Cong You Bing & Fried Egg

📝 Ingredients

• 160 g plain flour (150 g for the dough, 10 g for the oil paste)
• 90 ml very hot water
• 3 spring onions
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 4 tsp sunflower oil (3 for the pancakes, 1 for the eggs)
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame seeds
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Mixing bowl
• Rolling pin
• Non-stick frying pan
• Spatula
• Pastry brush

📖 Steps

1. Put 150 g flour and ¼ tsp salt in a mixing bowl. Pour in the very hot, just-simmering water in a thin stream while mixing with a fork, until large lumps form. Leave to cool for 2 min so you can handle it.
2. Knead by hand for 5 min until the dough is smooth and supple. Cover it with an upturned bowl and leave to rest for 20 min: thanks to the hot water and the resting time, it then rolls out very easily without shrinking back.
3. Meanwhile, finely slice the spring onions, both white and green parts. In a small bowl, mix the sesame oil, 10 g flour and a pinch of salt to make an oil paste: this is what creates the flaky layers.
4. Cut the dough in half. Roll out each piece on a lightly floured work surface into a very thin rectangle of about 30 × 20 cm. Brush with half the oil paste, then scatter over half the spring onions and a pinch of pepper.
5. Roll the dough up from the long side to form a long log, then coil it into a tight spiral and tuck the end underneath. Leave to rest for 5 min, then flatten with your palm and the rolling pin into a pancake of about 18 cm, without forcing it if any spring onion pokes through.
6. Heat 1.5 tsp sunflower oil in the frying pan over a medium heat. Cook one pancake for 3 to 4 min per side, pressing down with the spatula, until golden and crisp. Repeat with the second pancake and 1.5 tsp oil.
7. Place each hot pancake on a board and push the sides towards the centre with two spatulas, as if scrunching it slightly: the layers separate and the pancake becomes lighter. Keep warm wrapped in a tea towel.
8. Pour the last spoonful of oil into the pan and crack in the eggs. Cook for 3 min over a medium heat until the whites are set and the yolks still runny. Serve each pancake cut into wedges with an egg, drizzled with soy sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds.