Duck pancakes, or mandarin pancakes, have a totally different name in China. We call them chun bing (春饼), which literally means spring pancakes. It is a dish that we northerners cook as part of our celebration of Spring Festival (Chinese New Year). Making them is a way to welcome the new year and pray for good yields from spring crops.
How we serve duck pancakes in China
In fact, we’ve never served these pancakes with Peking duck at any family dinner. I believe most families in China don’t. First of all, an oven is not standard equipment in the average Chinese kitchen, so roast duck is a no-go. Second, when you can spend 20 dollars to get a perfectly roasted duck, including the pancakes, dipping sauces, and veggies, at a restaurant, it doesn’t make any sense to roast a duck at home with a much less desirable outcome. On the other hand, we do make pancakes and enjoy them fresh. And we serve them with stir-fried vegetables – no dipping sauce or meat required. The vegetables can include carrots, bean sprouts, wood ear mushrooms, stir-fried eggs (not a vegetable, I know), cucumbers, dried bamboo shoots, etc. All the veggies are cut into thin long strips. We cook them separately, like when cooking for Korean bibimbap. Each vegetable is seasoned very simply, with the likes of garlic, green onion, soy sauce, sugar, and sesame oil, and cooked in a work until tender and smoky.
Duck pancakes for everyday meals
When you serve these fresh-off-the-stove pancakes with a good variety of small veggie dishes, your dinner table will be very beautiful and colorful. And you won’t even need hoisin sauce to enjoy the meal. Simply place a small amount of each veggie and some egg in the center of the paper thin pancake and wrap it up like a burrito. They are finger-licking good! It’s incredible that you can make this kind of magic happen just using flour, water, and a few veggies.In the traditional way of serving the pancakes, the cook (usually mom or grandma) will make all the small veggie dishes first and display them on the table while allowing the the pancake dough to rest. She then shapes and cooks the pancakes in small batches and serves them immediately after cooking. The rest of the family (including me), is in charge of assembling the hot pancake veggie wraps and eating them before the next batch is ready. I understand this might not be the case when you serve these pancakes. In the recipe below, I’ve included all my tips on prep and storage, so you can cook the pancakes way ahead of time and reheat them right before serving. These pancakes reheat and freeze well. I believe they’re a great staple to keep in your freezer.
Mom’s best duck pancake recipe
Making Chinese pancakes might look daunting. But you’ll find that it’s actually simple and fun when you’re following a reliable recipe. My mom taught me the method for making the perfect pancakes, but unfortunately, she did not have measurements in her recipe. It took me a few attempts to finally figure out a good water-to-flour ratio, and I believe I still need a bit more practice to make them prettier. The real key to moist, tender, paper-thin pancake is a very tender dough. Different from making steamed buns and boiled dumplings, duck pancakes require the use of boiling water in the dough (we call it “cooked dough”, or tang mian / 烫面 in Chinese). The hot water will soften the gluten, which will produce tender and moist bread (i.e. pancakes, in this case), even though the dough is heated to a high temperature. On the other hand, “cooked dough” tends to be very sticky and difficult to work with. Plus, if you use water that is too hot, the end product will have an undesirable slimy texture. That’s the reason we are using both boiling and cold water in this recipe, to make two separate doughs that are combined in the end. This way, we can add enough water to make the dough tender without turning it slimy, as well as prevent the dough from becoming too sticky to work with. I have also optimized the workflow to make it foolproof. (Some recipes ask you to add boiling water to the flour and mix it, then add cold water. I found this method not very reliable due to timing issues.) Thus, the recipe I’m sharing with you today is the easiest and most reliable I’ve used.
How to prepare a vegetarian dinner party
These handcrafted pancakes might not be a quick dish that you can crank out during a busy week. But it is a fun thing to try on a weekend. And if you’re hosting a dinner party, this will be a very special dish that you can share with your family and friends. At the end of the recipe, I’ve introduced a few ways to serve and enjoy the pancakes. In addition to all these methods, I found it very easy to create a vegetarian dinner party menu with these pancakes. All you need to do is make the pancakes and several small vegetable dishes. About 2 hours (2.5 if you’re not familiar with the pancake making process) before dinner, you can start making the dough. While the dough is resting, rinse and chop all the veggies. When the veggies are ready to be cooked, work on the pancakes and finish cooking them. It usually takes me about 1 hour to finish shaping and making the pancakes. You might need a bit more time if it’s your first time making them. Thirty minutes before dinner, you can start cooking the veggie dishes. You can cook 4 stir fried dishes, 36 pancakes, and 1 appetizer for 4 to 5 people. For 6 people, add a soup and maybe another appetizer.
What to serve with the pancakes
Meat dishes
Moo Shu ChickenCrispy Duck BreastSlow Roast DuckSichuan Roasted Chicken
Vegetarian
Scrambled eggs – A must have. You can serve them with hoisin sauce and green onion.Moo Shu Vegetables – Don’t forget to soak the wood ear mushrooms and lily flowers 2 hours ahead of cooking.Bok Choy stir-fry with Crispy Tofu – This one goes perfectly with the pancakesStir fried carrot strips – My family’s favorite. Start by slicing the carrot with a julienne peeler and crush 2 to 3 cloves of garlic. Heat plenty of oil (twice the amount you’d use for other veggies) until warm. Cook garlic until fragrant. Add carrot. Stir and cook until it turns very tender and the surface is slightly charred. Season with salt. Carrots cooked this way are every bit as sweet and tender as as roast carrots.Szechuan shredded veggie stir fry – Use this recipe and skip the chicken.Stir fried bean sprouts – Season with green onion, a bit of soy sauce, salt, and a bit of sugar. You can add some carrots and green peppers for color.Raw veggie – Cut carrots and cucumbers into long strips. Serve with hoisin sauce.Other simple stir-fried dishes – for example, mushroom stir fry, green pepper stir fry (cut into thin long strips, cook with garlic and soy sauce), stir fried green beans (use this recipe and skip the meat)
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