Egg hoppers
When I lived with Marissa she would often tell me about one of her favourite Sri Lankan foods, hoppers. In Sri Lanka I finally got to try them for myself.
Hoppers are made from rice flour, yeast, and coconut milk. They are cooked in a small wok, with the batter swirled around the sides so they end up bowl-shaped, with crispy edges and a spongy middle. You can have plain hoppers or egg hoppers. Egg hoppers have an egg broken into the middle of them while they are cooking.
Hoppers are eaten for breakfast or dinner. They are common on special occasions and the first time I tried them was at Marissa’s wedding. As they are best eaten super-fresh there will be a man at the buffet table cooking them to order.
Before I had been back in London for 24 hours, I was already craving hoppers. On Ms Marmitelover‘s suggestion, I went to Ealing Road in Wembley, where I managed to source a hopper pan and hopper mix. Once you make up the mix with coconut milk you can freeze it until you need it.
Egg hoppers are my favourite!
After the egg is cracked, a lid is put on the pan and it is cooked for about 5-6 minutes.
Then it is slid onto a plate and sprinkled with salt, pepper, and pol sambol (a spicy coconut and chilli mix).
The great thing is they taste even better with organic eggs than the rather anaemic-looking eggs you find in parts of Sri Lanka (often the yolk is the same colour as the white).
Now I just need some milk rice, potato curry, dal and lots of fresh tropical fruit to complete my Sri Lankan breakfast!
I know what you mean, we went to sri lanka last year, had egg hoppers for the very first on the first day of our 12 day trip and kept on having them every single day
Huma Hameed
April 26, 2010 at 7:07 pm
You made my mouth water!
fridica
April 26, 2010 at 7:39 pm
Oh my goodness. That has my name on for breakfast. When can I come? When are we both next going to the Weellcome?
fussfreeflavours
April 26, 2010 at 11:28 pm
I’m not sure when I’m next going to the Wellcome! I’ve got a lot of Real Bread stuff coming up in the weekends I think. Will let you know.
Sarah
April 27, 2010 at 6:46 am
these look amazing sarah – i think i’ll be popping around to your flat and demanding that you make egg hoppers once i hit london town…
steph
April 27, 2010 at 7:13 am
Looking forward to it!
Sarah
April 27, 2010 at 7:15 am
You’ve got me missing hoppers too now!
Sean
April 27, 2010 at 9:29 am
I’ll have to have the whole gang around one day!
Sarah
April 27, 2010 at 11:38 am
[...] her recent holiday to Sri Lanka Sarah made some hoppers and last weekend held a Sri Lankan breakfast brunch party.  I can confirm that the hoppers were [...]
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May 26, 2010 at 8:44 am
[...] my recent holiday to Sri Lanka I tried hoppers and got so addicted to them I had to repeat the experience here. So last weekend I had a bunch of [...]
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May 26, 2010 at 9:02 am
Hi there!!I just tried hoppers and I am already thinking about tryi g to cook them myself
…I just read there is apace at Wembley where to buy a hooper’s pan…does anybody knows where exactly or the name of the shop? many many thanks!
Maria
April 8, 2012 at 11:11 pm
Funnily enough I had them for breakfast this morning!
I got my hopper pans from one of the bigger Sri Lankan shops on Ealing Road in Wembley, I don’t remember the name sorry. They have them way on top of a high shelf in there, for £10.
Sarah
April 8, 2012 at 11:13 pm