Spring pancakes with asparagus, eggs, and Chinese sausage

Last Updated on November 27, 2020 by Simon Fan

Eating spring pancakes (chun bing 春饼) is a time-honored tradition in northern China to celebrate the arrival of spring and pray for a good harvest. A bite of the pancake symbolizes a bite of spring (咬春).

The truth is, when you use the warm and soft hand-made pancake to wrap around seasoning vegetables together with your favorite sauce, you’re creating something so tasty that you would call it a bite of heaven.

The Chinese spring pancakes are made with a unique technique, by mixing wheat flour with very hot water (above 160°F or 70°C) to create a hot water dough. The hot water partially cooks the flour to reduce the degree of gluten development during kneading, which results in a very soft dough. Once it’s rolled into pancakes and cooked through pan-frying or steaming, you’ll get the desirable “soft and chewy” texture that you won’t easily achieve with a regular cold water dough.

The filling of the pancakes can include any of your favorite vegetables, raw or cooked. You may also add meat or seafood if you want. In northern China, typical choices for the filling would be garlic chive, scallion, lettuce, celery, cucumber, bell pepper, carrot, wood ear mushroom, egg, as well as chicken or pork. The favorite sauce there is tian mian jiang (甜面酱), which is spread onto the pancakes before wrapping.

You can learn the traditional way of making hot water dough and pancakes by following my recipe below. It does take some practice if you’re trying for the first time, but the result will be immensely rewarding. Once you’ve mastered the technique, you can make other pancakes or dumplings that call for hot water dough, such as scallion pancakes, potstickers, and garlic chive turnovers. Alternatively, you can use store-bought wrappers, such as moo-shu wrappers available in the frozen section of many Chinese grocery stores. Or use Mexican-style flour tortillas, though they tend to be thicker and less pliable, and would not give you the same texture because they’re made with cold water dough.

My recipe includes asparagus in the filling. Although not a traditional choice, this early spring’s iconic vegetable brings wonderful earthiness and crunchiness to the pancakes. Feel free to be creative in choosing your vegetables and protein. For the sauce, you can substitute tian mian jiang with hoisin sauce or any sauce of your choice.

If you’re hosting a spring pancake party, it will be fun to make an assortment of cold salads and stir-fried dishes, together with different sauces, so everyone can wrap whatever they like into their pancakes.

Spring pancakes with asparagus, eggs, and Chinese sausage

Makes 8 pancakes

Ingredients

Dough
4 oz (120 g) all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup plus 1 teaspoon (85 ml) hot water (above 160°F or 70°C)
Vegetable oil

Filling
8 oz (230 g) asparagus, preferably thin spears, trimmed
4 large eggs
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 oz (60 g) Chinese sausage, cut into thin slices
Tian mian jian (sweet flour sauce) or hoisin sauce, or any sauce of your choice

Directions

To make the dough:

1. Add the flour to a large bowl, sprinkle with the salt, and make a well in the middle of the bowl. Slowly pour the hot water to the flour, stirring quickly with chopsticks so the water is distributed evenly.
2. When the dough is no longer too hot to handle, use your hands to form the dough into a ball, then transfer it to a lightly oiled work surface. Knead the dough until it’s smooth and elastic, 2 to 3 minutes. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes.

To make the pancakes:

1. Divide the dough into 8 even pieces and form each piece into a ball. On a lightly oiled work station, flatten each ball with your palm, then use a small rolling pin (ideally an Asian dowel-style rolling pin about 1 inch/2.5 cm in diameter) to roll it into a disk about 5 inches (12.5 cm) in diameter. Alternatively, you can use a tortilla press or a heavy-bottomed pan to press the ball into a flattened round, then use a rolling pin to roll it into a 5-inch (12.5 cm) disk.
2. Brush some oil on the entire surface of a rolled disk, then stack the other disk on top. Use the rolling pin to roll the stacked disks into a thin pancake at least 6 inches (15 cm) in diameter. Repeat with the remaining 6 disks.
3. Heat a nonstick pan over very low heat. Cook each pancake without oil for about 3 minutes per side. The pancake is done when it’s browned in spots and the steam between the two layers creates bubbles to puff up the pancake. Make sure to keep the heat very low or the pancake will dry out before fully cooked. Remove the cooked pancake from the pan, and while it’s hot, carefully separate the two layers, and wrap them in a kitchen towel to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining pancakes.

To make the filling:

1. Blanch the asparagus in boiling water until tender-crisp, about 1 minute. Transfer them to a bowl of ice water to cool, then drain well. If using thick spears, cut them in half lengthwise before blanching.
2. Beat the eggs in the bowl and season with salt and pepper.
3. Place a wok or skillet over medium-low heat until hot, then swirl in the oil. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the Chinese sausage and cook until slightly browned, about 1 minute. Transfer the sausage to a plate.
4. In the same wok with the remaining oil, add the eggs and stir quickly until just set, about one minute.

To serve, spread some tian mian jiang on the pancake, and place some asparagus, sausage, and scrambled eggs in the center. Roll up and enjoy!