Kuih / Kueh

[Shiewie]

Have a look at Renee's Shiokdelicious food blog for pictures of a salivatingly good spread of kuih / kueh .

What kuih / kueh do you like best? Have you tried making kuih / kueh?

[su-lin]

Kueh!!! Oh yum....I started salivating all over my keyboard when I read Renee's post.

I like kueh dadar....and I'm almost ashamed to admit that I like the cheaper ones that have not as much coconut/gula melaka inside. I'm also fond of angku and any of the kueh bengkas.

My mother makes excellent serimuka and kueh lapis sagu. I've made onde-onde and kueh dadar. I haven't really tried making any steamed things as I don't really have a pot/wok big enough to steam in yet!

What's the name of that kuih made of bananas and batter? Not goreng pisang but the bananas are mashed up and mixed in the batter and formed into balls and deep fried? I like those too!

[lannie]

Oh, I have to tout the most wonderful kueh that I had in Melaka (Malacca) a few years back: Putu Piring.

It was made by some old guy at a little stall in front of his house using the usual steaming contraption (looks like little metal 'hats'). The huge (they were palm-sized disks of delectability) Putu Piring were warm, with a delicate steamed white outer shell encasing a beautifully balanced mixture of Gula Melaka (Palm Sugar) and freshly-grated coconut. *Sigh* Shiok!

Also on that visit, we had a cousin who had cousins who owned a kueh 'factory' that operated out of their house. The array of fresh kueh that was produced there was simply amazing - needless to say, I personally sampled each and every one (quality control.....).

Usually, I make Kueh Serikaya (green pandan custard over glutinous coconut milk rice), Kueh Dadar, or Onde Onde (green pandan balls covered in coconut with a burst of liquefied Gula Melaka in the centre). YUM!

Edited June 3, 2004 by lannie (log)

[Pan]

I loved the kueh bakar I used to get every day in Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan at recess, along with keropok lekor and hot sauce and some teh o. Try as I might, I have yet to find their like again. They had coconut milk in the batter and were baked over a wood fire, so they had a delicious wood-smoke taste.

My other favorite Malaysian sweet was Sura, an East Coast specialty that my mother has a recipe for somewhere. The recipe is extremely complicated and it includes numerous ingredients (you might say "ada belaka") including some surprising ones (like chicken), but it was truly delicious and was made in big vats and brought around to every household in the village. It was seasonal and made close to the time of Thaipusam, though of course no association was made by our Muslim neighbors (we noticed the coincidence). I don't know if it qualifies as a kueh. It's a rich, dense sweet, redolent of cardamom among many other things.

Last August, I spent a few days in Kota Bharu and enjoyed some of the sweets at the Pasar Malam. For example, there was a good kueh made with beans, I forget which kind.

[JustKay]

That post reminds me of some delicious kuihs from the past. I think that's a great introduction to Malaysian kuihs. And that's just the tip of the iceberg!

Just some additional info - Lempur Udang is Pulut Udang or Pulut Panggang, and Bugis is more commonly known as Kuih Koci in Malay.

My favorite kuih would be Koleh Kacang (green bean flour cooked for ages in coconut milk and topped with 'taik minyak' which is the 'fried' coconut cream. You do this by boiling coconut milk on a very slow fire for hours until the oil and cream separates, and continue frying the cream granules in that coconut oil until fragrant and deep brown).

Some of my family's favorites are : Kuih Gegendang Kasturi (cooked green beans, mixed with grated coconut and sugar and form into discs and dipped in batter and fried), Kuih Lapis (beras) just like the kuih lapis sagu featured in the article but uses rice flour instead, and Abuk-Abuk which is sago pearls mixed with coconut and put into cones made from banana leaves, and topped with gula merah (a kind of brown sugar) and then steamed. And my Mom's favorite is Talam Berlauk which is rice flour 'cakes' with savoury toppings.

su-lin - I think you mean Kuih Kodok/Cekodok/Jemput Pisang? Sometimes, a little grated coconut is added in the batter too. I like these too - easy tea time kuih.

pan - i don't know of anyone who sells the Kueh Bakar that still uses wood fire. They sure are good eh? They also put the burning wood on top of the mold cover and that makes the top nicely 'baked' too. I usually bake them in the oven and then switch the setting to grill towards the end to bake the top.

Sura - could this be Bubur Asyura? I know in the East Coast, these are made very thick and you can even 'set' and cut them up (like a talam) and rather sweet, as opposed to the ones commonly found in KL which are more like a porridge and more savoury. I will have to ask my Terengganu friend when I next talk to her.

And what about Putu Mayang/Putu Mayong? These are rather hard to find now.

Edited June 4, 2004 by kew (log)

[Pan]

Sura - could this be Bubur Asyura? I know in the East Coast, these are made very thick and you can even 'set' and cut them up (like a talam) and rather sweet, as opposed to the ones commonly found in KL which are more like a porridge and more savoury. I will have to ask my Terengganu friend when I next talk to her.

Do ask her. Asyura does seem like it could be pronounced "sura" in Terengganu and Kelantan. I don't know what a talam is, but from what I remember, these are spooned with huge ladles from vats. They are about as solid as some Indian carrot halwas, if you're familiar with those. Sura was sweet, fragrant, and rich, truly one of the most memorable and unique things I've ever tasted. And during its season, there was loads of it.

[JustKay]

Sura - could this be Bubur Asyura? I know in the East Coast, these are made very thick and you can even 'set' and cut them up (like a talam) and rather sweet, as opposed to the ones commonly found in KL which are more like a porridge and more savoury. I will have to ask my Terengganu friend when I next talk to her. 

Do ask her. Asyura does seem like it could be pronounced "sura" in Terengganu and Kelantan. I don't know what a talam is, but from what I remember, these are spooned with huge ladles from vats. They are about as solid as some Indian carrot halwas, if you're familiar with those. Sura was sweet, fragrant, and rich, truly one of the most memorable and unique things I've ever tasted. And during its season, there was loads of it.

Ok, I'll ask. Bubur Asyura is like a rice porridge but cooked in coconut milk and has about a hundred things in it. And I forgot to mention that Bubur Asyura is usually only made during the Ramadhan. Cooked in humungous pots within the mosque compound and distributed to all. The exact ingredients and proprotions only known to the cook him/herself. I tried to find a recipe on the Net but nada.

[Pan]

Interesting. Sura is not cooked during Ramadan on the East Coast.

[pandangirl]

su-lin and lannie,

Would you please consider posting your recipes for onde-onde? I have many fond memories of greedily eating kuih in Penang when my family lived there. I liked best the steamed leaf packets of blue colored glutinous rice with the little ball of coconut and palm sugar on top. But I dream of onde-onde! I tried making the recipe from Amy Beh's book a couple of times but ended up with a rubbery mess. If you could please advise, the greedy child in me would be very grateful!

[trillium]

Mrs. Leong's book has a recipe for onde-onde, I've never made it, but she's never steered me wrong before. Do you have that book? It's a great one. If you don't, I'll try to remember to bring it in and type out the recipe.

regards,

trillium

[pandangirl]

trillium, I have borrowed that book many times from the library and stared longingly at the pictures in there. I think I tried (and failed) with that recipe as well. Perhaps it is practical technique as much as a list of ingredients that I seek. I often wish I could apprentice myself to some Nonya aunty and learn in that manner rather than in my own haphazard experimental approach. Thank you for the kind offer, though.

[Shiewie]

pandangirl

Is the onde-onde recipe that you're looking for the one with sweet potatoes in it or the one with just glutinous rice flour?

Can I ask at what point does it become a rubbery mess? Have made the just glutinous rice flour onde-onde at a cooking class. Our first batch of dough was rejected - Rohani, our teacher said that the water was too hot when we added it to the flour ... think the hot water which was too hot cooked the flour before we mixed it up into a dough. Hope this helps.

Edited June 11, 2004 by Shiewie (log)

[JustKay]

Onde-onde - in Johor this is called 'Kuih Bom' - which is a ball of dough of glutinous flour, slightly bigger than the size of a golf ball with a cooked sweet coconut center and rolled in sesame seed and fried.

However, Onde-onde you are refering to is what is called Kuih Buah Melaka in Johor and Malacca. Betty Yew in her book 'Rasa Malaysia' also calls this Kuih Buah Melaka.

(NOT arguing what it should be called - just noting the difference in regional name)

The way I make this Kuih Buah Melaka - and always comes out nice and soft even after it isn't hot anymore - is that you don't mix the glutionous rice flour with just water. You mix it with santan (coconut milk) - not the thick one but just regular coconut milk. So, if all you can get is the condensed version, dilute it first (therefore no need extra water) and just heat it till warm - do not boil.

Add the pandan juice, and add enough warmed coconut milk to the flour along with a pinch of salt, until it forms a soft manageable dough. That's it.

Then take a pinch of dough, flatten it, add the bit of palm sugar (gula melaka hence the name kuih buah melaka) and form the ball.

Immediately put the ball in hot boiling water (but not rolling boil) and when it floats, scoop it out with a strainer, let drain for a while and then roll in slightly salted grated coconut. Don't crowd the balls in the pot.

This is my Grandma's 'secret tip' and you can use it whenever glutinous flour is used in making kuih. You'll find the kuih not only more flavorful but also not rubbery at all, even after it's gone cold.

Edited June 11, 2004 by kew (log)

[lannie]

Hi pandangirl,

Here's the recipe for Onde Onde that I use. Hope it works for you!

Onde Onde Recipe

1 cylindrical piece of Gula Melaka

1/2 grated fresh coconut (desiccated will do, too)

pinch of salt

180g sweet potatoes

240g glutinous rice flour

1 TBSP pandan juice (by pounding 4 leaves)

*Optional*: a few drops of green pandan colouring

pinch of salt

165ml water (more, if needed)

1. Cut Gula Melaka into small pieces, or grate (it will melt easier).

2. Mix grated coconut with pinch of salt and steam for 5 minutes. Put aside.

3. Steam the sweet potatoes until soft. While *hot*, peel and mash with a wooden spoon in a large bowl.

4. Add glutinous rice flour, pandan juice, (colouring), and pinch of salt. Knead together. Add water a little at a time, kneading well until the dough is smooth.

5. Divide dough into equal portions of about 1tsp each. Roll each into a ball. Flatten each ball lightly, and put a bit of Gula Melaka inside. Close up the edges and shape into a ball.

6. Drop a few balls at a time into boiling water. When they float, lift out and roll in the grated coconut.

Edited June 11, 2004 by lannie (log)

[spaghetttti]

Wow, all this discussion of delectable pastries made me crave them, so I really had to go out and buy some. Went all over town to three different places until I finally got some of the kue klepon. But it was well worth it!

Just to add to the fun of the different names for kuih/kueh --- in some parts of Indonesia, your onde is our klepon, and our onde is the sesame seed coated bean paste filled pastry.

And now for your viewing pleasure, (before I devour them) I present to you:

[Shiewie]

Nice pics spaghetttti . There's Chinese version of what's called onde in Indonesia - they're called "jeen dui".

If anyone else has pictures of Asian cakes and pastries, please do post them here.

All our discussion so far has been centered on kuehs that we get in Singapore, Malaysia and with Spaghetttti's post, Indonesia... not that this is a bad thing. But would love to learn more about cakes/pastries in the other parts of the region too. Thailand? Vietnam? Philippines? ...

kew - am drooling after reading about you kuih bom. Will we be lucky enough to taste your gran's secret recipe the next time there's a get-together? (Ahem this is a big fat hint and about as subtle as a ton of bricks )

Edited June 11, 2004 by Shiewie (log)

[JustKay]

Just to add to the fun of the different names for kuih/kueh --- in some parts of Indonesia, your onde is our klepon, and our onde is the sesame seed coated bean paste filled pastry. 

Yes, the sesame covered kueh is what we Johorians call Onde Onde only that it usually contain grated coconut cooked with palm sugar.

I think Johor has much Indonesian influence - even my grandfather (they're Bugis people) were originally from Indonesia. Johor has many Javanese people .... hence Tempe, Nasi Ambeng, Pecal, Sambal Goreng .... & Kuih Nagasari, Puteri Dua Sebilik, etc ...

That kue - top left, green & white rounds - we have that here too but I don't know what they're called. Some kind of Apam.

The red ones looks like Angkoo.

What is the kue in the middle?

Is the bottom left Kue Lapis?

Edited June 11, 2004 by kew (log)

[JustKay]

Nice pics spaghetttti . There's Chinese version of what's called onde in Indonesia - they're called "jeen dui".

If anyone else has pictures of Asian cakes and pastries, please do post them here.

jeen dui - would this have coconut center or bean paste center?

And it would be nice too if we could post recipes for the kuihs. That would help others not familiar with them to better imagine what they taste like and perhaps even try to make them.

[Shiewie]

Nice pics spaghetttti  . There's Chinese version of what's called onde in Indonesia - they're called "jeen dui".

If anyone else has pictures of Asian cakes and pastries, please do post them here. 

jeen dui - would this have coconut center or bean paste center?

Oops - modified my post while you were posting kew .

"Jeen dui" usually has a red bean paste filling - not sure whether there's one with a coconut filling.

Angkoo / angku is an interesting one - the name as it is means "red turtle" in Hokkien but I'm not quite sure of its origins. Spaghetttti, what is it called in Indonesia?

It was something that was always there ... so I used to think that it was a local or Nyonya thing. Angkoo / angku is one of the must-haves for a baby's full moon celebration for Malaysian / Singaporean Chinese families together with Nasi Kunyit and Curry Chicken. But I've also seen it a Taiwanese cookbook on Chinese snacks.

I didn't used to like an angku's green bean paste filling when I was little and would dig it all out before savouring the chewy red bits slowly . Oh - and my gran used to pan-fry any leftover angku for breakfast / tea the next day.

[maukitten]

My fave kuih (for eating) would be one which my grandmother used to make called "pulut tai-tai" (which I hope is the correct name for the kuih and not some bastardised name the nyonyas hatched up for it). It's glutinous rice stained blue and compressed (by one of my male cousins stepping on the rice - I kid you not!), and served with kaya (coconut jam - also made by grandmother).

Otherwise, having had to do domestic science in school, the kuihs I like making best are kuih keria (sweet potato donut with a sugar glaze, but I prefer just sprinkling sugar over it) and sagu pancawarna (multicoloured sago rolled in grated coconut). Strangely I think the domestic science text books give quite good recipes, or perhaps my palate wasn't quite as well trained in those days.

Maukitten

[Tepee]

Oh, Maukitten, I love pulut tai-tai too! I ordered a whole tray of it from Aroma Nyonya (whose factory is very close to our house) for one of my kids birthday do, and had a few guests thanking me over and over again for it. They're quite nice and will provide extra kaya upon request. Incidentally, their angkoos (red and pandan green) are very good too, and comes in 2 sizes.

We must have come from the same school...or era...coz I love the stuff we made from our domestic science classes too, LOL!

[trillium]

trillium, I have borrowed that book many times from the library and stared longingly at the pictures in there. I think I tried (and failed) with that recipe as well. Perhaps it is practical technique as much as a list of ingredients that I seek. I often wish I could apprentice myself to some Nonya aunty and learn in that manner rather than in my own haphazard experimental approach. Thank you for the kind offer, though.

Wouldn't that be great? If you find a Nonya auntie to give you classes please let me know, cuz I would want in on it too! My own personal cursed dish is carrot cake, I can never get it right no matter what recipe I try. I'd blame it on the carrots/turnips/whatever you want to call them that we can get here, but I think it's really just me!

I've had a jeen dui type thing filled with sweet lotus paste, like what you put in mooncakes from a Vietnamese shop.

regards,

trillium

[JustKay]

We must have come from the same school...or era...coz I love the stuff we made from our domestic science classes too, LOL!

Indeed! I even tried to look for the SRT textbook. The recipes all turn out so well didn't they? Remember sardine roll, jam bun ... but what I want most is a savoury rice dish I can't remember it's name (maybe nasi berperisa?) but I remember it has chicken liver in it. LOL!

TP - is that Aroma Nyonya halal? And where do they sell their kuehs? I've never had pulut tai-tai (I've heard it being called Pulut Tatal).

Shiewie - it's been years since I made any Kuih Bom. I'll have to ask my Mom for the recipe. But I remember it was such an easy kuih. The inti is the same as for Kuih Dadar/Ketayap. Perhaps, I will try to make them again.

Angkoo / angku is one of the must-haves for a baby's full moon celebration for Malaysian / Singaporean Chinese families together with Nasi Kunyit and Curry Chicken.

Definitely Malaysia is such a rojak. I think the Nasi Kunyit or Pulut Kuning part comes from the Malays and the curry from the Indians? The Malays would always have these 2 dishes at any important celebrations, especially at weddings.

What about dodol? Or even wajik? There is only one commercial dodol that to me, is almost as good as homemade - Dodol Mayang from Johor. My grandma's recipe for dodol is lost forever. My Mom didn't jot it down.

And Kuih Tepung Gomak? Isn't that Indonesian?

Edited June 11, 2004 by kew (log)

[Pan]

I'm glad you mentioned dodol. Dodol can be so rich it can be tough on my stomach, but it sure is good for my soul!

Have we talked much about special sweets for Hari Raya yet? I don't remember names, but I do remember having delicious kueh on Hari Raya Puasa in Terengganu. One thing I do remember might not qualify as a kueh: Sweet agar-agar.

[JustKay]

Otherwise, having had to do domestic science in school, the kuihs I like making best are kuih keria ............

And when you make Kuih Keria (or Cokkeria or Kuih Gelang) ... you must also make Cucur Badak.

And maukitten ... the way we do our sugar glaze, I've not seen it done like that in any Western recipes, eh?

(Cucur Badak = same sweet potato dough but with a savory coconut filling.)