How to make this Indonesian street food favourite, Martabak Manis, or thick sweet pancakes.

Today we’re making Martabak Manis, or thick Indonesian sweet pancakes. This popular street snack have variations across Southeast Asia, in Singapore and Malaysia, these are also known as Appam Balik or Mi Jiang Kueh.

While also a sweet dessert, Appam Balik and Mi Jiang Kueh are definitely not as sinful as the Indonesian version, which is usually slathered with TONS of butter, sweet toppings and always topped with sweet condensed milk – oh, and LOADED with sugar. It’s super easy to make actually, and the plus side of making it yourself is you get to control the amount of sinful ingredients – or not, I’m not judging.

What Toppings for Martabak Manis?

My choice of topping is cheddar cheese and Nutella, but the toppings are totally up to you. in Indonesia, cheese, Ceres brand of chocolate sprinkles and chopped nuts are the usual toppings that you can choose. I added Nutella for the sake of a chocolatey photo, but I’ll be honest, I love just cheddar cheese on my Martabak. The salty umaminess of the cheese offsets all those sweet, cloying flavours so beautifully well – but that’s just me.

With Appam Balik and Mi Jiang Kueh, chocolate and chopped nuts with sugar are a common topping. There is also a red bean paste option, which I adore.

How to get a Dense, Spongy but Soft Texture

Unlike a regular, fluffy pancake, Martabak Manis is dense, bouncy, but soft. It is also airy. Complicated pancake, I know.

The first time I made this, I had tough pancakes. The taste was there, but the texture was off. Turns out I’m a weak whisker. So whisk it hard, and put some muscle in it. Or better yet, use an electrical mixer and save the sweat.

The resting process of 1 to 2 hours is also crucial. Resting will allow the gluten in the batter to develop. The gluten is what makes the pancake dense and chewy.

How to Achieve a “holey” Martabak Manis

To get a “holey” pancake, make sure pan is super hot, before pouring batter in. If it’s not hot enough, it will not get a good reaction out of the baking soda mixture. This is also why you only add the baking soda mixture right before cooking.

You want to let a lot of bubbles surface in the medium heat WHILE making sure the heat is not too high, or you might burn the pancake.

Once you’re satisfied with the amount of bubbles, that’s when you lower the heat, and sprinkle on the sugar. The sugar will also help to pop more bubbles in the pancake.

Best Pan for Martabak Manis

The pans used in the real Martabak Manis stalls are heavy, thick cast iron pans which retain heat for long, and can create good pancake each time. Therefore, a heavy bottomed, non-stick pan is recommended. If using a non-stick pan, or cast iron pan, you can wipe on neutral-tasting oil. Butter will be good too, but keep a close eye on the heat so that you don’t burn the butter.

My batter is good for one big pancake, using a 10-inch pan. If use a smaller pan, such as an 8-inch, you should be able to get two pancakes out of the batter.

If all you have is a regular frying pan, then no worries! Use less batter, so it’s not a thick pancake. This will let you have more control over the pancake batter. Keep a close watch over the pancake too, and immediately turn down the heat once a lot of holes start to develop. You do not want to burn the pancake.

“My Martabak Manis is not Perfect”

I’ve gone through a LOT of Martabak Manis where the holes do not form… Guess what? I still had it anyway and they were delicious! Martabak Manis is not an effortless pancake, for sure, and a lot of factors play into its final “holey” form, such as having the right pan, right timing, right heat distribution.

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