Not only baking but also cooking in our place here in Thailand has been a real challenge.
Not only did the kitchen have no oven, there was also no stove.
Since I was really wary of propane gas stove tops we instead invested into an electric cooker. It was more like a plug-in wok. After numerous trial and error dishes and lots of adjustments I learned how to cook with it. Though possibilities were limited. (Stir fry, anyone? No? Only other option is soup!)
Well, after 6 months of service woker (wok/cooker) decided it was time for retirement and although we tried, we couldn’t convince him otherwise.
We moved on to another electric cooker that was not wok-like. For the last month we actually had more than soup and stir fry. Until last night. After making home-made noodles, while cooking veggies I suddenly noticed the cooker didn’t really heat properly anymore.
After removing the inserted pot I discovered that the heating element had melted on one side. How does that even happen? We ended up ordering in KFC that night.
Last night’s instagram picture of what could have been a great meal.
Since we have less than one week left in this place before moving on to Malaysia soon, we won’t be investing in yet another cooker.
Let this be a memorial post for our electric cooker. Just before it’s passing I made pancakes with it.
I wanted to use some yogurt we had in the fridge. And we have no baking soda or baking powder. No one ever seems to have posted a pancake recipe with this combination on the whole wide web. So I came up with my own recipe. I hope it can be useful for others who are either out of baking powder or avoid it on purpose.
To add a Thai tropical twist I had mine with some sliced Lychees, which are ripe and in season at the moment. And with a sprinkling of icing sugar.
For hubby, who is a huge peanut fanatic (we keep buying tiny jars of imported peanut butter for about $5) I chopped some peanuts and stirred them into the second half of the batter.
These I served with some more peanuts and a drizzling of honey.
Since no leavening is used for the pancakes they are not super-fluffy, but if you make sure not to over-mix the batter they won’t turn out rubbery either. The yogurt gives them a really nice tang.
Ingredients
- 1 c. all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp. sugar
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- (optional: chopped nuts, fruit etc.)
- 1 egg
- 1 c. milk
- 1/2 c. yogurt (plain or vanilla)
- 1/8 c. vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp melted butter or veg. oil to grease pan/griddle
Directions
- Stir together flour, sugar and salt (and optional add-ins) to combine in a bowl.
- In another bowl whisk egg, milk, yogurt and vegetable oil. Pour wet over dry ingredients and just slightly combine to moisten dry ingredients, but the mixture should still be lumpy.
- Grease heated griddle or pan with butter or veg. oil. Pour or spoon about 3 tbsp. of batter onto griddle for one pancake.
- Cook until puffed or dry around the edges. Turn pancake and cook until the other side is golden-brown as well.
- Serve with icing sugar, syrup, honey, fruit etc.
