you roll, turning dough over and dusting lightly with flour if it begins to stick to rolling pin. Using 3" round cutter or a glass, cut an even number of circles out of rolled-out dough. Gather scraps together and place them with covered dough. With pastry brush, paint top surface of half the dough circles with sesame oil. Place an unoiled circle on top of each oiled round.
Place heavy skillet or griddle over high heat. Pour a little oil into pan once it is hot, then remove from heat. Wipe oil from pan with paper towel. Roll out one double circle of dough until a uniform 1/16" thick. as you work, roll from the center out, and lift and turn dough a quarter-turn or less after each stroke of the rolling pin. This way, you can keep a circular shape as you gradually make the circle larger and thinner. Don't worry if a little oil leaks out the side as you work. Roll out remaining pairs of dough; before you start on your last pair, return skillet to medium-high heat.
Cook dough circle in heated skillet 1 minute. You should see a slight bubbling in top surface as steam builds up between layers. If this hasn't happened after 1 minute, raise heat slightly and let cook a little longer; the first side should be speckled with brown spots. Turn over, and cook for 45-60 seconds longer. Remove from pan with spatula. Split apart the two layers (they may have already started to separate near end of cooking) and wrap in towel. Repeat with remaining double circles.
As you cook them, you will get more confident about timing and will be able to start rolling out the rest of the dough while you cook. Coll out and cook the remaining dough, including scraps, keeping cooked pancakes well wrapped in cloth. Serve warm immediately after cooking. (Alternatively, reheat cooled pancakes by steaming. Place stack of bao bing on plate and put plate in bamboo steamer over boiling water 5-10 minutes.)
Authors' comments: Bao bing are soft, fine, round breads, ideal for wrapping strong-tasting morsels such as Mushu Pork or Four-Thread Salad. The unyeasted dough is made with boiling water. The water's heat transforms the texture of the flour, giving the dough a characteristic soft earlobe feel, ideal for wrappers. It can be mixed up and kneaded just fifteen minutes before you cook the breads, or it can be left to stand for several hours. Bao bing are easy and forgiving to make and yet so pretty that the cook usually feels a warm glow of self-congratulations, at least in our household! Perhaps it comes from knowing that all they are made from is flour and water and a dab of sesame oil. Perhaps it is the miraculous pulling apart of each pair of little breads as they come off the griddle, one side pale and steam-cooked, the other brown-speckled from the heat of the skillet. We like to serve an array of dishes with a stack of bao bing so that each diner can sample different combinations.
Nutritional information per serving: xx calories, xx gm protein, xxx mg cholesterol, xx gm carbohydrate, xxx mg sodium, x gm fiber, xx gm fat (x gm sat, x gm mono, x gm poly), x mg iron, xx mg calcium, xx% of calories from fat.
Tyops courtesy of Sylvia Steiger, SylviaRN (at) compuserve (dot) com (change characters as needed, this is to prevent bulk E-mailers from capturing my address). For breadmachine tips and mixes, visit my homepage: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/SylviaRN
From: Sylvia Steiger Date: 12-27-97 (10:55) The Once And Future Legend (1) Cooking
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