I can’t express my joy and excitement when I found a recipe starting with the letter X. Xian Bing is one of my best-ever recipes, not just because it is something that starts with one of the hardest alphabets to find a recipe with, but because my family loved it. My little one asked me if Xian Bing is an easy recipe to make. I replied that it was not too bad. Then he asked me if I could make it for his school lunch as he loves it a lot. You can imagine a mother’s excitement when her kid asks to make a dish for school lunch.
What is Xian Bing -
So coming to the recipe, I accidentally came across this recipe when searching for a flatbread from China. I realized that I did not cover any Chinese recipes and wanted to make something from this cuisine. That is when this recipe for Chinese Stuffed Pancakes came up and I was too excited. Xian Bing is a popular street food that originated in the city of Xi’an. There are many kinds of similar recipes there because of the large number of Chinese Muslims in the region. Even though the recipe says pancake, it is made with a dough stuffed with meat and cooked. I immediately started thinking of making it vegetarian and came up with this Vegetable and Tofu filled Xian Bing. The Chinese Stuffed Pancake turned out to be amazingly flaky and the filling was the best ever yet. I made this a ‘No Onion No Garlic version as we are in the 2 week fasting period where we don’t consume onion or garlic. I absolutely felt no need for the onion or the garlic. It has a very basic seasoning and the flavor is all from the vegetables and the tofu. Make sure you make either make the Ginger Soy dipping sauce or the Spicy peanut sauce for dipping. Preparation time - 15 minutesCooking time - 45 minutesDifficulty level - easyRecipe adapted from - China Sichuan Food
Ingredients to make Xian Bing - makes 12
For the outer covering -
All Purpose flour - 2 cups Salt - 1 tsp Oil - 2 tsp Warm water - as needed to form a stiff dough
For the Tofu and Vegetable filling -
Extra firm or firm Tofu - 12 oz (chopped into very tiny pieces) Cabbage - 2 cups Carrot - 1 cup Soy sauce - 3 to 4 TBSP Chili paste - 1 tablespoon (adjust based on your like) Sugar - 1 tsp Corn starch - 2 tsp Water - 3 TBSP Oil - 2 tablespoon + more to cook the pancakes
Procedure to make Chinese Stuffed Pancake -
To make the outer covering/dough -
Mix the flour and the salt together and add enough water to make a stiff dough.
Add the oil and knead the dough for about a minute.
Cover the dough and let it rest for about 30 minutes
To make the Tofu and Vegetable filling -
Drain the tofu and wrap it in a couple of layers of paper towels and place some weight over it to get rid of excess water. Now chop the tofu into very tiny pieces.
Heat a wide pan and add 2 tablespoon oil. Add the tofu and fry it on medium-high heat until it is golden brown.
Now add the chopped cabbage and carrot and let the vegetables cook until halfway done.
Add the sauce and the chili sauce and mix well. Let it cook for 2 to 3 more minutes.
Mix the cornstarch in water and add this to the tofu and vegetable mixture. This helps combine everything together.
Cook for a minute more and then turn off the flame and let the filling cool entirely before stuffing.
Pinch out tiny pieces from the dough. I got about 12 to 13 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and keep it aside.
Working with one piece at a time, dust it with enough flour and roll it into a very thin circle. I made about 5 inch wide circles from the dough balls. Make sure that the edges are rolled very thin so the Xian Bing is not very doughy.
Place about 2 heaping tablespoon of filling in the center and start to seal the edges by bringing them together forming a pleat. It is somewhat like making the modak / kozhukattai.
Now flatten the pancake, so it is about ½ inch thick.
Heat a heavy bottom pan. I love my cast iron pan for this as I got a beautiful crust with it.
Add about 1 tablespoon of oil and place the formed pancakes on the pan. Depending on the size of your pan, you can cook about 3 to 5 at a time.
Cook on both the sides until golden brown and then remove it on a plate.
Serve warm with ginger soy dipping sauce or Spicy peanut sauce.
Serving suggestions
Makes sure to make these two dipping sauce to serve along with it. They are so easy to make and works beautiful. If you made this recipe and liked it, give a star rating on the recipe card or let me know in the comments below. You could also share it with me on Instagram using #MyCookingJourney and tagging me @sandhya.ramakrishnan. You could follow me and my recipes on Facebook |Instagram | Pinterest | twitter
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