Thai hawker food review: Banana pancake

Like most backpackers visiting bustling Bangkok for the first time, back in 2005 I found myself on the Khao San Road. A Mecca for budget travellers the area is a melting pot of cultures and accents from all the around the world.

In the evenings the road is pedestrian only. You can perch on a plastic stool at one of the pop-up street cart bars in the middle of the thoroughfare and enjoy ice cold beers while sampling some of the best hawker food in the world.

The smells of Thai cooking mingle with the sticky heat of the night: grilling chicken, fish sauce, nose-tingling chilli. Most meat dishes are cooked on skewers over white hot coals, while Pad Thai noodles are tossed lightning quick in giant woks.

On just about every corner around Khao San Road you will find my favourite kind of Thai hawker food – banana pancakes. The pancake itself is roti; a fine dough that cooks into a crispy kind of bread.  When you order this delicious dish it is cooked on a hotplate that looks like a cross between a crepe wheel and a wok and is built into the vendor’s cart.

The whole process takes less than a minute. Some oil and ghee (clarified butter) are added to the gas heated pan. A small portion of the dough is stretched and pulled out from its original ball shape. It’s then dropped into the smoking oil and very quickly stretched out some more with a wide metal spatula. A fresh banana is peeled and sliced directly onto the pancake while the roti is cooking. Then the edges are folded inwards to make a perfect square. A quick flip to ensure the whole thing is crispy and golden on the outside and the pancake is then transferred to a paper plate. The spatula is used almost like a pizza-cutter to section the pancake into little squares. Some sweetened condensed milk is then drizzled over the top, straight from two holes pierced directly into the can. Toothpicks are poked in and that’s it – done!

The crunch of the hot flaky roti contrasts beautifully with the soft, mushiness of the warmed banana. There are other fillings and toppings to choose from like Nutella or chocolate sauce but the most popular by far is the banana. This dessert only cost about $1.50 so you can probably afford to try them all.

It’s been many a full moon party since my first visit to Thailand but having had the good fortune to return several times and travel around, I am happy to report that these pancakes are found all over the country and are the first thing I go in search of when I arrive.