I find that Ken Hom’s book Foolproof Chinese Cookery is usually a reliable source of recipes that work. I follow his measurements (except that I only use half his measures) and method (sort of) to make Chinese pancakes. Chinese pancakes are good for things such as Peking duck and the eternal British favourite, crispy aromatic duck – commonly known as CAD. You could also use them instead of tortillas or even to mop up a curry instead of naan or chapatis.

These pancakes are quick and easy to make. You can store them in the freezer too, so if you make a big batch you'll always have some on hand.

Ingredients

(makes about 8 large or 12 small pancakes)

• 140g/5 oz plain (all purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting
• 125 ml/ 8 fl oz very hot water
• 1 tbsp sesame oil

Method

Put the flour into a mixing bowl and gradually add the water, mixing all the while until the water is fully incorporated. I used a fork to do this. If the mixture seems too dry, add some more water.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead it until it becomes silky smooth. This should take 5-10 minutes. Dust it with flour if necessary, as it’ll probably be quite sticky at this stage. Once it’s smooth, cover it with a damp tea-towel and let it rest for about 30 minutes.

Knead the dough again for another 5 minutes, dusting with flour as necessary. Roll it into a sausage shape and cut into slices according to how many pancakes you want to make and what size you’re making. (Experiment with one slice first to give yourself some idea of the likely result.)

Shape each slice into a ball.

Now we’re at the rolling stage. This is where Ken Hom and I differ. He next goes on to use two dough balls at a time to make a double pancake which is subsequently split into two at the end of the rolling and cooking process. I’m afraid that when I tried that I ended up with one very large pancake rather than two which were separable.

Here’s my method. Dip the dough ball into the sesame oil and roll into a circle. If you’re not an accurate roller (I can never roll out a perfect circle) and you want pancakes of uniform size and shape, simply cut round a plate or a bowl.

Heat a little sesame oil (a quick wipe of oil is plenty, rather than enough to shallow fry) in a suitable pan over a low flame. Put the pancake into the pan and cook on one side until it has dried underneath. Expect to see brown speckles. Flip it over and repeat on the other side. Repeat this process until all the dough balls are cooked.

I started off making a large pancake (the result of two balls sticking together) which turned out fine but then I thought that a cocktail version might make a more attractive presentation, because my next step was to use the pancakes to make Not Crispy Aromatic Duck.

You can of course cheat and buy ready-made ones. Last time I looked they were about £1 for 10 pancakes in the supermarket – after all, it's only flour and water with a little bit of oil. I think it's much more satisfying to make my own.

Foolproof Chinese Cookery

Ken Hom
Hardback, 128pages
2000, BBC Worldwide
ISBN 0 563 55133 X

 

This is a BBC book which was first published in 2000. I’m not a big fan of most Chinese food – I usually prefer other Asian cuisines – so the book has mostly languished relatively unused on the shelf for years. However, sometimes I like to get back to basics and it seemed like a good idea to have another look at this book. I wasn’t disappointed!

Previously the main thing I used this book for was for the Chinese pancake recipe – those things you use for Crispy Aromatic Duck, along with hoisin sauce and accompaniments. I have so many cookbooks I can't always remember which book to get what recipe from but as soon as I find a page with food stains on it, I can be pretty sure that I've found the recipe I'm after. In this case Hom's pancake recipe page was noticeably garnished with the flour of several uses.

I'm afraid to say I can be a bit hit-and-miss when making rice so I decided to stop messing about and do what I was told for once. I followed Ken Hom's recipe for "perfect steamed rice". Yes, I really did follow the recipe! And as a result got... perfect steamed rice. I subsequently went on to make egg fried rice with it but added some prawns and various other things, not in Hom's original recipe, which were lurking in the fridge. It was "use it or lose it" time, but the result was pretty good. Sorry, no photos, but sometimes it's a pain to be snapping away when you're more interested in cooking or eating.

I've also made spring rolls according to a recipe in this book, and they were pretty good too, although I included beansprouts and other things in mine which weren't in Ken Hom's original recipe.

This is a seriously good book! It's never yet let me down. I should use it more often. Let me tell you a little more about it.

It's a step-by-step guide to creating what Ken Hom describes as authentic Chinese food in your own home. Personally I doubt if it's really very authentic. It's much more like the kind of food you'd expect from a Chinese restaurant in the West.

After the interesting introduction by Ken Hom there's a chapter on ingredients and equipment before moving on to the recipes themselves. The book does what it says on the tin. It's a step-by-step approach. Most recipes are quick and easy and there's an emphasis on using readily available ingredients. The photography is excellent too, with plenty of how-to help as well as appetising photos of the finished dishes.

The chapters cover:

• Soups and Starters
• Fish and Shellfish
• Meat and Poultry
• Vegetables and Side Dishes
• and suggested Menus to help you plan a special meal

I feel a bit sorry I’ve neglected this book for so long. It’s very useful and deserves more attention than I’ve been giving it. Yes, if you’ve any interest in Chinese cooking you’d be hard pushed to beat this.

Foolproof Chinese Cookery

Ken Hom
Hardback, 128 pages
2000, BBC Worldwide
ISBN 0 563 55133 X