Chive Pancakes

Chive pancakes are very long overdue on No Free Lunch. Flaky, crunchy, and altogether delicious, these treats were a staple childhood snack for me. Despite this, I went through well over two decades having no idea how they are made. Now that we have an abundance of chives growing in the garden, I've been making them myself. It takes some time to prepare the dough, but they are well worth the effort; it is the rolling of the dough that creates the unique, layered texture of the pancake.

This recipe is a modified version of the "Green Onion Pies" from Pei Mei's Chinese Cook Book. I've lowered the salt a bit, replaced the green onions with chives, and doubled the amount. The technique is the same, though my instructions are less vague!

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1/3 cup cold water
• Vegetable oil
• 6 Tbs fresh chopped chives
• 2 tsp salt (or to taste)
• Lots of extra flour for dough handling

Instructions

Place flour in a large mixing bowl, add boiling water, and mix. Let stand for 3 minutes. Add cold water and knead into a smooth dough. I find that the dough is very wet at this stage, and flour should be added at your discretion to make the dough easier to knead. Cover and let rest, about half an hour.

Divide the dough into six equal pieces. While working with each piece, make sure to keep the others covered to prevent drying out. On a well-floured surface, roll out each piece into a round shape about 10 inches in diameter. The dough should be very thin. Continue to flour as needed. Brush oil over the whole piece, dust with 1/3 tsp salt (more or less to taste -- Pei Mei recommends 1/2 tsp, but this is a bit too much for me). Finally, spread 1 Tbs chives evenly across the dough.

Next, for each dough piece, roll the dough up as tightly as possible into a long tube and close up the ends. Form the tube into a snail shape and tuck the loose end into the center. With a rolling pin, roll each snail shape out into a flat pancake about 1/4 inch thick. This should be 5-6 inches across.

On medium heat, heat vegetable oil in a nonstick frying pan, enough to cover the bottom. Fry each pancake, covered, a few minutes on each side, until golden brown and crispy on the outside. Periodically jiggle the pan. According to Pei Mei, this promotes flaky pastry.

Mapo Doufu (麻婆豆腐)

My first offering from Pei-Mei's cookbook is Mapo doufu (tofu), one of the most iconic dishes of Sichuan province in western China. It is also one of the more popular Chinese dishes in general, and I ate it with some frequency in Shanghai. My grandparents also made a less spicy version of the dish quite often. The dish is, essentially, tofu and ground meat with a spicy sauce. The word mapo refers to a pockmarked old woman who, according to folklore, invented the dish. I enjoyed making (and eating) this dish, and it reminds me that I really should feature tofu more often on this blog.

As with some of my previous Chinese recipes, it is necessary to discuss some of the more exotic ingredients used. This dish uses two. The first is "hot bean paste," a Sichuan specialty that combines fermented beans and various spices. In Chinese, it is called la dou ban jiang (辣豆瓣酱). The best way to make sure you have the right Chinese product is to compare the actual Chinese words on the can or jar with what you're looking for (incidentally, I also recently used this technique to order dimsum). The second ingredient is Sichuan pepper, sometimes called brown pepper. This spice gives the dish a distinct aroma. I was able to find both of these at the local Chinese grocery.

Hot bean paste and Sichuan pepper powder

Ingredients

• 2 packages extra-firm tofu, 400 grams (14 oz) each
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbs Hot bean paste
• 2 Tbs soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 tsp corn starch
• 2 tsp water
• 1 tsp Sichuan pepper powder
• 1 Tbs green onion, chopped
• Vegetable oil for frying

Instructions

Tofu is packaged with water, and the more you can get out of it before cutting, the better. Slice the tofu into small cubes, about 3/4 inch a side. I cut each big slab into 8 long rods and then each of these into 6 pieces, for a total of 48 cubes. Heat some oil in a wok on high heat, enough to coat the surface. Add the tofu and stir fry for a few minutes. Remove the tofu and set aside.

Full tofu slab and cut-up cubes

Adding more oil as needed, fry the pork. As the pork begins to brown, add the minced garlic. Once the pork is browned, add the hot bean paste, soy sauce, sesame oil, chicken broth, and the previously cooked tofu. Boil the whole mixture for three minutes, which will reduce the liquid.

Mix the corn starch and water into a paste, and stir this into the mixture. Stir in the Sichuan pepper powder, and transfer everything into a serving dish. Finally, sprinkle the green onion on top. Serve with white rice.

Notes

I made a few changes from Pei-Mei's original recipe. She recommends deep frying the tofu rather than stir frying at the beginning. I did not think it necessary to use so much oil, and I also don't think this changed compromised the dish in any way, since the sauce is so strongly flavored anyway. The original recipe also includes 2 tsp salt. I did follow this, and the dish was too salty. As such, I don't recommend this, and have omitted it from the ingredients list. If in doubt, taste at the end and then make the decision. Finally, I doubled the amount of pork, and since this was intended as a main dish, I liked the proportion.

My version of mapo doufu ended up being a little spicy, but not overwhelming at all. The brand of hot bean paste you happen to get will be the determining factor, but you can also crank up the heat by adding chili oil, as recommended by Pei-Mei.

Pei-Mei's Chinese Cook Book

When my grandparents came to the United States in 1980, they left behind a whole universe of food. To their credit, they have taken well to the land of hotdish and its delights (see Macaroni Casserole). Also to their credit, they started making lots of Chinese favorites at home, dishes that are commonplace restaurant fare in Hong Kong. 

Luckily, I have been able to glean a number of these recipes over the years, although the instructions are always vague. As it turns out, a lot of these recipes were derived from the 1960s Taiwanese celebrity chef Fu Pei-Mei. Pei-Mei's three volume set sat in their kitchen for decades... until now. I am proud have these books passed on to me.

Each of Pei-Mei's recipes has a Chinese version and an English version (at times clumsily translated, but gets the job done) on facing pages, as well as a glossy, full-color photo of every dish, beautifully plated. For such a comprehensive collection, this is all rather impressive. Although Pei-Mei uses a lot of exotic ingredients (pigeons, sea cucumbers, various crabs, and more), much of her output is quite accessible, and you can expect to see some Pei-Mei inspired dishes soon on No Free Lunch.