Martabak is commonly referred for fried stuffed pancakes, however in Indonesia; we have two kinds of these heavenly foods: Martabak Telur (pan fried bread with eggs inside) and Martabak Manis (sweet pancake with various sweet toppings).

MARTABAK TELUR

Martabak is often described as spicy folded omelet pancake with bits of vegetables. The filling batter was made from eggs (chicken’s or duck’s or both), some meat (minced beef or chicken), spring onions, and seasoning (salt and paper). The thin of Martabak skin, will be folded into an envelope shape, then bring it into a deep fry process, and become very crispy.

MARTABAK MANIS

Most of people said Martabak Manis is one of the guiltiest pleasure, sinful but heavenly delicious. We can call it Indonesian sweet pancake as well. Martabak Manis is start with a thin, full of egg batter and very much like pancake batter. It gets deposited into a deep, oiled cast iron pan where it slowly cooks until the center puffs up with tiny holes. Next, a spoonful of butter will literally dropped on the hot Martabak for good measure, and it will melt quickly. Wysman butter also will add on to the Martabak, which gives great fragrance for the pancake. This is the key of a good Martabak, a lot of butter involved. The toppings are generously sprinkled, such as chocolate rice, peanuts, and cheese. Nowadays, a lot of variation toppings.

Like most Indonesian street food, Martabak is incredibly cheap for overseas visitors. Depending on the fillings chosen, the average price for a plate of hot, fried, delicious squares is about USD 3 – USD 10.

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. You can find Martabak in most of Bali area, though every store has different taste and texture. Happy Martabak hunting!