The combined vegetables are crisp and tender, while the spring pancakes are soft and chewy, creating a dish bursting with aroma.
On the day of Lichun (the Beginning of Spring), a new year begins. Everyone returns home early that day, and upon entering, they see the table laden with dishes—sauced pork elbow, stir-fried mixed vegetables, spring pancakes, sweet bean sauce, and millet porridge—the taste of home feels especially rich at this moment.
Sit down, roll up a pancake, and relive that experience of eating spring pancakes with oil dripping down your hands!
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
Bean sprouts, spinach, chives, and vermicelli noodles — 300 g (about 10.5 oz) total
There is no fixed combination for stir-fried mixed vegetables; many different vegetables work well, so feel free to improvise.
Additional Ingredients
red bell pepper - a small amount
2 eggs
pork - a small amount
Seasonings
15 g (about 1 tablespoon) soy sauce
5 g oyster sauce
Scallion and ginger, a small amount of each
Instructions
Instructions
Preparation
Step 1: Wash all vegetables. Cut the chives and spinach into sections, shred the red bell pepper, and mince the scallions and ginger (Image 2). Shred the pork (Image 3). Soak the vermicelli in boiling water for 5 minutes, then drain and let cool (Image 4).
*This dish can be made without meat, but adding a bit of shredded pork makes it more flavorful. After washing the vegetables, drain them as thoroughly as possible.
*The vermicelli must be soaked in boiling water, but not for too long, or they will become mushy; once drained and cooled naturally, loosen them with your fingers—if soaked in cold water, they will remain too firm, and since the final stir-fry is brief, they may not cook through.
Pan-fry a thin egg crepe.
② Beat the eggs. Heat the pan, lightly grease the surface with a thin layer of oil, then reduce the heat to low, pour in the eggs, and swirl to coat evenly. Once the egg crepe is cooked, remove it from the pan, let it cool, then slice into thin strips and set aside (Figure 5).
*After beating the eggs in a bowl, skim off the surface foam slightly, otherwise the egg crepe will tear easily. Do not wash the pan after making the egg crepe—keep it for stir-frying the vegetables, and it will definitely not stick.
*If making an egg crepe seems too fussy, you can simply scramble a scallion egg and spread it over the mixed stir-fry—it's also excellent.
Pre-cook the vegetables by stir-frying them separately until just tender.
③ Heat a wok over high heat, add a little oil, then stir-fry the bean sprouts and red bell pepper over high heat for 30 seconds (Image 6). Next, add the spinach and stir-fry for 1 minute, then remove from the wok (Image 7).
*Bean sprouts, red bell pepper, and spinach must first be stir-fried with a little oil to remove excess moisture so they don't release too much water during the final stir-fry; also, pre-cooking them ensures they are hot when added, preventing the pan temperature from dropping, which is essential for achieving that dry, aromatic "wok hei."
Quick-fry with soy sauce
④Without washing the wok, add more oil and heat until nearly smoking, then add the shredded pork along with minced scallion and ginger, stir-fry over high heat until the meat separates, immediately add soy sauce and stir until fragrant (Image 8).
*The most important thing in this dish is to sizzle the soy sauce in the pan, which creates that dry, aromatic "wok hei" (breath of the wok). The wok must be extremely hot. The amount of shredded pork is small, so it's fine if it's cooked a bit past tender. When the pork goes into the wok, the temperature shouldn't drop too much; as you pour in the soy sauce, you should hear a sharp sizzling sound—that's how you know the "wok hei" is being released. Keep the heat on high throughout.
*This dish already has soy sauce and oyster sauce, so it should be salty enough—generally, no extra salt is needed. If you prefer a stronger flavor, you can add a little.
Stir-fry the vegetables.
⑤ Next, add the pre-stir-fried bean sprouts, red bell pepper, spinach, mung bean noodles, shredded egg crepe, and chives (Image 9). Add a splash of oyster sauce and flash-fry over high heat just until the chives begin to soften, about 1 minute, then remove from the wok (Image 10).
Take it to the next level
Spring pancakes are typically made with hot-water dough, or half-hot-water dough—first mixing the flour with boiling water, then adding cold water to knead—this makes the pancakes more chewy. Prepare two dough balls, brush one with oil and leave the other plain, then stack them together and roll out into a thin sheet. At home, people usually use an electric griddle to cook spring pancakes, but the downside is uneven coloring and an unattractive appearance. There are two other methods: one is steaming—place the rolled-out dough sheet in a steamer over boiling water and steam for 1 minute; the other is baking—put it in a preheated oven and bake for 2 minutes. Both methods give the spring pancakes an even surface and a good texture.