With the apples I got from the Union Square market, I made one big apple pancake for my Sunday brunch. In the spirit of trying something different from the usual routine, I substituted regular flour with sweet rice flour (see below) to make the pancake mix. I was expecting more rice cake-like chewy consistency, but it came out to be soft inside with light, crunchy skin outside.
To make one big pancake for myself,
Pancake batter) 1/2 cup sweet rice flour, 1/2 cup milk, 2 eggs, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and 1 Tablespoon sugar --> mix everything together. It should be a runny consistency.
Apple topping) 2 peeled apples cut to bite size, 1 cup white wine, 1 Tablespoon sugar, and a pinch cinnamon powder (optional) --> Simmer to reduce the liquid to coat the bottom of the pan and to soften the apple pieces, for about 10 minutes over medium heat.
Pour the pancake batter in a greased pan (I used a cast-iron pan), then spread the apple pieces on top including the remaining liquid. Bake in the 400F (200C) pre-heated oven until the top turns golden and the toothpick test comes out clean, for about 30 minutes.
| TIPS! |
| White Wine to the Rescue - Peeled apples are usually dipped in citrus water to prevent from turning brown. Try dipping in white wine instead, if there is any open bottle from last night! It is usually acidic enough to replace the citrus water for this purpose. |
| Hot and Cold - Right off from the oven, the pancake is warm and soft. If there is any leftover, chill in the refrigerator for a few hours and try it cold. Now it has the chewy bites like rice cake with a concentrated sweet flavor from the apple pieces. |
| DID YOU KNOW? |
| Glutinous Rice Flour for Gluten-Free Baking? |
| Short grain rice |
| * a.k.a. sushi rice |
| * popular for daily consumption in northern China, Japan and Korea |
| Sweet rice |
| * a type of short grain rice, a.k.a. waxy, sticky rice, glutinous rice |
| * despite its name, there is no gluten in sweet rice. Sweet rice flour actually often replaces regular flour for gluten-free baking. |
| Apple Day in Korea |
|
October 24th was Apple Day in Korea, which I had assumed to be a day to promote consumption of this seasonally abundant fruit and support apple farmers. Then I read that it started 8 years ago as a way to promote reconciliation and forgiveness, against bullying in schools, by exchanging apples. Here is the logic for the specific fruit and the date. The Korean words for 'apology/reconciliation' and 'apple' are pronounced the same - sa gua (사과). It is a day that two (2) people apologize and reconcile (사과) by exchanging apples (사과). 'Sa' (사) is also the word for 4. Put all the sa-gua's together with 2 & 4, and you have Apple Day on the 24th of October! |
| KOREAN WORDS | ||||
| apple | 사과 | (sa gua) | ||
| sweet rice | 찹쌀 | (chap ssal) | ||
| sweet rice flour | 찹쌀가루 | (chap ssal ga ru) | ||
