KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 28 — What’s a traditional hangover cure? Better yet, what’s a hangover cure that actually works?
We might very well appreciate the answer to this question the morning after the New Year countdown when our heads feel like it’s been split into two halves. By a technicolour troll wielding a giant axe. Who is also singing Never Really Over by Katy Perry at the same time. In a distinctly troll-y voice.
Some suggest coffee, but that will only wake you up and be more cognisant of your raging headache.
Others suggest exercise, as though you could even lift yourself from a sprawled, horizontal position.
(Unless a Face Down Corpse Pose counts. Yoga always seems to have the best and most appropriate names — corpse is exactly what we feel like after more drinks than we can remember the night before.)
Some swear by the ultimate cure — fighting fire with fire a.k.a. drinking even more alcohol. I think it merely prolongs the hangover rather than cure it, which doesn’t really count.
Worse, now you’d feel like your head is being bashed in by an army of serenading trolls from some rainbow bridge. (Maybe Ms Perry was right: it’s never really over.)
Some argue just popping over-the-counter painkillers will do the trick. (Note: We’re not talking about the morning after pill. Rather, the search for something that will make you feel less like a pill the morning after...)
What may actually work is simply a good decent meal. Something that will chase those warbling trolls away.
Something light yet substantial — carbohydrates and fat and protein and plenty of vitamins — will help your body heal and get back on track in no time at all.
Might I humbly suggest these “morning after” pancakes? Fluffy and delicate, with a pleasant crunch from a crumble topping to wake up your senses, they even come with a sauce made from antioxidant-rich blueberries for all the bonus nutrition your body is craving right about now.
Bet on these pancakes to punch back those hangover trolls.
"MORNING AFTER" PANCAKES
These pancakes are light and easy to make, even with a raging hangover. The couple of little extras — home-made blueberry sauce and toasty crumble topping — elevate these basic flapjacks, however.
Making a crumble topping from scratch is easier than it looks. The secret is to use cold butter and grate it so that the butter coats more evenly with the flour and sugar. The crumble adds a lovely textural contrast to the gooey blueberry sauce and fluffy pancakes.
As for the blueberry sauce, it’s very easy to make from scratch. However, one shortcut is to warm up some blueberry jam with a little water in the microwave oven. Heck, why not skip the sauce entirely and use fresh blueberries straight out of a punnet — if you’re truly hung over, every saved step counts!
Ingredients: Crumble Topping
60g all-purpose flour
60g Muscovado or dark brown sugar
60g cold butter, grated
Ingredients: Blueberry Sauce
80ml water
200g fresh or frozen blueberries
50g granulated sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Ingredients: Pancakes
150g all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
A pinch of teaspoon salt
250ml milk
2 eggs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Optional: Maple syrup or condensed milk, for pouring on pancakes
Method
Begin with the crumble topping. First, squeeze the crumble ingredients together with your hands until well combined but still coarse in texture. They should look like crumbs, hence the crumble moniker.
Pour the crumble mixture onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 12-15 minutes until the colour of the crumble turns a pale golden brown. Remove the tray from the oven. Set aside and let the crumble cool.
While the crumble is baking in the oven, continue with making the blueberry sauce. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add the blueberries, sugar and lemon juice. Lower the heat and simmer until the blueberries have begun to burst and the sauce has thickened. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Once the crumble and blueberry sauce are done, it’s time to make the pancakes. Sift the flour into a large bowl. Once sifted, add the baking powder, sugar and salt. Mix till well combined, then set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk the milk, eggs and butter together. Next, add the dry ingredients and stir everything till just combined — some lumps are perfectly fine.
Heat a nonstick pan over medium-low heat. Using a ladle, pour about two tablespoons of pancake batter onto the pan. Using the back of the ladle, spread the batter around the pan in a smooth circular motion.
Wait till the surface of the pancake begins to bubble before flipping over using a spatula. Cook till it’s lightly golden brown on both sides. Transfer the pancake to a warm dish and repeat, until the batter is all used up.
To plate, stack a couple of pancakes and top with blueberry sauce and crumble. Drizzle with maple syrup or even condensed milk for a local kick, if desired. Serve immediately.
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