How to make Colm O'Gorman's very tasty Stuffed Sichuan Eggy Pancakes

These bite-sized fluffy pancakes are dairy-free and use yeast as a raising agent

These fabulous stuffed pancakes are from the Sichuan province of China. They are known as Dong Han Gao in Cantonese, which translates to ‘egg baked cake’ — a great descriptor for these bite-sized fluffy pancakes. They have the most wonderful texture and are a little like a cross between a gyoza and a bao bun.

Dong Han Gao are a popular street food in Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province. Street vendors there prepare them in small frying pans, stuffed with savoury or sweet fillings such as meat, spicy vegetables, chocolate, coconut, or sesame. I adore these with a simple meat stuffing, they are for me the perfect combination of sweet and savoury.

The batter used to make these pancakes is very simple, and unusually uses no dairy and uses yeast as a raising agent. It is a combination of just flour, yeast, water, and eggs, whisked together and then allowed to proof until the batter is bubbly and frothy.

I first came across these pancakes in a magnificent cookbook written by Fuchsia Dunlop, who is an exceptional writer on Chinese food. If you love that cuisine and would like to learn more about it, I highly recommend her book The Food of Sichuan.

In my recipe I use slightly less sugar and a little more yeast than hers, and for the stuffing, I combine pork, mushrooms, and spring onions, seasoned with just soy sauce, Chinese rice wine and a little Chinkiang, a Chinese black vinegar.

If you cannot get hold of rice wine, sherry is a good substitute, and apple cider vinegar is a decent substitute for Black Chinese vinegar.

You might imagine that these pancakes will need a dipping sauce of some kind, but they really do not. They are perfect served just as they are — full of flavour and incredibly moreish.

Dong Han Gao

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

They have the most wonderful texture and are a little like a cross between a gyoza and a bao bun.

Servings

14

Preparation Time

 1 hours 15 mins

Cooking Time

 30 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 45 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• Pancake batter

• 200g plain flour

• 5g dried active yeast

• 50g caster sugar

• 200ml water

• 2 large eggs

• Stuffing

• 2 chestnut mushrooms

• 2 spring onions

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 100g minced pork, minimum 12% fat

• 2 tsp rice wine or sherry

• 1 tsp light soy sauce

• 1 tsp Chinese black vinegar

• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil

Method

1. Begin by making the pancake batter. Combine the flour and dried yeast in large bowl. Pop the caster sugar into a heatproof jug or bowl and pour in 100ml of boiling water. Stir to dissolve the sugar and add 100ml of cold water.

2. Lightly whisk the eggs and add them to the water and sugar mixture once it has cooled down a little. Gradually add this to the bowl with the flour, whisking as you go, until you have a smooth batter. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel or some cling film and set it aside in a warm place for an hour or so, until the yeast has activated, and the batter is bubbly and frothy. Bear in mind that if the weather is cool, this may a bit longer, anything up to two hours.

3. Next, make the stuffing. Wash trim and finely chop the spring onions. I find the easiest way to do this for this dish is to trim the ends of the onions and then, using a sharp knife, cut them in two lengthways before then finely slicing them.

4. Clean the mushrooms by rubbing them down with a piece of damp kitchen paper. I never rinse mushrooms under cold water as it can make them go soggy when cooked which would not be good in this recipe. I always use both the stalks and the caps of chestnut mushrooms. The stalks have lots of flavour, so make sure to use them, slicing off just the ends before finely chopping the mushrooms.

5. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a non-stick frying pan. Add the pork and stir fry it until has broken up and coloured, a few minutes over a medium heat will do.

6. Add the rice wine or sherry and cook for another few minutes until it has almost evaporated.

7. Next, add the chopped mushrooms and spring onions, the soy sauce, and the vinegar. Stir fry for another three to four minutes, until everything is well cooked and most of the liquid has evaporated.

8. Transfer the stuffing to a clean bowl and add the toasted sesame oil. Stir to combine and set aside.

9. Time now to cook the pancakes. Heat a heavy based frying pan over a high heat and add just a little oil to coat the surface. Reduce the heat to medium/low and spoon on a little of the batter. Allow 30-40ml of batter, about two to three tablespoons, per pancake. Do not crowd the pan as you will need some room to fold the pancakes once you add the stuffing. Instead, cook them in small batches of three to four maximum.

10. Cover the pan with a lid and let the pancakes for cook for just a minute or two until they are almost cooked. You will know they are ready for the stuffing when they are firm and golden underneath, but still a little wet on top.

11. Add a small spoon of stuffing to each pancake and then fold them over into a half-moon shape. I find the easiest way to do this is to use a wooden spoon or spatula to hold one side of the pancake steady and then slide a fish slice or thin metal spatula under the other side and fold the pancake in two.

12. Cook the folded pancakes for no more than a further 20 seconds before removing them from the pan and keeping them. Repeat until you have used up all the batter and stuffing.

13. Serve the pancakes while they are hot, garnished with a little chopped spring onion.