Hayden Quinn's summer feast

Bali-style pancakes with banana, coconut and honey

Preparation time: 5 minutes (plus 30 minutes resting time) Cooking time: 15–20 minutes
Makes: 12

INGREDIENTS
225 g (1½ cups) plain flour
3 free-range eggs
200 ml milk
125 ml (½ cup) water
60 g butter, melted,
plus extra for cooking
6 large bananas, sliced on the diagonal
fresh coconut, shaved
honey, for drizzling
3 limes (or lemons), cut into wedges, to serve

METHOD
If you’ve been to Bali you’ll know these classic crepe-like pancakes — often served with banana in the centre, a little honey, some fresh coconut and a kick of lime juice. Feel free to fill your pancakes with whatever fillings you like or enjoy them as is.

Sift the flour into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. In a jug, whisk together the eggs, milk and water. Slowly add the mixed wet ingredients to the flour, combining with a fork until you have a smooth batter. Strain through a fine sieve. Stir in the melted butter, then cover the batter and set aside for 30 minutes.

Heat a 16 cm crepe pan or large flat-based frying pan over medium heat and grease with a little butter. Pour 2 tablespoons of the batter into the hot pan, tilting the pan so you cover the base with a nice thin layer of batter. Cook for about 1 minute or until golden on the underside, then flip (with some flair) and cook for another 20–30 seconds. Slide the pancake onto a plate. Wipe the pan clean with paper towel and repeat, using a little more butter and batter to make 12 pancakes. Stack the pancakes in a pile to keep them warm.

Take the warm pancakes, place a few slices of the banana in the centre of each pancake and roll them up. Sprinkle with the shaved coconut and drizzle with the honey. Squeeze a little lime (or lemon) juice over the pancakes and serve immediately with extra lime (or lemon) wedges.

Prawn and avocado rolls with homemade seafood sauce

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Makes: 8 rolls

INGREDIENTS
8 flour-top bap rolls (see note)
2 ripe avocados
32 cooked king prawns or 64 cooked school or bay prawns, peeled and deveined (see note)
Homemade seafood sauce
300g (1¼ cups) Kewpie mayonnaise (see note)
1½ tablespoons tomato sauce
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1½ teaspoons Sriracha chilli sauce (see note)
lemon juice, to taste

METHOD
For me, these rolls are the ultimate summer snack. There’s nothing better than coming home from a surf with sand still on my feet and sitting down in the shade to tuck into a few of these things.

These rolls are super simple to make and best with the freshest prawns you can buy. Make sure you get the flour-top bap rolls and super-ripe avocados. If you’re feeling extravagant you could substitute the humble prawn for lobster.

For the seafood sauce, simply combine all the ingredients in a small bowl. Taste and add a squeeze of lemon if desired, then refrigerate until needed. For the rolls, you can assemble these as you please. I tear open the rolls, lay down a bed of avocado, then layer the prawns on top followed by a good drizzle of sauce and some freshly ground black pepper.

Notes

• Flour-top bap rolls are made at most local bakeries. They are super-soft and fluffy and have a little flour dusted on the top. They’re a perfect choice for this dish.
• Both school and bay prawns are very sustainable options.
• Kewpie mayonnaise can be purchased at Asian grocers and some supermarkets. If you like, you can use freshly made mayo but for some reason (I think it’s the sweetness) Kewpie works best here.
• You can pick up Sriracha chilli sauce at your local Asian supermarket or substitute with Tabasco.

D.I.Y. Pad Thai

Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS
200 g flat rice stick noodles
100 ml peanut oil
400 g chicken thigh fillet, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons tamarind purée
1½ tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce
90 g (½ cup) finely chopped palm sugar (jaggery)
3 red Asian shallots, thinly sliced
2 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons dried shrimp, soaked in warm water, drained
320 g packet hard stir-fry tofu, cut into 2 cm pieces
2 bird’s eye chillies, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons finely chopped peanuts, plus extra, to serve
2 spring onions (scallions), thinly sliced on the diagonal, plus extra to serve
115 g (1 cup) bean sprouts
½ cup coriander leaves, plus extra to serve
lemon wedges, to serve

METHOD

If you ask many Australians what their favourite street food is, a lot of minds will travel to the streets of Asia. My best mate, Tim, has the following to say about his favourite street food: ‘You have a few beers, you’re at the street market and of course, you can’t go past the pad Thai vendor. The thing was, I really wanted to get in there and give it a go myself. So for a few extra baht, I was behind the world’s biggest, hottest wok and going for it. I may have gone a little heavy on the chilli though, the flight home the next day wasn’t too pleasant! Gazza didn’t like it!’

Soak the rice stick noodles in cold water for 5 minutes, then blanch in a saucepan of boiling water for 2 minutes or until almost cooked. Drain. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of the peanut oil in a large wok over high heat. Add the chicken and cook, stir-frying for 5 minutes or until browned and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and wipe out the wok with paper towel ready to be used later.

Place the tamarind, lemon juice, fish sauce and palm sugar with 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl and whisk to combine.

Heat the remaining 60 ml (¼ cup) oil in reserved wok over high heat. Add the shallots and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until light golden. Add the eggs and continue to cook for 1½ minutes or until the egg begins to set like an omelette. Add the drained noodles and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until the egg has broken up.

Stir in the palm sugar mixture and stir-fry for a further 3 minutes or until the mixture is syrupy and sticking to the noodles. Add the chicken with the remaining ingredients and stir-fry for a further 2 minutes or until the tofu and chicken is heated through. Pad Thai should be sweet, sour and salty. To serve, divide among plates and scatter over the extra spring onions, coriander and peanuts and a squeeze of lemon.

Notes

• If the mixture is too dry, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time before you finish stir frying until you reach your desired consistency.
• Substitute chicken with green king prawns (shrimp) or for vegetarian options, omit the dried shrimp, fish sauce and add some more tofu.

This extract is from Dish it Up by Hayden Quinn, Murdoch Books, $35. Photography by Alan Benson and Ben Dearnley.