Barley Pancake with Mixed Nuts Butter 四豆薏米面煎糕

In my few other similar pancake recipes, I found the pancake crumb a bit dry. This round I decided to take out egg and replace by cooked barley and milk. The result was a satisfactory moist crumb and crispy edge. To make the nut filling more nutritious, I substituted 1/2 of the peanut by almond, cashew nuts and walnuts. This is a delicious pancake with crunchy, sweet and nutty filling :)

Yield: 4 servings 

Equipment: 

Blender or food processor 

Flat base non-stick pan

Mixed Nut Butter

Ingredients 

20g almond 

20g cashew nuts

10g walnuts

50g ground roasted peanut 

25g raw sugar 

1 tbsp honey 

Directions 

1. Roast almonds, cashew nuts and walnuts in a preheated oven toaster at 120 degreeC for about 15 minutes, or till golden.

2. Pour all the roasted nuts, ground roasted peanut and sugar to a blender and fix with a flat blade knife. Blitz the ingredients to your desired consistency.

If you prefer loose form of mixed nut filling, stop blitzing when the ingredients are well ground.

If you prefer a paste form of filling, continue to blitz till the ingredients become "wet" and stick to blender's wall.

3. Stir in honey using a chopstick and set aside.

Barley Pancake

Ingredients 

100g warm water

35g raw sugar

1/2 tsp instant dry yeast

90g fresh or low fat milk

20g cooked barley pearls^

12cm pandan leaf*, optional

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vegetable oil 

130g plain flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

^ barley pearls can be replaced by 20g beaten egg or milk

* pandan leaf can be replaced by 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. It can be omitted too.

Directions

1. Collect 20g of cooked barley pearls after boiling the barley drink.

2. Pour 90g of milk and pandan leaf to the barley pearls. Blitz till the barley and pandan leaf becomes fine bits.

3. Add warm water, less than 40 degree Celsius, to raw sugar. Then sprinkle instant dry yeast over the surface of the water without stirring it. Set aside for 5 minutes till the mixture form a foamy layer at the surface.

2. Pour in the barley mixture and salt.

3. Mix baking soda with all purpose flour, then add to the batter in (2). Stir to mix.

4. Add in 1 tsp of rice bran oil or any low flavour vegetable oil. Stir to mix.

5. Cover with a lid and let it proof for about 60 minutes.

3. The batter will double in size at the end of the proofing.

4. Give the batter a few stirs before pouring into a preheated flat base non-stick pan. You can apply a thin coat of oil over the pan, including the edge, beforehand. Heat over low heat for about 10 to 12 minutes, or till the edge of the pancake starts to shrink away from the wall of the pan.

While the batter is still liquid, lift up the pan and swirl a few rounds so the batter will coat a upright skirting along the edge.

While the surface is still wet, sprinkle some sugar over it. 

5. Shift the pan every 1 to 2 minutes to ensure even heating.

6. When the pancake is ready, the edge will pull away from the wall of the pan. Run a spatula round the edge to loosen the pancake from the pan.

7. Remove the pan from the heat, and spread the mixed nuts butter over half of the pancake.

Fold the pancake into half and transfer to the cutting board.

8. When the pancake has cooled down slightly, slice it with a long bread knife.

9. Enjoy :)