Durian Pancake!

Sunday brunch! I've been meaning to make pancakes for the longest time now. Growing up in a very Asian family, pancakes were definitely not a breakfast item. Pancakes were rare and so growing up and even nowadays, I rarely have pancakes. Its a shame I know. 

Recently however, I've been craving these fluffy little things but keep pushing it off and forgetting about it etc, and finally yesterday my mom goes "we have these durians and we need to eat them" I looked at them and honestly they looked kind of gross at that point. She had them frozen and when they defrosted there was some ice and water...so it got watery is where I'm getting at. If you've never had durian fruit before its textured like a banana so imagine a semi mashed banana sitting in some water, gross right? So I made a face and she said "well maybe they can be mashed up and put into a pancake batter." Genius!

Durian are native to southeast Asia and so the fruit we get in the store are all blast frozen and then sent to the States. I have to admit, I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to eating durian and only because I've had fresh ones before. Again if you've never had them before and if you're trying them for the first time, you either hate them or love them. Some people hate the smell but love the taste, others love both, or hate both. I'm one of those people who loves everything about it! It has a very distinctive smell that can make some people cringe, I'm weird, I just breathe it all in! My uncle in China shares the same love so when I used to visit them in the summertime, that would be our bonding thing. If I land during the day, we'd go shopping for one of those suckers that day. If I land during the night, it's on the to do list for first thing the following day. It's that important.

No one else in the family really likes it, they'll eat a piece or two but hey that only means more for us!

Same goes for pancakes! My brother and dad are not durian fans, so even for this recipe, I had to make a batch of regular pancakes and then a batch of durian ones for my mom and I to devour. These were heavenly! The pancake was light and fluffy, the durian was well incorporated and the fruit is naturally sweet so you can eat the pancakes pretty much as is without any syrupy needs. Even my non-durian eating brother couldn't help himself and had a couple of those pancakes after I made him try a piece. Now the only problem is where to get more durian....the pancake recipe without the durian is good too, but honestly durian version rocked!
 

Durian Pancakes
adapted from Arthur Flour's simply perfect pancakes

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup buttermilk 
• 3 tbsp melted butter or vegetable oil
•  2 tbsp sugar or malt milk powder
• 1 1/2 cup of all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 -3/4 cup mashed durian fruit (or bananas)

Procedures:

1. Beat eggs and milk until light and fluffy (approx 3 minutes on a mixer). Stir in butter or oil.
2. Whisk together dry ingredients 
3. Gently and quickly mix dry ingredients into egg and milk mixture. Let batter rest for about 15 minutes. Stir in mashed fruit
4. Heat griddle or flat pan to about 375F degrees and scope approx 1/4 cupful of batter onto heated surface. Cook for approx 1.5 minutes per side or until golden brown and fluffy.