Speaking of heroes, many of my favorite
living ones are going to be at the SF Ferry Building next month as part of the LDEI Literary Feast. Look at
this list: Diana Kennedy, Dorie Greenspan, Joyce Goldstein, Paula Wolfert,
Georgeanne Brennan, Mariela Spieler.... I snuck into that wingding, too, so
please stop by my table if you can and nosh on some sample munchies from All Under Heaven.
* * *
And that is why I am giving you genuine pumpkin
here, which turns these breads into lovely golden rounds that are moist and yet
flaky, but with a subtle squashy flavor. In fact, you can use any type of hard
squash here, like acorn or butternut, or even sneak in mashed sweet potatoes,
if you prefer.
 |
| Baked acorn squash |
The only thing you need to be careful of is
not using anything that is too moist, as then you’ll have to use too much
flour, which will then turn all the ratios into a mess. Canned pumpkin is good
here, too, but be really sure that you’re not using pumpkin pie filling, which already has sugar and spices added.
Once you get this recipe down, you should
make it your own. Consider some whole-wheat flour for part of the white, toasted
sesame oil or sesame paste for the filling, perhaps ground toasted Sichuan
peppercorns instead of the black pepper... really, the possibilities are
endless.
Welcome the upcoming holidays with a
Chinese twist on old favorites, like this.
 |
| Layers can be seen in the flatbreads |
Fried pumpkin and green onion flatbreads
Nánguā cōngyóubĭng 南瓜蔥油餅
Shanghai
Makes 4
flatbreads and serves 4 to 6
Dough:
Around 6 ounces / 180 g (¾ packed cup) cooked,
mashed pumpkin (see headnotes)
2⅓ cups / 375 g regular Chinese flour (or
1⅔ cups / 250 g all purpose flour plus ⅔ cup / 90 g pastry flour), plus just a
little extra for kneading
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 to 4 tablespoons / around 50 cc warm
water
1 teaspoon oil of any kind to grease the
bowl
Seasoning:
2 tablespoons / 30 ml peanut or vegetable
oil
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 green onions, trimmed and finely chopped
Peanut or vegetable oil for frying
 |
| Fat flakes should form |
2. When the dough has cooled down to the
point where it is easy to handle, turn the dough out on a very lightly floured
board and knead it for about 5 minutes until it is smooth, adding a bit more
flour as necessary. It should feel like an earlobe when it is ready. Clean out
the bowl, wipe it clean, and rub the oil inside of the bowl with the oil and
set the ball of dough in the bowl, then cover it with plastic wrap and let the
dough rest for at least 45 minutes so that it is easy to roll out.
 |
| Sprinkle on the seasonings |
3. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Form
them into balls and work on one at a time, covering up the rest with that
plastic wrap. Divide the salt, pepper, and green onions into 4 equal portions
each.
4. Roll a ball out into a flattened strip
that’s approximately 16 x 5 inches / 40 x 13 cm in size. Smear a quarter of the
fat over the dough, and then sprinkle on a quarter of the salt, pepper, and
green onions. Starting on a wide end, roll the dough fairly tightly into a fat
rope, and then pull on it gently at each end to stretch it out a bit before coiling
it around into a snail. Pinch the end into the edge of the bread. Cover the
snail with a piece of plastic wrap to let it rest while you repeat this step
with the other three balls of dough.
5. Now you can start to roll them out into
discs. Roll each one out into a circle around 7 inches / 18 cm wide. You can
freeze the discs at this point by laying them flat on a baking sheet covered
with plastic wrap; store them in freezer bags and fry them directly from the
freezer without defrosting.
 |
| Lovely bread snails |
