Learn two ways to make peking duck pancake (Chinese pancakes or spring pancake, 春饼). This pancake goes with with moo shu pork, peking duck and other shredded chicken.
In a Peking duck restaurants in mainland China, peking duck usually is served with steamed soft pancakes. We get another name for the pan-fried version: 单饼 which means "single pancakes". Those single pancakes are not directly served with peking duck but with normal homestyle salad or stir fries (the ingredients are usually shredded). I made those pancakes when I fry to catch up the serving ways of moo shu pork and fell in love with those chewy pancakes with a strong aroma of wheat flour.
It is quite easy to make this peking duck pancake at home. The only key step is to make a super soft dough. When the dough is soft enough, we can easily roll out to a thin and larger wrapper. Boiling hot water is the most important ingredients to make the dough soft enough. Using hot boiling water in a dough is called as "烫面" in Chinese. It can help to make the dough soft and shorten the cooking time. We also cook Northern style Chinese scallion pancake with this method. Previously I tried a combination of hot water and cold water. But after several times of testing, even with hot water only, the pancake can be chewy enough.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup hot boiling water+ 20ml for adjusting
- 3 tablespoon sesame oil or other vegetable oil
In a large bowl, stir in hot water. Set aside until cool down. When the dough is still hot, it can be quite sticky and hard to knead.
Knead until smooth dough. Covered and rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
Divide the dough into 18 similar portions.
Pan-fried method: take one portion out and flatten. Brush oil on the surface.
Then overlay with another small portion. Roll the two pieces together.
Brush a small layer of oil on a pan (only a small amount needed) and fry over medium fire until one side is brownly dotted and then turn over and fry the other side.
Tear the two pieces apart when the pancake is still warm.
You can also check simplified steamed duck pancake version for a softer and quicker version of Chinese pancakes.
🧾Recipe
Peking Duck Pancake
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup hot boiling water+ 20ml for adjusting
- 3 tablespoon sesame oil or other vegetable oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl, stir in hot water. Set aside until cool down. Knead until smooth dough. Covered and rest for 20 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 18 similar portions.
Steamed pancake
- Take one portion out and then roll it into a paper thin wrapper around 16 to 20 cm in diameter.
- Prepare a steamer and place a lining paper. Place one wrapper in and cover the lid and steam for 1 minute until the wrapper is almost cooked. During this time, roll another piece and then place the new one over the steamed one. Continue steaming for 1 minute before adding the next piece. Repeat the finish all the wrappers.
Pan-fried pancake
- Take one portion out and flatten. Brush oil on the surface. Then overlay with another small portion. Roll the two pieces together.
- Brush a small layer of oil on a pan (only a small amount needed) and fry over medium fire until one side is brownly dotted and then turn over and fry the other side.
- Tear the two pieces apart when the pancake is still warm.
Nutrition
Maree
Hi, love this recipe. Thank you. Do you have recipe for the super yummy sauce that goes with these duck pancakes, please? I can’t stop thinking about this dish 🙂
Elaine
Maree,
We actually get two popular sauce for this, you can check this one firstly to see whether it is the one you are referring to.
Sammi Kwan
How do you recommend storing it afterwards? thank you!
Elaine
Recommend using fresh ones. Or store it in air-tight bag and steam or microwave for re-heating.
Lee
Can you use a Kitchenaid to mix and knead the dough?
Elaine
100% yes!
Emma Kershaw
Hi are you steaming all 18 wrappers together? Don’t the first ones get overdone and the latter ones not done enough? What would be the total cooking time? Thanks
Elaine
Steam all of the wrapper one time.
Emma Kershaw
Sorry I don’t understand. Do you mean steam the wrappers one at a time? If so what do you do with cooked pancakes to prevent them getting hard?
Thanks.
Elaine
Emma,
I thought you were talking about the steaming. This one is pan-fried, you can place the pancake in a plate and cover it to prevent from getting hard.
Emma Kershaw
Oh dear we are not communicating well! Yes I am talking about steaming. I don’t understand your answer it isn’t clear to me if you are putting the pancakes on top of each other into the steamer or if you steam for one minute and then remove and steam another. Can you please clarify. Thanks
Ninn
She isnt steaming them at all, they are fried. There is another recipe for steaming
Peter Shaw
She gives 2 methods: steaming and frying. The explanation for steaming is not clear and I fully understand why this has been questioned but not the answer. Please clarify: do you steam the pancakes one at a time on their own or do you keep adding pancakes until there is a pile of them in the steamer?
Alice Bouwma
Hi Elaine, I'm attempting to make peking duck and the wrapper. I'm going to try you steamed method. Can you explain "During this time, roll another piece and then place the new one over the steamed one. Continue steaming for 1 minute before adding the next piece." So you new the new wrapper over the steamed one, and then remove the new wrapper from the steamed one and then just steam the new one. Why do you then to layer the new and steamed one? Thanks for explaining!
Diane
you layer the new one over the old one which is already in the steamer and you steam both, then you layer another one on top and it becomes a stack of three and you steam the whole stack and you keep repeating the procedure so lets say you made a total of 15 pancakes, by the end of the steaming the first pancake that you made would have been in the steamer for 15 minutes, the second one 14 minutes etc. The idea is that the older pancakes have the newer ones lying on top of them and hence is protected from the steam ( to some extent ) so they don't continue to cook as much as the top one. Of course if you keep steaming them then at some stage they will become over cooked but 15 minutes shouldn't cause you any problems. If I was to make more than 10 or 15 I would then start a new stack since they steamer would probably run out of room anyway.
Clara ten Berge
This is such a great and simple recipe, thank you so much! I've used it multiple times, and it always works great. So much better than store-bought! I like to use confit de canard, shred it and bake it with 5-spice and sesame oil, and eat it in a pancake together with some cucumber and spring onion and hoisin sauce, great dinner!
Elaine
That's a lovely combination, Clare! I will try it too.
Anthony Houghton
Simple ingredients, easy to make, hard to get wrong. The only trick will be finding the right temperature for your pan. Oh, and keep an eye on them. I overcooked the last one! Thanks so much. I also used your moo shu pork recipe, adapted it and made a slow cooked pork shoulder to go with it. Delicious.
Elaine
Thank you so much Anthony for this precise comment. This pancake with moo shu pork is really a comforting dish.
Pat Gilbert
Very well explained thank you
Elaine
Thank you Pat for your lovely feedback.
Wendy King Philips
Do you add the 3 T Oil to the flour and hot water or is it just for oiling the dough and pan? It doesn't say anywhere when to add the oil? Thanks!
Elaine
Oil is used to brushing the dough and use a very little amount in the pan-frying process.
Sctfan
It’s the perfect recipe for flour tortillas
Elaine
Thanks Sctfan!