Jian Bing Guo Zi – Scallion Pancake Rolled With Yau Char Kwai

From a poster on http://chowhound.chow.com/: "I just got back from a short vacation in Beijing, and we bought these for breakfast from a streetcorner stand and I fell in love. It's a savory crepe that's filled with scallions, sesame seeds, an egg, two different sauces (maybe something like hoisin and a bean paste) and a hunk of puffy fried dough, then folded and stuffed into a baggie to eat by hand on the go. . . Our understanding of a Jian Bing is that a crepe pancake batter is first ladled onto the round cooking surface and after cooking for a minute, then an egg is cracked onto the crepe and mixed into the crepe and then the pancake is flipped over. After more cooking, a sweet paste is brushed onto the crepe pancake, scallions and other spices are sprinkled, and a fried cracker ("deep-fried devil") is put onto the crepe and the crepe pancake is folded around the fried cracker. The Jian Bing is finally served to the customer."

Jiānbĭngguŏzi (煎饼果子) is something quite unique to Tianjin. Jiānbĭng, or "pancake" is prepared with egg and cooked on a skillet, then topped with a guŏzi (果子) (commonly called in Northern China) or Yau Char Kwai (used in Southern China) or fried dough stick, drizzled with scallions, sesame seeds and sauces and rolled up, like a wrap.

#Sponge:
80 g Sourdough starter
100 g Tepid water
150 g All-purpose flour

#Dough:
All the starter above
320 g All-purpose flour
180 g Tepid water, 1+1/2 tsp Salt
1/3 tsp Baking ammonia (Ammonium Bicarbonate)
1/4 tsp Potassium carbonate (Potash)
2/3 tsp Baking soda (Sodium Bicarbonate)
1 tsp Baking powder (a mixture of Tartaric Aid and Sodium Bicarbonate)

Combine first the starter, water in a bowl, and then stir in flour until a dough forms. Cover with a plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for 12-18 hours. Whisk together ammonia, potassium carbonate, baking soda and baking powder in a bowl. Pour in water and blend all together.

In a larger container, add in the sponge and flour. Pour in the mixture and stir them into a ball. Cover and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Set the dough on a greased work surface. Lightly press the dough into a flat rectangle and fold into three. Give it a quarter-turn to the right, cover and allow it to rest for another 15 minutes. Repeat folding and relaxing two more times. Now place the dough on a lightly oiled baking peel, press out the dough into a rectangle, about 5mm thick. Cover closely and chill overnight.

Next morning, remove the dough from the fridge and divide the dough into 3x1-inch long strips. At the same time heat up a heavy skillet half-filled with frying oil until 180C/350F. Lightly press together two strips, which are overlappingly to each other, holding two ends closely and low them into the hot oil. Fry and turn the dough sticks until golden brown. Drain and cool slightly. These fried dough sticks are very often consumed with congee or soya drink. Besides eating fried dough sticks with congee and soya drink, you can prepare a Fried Dough Stick Wrap, a traditional breakfast in Tianjin and Beijing.

3-4 section Yau Char Kwai (8-inch long)
50 g All-purpose flour
10 g Semolina
100-120 g Water
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
1 tbsp Chilli sauce
1/2 tbsp Seafood sauce
2 tbsp Chopped scallions
1 tsp Sesame seeds
2 tsp Vegetable oil

Mix together flour, half egg and water until you have a well-combined and lump free mixture. Heat up a skillet, and brush with a bit of oil. Scoop 3-4 tablespoons of batter over. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.

Pour some egg over, sprinkle chopped scallions and sesame seeds. Cook the batter for 1-2 minutes. Turn and cook the pancake until golden brown. Place it on a serving plate and brush with the sauces. Center the Yau Char Kwai and wrap up.