Kuih Lompang Pandan

 

Kuih lompang pandan is a traditional Malay kuih which is made from rice flour, tapioca flour and pandan juice. It differs from kuih lompang gula Melaka in terms of colour; the latter is brown in colour from the gula Melaka while kuih lompang pandan is green from the pandan juice. The batter is steamed in individual small round moulds. A dimple is formed on top of the kuih and coconut flakes are added on top before it is eaten. 

Ingredients:

• Coconut flakes from half of a coconut (without brown skin)
• 1/4 tsp salt

• 120 g sugar (140 g for a sweeter kuih)
• 360 ml water
• 6 pandan leaves for a pastel green or 8 leaves for a darker kuih

• 120 g rice flour
• 60 g tapioca flour (or 50 g tapioca flour plus 10 g mung bean flour)

Method:

• Steam coconut flakes with salt.
• Leave aside.

• Wash and cut pandan leaves into small pieces.
• Blend pandan leaves with water.
• Sieve to obtain pandan juice.
• Add sugar pandan juice. Stir till all sugar is dissolved.

• Add water to a steamer and turn on the fire.
• Let the water boil.
• Oil 12 porcelain or stainless steel moulds.
• Put them into the steamer to heat them up.

• Mix rice flour and tapioca flour (or tapioca flour and mung bean flour) in a mixing bowl.
• Add the pandan juice to the flours.
• Stir till there are no lumps.
• Transfer the flour mixture to a pot.
• Place the pot over very low fire.
• Keep on stirring the flour mixture until it SLIGHTLY thickens.
• Sieve the mixture into a pouring jug.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared porcelain or stainless steel moulds.
• Steam the batter for 25 minutes or till it is cooked.
• Remove the kuih onto a plate.
• Spoon the coconut flakes onto the top of the kuih.
• Serve.

Purple Sweet Potato Koo Kuih with Yam Filling

We can easily find angkoo kuih with mung bean paste fillings and with coconut fillings. But it is more difficult to find those with yam paste fillings, maybe not possible to find at all. I had set out to make some buns with yam paste fillings but after making the yam paste, I changed my mind and made koo kuih with them instead. In all my kuih, I have reduced sugar greatly so that those with diabetic problems can enjoy my kuih with ease.

Ingredients:

For the base:

• banana leaves or non-stick parchment paper (I used parchment paper in this case.)
• some cooking oil (I use corn oil.)

For the fillings:

• 300 g steamed yam
• 100 g steamed purple sweet potato (to give the yam paste some colour)
• 80 g castor sugar
• 15 ml milk
• 10 g butter
• 10 ml shallot oil

For the dough:

• 300 g steamed purple sweet potatoes
• 250 g glutinous rice flour
• 1 tbsp rice flour
• 180 - 200 ml hot water

Method:

For the base:

• Wash and cut the banana leaves or non-stick parchment paper according to the size of your mould.
• Grease the leaves or parchment paper.

For the fillings:

• Add the steamed yam and purple sweet potato, sugar, milk, butter and shallot oil to a plate. Mash the yam and purple sweet potato with the sugar, milk, butter and oil till they form a smooth paste which can be rolled into balls. (Taste your paste so that you can decide whether to increase the amount of sugar.)
• Weigh the paste into amount which can fit your mould and roll them into balls. Oil your hands to prevent the paste from sticking to your hands.
• Set them aside.

For the dough:

• Add steamed purple sweet potato, glutinous flour and rice flour to a mixing bowl. 
• Mix the sweet potatoes (mashing them as you go along) and the flours until well combined.
• Add in hot water, bit by bit, until they can be shaped into balls. Weigh your dough according to the amount which can fit into your mould nicely. (Weight of dough to filling is 2:1.)

Assembly:

• Take a piece of dough ball, flatten it and put the filling onto it. Slowly bring the flattened dough to cover the filling and roll it back into a ball.
• Dust the mould with glutinous flour.
• Place the ball into the mould and press it down to cover the mould nicely. If there is any dough higher than the mould, it means that the dough is too big. So, you have to adjust accordingly.
• Knock the wooden block of the mould on a table. The dough will easily drop off if you have dusted the mould well.
• Place the moulded dough on the greased banana leave or parchment paper.
• Repeat this until all the dough balls and filling balls are finished.
• Bring the water in the steamer to boil.
• Once it has boiled, place all the moulded dough onto the steamer rack.
• Steam the moulded dough over high heat for 4 minutes. Open the steamer cover, quickly brush the dough with some cooking oil. Once completed, cover the steamer and continue to steam the dough at high heat for another 4 minutes. This process will help to maintain the design of the kuih. 
• Remove the kuih from steamer and let them cool down completely.
• Remove the kuih from the banana leaves or parchment papers and place them onto fresh or new ones. Cut the banana leaves or parchment papers around the kuih.
• The koo kuih are ready to be served.

Kuih Talam Pandan

Kuih talam pandan is a common traditional Malay kuih which can be easily bought from the morning and night markets as well as cafes and in eateries in the shopping malls. It is made up of 2 layers - white on top and green at the bottom. The top layer is made from rice flour, corn flour, sugar, pandan juice and thick coconut milk while the bottom layer is made from wheat flour, tapioca flour, sugar and thin coconut milk. Some people add mung bean flour to the batter. Mung bean flour acts as a binder, a thickening agent and a flavour carrier. Kuih talam pandan is soft and creamy. However, some people also add alkaline water to make the kuih more elastic. 

Ingredients:

Bottom Layer:

• 200 g all-purpose flour
• 40 g tapioca flour
• 175 g sugar (195 g for a sweeter kuih)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 250 cup of water
• 10 pandan leaves
• 300 ml thin coconut milk

Top Layer:

• 110 g rice flour
• 50 g corn flour
• 20 g sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 750 ml thick coconut milk

Method:

• Prepare a pan 8 inch x 8 inch. Line the pan with a piece of non-stick parchment paper or a piece of food grade plastic for easier removal of the kuih later.

• Prepare a steamer with enough water to last 1 hour.

• Prepare the bottom layer:

• Wash and cut pandan leaves into smaller pieces. Grind/Blend them with 250 ml of water. Sieve to obtain the pandan juice.

• Add all-purpose flour, tapioca flour, sugar and salt to a mixing bowl. Mix.

• Add pandan juice to the dry ingredients. Mix till there are no lumps left in the batter.

• Add thin coconut milk to the batter. Use a whisk to mix them till the batter is smooth.

• Sieve the batter into a pan.

• Heat up the batter on very low fire, stirring the batter all the time so that the batter does not become lumpy.

• When steam rises from the batter, turn off the fire.

• Pour the batter into the pan.

• Steam the batter for 20 minutes.

• Prepare the top layer:

• Add rice flour, corn flour, sugar and salt to a mixing bowl. Mix.

• Add the thick coconut milk to the dry ingredients. Use a whisk to mix them till the batter is smooth.

• Sieve the batter into a pan.

• Heat up the batter on very low fire, stirring the batter all the time so that the batter does not become lumpy.

• When steam rises from the batter, turn off the fire.

• Open the cover of the steamer after 20 minutes. The green layer should have hardened.

• Use a fork to score the top of the green layer. This is to ensure that the white layer will stick to the green layer.

• Pour the batter into the pan.

• Steam the batter for 30 minutes till the kuih is cooked.

• Remove the pan from the steamer and let the kuih cool down.

• Use a plastic knife to slice the kuih.

• Enjoy.

Kuih Lompang Gula Melaka

 

Kuih lompang is a traditional Malay kuih which is made from rice flour and tapioca flour and gula Melaka or pandan juice. Kuih lompang which is made using gula Melaka will be brown in colour and that with pandan juice will be green. It is eaten with coconut flakes. This kuih can be steamed in individual small round moulds. Coconut flakes are added on top of the kuih before it is eaten.

Kuih lompang can be easily found in markets. However, as it is easy to make, we can make it any time if we have the flours, gula Melaka and pandan leaves at home.

Ingredients:

• Coconut flakes from half of a coconut (without brown skin)
• 1/4 tsp salt

• 160 g gula Melaka
• 360 ml water
• 3 pandan leaves

• 120 g rice flour
• 60 g tapioca flour

Method:

• Steam coconut flakes with salt.
• Leave aside.

• Add gula Melaka and water to a pot.
• Add pandan leaves (knotted) to it.
• Boil till gula Melaka dissolves.
• Let the syrup cool down.
• Remove the pandan leaves.
• Sieve the syrup.

• Add water to a steamer and turn on the fire.
• Let the water boil.
• Oil 12 porcelain or stainless steel moulds.
• Put them into the steamer to heat them up.

• Mix rice flour and tapioca flour in a mixing bowl.
• Add the syrup to the flours.
• Stir till there are no lumps.
• Transfer the flour mixture to a pot.
• Place the pot over very low fire.
• Keep on stirring the flour mixture until it SLIGHTLY thickens.
• Sieve the mixture into a pouring jug.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared porcelain or stainless steel moulds.
• Steam the batter for 25 minutes or till it is cooked.
• Remove the kuih onto a plate.
• Spoon the coconut flakes onto the top of the kuih.
• Serve.

Ondeh-Ondeh Jagung

I have made ondeh-ondeh purple sweet potato and ondeh-ondeh pandan before. I decided to look for other ingredients to be added to my ondeh-ondeh dough to make my cooking journey more interesting and to give my family more variety of taste. So, I came up with jagung or corn. I modified my ondeh-ondeh pandan recipe to make my ondeh-ondeh jagung. 

Ingredients:

• 200 g glutinous rice flour
• 50 g all-purpose flour
• 300 g creamed corn
• 150 g coconut flakes
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 3 pandan leaves, wash and knot them.

Method:

• Add salt to grated coconut and steam them for a few minutes.

• Open a can of creamy style corn and weigh out 300 g to be used in the recipe.

• Weigh and sieve the glutinous and all-purpose flours into a bowl.

• Add 90 percent of the creamed corn to the bowl of flours and knead till they are smooth. If the dough is too dry, add more of the creamed corn till you have a soft dough.

• Divide and weigh the dough into 23 g-piece. Roll the dough into balls. (You may weigh to make smaller or bigger dough balls. Note that the balls will enlarge once cooked.)

• Pound the cylindrical block of gula Melaka to break it up into smaller pieces.

• Take a dough ball. Flatten it and scoop 1/2 a teaspoon or more of gula Melaka onto it. Bring up the edges of the dough to seal it. Place it onto a floured plate.

• Repeat this till all the dough balls have been filled.

• Boil a pot of water. Add the knotted pandan leaves to it.

• Drop the dough balls into the boiling water.

• Once the dough balls float to the surface, it means that they are cooked. Let them roll in the boiling water for about 5 minutes more to ensure that the gula Melaka is melted.

• Remove the cooked balls onto the plate of grated coconut. Roll them in the grated coconuts. (I managed to get 24 pieces of ondeh-ondeh from my recipe.)

• Plate them and serve.

 

Kuih Seri Muka Gula Melaka

 

Kuih Seri Muka (aka Kuih Pulut Kaya) is made up of a lower glutinous rice layer and a top egg custard layer made from a combination of pandan juice, santan, sugar, wheat flour and corn flour. I have made this so often that it is high time to do something different. So, I tried with making the kuih with a brown top made from gula Melaka, thus, Kuih Seri Muka Gula Melaka. It turned out equally delicious.

Ingredients:

(a) The Top Layer

• 140 g gula Melaka
• 100 g hot water
• 215 g thick coconut milk
• 2 eggs
• 15 g all-purpose flour
• 25 g corn flour
• 1/4 tsp salt

(b) The Bottom Layer

• 300 g glutinous rice
• 250 ml thin coconut milk
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 pandan leaves cut into 6-inch length

Method:

Bottom layer:

• Soak the glutinous rice for at least 4 hours.

• Drain the water after 4 hours.

• Mix the rice with thin coconut milk.

• Add salt and stir.

• Grease an 8 inch square or round pan. You may line the base with a piece banana leave.

• Pour the rice with thin coconut milk into the pan. Place the pandan leaves in between the rice.

• Steam for about 30 minutes in total over low to medium heat. After the first 15 minutes, open the cover of the steamer, remove the pandan leaves and press down the rice to compress it. Close back the cover and steam for the remaining 15 minutes.

• While waiting for the rice to cook, prepare the top layer.

Top layer:

• Add hot water and gula Melaka into a pot.

• Turn on the fire and boil the gula Melaka till it dissolves.

• Remove the pot from the fire and let the gula Melaka syrup cool down.

• Add the syrup, coconut milk and eggs to a mixing bowl.

• Whisk till all the ingredients are well combined.

• Add flours to the mixing bowl. Stir with a whisk to ensure that all are well incorporated and a smooth batter is formed.

• Sieve the batter to get rid of any remaining lumps.

• Optional. You may pour the batter into a saucepan to heat it up slightly (over very low heat) before pouring onto the glutinous rice layer. Stir it continuously to prevent any lumps from forming.

• Open the steamer cover and pour the heated batter on top of the glutinous rice layer.

• Close  the cover and steam over very low heat (to obtain a smooth surface) for 35 minutes.

• Once cooked, remove the kuih from the steamer.

• Let it cool down completely before cutting it up with a plastic knife.

Talam Ubi Kayu

Once in while when I crave to have some nyonya kuih this is one of the kuih that I will make to satisfy my craving. Besides being tasty this kuih is easy to make and the ingredients for making it are easy to find. Some like the bottom layer to be smooth. In this case the tapioca has to be grated. However, I like to be able to bite into some bits and pieces of tapioca. Instead of grating the tapioca, I will use my grinder to grind the tapioca (not finely but leaving some rough pieces behind). I hate to put any colourings in my baking and cooking (except for natural ones) so it is important to buy the yellow specie to make this kuih so that the top and bottom layers are distinct.

Ingredients:

• For the bottom layer:
• 800 g grated or ground tapioca (yellow specie)
• 300 ml thin coconut milk (I used 150 ml of coconut extract in the box and mix it with 150 ml of water)
• 20 g tapioca flour
• 180 g sugar (slightly more if you have a sweet tooth)

• For the top layer:
• 75 g rice flour
• 90 g tapioca flour
• 400 ml thick coconut milk
• 3 g salt

• 7 inch x 7 inch pan bottom lined with banana leaf. Grease the pan with corn oil on all sides and banana leaf

Method:

• Bottom Layer:

• Prepare a steamer with boiling water.

• Add all ingredients for the bottom layer to a bowl.

• Mix them up very well.

• Pour the mixture into the pan and level it with a spatula.

• Steam the tapioca mixture for 30 minutes.

• Top Layer:

• Add all ingredients for the top layer to a bowl.

• Stir the ingredients to obtain a smooth santan batter.

• After steaming the bottom layer for 30 minutes, open the steamer and gently pour the santan batter on top of the cooked tapioca kuih.

• Cover the steamer and cook for another 30 minutes or until the santan layer is cooked.

• Remove the pan from the steamer to the counter top.

• Let the kuih cool down completely.

• Slice the kuih. Enjoy.

• Note: Keep the kuih in a tightly covered container and keep the container in the fridge if you cannot finish it on the same day.

Pandan Min Chiang Kuih with Coconut Filling

 

Traditionally Min Chiang Kuih is made from plain wheat flour or all-purpose flour with fillings of peanut, sugar and butter. However, I have modified my recipe of this kuih by using pandan juice instead of water in mixing the batter. I have used coconut flakes to replace roasted peanuts as the filling.

Ingredients (for making 2 thick pieces of 24 cm in diameter):

Fillings:

• 120 g fresh coconut flakes
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 25 g castor sugar

Batter:

• 250 wheat flour or all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 50 g sugar
• 300 ml pandan juice (made from 10 pandans leaves)
• 2 eggs

Pan:

• 24 cm non-stick with cover

Method:

• Prepare the fillings.
• Steam the coconut flakes with salt.
• After steaming, set aside.

• Prepare the batter.
• Blend the pandan leaves with water to obtain 300 ml of pandan juice.
• Put the dry ingredients - flour, instant yeast, baking soda and sugar into a mixing bowl.
• Add the pandan juice to the dry ingredients.
• Whisk till the batter is smooth.
• Crack the two eggs into the batter.
• Mix until they are incorporated into the batter.
• Cover the batter with a cling wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes. (Important step for the batter to rise well during cooking.)

• Making the kuih.
• Put the non-stick pan over very low heat.
• Without greasing the pan, scoop 1/2 of the batter into the pan (to get a thick kuih).
• Swirl the pan so that the batter is spread evenly throughout.
• Cover the pan and let the batter cook for about 4-5 minutes or till holes are formed on the surface and the bottom is brown.
• Once the batter is cooked, remove the kuih onto a cutting board.
• Cut the kuih into 2.
• Sprinkle the coconut and sugar onto one half of the kuih.
• Cover it with the other half.
• Repeat the process until the other half of the batter is used up.
• Serve.

Apam Harun Manis

 

Apam Harun Manis brings back my childhood memories. I have not seen this traditional Malay kuih being sold anywhere. Thus, I have to make them myself to savour them as well as to introduce them to my children. The method of making them is easy - just mix and steam. However, you need to have the small porcelain or plastic cups them.

Ingredients:

• 140 g gula Melaka
• 160 ml water
• 2 eggs
• 70 g sugar
• 170 g all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• A pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 pisang raja, sliced thinly
• 25 porcelain or plastic cups, greased

Method:

• Prepare a steamer with boiling water.

• Boil gula Melaka and water till the gula Melaka dissolves. Sieve and set it aside to cool down.

• Beat eggs and sugar with a whisk till the mixture is double in volume

• Sieve flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl.

• Add egg mixture to the flour and mix till no flour can be seen.

• Add gula Melaka syrup and vanilla essence to the flour and mix till the batter is smooth. The batter should not be too thick nor thin. You may add a bit of water if it is too thick and a bit of flour if it is too thin.

• Scoop the batter to the greased cups (up to 2/3 of each cup). 

• Place a slice of pisang raja on top of the batter.

• Steam the batter for 20 minutes.

• When done, let the kuih stay in the cups for about 5 minutes before removing them from the cups.

• The kuih should be flat or a big sunken on top. (I had filled my batter to the brim in order to steam all in one batch and I had not allowed the kuih to rest in the cups for 5 minutes before removing them. Thus, the kuih had a rounded top.)

Kuih Lepat Pisang

 

Kuih Lepat Pisang, a traditional kuih, brings back my childhood memories. I used to eat this kuih when I was very small as it was easily available in the market. However, it is not available in the cities. But thank goodness this kuih is very easy to make; we need to just mix the ingredients and steam. The only problem is finding the banana leaves unless you grow banana trees in your compound. I had difficulty to find the banana leaves even in the pasar tani or farmers' market. I was told they were reserved by business owners selling kuih and banana leaf rice. When I went round the market asking for banana leaves, one seller was kind enough to take out one stack from those reserved by one of his customers.

Ingredients:

• 400 g mashed bananas (I use pisang awak.)
• 75 g all-purpose flour
• 10 g rice flour
• 25 g sugar
• 6 g salt
• 60 g coconut flakes
• 7 pieces of banana leave (6inch x 8inch)

Method:

• Prepare the banana leaves. After cutting them into the desired size, wash them and boil them to soften them. Or, you may run each piece over a small fire to soften it.

• Add mashed bananas, all-purpose flour, rice flour, sugar and salt to a mixing bowl.

• Mix the ingredients till they are well incorporated.

• Take a piece of banana leaf, scoop a spoonful of banana mixture and place it onto the centre of the banana leaf.

• Use the spoon to space it evenly on the leaf.

• Use a teaspoon to place the coconut flakes onto the banana mixture.

• Roll up the banana leaf from one end to the other. Then flatten it slightly.

• Fold the ends neatly under the wrapped mixture.

• Prepare a steamer and boil the water in the steamer.

• Once the water has boiled, place the wrapped banana mixture onto the steamer tray and the tray into the steamer.

• Steam for 20 minutes.

• When done, remove the kuih from the steamer and let them cool down.

• Serve.

Note: If your bananas are not too ripe, then reduce the flour. The above amount is for bananas which are very ripe.