Sabtu, 02 Agustus 2014

Traditional Cake: Apem


Apem, a traditional cake which almost every Idul Fitri we make at home.  Apem is made of rice flour, palm sugar, water and rest the dough over night until it looks up.

Rest the dough overnight.
 The next day,  add grated coconut, eggs, panili, sliced Kaffir lime leaves. Stir well. 

 

 After added coconut grated, eggs, sliced kaffir leaves and panili. jackfruit or pandan leaves also can be added, but we don't have ones that time and we just add panili.

The dough is ready to cook with special mold placed on coir fire furnace. The heat should be medium. This can be the most difficult part to do.

Apem mold is heated on a coir furnace.


Smear each hole with cooking oil and pour the dough. Cook until the side turns brown. 


Turn the other side and cook until it turns brown.


This is it... Hm.... Yummy....


 Once cooked, this cake taste sweet, tender and fragrant. Unfortunately we can't taste when it is still warm, we're still fasting when frying the cake. 
I used to don't like this cake. I wonder why my mother  always make a cake which I think is quite a bother  to make when Idul Fitri comes. The process of frying over the coir fire was the one which most made me dislike. It is hot, long, and the smoke could poignant the eyes if embers do not remain stable. I lately understand, apem which is made by my mother is different in taste with the ones  commonly found on the market. That is why our relatives always ask for apem when they visit our house in Idul Fitri, then it's why my mother almost always serves these cakes. We make it with a very traditional recipe, using no additional ingredients. No yeast or baking powder added, we just rest the dough overnight. Panili and sliced Kaffir lime leaves make delicious flavorful apem ... I think I can't wait to taste it again, :)

What is the traditional food do you like?


10 komentar:

  1. Ada pelbagai cara untuk bikin apem ni ya... pasti sangat enak apabila menjadi permintaan saudara mara yang bertandang.. jika disini ada pelbagai juga .. disebut sebagai apam.. ada yang namanya apam gula merah, apam beras malah yang dicampur Eno pun ada.. oh ya Kak Mar mahu panggil kamu dengan nama apa ya?

    BalasHapus
  2. Panggil dengan nama Hari saja Kak Mar..

    iya, ini hanya salah satu cara membuat apem, yang sangat tradisional. Ternyata di Malaysia pun ada kue apam ya? Hampir sama juga ada apam gula merah dan apam beras. Saudara kami pasti menanyakan kue apem ini, mereka tinggal jauh di kota lain dan tak menemukan apem yang tradisional. Jadi mereka pasti rindu dengan rasa yang sangat tradisional. Eno dipakai untuk mengembangkan kue ya?

    BalasHapus
  3. Saya tak pernah tahu kalau adonannya pakai daun jeruk. Di tempat saya tidak ada tradisi membuat apem. Disini biasanya bikin jenang tape, wajik kletik dan kadang tape ketan, tapi sekarang sudah jarang yang membuatnya.

    BalasHapus
    Balasan
    1. Sebenarnya ini bukan tradisi masyarakat di sini, hanya kebanyakan dari keluarga kami menyukai kue ini dan saat lebaran kami berkumpul jadi kue ini menjadi salah satu pengobat rindu saja. Saya tadinya juga tidak menyukainya.
      Daun jeruk purut, panili atau nangka digunakan sebagai aroma saja Bu,tidak memakaipun tak apa, dan lazimnya yang dijual di pasar sepertinya plain. :)
      Hampir sama juga sajian tradisionalnya, dan hampir sama pula saat ini sudah banyak ditinggalkan, tergantikan dengan sajian yang lebih praktis tentunya.

      Hapus
  4. These look amazing! I want to try them :)

    BalasHapus
  5. Loved reading this. I love all food! But my mother's special recipes are my favourites.

    BalasHapus
    Balasan
    1. Thanks a lot, Diane.... Your mother must be very great.

      Hapus
  6. This is a fascinating post and I love seeing old recipes and practices. So in the first instance the dough has a natural fermentation process in the resting period. This is why the cakes taste so different to the commercially prepared ones in shops I'm guessing. I have an Indian friend who also uses the natural fermentation in rice flour mixture too and I am learning about the many health benefits of using this traditional practice. Pay attention to your mother carefully because I suspect she has lots of wisdom to pass to you. I have another friend whose mother lives in Malaysia and she brought moon cakes and Dodol Gula Melaka when she came to visit today.

    BalasHapus
    Balasan
    1. Thank you Tanya...
      I think so, natural fermentation will make the cakes taste different to the commercially prepared ones..
      Hey... Dodol gula taste good.. Do you like it?

      Hapus