Mango season has hit quite early this year- although they’re not exactly at their best yet, there’s always a strong scent of mangoes whenever I venture into a fruit shop. I find this a little weird as I always associate mangoes with December. When I was younger, we used to take boxes of mangoes to Hong Kong for our relatives when we went there just before christmas. Back then, mangoes were at their best just before christmas and we always managed to bring some large, ripe mangoes. But it seems that the mango season is appearing earlier and earlier each year- last year, we only managed to bring a box of small end of season mangoes!
Although I prefer eating mangoes as they are, rather than using them for desserts (as I do with most fruits), my next favourite way to eat mango is in mango pancakes. Yup, the bright yellow ones they wheel around in the dessert trolley at yum cha, always covered tightly in cling wrap with water droplets hanging off the plastic.
I had these for the first time at a yum cha restaurant about 3 years ago, instantly fell in love with them and then realised how simple they were- after all, they’re just a simple mixture of mangoes and whipped cream wrapped in a yellow pancake. But that never stopped me from ordering them everytime I spotted one at a restaurant. Even when it’s in the middle of winter, and you know that they’re using canned mangoes….
So I finally got around to making this yesterday, after seeing the two mangoes which I’d reserved (my sister used the others for mango pudding) starting to rot. I’ve never been able to find a mango pancake recipe on the internet, one of the resons I’ve been putting it off for so long, despite my love for it)so I decided to use a crepe recipe as I thought it’d be similar to the pancake I’ve eaten at yum cha (never mind the fact that I’ve never actually eaten a crepe before…..), tint it yellow and chuck some whipped cream and mango in there =D And you know what?? It worked!!
I accidently made the crepe too thick because I was scared that if it was too thin, it wouldn’t taste like the mango pancakes I had before. And then I think I overcooked it because it wasn’t quite as soft as I’d like it AND I also added too much food colouring so it ended up looking pretty cheap, like those ones at yum cha restaurants which you look at and know that it won’t taste good but you still order cimply because it’s a mango pancake, and you love mango pancake. Or is that just me? Luckily, the mangoes were really good so it didn’t taste like it looked =) Infact, they were heavenly!! The mangoes are really the star of the show here so the slight problems with the crepe weren’t too noticeable. And so these dissappeared in no time!
I know what I’ll be doing with this season’s mangoes!
Mango Pancake Recipe
Yellow Crepe
Recipe From Anatomy of a Wishful Bohemian
Makes ~10 depending on thickness and size of pan
3 eggs
1 cup milk
⅓ cup water
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup caster sugar
a few drops of yellow food colouring
1. Put all the ingredients in a bowl in the order listed. Whisk vigorously until blended (about 30 seconds by machine standards). Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and beat or blend 15 seconds longer.
2. let the batter sit for an hour or longer so the starches can absorb. You can make the batter up to a day in advance and keep it in the refrigerator, just bring it up to room temp before you cook it. It should be the consistency of buttermilk. If it’s lumpy you can strain it.
3. Spray a non stick skillet with a little cooking spray, or brush lightly with a neutral oil and get it hot but not smoking. Remove from heat and pour a little batter in (how much depends on the size of your skillet) and swirl batter evenly around the bottom- try to make this very thin!
4. Return to heat and let cook for 1 to 2 minutes (I used the lowest heat, so it took a lot longer for me- but it meant that the crepes would be smooth!). The thin edges will get crispy and curl up, and the top will mostly set but stay shiny. Flip the crepe around with a spatula (this part is difficult! for me anyways….)
5. Cook the second side for about 30 seconds, then remoce crepe and place it on a clean, dry and preferably light colored dish towel (I put it on a dish…..)
Making the pancake:
300mL cream (I used thickened cream,
but any cream which whips up will do)
icing sugar, to taste
2 small
mangoes, or one large one
around 10 crepes, from the recipe above
1. In a large bowl, whisk the cream until slightly thickened then add icing sugar until it tastes sweet enough, and stiff peaks form. Chill while you get the rest of the ingredients ready.
2. Peel and chip mangoes into long, thin pieces.
3. Place one crepe on a plate (with the nice side down!) and put a heaped tablespoon of whipped cream into the centre. Place a couple of pieces of mango around the whipped cream, then wrap the crepe around it. I do this by folding one side over the cream, then folding both sides inwards, then rolling the whole thing into a cylinder shape.
4. Chill in the fridge for at least an hour (the longer the better) before
serving =)