This is one of my all-time favourite recipes from my cookbook Little Bird Goodness, which has been shortlisted for a PANZ (Publishers Association of New Zealand) best cookbook award. It's an absolutely gorgeous dish that features the best of cooked (the crepe) and raw food. The crepe is fermented to increase its nutritional value and make it easy to digest; it also adds a lovely flavour. It's really quite simple, so give it a go; you won't be disappointed. Pre-warning, you might lose the first couple of pancakes to the first-pancakes-of-the-batch-fail phenomenon but don't lose faith, a good non-stick pan (I use Scanpan) will ensure you don't have any issues with sticking. The pancakes are served with a variety of toppings including these overnight pickled turmeric carrots.
If you don’t have time to make the crepes, the other ingredients and the dressing will make a great salad with some tempeh, or as a filling for a collard wrap. Pickle your carrots when you put the quinoa and brown rice on to soak, or while your crepe batter ferments. You can also substitute the mandarin with tangelos or oranges.
For the crepes
| 1 cup | Quinoa, soaked for 12 hours or overnight (Main) |
| 1 cup | Brown rice, soaked for 12 hours or overnight (Main) |
| 2 cups | Filtered water |
| 1 cup | Spinach leaves, tightly packed (Main) |
| ⅓ tsp | Spirulina powder |
| 1 pinch | Sea salt |
| 1 tsp | Coconut oil, cold-pressed |
| 1 | Red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced |
| 1 | Spring onion, finely chopped |
For the mandarin lime chilli sauce
| ½ cup | Mandarin juice, + 2 Tbsp (Main) |
| ½ cup | Lime juice |
| ⅓ cup | Tamari |
| ¼ cup | Coconut sugar |
| 1 ½ Tbsp | Coconut nectar |
| 2 Tbsp | Ginger, finely grated |
| 1 | Garlic clove, finely grated |
| 1 | Lime, use the zest only |
| 1 pinch | Salt |
For the toppings
| 4 handfuls | Mesclun leaves |
| 4 handfuls | Bean sprouts |
| ¼ | Red cabbages, shredded finely |
| 8 | Overnight pickled turmeric carrots, see recipe link above (Main) |
| ⅓ cup | Cashew nuts (Main) |
| 2 | Avocados, sliced (Main) |
| 2 | Mandarins, cut into segments |
| 1 small handful | Coriander |
| 1 small handful | Mint leaves |
| 1 small handful | Basil leaves |
| 1 | Lime, cut into wedges |
Directions
- To prepare the crepe mix, rinse and drain soaked brown rice and quinoa thoroughly. Place in a high-speed blender with the filtered water and blend until very smooth. Place mixture in a clean container and leave to ferment overnight or for 12 hours in a warm spot in your kitchen. You should see some bubbles forming and the mixture may have risen as a result of the fermentation; this is completely natural.
- Place fermented mixture back in cleaned high-speed blender, add spinach, spirulina and salt and blend until smooth. You may want to add a bit more spinach or spirulina to make your crepes a brighter colour and enhance the flavour. You can store the batter in the fridge for up to a week, but it's best used within 2–3 days of making.
- To prepare the mandarin chilli sauce, combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk to mix well. Set aside.
- To finish, heat a non-stick frying pan with a little coconut oil. Add a quarter of the crepe batter (about ⅓ cup) and distribute it evenly to form a crepe about ½ cm thick. Spread a little sliced chilli and spring onion over the top (this should stick to the uncooked mixture). Cook for a few minutes, until slightly brown, then flip to cook the other side for another few minutes. Cook all the crepes and set aside.
- In a big bowl, mix mesclun, bean sprouts and shredded red cabbage with about ¼ cup of tangerine lime chilli sauce, until thoroughly coated. Divide between the 4 crepes. Top each withpickled carrots, cashews, avocado, mandarin segments, coriander, mint and basil. Fold in half to cover the toppings. Serve with a side of mandarin lime chilli sauce and a lime wedge.