Green Bean Coconut Kueh

It's been a while since I steamed up some Malay goodies, so I thought this weekend I'd play around and experiment with what ingredients I had in my pantry to make a unique version of my favorite Malay sweet...

Green Bean Coconut Kueh

Ingredients:
Coconut Sticky Rice Layer
- 3/4 cup glutinous rice, soaked in water overnight
- 1/2 cup coconut milk + 1/2 cup water
- 1/3 cup sugar
- pinch of salt

Green Bean Coconut Layer
- 3/4 cup glutinous rice flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup coconut milk + 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup dried green beans, soaked overnight in water, then boiled until tender
- 1/3 cup dried shredded coconut

Method:
1. Combine the soaked rice, coconut milk mixture, sugar and salt in a bowl. Mix well, then pour into your steaming tray (I used a 6inch round tin). Steam over high heat for 45minutes, until rice is cooked.
2. In another bowl, combine the rice flour, sugar, coconut milk mixture, beans and shredded coconut.
3. Pour the flour mixture into the steaming tray, covering the cooked rice in an even layer. Continue steaming the kueh for another 45minutre, until flour layer is firm and cooked through.
4. Remove tray from steamer, allow to cool. Cut into wedges and serve, at room temperature or cold.

I must say, this was a pretty tasty treat! I guess I've made enough kuehs that I know the basics enough to throw together something decent. I hope one day I'll be able to make a cake/brownie/cookie recipe by heart... but baking takes a little bit more calculative work than steaming. Well... after some early morning kitchen antics, I'm off to watch the Arsenal v. Wigan game that I taped from yesterday (and maybe do some tumblr blogging). See ya!

Lor Bak Go (Radish Cake) & Chicken Bao

Normally, Sunday mornings are a time when my family likes to go out and eat dim sum. But, since my parents are still on vacation and my sisters and I didn't want to miss the Olympic Men's Hockey Gold-medal Game, we decided to make dim sum at home! I had some zongzi in the freezer from Chinese New Year, so we steamed up a couple of those as well as some gai lan. But, we wanted to round out the meal with at least 2 other dim sum dishes. So, we chose Lor Bak Go and Steamed Chicken Buns.
Lor Bak Go

Ingredients:
- 2 cups rice flour
- 1/4 cup tapioca starch
- 1 tsp salt, or to taste
- 2 links of lap cheong (Chinese sausage), diced
- 3 cups daikon, grated
- 1/2 small onion, minced
- 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
- vegetable oil

Method:
1. Combine rice flour, tapioca starch and salt in a large bowl.
2. Boil the daikon in a heavy-bottomed pot for 10minutes. Drain, but reserve the cooking liquid. Set the liquid and cooked daikon aside
3. Heat some oil in a frying pan and cook the lap cheong, garlic and onions for 2 minutes. Set aside. (You do not need to wash the frying pan yet! You will use it to pan-fry the lor bak go)
4. Add the daikon to the flour mixture and slowly add in 3 cups of the cooking liquid. Mix until no dry clumps are visible.
5. Add the lap cheong mixture to the batter and continue to mix.
6. Pour the batter into a greased, steam-proof 8x8inch square, or 9inch round, tray. Steam for 45minutes. When finished cooking, let lor bak go cool completely.
7. Remove the lor bak go from the steaming tray and slice it into 1/2-inch slices.
8. Heat up the frying pan again to medium-high heat, adding more oil if necessary. Pan fry the lor bak go slices until crispy and golden brown on both sides.

This dish has got to be my sisters' most favorite dish at yum cha. We always order 2-3 servings of it when we go to dim sum. The final result of this recipe was gladly gobbled up by my Lor Bak Go loving sisters and they said that they could hardly tell the difference between mine and the ones we eat at the restaurant! *blush* They're so sweet...

But now, onto the chicken buns! My middle sister loves these, even more so than Char Siew Bao. Actually, she told me that she dislikes Char Siew because of the fatty, flubby and tendon-ness of the meat... too hard to chew, she says. So, with this in mind I decided to use a really nice chicken breast for the filling of the buns. The chicken breast had no flubby skin and no tendons or cartilage pieces, so there would be no risk of my sister getting picky about the meat... YAY!

Chicken Bao

Dough Ingredients:
- 2 cups flour
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp margarine
- 3/8 cup water
- 1/2 tbsp vinegar
- 1 egg white

Filling Ingredients:
- 250g chicken breast, minced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 small onion, minced
- 1inch knob of garlic, minced
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking soda in a large bowl. Blend in the margarine, until they are well incorporated.

In a separate bowl, mix together the vinegar, water and egg white.

Add water mixture to flour mixture, knead until dough comes together and is smooth.

Roll the smooth dough into a thick log shape, roughly 1.5 inches in diameter.

Cover dough in cling-wrap and let rest in fridge for at least 1 hour.

Make the filling: mince the chicken breast, garlic and onions and combine. Add in soy sauce and salt + pepper to taste.

When dough has rested, remove from cling-wrap and cut log into 10 equal sized pieces.

Roll dough into flattened circles, fill with 2 tbsp of chicken filling and shape the buns.

Prepare a steaming plate by laying cabbage leaves on it. Arrange the chicken buns on the cabbage leaves and steam the buns for 30minutes.

Enjoy!

Read more: http://caloriecount.about.com/steamed-chicken-bun-bao-no-recipe-r340420#ixzz0gs3yxVfV

1. Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking soda in a large bowl. Blend in the margarine, until well incorporated.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the vinegar, water and egg white.
3. Add water mixture to flour mixture, knead until dough comes together and is smooth.
4. Roll the smooth dough into a thick log shape, roughly 1.5 inches in diameter.
5. Cover dough in cling-wrap and let rest in fridge for at least 1 hour.
6. Make the filling by mixing together the minced chicken, garlic, ginger and onions. Then, add in soy sauce and salt & pepper to taste.
7. When dough has rested, remove from cling-wrap and cut log into 10 equal sized pieces.
8. Roll dough into flattened circles, and fill with 2 tbsp of filling. Shape the buns.
9. Prepare a steam-proof plate by laying cabbage leaves on it. Arrange the chicken buns on the cabbage leaves and steam the buns for 30-40minutes.
10. Serve!

The buns were also a success! Even my youngest sister, who normally hates to eat bao bao enjoyed these buns and devoured TWO! Now, that's saying something. I quite enjoyed the buns as well. I liked the recipe because the dough was fairly simple to make, and didn't require yeast or raising time. Without the yeast to make the dough fluffy, the texture of this bao was more like a tasty noodle or a giant xiaolong bao. I will definitely have to bake this recipe again, for my parents... because I don't think there will be any left by the time they come back :P

Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking soda in a large bowl. Blend in the margarine, until they are well incorporated.

In a separate bowl, mix together the vinegar, water and egg white.

Add water mixture to flour mixture, knead until dough comes together and is smooth.

Roll the smooth dough into a thick log shape, roughly 1.5 inches in diameter.

Cover dough in cling-wrap and let rest in fridge for at least 1 hour.

Make the filling: mince the chicken breast, garlic and onions and combine. Add in soy sauce and salt + pepper to taste.

When dough has rested, remove from cling-wrap and cut log into 10 equal sized pieces.

Roll dough into flattened circles, fill with 2 tbsp of chicken filling and shape the buns.

Prepare a steaming plate by laying cabbage leaves on it. Arrange the chicken buns on the cabbage leaves and steam the buns for 30minutes.

Enjoy!

Read more: http://caloriecount.about.com/steamed-chicken-bun-bao-no-recipe-r340420#ixzz0gs3yxVfV

Mmm... the delicious bao. Hehehe... look at the mini one (on the right) I made with the leftover scraps :P it looks so gibbled

Water Chestnut Cake

Yesterday was a very hot day, the sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. In the sweltering heat, I decided to take a break from baking and wanted to make a more refreshingly cool dessert. I had this package of water-chestnut flour in my pantry and decided that this would be the perfect moment to experiment with making one of my mom's favorite chilled desserts... water chestnut cake. I had never used this chestnut flour before, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect upon opening the box. The flour was a bit different than rice flour, potato flour and tapioca flour... instead of the powdery texture, this chestnut flour was a bit more clumpy and in little crystals.

I used the recipe on the back of the chestnut flour box, and the dessert came out very nicely. The recipe uses very few ingredients, and is almost no effort at all. It just takes time to have to steam the dessert, and then chill it in the fridge... so if you want to eat it for dessert, it's best that you make and steam it well ahead of time so that you have adequate time to get the cake to it's perfect chilled temperature before serving.

Water Chestnut Cake
Yields 1- 8inch round cake

Ingredients:
- 250g water chestnut flour (half of the box)
- 500ml water
- 1 can of water chestnuts, drained and chopped
- 750ml water
- 1 1/4 cup - 2 cups rock sugar/golden rock sugar (depending on how sweet you like your cake)

Method:
1. Combine the flour with the 500ml water, mixing thoroughly until all clumps are dissolved.
2. In a large sauce-pan, dissolve the sugar with 750ml of water over medium heat.
3. Once boiling, add in the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and stir until the mixture begins to thicken and bubble. Add in the chopped water chestnuts, stirring until they are evenly distributed.
4. Pour the thicken cake "batter" into a greased 8-inch pan, and steam on high for 30minutes.
5. Once cooked, allow to cool to room temperature. Then place cake in the fridge until firmed and cold throughout. Slice and serve.

My mom was so excited that I had prepared this dish. She's a fan of the "not-so-sweet" chestnut cake, and so I didn't add too much sugar. With so few ingredients needed, this recipe is a breeze to make and yet has such a wonderful flavor to it. Water chestnut itself is quite refreshing, but in this cake form it was divine!

Christmas Pudding!!

I can't believe that I've gone 20years without finally attempting to bake/steam a traditional Christmas Pudding. Albeit, the first 11years or so, were probably not conducive to me being in a kitchen and using the oven along :P But seriously, how could I have gone so long without attempting to make this cake? I'm not quite sure, maybe it was the odd shape and look of the cake/pudding that threw me off, but now I've finally come to the point where I can't take it anymore!!

I've always been fascinated with British culture; I love their food, their music and their fashion sense (I really wish we had a Top Shop store here in Canada, but I guess H&M is as close to the UK as I'm going to get :P). One day, hopefully sometime in the near future, I want to travel through Europe... checking out quaint bistros and savouring the local flavor. But don't we all have that dream??


Anyways, I decided to make a Christmas Pudding a) because of my love for all things English b) because of my insane sweet tooth, and love for eating mixed peel and c) because anything with rum in it is tasty!


Christmas Pudding

- 2/3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup freshly made white bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp shredded butter (or you can use suet for a more traditional pudding)
- 1/2 tsp all-spice
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/3 cup each: raisins, cranberries
- 2/3 cup mixed peel
- 1/3 cup chopped pine-nuts (I would have used the traditional blanched almonds, but my sister's allergic to tree nuts)
- Half the juice of one lemon + 1 tbsp of lemon rind
- 1 tbsp milk
- 3 tbsp dark rum
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 tbsp black treacle (of you don't have any, substitute golden syrup or molasses; and if you don't have either of those, substitute maple syrup)

Method:

1. In a large bowl, mix the first eight ingredients

2. In a smaller bowl, mix together the lemon juice, milk, rum, black treacle and beaten egg.

3. Pour the contents of the small bowl into that of the large bowl, mix well until the mixture is thoroughly moistened.

4. Let the batter sit overnight (at least 5hours); as the batter sits, the flavor of the rum is enhanced and it permeates the dough and the fruits.

5. Pour the batter into a buttered, steam-proof bowl. Cover the top of the bowl by placing parchment paper or aluminum foil over it. Secure the paper/foil tightly with a piece of string, and use extra string to make a "handle" that enables you to place the bowl in the steamer and pull it out.
Note: The point of the paper/foil is to prevent the steam from touching your cake, it ensures that you don't end up with a layer of water on the cake (that ruins the cake's surface and moisture content).

6. Place a steamer ring at the bottom of a large pot, and place your ready-to-steam cake on top (there should be enough space on either side of your bowl so that the pan does not touch it). Pour enough water into the pot to cover the bottom half of the bowl, but not touch the paper/foil.

7. Bring the water to a boil, steam your cake for 3 1/2 hours. Re-fill the boiled water as needed throughout the steaming process.
Note: Alternately, you can microwave this cake (as long as your bowl is microwave safe) for 10mins on full strength. If microwaving it, I suggest you do it in 2.5minute intervals, making sure to rotate your cake between intervals. This may help ensure even cooking, as microwaves can be finicky to work with.

8. Once the cake is finished steaming, allow to cool for 10minutes and then unmold onto a festive dish. Slice pudding into eight pieces, and serve warm. Drizzle with rum sauce or custard.

The bowl is ready for steaming...

In the pot it goes...

And here it is!! All it needs now is to be unmolded and topped with some deliciously creamy rum sauce!

I really enjoyed making this cake/pudding. I wasn't quite sure how it was going to turn out. I was a bit scared that maybe it would turn out rubbery if I steamed it too long, and was starting to freak out after the first 1 1/2 hours. I don't know why?? But I guess that it was probably because 3 1/2 hours seemed like a really long time to cook something (unless it's a turkey). But I'm glad that I did attempt this festive cake, my family enjoyed it too. What's great is that I think this cake can satisfy any type of "tooth". My mom, who doesn't enjoy very sugary things, said that the fact that the pudding wasn't overly sweet was wonderful; but I, being a sugar-a-holic, was quite satisfied by the sugary, rum-laden fruits. I will definitely make this cake again, but with one alteration... I will have to double the recipe :P

Oh, and if you're wanting to make the rum sauce (which I highly recommend you do), I followed this recipe, from deliaonline.com. One-half of the recipe makes enough sauce for one recipe of my Christmas Pudding.

CNY: Nian Gao

Woot! Finally, I gotten the courage to make Nian Gao. Actually it wasn't so much the courage as the pressure to find the "right" recipe. There are so many recipes available on the web that I had no clue which one to use. I finally settled on Florence's recipe and it turned out great. I didn't have such a nice mold to make the rice cake in, so I simply lined an 8-inch cake pan with banana leaves and steamed.

Here's the cake before steaming...

Here's the cake after steaming... (note the silly little holes that decided to appear. Probably due to condensation on the steamer lid dripping down)

Well, I'm still contemplating how to serve this... should I simply cut it into pieces and plate it? Or should I sandwich it between 2pcs of yam, dip it in egg and then fry it? I think the latter sounds best...

Chwee Kueh

Hmm... I've been thinking that it's about time I got back to my nonya roots. So today I decided to make somemore kueh. So far, I can't decide if I like the sweet or savory kueh better... but it's a close call. Thought I would attempt a new recipe (I'm adventurous that way) and here's what I came up with.

Chwee Kueh

Ingredients:

- 1 3/4 cup rice flour

- 1/4 cup tapioca flour

- 1/2 tsp chicken broth granules (or salt)

- scant 3 cups water

- 2 tbsp oil

Filling

- 1 cup chai poh (pickled radish)

- 50g dried scrimps, chopped

- 5 tbsp oil

- 3 cloves garlic, minced

- 3 tbsp sugar

- 2 chinese mushrooms, soaked and chopped (optional)

- spoonful of belacan (optional)

Method:

1. Mix together the 2 flours and chicken broth granules.

2. Slowly mix in the half of the water and ensure that no lumps form. Boil the remaining water and slowly add it to the flour mixture, until it thickens. Stir in the oil, until well incorporated.

3. Grease chwee kueh molds and place in steamer, on high, for 5 minutes. Pour in the rice flour mixture and steam for 15 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, heat oil in frying pan and fry garlic until fragrant. Add in the shrimp, chai poh and mushroom (if using).

5. Continue to fry until the mixture becomes dry. Then finally add the belacan (if using) and the sugar.

6. For assembly: unmold the rice cakes onto a plate and top with the filling mixture. Serve hot.

Chinese Breakfast

Hmmm... I was just waking up from a wonderful nights sleep (don't get too many of those :P) and I thought I might whip up something for breakfast. I settled on Chee Cheong Fun, my younger sister adores the stuff... unfortunately most pre-packaged Chee Cheong Fun has shrimp as a main ingredient (and since my sis is allergic to shellfish, she rarely gets to eat it :( unless it's plain... which isn't fun at all). I followed the recipe from kuali.com but had to search around the internet for a fool-proof method for preparing this dish. It seems like this recipe is one of the more tricky ones to prepare. I found an great step by step (with pictures too) set of instructions from lilyng2000.blogspot.com. So since my sister is allergic to prawn I decided to use shredded chinese mushroom, ground pork and finely-diced lap cheong as my Chee Cheong Fun add-ins.

My dad had also purchased some Yao Char Kuey, and I used it to make one of my favorite Yum Cha dishes... Yao Char Kueh wrapped in Rice Paper.

My parents quite enjoyed both of my breakfast dishes. Mom was very impressed that I could make Chee Cheong Fun, and so was I :P My sister appreciated the effort I put into making her the Cheong Fun without shrimp, and she gobble it down. I enjoyed mine with some good old hoisin sauce and sesame seeds. Mom and dad like their's with soy sauce, sesame seeds, sambal olek and sesame oil. My sis just likes it plain, with maybe a little bit of hoisin. Whatever way you eat this dish, it's delicious... believe me!

Kueh Seri Muka

It has been a long time since I've tried my hand at the art of "kueh making" I decided to have at it once more. This time I wanted to try Kueh Salat... being that this was one of my mom's favorite treats when she lived in Singapore. Sadly it's very hard to buy it here in BC... but lucky for her, I am here to steam up this lovely kueh for her :)

Okay, so the truth is that I'm very cheap and didn't actually have enough eggs to make the Salat's kaya layer... so I turned to another kueh very close to Salat that used fewer eggs. Here is the recipe for my Kueh Seri Muka

Kueh Seri Muka

Ingredients:

Rice Layer
- 2 1/2 cups uncooked glutinous rice
- 200ml thick coconut milk with 100ml water added
- 2 tbsp pandan juice (if you don't have it, use the essence)
- pinch of salt

"Kaya" Layer
- 1 egg
- 100ml coconut milk
- 1/4 cup castor sugar
- 1/4 tsp pandan paste
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 3 tbsp rice flour

Method:
Rice Layer
1. Soak rice for 2-3 hours, or overnight. Drain
2. Steam the rice with the pandan juice and a pinch of salt for 15-20 mins, or until tender.
3. Remove from heat and add in coconut milk. Mix well with a wooden utensil.
4. Steam mixture for another 10 mins.
5. Line an 8-inch round pan with banana leaves/ greased paper; place steamed rice in the pan and press firmly with a banana leaf on top to compact.
6. Steam the rice for 5 mins.

NOTE: The bottom layer must be hot when the top layer is poured in.

Method:
"Kaya" Layer
1. Beat egg lightly and mix in the rice flour, until mixture is smooth.
2. In a pan cook coconut milk, pandan paste and sugar over low heat. Continue to stir and add in egg mixture. Allow mixture to thicken.
3. Pour the "Kaya" mixture over the steamed glutinous rice in the steamer slowly. Steam for 15-20 mins or until set.
4. Cool the kueh completely before cutting.

My mom was so excited to try out my version of Kueh Seri Muka. She said that it tasted very similar to the traditional kinds steamed in Singapore! Hooray for me :) I was happy that my mom enjoyed it and she was happy that I made it... what a perfect duo!

So Simple Fa Gao

Since finals are approaching (and me being the kind of person who can't go 1 week without baking something)... I decided to make a really simple recipe FA GAO! I just love this light and fluffy cake. This was an excellent decision.

Simple Fa Gao

Ingredients:

- 1 cup self raising flour

- 1/2 cup brown sugar

- 1/2 cup coconut milk (the good quality thick stuff)

- water

Method:

1. Sieve flour and brown sugar together, this helps remove sugar clumps and gives the cake an nice fluffy texture.

2. Mix in coconut milk.

3. Add enough water to make batter ribbon-like in consistency.

4. Pour into prepared muffin tin and steam on high for 13 minutes. (NOTE: Do not open the lid of the steamer for the first 10 minutes... this helps ensure that the cake "smiles" nicely)

5. Allow to cool in pan and then remove... eat fresh, with a mixture of brown sugar and dessicated coconut. Enjoy!

Recipe Yields: 6 servings

Since the weather here's been pretty gloomy and wet, my parents really enjoyed eating this cake and remembering the sunny and warm atmosphere of Malaysia. My sister, who loves coconut and brown sugar was so excited that I was making this recipe... when your family enjoys your baking, it just makes it that much more special :P

Sniff... sniff

Well, my entire family (all four people :P) have left me to go on their Spring Break trip to Disneyland. I'm slightly depressed, seeing as how no one will be around to sample my cooking... and of course because they're going on a trip without moi! They're going to 10 days, stopping off in Ventura (not quite sure where that is) and then ending up at the "Happiest Place on Earth" for their final 3 days. Alas... but I will get to spend some quality time with my puppy and maybe we'll do some good bonding, who knows.

I didn't want them leaving me behind empty handed, so I made them some breakfast to take along with them (they driving down to the U.S. isn't that crazy?!!?). I told myself to stop cooking anymore dishes until they come back; otherwise they'll return from their vacation to a fridge full of old food... bleh! Truthfully, I don't know how well that command is going to stick. Anyways, I made them some steamed Malay cakes, otherwise known as Ma Lai Koh. As you can see, I was in the lovey-dovey mood when I was making them... I just love my family soooooo much!

I just love Florence's Blog, she has a ton of delicious malay bun recipes. You can also find alternate recipes for Ma Lai Koh at: My Zest or jodelibakery.com but I prefer Florence's, it's much simpler and I find it less oiley.

Well, I hope my family enjoys their vacation... I should be celebrating being home alone; but without my sisters, and mom and dad home just doesn't seem so homey :(

Hope you're reading this... HAVE A GREAT VACATION!

Swirled Mantou

Being given this "Independent Study Week" has not really resulted in much reading or study, sad to say. But it has given me a ton of time to prep for my mom's b-day which is coming up this Saturday! I can't wait... hopefully she doesn't read this blog and discover that I have a special treat made for her. Let's distract her from reading this with some nice pictures of my swirled breakfast mantou.

I decided to make mantou... we finished all of the buns in our freezer and since the snow fall we've gotten too lazy to leave the house (call us chicken). So I thought to myself, why not make some mantou? I found the cutest recipe at Do What I Like and decided to give it a shot, after all her pictures looked tastey. So I got to work and used the yeast I had leftover from making pretzels/bread/turtles to make my own mantou. I decided to make them miniature, because hey... everything that's cute in full-size, can be made cuter by making it mini! I also decided to make the outer layer white, with the chocolate inside; don't know why... I guess it just kinda happened (got to excited when it came to rolling the dough I suppose).

Kueh Lapis

So, the other day I decided to reach deep down into my Singaporean/Malaysian roots and make a much loved Malaysian dessert: Nine Layer, Kueh Lapis. It was a bit tricky finding a recipe that was reliable but I managed to find one online at pwmf.blogspot.com/. I wasn't quite sure if I could trust this recipe so I also relied heavily on a book I have lying around the house entitled "Singaporean Cooking with Mrs Leong Yee Soo". These two resources combined with my culinary experience allowed me to create a beautiful looking (and tasting) Kueh Lapis with an amazing texture. But have no fear, though I cannot lend you all my cookbook I can surely show you how I was able to create this kueh (while also varying the recipe slightly).

When first approaching the recipe from pwmf.blogspot.com/ I prepared myself for what seemed a difficult dessert to make. Firstly, all of the ingredients were measured out in grams (sadly I do not have a kitchen weighing machine) so I had to modify the recipe using online conversion resources. So, feel free to follow the directions on the "Playing with My Food" site or use my variated recipe below.

Once I finished arranging my Kueh on a nice plate, I realized that the recipe yielded many servings. So I brought some to work and to my bible study. It got rave reviews and many people asked me for the recipe. I've decided to post the recipe online and share it (as well as my beautiful pictures) with the world, or anyone who stumbles upon my blog. Hope you enjoy the kueh... I know I did :P

(NOTE: I halved the online recipe so that the Kueh batter would fit into a round 8-inch diameter cake pan)


Joanna's Variation on Kueh Lapis Beras
(Steamed Tapioca Layer Cake)

Ingredients
Batter A: (Yields 4 Cups)
2 cups Tapioca Starch
1/2 cup Rice Flour
1 1/3 cup Sugar
1 1/4 cup Coconut Milk mixed with 1 1/4 cup Water
1 tsp Pandan Paste

Batter B: (Yields 2 Cups)
150 grams Cooked Taro Root (approx. 1/4 of a medium sized Taro)
1/3 cup Sugar 1 cup
Tapioca Starch 45ml Coconut Milk + 45ml Water
3-4 drops red food coloring

Batter C: (Yields 2 Cups)
150 grams Cooked Mung Bean (1 cup)
1/3 cup Sugar
1 cup Tapioca Starch
45ml Coconut Milk +45ml Water

Preparation:
To cook Mung Bean- Wash beans and discard damaged ones. Place in a pot with 2 cups of water and soak for 3-4 hours. After this time, boil mung beans for 15-20 minutes, until soft.

To cook Taro- Wash and peel off skin; remove damaged parts. Dice the taro into equal sized cubes. Place in a pot of water to soak for 1 hr. After this time, boil taro for 15-20 minutes, until soft.

Grease 8-inch round cake pan. Prepare wok for steaming process.

Method:
Pandan Layer
1. Combine Coconut milk and water (from Batter A) together in a small mixing bowl. Add 1 tsp pandan paste to give flavor and create the green color.
2. Combine the Tapioca Starch, Rice Flour and Sugar (from Batter A) in a larger mixing bowl.
3. Now pour the liquid ingredients (from Batter A) into the dry ingredients (from Batter A) to form a thin paste. Set Aside.

Taro Layer
4. Combine Coconut milk and water (Batter B) and mix thoroughly.
5. Drain cooked Taro Root and place in blender.
6. Add in the Tapioca Starch and Sugar (Batter B). Then add in the coconut/water mixture. Blend.
7. Add a few drops of red food coloring to create a purple color.
8. Place Batter B into an easily "pourable" bowl/container. Set Aside.

(TIP: When adding food coloring, add drops one at a time between blender pulses. This way you can more easily control the hue of the batter)

Mung Bean Layer
9. Combine Coconut milk and water (Batter C) and mix thoroughly.
10. Drain cooked Mung Beans and place in blender.
11. Add in the Tapioca Starch and Sugar (Batter C). Then add in the coconut/water mixture. Blend.

Look... all the pretty colors. Now the Batters are ready for steaming!

Cooking/Steaming:

1. Fill wok with water and steaming tray. Turn stove on "high" and allow water to boil, keep on "high" throughout steaming process. Place greased cake pan in wok for steaming.

(NOTE: Make sure the pan is level, otherwise the layers will be slanted. Also, This Kueh recipe yields more Batter A than Batters B and C --with a ratio of 2:1:1. So, when layering the cake keep this in mind.)

2. Pour in layer of Batter A, steam for 5-10 minutes (until cooked). Ensure this layer is firm (like jello) and no longer liquid before adding second layer. Pour in layer of Batter B and steam until cooked, roughly 5 minutes. Again check for doneness of each layer before adding subsequent layers. Alternate layers and create your own color pattern until all the batter is used up.

3. Let cool for 7-8 hours before cutting into slices. Cover the cake with plastice wrap or a lid to prevent drying out. I found it easiest to slice the cake using a serrated knife, it produces the cleanest and most evenly sliced pieces.

(NOTE: To ensure that you have an evenly layered cake, use the same amount of batter for each layer. For each layer, I used 1 cup of batter. Also, make sure to spread the layers of batter out to the edges of the pan.)

Steamed Pandan Cupcakes

I know that I'm doing a lot of blogging in one day... but I must make up for lost time and I also have to get all this stuff in before I leave for HAWAII :P

It's been a while since I made something using pandan, and I wasn't quite sure how long you can keep pandan leaves for before they go bad so I decided to use up the last of them and make some steamed pandan cupcakes. I got the recipe from youngnutrition.net and although geared towards mothers and their growing youngsters I have found many a great recipe on their website. It calls for very few ingredients and no fattening butter/margarine or shortening Hooray!

I couldn't find any self rising flour in the house (well at least not until after I had made the batter for the cakes... and by then it was too late) so I tried to make so by adding some baking powder and baking soda. I do not recommend this. When a recipe calls for self-rising flour you are best off using self-rising flour. Otherwise you will end up with what I got... a cake that's more kueh-like than you would have hoped for. While I was steaming the cakes they looked beautiful, but once the steaming was complete and I lifted the lid... they just collapsed into little green kueh-like lumps :(

They still tasted delicious, but one of my sisters cannot stand kueh (not sure why, maybe it's the texture) so she didn't touch them. My other sister loved them though and it was pretty much just her and I finishing up all of the pandan treats.

Bak Tong Go

Felt like being more asian today... so I decided to make some of that much-loved sweet white rice cake or "Bak Tong Go". I got the recipe off of cafeoftheeast.blogspot.com (which also has some really great recipes). My rice cake didn't puff up as much, but it tasted great. Perhaps next time I make this recipe I should be more patient and wait the required 6 hours for proofing... hehehe, that's right I was too anxious to follow the recipe and I guess I sorta paid for it. But oh well I still ate it all; again with the help of my family... boy do we love to eat.