What is Apam Balik?
Apam Balik is a dish that’s famous in my home country, Malaysia. It is also a known dish in the nearby countries like Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei. It’s an Asian style pancake turnover with varieties of fillings inside. The fillings can vary from the most traditional one like roasted peanuts, sugar and creamy sweet corn to chocolate and even cheese.
The thickness of an Apam Balik can also be different. Some like it very thin and others not so much. Apam Balik is different on its own because when it’s fully cooked, it’s folded in half. Thus the name turnover or balik.
Apam Balik memories
I grew up eating and selling Apam Balik with my father and my siblings. My mother would prepare the ingredients and my father would then prepare the batter when he came back from work. Back then he used these rattan sticks that were tied together to be used as a hand whisk.
I can still clearly remember the smell of the batter throughout the house everytime he prepared it. He built our street cart with 8 burners for cooking 8 apam balik at once. We even had the apam balik pans. Yes, the pan is different from our daily cooking pans. We would push our apam balik street cart beside our house and start selling. Such memories.
Holding to those memories makes me excited to share this recipe.
Apam Balik
The recipe is actually a straightforward one. It involves putting all the ingredients in a bowl and mixing them until there are no lumps. After that, the batter should rest until it gets foamy and bubbly. When you see that, then you know the batter is going to be good. Give the batter a few whisks before using it.
For this recipe I’m using an 8 inch (20 cm) non stick pan and I get 5 pieces of apam balik. Using a low medium heat, melt some unsalted butter. Use a kitchen paper to spread the melted butter all around the pan, leaving almost no melted butter visible in the pan.
When the pan is hot, pour in some batter and using the back of the ladle, make some swirls to spread the batter evenly. Then cover the pan and cook for a few minutes until you see bubbles are formed on the pancake surface. Remove the lid and now comes the fun part.
Sprinkle generously (yes) granulated sugar, chopped roasted peanuts and creamy sweet corn. Then put the lid back on and continue cooking until the pancake is fully cooked. You can tell if it’s cook by looking at the edges.
It should look golden brown and not sticking to the pan. Remove the lid and for a final touch, place some pieces of unsalted butter in the middle of the pancake and fold it in half. And with that, you have yourself an apam balik. Easy, right?
I cover the pan to make the batter cooks faster. If you have the patience, skip that part. No harm. Like I mentioned earlier, of course you can put whatever fillings that you like. A good apam balik should have that smooth skin and fluffy soft inside. If you haven’t tried any apam balik before, you might want to give this recipe a try. Do let me know if you like it. Enjoy!
If you are interested in Malaysian food recipes, do check out my other recipes like beef rendang, nasi lemak, nasi goreng kampung or simply visit my Malaysian recipes, there are more. Thank you!
Watch how to make apam balik in the video below:
Apam Balik
Ingredients
The batter
- 1 cup all purpose flour (130 gr)
- 1/2 cup self rising flour (65 gr)
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar (25 gr), not 1/4 cup as said in the recipe video
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp dry yeast
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg , room temperature
- 1 cup warm milk (250 ml)
The filling
- granulated sugar , as needed
- roasted chopped peanuts , as needed
- creamy sweet corn , as needed
- some unsalted butter
Instructions
The batter
- In a bowl, add in all the batter ingredients. Whisk everything together just until combined and no lumps. Cover tightly with a cling film and leave to rest for 30 minutes, in a warm and draft free place.
- After 30 minutes, the batter should be foamy and almost double its volume. Give it a whisk before using.
Cooking
- Melt some unsalted butter in a non stick pan. I use an 8 inch (20 cm) pan. Using a kitchen paper, spread the melted butter on the pan's surface. Using a ladle, pour in around 3/4 cup (190 ml) batter into the pan. Use less batter if you like it thinner. Using the back of the ladle, swirl and spread the batter evenly. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 2-3 minutes until bubbles are formed.
- Remove the lid. Sprinkle evenly a generously amount of granulated sugar, followed by chopped roasted peanuts and lastly several teaspoon of creamy sweet corn. Cover the pan again and let it continue cooking until it's fully cooked.
- Remove the lid. Put some slices of unsalted butter. Run a spatula all around the edges to release it from the pan. It should come out easily. Fold it in half and serve. Enjoy!
Note
- If your batter turns too thick, simply add a splash of milk to loosen it up (see the correct consistency in the video above).
Hello Bea!
Can the batter be refrigerated overnight? Will it alter the way it turns out?
Hi Sumi! I haven’t tried it so I can’t really say, sorry!
Recipe is very easy to follow. I don’t have some ingredients so I substituted cashew nuts for peanuts, banana slices for cream corn and added shredded coconut flakes. Delicious! Thanks Bea for sharing this wonderful recipe.
You twist on it sounds delish Yvonne! Thanks for your feedback! 🙂
Hello ,
Thank you so much for your recipe!
I had done it successfully ，so great!
Most thankful if you can u please share the crispy thinner version.
Thanks and really appreciate your dedication.
Rgds,
Doris
Awesome Doris! Will look into the thinner version, thank you!
Hi there! Your recipe looks great! Can’t wait to try it! However, I’ve seen some recipes that do not use yeast. Is that possible? Thanks!
Hi. Thanks for another amazing post. One of my fav childhood snack. I made it and turned out very well. Texture was very good. Just wondering can u please consider posting the crispy thinner version that they sell at pasar malam in Malaysia. Thanks and really appreciate your dedication. Chloe
Hi
I bought unsalted peanuts but after roastg it became wet. When not roasted i am not able to get it finely grounded🤷🏻♀️
Hello, if I would like to do egg free ones, do you have any substitute to suggest for egg? Additionally, without baking soda, would it still work?
Great recipe! Only thing was when I first made the batter, it was very thick. I made the first Apam Balik it turned very hard. I suggest adding more milk until the batter becomes drippy.
Still, a great recipe. Thanks Bea!
Sorry to hear that Anita! Glad that you liked it anyway, thank you!
Hi can I skip the baking soda?
Thanks
Unfortunately no as it helps with the texture and also for the pancake to rise. Hope it helps.
hello kakak,
allow me to ask you a few question.
1. must we mix the plain and self rising flour or can we just use the self rising flour alone.
2. can we use water instead of 250ml of milk. any difference it makes? in the push cart Malaysia, do they really use milk?
3. any difference if we use baking powder instead of baking soda? i know baking soda will give a double rise during heat…
4. why some of the outer skin brown nicely and some don’t?
We loved this apam balik when we went to Malaysia for a vacation. I’m glad I found your website because now I can make it at home.
I’ve made this recipe for several times now and the apam balik were delicious!
Thank you for sharing!
Lisa M
Hi Lisa! I’m happy to know that you’re having fun and enjoying the apam balik 😀 . Thank you for your comment! XOXO
How many full apam baliks would this make?
This recipe makes 5.
made these 3x during ramadhan this year.. oh Bea, this is lovely, and super easy to make. parents and friends commented that it’s super yummy! thanks Bea!
greetings from Singapore xx
Oh yeaaaayy! I’m happy to know that Rosita! This is one of my favourite childhood snack! Thank you so much for your feedback! XOXO
Hi👋, is this warm milk..u mean heat up the milk…? (Bought from shop)
Can it be replace by thick coconut milk?
Wow….the yeast 1 1/2 tsp + baking soda, could it be reduce?(won’t be that fluffy, ha).
TQ……😀
Hi Kana! Yes, you warm the milk by heating it 🙂
I made these apam balik for Ramadan fast breaking dinner and they were so delicious.
Keep sharing your amazing recipes. God bless, thank you.
That’s great, thank you so much Idham!