Apam Balik Kuhot: Pillowy pizza-flavoured apam balik that tastes like the real thing & questionable Nutella Oreo desserts

There’s something so comforting about the apam balik— the taste of crushed peanuts, sweet corn, and sugar sandwiched between a folded pillowy pancake always reminds me of visits to the pasar malam after school. That’s probably how you remember the dish too. At Apam Balik Kuhot in Shah Alam, creativity is key, and their selection of flavours will leave you awestruck.

Apam balik may be one of Malaysia’s most common street foods. Not only is this delicacy relatively easy to find on a day-to-day basis, most (if not all) Malay weddings nowadays have an apam balik stall, so guests can enjoy the freshly made dessert. Even if you’re not one to enjoy it on the regular, you’ve probably found yourself indulging during the month of Ramadan, where stall after stall of apam balik can be found at the month-long bazaars.

The ones found at Apam Balik Kuhot are on a different level. Other than their unique flavour combinations, customers can watch the process from start to finish. It’s almost like a performance; watch as the worker sprinkles toppings, and fold the apam balik in half just as the outer crust turns golden brown. 

What I tried at Apam Balik Kuhot

The stall is situated inside a humble nasi campur restaurant, right at the front. This means that there’s space for you to enjoy your food if you want to have it straight off the stove. 

The main reason why I was interested in trying Apam Balik Kuhot was because I had seen multiple TikTok and Reel videos about their pizza apam balik— intriguing, no? This was the first of its kind that I’ve come across, and the comments on those videos showed mixed reactions (as the internet usually does).

So naturally, we ordered the large Beef Apam Balik with extra cheese (RM12). Without the extra cheese, it would’ve cost RM9. But as they say, go big or go home. The menu surprised me a little, as what food influencers online market as “pizza apam balik”, is listed as “beef” at the stall. Not even “beef pepperoni”, just “beef”. That being said, I can see why many would see this dish as a cheeky, localised Italian snack.

As soon as I opened the box, I was hit with a strong waft of tomato sauce and pepperoni. The apam balik was still so hot, the filling was oozing out like lava. One thing about this place is that their portion sizes are true to what they claim. Besar was truly besar, probably enough to feed a whole family.

Asking for extra cheese was definitely the right move as the cheese pull was satisfying. Not only did we get a pretty long pull from picking up a piece, but also when we bit into it and pulled back.

In all honesty, I wasn’t expecting greatness from this apam balik. I had gone in fully expecting it to be one of those gimmicky menu items created just for virality on social media. Upon first bite, I was proven wrong— it tasted like an actual pizza. 

The apam itself was incredibly soft with a perfect golden hue, and it didn’t taste eggy at all. While the fresh-off-the-stove heat did leave us huffing and puffing, the amount of melted cheese inside was just enough to actually taste the ingredient without it being overpowering. It also didn’t leave me feeling jelak after 1 piece, but I did feel full after 2. 

The tomato sauce used came straight from a Prego can. The flavour was pretty strong, which I enjoyed. However, I think the tartness might be too much for those who aren’t fans of anything tomato-based.

Although I watched them add a very liberal amount of beef pepperoni slices, there were some bites that were void of the ingredient. I was either unlucky and got a bald spot, or the pepperoni had slipped out with the cheese that now coated the bottom of the box.

In between bites of the savoury beef apam balik, we also had a small Nutella Oreo Apam Balik (RM12). Now, here’s the thing. This sweet dessert wasn’t just filled with the popular chocolate hazelnut spread and sweet cocoa cookies. It also came with the regular apam balik toppings, and this threw me off. Personally, I don’t think that this combination worked, and here’s why.

The crushed peanuts completely overpowered the whole dish. With every bite, I was looking forward to some chocolatey goodness. But with every bite, I was met with a mounds of peanuts.  Looking at the cross section, the apam balik was filled to the brim with crushed oreos, but I couldn’t taste any of it. I strongly believe that they could’ve used less peanuts, or none at all.

As we started off with pizza variation, we thought that Nutella would’ve followed suit and oozed out, but what dripped down was mostly the terrifyingly yellow sweet corn. Before you say I’m being dramatic, the sweet corn stained our fingers yellow.

The only commendable part about this was the apam balik, not the filling. It was crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle, while still maintaining structural integrity to carry the weight of the fillings.

Final thoughts

Notably, the smaller apam balik seem to be much crispier than their larger counterparts. I think it’d be wiser to order based on the type of apam balik you prefer (soft or crunchy), rather than how much of it you want. Based on how good their batter is, it’s clear that those behind Apam Balik Kuhot are masters of this common street food. Although their flavour selection is wide, I wish I had opted for the original one as well.

I think Apam Balik Kuhot is definitely worth the visit if you’re in the area or live nearby. As it is located by the roadside that’s lined with many other stalls, you might have issues finding a parking spot, so I suggest visiting during non-peak hours.

Expected damage: RM2 – RM12 per pax

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