Chicken and paprika pancakes

A staple of the Dutch diet, pancakes can be found in all shapes and sizes in the Netherlands. This savoury recipe is a great prepare-ahead dish that you can simply heat to serve. Leftover chicken can be frozen for up to one month.

Credit: Alan Benson

• makes

  8

• prep

  40 minutes

• cook

  40 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 1 brown onion
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1 red capsicum, chopped
• 1 tomato, halved
• 4 cloves garlic, halved
• 4 black peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves 
• 2 sprigs parsley
• 750 g chicken thighs
• sour cream, to serve
• celery leaves or parsley leaves, to serve

Pancakes

• 200 g plain flour
• 200 ml sparkling water
• 3 eggs
• 50 g unsalted butter, melted, plus 1 tbsp extra
• pinch of salt

Paprika sauce

• 300 ml chicken stock (from above)
• 25 g unsalted butter
• 25 g plain flour
• 30 ml cream
• 2 tsp sweet paprika
• salt and black pepper

Resting time 30 minutes

The following recipe has been tested and edited by SBS Food and may differ slightly from the podcast.

Instructions

Place onion, celery, capsicum, tomato, garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves and parsley in a large saucepan and cover with 750 ml water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the chicken and enough water to cover. Return to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside for 25 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken from the stock and, when cool enough to handle, shred the meat (discard skin and bones). Strain the stock (discard solids) and set aside.

Meanwhile, to make the pancake batter, whisk all the ingredients together until smooth. Heat a 26 cm crepe pan over medium-high heat. Lightly grease the pan with butter, then add a scant ¼ cup (about 50 ml) of the pancake batter and swirl to coat. Cook for 1–2 minutes until lightly golden, flip and cook for a further 30 seconds until golden. Repeat with the remaining batter, stacking pancakes on top of each other, until you have 8 pancakes.

To make the sauce, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and cook for 3 minutes, stirring, then add the reserved chicken stock and bring to boil, whisking to combine. Add the paprika, reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Season to taste, strain and set aside until ready to serve.

Preheat the oven to 170˚C.

Divide the shredded chicken between the pancakes, fold ends in and roll to enclose. Arrange the pancakes in a baking dish and pour over the sauce. Transfer the dish to the oven for 5 minutes until warmed through.

Scatter with celery leaves and serve with sour cream.

Photography by Alan Benson

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.