kue ape — Jakarta, Indonesia

Kue ape, also called serabi Jakarta, is a single-serving pancake built from two textures in one round: a soft, springy green disc at the center and a rim of paper-thin, crackling batter that curls up like lace. The contrast is what people look for, and stalls are judged on how wide and how crisp that rim turns out. It is reported chiefly from Jakarta and other large cities on Java, where it is sold as a snack from carts and small stalls rather than in restaurants. It is eaten on its own, warm, without syrup or filling, which sets it apart from many other Indonesian pancakes. The batter combines rice flour with coconut milk, water, sugar and a little yeast, tinted green with pandan or suji leaf and left to rest so it turns lively and slightly bubbly. It is ladled into a small cast-iron pan with a domed lid, swirled thin toward the rim, and covered so the center steams into a sponge while the edge dries into a crisp shell. Vendors differ mainly in how thin they pull the rim and how deep the center dome is left; some finish the top with a light dusting of sugar. The dish is close in family to serabi Solo, a thicker coconut pancake usually served drenched in syrup, but the Jakarta version keeps its edge crisp and is eaten plain.