Malaysia Day: Dinner and Dessert

With Malay Day just around the corner (September 16), I've suddenly just felt the urge to brew a South-East Asian storm in the kitchen. My friends wanted to have a get together, before summer drew to a close and figured that it would be really cool to have a theme to the food. I don't know if I'm biased, but I immediately threw out the option for South-East Asian cuisine. Everyone else seemed cool with the idea, although some of them were unsure of what to make. I said that it was okay if they just cooked whatever they felt like and I would bring most of the South-East Asian goodies... and hey, it worked out :)

For the main course, I didn't want to scare my friends away with very exotic dishes (i.e. Assam Laksa, Nasi Lemak, Sambal Sotong) and thought that roti and spring rolls would be too simple and just not exciting enough. So, I stuck with a very Malaysian dish that I think anyone would love to eat... Chicken Satay! I followed a recipe from malaysianfood.net and it turned out very tasty. The aroma throughout my kitchen as I grilled these spicy skewers was heavenly.

I served the Satay on a large platter, covered in banana leaves and accompanied the chicken with cubed cucumbers, red onions, spicy peanut satay sauce and compressed rice cubes (I tried to make Ketupat, but it didn't work out... just left me with a jumbled mess of coconut leaves).

When I unveiled my contribution to the dinner, everyone was very impressed. Some people even commented by saying "I didn't know you could cook!" <--- WHAT! who are these people and why do I even hang out with them?! I'm just kidding, the thing is that they only know me for my baking skills... but when I revealed the satay on the decorative platter, I must have finally shown them my savoury-culinary side.

So, after everyone had filled them tummies with the goodness of grilled chicken, spicy peanut sauce and rice, it was on to what I'm really known for... my yummy sweet treats :)

Again, I didn't want to spook them with some really exotic flavors and textures, but I did want them to experience REAL South-East Asian desserts. And what could be more South-East Asian than KUEH!!??! I followed this recipe from Kuali.com and made a Red Bean Kuih Talam for dessert. I was a bit unsure if my Caucasian friends would take to this very ethnic sweet, but to my surprise they gobbled down the cute trapezoids and hardly left any for me!

I should have given my friends more credit and trusted them to be adventurous in the food-tasting realm. But alas, I'm such a skeptic, which is why I whipped up another Nyonya dessert for them (in case no one wanted to eat the Kuih Talam). I used this recipe to make ang ku kueh (which actually shouldn't be called that seeing as their not "ang"/red)... and it also gave me a chance to whip out my mooncake/kueh molds :)

Actually, it was a good thing that I made both the Kuih Talam and the Ang Ku Kuih because both of them disappeared fairly rapidly. I'm so glad that my friends liked the food I made them... the fact that they ate every morsel of the meal meant more to me than any thank-you ever could! I really hope to do this again, it was so much fun. (But maybe we'll try a different theme next time)

Malaysia Day Celebration: Satay Garden Restaurant

Rating: Pending

I simply love it when my obsession with trying new Malay/Singaporean restaurants works to my advantage. Today, I had the sudden urge to pick up a take-out menu from this newly opened, family-run restaurant called "Satay Garden". It just opened in the small city-square just a couple blocks from my house. This excited me, because it's very difficult to get authentic Malaysian cuisine without having to make a trip downtown or to Richmond. So, with Satay Garden being within 15mins walking distance from my house I was stoked. The lovely-sunny Sunday weather also encouraged me to go out for a stroll. As I neared the restaurant, I couldn't wait to see what kinds of authentic Malaysian dishes they would offer to the community.


Once I reached the restaurant-front, I was greated by an array of balloons, a Malaysian flag and a crowd of people. Hmm... I thought to myself, "What's all the commotion? This place has been here for at least a month and not once have I seen it this busy!" Then it struck me... today is Malaysia Day! How could I forget? I guess the craziness of summer and all the work that I've been doing caused me to forget (shame on me... I know). But again, my obsession with food brought me back to earth and reminded me of Malaysia Day! As I stood amongst the crowd of people, wondering what I was in store for, the owner of the restaurant emerged... she greated everyone with a lovely smile and warmth and invited the crowd to help themselves to "samples" of her delicious home-made dishes. (I say "samples" only because we were practically all fed a full meal... ah, that's the Malaysian way... feed others until they're full!)

Luckily, I always bring my camera with me everywhere... so guess what!? You're in store for some grand ol' pictures of the free food I just chanced upon at this quaint little Malaysian diner.

I started with their Epok-Epok (curry puff). It was wonderfully flaky, and I wish they had more of it to serve. Sadly, everyone else loved it as well, so they quickly ran out :( Oh well, I can easily go back and buy some :) The inside was filled with curry beef, potatoes and veggies. Just the right amount of filling and a lovely appetizer.

Their Ketupat, topped with some sort of sambal sauce, was also very good. This compressed rice cake was served in bite-sized pieces... I would have loved to see the Ketupat in their coconut-leaf baskets.

The main dish was flat egg-noodle with mushrooms and oyster sauce. Or at least that's what it tasted like to me. It was nothing spectacular, but it was tasty. To the right of the noodles, I spooned on some of their Beef Rendang. I would have liked a bit more spiciness in the rendang sauce, and a little less oil; but the beef was cooked beautifully and was soft and flavorful.

Mmm... hard-boiled eggs with more sambal sauce. Layering the plate is the oil from the Rendang... the oil is being nicely absorbed by the soon-to-be-uncrispy prata. Mmm... oil soaked prata! I'm lovin' it

For dessert, they served up some bubur cha cha. I still prefer my dad's bubur cha cha better. This sweet soup had a lot of sweet potato and yam, but was needing a bit more coconut-milk to add some richness.

To end off the meal, we enjoyed some Tea Tarik! My mom's favorite tea... and it's darn good too. The tea was not too strong, and the milky drink was just what we needed to cap off a wonderful (and FREE) lunch.

So, the lesson here is that being a crazy foodie can pay off when you least expect it. My parents and I were actually thinking about driving out to Richmond today to try Kelong, but both of them were very exhausted from a long day of working. So, this free meal at a nearby Malay restaurant was just the thing they needed to brighten their day.

P.S. The rating at the top is only "Pending" because I'm sure that Satay Garden has a lot more goodies in store to offer, and I'm not about to rate the restaurant based upon a sampling-meal... that'd just be cruel. But don't worry, I'll definitely be back to try out their menu specials and maybe even some of their baked goods and kuehs!

Kueh Talam

I was feeling a little hungry for some Malaysian goodies again, but wasn't quite sure what to make. Remembering that I had a bag of green bean flour just lying around, un-opened, I decided to put it to good use. Now... what Kueh could I possibly make that required green bean flour? I know... Kueh Talam :) and I have all of the ingredients at my disposal.

Kueh Talam

Ingredients (A)

- 70g (~3/4cups) rice flour

- 30g (~1/4cups) green bean flour

- 270ml water

Ingredients (B)

- 1 1/2 cups sugar

- 1 cup water

- 1 tbsp pandan paste

Ingredients (C)

- 225ml thick santan

- 1 1/2 tbsp green bean flour

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 75ml water

- 1/4 cup rice flour

Method:

1. Mix ingredients (A) and set aside to soak for 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Combine ingredients (B) in a small pot, until pandan paste is thoroughly distributed. Add in mixture (A) to the sugar and pandan. Cook over low heat and stir continuously until the batter thickens and becomes slightly translucent.

3. Pour the mixture into a greased 20cm cake tin. Smooth out the batter with a plastic spatula, and steam for 20-30mins.

4. For coconut layer, mix ingredients (C) together and soak for 10 minutes. When pandan batter is finished steaming, pour the coconut layer over the cooked green layer. Steam for another 10 minutes.

5. Cool the kuih well and slice into small diamond-shaped pieces.

The top layer of the kueh didn't need any sugar to be added, because the bottom layer was sweet enough for the entire dessert. My sister really loved the pandan layer, and told me that she could eat an entire bowl of it... maybe I'll make that for her b-day and she'll be more than pleased :P My mom commented that the pandan layer could have been a bit more gelatinous, as it was more gummy and mushy than what she was expecting. Perhaps next time, I will add more rice flour to the pandan mixture ... but overall, this kueh was very tasty.

Soon Kueh

Yeah! Time for more kueh. So here's the deal, I had a bunch of spring onions left over from making jambalaya the other day (because I kind of forgot to garnish the jambalaya :P oops!) But that's okay, because that gave me plenty of onions to make Soon Kueh! I was craving some savory kueh for lunch today and it worked out perfectly, so I was glad. Anyways... here's the recipe

Soon Kueh (yield 8 pcs)

Dough Ingredients:

- 3/4 cup rice flour

- 1/4 cup tapioca flour

- 1/4 cup wheat starch

- 1 tsp salt

- 150mL water

- 2 tsp oil

- Filling (recipe follows)

Dough Method:

1. Mix together all the flour and salt.

2. Remove 1/4 cup of the mixture and set aside.

3. Place remaining flour in a small saucepan and add the liquid, stirring continuously to prevent clumping. Cook over medium heat until the dough begins to firm up (approx 2mins).

4. Remove dough from heat and dump the dough onto a generously floured (tapioca) surface.

5. Add the 2 tsp oil to the dough and add the reserved flour mixture from step 2.

6. Knead dough for 5mins, until it is no longer sticky and forms a nice ball. Add more flour if necessary.

7. Divide the dough into eight equal portions. Shape the dough portions into circles and roll out into an oval shape. Add 1 1/2 tbsp filling to the center of dough piece, fold over and seal shut.

8. Steam for 10mins, or until the dough is cooked and "transparent". Serve hot with chilli and soy sauce.

Filling Ingredients:

- 2 tbsp oil

- 1 tbsp garlic, minced

- 1 cup frozen cooked shrimp, defrosted (if large, chop them into small pieces)

- 7 stalks of spring onions

- 1/8 cup cilantro, chopped

- 1/4 cup beef, uncooked and minced, marinated in soy sauce for at least 30mins

- salt + pepper, to taste

- 2 tbsp chopped chilies (optional)

- 4 tbsp hoisin sauce

Filling Method:

1. Heat oil in frying pan over medium-high heat, add in the garlic and cook until fragrant.

2. Add in the spring onions, continue frying for 1 min. Add in the beef and continue to fry until beef is no longer pink. Add in the shrimp and cilantro, continue frying for 3mins.

3. Remove filling from heat, add salt + pepper, chilies, hoisin sauce and mix well. Use to fill your soon kueh.

These were surprisingly good. Hehehe... yeah, I didn't know whether the kueh would turn out nice and soft or hard and chewy, but the end result was somewhere in between the two. The meal was nice and small and just what I was looking for, and now I'm off to my philosophy summer course... wish me luck!

More Tasty Nonya Treats

Today I decided that I needed to step out of my house and away from the computer (no offense, my beautiful box of wires and plastic). So, I went out for a little shopping escapade... where to? T&T? Alas, I did not go to my favorite supermarket (I had already been their a couple days ago and hadn't found anything that caught my eye). So where then? ... Henlong!! Yeah! My favorite "mini-market" :) And boy was I excited to spend my cash there...

I had seen these Teochew Kueh (also known as Peng Kueh) many times online, but had yet to actually taste this savoury Nonya delight. This kueh came packed in pairs of 2 and was in the frozen food section, along with some of the other sweet rice cakes. When I got home, I couldn't wait to try this kueh so I prepped all the things I needed for steaming it. I cleaned and greased a piece of banana leaf and steamed the kueh for about 15mins. I served it with a mixture of hoisin sauce and sambal oeleck (the best sauce in the world :P). The outside wasn't very flavorful, but the gooey glutinous rice filling was quite tasty. There was some ha mei, some chinese mushrooms and peanuts... the combination was delicious.

I found a few recipes online at wokkingmum and roseskitchen and myzest and simcooks and cuisine-asia. With so many recipes to try out, maybe I'll try making it next time. There's gonna be a lot of kueh going round my house!

Pandan Agar Agar

Just like I promised... I'm using up the packets of agar agar that I've had lying around my house to make this awesome treat. My mom was so excited when I mentioned I would be making this dessert. Agar agar is her favorite and we don't eat much of it here in Canada. It's my mom's birthday on Marth 3rd and I thought I'd make her this special treat, and bring back some memories of Singapore. But now, I have to figure out what cake to make her... one that'll top this. I got the recipe from roseskitchen and followed it to a "t". No alterations or substitutions. Definitely give this recipe a try!

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.

More Nonya Goodies

Seems like I've been admiring a lot of other peoples nonya cooking but have yet to venture into the depths of this culinary landscape myself... I was simple browsing Lily's website and came across her recipe for Rempah Udang. I thought I test out this recipe (but also vary it a little, because I enjoy the intense flavour of belachan). So here goes...

Rempah Udang

Ingredients For Rice:

- 3 cups of glutinous rice, soaked overnight and drained

- 300mL of coconut milk

- 2 tbsp sugar

- 2 tsp salt (or more, to taste)

Ingredients for Shrimp Filling:

- 1 large onion (or use shallots if you wish)

- 3 cloves of garlic

- 1 lemon grass stalk

- 1 tbsp oil

- 1 cup of cooked frozen shrimp, thawed and chopped into fine pieces

- 2 tsp tumeric

- 2 tsp coriander

- salt to taste

- 1/2 cup desiccated coconut

- 2 tbsp belachan paste

For Assembly:

- Banana leaves (7" by 5", washed and greased)

- Wooden skewers (for easier assembly use staples)

Method:

1. Steam the glutinous rice for 10 minutes, or until cooked.

2. Add in coconut milk, sugar and salt. Mix until well combined, steam for another 15 minutes. When done, set aside for assembly.

3. Meanwhile, dry-toast the desiccated coconut in a frying pan over medium heat, until the coconut looks light brown. Remove from heat and set aside.

4. Place onion, lemongrass and garlic in a food processor (or manually grind) until it forms a fine paste. Add in tumeric and coriander.

5. Heat oil in at frying pan, add your fine paste and fry over medium heat until aromatic. Add in the chopped shrimp and salt to taste.

6. Continue frying until the mixture dries up; then add in the toasted coconut. Add in the belachan paste and mix well. Remove from heat and prepare for assembly.

7. Take a banana leaf and spoon rice onto one end. Make a crater in the middle and fill it with the shrimp filling. Cover the crater with more rice and tightly roll up the leaf. Secure the leaf with skewer or stapler and prepare the rest of them in the same fashion.

8. Grill Rempah Udang for about 3 minutes, serve hot.

My parents loved it, but my sisters on the other hand would not touch them. Jacqeuline doesn't like shrimp and Janessa is allergic (*sniff*). So I used some of my leftover glutinous rice to make them some pulut inti. I'm always thinking :) I'll post my recipe for that later, it's so simple but soo delicious!

Crispy Noodles

Okay, so the first few days of school weren't that demanding. Whew! That gave me some time to make dinner. Yay! I really enjoy the crispy noodles from Hon's, but it seems that whenever we go there it's not on the menu :( What's a girl to do? Make it herself, of course! I got the recipe from Singapore Cooking Vol. 2 by Mrs. Leong Yee Soo. The book is amazing, 26 years old but still aiding me in my quest to become a Nonya expert (I wish!). So, here's the recipe...

Crispy Noodles
Adapted from Mrs. Leong Yee Soo's Singapore Cooking

Ingredients:

- 600g chicken, cut into cubes (recipe calls for prawns)

- 1/4 tsp salt (recipe calls for msg)

- 1 tsp ginger

- 1 chicken cube

- 2 tbsp oil

- 200g dry egg noodles

- oil for frying

- 4 tbsp lard

- 6 slices ginger

- 1tsp pounded garlic

- 4 dry Chinese mushrooms (soaked/sliced)

- 285g Chinese mustard greens (cut into 3cm lengths)

- 455ml chicken stock

Seasoning:

- 1 tbsp soya sauce

- 1 tbsp oyster sauce

- 1/2 tsp sugar

- 1 tsp salt (recipe calls for msg)

- 1/2 tsp sesame oil

- 4 tbsp water + 2 tbsp cornstarch for thickening

Method:

1. Place chicken cubes in bowl and season with salt and minced ginger.

2. Prepare noodles by bringing 565ml of water to a boil with one chicken cube and 2 tbsp oil. Put in noodles and cook till noodles separate and become soft (approx. 3-4mins). Pour noodles in colander, immerse in cold water and drain immediately in a steel colander. Allow to cool and dry for 1/2 hour before frying.

3. Heat aluminum/iron wok till hot; pour in oil and heat until hot. Put in noodles, a little at a time according to the amount of oil in the pan. Fry till crispy and light brown. Scoop out with wire ladle on to absorbent paper. Keeps the noodles warm.

4. Heat iron wok till very hot. Heat 3 tbsp lard and fry ginger and garlic until brown. Add mushrooms and mustard stalks and fry. Add mustard leaves (I also add a variety of other vegetables to this dish), chicken stock and seasoning. Bring to a boil.

5. Arrange the chicken over the leaves, cover pan and cook over high heat for 5 minutes (until chicken is cooked). Remove lid, gradually pour in the thickening, stirring as you pour. Lower heat, wait for sauce to boil once again and add the last tbsp of lard. Transfer noodles to serving plate, pour sace over noodles. Serve hot.

My sisters quite enjoyed this special treat. When we eat this dish at Hon's we usually end up fighting for the crispy noodle, leaving the "soggy"-sauce-soaked noodles behind. But when I served it, I placed the sauce on the side. That way, they could control the soggy-ness of the noodles. Yum! Well, it seems the upcoming week is going to be a busy one for me. Don't think I'll plan on making anything. Bye for now!

Beef Rendang

I choose to make Rendang for supper because I had a bulk of the ingredients on hand at the time. All I really needed to buy was the beef and galangal. It was actually quite difficult to find the galangal. I went to T&T but was unable to find it in the produce section, so I ventured into the dried/preserved vegetable aisle. I found a package of dried galangal for only $0.79! Not too shabby... and all I needed to do was soak the slices for 1 1/2 hours and I would have "almost-fresh" galangal.

You would not believe how many variations of Rendand they have posted on the internet. I know, I know, you're probably saying, "Then why use an internet recipe anyways?" I don't really know, but I'm sure that my laze factors into the equation somehow! That and I don't have a recipe for Rendang in any of my cookbooks.

I finally settled on the recipe from foodsafari.com and the only change I made was to double it. You know what probably sold me to this recipe? The fact that there's a "how to" video for this recipe! I love watching cooking shows... and when they're making things that I have all the ingredients for, it's the best :)

Looking at the Rendang I was thinking of a way to improve the presentation of my meal. I spent so much effort making it, and I didn't want to just slap it onto a bowl of rice and serve... that would not be worthy of my masterpiece. I had always wanted to make Nasi Lemak, and so that's what I decided to present my Rendang as.


"Nasi-Lemak" with Rendang

Assembly:
- Pickle some onions and cucumbers in a mixture of vinegar, salt and sugar (to taste)
- Hard-boil 2 eggs (or more if you like), quarter them and place two on each plate
- Mould some steamed rice in a bowl and place one mound on each plate
- Top rice with some pre-made ikan bilis
- Finally, just before serving, spoon the rendang onto each plate.


My parents were quite impressed with the full flavour of the Rendang. It tasted way better than the packaged stuff and the spice was extremely intense. Even my mom, who's use to eating spicy foods found my Rendang to be very hot.

Onde Onde

After making all those savoury goodies for dinner and lunch I decided to get back to my real passion... sweets! Of course, everyone loves sweets so I guess it's not so much a passion as it is just a deep, deep love :P I also love making malay sweets which use rice flour and coconut, so since my dad had bought a sweet potato that has been sitting in our pantry for the last 3 weeks I decided to make ONDE ONDE!!! Hooray (I cheer for myself way too much, eh?). Anywho, I used the recipe posted by the baker who cooks. The only difference is that I made a smaller batch (because I didn't have enough sweet potato), and used brown sugar instead of Gula Melaka; the end result tastes very similar. Yes, I am too lazy to post the exact recipe I used but I will show pictures of my onde-onde making!

Here's the rice flour dough... what a nice orange-y color

Filling the dough with brown sugar and desiccated coconut

These onde-onde just need to be boiled and rolled in desiccated coconut; then they'll be ready for eating *drool*

Wow! My favorite how did you know?

Valentine's day is awesome, but what's truly great is when someone you love makes you the perfect dessert! My dad is an awesome cook, I guess that's where my culinary flare comes from, and just the other day he made one of my favorite singaporean desserts... Bubur Cha Cha. He doesn't really use a recipe, so I can't really post it... sorry guys. But it's amazing watching him at work; it seems as if it takes no effort at all. He just dumps all the ingredients in the pressure cooker and leaves it be for about 2 hrs and voila! The perfect Bubur Cha Cha everytime. My pop always adds in the best ingredients; this time it was sweet potato, purple yam and taro... delicious. The rest of the ingredients are standard for your regular Bubur Cha Cha; rock sugar, coconut milk (the good thick stuff), sago pearls. If you want some recipes go to: dianasdesserts.com or Little Corner of Mine (They're not quite the same as my dad's but it looks close -- aside from those colorful starch things... weird!)

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.)

Again... More Asian Pride

Decided to make Putu Piring today. Found the recipe on the Ja's Kitchen webpage. She is quite a talented cook, with great recipes to choose from. I followed her recipe for this Malay treat to a tee and it turned out beautifully. I was unsure of how my family would like it, seeing as this is one of my dad's favorite sweets I didn't want to mess up. So I decided to half the recipe and make only 4 Putu Pirings; sadly, I wish I had made more because my littlest sister (the one who doesn't particularly like Malay sweets actually liked this one!)
I read a review of this recipe somewhere that said it didn't turn out properly, but that person probably just didn't have the right ingredients or something. This recipe was easy to follow and the results were delicious.