Delicate pandan-juice crepes rolled around a filling of freshly grated coconut cooked in gula Melaka, the dark palm sugar of the region. One of the most beloved Nyonya tea-time sweets, also called kuih ketayap.
Kuih dadar, also called kuih ketayap or kuih gulung, is a pandan-juice crepe rolled around a filling of freshly grated coconut cooked in gula Melaka, the dark palm sugar of the region. The dish combines Chinese crepe-making with the Malay palm-sugar-and-coconut filling tradition, a textbook Peranakan fusion sweet. It is one of the most beloved Nyonya tea-time kuih, found at every kuih stall and household gathering.
A soft, faintly chewy, fragrant green crepe wrapped around a sweet, oily, intensely coconutty filling where the gula Melaka gives a deep caramel-and-smoke sweetness. Eaten in two bites, it is sweet, aromatic and coconut-heavy.
The crepe batter is a thin pour of flour, coconut milk and pandan juice, cooked like a pancake on a flat pan until just set. The filling is made by cooking freshly grated coconut with chopped gula Melaka and a pandan knot until the sugar melts and coats every strand. The crepe is wrapped around the warm filling while still pliable, then sealed edge-down. The wrap must be done while both are warm, or the crepe cracks.
Variations
A sweeter version adds more gula Melaka. Some cooks fold in toasted sesame.
On the Palate
Where Kuih Dadar sits in the Malaysian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12How it's made
6 steps · 30 min
- 18 min
For the crepes, blend 100g flour, 200ml coconut milk, 2 eggs, a pinch of salt and the juice of 8 pandan leaves (extracted with 100ml water) into a thin batter; rest 20 minutes.
- 210 min
For the filling, melt 150g chopped gula Melaka with 3 tbsp water and a knotted pandan leaf, then stir in 200g freshly grated coconut; cook over low heat 10 minutes until the coconut is coated and the filling is thick.
- 38 min
Heat a flat non-stick pan, brush with a little oil, and pour a thin ladle of batter; swirl to a thin 15cm circle and cook until set, about 1 minute.
Watch outPour a thin ladle and swirl to a delicate 15 cm crepe cooked just until set — too thick and it cracks when you wrap it warm.
- 48 min
Turn out onto a plate; place a spoonful of filling along one edge.
- 56 min
Fold the sides in and roll up tightly, sealing edge-down.
Watch outWrap while both crepe and filling are still warm and pliable — let the crepe cool and it splits the moment you roll it.
- 64 min
Repeat to make 12 kuih; serve warm or at room temperature.
