Kue Lekker (Indonesian Crispy Crepes)
Crisp, ultra-thin, and crispy Kue Lekker is a popular street food snack in Indonesia. Easy to make with just simple ingredients and a regular frying pan, they are ready for your choice of sweet or savory fillings.
Have you ever had crepes before? How about crispy crepes?
Instead of the soft crepes everyone is familiar with, Indonesians have Kue Lekker, which is basically crispy crepes. Kue Lekker is a popular street food snack, usually sold in food carts that are lining up the street at night or near schools during the afternoon.
The sellers will make them as you ordered. Traditionally, they are made in small woks, but you can find them made in rotating pans nowadays. The round pans rotate by machine quickly during cooking. This way, the crepes can be super thin and cook faster. Then, they are filled with fillings and folded in half.
Making Kue Lekker at home is quite easy. Today I am walking you through the entire process including crucial success tips and a multitude of filling ideas.
What is Kue Lekker?
Kue Lekker is a type of Indonesian crepe, made with flour, eggs, milk, and sugar. It is an Indonesian traditional snack from the Solo and Surabaya regions.
The snack was adapted from Western pancakes during the Dutch colonial era. The local residents made them thinner for economical reasons. The name of this snack food was created because in ancient times many Dutch people lived in Solo and liked it. Once finished eating it, they often said “lekker” which means delicious.
The crepe is served with various fillings. In old times, this snack was filled with sliced bananas and palm sugar. Nowadays, it can be filled with various sweet and savory fillings.
Ingredients You Need for the Crispy Crepe Batter
- Rice flour – It makes the crepes crisp and brown more easily.
- Cornstarch – To thicken the batter.
- All-purpose flour – Add a little bit of gluten to the batter.
- Baking soda – Promote browning and make the batter crispy.
- Salt – To taste.
- Granulated sugar – Add a subtle sweetness to the batter.
- Egg – It acts as a binder.
- Vanilla extract – To enhance the aroma with a hint of vanilla taste.
- Milk – Liquid to thin the batter.
Filling Variations
Kue Lekker is a blank canvas for many different fillings. Here are the most common filling variations you usually find:
- Chocolate sprinkle
- Grated cheddar cheese
- Sweetened condensed milk
- Chocolate condensed milk
- Thinly sliced banana
- Brown sugar
More filling ideas:
- Coarsely chopped toasted nuts
- Jam or spread
- Thinly sliced sausage
- Smoked beef
- Mayonnaise
- Ketchup
Since the batter is super thin, it is nice to keep things simple, light, and not too much. If you use wet filling, make sure to add them last just before folding the crepes so that they do not get soggy during cooking.
Do I Need a Special Pan?
Actually, cooking Kue Lekker so they are evenly thin and relatively round can be a bit challenging, but you don’t even need any special equipment! Just a small-medium non-stick frying pan and a spatula and you are ready to make them.
How to Make
- Make the batter. In a large bowl, mix rice flour, cornstarch, all-purpose flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Add egg, vanilla extract, and milk. Whisk until well combined.
- Heat a non-stick frying pan on low heat. Once the pan is hot, add a ladle of batter and twirl the pan to spread it out thinly.
- Add the filling of your choice on top.
- Once the edges are golden brown, fold the crepe and transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.
Success Tips
- Use a good quality non-stick pan – To prevent the batter from sticking to the pan.
- Stir the batter – The batter will settle at the bottom after some time, so make sure you stir the batter each time before you cook.
- Twirl the pan – Pour the batter into the center of the hot pan. Lift the pan and twirl it so the batter stretches as far out as it can go. This crucial technique is much easier than it sounds and you can watch me do it in the video tutorial on the recipe.
- Keep the crepes as thin as possible – The thinner the crepe, the crisper it is. The thick crepe will not be crispy no matter how long you cook them.
- Control the heat – Cook on low heat to make sure the crepes will not get burned. However, it needs to be cooked until golden brown at the bottom or they will not be crispy.
How to Store
Kue Lekker has the best crispy texture right after it is cooled completely from the pan. After that, the crunchiness will quickly diminish in just 1-2 hours. It turns soft and tough. Therefore, consume the freshly cooked Kue Lekker immediately for the best texture.
Only cook the crepes how much you plan to eat. Any leftover batter can be kept in an airtight container and then stored in the fridge. The batter will keep for about 2 days.
Kue Lekker
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup (100 gr) rice flour
- 1/4 cup (30 gr) cornstarch
- 1/4 cup (30 gr) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 5 tbsp (65 gr) granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (250 ml) milk
- Chocolate sprinkles
Instructions
- Mix dry ingredients – In a large bowl, sift rice flour, cornstarch, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Add granulated sugar. Mix until well combined.
- Add wet ingredients – Make a hole in the middle. Add egg and vanilla extract. Whisk slightly. Gradually add milk while whisking constantly until the batter is smooth. If your batter is lumpy, you can strain the batter through a sieve to remove the lumps.
- Cook crepes – Heat a medium non-stick frying pan (the bottom of my pan is 7 inch/18 cm in diameter) over low heat. Once the pan is hot, spoon a ladle of batter and twirl the pan to spread it out thinly.
- Sprinkle chocolate sprinkles or add the fillings you prefer. If you use wet ingredients for your filling, make sure to add them at last just before folding the crepe to prevent it from getting soggy.
- Fold – Cook for about 5 minutes for each crepe or until the edges are golden brown. Fold the crepe into half.
- Cool – Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. The crepes will continue to get crispy as they cool down. They are best eaten immediately for the best texture.
