Martabak: Indonesian Thick Pancake


Martabak is a dish commonly found in Saudi Arabia (especially in the Hijaz region), Yemen, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei. Depending on the location, name, and composition, martabak may vary.

In Indonesia there are two types of martabak, namely martabak asin (salted martabak) or martabak telur (egg martabak) that made from a mixture of chicken eggs or duck eggs and beef. In addition, there is also martabak manis (sweet martabak) or also known as kue terang bulan which is usually filled with chocolate. Both types of martabak are different in terms of taste, dough, contents, and how to cook it or make it. Unlike martabak telurmartabak manis is a kind of cake or jam sandwich that is usually eaten in a relaxed time as a snack. In Malaysia, martabak manis (known as apam balik) is often served as a breakfast dish accompanied by a glass of tea.


In martabak manis, the dough is made from a mixture of wheat flour, baking soda, chicken eggs, coconut milk, water, and yeast baked on a special thick iron skillet until the cake dough becomes cooked and nesting. As a filler is usually given a sprinkling of granulated sugar, chocolate grains (meses, muisjes), with sesame seeds and peanuts are chopped, or grated cheese, sprinkled with sweetened condensed milk, and smeared with butter and margarine.

In martabak telur, the ingredients to make the dough includes wheat flour, water, salt, and eggs. In general, the eggs used are duck eggs. For the contents of martabak telur is usually beef and vegetables. The way of making is different from martabak manis which is baked, martabak telur made by frying. The finished dough is poured into a pan of hot oil and soaked, after which meat and vegetables are poured onto the dough, then folded. Martabak telur has a savory and salty taste.

Comments