A Tale of Two Pancakes and Sushi
Nothing beats coming home. Though we had a blast on our trip to Korea and Japan, it always feels good to open the front door, drop the bags and sleep in my OWN bed! Aaaaahhhh, bliss.
What else is nice, hmmmmmm
HOME COOKING
Yep, time to get back in my kitchen and make a mess. I envisioned our first day back, a big pot of rice soup (congee), kick up our feet, and flip on the telly to catch up with the Warriors and Sharks.
But before going home we spent our last day in Japan running around Osaka looking for early morning sushi, soufflé pancakes and Michelin starred Instant Ramen. We went 2 for 3, couldn’t find the Instant Ramen which was just as well since I couldn’t fit much more in my suitcase anyway.
Breakfast of Champions
At 6:30 am we found ourselves sitting in a small sushi place at the Osaka Fish Market, Endo Sushi. Surprisingly, we were not alone nor the first ones there. To make it easy, there is a set menu of sushi flights. Each flight focus was different, shellfish, fish, tuna. Fresh and delicious we ordered a set each, then another, then another to share. Not a bad way to start the day.
My Happy Place
From there we headed back to town. It was only 8:30. Yes, enough time to find soufflé pancakes, the current rage. So we head to Happy Pancake which doesn’t open until 10AM. First in line baby, uh-huh. The perks of getting up early.
Happy Pancakes with butter and syrup. Number two on the bucket list, checked off.
Light, fluffy, souffle-like, and EGGY. Now, this might be your cup of tea…but for me, they were just way too eggy tasting, reminded me of a French omelet. Y’all, if I wanted eggs, I would have ordered eggs. I hear there is a joint in Stonestown in San Francisco, and after a three-hour wait, you can try them…Me? Nah. I want real pancakes.
When we finally made it home, top on my breakfast bucket list (or due to my screwed up time-clock, dinner bucket list), PANCAKES of course. I pulled out my current favorite cookbook, A Common Table by Cynthia Chen McTernan of the blog Two Red Bowls and flipped to her recipe for Buttermilk Mochi Pancakes.
Her little tweak is genius. Using half all-purpose flour and half sweet rice flour, you end up with a light fluffy pancake with a nice, subtle, chew or elasticity and a tiny hint of that rice/mochi flavor. It’s not eggy. It’s pancakey! I love it. It’s delicious. If you are a fan of the latest rage..mochi donuts and muffins, you’ll love these griddlecakes.
It’s an easy batter to whip up. I did stray from the recipe a bit. I decided to whip the egg white and gently fold it into batter. The recipe calls for just adding in the unbeaten egg white, but whipping the whites hopefully, adds air and lightness to the batter so I took the extra step.
These babies are so badass. You need to try them. If you don’t have sweet rice flour, use 100% AP flour, you’ll get perfectly respectable traditional pancakes but really, get yourself some sweet rice flour. You’ll thank me, plus you now have rice flour to make her delicious Peanut Butter Mochi.
Buttermilk Mochi Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup 63gm all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup 70gm sweet rice flour like Mochiko Blue Star
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg separated
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt whole yogurt
- 1/2 cup milk of your choice I used 2%, I also warmed the milk before combining milk, butter and egg
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled, plus more for the pan and for serving
- maple syrup or syrup of your choice for serving
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Separate egg, reserve egg yolk in small bowl. Place egg white in a medium small bowl and whisk until soft peaks are formed.
- Add the egg yolk, yogurt, milk, and melted butter, and stir until just incorporated.
- Gently fold egg white into batter.
- Heat a 10-inch or 12-inch cast-iron or nonstick skillet over medium flame until a drop of water sizzles when it hits the pan. Lightly grease the skillet with butter (or flavorless vegetable oil), or if using a non-stick pan, forego greasing.
- Use a measuring cup or a large ice cream scoop to drop 1/4 cup batter onto the pan.
- When the edges of the pancake look dry and bubbles begin to form in the center, approximately 2 minutes, flip and cook on the second side until lightly golden, 1 to 2 more minutes.
- Remove to a plate and repeat with the remaining batter. If desired, use an ovenproof plate (or a metal rack on a baking sheeand place the finished pancakes in the oven on its lowest heat setting to keep them warm while you cook the rest.
- Serve immediately, with butter and maple syrup.