Malaysian · snack

Apam Balik (Peanut and Sweetcorn Griddle Pancake)

Name: Apam Balik (Peanut and Sweetcorn Griddle Pancake)
Prep time: 18 min
Total time: 2 h 18 min
Cuisine: Malaysian
Ingredients: all-purpose flour — 180 g; rice flour — 40 g; yeast — 5 g; baking soda — 3 g; caster sugar — 40 g; salt — 3 g; egg — 50 g; water — 400 g; peanuts — 150 g; caster sugar — 80 g; sweet corn kernels — 200 g; butter — 100 g

Apam Balik (Peanut and Sweetcorn Griddle Pancake) reads sweetness 7.1, richness 5.3 and nutty 4.5 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Malaysian snack, about 2 hr 18 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 4.0 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 7.6 / 10
Sour & Bright — 0.5 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 1.8 / 10
Rich & Fat — 6.7 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 0.7 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Sweetness 7.1 · Richness 5.3 · Nutty 4.5 · Salinity 3.5 · Funk & Ferment 2.9 · Umami 2.5 · Earthy 1.7 · Fruity 1.6 · Floral 0.7 · Bitterness 0.6 · Sourness 0.5

What's in it (12)

all-purpose flour — 180 g
rice flour — 40 g
yeast — 5 g
baking soda — 3 g
caster sugar — 40 g
salt — 3 g
egg — 50 g
water — 400 g
peanuts — 150 g
caster sugar — 80 g
sweet corn kernels — 200 g
butter — 100 g

Time & effort: about 2 hr 18 min (18 min active) · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 252.1 kcal, 5.8 g protein, 12.6 g fat, 30.3 g carbs

Dietary: Vegetarian · Contains dairy · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

Whisk the plain flour, rice flour, yeast, sugar and salt together, then whisk in the water and the egg until you have a smooth batter about the consistency of single cream. Cover and leave 2 hours at room temperature, until the surface is domed with bubbles and it smells faintly beery.
Whisk in the bicarbonate of soda just before cooking. The yeast gives flavour and the bicarbonate gives the lacy, hole-riddled crumb that makes apam balik what it is; use both.
Mix the crushed peanuts with the filling sugar and set aside. Crush the peanuts unevenly, so some are dust and some are still in halves.
Heat a 20 cm heavy non-stick or cast iron pan over medium-low heat and butter it well. Ladle in enough batter to cover the base 5 mm deep and immediately swirl it up the sides an inch or so with the back of the ladle to make a rim.
Cover and cook 4 to 5 minutes without touching it. The surface will fill with open holes and set from wet to matt; the base should be a mottled deep gold and the rim crisp. This is the moment people get wrong by cooking it hot and fast, which gives a dense pancake with a closed crumb.
Scatter the peanut sugar over the whole surface, then the sweetcorn, then dot with butter and cook 1 minute more so the sugar melts into the crumb.
Fold in half, press lightly, slide onto a board and cut into wedges. Eat hot, while the outside is still crisp and the peanuts crunch. The thin crisp version sold from stalls uses a wetter batter and a hotter pan; this is the thick soft version.
Repeat with the remaining batter, buttering the pan each time. The recipe makes 4 pancakes.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Konafa (Kunafa) — Egyptian
Canjeero with Ghee and Sugar — Somali
Puto (Steamed Rice Cakes) — Filipino
Challah (Six-Strand Sabbath Bread) — Ashkenazi
Coco Bread — Jamaican

Keep reading: what sweetness, richness, nutty mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.