Satay pancakes à la Huize Milky Way
‘I never eat sweet pancakes anymore’
Door Tim van de Vendel
By Tim van de Vendel
Tim van de Vendel
Satay pancakes à la Huize Milky Way
For 12 pancakes
1 box of pancake mix
Half a litre of milk
3 eggs (unless you have the kind of mix that already includes eggs)
Half a litre of Leffe Blond
450 grams of stir-fry vegetable mix
500 grams of peanut sauce
350 grams of (vegetarian) chicken
Sweetened soy sauce
Nasi goreng spices
Bag of prawn crackers
Crispy fried onions
Wok oil
Onion and garlic to taste
Optional:
Cucumber/acar
Chilli sauce/sambal
Finely cut red pepper
Beforehand, marinade the chicken with the soy sauce and nasi spices.
Bake the pancakes according to the instructions on the box but replace half a litre of milk with half a litre of beer, preferably Leffe Blond.
Fry the chicken until golden brown, then add the garlic, onion, stir-fry vegetables, and wok oil. Stir-fry until cooked.
Heat up the peanut sauce in a pan or in the microwave. Finely cut the cucumber and peppers.
To construct a satay pancake, spread peanut sauce on the pancake. Add some chicken-and-vegetable mix and add crispy fried onions, pepper, sambal, cucumber, and prawn crackers to taste. Finally, fold your pancake in half.
Sierd and Marnix are working hard in the kitchen. They’ve got two frying pans on the stove and there’s a large bowl with pancake mix on the counter as well as a stack of pancakes. ‘We decided to use beer batter’, says Marnix. ‘That means we substituted some of the milk for beer.’
The two often cook for the rest of the house, they say. ‘We usually ask in the afternoon who will be home for dinner.’ The other four roommates join in, lured by the convenience.
Marnix, Sierd, and the others – three girls, three boys – live in the Marsstraat in Paddepoel. ‘This used to be an all-guys’ house’, says Sierd. ‘But when we were looking for new roommates, we didn’t select anyone for their gender. We just invited the best people.’
Frenkie
As the stack of pancakes grows, Ayla walks in with the seventh, honorary roommate: Frenkie the cat. ‘It’s not even our cat’, she says. ‘He just shows up.’
A nearby student house that Frenkie also frequents told them he belongs to a family near them and that his real name is Kiko. ‘What a shit name!’ Marnix exclaims. ‘Who looks at Frenkie and thinks his name is Kiko?’
In the middle of the dining room in the small kitchen is the real seventh roommate: fish Way. ‘Mandy once considered buying a horse’, says Marnix. But since horses aren’t cheap, it would’ve meants she’d have to move back in with her parents. ‘We decided to prevent that, so we bought two fish: Milky and Way, named for the house.’ Milky has since died, but Mandy still lives in the house.
Town house
‘How many people are we for dinner’, asks Sierd, holding his spatula. Femke isn’t sure. ‘Is Matthijs home?’ she asks. He isn’t, but the housemates add some folding chairs to the table after all.
‘This isn’t your typical stately student house’, says Marnix. ‘To be honest, it’s kind of nice.’ The house is situated on a small square of town houses. In the middle of the square is a playground, which is where they took the picture of all of them that hangs above the kitchen table.
‘In summer, we spend a lot of time in the backyard, but that doesn’t get any sun after three p.m.’, says Marnix. ‘We often move to the square to have a barbecue.’ They don’t have to worry about the neighbours on the square: ‘We always play volleyball with our neighbours’ kids.’
The neighbours to the back are a different story. ‘There’s one woman who leaves for work early in the morning’, explains Sierd. The police have shown up in their backyard several times. One time, they actually got their feet wet. ‘We’d filled this little pool with water to keep our beer cold and put it right behind the gate’, Marnix says. ‘The officers stepped right into it when they showed up. Fortunately, they had a sense of humour about it.’
Peanut sauce and prawn crackers
While they’re talking, the chefs put various hot pans and bowls on the table: peanut sauce, chicken with vegetables, prawn crackers, and a large stack of pancakes. ‘Dig in!’ Marnix says.
Sierd knows how confused people get when they hear about the house’s speciality dish: satay pancakes. ‘Most people just stare at me’, he says. ‘But there’s no reason it can’t work.’ The roommates start a spirited discussion about what savoury things you can and cannot put on a pancake. ‘I never even eat sweet pancakes anymore’, says Sierd.
After their first pancake, Ayla and Marnix rush out: they have volleyball training. Mandy flees upstairs to study, leaving Femke and Sierd alone in the kitchen. ‘Coffee?’ Sierd offers. There’s a large coffee maker next to the aquarium. ‘It’s about the only thing in the house that works properly.’
The pair talk about their day and tell each other tall stories, aided by a little Frisian liquor. In the end, chef Sierd decides it’s time for him to hit the books. ‘You can do the dishes, right, Femke?’
