Pillowy pizza-flavoured apam balik that tastes like the actual factor & questionable Nutella Oreo desserts

There’s one thing so comforting concerning the apam balik— the style of crushed peanuts, candy corn, and sugar sandwiched between a folded pillowy pancake at all times jogs my memory of visits to the pasar malam after college. That’s in all probability the way you bear in mind the dish too. At Apam Balik Kuhot in Shah Alam, creativity is essential, and their collection of flavours will depart you awestruck.

Apam balik could also be one among Malaysia’s most typical road meals. Not solely is that this delicacy comparatively straightforward to search out on a day-to-day foundation, most (if not all) Malay weddings these days have an apam balik stall, so visitors can benefit from the freshly made dessert. Even if you happen to’re not one to take pleasure in it on the common, you’ve in all probability discovered your self indulging throughout the month of Ramadan, the place stall after stall of apam balik might be discovered on the month-long bazaars.

Those discovered at Apam Balik Kuhot are on a distinct stage. Aside from their distinctive flavour combos, prospects can watch the method from begin to end. It’s nearly like a efficiency; watch because the employee sprinkles toppings, and fold the apam balik in half simply because the outer crust turns golden brown. 

What I attempted at Apam Balik Kuhot

The stall is located inside a humble nasi campur restaurant, proper on the entrance. Because of this there’s area so that you can take pleasure in your meals if you wish to have it straight off the range. 

The primary cause why I used to be concerned with making an attempt Apam Balik Kuhot was as a result of I had seen a number of TikTok and Reel movies about their pizza apam balik— intriguing, no? This was the primary of its sort that I’ve come throughout, and the feedback on these movies confirmed blended reactions (because the web normally does).

So naturally, we ordered the massive Beef Apam Balik with additional cheese (RM12). With out the additional cheese, it might’ve value RM9. However as they are saying, go large or go house. The menu stunned me just a little, as what meals influencers on-line market as “pizza apam balik”, is listed as “beef” on the stall. Not even “beef pepperoni”, simply “beef”. That being mentioned, I can see why many would see this dish as a cheeky, localised Italian snack.

As quickly as I opened the field, I used to be hit with a powerful waft of tomato sauce and pepperoni. The apam balik was nonetheless so sizzling, the filling was oozing out like lava. One factor about this place is that their portion sizes are true to what they declare. Besar was really besar, in all probability sufficient to feed a complete household.

Asking for additional cheese was undoubtedly the suitable transfer because the cheese pull was satisfying. Not solely did we get a fairly lengthy pull from choosing up a chunk, but in addition once we bit into it and pulled again.

Kopibing: Reasonably priced kopitiam in Starhill Gallery, serves nasi lemak & kahwin toast from RM5.90

In all honesty, I wasn’t anticipating greatness from this apam balik. I had gone in absolutely anticipating it to be a kind of gimmicky menu gadgets created only for virality on social media. Upon first chew, I used to be confirmed fallacious— it tasted like an precise pizza. 

The apam itself was extremely comfortable with an ideal golden hue, and it didn’t style eggy in any respect. Whereas the fresh-off-the-stove warmth did depart us huffing and puffing, the quantity of melted cheese inside was simply sufficient to truly style the ingredient with out it being overpowering. It additionally didn’t depart me feeling jelak after 1 piece, however I did really feel full after 2. 

The tomato sauce used got here straight from a Prego can. The flavour was fairly robust, which I loved. Nonetheless, I feel the tartness may be an excessive amount of for many who aren’t followers of something tomato-based.

Though I watched them add a really liberal quantity of beef pepperoni slices, there have been some bites that had been void of the ingredient. I used to be both unfortunate and bought a bald spot, or the pepperoni had slipped out with the cheese that now coated the underside of the field.

In between bites of the savoury beef apam balik, we additionally had a small Nutella Oreo Apam Balik (RM12). Now, right here’s the factor. This candy dessert wasn’t simply stuffed with the favored chocolate hazelnut unfold and candy cocoa cookies. It additionally got here with the common apam balik toppings, and this threw me off. Personally, I don’t assume that this mixture labored, and right here’s why.

The crushed peanuts utterly overpowered the entire dish. With each chew, I used to be wanting ahead to some chocolatey goodness. However with each chew, I used to be met with a mounds of peanuts.  Wanting on the cross part, the apam balik was crammed to the brim with crushed oreos, however I couldn’t style any of it. I strongly consider that they might’ve used much less peanuts, or none in any respect.

As we began off with pizza variation, we thought that Nutella would’ve adopted go well with and oozed out, however what dripped down was largely the terrifyingly yellow candy corn. Earlier than you say I’m being dramatic, the candy corn stained our fingers yellow.

The one commendable half about this was the apam balik, not the filling. It was crunchy on the skin and comfortable within the center, whereas nonetheless sustaining structural integrity to hold the burden of the fillings.

Closing ideas

Notably, the smaller apam balik appear to be a lot crispier than their bigger counterparts. I feel it’d be wiser to order primarily based on the kind of apam balik you like (comfortable or crunchy), slightly than how a lot of it you need. Based mostly on how good their batter is, it’s clear that these behind Apam Balik Kuhot are masters of this widespread road meals. Though their flavour choice is extensive, I want I had opted for the unique one as properly.

I feel Apam Balik Kuhot is certainly well worth the go to if you happen to’re within the space or dwell close by. As it’s positioned by the roadside that’s lined with many different stalls, you might need points discovering a parking spot, so I recommend visiting throughout non-peak hours.

Anticipated injury: RM2 – RM12 per pax

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