Kueh Splendour 9: Apam Balik Durian

又有口福

Durian stalls are sprouting every corner in the heartlands' marketplace since month of May. Its distinctive sweet fragrance yet strong and penetrating smell lingers in the air and there is no way any non-durian lovers can avoid during the season. It's a tragic and sad to see them exhibiting negative appreciation while the rest of us are digging fingers into the custard-like flesh of the seeds. Musang King, a popular cultivar with bright yellow flesh and its highly potent taste has a hefty price tag to it. While enjoying the smooth and almost seedless one ($14 per kg) at the stall, I was also waiting for the inperfect ones to be sold at a song $5 per pack which I planned to stir into the apom balik batter. Returned home happily with a $5 pack in bag; and the next day , Yuliana and I had a great time dishing out these petite apoms to others' delights.

Step one, get hold of a medium size mixing bowl, sieve the flour, add in the salt, sugar, yeast and baking powder. Get a whisk and swirl them a few strokes for a even blend. In a small cooking pot, melt the crushed gula melaka and three knotted pandan leaves over low fire. Always sieve gula melaka syrup to remove the unknown inedibles and set aside to cool.

Get both hands into disposable gloves to remove durian seeds. Avoid direct contact with the durian pulp. The durian smell stubbornly clings to the skin for at least two days and isn't aromatic as I described above. Combine water with durian pulp and gives it a quick blend. Lastly, combine the gula melaka syrup and durian pulp blend with the dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Using a whisk helps to achieve a smooth texture faster.

Heat up a frying pan or apam pan and lightly grease the surface. Fill two thirds with the batter and cook over medium low fire. Once the surface of the batter is dry, use satay stick to loosen edges and flip it to form semi-circle.