The kitchen was a mess. I was exasperated as I looked over at the pile of broken, burnt crepes. It was literally the worse way to spend a sunday afternoon.

The first thing my mom asked me to do when I got home was to make her a pandan cake. I remember beaming when she had said that. Over the past few years of cooking, the only thing my parents have ever asked me make them repeatedly is our gluten free pandan coconut cake (recipe here). Zoe and I decided that we would treat them with an even better surprise – Pandan Crepes with Coconut Filling – a classic Malaysian treat called Kuih Dadar that my dad would always buy on his business trips to Singapore.

When my dad flew to Singapore he would always bring back a whole range of yummy cakes and snacks. One of which was this: “Kuih Dadar” or “kueh Dadar” – a famous Nyonya snack found in many markets across Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. It is essentially a green colored crepe flavored with Pandan (you can buy them frozen at your local asian mart) and stuffed with sweet grated coconut and palm sugar. Traditionally these are made with flour, so for our unconventional twist we opted for oat flour, tapioca starch and coconut milk to make it gluten free and dairy free. We  also didn’t use oil for frying our crepes (since we had a really good nonstick pan, OR use 0 calorie spray oil) and reduced the sugar in the filling.

FYI: Pandan has many health benefits including easing chest pains, reducing low blood pressure, relieving indigestion and even has anti-carcinogenic benefits!

Our first attempt with making Pandan crepes far from successful…our second one was even worse! I ended up with a pile of undercooked and burnt crepes.

After mulling over the recipe for hours, adding this and that to the batter, we finally nailed it! It was getting later into the afternoon, so I frantically ran to the living room and set up our camera equipment.  The sky was getting darker by the minute. I was worried that it would affect how our pictures would turn out. Zoe snapped pictures furiously as I did my best to style our delicious plate of crepes. I turned around to catch my mom licking the large wooden spoon stained with sweet coconut filling. All my nervousness went away as I chuckled to see how adorable my mum was. I caught her eye and she gave me a thumbs up, giving her nod of approval.

My dad walked in from his nap following the fragrant smell of pandan. He stood there, watching us, impatiently asking every 5 minutes when he would be able to eat one. My dad likes his food freshly cooked and warm – just out of the oven. We finally decided we had to keep him occupied by having him pose in our pictures. To my dismay, we discovered that every time we turned around to check pictures, he would spend the time happily licking his fingers and the spoon. I couldn’t help but chuckle a little again. I guess it was sign of success!

The rolls were all gone by that evening. I think my dad downed 3 himself. As my thoughts lingered on that chaotic Sunday afternoon, I couldn’t help but laugh at the wonderful moment when I caught my parents sneakily eating our crepes like a child being caught eating chocolate. These were the moments I lived for – creating unforgettable memories in the kitchen.

Yes the pandan crepe was a success but more importantly I had the chance to create special memories with those I love.

Gluten Free Low Sugar Pandan-Coconut Pancakes (Kuih Dadar)

 

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Author: Unconventional Cooks

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• Ingredients
• 1 cup quick Oats (or ¾ cup of oat flour)
• 3 tbsp tapioca starch/flour
• ½ cup lite coconut milk
• ¾ cup water + more water, the batter should be relatively thin
• 2 eggs
• ½ tsp vanilla extract and 5-6 pandan leaves (approx. 25" long) OR 1 tsp pandan extract
• Filling:
• ½ cup coconut palm sugar
• ¼ cup water
• ¾ cup desiccated coconut
• 1 pandan leaf, tied in a knot, optional

Instructions

1. Filling:
2. Put coconut sugar, water, pandan leaf into a small pan over low heat. Heat until the coconut sugar has dissolved. Stir in the desiccated coconut and remove from heat.
3. Pandan Juice: Roughly cut your pandan leaves and put into the blender with the water. Strain through a cheesecloth.
4. Add the oats/oat flour tapioca starch, coconut milk, eggs, vanilla or pandan extract and ⅔ cup of water into the blender again. Blitz until smooth. Add the remaining water depending on the thickness of your batter The batter should be relatively runny - remember you're not making pancakes, you're making crepes!
5. Heat up a small non stick pan over medium low heat. When it is hot, spray some olive oil/coconut oil. You want to make sure your pan isn't too hot or else the batter will immediately take shape when it hits the pan without time for you to swirl and even out the batter.
6. Hold the pan away from the fire. Pour in 3 tbsp of the batter in the center of the pan. Swirl quickly to form a 6" round crepe. Allow it cook for about 2 minutes on each side.
7. Set aside to cool. Remove and repeat. The batter will thicken over time (due to the oat flour) - so keep testing the thickness of the batter before you pour in the pan and add a little water as you go and as needed!
8. Assembly: (see below for pictures)
9. Put 1.5 tbsp of filling in to the center of the crepe. Fold over the the left and right sides and roll into a log.
10. Serve and enjoy!

3.5.3251

LOVE,

Zoe & Mia

This post is featured on Fiesta Friday