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Here’s my Moo Shu Pork video:

Here’s Chinese Cooking Demystified’s video on pancakes. Steph and Chris are much better at making these than I am!:

I’m loosely following the recipe from my book, The Wok. Here’s the recipe:

MANDARIN PANCAKES
  
These pancakes are one of the first things I ever remember cooking. I watched as my dad made a dough out of flour and boiling water (which results in dough that is as supple and easy to roll as Play-do), then helped him knead it into a smooth ball which we cut up into smaller balls that we lightly flattened out. The next step is the real trick. Rather than rolling out the pancakes one at a time, he brushed one pancake with a thin layer of oil before stacking another on top of it and rolling them out together. As the stacked disks of dough cooked in a hot, dry skillet, they started to puff and steam. Once they were blistered on both sides, my dad would take them out, then it was my job to peel the two pancakes apart—an easy task thanks to the oil and steam.
 
What you wind up with is two pancakes that are half as thin as the thinnest single pancake you can roll out.
  
If you want very thin, small pancakes, you can also use a pasta roller in place of a rolling pin to roll out the stacked dough balls (Make the dough balls about a third of the size recommended in the recipe, and don’t go thinner than setting 3 or 4 or the pancakes will become too delicate to peel apart!)
 
[IMAGES 161-174: STEP-BY-STEP MANDARIN PANCAKES]
 
YIELD:
12 large pancakes or up to 36 smaller pancakes
ACTIVE TIME:
15 minutes
TOTAL TIME:
45 minutes
 
Ingredients:
10 ounces (280g) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
3.5 ounces (100ml) boiling water
3.5 ounces (100ml) cold water
Vegetable or roasted sesame oil for brushing
 
1.     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 have a friend stabilize the bowl while you do this, or to set the bowl in a heavy saucepan lined with a dish towel to keep it stable. 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.
 
2.     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 for at least 30 minutes and up to a couple hours.
 
3.     Roll the dough into a long log, then cut it in half. Line up the two half-logs, then further split them to form 12 to 36 evenly-sized pieces. (12 pieces for approximate 8-inch pancakes, 16 pieces for approximate 7-inch pancakes, 20 pieces for approximate 6-inch pancakes, or 36 pieces for approximate 4-inch pancakes).
 
4.     Working two pieces at a time, roll each piece into a smooth ball between your hands, then, using a rolling pin or wine bottle, gently roll them into circular disks about ¼-inch thick.
 
5.     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 circle; The size of the circle depends on the number of balls you made (see step 3).
 
6.     Preheat a cast iron, carbon steel, or non-stick skillet over medium heat, 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.
 
7.     Remove the cooked disks, then carefully peel them apart into two thin pancakes while still hot. Transfer to a plate and cover with a clean dish towel.
 
8.     Repeat steps 4 through 7 for the remaining dough balls. Finished pancakes should be served immediately. To store leftovers, place the pancakes on a large squares of plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then roll them up like a jelly roll and refrigerate. Reheat covered in the microwave, or by briefly heating one at a time in a hot, dry skillet.

[1] These pancakes are known variously as chun bing, dan bing, or bao bing, depending on what they’re being served with or where you are.

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