Pancakes filled with a mix of scrambled tofu and veggies! These Chinese-Style Savoury Stuffed Breakfast Pancakes are wrapped in homemade dough and pan-fried.
Check out by full step-by-step recipe video below:
Best eaten with your hands and bitten like a sandwich. Perfect for breakfast but also for any time of the day, actually!
These can also be made in advanced, refrigerated or frozen, and then just reheated when ready-to eat!
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Chinese-Style Savoury Stuffed Breakfast Pancakes
Makes 8 3.5-inch pancakes
Special tools I used:
Rolling pin (I use a dumpling rolling pin)
Dough
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup + 1 tbsp warm water
1 tsp canola oil
Filling
Tofu
1 400 block extra firm tofu
1 tsp turmeric powder
3/4 tsp black salt
Veggies Mix 1 cup chopped scallions
1 cup finely shredded carrots
1/2 cup diced red bell peppers
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp 5 spice powder (optional but highly recommended)
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp sesame oil, for the vegetable mix
Sesame oil or other oil, for cooking
For cooking
1 tbsp canola oil for 2 pancakes
1 tbsp water for each pancake
Steps
For the Dough
Add in 2 cups of flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Mix. Create a well in the center of the bowl and pour in the warm water.
Use a wooden spoon or spatula to mix the flour and water. Once the dough starts to come together, add in 1 tsp of oil. Use your hands to mix the bits of dough. Knead together for several minutes. If the dough is a bit dry, add a splash of water.
Shape the dough into a ball, then place it in a bowl. Cover it with a damp towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Filling
Drain excess liquid from your tofu. I like to do this by wrapping the tofu in a towel and pressing down with a heavy surface. Mash the tofu afterwards then set aside.
Heat a pan. Add in 2 tbsp sesame or other oil. When the oil is hot, add in the scallions, bell peppers, and carrots. Season with some salt, sesame seeds, and chinese 5 spice (optional). Cook over medium high heat for 4-5 minutes until the carrots are tender. Add in a bit more sesame oil. Adjust seasoning based on desired taste.
In the same pan, add in the tofu. Mix in turmeric and black salt or other salt. Mix until well incorporated and tofu is yellow. Leave to cook for a few minutes until excess water from the tofu has evaporated. Turn off heat and then mix the tofu and carrot mix together.
Leave filling to cool while you prepare the wrappers.
Making the wrappers
Add some flour on your work surface. Take the dough out of the bowl and knead it a few times.
Punch hole in the middle of the dough and then create a donut shape. Slowly stretch. Slice the dough into 8 pieces. Roll or shape each piece of dough into a ball. Cover the dough with a towel to prevent from drying while you work on one at a time. To make a wrapper, press down on the ball of dough and lightly flatten it over the surface. Sprinkle a little flour on top and lightly coat your rolling pin with some flour as well. While holding both ends of the rolling pin, roll out the dough by moving the pin forward and backward. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and repeat the movement.
Continue to roll out the dough until you have a wrapper that’s around 5-5 ½ inches in diameter. If you can’t make them into a perfectly round shape, that’s okay! Mine weren’t perfect but I was still able to properly fold these together. It really takes some time and practice to get a hang of making wrappers.
Place the rolled out wrappers on a tray and cover with a dry towel to prevent them from drying out. Roll out the rest of the dough.
Take a rolled out piece of wrapper and place around 1/3-1/2 cup of filling into the center. Crease the edges and pinch with your fingers. Twist to seal and then carefully press it down to flatten. See video for a visual guide. Afterwards, place back the pancake on the tray and cover with a dry towel to prevent it from drying out. Repeat for the rest of the wrappers.
Cooking the pancakes
Heat a pan (with a lid), add in 1 tbsp of oil (for every 2 pancakes). When hot, add in the pancakes and lightly press down. Leave to cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes until it has a golden brown crust. Flip over and leave to cook for another 4-5 until golden brown.
Prepare the lid of your pan. Using the lid as protection, carefully pour 2 tbsp of water (1 tbsp for each pancake) into the pan and then immediately cover to prevent it from splashing due to the heat.
Leave to cook in the steam, until the water has evaporated, around 5-6 minutes. Take out the pies and repeat this step for the remaining ones. Enjoy while hot!
Storage tips
Refrigerator: Place the pies in an air-tight container and refrigerate for up to 5 days. To reheat, you can pan fry them again with a splash of water or oven-toast in low heat.
Freezer: You can freeze the cooked pancakes for months (longest I’ve done is 2) and then just reheat from frozen by pan-frying. Cook with a splash of water and then cover to cook in steam.
