Pumpkin and cinnamon pancakes
Fluffy pancakes made with pumpkin purée, fried until golden and dusted with cinnamon — sweet, warming and perfect before a day in an air-conditioned office.
- 25 min
- Serves 2
- Pan-fry
- Easy
Why it suits you: Grain Buds is humid outdoors, but office air-conditioning is fierce, and a Yang-deficient constitution still wakes up sluggish with cold hands and feet. Pumpkin is sweet and warm and nourishes the middle, and cinnamon warms yang and disperses cold; as pancakes they're sweet and comforting without the heat of lamb.
Method
Prep 10 min · Cook 15 min- 1Steam the pumpkin for 10 minutes until soft, then mash and leave to cool (you can do this the night before).
- 2Mix the pumpkin with the egg, milk and sugar, then sift in the flour, baking powder and half the cinnamon and stir until just combined.
- 3Brush a non-stick pan with a little oil. Over medium-low heat, add a tablespoon of batter at a time; flip when bubbles appear and cook for about 1 minute a side.
- 4Drizzle with honey and dust with the remaining cinnamon.
Cautions
- Cinnamon is hot, so leave it out if you're prone to a dry mouth or mouth ulcers, or if you're pregnant; cut the honey and sugar if you have diabetes.
Chef's tips
- Don't overmix the batter — a few lumps make fluffier pancakes. They freeze well; reheat them in the toaster.
The TCM view
Pumpkin is sweet and warm, nourishing the middle and boosting qi. Cinnamon is pungent, sweet and very hot, supporting yang and warming the channels — a little goes a long way. Egg is sweet and neutral and nourishes blood, brown sugar warms the stomach and wheat flour nourishes the heart. Warming without drying — suited to Yang deficiency in an air-conditioned summer.
