Thai banana pancake is a flattened dough fried on a non-stick surface, filled with banana slices, and garnished with condensed milk. While exploring night markets in Thailand, one thing we were definitely going to try was this pancake roti.
Since my sister had been to Thailand before, she knew it was a must-try dessert available across street food markets. We tried pancake roti at Bangla Night Market in Phuket, and here’s the video that captures our experience.
How does a Thai pancake taste?
Thai pancakes are not like American pancakes. What makes them vastly different is the consistency of the dough. While American pancakes are fluffy, Thai pancakes are similar to French crepes but crispy like dosa.
Just as eggs are added to a kathi roll, our Thai banana pancake had a layer of eggs evenly distributed across the roti. Next came banana slices and condensed milk, and then the roti was wrapped to make a perfect square.
Before serving, they chop the roti into 12 slices and add honey, Nutella, chocolate sauce, or condensed milk on top. Traditionally, banana slices were the only fruit used as a filling, but now you can choose from apples, mango, durian, strawberry, and more.
The making of Thai banana pancake
If you want Thai pancake recipes, you will find plenty of options across blogs and YouTube videos. While it might taste similar to authentic Thai roti, the making vastly varies.
The making of Thai pancake is itself an experience to enjoy at the night markets. The craft behind the quality of this dish depends on the consistency of the roti.
Most Thai pancake recipes require you to make a dough with all-purpose flour, butter, salt, and water. Adding the egg to the batter to achieve a smooth, easily flattened consistency makes the process easier.
If you add the egg separately, you will have to knead the dough for longer to make the roti flatter. The thinness of the crepe is of utmost importance because that is what makes it crispy. So, the consistency of the dough matters to ensure the roti is as flat as it needs to be.
Here is how a vendor at Phuket’s street food market made Thai roti for us:
Adding the batter
At the street food market, vendors do not use dough to make the roti. They create a smooth batter with the same ingredients and add it to a measuring cup to pour across the non-stick roti maker.
How they make Thai banana pancake is similar to how we make dosa in India. There is a circular tawa brushed with white oil to pour the batter. It is then evenly spread with the help of a crepe spreader tool.
Adding the egg
While the vendor waits for the roti to crisp, he cracks an egg and adds it raw to the crepe. He then whisks the eggs to spread it evenly across the roti.
Adding the banana
While the roti and the egg blend, he picks up a ripe banana and peels it with a knife. This was the first time I saw someone peel a banana with a knife, because our hands are usually enough.
He peeled the banana very carefully, leaving the side facing his palm. He then started slicing the banana from the other side and added the pieces over the egg, ensuring they remained around the center.
Adding the condensed milk
Condensed milk adds to the sweetness of Thai banana pancakes. They are stored in bottles with nozzles to pour and evenly distribute condensed milk across the Thai roti.
Making the wrap
The fifth step is where the skills start showing. The vendor uses a sharp spatula around the edges to lift the crepe from all curves slowly. Just as we turn a dosa into a wrap by folding it in half, Thai roti is wrapped in four layers. This locks the filling tightly in the middle and then flips it for slicing.
Slicing and garnishing
In the last step, the Thai banana roti is removed from the flame and sliced into 12 pieces by chopping it horizontally and vertically (3 times by 4). Lastly, it is garnished with condensed milk and served.
Tasting Thai banana pancake
As soon as you take a bite, you feel the crispy exterior quickly melting because of the sogginess inside. They serve it with a fork so you can pick up the perfect bite-sized pieces, which taste sweet and crunchy. Costing anywhere between 30 and 80 Baht, this is something you gotta try when in Thailand.
More desserts to try at Thai night markets
Apart from banana roti, you should try mango sticky rice, coconut ice cream, coconut pancake, luk chup candies, pandan mochi, and Thai jelly.
We tried different flavors of mochi wherever we went, but pandan is an authentic Thai flavor used across custards, pastries, and puddings. You must have pandan in some form when in Thailand!
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