Of Pancakes and Recycling

Salam.

Ever since down with a (quite bad) cold a week ago, I was craving for pancakes. The kind made from batter and pan-fried into a glorious circle of white savoury-sweet thick sheet, with crispy edges and golden-brown patterned spots where it touched the pan.

I had the chance, or moreso, the motivation, to make it a few days ago. You see, the desire to eat does not always come together with the drive to cook.

500 g of plain white flour, 500 ml of sterilized whole milk, 2 beaten grade-A ASDA eggs, some cold tap water (I didn't bother to measure), and some brown sugar, mixed together in a large plastic bowl I nicked from the cupboard below the sink. The batter is then left there overnight, the bowl covered with the plastic sheet (the thin sticking kind, that comes in rolls). I was planning to work on it later during midnight, but then again, the drive to cook did not override to compulsion to remain at the studying desk (and nibble on dinner leftovers), so the batter have to wait until morning (actually, early afternoon, since I woke up quite, erm, late).

I was quite anxious when I checked on the batter. I wasn't planning to leave it this long, and since I was using milk and eggs, the possibility of the thing going bad was quite significant. Luckily the batter did not become putrid, it actually turns into a smooth creamy white mixture with no lumps of un-dissolved flour. There was a *slight* whiff of acidic smell, which I brushed aside as 'normal chemical reactions'.

Pouring some oil into a frying-pan, lumping a nice dollop of the batter into the pan and sitting by the stove reading on Digestive System, getting up every now and then to turn the pancake to the other side, transfer the golden-brown circle into the plate, and putting new oil and batter into the pan, and repeating the cycle, was how I spent about an hour or so of the afternoon. The result was perfectly delightful - the pancakes were rounded, fluffy, and savoury with a light hint of sweetness. I guess the overnight soak did it good, adding more emulsion and air bubbles (chemical reactions, hehe) to the batter.

Then what about recycling? Well, later in the night, on the same day, I had a craving for some hot and spicy dish. At 11.30 p.m. in the night, to be more exact. As a solution, I nicked some of my flatmates' dried chilli, red onion and garlic, blended them together and poured the homogenous red stuff into a frying-pan (the same pan used for the pancakes, with only minor rinsings) greased with hot oil. Some Kipas Udang sweet soy sauce darkened the gravy, some salt and brown sugar, and some dried tamarind (asam keping) for the flavour. Throw in three hard-boiled eggs sliced into halves, leave under medium heat for awhile, and voila, sambal telur supreme.

The next afternoon, which is today, I simply took three chunks of chicken, threw it into the leftover sambal, add in some water, salt and sugar, and let the whole thing simmer under low heat for about 45 minutes. It turned out quite unexpectedly delightful for a recycled dish.

Haha. Kinda mindless ramblings on food and kitchen adventures in the midst of studying. Eight hours to Progress Test. Pray for me, folks.

-meow~-