Tried and True

I never really know what to say whenever I sit down to write a personal statement. I waver between writing a confessional or an advertisement, because I’m never really quite sure what people actually want to read, what actually comes off as authentic and interesting. It’s so awfully tempting to fall back into the standard strings of phrase, the “In 2005, I participated in an internship…blah blah, etc,” but I suppose that with age, I've come to realize that such writing gets one nowhere. A tried a true mantra of the personal statement may simply be that your words should ring with sincerity rather than boring drabness, because after all, who cares about boring (hint I do!)? Yet to achieve such a simple task seems almost insurmountable. How do you make someone you've never met before believe in you? I suppose that's the "plight" of any writer, communicating proper meaning in a non-offensive manner.

I've been struggling for a few hours, but to no avail, so I've decided to come say hello on this blog and give you this tried and true recipe. Sher pings are a type of Asian pupusa, except instead of masa harina and beans, it's flour and whatever filling you want. I've actually made these pancakes multiple times (and by pancake, I mean meat/vegetable filled dough pocket), and found that my favorite filling consists of a simple combination of bok choy and shrimp. Sometimes though, this combination is a bitch to wrap up because the shrimp tend to eke out liquid, thus preventing the dough from sticking together well. As a solution, I've found that placing a layer of ground pork down on the dough first aids in the assembly of these little suckers. The ground meat absorbs any extra liquid and gives the dough something more solid to wrap around. More meat, less mess, which is rare, if you ask me. Nevertheless, if you are averse to pork, feel free to omit it, making sure to increase the amount of shrimp from 2 shrimps per pancake to 4. Last note, these pancakes can be cooked fresh or frozen (I place them frozen straight into a pan on low heat, no oil, and they brown up nicely). 

Shrimp and Pork Sher Ping Pancakes

makes 8 large pancakes

dough

3 3/4 C bread flour

1/4 C vegetable oil

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 C warm water

 filling 1

16 raw large shrimp*

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 TB chili paste

1/2 teaspoon salt

filling 2 

 4 heads of uncooked bokchoy, diced

1/4 C fried shallots, chopped

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon garlic salt

*Note: if making pancakes without pork, increase amount of shrimp to 32 (4 shrimps per pancake instead of 2 shrimps per pancake).

filling 3 (optional): 

1 lb raw ground pork

3 TB soy sauce

1 TB rice wine

1 TB Shaoshing wine

1 large egg

1 medium onion, minced

salt and pepper, to season

To put together the dough, sift bread flour into a large bowl and stir in the salt and pepper and oil. Make a mound in the center of this flour mixture, and then drizzle the scant 1 C of water slowly into the bowl, stirring with a fork as you go. A shaggy dough should form. Pour this out onto a clean surface and knead until the dough becomes smooth and elastic, and can be formed into a ball easily. If the dough seems too dry (and in this case, more often than not, it is), dip your fingers into more warm water and knead with wet fingers. Once the dough is smooth and elastic, wrap in plastic wrap and let sit for at least 1 hour, preferably more, at room temperature. 

While you are waiting for the gluten in the dough to relax, assemble each of the three fillings separately, in three separate bowls. Just mix together the ingredients, nothing fancy here. Set aside.

Once the dough is ready, roll into a long cylinder and divide the dough evenly into 8 pieces. Feel free to divide into more pieces if you want to make smaller pancakes. Since you will be working with one piece at a time, cover the remaining pieces with plastic wrap so they do not dry out. Stretch the piece of dough into a flat, circular shape with your hands, then place onto a clean surface and roll the dough out with a rolling pin, so that the edges are thinner than the center. This dough should feel velvety and should not stick (because of the addition of oil to the base). 

Once the dough has been rolled out to desired size (I make them pretty big, my final product is a couple of inches in diameter), you are ready to assemble. Place 1-2 TB of ground pork mixture down first, and spread it out into an even, circular layer. Nestle 2 shrimps on top of that, then place 1-2 TB of bok choy mixture on top of that, pressing the vegetable down into the ground pork. If you are not using the pork, do the same thing, just without the pork. Pick up the edges of the dough and pinch them together tightly, wrapping the dough around the fillings, stretching the dough in whichever manner you think works best for keeping all the filling in. Once the pocket is sealed, flip the pancake over and press down on it slowly, rubbing in a circular fashion, until you can feel that the filling is evenly distributed into the empty spaces of the pancake. 

At this point, you can wrap the pancake in plastic wrap and freeze, or you can cook immediately. Place a non-stick pan on medium heat, dry, and place the pancake in the pan. Cook for a few minutes until the dough browns, then flip over and brown the other side. Flip the pancake bake and forth until both sides are evenly browned (the ground pork and shrimp cook quickly so they should be done at this point as well). Serve with a dipping sauce of choice. I like a combination of soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, and diced garlic and scallions.