Chinese Red Bean Pancake 豆沙鍋餅

In Asian cuisine, red bean desserts are very popular and come in all shapes and forms. Even after a sumptuous and heavy meal, we always make room for anything that is sweet and delicious. Today's recipe is a very popular Chinese dessert which can be easily created at home. 

It is simply red bean paste wrapped with pancake and then deep-fried. You have a choice of making the sweet red bean paste from scratch (see my earlier recipe), or like me sometimes, just take the easy way out and buy the canned version from the Asian supermarket.

The pancake is made from mostly basic ingredients like all-purpose flour, milk, egg, salt and oil. After tasting many versions of delicious red bean pancakes at eateries and restaurants, I prefer to add some glutinous rice flour to give the pancakes a slightly sticky chewy texture. I know glutinous rice flour is not something everyone carries in their pantry, but I highly-recommend it as I think it makes a noticeable and nice difference. You can find it at Asian supermarkets and use the rest for other recipes like this one, or Google "glutinous rice flour recipes".

If you can't or do not wish to get glutinous rice flour, you can also replace it with all-purpose flour. The texture is slightly different but still makes a very good pancake. Next time you have guests at home, impress them with this dessert!

RECIPE FOR CHINESE RED BEAN PANCAKE

Makes 2 pancakes

__________________________________________

Ingredients
50g all-purpose flour
50g glutinous rice flour 糯米粉 *
1 egg
150g milk
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp vegetable oil

200g red bean paste (home-made or canned)

Oil for pan-fry and deep-fry

* You can also replace glutinous rice flour with all-purpose flour. Glutinous rice flour adds a nice chewy texture similar to some I have tasted at restaurants, and I highly-recommend it.

Steps:

1) Mix all-purpose flour, glutinous rice flour, salt and egg together in a bowl. Add milk and whisk till there are no lumps. Add 1 Tbsp oil.

2) Coat large flat pan (10-12 inch) with a thin layer of oil. Turn heat to medium-low and pour 1/2 of the batter onto pan. Spread out the batter evenly into a big circle by lifting up and swirling the pan. When batter is no longer liquid and firm enough to be lifted, loosen edges with spatula and transfer to plate. It does not need to be fully-cooked as pancakes will be deep-fried later.

3) Repeat with the other half of the batter.

4) Spread red bean paste (form rectangle shape) on pancakes and fold on 4 sides per the pictures.

5) Over medium-high heat, heat up enough oil to cover the pancake. Deep-fry pancake, one at a time, till it turns golden-brown. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Cut pancake into smaller pieces and serve immediately.