Coconut Lace Pancakes

I received the Masterchef cookbook quite a while back and had yet to crack it open. The recipe that I had been anticipating sadly wasn't there (Poh's deep fried meringues) but I did see some dishes that I really wanted to cook. I wanted to make these lace pancakes as I adore pancakes in every shape and form and these to me were quite unusual and I was intrigued about their texture.

Poh's recipe called for it to be served with Chicken rendang and whilst I'm in full support of rendang for breakfast or brunch I didn't want to deal with making a rendang at the delicate hour of 11am on a Sunday. Don't get me wrong, if I had some from the night before I would have happily hoed into it with gusto. Leftovers are what get me up in the morning quite honestly. I once knew a girl who proclaimed that she was fervently anti leftovers and each night she threw out whatever wasn't eaten. I was aghast, ok some things don't keep (although I'll give everything a try) but I thought it was not only wasteful but more importantly, you were depriving yourself of an encore of the dish you had the night before.

Some foods are rather good cold too (one exception comes to mind: rice which hardens although it is ok if it has a curry on it) and nothing delights me more than opening up the fridge the next morning and eating the leftovers for breakfast or lunch. Dare I give you evidence of such next day deliciousness -  pizza and fried chicken which even Nigella herself adores cold.

Back to these coconut lace pancakes. They may look a bit fiddly but they are easy to make and take about a minute per pancake to cook once your pan is fully heated. It's ideal for those that find pancakes perhaps a little on the heavy side as they're very light. I paired it with a healthy fruit salad with white nectarines and nashi pear and flavoured with honey and ginger which Mr NQN wolfed down and them came back and then hoovered down seconds. I preferred it with some leftover dahl which I had in the fridge. The texture is delicate and light and it is ideal for those who find a pancake breakfast a little too heavy. It also goes well with almost anything like smoked salmon, ham, anything you have. I'd probably call these the leftover pancakes, that is, the pancakes that go well with just about anything, including leftovers from the night before.

So tell me Dear Reader, do you prefer savoury or sweet toppings with pancakes?

Coconut Lace Pancakes

Adapted from the Masterchef Cookbook

Makes approximately 12 pancakes

For Pancakes

• 3/4 cup (105g) plain flour

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 3 tablespoons sugar

• 3 eggs

• 3/4 cup (180ml) coconut milk

• oil to grease pan for frying

For White Nectarine & Nashi Pear Salad

• 4 white nectarines cut into small pieces

• 1 large nashi pear cut into batons

• 2 tablespoons honey

• 1/2 teaspoon ginger finely diced

Step 1 - Whisk flour, salt, sugar and eggs in a large jug until smooth. Add coconut milk and whisk until the consistency is like that of a pouring cream. Sieve the mixture through a fine sieve. Make a pouring vessel for the batter by cutting a 3mm diameter corner off a small, clean milk or cream carton. If the hole is too small the mixture will not pass through smoothly, if too large, it will pour too quickly resulting in thick pancakes and not the thin lace textured ones pictured. Pour batter into the milk carton.

Step 2 - Heat the frypan and add some oil to grease. Pour two circles around the outside to help hold it all together and then in a tight zig zag pattern motion pour a thin stream  from one side of the pan to the other reaching the outer circles. Repeat at a right angle so that you form a cross hatch pattern.

Step 3 - When the inside appears to be lightly browning, with a thin eggflip, pick up the corner and then flip over the pancake carefully (it will be delicate) to cook on the other side for just a few seconds. Then fold it over and place on a plate to coll slightly where you can then fold it once more into quarters.