Kue semprong, theAsian egg roll, thelove letter,sapit,sepit,kue Belanda, orkapit[1] is anIndonesian traditionalwafer snack (kue orkuih) made by clasping egg batter using an iron mold (Waffle iron) which is heated up on a charcoal stove. It is commonly found inIndonesia,[2]Malaysia,Singapore andBrunei.
The mold has two plates clasped tightly together and attached to long handles for manipulating over a charcoal stove. The molds may be flat, corrugated, or etched with animal motifs such as fish, roosters, and snails that are both auspicious and decorative.
InIndonesian, the termsemprong means "tube" or "roll", whilesepit derives fromjepit, which means "clip".Semprong andsepit are almost identical wafers, with the difference only in their shape; the roll-shaped is calledsemprong, while the triangular-folded is calledsepit.[3] Both variants are calledsapit orsepit in Malaysia and Brunei, regardless of their shape.[4] Traditionalkue semprong are hollow; newer variants, however, may contain fillings such aschocolate orcheese.[5]
Commonly found in most major cities in Indonesia,kue semprong demonstrates thecolonial link betweenIndonesia and theNetherlands. It is believed to derive from the Dutch egg roll wafer. The wordBelanda, meaning Dutch inBahasa Indonesia, points to the egg rolls’ Dutch origins. The Dutch have a vast biscuit repertoire, which includes thin wafer biscuits similar to kuih Belanda or kuih kapit. Many biscuit and cake techniques were passed to Malays by the Dutch, English, and Portuguese. These biscuits may have been brought to parts of Malaysia and Singapore from Penang and Malacca by thePeranakan Chinese, who, not knowing the name of the Dutch snack they had encountered, simply called it kuih Belanda or kuih kapit.
