Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Malaysian Peanut Pancakes/Apam Balik

There are so many names out there for this kueh. Some call it Ban Chien Kueh, some call it 'Tai Gau-Meen' but we called it 'Chin Loong Pau'. This will be the kueh that I asked my sisters to bring me each time they come here for vacations. There are two version of it. One thin and crispy and the other one is thick and spongy. I remember buying this kueh every week at our Subang Jaya SS15 pasar malam (night market) and we will placed our order first before we walk around the pasar malam and pick it up when we are done with our shopping. There is always a long line of people buying this kueh. There were that good.

The fillings is usually contain peanuts and sugar with a tiny dollop of butter but some might put sweet corn and fresh grated coconut in it. You can put any sweet fillings like red beans, sweet coconut, nutella, chocolate, or kaya to your Apam Balik. I read somewhere that people even put cream cheese and minced meat to their Apam Balik. I wouldn't go that far as I like mine the old fashion way. Plain and simple, nuts and sugar will do.



I made this over the weekend as Diana requested for it and Carlos seems to like it a lot too. The only kueh that he will eat is Kuih Bakar and this Apam Balik. I’ve made a few version of it before but I find this one is the best. This recipe was adapted from Agnes Chang’s Hawker’s Delights cookbook.

Ingredients:
170 grm flour
100 grm rice flour
30 grm cornstarch
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
7 oz water (I used 8 oz)
150 grm sugar (I used only 80 grms)

Filling:

120 grm melted butter (I used only 80 grm)
150 grm sugar
Some toasted peanuts (crushed)
2 tbsp toasted sesame (optional)

Optional:
Some cream corn
Grated coconut

1. Sieve all the 3 flours, salt, baking powder and baking soda into the mixing bowl. Add in the sugar and mix well. Beat the eggs into the water, add in the vanilla. Add the eggs mixture into the flour and mix until smooth. Strain and let the batter rest in the fridge for 2 hours.
2. Heat up apam balik mold on a non stick pan, put about 2 ladle full of batter into the pan. Swirl it around until it covers the whole pan. Sprinkle some sugar on top and cover.



3. Once the bubbles start appearing on top of the pancake, sprinkle some peanut and melted butter on top or any type of fillings you prefer.
4. Once the side of the pancake turns brown, run a knife around the edges of pancake and fold the pancake into half. Remove and serve.




Note: I used a 9" non stick pan to made this and it yield 6 pieces of large pancakes. You can cut the pancakes into 2 before serving.

29 comments:

vanillasugarblog said...

i would love a couple plates please. pb filling gets me everytime.

CatLoverDC said...

Aduuuh...rindunya apam balik. I am also a Malaysian staying in the US, and I must say, I really miss the food back home.... I was just thinking of apam balik the other day, thank you for posting. Terliur nampak the pictures..must make tomorrow!

Jeannie said...

I call it Ban Chien Kuih and I like it the way you'd made it with peanuts, sugar and butter.

Kitchen Corner said...

Aiyo... this is one of my favorite snack in M'sia. But I never make it myself before. I'll try your recipe as I've just make some roasted peanut, thanks for sharing! Your apam balik make me so craving about it!

Unknown said...

Never seen or heard of this before, it looks really good i enjoy your blog

Nate @ House of Annie said...

Great job! I like both the crispy and the spongy versions, but I lean toward the crispy ones. I love it when they put a nice pat of real butter on before they sprinkle the peanuts and sugar!

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

so coincidence, I made this kueh recently too, but have yet to post it, hehehe..my kids just love this kueh, and my version is small in size..Your looks good too.

ReeseKitchen said...

yummy! I always buy this when I go back to my hometown. Its a malay stall, they added some sweetcorn in the fillings. I have yet try this, but its in my list, will get it done soon..;p

WendyinKK said...

I love the one in SS15 Pasar Malam too. Now the pasar malam shifted to SS3 (I think that's the name of the area), behind the flats near roundabout infront of Metropolitan college.

I love the one with lots of coconut in it. The coconut version is not found in Perak, and I've only seen it there in subang's pasar malam. I'm not sure if there are in other places.. but gosh.. u make me miss that fella's coconut tai gau meen...

But my all time favourite traditional tai gau meen is in Taman Sri Muda, Shah Alam. I've even done a post on this apam balik. http://eatingoutinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-apam-balik.html

Quinn said...

I call them Cheen Loong Pau. Any time, I would prefer butter but for these, I'll use Planta margarine because that's exactly what they sell in the pasar malam near my house!

Somewhere in Singapore said...

I like to eat this with peanut filling... hehe...

Cheah said...

Wow, looks like you can set up shop already. Looks good, will forward this to my girl in Melb to try it out! Thanks for sharing.

ann low said...

I love this kueh too. Love the older version type, the skin is about 1" thick and the peanut filling is a little sticky.

Rasa Malaysia said...

Gert - do you still have problems with my site? I asked my hosting company to scan the site thoroughly twice but there is no virus, I suspect it's one of the ads that is causing the false alert, but my ad networks are the largest in the US. So I don't know. Did you try using Firefox?

Regarding this, I tried making it once using "Famous Street Food of Penang" cookbook but it's not crispy. I believe hawkers use some special ingredient to make it crispy. Yours look great though. :)

Little Corner of Mine said...

Yummy! I like this kueh too!

Beachlover said...

this BCK look good!!lot of peanut lor! I like the one with crispy skin..I think you make the crispy skin b4,right? must find your crispy recipe and make one day soon!

Melina said...

I love, love, love Apam balik! I really should try making some.

ICook4Fun said...

Dawn. ha ha. My husband like anything peanuts too :)

CatloverDC, this is not too difficult to make. I hope you will try it out.

Jeannie, yes I prefer the old classic too.

Kitchen Corner, let me know how yours turn out.

Jennifurla, this is like a pancake with peanuts filling.

Nate, thanks.

Sonia, looking forward to see your posting :)

Reese, looking foward to see yours :)

ICook4Fun said...

Wendy, you lived in Subang before? Yes my family told me the pasar malam moved somewhere else. I too like it with fresh grated coconut. Will check out your posting.

Quinn, We too called them cheen loong pau.

Somewhere in Singapore, me too.

Cheah, hope your daughter will try to make this :)

Anncoo, yes the spongy kind :)

Rasa Malaysia, thanks. I went to RM it was fine but I tried clicking on your other blog my laptop gave me a virus warning and shut me off. I will try to use Firefox the next time.

LCOM, thanks.

Lesley, this is not as crispy as I wanted it to be. The next time I go back I will try looking for the moulds.

Melina, hope you like it.

The Sudden Cook said...

Wow! You can actually make these!!! This is a must buy whenever I go to the pasar malam!

pigpigscorner said...

I love this but duno what's the actualy name. I was say it's thick pancake with peanut filling =P

Dawn said...

My late father will call it "big face cake" - direct translation from Cantonese/Hakka. Our family favorite afternoon snack!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing this recipe and showing pictures step by step . it has helped me a lot ....I have made these and they are delicious !

NL.

Pei-Lin said...

Geez, you've hit the spot! Gert, this is my fave local delight! I can keep eating it without getting sick ... just like my love for chee cheong fun ... Hahaha! Oh, I call it "chin loong bao" too ... Sometimes, "apam balik" to the Malay.

WendyinKK said...

Oh Gert,
I tried this today..but it's not the batter that I'm looking for.
It's too cakey for me. I think it's due to the amount of rice flour and cornstarch in it.

I'm looking for a chewy texture with honeycombs that doesn't taste of lye, like my favourite Apam Balik in Shah Alam.

BTW, regarding where I stay, I used to stay in USJ, and still have a house there, of which we do stay in whenever we go to KL.

Christelle said...

These remind me of Penang! I really have to go back to Malaysia soon!! :)))

Anonymous said...

Your pancakes look great, but I was wondering if they'll turn out that way if I leave out the rice flour (since I don't have any left)? If I have to use it, can you recommend some kind of dupe for it?? & also, why do you use both baking powder & baking soda?? Can't I just use baking powder (which is much easier for me to get than baking soda)?? Hope you can help me with this :-)

char said...

i just gave it a try using your recipe and i must say it is great! love the spongy feel of the pancake! thanks for sharing :-)

Jess said...

This might sound silly but is ground rice the same as rice flour? Or should I be using glutinous rice flour? (I can only find either ground rice or glutinous rice flour in the shops here) Thanks!