Supercharged Egg Hoppers with Peanut Sauce

By nature, human beings are creatures of habit. We wake up at the same time, eat the same breakfast every day, worry about the same things, have similar thoughts, go to the same takeaway place for lunch, take the regular commute home, eat meat and three veg for dinner, watch some TV and go to sleep at the same time.

Yawn.

It’s time to shake things up a bit and breakfast or lunch is a great place to start.

Personally, one of the ways I love to change up my daily routine is by travelling. While it’s something I’m fortunate enough to do due to my work, exploring is one of my passions.

Whether it’s a road-trip, train-ride or plane-ride somewhere overseas, travelling allows us to open our eyes to new ways of being, exotic cultures and of course, delicious food. Travelling has given me a deep sense of appreciation for various cultures across the world, and a new outlook on life, and even if traveling involves just taking a new route to and from the office, it’s a great habit to get in to.

One of my all time favourite places that I’ve ever visited is Sri Lanka. Not only is it absolutely beautiful and authentically rich, the food is out of this world. From the curries to the dahl, Sri Lanka does no wrong. There’s one meal in particular that stands out to me: egg hoppers. Before I ever visited, I had never heard of egg hoppers and now I make them regularly at home and the family loves them too.

If you’ve never visited Sri Lanka or heard of the mighty hopper, we’ve got some catching up to do! 

Egg hoppers, also known as appam, are a fermented crepe made of rice flour and coconut milk, and topped with a gooey fried egg. This makes it excellent for the gluten-intolerants among us. Or you know, everyone basically!

The hopper has a crepe consistency and is in the shape of a bowl, giving it the ability to carry as many fillings as you like, making it the real MVP. Plus, who doesn’t love eating food out of bowls?

Seriously, bowl food is the best kind of food. Think about it: you can serve salads in a bowl, smoothies in a bowl and now eggs in a bowl but this time, the bowl is the hopper! Isn’t that exciting?

When exploring the local streets of Sri Lanka, you’ll see egg hoppers as far as the eye can see. They fill street vendors, local eateries and even the fanciest of hotel restaurants. That’s truly one of my favourite things about Sri Lanka – its shared love of cultural cuisine. It’s a delicious dish for everyone to enjoy, locals and tourists alike. And the good news is, even the kids lap them up.

My first time trying an egg hopper was a magical experience. It was from a tiny street vendor and was filled with a red sambol and herbs. I still remember my magical first bite; it was like a crispy crunchy pizza but even better and hooked me in straight away. Definitely love at first bite. I’m officially a turned egg-hopper lover and I know you’ll love them too!

While not everyone can ‘hop’ on the next flight to Sri Lanka to try out an authentic egg hopper, there are other ways to embrace foreign culture and this recipe does just that.

I’m sharing my take on a this traditional dish with a recipe from my latest book, Supercharge Your Life. My book, which you can buy here, serves up information and inspiration to help you consume with purpose and embrace recipes from all over the world through your own kitchen! It’ll shift your thinking in terms of cooking with a purpose and loving every minute of it.

These hoppers are a combination of a comforting and nourishing crepe with a gooey and delicious fried egg that’s dripping with yolky goodness. They’re a simple and impressive dish that works perfectly for the whole family. While you can have the hopper plain, there are a range of fillings to choose from. This includes tomatoes and herbs, fried eggs, curries, vegetables and even yoghurt.

For these delicious Supercharged Egg Hoppers with Peanut Sauce, I’ve created a fried egg and peanut masterpiece that’ll convert even the non-egg lovers among us. Forget what you know about eggs for breakfast: they’re not just for scrambling or frying or binding in a cake. Eggs are extremely versatile and delicious. They’re more than just a pretty face, being high in protein, vitamin D, vitamin A and omega-3 fatty acids.

While Sri Lankan’s use a proper hopper pan, this recipe doesn’t require any fancy equipment, just a regular frying pan because 'aint nobody got time for that' 😉

Think of these cute, crepey edible ‘bowls’ as a beautiful housing that envelops a variety of fillings of your choice. Fried eggs, baked tomatoes, leftover veggies, and covered in peanut sauce, coconut or sambal. My version doesn’t include the typical yeast, so the lattice handiwork when pouring the batter into the pan helps to achieve the desired, if somewhat flatter shape. It’s time to bring the tastes and flavours of Sri Lanka to your own kitchen.

And now for the real question: who’s ready for brunch?

Supercharged Egg Hoppers with Peanut Sauce

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 egg, whisked
• 160 g (53/4 oz/1 cup) rice flour
• 375 ml (13 fl oz/11/2 cups) coconut milk
• pinch of sea salt
• olive or coconut oil, for frying

Toppings

• 4 eggs
• torn spring onions (scallions), chopped
• roughly chopped peanuts
• coriander (cilantro) leaves
• lime wedges, to serve

Peanut sauce

• 70 g (21/2 oz/1/4 cup) natural peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons wheat-free tamari or coconut aminos
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1/8 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 80 ml (21/2 fl oz/1/3 cup) warm filtered water

Method:

To make the peanut sauce, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until thoroughly mixed.

Beat the whisked egg, rice flour, coconut milk and salt together with a fork until smooth. Heat about 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small frying pan with rounded sides.

Using a small spoon or squeeze bottle, drizzle about 60 ml (2 fl oz/1/4 cup) of the batter over the base and sides of the pan in a thin layer, leaving holes in the mix (like the picture).

Cook until bubbles form on the surface and the edges are golden, then remove carefully with a spatula and set aside.

Repeat the process with the remaining batter.

Fry the eggs in a separate frying pan and place one on top of each hopper.

Spoon over some peanut sauce, scatter over the spring onions, chopped peanuts and coriander, and serve with lime wedges.