Recipe: Planning On Pancakes? Try One Of These Three Alternative Tasters…

It’s one of our favourite times of the year – where the smell of fresh lemon, creamy batter and Nutella fill the kitchens across the country. Whether you’re a sweet or savoury lady, chances are you have a soft spot for a pancake dinner. For the more adventurous palettes, there’s nothing wrong with giving tradition a little shake-up – and we’ve selected some signature styles to try out for yourself. Feel free to send taster samples this way… Pan fried Seabass and Salmon wrapped in a rice pancake In celebration of pancake Tuesday, one of our favourite Thai and Vietnamese restaurants Saba has created a delicious savoury rice pancake with pan fried seabass and salmon. If you can’t make it to taste tonight, they’ve kindly given us a step-by-step guide for your own savoury tasting at home… Recipe serves two  Ingredients:                                                

• 2 seabass fillet cut into 4 pieces
• 150g salmon fillet cut into 4 pieces
• 100g asparagus tips
• 4 pcs rice paper
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 1 lime
• 3 dsp rapeseed oil for pan
• 400ml hot water to cook rice paper

 For Sauce:

•  10g green pepper corn
• 30g mixed pepper, diced
• 3 cloves chopped garlic
•  3 dsp rapeseed oil
• 3 dsp mushroom sauce
• 3 dsp water
• 2dsp Chao Shing Wine
• ¼ tsp sugar
•  Coriander for garnish
• ¼ tsp sugar

Cooking Method

1. Prepare the seabass and salmon fillets by cutting both in half. Season with salt, black pepper and lime juice.
2. Bring the pan to a medium / high heat and add oil. Once the oil has heated up, add the seabass, salmon and asparagus.
3. Cook until seabass and salmon are a nice golden brown colour on both sides, this will take about three minutes. The asparagus will also take three minutes to cook.
4. Place the rice paper into hot water for 10 seconds, drain and put onto a wet tea towel.
5. Place the seabass onto the centre of the rice paper, place the asparagus on top of the seabass and add the salmon.
6. Wrap the rice paper up from side to side. Repeat this step to make four pancake wraps in total. Place two wraps on two plates and leave to one side.
7. Bring the wok to a medium heat and add the oil and garlic, stir until there’s a nice aroma. Add the green pepper corn and mixed peppers before stirring for 10 seconds. Season with mushroom sauce, sugar, water and Chao Shing wine.
8. Pour on top of the seabass and salmon pancake wraps and garnish with coriander leaves.

  Hotteok - Sweet Korean pancakes If you fancy something a little different from traditional pancakes and crepes this year, Siucra's version of the sweet Korean pancake, Hotteok, is the perfect alternative. Makes 10-12 pancakes Ingredients:

• 270g flour
• 150g rice flour
• 1 tbsp black sesame seeds (optional)
• 1 pack (11g) dry yeast
• 2 tbsp Demerara Sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 350 ml lukewarm milk
• 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
• + oil for frying

  Filling:

• 110g Rich Dark Brown Sugar
• 2 tbsp finely chopped nuts, any type
• 1 tbsp cinnamon or other spice

  Method

1. Combine the flour, dry yeast, sesame seeds, sugar and salt, in a large bowl.
2. Add the milk and 1 tbsp oil to the flour and beat with a wooden spoon. The mixture will be very sticky.
3. Cover with clingfilm and leave to rise until doubled in size (30-45 minutes).
4. Stick a hole in the middle of the dough so that it collapses a little. Leave to rest for another 10 min.
5. Meanwhile, prepare the filling. In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, nuts and cinnamon.
6. Take a small amount of the dough and flatten with your hand. Place 1 tbsp of the filling in the centre and press the edges together towards the middle so that it forms a small ball.
7. Heat a frying pan on moderate heat. Add plenty of oil.
8. Place the ball in the frying pan and flatten carefully, for example with a small oiled, flat-bottomed bowl.
9. When you see the surface puff up a little, turn the pancake. Add more oil if necessary. The surface should be golden.
10. The pancakes taste best when freshly-cooked, but take care – the filling is hot!

  Red Velvet Pancakes with Cream Cheese Glaze  Who says your pancake can’t make a startling dessert? Here we’ve taken top tips from Cooking Classy to make sure you have a stack worth sneaking one or two extra from the pan for your plate… Ingredients

• 240g all-purpose flour
• 3 Tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups milk
• 2 Tbsp white vinegar
• 130g granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 Tbsp red food coloring
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 80g salted butter, melted
• 1 recipe Cream Cheese Glaze, recipe follows
• fresh raspberries and mint leaves, for garnish (optional)

Cream Cheese Glaze

• 6 oz cream cheese, softened
• 6 Tbsp butter, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup milk, plus more if desired
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

• Preheat an electric non-stick griddle to 180 C.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt, set aside.
• Measure out milk into a liquid measuring cup and whisk in vinegar, allow mixture to rest for 2 minutes. Pour milk mixture into a separate large mixing bowl and add in sugar, eggs, red food colouring, vanilla and melted butter. Whisk mixture until well combined. While whisking, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix just until combine.
• Butter griddle if necessary and pour about a 1/4 - 1/3 cup batter (depending on how large you want your pancakes) at a time onto hot griddle (you can also use the back of measuring cup or spoon to lightly spread batter from centre out to the edge a bit so they aren't thicker in the centre then they are on the edges).
• Cook until bubbles begin to appear on the top surface of the pancakes then flip and cook opposite side until pancake is cooked through.
• Serve warm with Cream Cheese Glaze and garnish with fresh raspberries and mint leaves if desired.

Cream Cheese Glaze

• In a mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer set on medium speed, blend together cream cheese and butter until well combine and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in remaining ingredients and mix about 1 minute until well combine, adding additional milk to thin if desired. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator.

Recipe via Cooking Classy