Zacchary Bird
Zacchary Bird
The vegan butcher, the vegan baker and the vegan trouble maker.

This recipe is out of my second cookbook The Vegan Butcher - snazzy second edition out early September 2022!

VEGAN SCALLION PANCAKES

CONGYOUBING FILLED WITH MOCK DUCK

FROM THE NOT SO POULTRY CHAPTER

OF THE VEGAN BUTCHER

Makes 6 pancakes.

Congyoubing are Chinese scallion pancakes that go great with sauces, cucumber and vegan duck to make an epic savoury meal. Laminating the pancake dough layers fat and spring onion greens throughout for crispy, yet soft and chewy pancakes with awesome aroma. Using boiling water in the dough first denatures some of the proteins and gelatinises the starch for a softer pancake. The washed flour ham recipe in The Vegan Butcher uses a similar method. Cold water then means some of the gluten protein becomes stretchable and pliable so it can form a dough. Use store-bought vegan duck or my recipe for peking duck made out of yuba skins. Alternatively, just make the pancakes and use as a vessel to get dips and sauces into your mouth.

This recipe has been adapted from The Vegan Butcher, which you can order directly from me, signed, right now!

YUBA DUCK TIP: Use a serrated knife to carve the duck into thin shreds and stuff inside with the hoisin and cucumber.

MELBOURNE EATS TIP: This recipe is my love letter to my fave menu item at my old workplace, Woking Amazing. It’s a rad vegan food truck that lives at Welcome to Thornbury (Northcote, Melbourne AU) and this is inspired by their signature dish. So if you can’t be arsed making it and/or are in the area - definitely swing by to grab one off the menu.

MAKING AHEAD OF TIME TIP: After rolling the congyoubing between baking paper, you can freeze the pancakes (sandwiched still in the paper) ahead of time. When you’re ready to cook, peel the baking paper off and fry directly out of the freezer for longer than the recipe calls for.


INGREDIENTS

  • vegetable oil, for frying

  • 90 g (3 oz) cucumber

  • 185 ml (¾ cup) hoisin sauce

  • 1x yuba peking duck recipe or a pack of store-bought mock duck, cooked and sliced

    Pancakes

  • 335 g (2¼ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 250 ml (1 cup) water, half boiling, half cold

  • 20 g (1 cup) very thinly sliced spring onion (scallion) green part

    Oil Paste

  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil or coconut oil

  • 2 tablespoons plain (all-purpose) flour

  • 2 teaspoons Chinese five spice powder or sichuan pepper

    To start on the pancakes, prepare the dough. Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl, pour over 125 ml (½ cup) of boiling water and stir with chopsticks. Pour over 125 ml (½ cup) of cold water and knead for 5 minutes. Allow the dough to sit for 1 hour or cover and refrigerate overnight. 

    Mix the oil paste ingredients together and place near a work surface large enough to roll the dough on.

    Divide the pancake dough into six equal portions. Working with one portion at a time and keeping the rest covered, brush a small amount of oil onto your work surface to stop the dough from sticking. As thinly as you can, roll out a portion of dough and brush with some of the oil paste. Sprinkle with one-sixth of the spring onion and gently roll the dough away from you to create a long tube. Roll the tube into a snail shape, with most of the spring onion and oil paste rolled to the inside of the snail, to complete your first lamination. Repeat with each portion of dough until you have six beautiful little dough ‘snails’. 

    Cruelly flatten each ‘snail’ with the palm of your hand, then roll into roughly circular pancakes XX cm (XX in) in diameter. You can cook immediately or freeze them between sheets of baking paper and fry directly from frozen as needed. Fry each pancake in 2 tablespoons of hot vegetable oil for about 2 minutes on each side until golden and crisp. Rest on paper towel once done.

    Shred the cucumber and squeeze out the excess liquid with your hands. Add 1–2 tablespoons of hoisin to one half of each pancake and top with the grated cucumber. Roll the strips of bean curd duck up to create loose balls and divide among the pancakes. Carefully fold over the pancakes and secure with a toothpick before serving, just remember to remove it when it comes time to dig in.