Pancakes-Nine varieties
Instructions:
- It is easy to see why the dish is thus named - many different fillings are offered to be rolled in pancakes, dipped in sauce and eaten. The traditional serving dish has nine sections in which the nine varieties are arranged.
Pancakes
- 1½ cups plain (all-purpose) flour;
- ¼ teaspoon salt;
- 2 eggs, beaten;
- 250 ml (8 fl oz/1 cup) milk;
- 250 ml (8 fl oz/1 cup) water;
- vegetable oil for greasing pan.
- Filling
- sesame oil or vegetable oil for frying;
- 10 dried shiitake mushrooms;
- soy sauce;
- ground black pepper;
- 1 teaspoon sugar;
- 3 eggs, separated;
- 250 g (8 oz) beef fillet, finely shredded;
- 3 young carrots, peeled and shredded;
- Salt;
- 12 spring onions, cut into 2.5 cm (1 in) lengths;
- 1 giant white radish, peeled and shredded;
- 250 g (8 oz) zucchini, shredded.
- Dipping Sauce
- 175 ml (6 fl oz/¾ cup) soy sauce;
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar;
- 3 tablespoons crushed, toasted sesame seeds;
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped spring onions.
- To make the Pancakes, sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Mix the eggs with the milk and water and add to the flour, beating with a wooden spoon until smooth. Or combine in a food processor or blender, strain into a bowl and leave to stand for 1 hour while you prepare the filling.
- To cook the pancakes, heat a large frying pan and grease very lightly with oil. Pour in a ladle of the batter and swirl to cover the base of the pan thinly. Cook on medium to low heat so the pancake does not brown. Turn and cook other side, then turn onto a board. When all the batter has been used, cut the pancakes into small rounds with a pastry cutter. Pile pancakes in the centre of the serving dish.
- To make the Filling, soak the dried mushrooms in very hot water for 30 minutes. Squeeze out the water, discard the tough stems and thinly slice the caps. Reserve the soaking liquid.
- Heat a little sesame oil and stir-fry the mushrooms, then add soy sauce, pepper, sugar and 125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) of the mushroom soaking water. Cover and cook for 20 minutes or until the mushrooms are tender and all the liquid absorbed.
- Beat the yolks and whites of the eggs separately and cook separately in a lightly greased frying pan to make thin, flat omelettes. Do not have the pan too hot, as they must not brown. Turn out on a board and allow to cool, then shred into fine strips of white and yellow.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan and stir-fry the beef, adding soy sauce and ground black pepper to taste. Cook till browned and all the liquid has evaporated.
- Cook the vegetables separately. The aim is to keep the natural colour of the vegetables, so do not let them brown. Stir-fry the carrots in very little oil, adding salt to taste. Briefly stir-fry the spring onions. Stir-fry the radish until wilted, then season with salt. Stir-fry the zucchini for a few minutes, and season with salt.
- To make the Dipping Sauce, combine the ingredients and divide among individual sauce bowls which are placed in front of each diner.
- Arrange all the filling ingredients in separate piles around the edge of a plate, with the pancakes in the middle. Set each place with a flat plate, chopsticks and small bowl of sauce. To eat, fill a pancake with one or more of the fillings, roll it up and dip it in the sauce.