Bowang huge pancake

Bowang huge pancake

The huge pancake of Bowang Town in Fangcheng County is one of the most famous pancakes in Henan province. Being crisp, sweet, thick, each pancake weighs about 2-2.5 kilograms with a diameter of more than 33 centimeters with a thickness of 0.6 centimeters. The cooked pancake looks as white as dough when it is cut into halves and it tastes soft, and is flexible and aromatic. It is made by equally mixing fermented dough and unfermented dough and shaping it like a shield. Then it is baked in a pan until the two sides are solid. Several pancakes are piled up in the pot to be baked under a low fire without water. The large cooked pancake is not burnt and has the color of raw dough but the taste of cooked buns.

Bowang pancakes first appeared around 1700 years ago. It is said that in the Three Kingdoms period, after the first battle won by Zhuge Liang, the wit master, General GuanYu was sent to guard the village against the invasion of enemy troops. It was so hot that water was in short of supply. Guan Yu asked Zhuge Liang for help. The wit master wrote down the cooking method on a piece of paper and put it into an envelope. Guan Yu ordered his cooks to make the pancakes according to the water saving instructions. As a result, a round-shaped pancake that was as big as a shield was cooked. The soldiers were very satisfied with the crisp and delicious pancakes, so they became even more courageous. Thus Bowang was defended by Guan Yu; hence, the pancake was then named after the city in which it was created.