Okay, can we just acknowledge how wild the timing is? I swear I was just complaining about the hellish heatwave, and now Mid-Autumn Festival is practically knocking on my door. 🌕

To celebrate properly (and because I can’t help myself), I decided to make roubing—those impossibly crispy, savory meat fluff pancakes that are basically the definition of addictive. I followed this brilliant YouTube recipe, and honestly? Paolo and I couldn’t stop. We polished off five pancakes in one afternoon like they were going out of style.

The Magic Behind the Crisp

The dough is absolutely foolproof if you stick to the recipe—I followed it exactly for the pastry layers. For the filling, I skipped the onion and mixed in chopped Chinese chives instead, which gave it this incredible depth of flavor. Here’s the funny part: Paolo normally can’t stand the taste of chives, but he devoured these without complaining. I’m still debating whether I should actually tell him what he ate. 😏

The Air Fryer Hack

The game-changer? You can pan-fry the pancakes until golden, then portion and freeze them. When you want to eat, just pop them straight into your air fryer.

My settings: 170°C for 15 minutes + 185°C for 10 minutes, flipping halfway through each stage. You’ll get that exact crispy-on-the-outside, juicy-on-the-inside texture you see in the photos.

A Little Italian Lesson

Since I’m living in Italy now, here’s how to wish someone happy Mid-Autumn Festival the proper way: Auguri per la festa di metà autunno or simply Buona festa di metà autunno. The festival itself is called Festa di metà autunno or festa della luna (moon festival).

So here’s to crispy pancakes, good company, and celebrating the harvest moon—no matter where you are in the world. 🌝❤️