Making Tools

The main tools for making pancakes are spatulas, oil rubs, ladles, chopsticks, and shovels.

Spring: a round plate made of cast iron, with a flat and smooth upper surface, a slightly convex center, and three legs as a support below. It comes in different sizes and shapes. The diameter of a medium-sized spoon is about 65 centimeters; it is heated by fire. Under the griddle, bake pancakes on it.

Oil wipe: Commonly known as "oil wipe, oil cloth", it is a square wipe made of cloth sewn, or made of corn husks, and is soaked with cooking oil. Before spreading the pancakes, rub them with oil.

Spoon: Spoon the batter onto the griddle.

Scoop: usually made of bamboo, also made of wooden boards with handles. It is used to push the batter evenly on the griddle. In some places, "窭子" or "PIZi" are used, which have the same function as 筢子. The process of spreading the batter by dragging the spoon with your hands is called "spreading".

Shovel: In some places in Shandong, it is called "grabbing son" and is used to pick up and peel off the pancakes spread out along the edge of the spatula.

Making raw materials

The raw materials for making pancakes can be made from various grains, such as wheat, corn, sorghum, millet, dried sweet potatoes, etc., or several raw materials can be mixed at the same time. Before the 1980s, Shandong pancakes mostly used dried sweet potatoes and corn as raw materials. Pancakes made from dried sweet potatoes and sorghum are light brown in color, pancakes made from corn flour, millet flour, and millet flour are light yellow in color, and pancakes made from rice flour and wheat flour are white. Pancakes in Zibo are divided into "red and white". "Red pancakes" are made from sorghum, while "white pancakes" are mostly made from corn.

Grinding the batter

Wash and soak wheat, sorghum, corn, millet, dried sweet potatoes and other raw materials, and then grind them into a paste, commonly known as "pancake paste". In some places, before grinding the batter, one-third or half of the "grog" (that is, part of the raw materials that are cooked until eighty-nine mature) is added, commonly known as "half and half", which is ground after "half and half" The batter is easy to spread and the pancakes are soft and delicious. In some places, after drying the sweet potatoes and grinding them into noodles, they need to be soaked in water to extract the black water in the sweet potato noodles. Traditionally in Shandong, stone mills are used to grind batter. Large mills are pushed by animal power, and small mills are pushed by human power. Nowadays, machine grinding is generally used. Usually the batter is ground the night before, and the griddles, fire, and pancakes are set up early the next morning.

Setting up the griddle

The process of setting up the griddle can be simple or complex. The simple erection method is to use three bricks to prop up the griddle; the more complicated method is to use hard mud to form a stove and use a bellows to blow the air. Once the griddle is set up, you can start a fire. In rural areas, corn straw or wheat straw is generally used as firewood. Lighting the fire and spreading the pancakes are often a collaboration between two people. After the griddle is heated, you can spread or roll the pancakes.

Stand-made pancakes

"Stand-made pancakes" are generally used to make pancakes with better texture, such as pancakes made from wheat, millet and other raw materials. Before spreading, the griddle is often rubbed with oil. This not only removes the debris on the griddle, but also makes the cooked pancakes easy to separate from the griddle. Use a ladle to scoop the batter onto the griddle, and use a spatula to spread the batter in a circle along the griddle, thus spreading the batter into a thin pancake. Use a spatula to spread the batter repeatedly to distribute the batter evenly. The pancakes will be cooked quickly. You need to use a spatula to pick up the spread pancakes along the edge of the spatula and peel them off in time. The size of the pancake depends on the griddle, usually between half a meter and 80 centimeters in diameter. The amount of batter spread on the griddle determines the thickness of the pancakes. People with advanced skills can make very thin pancakes. Making pancakes is very particular about technique and heat.

Rolling pancakes

"Rolling" is generally used to make pancakes with poor texture, most of which are made from dried sweet potatoes. Roll the dough of dry sweet potato noodles or cornmeal into a layer along the outer ring, and then peel it off when it is cooked. The pancakes made by this production method are relatively loose, and it is difficult to control the thickness of the pancakes.