Cycle 15 – Item 205

28 (Sun) July 2024

Mushu Shrimp with Hand-Made Pancakes

3.5

by me

at home

-Changgok, Sujeong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea-

with IZ

For the first time, I tried making my own pancakes for mushu.   To get the pancakes as thin as possible, I mixed the flour with hot water to break down the glutens that would make the dough difficult to roll out.  The dough was left to rest on the counter for an hour, relaxing it even further.  As advised by several on-line recipes, I rolled the pancakes two at once, one on top of the other (with a layer of oil between them to prevent sticking), supposedly facilitating a thinner roll than if rolled individually; but I had trouble separating the pancakes after the roll-out, which took previous time and left them somewhat mangled upon separation.  Otherwise, the process was fairly easy.

Very similar to the process for making roti, as I had learned on the trip to the Maldives last year (see 14.058 Roti with Smoked Tuna & Dal Curry).  Same hot water trick.  But the cook had advised not to rest the dough, which he said would allow the glutens to develop and become more elastic.  Indeed, he was able to roll out the pancakes paper thin, no need for the doubling thing, each requiring no more than a couple quick rolls of the pin, zero resistance from the dough.  The resulting roti had little chew, almost to the point of being brittle.

My pancakes turned out quite nice.  A bit thicker than what I’d hoped, but I’m confident that can be improved with experience.   Then again, the thickness made them sturdy enough to hold heaps of stuffing, no worries about breakage.  Also, the texture was pleasantly rough and chewy (perhaps because the dough had been rested?), much nicer than the uniformly smooth pancakes found in restaurants (see for example 15.177 Snow Pea Prawns).  I look forward to refining the recipe and technique in future applications of many kinds.

(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)