Recipe | Thai Inspired Pandan Pancakes

Pandan is a type of leaf used in Asian cooking. It has a coconut-like, vanilla taste so it's used mainly as flavouring in sweets and desserts and gives everything this unusual bright green colour. In Thailand it's fairly common to see cakes and treats this colour (if it's not pandan, it's probably matcha green tea flavour) but it can also be used for savoury dishes. These pandan pancakes are inspired by my first experience of the flavour.

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Pandan pancake rolls stacked on a plate

My first taste of pandan was our on our first night in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Arriving late in the evening, we spotted a little street food market just around the corner from our hotel, and made a beeline for it. The market was bustling with locals and very few signs were in English so mostly we didn't know what we were ordering. Sometimes that's the best way to try new things - just go by what looks or smells good! 

I bought a bag of freshly made mini pillowy pancakes, each with different fillings. Some were stuffed with what I can only describe as hot dog sausages but I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that half were oozing with this sweet, green custard. And just like that, I fell in love.

Sipping iced green tea at a market in Bangkok, Thailand

After that first taste at the market, I jumped at the chance to eat anything green! Imagine how delighted I was when the kind folk at Flight of the Gibbon brought out a bright green pandan flavoured birthday cake for Gordon!


Coconut milk, pandan extract and pandan custard packet mix 
We've been scouring the Asian supermarkets for pandan treats since we got back from Thailand so I'm now well stocked up with instant green custard! I picked up a little bottle of pandan extract last time which I've used to create pandan filled pancakes at home, with a recipe inspired by that first taste in Chiang Mai. 

Freshly cooked green pandan pancakes

This is basically an adaptation of a general pancake mix, filled with pandan custard. You could also use it to make Malaysian Kuih Dadar, which is the same idea but with a sugary, coconut filling instead. For the pandan extract and custard you'll probably need to visit an Asian food store - I got both in Matthews Foods, next to the Manchurian in Aberdeen. Alternatively, you can *find it on Amazon here.

Pandan custard filled pancake rolls

Pandan Pancake Recipe

250g Flour
350ml Coconut milk
4 Eggs
1 Tsp pandan extract
+
1 Packet instant pandan custard
  • Mix the flour, coconut milk, eggs and pandan extract together in one big bowl until you get a smooth batter. If you have an electric mixer, use it! 
  • Spoon a ladleful of the mixture into a hot frying pan, spread it thinly and allow to cook on one side. I didn't bother flipping to the other side as they seemed to lose some flexibility and you need to be able to roll them up.
  • Allow the pancakes to cool, and make up the pandan custard according to the packet instructions. (It's easy!)
  • Add a spoonful of the custard to the middle of each pancake, roll them up like a burrito and enjoy!
Pandan pancakes filled with pandan custard

What flavours have you discovered on your travels?
Tag us @xchristybx if you make your own pandan pancakes!

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Pandan pancake rolls recipe

1 comment:

  1. This looks interesting. Will be weird eating green pancakes, but I definitely want to try this out.

    ReplyDelete