6 Kinds of Murtabak that You Can't Find in Malaysia

Image by Julian Teh

Hello! Welcome back to our 6th blog!

For this blog, we will talk about popular street food in Malaysia and Indonesia called MURTABAK (Malaysia) or MARTABAK (Indonesia).

Murtabak or Martabak is food that similar to pancake which is stuffed or folded with fillings. In Malaysia, Murtabak is fried and stuffed with minced meat, egg, and vegetables and eaten with curry and some condiments.

BUT, Indonesian Murtabak has two varieties, sweet and savory, which is different than Malaysia.

So, what kinds of Indonesian Murtabak that Malaysia doesn't have and how do they look like?

Find it out here!

MARTABAK MANIS

1. Martabak Piring

Martabak Piring Tipis & Tebal (Image by Cerita Medan) & The Cooking Tools (Image by Ria Sitompul)

• Has two types which are tipis (thin) and tebal (thick)
• Thin martabak is like a crepe, while thick martabak is like a pancake
• Cooked by using a small plate under burning charcoal
• Base flavor is margarine/butter with sugar
• Class topping is chocolate (using chocolate sprinkles), but other flavors, such as peanuts, cheese, choco peanuts, choco cheese, and 3 combination are also available

2. Martabak Bangka

Normal Martabak Bangka, Martabak Gulung & Martabak Mini (Image by masteresep, Christine Lie & maknai.com)

• Originated from Bangka, a province in Indonesia
• Also known as Martabak Terang Bulan due to its shape like a full moon before folding
• Bigger, thicker, and more fattening than Martabak Piring
• Cooked by using round iron/steel mould
• Base flavor is varied, such as margarine/butter (normal), pandan (green), black glutinous rice/black forest/charcoal (black) or red velvet (red)
• Offers the same flavors as Martabak Piring with additional toppings, such as fruit jam, raisins, banana, choco banana, cheese banana, ice cream, and other combination of flavors, are also available 
• Unlike Martabak Piring, condensed milk is put along with the topping and one portion can be served for few people
• There're other versions which are rolled "Martabak Gulung" and smaller version "Martabak Mini"

3. Martabak Pizza

Martabak Pizza (Image by Martabak Factory)

• Modern-style of Sweet Martabak
• Based ingredients are the same as Martabak Bangka, but it isn't folded and cut similar to pizza
• Each slice of martabak is topped with different flavors, either the traditional toppings or modern toppings, such as Oreo, green tea Kit Kat, almond, Nutella, Toblerone chocolate, and others

MARTABAK ASIN

4. Martabak Mesir

Martabak Mesir (Image by Sekedar Judul)

• Firstly sold by dark-skinned and Arabian-face people, caused Indonesians to misunderstand that it was from Egypt
• Also known as Martabak Kubang, as it is originated from Kubang, and Martabak Padang due to the sellers are mostly Padangneses
• Has similar look as Malaysian Murtabak, but the ingredients and serving are different
• Cooked with some spices similarly to rendang or gulai
• Accompanied with dark vinegar sauce (like Pempek sauce) which consists of shallots, chilies, and tomato

5. Martabak HAR

Martabak HAR (Image by Martabak HAR Cab Radio Dalam)

• HAR stands for Haji Abdul Razak, the founder's name
• Made of egg (chicken/duck) which is enveloped with martabak skin
• Eaten with thick potato curry and soy-vinegar sauce with green chilies

6. Martabak Aceh

Martabak Aceh (Image by detikFood)

• The look is similar to omelette
• Martabak dough is cooked similar to roti canai firstly and then is enveloped with the mixture of beaten egg, shallots, and green onions
• Served with pickled condiments and gulai kari

That's all for this blog. Thank you and hope you enjoy what we've posted so far 😊
You can find other interesting information about the differences between Malaysia and Indonesia in our previous blogs.

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