The Make-A-Wish Foundation have been running a type of book club via my office now for about a year. Since Borders went under, its been a great way for books to be shoved under my nose, which I of course snap up with weekly abandon. One of my more recent purchases was ‘Poh’s Kitchen’ by Poh Ling Yeow. I really enjoy Poh’s show on the ABC, she never pretends to be something she isn’t (i.e a shit hot chef). She is just someone who wants to learn more about food and why it is the way it is and how it got that way. Whilst flicking through the book I saw something that reminded me of parties as a kid at my mum’s best friends place. Mum’s best mate married a Malay-Indian guy and functions at their place were always pretty different to BBQ’s with a pav. As a typical skip kid—having dinner whilst at someone else’s house where the food was completely different was always a bit of an experiment.  However, my parents are both pretty adventurous eaters so we were always encouraged to try different things. I quickly learnt how to identify spicy stuff and what was safe to eat. When it came to dessert, there were always small green pancakes—and I would always gravitate towards them. As I read about them now, I learn that they are in fact Pandan and Coconut crepes.

Pandan and coconut crepes , as seen in ‘Poh’s Kitchen’

serves 4 (makes 8 crepes)

Pandan crepes

1/3 cup (60g) plain flour

2 large free range eggs

1/2 cup (125ml) coconut milk

1/4 cup whole milk

pinch of salt

1/4 teaspoon pandan paste

butter, softened to grease the pan

Coconut filling

1 cup (45g) desiccated coconut

1/2 cup (125ml) coconut cream

110g dark palm sugar OR the pale Thai kind is also fine

generous pinch of salt

Salty coconut sauce (optional)

1 cup (250ml) coconut cream

1/4 cup (55g) caster sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

To make the pandan crepe, following the plain crepe method (below), but note there is no melted butter or oil as the as there is enough oil in the coconut milk, and the vanilla extract is replaced by the pandan paste. If the coconut milk used is thicker than usual, you may have to thin your mixture down with more milk.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour (sifted), eggs, milk and salt and whisk under silky and smooth. Add a little more milk and whisk until nicely incorporated. The mixture should be quite watery. If the consistency is right, the batter will split into droplets when poured from the ladle in a slow steady stream, but it forms a smooth band of liquid, your crepes will end up too thick.

Heat a 20-23cm non-stick frying pan over medium heat. To test, ladle a droplet of batter into the pan, if it sizzles and instantly bubbles, it’s probably a bit too hot. Just grab the pan and making sure no one is around you, madly wave it around to cool it down a tad. Return to the stove and with some paper towels, smear butter over the entire surface of the pan. Ladle a 1/4 cup of the batter into the pan, roll it around to cover the surface. You have to work quickly, as it will begin to cook instantly. When the crepe is perfect, the edge will crisp up and become golden. At this point lift up the edge with a butter knife, then with both hands, carefully pick it up and swiftly flip it over. Cook it for literally a codec on the other side, then flip it onto a plate. Repeat until all the mixture is used. You should end up with crepes that are about 1mm thick and translucent. If they are too thick it mean you are either pouring too much mixture into the pan and letting the excess settle instead of pouring it out, or you batter need thinking with more milk.

To make the coconut filling, combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook on a medium heat until the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture is moist and sticky without any liquid. Remove from the heat and spread out on a plate to cool before using.

To make the salty coconut sauce, combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside to cool.

To assemble the crepes, scoop 1 tablespoon of the coconut filling onto the middle of the crepe and spread it out to an elongated shape. Fold the crepe in half and then fold the sides in and roll into a long parcel like a spring roll.

You may serve all the parcels on a single plate piled up on top of one another to share or as individual serves of 2 parcels per person with 2-3 tablespoons of salty coconut sauce drizzled over them.

Firstly, I didn’t make the salty coconut sauce – I figured I could do without the sugar syrup! These little crepes were so easy to make. A couple of little tips—I got pandan from an Asian grocer in Footscray. I actually used the Thai palm sugar (I recommend chopping it up before you put it in the saucepan as it took a long time to dissolve as large chunks). All in all these crepes were exactly like I remembered and were very tasty and sweet. I highly recommend them—it’s something a little different next time you have a dessert to make.