These sweet, chewy pancakes can be bought from street vendors in Burma as an ideal breakfast on the go. The name literally translates as opium cake, but don’t worry, this sugary recipe will give you an altogether different type of high!
Makes: 4 pancakes
Season: Year-Round
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
For the palm sugar syrup
100g palm sugar
For the batter
100g plain flour
50g rice flour
1⁄2 tsp baking powder
125ml coconut milk
1 egg
To cook the pancakes
1 tbsp butter
Handful of fresh or dried coconut flakes
30g white poppy seeds
Method
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Make the palm syrup by dissolving the palm sugar in 100ml of water in a pan set over the hob, stirring occasionally. Once boiling, allow it to simmer for a minute or 2 so it slightly thickens but does not become very thick. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
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Put all the batter ingredients in a bowl and whisk together well with half of the palm sugar syrup.
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To cook the pancakes, melt the butter in a non-stick frying pan set over a medium heat, then gently add a ladle of the batter to the pan (or 2–3, depending on the size of your pan). Immediately scatter a few coconut flakes and a pinch of poppy seeds on top of the pancake. Once the top is bubbling and the edges are starting to look cooked, flip over to cook the other side. Repeat until all the batter has been used up.
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Drizzle with the remaining syrup and eat!
Read more: The Rangoon Sisters
Whilst working and studying as junior doctors, Emily & Amy began running Burmese supper clubs based on their family recipes. Having garnered fans including the likes of Grace Dent, they later went on to publish their own cookbook, full of recipes from their events as well as from their home kitchen. Extracted from The Rangoon Sisters by Amy and Emily Chung (Ebury Press, £20) Photography by Martin Poole
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