Coconut flour pancakes

Waffles as toast, minus the wheat flour

This recipe was made using a waffle maker because it is non stick and does away with the frying pan that I hate to use.

It turns out pretty well, considering that there isn’t a speck of wheat flour to hold it together. The eggs are the binder and the waffle tastes gorgeously eggy to the last bite.

Adapted from here

Ingredients:

WET:

8 eggs

2 cups coconut milk (I use the trim Ayam brand suntan)

1 Tbsp coconut oil/butter

DRY:

4 Tbsp coconut sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

½ tsp himalayan salt

1 cup coconut flour

Preheat a waffle maker.

Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and wet ingredients in a bigger bowl.

Add the dry ingredients into the bowl with wet ingredients and stir. The flours does not look like much but thickens considerably when it gets stirred.

Using a measuring cup with spout, pour the batter onto the waffle iron.

Cook uncovered until waffle surface starts to dry/cook.

Cover the waffle iron. Cook until waffle browns.

Use a skewer and lift the waffle out of the waffle maker. I put them on racks so that the waffles continue to ‘dry out’

Eat it fresh or freeze it to lock in the freshness.

Hotteok

Last hotteok standing

I am ashamed that on my recent two-some trip to Seoul, I did not even attempt any traditional sweets. It was not entirely my fault; I was stuffed with good food throughout and when I was not, I was scaling some sort of mountain.

So when Jane’s blog showed pictures of Ajhummas flipping pancakes, it took me back to Gwangjang market where I had the feast of the year. Clearly I must have missed this, so I had it replicated in my kitchen.

After I sank my teeth into the first pancake, hot of the press, my eyes lit up. Goodness! How did I miss such an awesome snack? What is so special about the pancake is that though it looks tough and sturdy like those China onion pancakes, it was pillow soft and light when you sink your teeth in it. It was incredible when eaten hot, just off the pan or reheated under the grill.

Good thing I followed her prescribed portion; I had enough to feed quite a few people. Give the dough time to ferment so that it forms the most delicate scaffold for millions of pockets of air for lift and lightness.

Credits : Jane Chew , with adaptations

Makes 15.

Ingredients :

2 cups of plain flour

1 cup glutinous rice flour

2 Tbsp white sesame seeds, toasted

8g instant yeast

2 Tbsp fine sugar

pinch of sea salt flakes

1 Tbsp canola oil

1.5 cup low fat milk, room temperature

filling :

1 cup ground peanuts  + ½ cup icing sugar

2 Tbsp oil

Method :

In a mixing bowl, combine flours, seeds, yeast, sugar, salt.

Mix to combine.

Add oil and milk.

Stir with a spoon to form a shaggy mass.

Knead lightly until the mass comes together .  If it is too sticky to handle, sprinkle with plain flour and work the dough until it has the texture of soft marshmallow.( The dough was rather wet so 1 added 2 more small handfuls of plain flour to achieve this texture )

Leave dough  to rise until double in bulk, covered

Meanwhile, mix peanuts, icing sugar and oil. The filling should have the consistency of wet sand.

Pinch off a handful of dough. Roll on a lightly floured worktop until it forms a big disc.

Spoon 1 Tbsp of peanut to the middle of the disc.

Gather the edges of the dough and seal the bun. Pinch the gathers to secure the seal.

Flatten the bun until it is the size of your palm.

Leave the pancake to rise, 15 minutes.

Heat a non stick pan , lightly oiled.

On medium heat, carefully transfer the pancake to the pan.

Panfry on low heat until both sides are lightly seared and the surface forms a thin crust.

Eat fresh. To reheat leftovers, put it under a 2 way toaster / grill.

Enjoy!

Potato Cakes

 

Up the wow factor with a spoon of lumpfish roe

After a successful attempt using besan ( chickpea ) flour to make falafel, I experimented on potato cakes as well and found it gives stellar results as well.

Besan when used as a gelling agent gives the final product a satiating denseness that flour could not. Besides, besan is able to sustain a longer crunch factor, an important factor to consider when these cakes are planned slightly ahead.

For later batches, I added chopped cured salmon but the possibilities are limitless.

Makes 10 pieces.

Ingredients :

2 potatoes, small cubes

1 carrot, small cubes

1 small onion , chopped

5 T besan flour

1 egg

¼ t sea salt flakes

Method :

Combine potatoes, carrot in a mixing bowl. Microwave on high, 3 minutes until vegetables are soft. Cool.

Add onions, egg, flour in this order. Stir to combine. The batter should be moist , slightly loose and pasty.

Make sure the batter is able to hold together in a spoon without disintegrating.

Heat oil in a flat bottom frying pan, medium high.

Use an ice cream scoop and transfer batter to hot oil. Use a potato masher to lightly flatten the potato batter.

Fry both sides until it is very tan.

Drain and cool. Serve with sour cream and fish roe for the ultimate oomph.

Thick,fluffy pancakes with cracked wheat

My neighborhood Indian grocery is a treasure trove of all things exotic. Among the hyperventilating cheap goods such as wholemeal wheat ( atta ) flour that can be had for less than $2 per kilogram, I discovered 'diet foods' such as bulgur wheat and cracked wheat, among other things. With the Dukan diet already doing wonders to my waist line, ahem, I decided to incorporate cracked wheat for Dukan friendly vegetable  protein. It is also wonder fodder for a   managing  healthy blood sugar.

So , how  much water to cracked wheat? I asked.  " 3 parts water to 1 part cracked wheat", my friendly mamak said, " then just add vegetables" .  Easy-peasy stuff, right ? Until I discovered this golden ratio is for making cracked wheat porridge ! Boo-hoo !

I can live with at most 2 continuous cracked wheat porridge meals and even so, the most determined dieter too has her limits. Since impossible for use in tabouleh salad, I had to salvage the soggy wheat in the form of pancakes.

To go with the robust texture of the cracked wheat, I made a thick and fluffy American type of pancake to match , with blueberries for accent.  Other than the pesky task of separating egg yolk and white, preparing this cracked wheat pancake had been a cinch. So here goes :

Makes 6 big pancakes.

2T cracked wheat,cooked

1 egg,separated

3 T cold milk

50g plain flour or atta flour

1 teaspoon  baking powder

1 T fine sugar

Pinch fine salt

50g blueberries

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

Canola oil for greasing pan

Heat a greased frying pan on medium high.

Whisk on high  egg yolk, milk until foamy and light. Beat in cracked wheat until well combined.

Sfit in flours, sugar and salt  and mix well.

In a separate bowl, beat egg white and cream of tartar until soft peaks form.

Scope 1/3 of meringue into the yolk batter and mix to lighten mixture.

Fold in the rest of the egg white into the batter.

Fold in blueberries.

Scope 2 T of pancake batter onto a heated pan on medium high. Fry each side for 2 minutes.

Bon appetite!