Flaky, crunchy, moist in the middle … and totally irresistible

Strictly speaking, this is not a pancake in the traditional western sense, but rather a rich, flaky flatbread that has more in common with an Indian paratha than a French crepe or a Shrove Tuesday lemon-and-sugar number. It is, however, an equally delicious way to feast on fatty foods before Lent, and a fun kitchen project at any time of year, not least because it’s never a bad idea to have a freezer full of pancakes.

A popular savoury snack throughout China and Taiwan, cong you bing are often served as a winter breakfast in the north of the country, Ken Hom reports. Eileen Yin-Fei Lo repeats the widely held belief that “no one but a chef from Shanghai should even attempt to cook” them, though that doesn’t seem to have put off the rest of the Chinese-speaking world: food writer Grace Young says she learned to make them from her Hong Kong-born mother. If you’d like to throw caution to the wind, too, here’s how to go about it.