By J. Kenji López-Alt
- Total Time
- 30 minutes, plus resting
- Rating
- 4(224)
- Notes
- Read community notes
These thin pancakes are typically used for wrapping moo shu pork or Peking duck. They’re made with a hot water dough, which makes them very easy to roll out. Stacking two disks of dough, rolling them out, cooking them, then carefully peeling them apart lets you make pancakes that are half as thin as a single pancake would be — and prepared in nearly half the amount of time.
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Ingredients
Yield:12 large pancakes or up to 20 smaller pancakes
- 2cups plus 2 tablespoons/280 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- ⅓cup plus 2 tablespoons/100 milliliters boiling water
- ⅓cup plus 2 tablespoons/100 milliliters cold water
- Vegetable oil or roasted sesame oil, for brushing
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)
170 calories; 1 gram fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 34 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 2 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
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 set the bowl in a heavy saucepan lined with a dish towel to keep it stable, or a friend stabilize the bowl as you do this. 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.
Step
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 at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or up to a couple hours.
Step
3
Roll the dough into a log roughly 10 inches long, then cut it in half crosswise. Line up the two small logs, then section each one in 6ths to form 12 pieces (for approximate 8-inch pancakes); in 8ths for 16 pieces (for approximate 7-inch pancakes) or in 10ths for 20 pieces (for approximate 6-inch pancakes).
Roll two pieces into smooth balls between your hands, working with one piece at a time. Then, using a rolling pin or wine bottle, gently roll each of the two pieces into circular disks about ¼-inch thick. (You’ll cook two pieces at a time and proceed through the end of Step 7 before rolling out the remaining balls.)
Step
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 6- to 8-inch circle. The size will depend on the number of balls you made in Step 3.
Step
6
Heat a cast-iron, carbon steel, or nonstick skillet over medium until a drop of water flicked onto the surface immediately bubbles and evaporates (about 2 minutes), 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.
Step
7
Remove the cooked disk, then carefully peel it apart into two thin pancakes while still hot. Transfer to a plate and cover with a clean dish towel.
Step
8
Repeat Steps 4 through 7 for the remaining dough balls, adjusting heat as necessary to make sure the pancakes brown in spots but don’t blacken. Finished pancakes should be served while still warm. To store leftovers, place the pancakes on large squares of plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then roll them up like a jelly roll and refrigerate. Reheat covered in the microwave, or briefly heat one at a time in a hot, dry skillet.
Ratings
4
out of 5
224
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Cooking Notes
JB
Is there a way to make these pancakes with rice flour or something else for the gluten-free crowd?
CElleD
Just finished these and MUST recommend them to everyone who has someone in their lives who loves making cookies. 10x easier than you imagine. The simultaneous rolling of the two pancakes makes this recipe super-fast. You’re finishing two in the time it takes to do one. The post-stovetop peeling apart works like magic. That’s why you should include children, if you have some handy. It’s a fast and fun project with surprisingly delicious results!
Judy R
Or, even easier, you could make crepes in a crepe pan. Thin like the Chinese pancake.
Paul Worster
An improvement for step 7:Remove the cooked disk, pinching the edge. Toss the disk in the air so that it's rotating along a horizontal axis with the edge closest to you. "Catch" the disk by catching it between your clapping hands. The air bubble between the two halves of the disk will cleanly pop and you'll have a much easier (and more fun) time separating the two thin pancakes.As an added bonus, anyone that witnesses this will want to try it - instant help in the kitchen!
Belinda Chang
does this recipe work with gluten-free flour?
Kit
I have made Mandarin pancakes many times before. This recipe did not work for me. I have always used recipes that use boiling water only, and the dough was easy to roll out. I don't know if it's the mix of boiling & cold water, or the amount of water, but the dough was sticky and impossible to work with. A lot of putzing and had to throw them all out.
Ying Mei
Just wondering if anyone has tried freezing the pancakes, saving time for future use..
gale
Works fine - just separate each w/waxed paper. deli paper, whatever. I do it all the time.
GaryD
I have used thin flour tortillas brushed with sesame oil and heated in a skillet. Not a terrible substitute for the Mandarin pancakes.
kb
there is a silicone device called "staybowlizer" that you sit your bowl in so it doesn't tip or slide around. it is particularly good with round bottomed stainless steel mixing bowls. fits any size bowl.
John Golden
My Asian store had the pancakes and dried Lilly and dried mushrooms
Klkruger
Tortilla presses press, they don't cook.
Mudd
Don’t know for sure. Maybe gluten free wouldn’t quite work right. But for lots of gluten free info, check out the King Arthur Flour website. They have lots of info and gluten free recipes. No, I don’t work for them! They’re really super helpful.
Vincent
For those experiencing dough that came out too sticky and difficult to work with, I was able to fix this by stirring the dough for about a minute after adding the hot water, before adding the cold water. In Kenji's cookbook "The Wok", he says that the hot water helps to deactivate the gluten forming proteins in the flour, while the cold water improves the dough's elasticity. So keeping the dough hot longer allows for a less sticky and more workable dough.
dhwsmith
I froze them, thawed them, and they were completely unworkable. Very soft, stretchy, sticky. I got maybe four ugly pancakes that after being cooked were crisp as potato chips--not foldable. I have no idea where I went wrong.
Bo
There is no comparison, these mandarin pancakes are far superior to flower tortillas. The stretchiness makes then hold up to the mooshu filling. So good, and pretty easy. Get a tortilla warmer to keep them warm and supple until dinner is ready!
Lois
I recently made moo shu pork but didn't want to go to the trouble of making the pancakes. So I bought the largest flour tortillas I could find, made cut outs as if I were making biscuits and heated them under a damp towel in the microwave. Worked perfectly.
BBk
You have to make it a lot thinner than 1/4 inch. More like 1/8 of an inch.
Kit
I have made Mandarin pancakes many times before. This recipe did not work for me. I have always used recipes that use boiling water only, and the dough was easy to roll out. I don't know if it's the mix of boiling & cold water, or the amount of water, but the dough was sticky and impossible to work with. A lot of putzing and had to throw them all out.
CElleD
Just finished these and MUST recommend them to everyone who has someone in their lives who loves making cookies. 10x easier than you imagine. The simultaneous rolling of the two pancakes makes this recipe super-fast. You’re finishing two in the time it takes to do one. The post-stovetop peeling apart works like magic. That’s why you should include children, if you have some handy. It’s a fast and fun project with surprisingly delicious results!
Moira
Cut the large log lengthwise surely? Rather than crosswise?
stephanie
no, you want to cut the log in half into two shorter logs. (not two long skinny logs - although since you're rolling the pieces into balls it really doesn't matter as long as you get 12 equal dough balls to match up.)
Jshan
Love this! My grandmother taught me a similar recipe but using duram flour. We would make two at a time when we had a large group or when we ate it with mango purée.
Paul Worster
An improvement for step 7:Remove the cooked disk, pinching the edge. Toss the disk in the air so that it's rotating along a horizontal axis with the edge closest to you. "Catch" the disk by catching it between your clapping hands. The air bubble between the two halves of the disk will cleanly pop and you'll have a much easier (and more fun) time separating the two thin pancakes.As an added bonus, anyone that witnesses this will want to try it - instant help in the kitchen!
kb
there is a silicone device called "staybowlizer" that you sit your bowl in so it doesn't tip or slide around. it is particularly good with round bottomed stainless steel mixing bowls. fits any size bowl.
Deborah N
Can you use a tortilla press to cook the pancakes?
Klkruger
Tortilla presses press, they don't cook.
Irma Bauer-Levesque
rolled, stacked disc? Do you cook them all at once peeling them off as they cook? This is unclear. Demo pls!
Cathy
You only cook 2 "stacked" pancakes at a time...see last sentence of Step 4. The ones I've received with take-out moo shu rarely have any color at all and are very fragile....if you don't like a drippy mess I'd vote for the flour tortilla's.I'd appreciate some clarity about how to stack them for serving and storage....I'm assuming cooked side against the center "uncooked" side? I always cover the leftover pancakes with a wet paper towel when I reheat in a mw.
John Golden
My Asian store had the pancakes and dried Lilly and dried mushrooms
Belinda Chang
does this recipe work with gluten-free flour?
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