Rolling your own crepes is a fun way to start a meal. Or these crepes can be the meal.
Light, pale yellow scallion crepes are tasty and have a delicate texture. Making crepes is surprisingly easy. The batter is whirled in a blender, and the crepes flip over obediently. The crepes are also good with other fillings, as long as the ingredients are thinly sliced and soft enough not to tear the delicate wrappers.
The medley of Chinese greens is an excellent filling for these crepes, and is also good on rice or in an omelet.
Yields 10 to 12 crepes; about 3 cups Chinese greens
Serves 4 to 6
Prep and cooking time for the crepes: 30 minutes
Prep and cooking time for the greens: 20 minutes
1½ cups water
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus more for frying
1 cup unbleached white all-purpose flour
6 scallions
4 ounces mushrooms (about 1 cup sliced)
1 pound yu choy* or baby bok choy (about 9 cups sliced)
4 ounces snow peas (about 1 cup sliced)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon soy sauce
¼ teaspoon salt
Chopped roasted peanuts
Toasted sesame seeds
Sliced scallions
Chiffonade of fresh basil
Simplest Sauce (see here) or other light sweet-sour Asian condiment
*Yu choy is a green, leafy Chinese cabbage with a delicate sweet flavor. Yu choy, also called yau choy, has long, slender stalks with dark green flat leaves and small yellow flowers. The flowers are cooked along with the leaves and stems; they are not bitter and do not mean the plant is past its prime.
Make the crepes: Put the water, eggs, sesame oil, soy sauce, and vegetable oil into the blender. Whirl at high speed briefly. Add the flour and whirl again. Scrape down the sides and whirl briefly. Set aside. Pull off any dried outer layers of the scallions and cut off the roots and all but about 3 inches of the green tops. Wash and blot dry. Slice very thinly on a diagonal. You should have about ½ cup after slicing. Place in a small bowl next to the stovetop.
Preheat the oven to 250°F. Warm about a tablespoon of vegetable oil in an 8- or 9-inch crepe pan on medium heat. Brush the oil over the bottom and keep the oil-soaked brush next to the pan. When the pan is hot, but not smoking, pour ⅓ cup of the crepe batter into the middle of the pan and tilt the pan to spread the batter evenly over the bottom surface of the pan all the way to the edges. Scatter some chopped scallions over the top and cook for about a minute, until the bottom is golden. Run a spatula around the outside of the crepe and flip it over. Cook until dry, less than a minute, and slide the crepe onto a plate. Continue making crepes, sliding each onto the top of the stack, until all the batter has been used. Between every few crepes or if a crepe sticks, brush more oil on the bottom of the pan. Wrap the stack of crepes in aluminum foil and keep warm in the oven.
Prepare the Chinese greens: Remove the mushroom stems and slice each cap in half horizontally, then slice in the usual way, from the top down. You’ll have about a cup of roughly rectangular mushroom pieces. Slice the greens crosswise, starting at the leaf end. Cut into 1-inch lengths and then into shorter pieces as you go, slicing the thicker stalks into ¼-inch pieces. Slice the snow peas crosswise into pieces about ¼ inch wide.
Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet on medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the yu choy or bok choy and stir-fry until just wilted, about 3 minutes. Add the sliced snow peas and stir-fry for a minute or two. Add the water, soy sauce, and salt and stir-fry briefly. Cover, reduce the heat to medium, and steam until just tender-crisp, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl.
Put the stack of crepes, the bowl of greens, and small bowls of whichever garnishes you’re serving in the middle of the table, so that each person can put a crepe on their plate, put a spoonful of greens in the middle of the crepe, sprinkle with garnishes, and fold the crepe over or roll it up. Serve with knives and forks or chopsticks.
Filled crepes make a light meal by themselves, but also go well with Vietnamese Lemongrass Vegetable Soup.