I’ll always be thankful to Steph and Karen for introducing me to Malaysian food. I don’t have the fond childhood memories of homemade Malaysian food growing up that they do, but I crave it in the same way I do my Mum’s bolognese sauce. It’s comfort food – everything from drinks to curries, to noodles and sweets. And after all these years, it’s still our favourite way to catch up – over mugs of teh tarik and plates of hokkien mer or char kway teow.
I’ve cooked with pandan a couple of times before and always loved the crazy vibrant green colour. The Tres Leches cake is still one of my favourite cakes ever. Pandan has a delicate floral taste that goes really well with coconut, and works in all manner or baked goods, ice creams and other desserts. If you haven’t tried it, I’d really urge you to track it down at your local Asian supermarket and give it a go!
These pandan pancakes have been in the back of my mind for years now. Pandan waffles are a favourite every time I go to Cabramatta, and I thought the flavour would also work really well in a pancake. Instead of maple syrup, I doused them in gula melaka, a palm sugar syrup and piled berries and coconut chips high on top.
The recipe is super easy – just a small adaptation of my favourite pancakes that I make all the time. But here’s a quick tip – to maintain that green colour, cook them more slowly and without butter in the pan so they don’t start to turn brown as they cook. Try it with the kids, they will love the novelty of neon green pancakes!
- 2 cups plain flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 cup caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons pandan extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 1/3 cups milk
- Berries, coconut chips and gula melaka syrup (optional) to serve
Sift flour, baking powder and sugar together in a medium size bowl. In another smaller bowl, whisk together the egg with the buttermilk, milk, pandan and vanilla extract, then whisk the milk mixture into the dry ingredients until smooth.
