MORNING WOODY: Steve's Original Ube Pancakes

What? 
Ube. 
What’s ube? 
In Hawaii it is known as "uhi," in India as "ratalu," in Samoa and Tahiti as ªufi,” it's only known as "ube" in the Filippines. It’s a starchy yam containing pigments that give it its signature bright lavender color. Cooked and mashed, it has a similar taste and texture of paper pulp,  but the condensed extracted flavor has a crisp fruity vanilla flavor often compared to taro.

Peeled Ube

 Ube is used mainly in sweets like a flavor for ice cream, milk, tarts, cookies, cakes, and other pastries.  I was turned on to it after tasting ube pancakes from the Filipino-owned Buttermilk Truck here in Los Angeles.  They were so light and tasty, I had to know how to make them.

An Early Short Stack

I came up with this recipe trying to duplicate the Buttermilk Truck’s deliciousness.  I found a few pancake recipes on the web and took the best of everything, though none I found had coconut.  That ingenious accident happened while trying to photograph a batch of pancakes:  They didn’t look that great on the plate and needed a garnish. I happened to have some shredded coconut in the house I thought might give that Island feel, but since there was no coconut in the pancake, it didn’t make much sense to see it in the photo.  So I thought "why not just add coconut to the recipe?" And Steve’s Original Ube Pancakes were born.

Steve's Original Ube Pancakes

I buy ube at Filipino markets like Seafood City or Island Pacifica.  There, you can find it grated in the freezer section, or dehydrated on the baker’s aisle along with the little bottle of ube extract.  Use buttermilk for an American version or sweetened-condensed milk for enhanced island flavor.

These pancakes will perk up your family breakfast or add flair to entertaining at brunch with guaranteed raging morning food woody.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

2   teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

3   pinches ground cinnamon

2  pinches cardamom

1   pinch allspice

1/4 cup powdered ube, reconstituted in 1 cup boiling water

 OR

1  cup grated ube, defrosted and mashed

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 1/4 cups buttermilk, coconut milk or sweetened condensed milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1  tablespoon ube extract

2 cups shredded coconut

METHOD:

Whisk together dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. In another bowl, beat eggs and stir in reconstituted powdered ube or grated ube. Add choice of milk, vanilla and ube extract and melted butter.   Add wet mixture to dry whisking until any lumps disappear. Allow to rest uncovered for 15 minutes.

When ready to cook, preheat a pancake griddle or non-stick pan to medium high heat. Melt a tablespoon of butter and pour 2 tablespoons batter into the pan.

Form as many as the pan will allow without touching. Immediately sprinkle about a tablespoon of shredded coconut onto each. Flip when bubbles start to appear. Cook for another minute or two to caramelize the coconut, then transfer to a platter.

Repeat until all batter is used. Serve with butter and light syrup if desired.  

For a simpler method, just add a tablespoon of ube extract and a few pinches of spice to a batch of Bisquick pancake batter and sprinkle on the coconut.