Peking Jackfruit Pancakes

Method

1. First make the pancake dough. In a large bowl, knead the flour, salt and water until you have a smooth, elastic dough, about 5 minutes, adding a teaspoon more flour if it seems too sticky. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and leave to rest for about 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 390°F. Place the shredded jackfruit in a bread loaf pan. Whisk together the sesame oil, ginger, wine, five-spice, black pepper, and soy sauce and pour over the jackfruit. Roast for 15–20 minutes or until very tender – there may still be liquid in the pan, and that’s okay.
3. Unwrap the dough, roll it into a log, and divide into 12.
4. Roll each piece of dough into a ball, then flatten slightly by patting it with the palm of your hand. Brush a thin layer of oil over six of the flattened dough balls, then place the un-oiled dough balls on top of them to form sandwiches. Use a rolling pin to roll out each sandwich into a flat pancake, flipping it midway, so both sides are rolled evenly.
5. Set a dry non-stick frying pan over medium heat, place a pancake in it, and cook until it is puffy, and the bottom is flecked with brown, about 2–3 minutes. Flip it over and cook the other side for 2–3 minutes, then remove. Carefully separate the two layers to give you two pancakes. Keep on a plate, covered with a clean tea towel, while you cook the rest, separating them as well, to give you twelve in total.
6. Transfer the jackfruit to a serving platter. To eat, scoop a little bit of jackfruit onto a pancake, top with a drizzle of hoisin sauce and a few slivers of carrot, cucumber and spring onion, then wrap up and enjoy.

Preparing jackfruit

• After draining your tin of young green jackfruit, rinse it well in a mesh strainer under cold running water – this helps to get rid of the slightly sweet jackfruit flavor. After rinsing, cut away the tough core of each piece of jackfruit, then shred the remaining flesh into something resembling pulled pork. Discard all the seeds and seed pods.

Credit for the recipe and image: Jackfruit and Blue Ginger by Sasha Gill (Murdoch Books)