Celebrate the humble pancake with these globally inspired variations, ranging from sweet to savoury, and always delicious.
These Japanese pancakes have taken TikTok by storm. The key to making them fluffy and as high as a cloud? It has a lot to do with whipping the eggs with sugar to form a fairly stiff meringue. They’re not too sweet, so are perfect for breakfast, but could be an equally impressive dessert.
TIP Cooking the pancakes low and slow is essential. When they get hot too fast, they deflate.
Made with a rice flour and coconut milk batter, tinged yellow by turmeric, these Vietnamese-style pancakes are studded with fresh shrimp and bean sprouts before being accompanied by heaps of herbs and sauce for ripping and dipping. While shrimp and pork are the traditional fillings, Banh Xeo can easily be made vegetarian with fillings of mushrooms and fried tofu. Banh means cake and xeo means sizzle, and these sizzling pancakes are exactly that. You want flavour? You want texture? You want Banh Xeo!
TIP Nuoc cham is Vietnam’s answer to ketchup—a sweet, sour and salty dipping sauce.
Banana varietals such as Pisang Mas, Pisang Abu and Pisang Raja are commonly found in Indonesia and Malaysia, where they’re dipped in a rice flour batter and fried until hot and crisp. About half as sweet as North American bananas, this style of recipe is a popular street food in much of Southeast Asia. Here, we’re using sliced plantains, which are also used in some regions and are a sturdy substitute. Note: Regular bananas will not work here.
TIP Made with an egg-free batter, this any-time-of-day snack just happens to be vegan.
Shredded fresh coconut mixed with jaggery, an unrefined cane sugar full of earthy sweetness, is the traditional Goan filling for these teatime treats, also served on Shrove Tuesday. We’ve used unsweetened shredded coconut and brown sugar instead, and the crumbly, candy-like filling is a tasty textural counterpoint to the tender pancake wrappers.
TIP Adding food colouring is optional—these are often served with none, but colour obviously adds even more fun to an already joyful dish.