Sweet Martabak

Hello all food lovers!

Today I bought a street snack called Martabak.

Martabak also considered as popular snack in Indonesia. Almost every city in Indonesia has this kind of snack.

There are two types of martabak : Sweet Martabak and Savoury Martabak (we usually call it Egg Martabak). I bought the sweet one. Then, in this post, i will talk about sweet martabak.

History

As far as i know (correct me if i'm wrong), Sweet Martabak is originated from Chinese people in Bangka Island. According to history, chinese people was migrated from the PRC to South East Asia, including Indonesia. Some of them landed on Bangka Island and stayed there until now.

Back in Bangka, years ago, these chinese people made some kind of big round pancake in order to celebrate the full-moon ceremony according to their ancestor's culture. The yellowish pancake was big enough, about 30 cm in diameter, and represents the shape of full-moon. Therefore, the name of this snack was not Martabak, but Kue Terang Bulan (means the cookie of full moon).

The name Martabak itself actually refers to the savoury martabak originated in Middle-east (please see this wiki). In Arabic, the savoury martabak was called as Mutabbaq. During the muslim conquest to India and South East Asia, the mutabbaq is also brought over. So, savoury martabak is also well known in Malaysia (known as Murtabak). FYI, the Arabic mutabbaq means folded. 

Then, Indonesian people accept this savoury martabak along with the Kue Terang Bulan and refer them as Martabak. While the savoury martabak gets the name of Martabak Telor (Egg martabak), the Kue Terang Bulan is called Martabak Manis (Sweet Martabak)

While it's very common today to have Sweet Martabak in any fillings (chocolate, cheese, fruits, etc), back then the sweet martabak is just plain simple without any fillings, only butter or margarine.

Overview

There are various name for Sweet Martabak. Some seller call their Martabak as Martabak Bangka (Martabak from Bangka Island-now Province of Bangka Belitung ) or Martabak Bandung (Martabak from city of Bandung, capital of West Java Province). But, mostly they are the same. Some seller use cart, while the others may use more permanent building such as kiosk or even well decorated building.

Sweet Martabak usually has dimension of 30 cm in diameter (round shaped) and about 3 cm in thickness. But we also can find smaller Sweet Martabak with diameter about 20 cm. Even, in schools, we often found Mini Sweet Martabak with diameter only 8 to 10 cm (suitable for small children).

Martabak consists of two parts : the cake and the fillings.

The cake is somehow rather similar to western pancake, but with differences. Pancake is usually smaller than Sweet Martabak, and both side of pancake (up and down side) usually brownish because both side exposed to the heat. While Sweet Martabak is only the down side exposed to heat. The other difference is pancake is round shaped when served, while Sweet Martabak is half-round because the half part is folded on to the other side, keeping the fillings in the middle.

There are many fillings for Sweet Martabak. Creative vendors even can create rare fillings that hard to find in any other place. Some common fillings are:

1. Plain (no fillings at all or just plain sugar)
   
2. Chocolate rice and crushed peanut
3. Grated cheese
4. Mix of Chocolate, peanut, and cheese

While less common fillings are:

1. Raisins
2. Durian (real durian, not artificial)
3. Black sweet-rice
4. Jackfruit
5. Strawberry (could be real strawberry or strawberry jam)
6. Boiled corn

There are so many possibilites of fillings, because Sweet Martabak has unique characteristics that somehow it would just match with any fillings (like pizza). Usually the fillings also including butter or margarine, and sweet-condensed milk.

Ingredients

The most important part of Sweet Martabak is the batter. The batter must be just right, not too thick, but also not too thin.

I don't know the exact formula to make Sweet Martabak, here is based on my observation :

some wheat flour

some water

some egg

some yeast for fermentation

some sugar

Mix all well until it becomes liquid batter.

Then, like making a pancake, pour a cup of that liquid batter into the special cooking pan. Spread the batter evenly in the cooking pan, but don't spread it too thin. 

After few minutes, the batter will expand due to the heat. At this step, pour a fingertip of sugar evenly on top of the half-done pancake, then close the cooking-pan with a lid.

After a few minutes, the pancake will be ready. Then you can put the fillings on top of the pancake.

Hmm, enough talking, i think you better watch this video, it's easier to understand.

Here is a video on how to make Sweet Martabak. (I shot this video myself using digital camera)

Where to Buy and Price

Sweet Martabak is quite common. Usually the seller also sells Egg Martabak as well. But there's also a lot of seller who specialize in Sweet Martabak only.

Some Sweet Martabak are very famous. But usually only throughout the city. In Jakarta, some famous Sweet Martabak are :

1. Martabak Fatmawati in Jalan Fatmawati, South Jakarta or Muara Karang, North Jakarta (has many branches). Sells Sweet Martabak in two size : big (diameter 30 cm) and mini (diameter 10 cm). It's well known for it's Martabak Durian. The price is quite expensive, up to 75000 rupiahs (November 2008)
2. Martabak San Fransisco (has many branches). One of their branches is in Green Ville, West Jakarta. Sells regular size Sweet Martabak (diameter 30 cm). Quite well known for it's Crispy Thin Sweet Martabak. The price is not as expensive as Martabak Fatmawati.
   
3. Martabak Air Mancur in Bogor, West Java Province (one hour from Jakarta). It is well known for it's various fillings. The price is around 50000 rupiahs.

The Sweet Martabak I bought today is just from a regular and not-famous small vendor. I bought it in Patra Tomang, West Jakarta. I bought the one with Cheese fillings. The price is quite cheap, only 7000 rupiahs because it's only 20 cm in diameter (medium size).

Here are some photo of Sweet Martabak :

Pic 1 The seller uses two-wheeled cart

Pic 2 My Sweet Martabak, cut into five.

Pic 3 The cheese filling is so tasty. 

I opened the piece on the left so you can imagine that actually the cake is folded into half

Let's Learn Bahasa Indonesia

How do you say Martabak Manis (Sweet Martabak) in Bahasa Indonesia?

Mar as in Mars without s

ta as in tart without rt

bak like saying buck

Ma as in Mama

nis as in furnish with silent h

Visit Indonesia

There you go, my story about Sweet Martabak or Martabak Manis. The taste is soo sweet and filling. If you just can't hold yourself, just fly over here to my beautiful Indonesia :)