Flatbreads & Griddle · Chinese home cooking
Egg and Milk Pancakes
Egg, milk and a little flour whisk into a thin batter that puffs in a covered pan, giving soft, slightly sweet rounds with buttery brown edges.
About this dish
These are quieter than a diner pancake: no baking powder, no big bubbles, just egg and milk doing the lifting. The batter is almost as thin as cream and slaps softly against the bowl when you whisk it. In a covered pan the trapped steam swells each round into a low dome, and the smell that escapes is warm milk and browning butter. Eat them while they are still puffed; within a minute or two they settle back into tender, faintly chewy discs that take honey well.
Before you start
Equipment: Skillet. Tap the ingredient checkboxes as you go.
Method
6 steps · tick each one off as you finish it.
Warm the milk
Pour 250 ml milk into a small pan and warm over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring, until it is tepid, then take it off the heat. The moment it is ready is when a finger dipped in feels neither cold nor hot, about 35 C.
Whisk the batter
Whisk 200 g egg with 2 tbsp sugar and 1/4 tsp salt off the heat for 1 minute, then add the warm milk and 1 tsp vanilla. Beat in 120 g sifted flour until the batter runs off the whisk in a smooth, lump-free ribbon.
Rest and heat the pan
Let the batter stand off the heat for 10 minutes so the flour hydrates, then set a 24 cm skillet over medium-low heat for 2 minutes. Brush with 1 tsp oil; it is ready when a drop of batter sizzles gently rather than spitting.
Pour and cover
Ladle about 80 ml batter into the pan, swirl to a 16 cm round and cover with a lid. Cook over medium-low heat for 3 minutes; it is ready when the surface has puffed into a dull dome and the rim looks dry and set.
Flip and finish
Lift the lid, slip a spatula under the round and turn it in one motion, then cook uncovered over low heat for 90 seconds. The moment to move on is when the underside is tawny and the centre springs back slowly under a light press with your fingertip.
Repeat and serve
Wipe the pan, brush with 1 tsp oil and repeat over medium-low heat for 3 minutes per side, making 6 pancakes. Stack them, dot with 30 g melted butter, drizzle 2 tbsp honey and scatter 40 g berries; serve before the domes collapse.
Tips that matter
- Warming the milk to roughly 35 C stops the batter from seizing and helps the rounds puff; cold milk straight from the fridge gives flatter pancakes.
- Keep the lid on for the whole first side; lifting it early releases the steam that holds the dome up.
Easy variations
- Add the grated zest of 1 lemon to the batter and serve with 2 tbsp jam instead of honey.
- Replace 60 ml of the milk with 60 ml cream for a richer, more custardy centre.
Questions that come up
Why did my pancakes not puff?
Either the pan was too cool or the lid came off too soon. Preheat for a full 2 minutes and keep the lid closed for 3 minutes over medium-low heat before flipping.
Can I make the batter the night before?
Better not; without baking powder the batter relies on freshly whisked egg and it loses lift after about an hour. Mix it 10 minutes ahead at most.
Nutrition, roughly
| Energy | 345 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 14 g |
| Carbohydrate | 40 g |
| Fat | 15 g |
Estimated per serving from standard ingredients, rounded. Treat it as a guide, not clinical data.
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