April 10, 2007

Encounter with Martabak Manis

I have been eating "martabak manis" (sweet thick pancake) since my childhood time. Martabak manis is a snack favored by many Indonesians. It is a sweet pancake made from flour, egg, coconut milk, sugar, yeast and baking soda topped with you choices of chocolate sprinkles, shredded cheddar cheese, corned beef, sweet kernel corn, jackfruit slices, banana slices, etc. The martabak is crisp around the edges, the flesh texture was soft and moist, almost cake like. It comes in the the size of a medium pizza pan.
My favorite is Martabak Manis with jackfruit and grated cheddar cheese fillings. They first smother it with butter and than it is filled with the filling of your choice. Then they cut the pancake in half and close the pancake on top of each other. It's so delicious and rich dessert..truly a heavenly delight. For one whole plate it only costs me about Rp. 30,000 or USD 3.40 and that can be cut up to 14 pieces. Enough for 3 to 4 people to enjoy! Oh yes, martabak are made for to-go orders only. Normally people buy 1 whole plate and share them with the family at home.


Here is the recipe for Belle :

Ingredients:
250 gram all purpose flour
1 tsp. instant yeast
150 gram granulated sugar
375 cc warm coconut milk
2 eggs
¼ tsp. baking soda

Filling Ingredients:
Grated fried nuts
Sesame seeds
Granulated Sugar
Chocolate Sprinkler
Grated Cheddar Cheese
Condensed Milk

Instructions:
Pour in the yeast into the warm coconut milk, stir until well mixed and foamed up, set aside.
Mix flour and sugar, then pour in the eggs in the middle of the batter. Keep stirring the mixture until all ingredients are well dissolved. Then put in the baking soda and stir the mixture again until well mixed. Set it aside in a room temperature for approximately 15-20 minutes.
Heat up the non-stick pan that has been smeared with butter/margarine. Pour the mixture in and let it cook until the surface dried up and the outer layer become crispy brown.
Remove the thick crepe and put on a cutting board.
Pour granulated sugar on the crepes as well as the condensed milk. Up to your liking, you can pour grated cheese, grated fried nuts, chocolate sprinkler or sesame seeds on the crepe. You can also combine the filling.
Fold the crepe in to two then cut the crepe into 10-12 pieces.
Makes 10-12 pieces



Notes : you can go creative with the toppings. Use slice banana, jackfruits for example. The pics here were taken at the "Martabak Air Mancur" stall in Bogor. I do not believe I can make a perfect martabak manis like this myself...

15 comments:

NursyE said...

Ohhhh that looks so good. I bet it is good. I gained 10 pounds just looking at it...

Elyani said...

Yay ... they are utterly delicious E! Gerry couldn't get enough of it when he was here.If I could send you some, I would :)

Anonymous said...

Looks really yummy! Thanks for sharing and torturing us with the pics hehehe!

Belle TH said...

Elyani, it looks delicious! and it looks rather easy to make. jackfruit topping is kind of unique and it made it more appetizing.

thanks for sharing.

Belle TH said...

Elyani, can i please have the recipe of martabak manis? what type of pan do you recomment to cook this delicacy?

Elyani said...

Belle,

To be honest I'd never made Martabak Manis before since I like to buy them from the martabak vendor. The recipe that I copied for you has been recommended by a lot of Indonesians who stay in overseas. So it is worth to try. About the pan, I think you should use cast iron pan with the lid. Remember to keep the fire not too hot / high to avoid burning. The sweet condensed milk is used to attach the martabak together and they make the taste even better. Happy trying!

Belle TH said...

Elyani, thank you so much! i have to get a cast iron pan first and then will let you know. thanks amiga dear!

Genevive said...

looks yummy! i love jackfruit to the max :)

Elyani said...

thank you for visiting my blog bebang rulona :)

auee said...

hi! got here from belle's site... I'm copying your recipe ha.

Anonymous said...

Hi Elyani,

Would you like to tell me, where can I buy the martabak pan?

THX!

Elyani said...

Anonymous, thank you for stopping by. I'm not sure where you can get the martabak pan if you're not living in Indonesia. I just bought a small one the other day (diameter 20cm) and it cost me only USD 7. They are made from harden steel hence it is quite heavy. You can make martabak by teflon too but make sure you find the thick teflon, control the heat and pour the batter half of the pan only.

Anonymous said...

Hi elyani,

Thanks for your reply. I live in Hong Kong. As I know the THICK pan is very
easy to control the fire to make martabak. Do you know any online shop that carried the pan as same yours?
you can email me. newnew(at)love4golden.com
Regards!

Elyani said...

Hi Anonymous, please contact the following shop in Jakarta and see if they can help you make shipment of Martabak Pan to Hongkong.

Titan Shop
Jalan RS Fatmawati 22A, Cilandak Barat, Jakarta Selatan-Indonesia.
Email : titan@titanbaking.com
Tel: +6221 769 2329
Fax : +6221 766 8137
Owner name : Mr. Agustinus Thio

Anonymous said...

Hi elyani,

Thanks for your help.
I'll email to Mr.Agustinus as soon as.
If you need the help in HK please let me know. Thank you so much!

Regards!