Martabak Manis Coklat Keju

November 18, 2017

Martabak Manis Coklat Keju

Sweet Martabak with Chocolate and Cheese Filling:

Well, after a pretty long hiatus, and having spent quite a while now eating Indonesian food, and even cooking some of it, I am finally ready to post my first Indonesian recipe.

Martabak manis or sweet martabak is something like a giant, Indonesian pancake, steamed in a hot cast iron pan, and later slathered in butter, and topped with various toppings―my favourite being chocolate sprinkles, shredded cheese, and sweetened condensed milk. Although the exact origins of this dish are unclear, it certainly does at least seem to hearken back a little to Indonesia's Dutch colonial heritage, being one of the few traditional foods here that actually call for wheat flour, butter (read: margarine), or cheese, not to mention the hagelslag-type chocolate sprinkles that top it off. I've developed a real taste for martabak, partly because alongside other Indonesian sweets, it really reminds me a little of baking from back home. And also just because it's delicious.

I only recently started making martabak at home, but I'm very glad I've done so. It's wonderfully simple to make, and tastes just like the ones I buy along the road, but if I make it myself I can cut down on the butter topping a little, and enjoy it a little more often. And in the muggy heat of Jakarta, cooking in an oven is not as appealing as it is in cooler places, so I like having some sweets I can make right in a pan (especially since I don't actually have an oven of my own here.) I believe that this sweet martabak is sometimes made with a combination of baking powder and yeast, but in the interest of convenience, I just use baking powder and baking soda, and I love it this way just as well.

PS. f.y.i. there's another type of Martabak, "martabak telor" which is salty, and sort of like an omlet-mixture wrapped in a thin crispy dough, all deep fried, but that's a whole nother food for another time.

Martabak Manis (or Sweet Martabak):

Ingredients:

250 g flour (about 2 cups)
60 g sugar (about 10 tbsp, but to the taste)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
300 ml water (with a little milk mixed in, opt.)
1 egg
10 g melted butter
A little oil to coat the pan

Toppings:

Butter
Shredded white cheese (gouda, mild white cheddar, or mozzarella)
Chocolate sprinkles (the real chocolatey ones, not the fake sugary ones)
A generous sprinkle of sweetened, condensed milk
(OR crumbled oreo cookies, or a sweet spread, such as nutella, or crushed candy bars or chocolate. The options are endless, the only non-optional topping is the butter layer.)

Directions:

To make the batter, first whisk together all the dry ingredients in a medium size bowl, gradually whisk in the milk, butter, and egg.
Let rise for 1 hour.
Fry the batter in a large cast iron frying pan (without preheating) until it's bubbling, sprinkle some sugar on top, and then fry with the lid closed until fully cooked (10-15 min.)
Assembly:
Once the martabak is cooked through, remove it onto a flat, clean surface, such as a cutting board, and douse it in a generous coat of butter. The butter will melt and drip into the holes of the martabak.
Next, coat the martabak with the toppings of your choice. If using the traditional chocolate cheese topping, first grate the cheese over the top, then top with chocolate sprinkles and drizzle with condensed milk. For an authentic martabak, be very generous with the toppings: usually with street vendors, you will get such a thick coating of cheese and chocolate you could easily pick it apart and each side of the martabak separately. This is truly meant to be a decadent evening snack.
Finally, cut the martabak in half, fold it over like a sandwich, and cut it into squares for serving.

Note: Sometimes martabak is served with six or eight separate toppings. If so, each topping is added to a triangular portion of the martabak (think pizza slices), and the martabak is served sliced like a pie, without folding.

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Assembly (in photos):