Chinese Wheat Wrappers
- Total Time
- 30 minutes, plus 20 minutes’ resting
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 1cup/136 grams Korean all-purpose flour, more as needed
- 6 to 7tablespoons boiling water
- 1tablespoon peanut or vegetable oil
Preparation
- Step 1
Place flour in a medium bowl and stir in just enough boiling water so the flour is shaggy and all of the water is absorbed into a soft dough. Empty dough onto a smooth work surface and knead it until smooth, adding more flour as necessary to keep it from sticking. When it is as soft as an earlobe, cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rest for about 20 minutes.
- Step 2
Divide dough into 16 even pieces and roll each piece into a ball before flattening each ball with the palm of your hand. Use a pastry brush to lightly coat the surface of half of the circles with oil, and place the other half of the circles on top of the oiled ones to create 8 dough sandwiches.
- Step 3
Roll each sandwich into an even circle. Roll the circles out into flat tortillas about 5 inches wide. Keep the dough covered when not working with it and sandwich the uncooked pancakes between plastic wrap to keep them from drying out. The wrappers can be prepared ahead of time up to this point and frozen in plastic wrap. Be sure to separate each wrapper with plastic wrap to keep any two from sticking and then pack them in a resealable freezer bag.
- Step 4
Heat a seasoned yet unoiled cast-iron frying pan over medium heat. When the bottom is hot, add 1 wrapper and slowly cook it on one side until the bottom is spotted brown and the top starts to puff up, about 1 minute. Turn the wrapper over and briefly cook it on the other side, then transfer it to a clean tea towel and cover it so that it steams lightly. Repeat with the rest of the wrappers until all are cooked and you have a stack of warm tortillas in your towel. At this point, you will be able to peel them apart, if you wish, for very thin wrappers, or keep them as is for thicker ones.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Korean flour is typically bleached white flour. It is low in gluten and almost silky in texture. In the cookbook Ms. Phillips suggests a recipe for Chinese flour used in dumpling making, and I suspect it would work quite well for this purpose. It couldn't be simpler. Combine two parts all purpose white flour with one part cake or pastry flour. The result is a lower-gluten combo that gets the job done. The texture of Korean flour is finer, however.
I use a combination of rice flour and AP flour that I think I found in The Essentials of Asian Cooking (published about 15 years ago). Use 1 part rice flour to 2 parts AP flour.
When we make these wrappers for moo-shi or for Peking Duck wrappers, we use sesame oil between the two layers. It's fragrant and traditional. I put a clean plastic bag over a dish and place the cooked pancakes in it - they steam in the wrapper and it's easy to pull them apart from each other. They reheat well if you steam them gently.
What is Korean flour? Is it similar to cake flour, all-purpose or bread flour?
These were way easier than I expected and SO much better than south-western flour tortillas. Pulling them apart was fun and the resulting thin pancake was better than thick with Peking Duck. Used King Arthur cake flour, peanut oil, and a non-stick pan instead of cast iron. Didn't cook them right away--was able to hold them for a good 30 minutes stacked between plastic wrap and covered. If you've ever handled and rolled dough, you can make these easily.
These were way easier than I expected and SO much better than south-western flour tortillas. Pulling them apart was fun and the resulting thin pancake was better than thick with Peking Duck. Used King Arthur cake flour, peanut oil, and a non-stick pan instead of cast iron. Didn't cook them right away--was able to hold them for a good 30 minutes stacked between plastic wrap and covered. If you've ever handled and rolled dough, you can make these easily.
When we make these wrappers for moo-shi or for Peking Duck wrappers, we use sesame oil between the two layers. It's fragrant and traditional. I put a clean plastic bag over a dish and place the cooked pancakes in it - they steam in the wrapper and it's easy to pull them apart from each other. They reheat well if you steam them gently.
Once these are made how well do they keep in the fridge for leftovers?
I am experimenting with non-wheat flours like coconut, etc. Has anybody tried this recipe with these kinds of ingredients?
I use a combination of rice flour and AP flour that I think I found in The Essentials of Asian Cooking (published about 15 years ago). Use 1 part rice flour to 2 parts AP flour.
What is Korean flour? Is it similar to cake flour, all-purpose or bread flour?
Korean flour is typically bleached white flour. It is low in gluten and almost silky in texture. In the cookbook Ms. Phillips suggests a recipe for Chinese flour used in dumpling making, and I suspect it would work quite well for this purpose. It couldn't be simpler. Combine two parts all purpose white flour with one part cake or pastry flour. The result is a lower-gluten combo that gets the job done. The texture of Korean flour is finer, however.
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