Tastes of Taiwan

Faith Mulroy, a Georgetown student in the class of 2013, is studying abroad in Taiwan and records some of the more exotic (and delicious!) food adventures she embarks on. Here is her first blog post and recipe for us:

We have finally entered a period of cool weather here in Taibei! Walking a few short minutes outside no longer leaves foreheads with a sweaty sheen, cool-weather sweaters and scarves have been making appearances on the street, and a warm cup of tea and hot bowl of noodles have become a welcome option for lunch. Though admittedly arriving later than my New England self is used to and without the usual accoutrements of colorful leaves and gusty winds, the cooler fall weather is a blessing.

Yesterday, after class and a quick stint in the campus café, I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and visit a nearby night market. Night markets in Taiwan are places to meet up with friends and spend a night shopping through delectable snacks and unique clothing at steal prices. Though the clothing is always eye-catching, my favorite places of every night market are the snack streets. I came to Taiwan with praise of its extraordinary snacks ringing in my ears, and so far I have not been disappointed. From stinky tofu to fruit juices, the ingredients are fresh and every stand has its own unique method of preparation.

Despite more flashy snacks, a repeat favorite of mine is the humble cong zhua bing. This translates directly to “onion grabbed pancake,” but I have also heard it called “onion pulled pancake.” Made from little more than flour, water, oil and green onions, this delicate fried dough was a delectable finger food on yesterday’s unusually chilly meander through the night market.

The perfect pancake comes from layered and oiled dough. The dough flattened into a circle and fried on a griddle until the outside is brown and lightly crispy and the inside is chewy and moist. The most important step of making cong zhua bing, however, is the final action. After frying, what we have made is essentially a cong you bing, or plain-old scallion pancake. There’s nothing wrong with this close cousin of cong zhua bing, but if you would like to have the feathery, textured layers as pictured, you need to pull apart the pancake. This could either be done by pinching apart the layers with tongs or by quickly smacking the edges of the pancake into the center with the ends of two spatulas. To finish off the pancake, add whatever condiments you deem delicious. My favorite is a sprinkling of white pepper, but a healthy pinch of pink Himalayan salt is also tasty!

Below is a great recipe for cong zhua bing (or cong you bing should you decide to end at the frying step) that I picked up on one of my first days in Taibei from Jodie of Jodie’s Kitchen. Enjoy!

Green Onion Pancake

Preparing the Onion

Ingredients

400g green onion

2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoon cooking oil

2 tablespoon white sesame oil

1-2 teaspoon white pepper

Instructions

Finely chop the green onion. Mix in remaining ingredients.

Preparing the Dough

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup hot water

½ cup cold water

Instructions

- Lightly dust a flat work surface with flour.

- Pour flour in a metal mixing bowl and create a well. Pour the hot water into the dough and mix well. Pour in the cold water and mix well. Turn dough out onto the work surface.

- Knead the dough until fragrant and very tough. (For me this took about 45 minutes of heavy kneading. For those with stronger upper-body strength, it might not take as long!)

- Once dough is kneaded, cover with damp towel or overturned mixing bowl and let sit for 15 minutes, or until the dough is soft and yielding to a poke.

- Divide the dough into 8 sections. Roll each into a ball and use a rolling pin to flatten to approximately 0.2cm thick.

Final Product

1. Take the circle of flattened dough and sprinkle it generously with oil.

2. Roll the dough into a long tube and tie the tube into a knot, as pictured below.

3. Let the knot sit for about 10 minutes as you do the other pieces. When the knot is ready, roll it out again with a rolling pin and repeat. The more times you oil the dough and knot it, the more layers your pancake will have.

4. On the final time you sprinkle the oil, add a generous pinch of the green onion mixture. Roll into a knot a final time, let it sit, and roll it out again into a circle. You’ll want the pancake to be about 1cm thick for the plain scallion pancake, or cong you bing. For the cong zhua bing, roll it a bit thinner.

5. Heat oil in a large pan to medium heat. Cook the dough until it is lightly brown and crispy on both sides. To make cong zhua bing, use tongs to gently pinch apart the layers.

~Courtesy of Jodie from Jodie’s Kitchen, Taipei, Taiwan.