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Five of a kind: Pancakes

From uttapams to Peking duck, these offerings from around the world have the market on tasty morsels all but wrapped up.

Lauren Wambach

Rosewater-scented semolina pancakes from Demitri's Feast.
Rosewater-scented semolina pancakes from Demitri's Feast.Supplied

Vietnamese

Looking like tiny yellow flying saucers, Tran Spring Roll Restaurant's mini coconut pancakes land on your table and just beg to be gobbled up. These are gooey-centred, bite-size pancakes made from luscious coconut milk and rice flour. Each soft yellow puck is dotted with sweet potato, carrot and your choice of prawn, pork and more, and presented with lettuce and seasoned fish sauce for wrapping and dunking. They are made with less oil than other versions, and, indeed, owner Huong Tran and family also offer a range of low-fat versions of Vietnamese classics. Their spring rolls are oven-baked, while their beef pho is skimmed of all animal fat before a little olive oil is added.

Tran Spring Roll Restaurant, 381A Springvale Road, Springvale, 8555 0831. $8.

Mini coconut pancakes from Tran Spring Roll Restaurant.
Mini coconut pancakes from Tran Spring Roll Restaurant.Supplied
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Thai

Inspired by a nation of inveterate snackers, Yim Yam's Thai coconut pancakes are a savoury-sweet treat that's perfect any time of day. Sweet crepes are made with cow's milk and shredded coconut before being rolled to enclose pork floss, crunchy salad and herbed mayo. The first bite of sweet pancake gives way to dried and shredded pork that melts on the tongue like fairy floss, with a flavour almost like salted caramel. There's a vegetarian version too, with crisp tofu and roasted coconut. Now at four sites, Yim Yam serves Thai and Laotian cuisine, from noodles to unique Thai-Lao delicacies such as acacia leaf omelet.

Yim Yam, 76 Smith Street, Collingwood, 9419 3985 (also Yarraville, Moonee Ponds, Ascot Vale). $10.90, yimyam.com.au.

Yim Yam's Thai coconut pancakes.
Yim Yam's Thai coconut pancakes.Supplied

Greek

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When asked if the fare at his Richmond cafe, Demitri's Feast, is strictly Greek, owner Jim Karabagias chuckles, ''Alexander the Great conquered the ancient Middle East, right up to India - so as Greeks, we figure we have a licence to put a Middle Eastern twist on our dishes.'' That's how the rosewater-scented semolina pancakes were conceived. Raised with yeast, not chemical baking agents, they have a pleasant, soothing heaviness and a soft, almost steamed texture. There's orange blossom syrup for drizzling, and they're topped with sweet strained Greek yoghurt, pistachios and rose petals. The feast continues with baked eggs with Casa Iberica black pudding.

Demitri's Feast, 141 Swan Street, Richmond, 9428 8659. $15, demitrisfeast.com.au.

Uttapams from Chilli India.
Uttapams from Chilli India.Supplied

Indian

Wafer-thin dosa might get all the looks, but those tubular Indian pancakes have a little sister who is stouter but no less appealing. Uttapams are thick pancakes made from a lightly fermented rice and lentil batter and are a traditional south Indian breakfast food. In true hawker style, Chilli India's uttapams are cooked before your eyes on an outside hotplate. Toppings are seared into the top of each pancake and include baby corn, tomato or classic green chilli and onion. Dip pieces into the supplied sambar as well as house-made tomato and coconut chutney. At Hampton's Chilli India Signature, check out the banquets served on banana leaves.

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Chilli India, Shop OE6, Menzies Alley, Melbourne Central Shopping Centre, city, 9639 3866. $7.90-$10.50, chillipadi.com.au.

Chinese

A meal at duck master Simon Lay's eponymous restaurant is as much about his showmanship as it is about his roast duck. Each crisp-skinned bird serves two to three and is served in three courses, the first on house-made crepes. They're made to a French-style recipe, which includes egg and milk, making them softer and less starchy than traditional Peking duck pancakes. Lay appears at your table, tossing crepes with a flourish before he issues strict instructions about how to wrap parcels of the duck, cucumber and special plum sauce. As he says: ''I came out of retirement because my customers missed me - no one was picking on them.''

Simon's Peiking Duck Restaurant, 197B Middleborough Road, Box Hill South, 9898 5944. $55-$63 each duck (serves two to three).

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