Chinese pancake sandwich (hangover cure & stoner’s grub)

These are by no means an innovation that ever appeared in gastronomic heaven, but in fact a hearty street food staple very commonly found in China. There are many a variations to it, but I’m sharing the one I find in my locality.

Before I begin let me just tell you how incredibly fantastic these street food pancakes are; sold mostly out of a small shop or mobile stall, and usually eaten after a drink too many or breakfast and even as a not so light snack.. they’re crispy, fried on a hot pan without skimping on the oil and meat. The pancakes are flaky, almost like a puff pastry sheet, slathered with a thin coating of viciously hot sweetness, a layer of egg, meat of choices, bundled up and wrapped in a packet. Every bite is a steamy, meaty, spicy morsel wrapped in flaky pancake heaven. Every bite a revelation! I usually buy these sometime around tea time from a very kind lady near my house. She has a stall decked with small jars of condiments and spices, and an array of meat. The most popular combinations are eggs+bacon+spam with a generous brush of her homemade spicy sauce.

I’ve tried to recreate something similar here which is gratifyingly delicious and stunningly delectable but absolutely no match to what she whips out of her 5 feet x 3 feet stall.

So here it is.

the ingredients are straight and simple. Just frozen Chinese pancakes which are easily available in any supermarket, lettuce leaves, eggs, fried bacon and ham (instead of spam) and sriracha.

I’ve cut ham into thick coins and very slightly charred them on a hot pan to recreate those smoky flavours that emanate from the street stall’s seasoned skillets.

these are what the pancakes look like. They come frozen and neatly wrapped in wax paper on both sides. These pancakes are smaller than the street food stall ones, but work just as well.

I slightly charred the lettuce as well on a very hot pan for that burnt crisp texture. This step is entirely optional.

ok, so in a pan on medium heat add some oil. This is about a teaspoon and let it coat the pan.

once the oil is evenly heated, slap on your pancake and let it be. The trick is knowing that you can not and will not flip it until the underside is done, or else you will break, tear and ruin your pancake.

this is how you figure out if it’s done. It’ll start turning translucent as it cooks. So the sides are cooked but the middle isn’t. Give it another few minutes

there you go. It’s ready for a flip

see.. so nice and golden and cooked.. now while the other side is cooking

crack en egg

mutilate it with a fork to let it evenly spread

and flip! for maybe half a minute until the egg is cooked

flip it back to let the egg face you

add sriracha or your favourite hot sauce, and paint it all over the egg

now we have to start layering. start with lettuce

followed by bacon

followed by ham

followed by folding over, to form a sort of pancake sandwich, which is also weirdly the name of this blog post.

and just like that you have a hearty meal to satisfy your inner glutton. Perfect for curing hangovers and stoner hunger pangs.

Ingredients

Frozen Chinese pancakes: 2

eggs: 2

bacon: 4-5 strips

ham: 4-5 slices

sriracha: 2 tablespoons

oil: 2-3 teaspoons

(of course there’s no particular recipe, you can make as many for a lot of people or just a couple for solitary indulgence. Change the ingredients to make a Chinese pancake BLT or even a vegetarian version)

Cooking directions: On medium high heat, coat the surface of a pan with some oil. Once hot, lay the pancake gently so as not to tear and let it cook for a couple of minutes. Once its surface is translucent flip over and crack and egg on the cooked side. Break the yolk with a fork to coat the pancake and flip over to the let the egg cook for at least half a minute.

Flip again to spread some hot sauce over the now cooked egg and start layering with lettuce, bacon and ham on one side of the pancake. Fold over the other end to form a sort of half moon.

The sandwich is now ready to be devoured. These are easy to make and quick to eat. You can make plenty for a crowd or just a couple for lunch.

Enjoy!

Citrus butter cake

It’s been a while since there’s been any sun in our frigid little Chinese town, but I’m not complaining.Maybe I am because everything is cold and freezing and butter at room temperature is a solid brick and my bread dough doesn’t rise and it’s always raining and everything is wet and it feels like I’m living in a glacier…..but there are moments when there’s plenty sunshine in my kitchen, courtesy this golden cake, that looks like sun-rays and tastes like sunlit oranges bathed in sweet butter and love.

I’m not exaggerating, ’tis true and you know it and not least because you can make this cake at the snap of your fingers and smugly too.

Yes there’s fanta and no shame. Regular stuff that is butter, sugar, vanilla extract, salt, lemon and orange zest plus extra for icing, a whole lemon, fanta, flour, baking powder and

eggs that I forgot to include, but here they are.

into the flour add salt

and baking powder and keep aside for a while

this is a citrus cake and we want every breath to speak of it, which is why into our sugar we mix in the lemon zest

and orange zest

and using our fingers we just mix it all in so every bit of sugar is infused with the citrus twang.

in a separate glass juice your lemon

and add in the fanta.

beat together room temperature butter and zest mixed sugar until nicely mixed and kinda fluffy. It’ll only take a couple of minutes.

crack in the eggs. one at a time and beat after each addition to mix thoroughly, so here’s the first

and the second. It turns a fabulous yellow/orange after each addition.

once it’s all mixed well in add the vanilla extract

beat again and now it’s time for the flour which we will add in three additions. So here’s 1/3rd of our flour, mix briefly

and 1/2 of our magic potion that is fanta and lemon juice. Mix after each addition just until the batter comes together

another 1/3rd of flour, beat briefly.

add the remaining fanta, lemon juice, and mix to combine.

followed by the rest of the flour. Beat to make a smooth batter. It doesn’t take long.

You’ll finally get this. A pool of sun in a steel bowl.

Pour into baking tin of choice. I was too lazy to butter a loaf tin so I lined it with a baking sheet, but please feel free to butter and flour your cake tin. Bake at 180°C for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Like so. The kitchen at this point smells like orange marmalade doing a cabaret. You can eat it as it is but a bit of embellishment never hurt anyone.

an easy glaze or make up if you prefer. add some reserved zest into icing sugar

with a spoonful or so of leftover fanta in case you haven’t been too greedy.

mix to form a pourable consistency like so.

and let your cake have it, make sure it has cooled down completely.

This cake may look sober but it’s oozing with oomph. It smells like sun and tastes like light. Every bite carries a citrus hit and honestly any cake that uses a can of fanta cannot go wrong. it’s easy, delightful and a much desired change from everything boring these winters.

Ingredients

butter: 100 g (1/2 cup)

flour: 170 g (11/2 cup)

sugar: 110 g( about 1 cup)

fanta: 200 mls (3/4cup)

lemon juice: 1 tablespoon

eggs: 2

salt: 1/2 tsp

baking powder: 1 tsp

vanilla extract: 1 tsp

orange and lemon zest: 1 tablespoon + extra for icing.

For icing

icing sugar: 100 g (about 1 cup(

lemon + orange zest (1 tsp)

fanta: 1 tablespoon

Recipe instructions: mix flour, salt and baking powder and keep aside. add the lemon and orange zest in sugar and mix in with fingers until fragrant. In a glass squeeze in one lemon and mix with fanta.

In a separate bowl, beat room temperature butter and sugar until fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time and beat for a minute after each addition. Add in the vanilla extract and beat again.

Add the flour in three stages alternating with fanta and juice mixture in two, and beat well after each addition until the batter is smooth.

Pour into a baking tin and bake at 180°C for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool completely.

For the icing mix in the zest, fanta and icing sugar until you have pouring consistency. Pour over the cooled cake and let set before serving.

Make this now!

Double chocolate chunk cookies

This isn’t the first chocolate chip/chunk cookie post on this blog, and most certainly not the last. But before you roll your eyes and dismiss these sweet little discs of joy, at least stare at them for a while, and notice that there are two kinds of demonic babies in there. I meant dark chocolate and white chocolate; a pairing made in gluttonous heaven of sweet sin.

These golden halos of chewy rapture are sweet, rich, and sometimes responsible for stealthily increasing your waistline..but that’s a different story for a boring day. Make a big batch and freeze some for later I say.

These need no heavy machinery, or special equipments or even muscle power. The ingredients are few and it takes moments to conjure these lovers

just butter (softened to room temperature), dark brown sugar, white sugar, flour, an egg, salt, baking soda, vanilla extract, and of course chocolate chunks both dark and white. Feel free to use chocolate chips instead (only they won’t be as awesome)

add the softened butter to a bowl of choice. Ahem! notice my gorgeous new pink spatula?

rain in the white sugar

and the brown sugar and simply beat it together. It shouldn’t take long if the butter is nicely soft.

a minute of creaming together and it comes to look like this.

crack in the egg

splash in the vanilla

and beat again, until it looks something like this.

in a separate bowl, add in the flour and salt

and the baking soda

and mix to combine

and stir it into the butter sugar mixture.

mix until it just about comes together.

clatter in the chunks..the white

and the dark, and mix until just barely there. Do not over-mix the cookie dough. Please!

this is how it comes together. Now cover with a cling film and let it sit in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes.

in the meantime, line your baking tray with parchment or butter paper, ignore that this is full of creases.

after 45 minutes, we’re ready to bake. It’s easiest with an ice cream scoop.

like so

like so.. bake at 180℃ for 12-14 minutes, until the edges just start to slightly brown

tadaa!! do not attempt to transfer the hot cookies immediately onto a cooling rack, they will all too easily tear. let them rest for at least 2-3 minutes.

and finally this!

Dunk into milk, crumble over ice cream or just apply to face as is, they’re fantastic either way..and..and oh so gorgeous. The sides are slightly crispy, the center chewy, the chocolate chunks absolutely blowing these darlings into another dimension.

Ingredients

butter: 110g

white sugar: 70g (about 1/3rd cup)

brown sugar: 80g (a little less than 1/4 cup)

egg: 1

vanilla: 1 tsp

flour: 150g (1 and 1/4 cup)

baking soda: 1/2 tsp

salt: 1/4 tsp

dark chocolate (at least 60% cocoa): 70g (1/2 cup)

white chocolate : 70g (1/2 cup)

Preparation instructions:

Mix the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda) into a separate bowl and set aside.

In a clean bowl, add in the softened butter and the sugar and cream until they’re light and fluffy. Crack in the egg and add in the vanilla extract and beat again for about a minute.

Add in the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Tumble in the chocolate chunks and stir again until all chunks are just incorporated into the mixture.

Cover with a cling film and let it sit in the fridge for at least 30-45 minutes.

layer your baking tray with parchment paper, and using an ice cream scoop place them at least an inch apart, since these cookies will spread.

bake at 180℃ for 12-14 minutes, until the edges just start to slightly brown.

Let them rest for a few minutes before you transfer them to cool on a cooling rack.

Store in an airtight container and they should disappear by the end of day.

now you seriously gotta make these. Enjoy!

Tuna melts

For days when you are absolutely miserable and voraciously hungry, tuna melts is the answer! This happened to be a particularly divine answer this Sunday, as I was completely out of meal ideas and was dying to eat something decadent and indulgent. It’s quick, not fiddley and the portions are considerably large, which means you can eat the leftovers for dinner and not even complain.

This version is slightly different from most since I didn’t want to include mayonnaise. What can I say? I wasn’t in a very mayonnaise frame of mind. Also because I had bought a different can of tuna that happened to be chili tuna, and I was dying to try it out, but more of that later.

for now..

not very basic tuna melts fare, but I wanted to mix up things a bit. so cream cheese, garlic powder, cheddar cheese, boiled egg, onion, coriander, tuna and french bread.

begin by chopping the onions and coriander as fine as you can. I know coriander isn’t a very common ingredient in tuna melts, but these are not common tuna melts/ Just believe me ok?

fling into a large bowl. I have a thing for using small-sized bowls and regretting later, but not this time!

this is the tuna in question. This is new for me, if you’re used to this stuff then good. I figured it has chilli, but what I didn’t know was…

that it really had chili. They were not joking about their chili. Can you see these two red chillies. My soul jumped out for a second, but I regained my composure. I will eat tun melts, even if it kills me.

in with the devil red tuna.

chop the boiled eggs as well as you can. I was still reeling from the chillies I saw in the tuna can.

ah! these gorgeous colours. I knew it instantly this would be something of an ecstatic albeit searingly hot sandwich.

a pinch of pepper, because I had decided this to have pepper, so here it is.

garlic powder. yes you need it. Don’t sneer

in with the cream cheese. Trust me!

and some grated cheddar. I know by now you’re doubting my pure intentions, but please don’t. You’ll see in a minute. Mix well.

Time to build up. Lay you bread lovingly in front of you.

anoint it rather generously with the tuna mixture, or rather slather it barbarously.

as if it wasn’t enough already. sprinkle on some more cheddar

put on a tray to bake. as you can see I have two and there was no leftover tuna mixture. I used up by generously heaping them on the bread. and why not? bake at 190℃ for 15 minutes, or until the top melts and starts almost bubbling and the bottoms turns slightly crusty.

feast yer eyes. Look at these babies. I had no words nor expressions. I was spellbound. This is what gluttonous heaven for chili lovers is made of. This is what starving dreams of degenerate souls look like. This right here is the answer to every question you might have.

this is a slab of everything evil and look how it melts and oozes from the side. It tasted luscious and dreamily melty. It might have been all the cream cheese, but ooh, was it immoral. It was spicy, yes it was! but addictively so.You want to eat this. Everyday!

Ingredients ( this isn’t something you can measure, it’s more of a go with the flow and really up to your liking, but I’ll give somewhat accurate amounts as I figured)

tuna can: 1

Bread: half loaf of french bread split into two (you can even use sandwich bread)

onion: medium-sized or half of a large one (chopped fine)

coriander: 2 tablespoon (chopped fine)

egg: 1 large hard-boiled (roughly chopped)

cream cheese: 180g ( a bit less than 1/2 cup)

cheddar cheese: 4-5 tablespoons + more for sprinkling on top (optional)

garlic powder: 1 teaspoon

pepper: 1/4 teaspoon

Preparation instructions: Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and mix until well combined. Spread generously on bread. Top with some more cheese, and bake at 190℃ for 15 minutes until the cheese had melted and the bottom is slightly crusty.

Alternately you can also sandwich this filling to make a grilled cheese sandwich. It works beautifully both ways.

There really isn’t much to it, but the addition of coriander just ups the flavour ever so well and the cream cheese makes it wickedly melty.

Enjoy!!

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