Kuih / Kueh

[Laksa]

The pets need to be fed with downloadable snacks -- most of the Japanese ones weren't free, but the English home page was based in Singapore, and had a gorgeous array of traditional sweets!

Let me see if I understood you correctly... someone has come up with idea of selling virtual food over the Internet to feed virtual pets on your computer? Genius!! Why can't I think of things like this?

Could you point me to a website please? I have to see this for myself.

[helenjp]

In the late '90s, Sony marketed the original Postpet, an e-mail program which allows you to keep a virtual pet in a customized "room" on your screen, and use it to deliver e-mail to other users of the same program (it will function as an ordinary e-mail program too).

Pets have various functions...some will deliver mail very quickly, but then go AWOL, or write silly messages to your correspondents.

You have to download snacks to feed your pet, or it will stop delivering mail...

Sony used to sell downloads, but fans also wrote various "snack" routines featuring favorite or seasonal foods. Some snacks are innocuous, but some cause things to happen...

Sony Postpet trial download page

postpet functions description

Unfortunately the Singapore English site was closed down...

[Laksa]

Thanks for the links. As I had suspected, Postpet is Tamagotchi on steroids. I wonder if I can get away with posting silly messages on eGullet and blaming it on my Postpet.

[CreamFudge]

Hello!!

I'm looking for a sago cake (Kuih/Kueh Sagu) recipe. I hope someone can share one.

Also, whatever other kuih/kueh recipes you may have, I'd be most delighted if these can be posted too!!

Thanks!!!

[JustKay]

Hi!

There are a few Kuih Sagos that I know of ... not sure which you want.

Here are 2 simple recipes.

Kuih Sago

1/2C sago pearls

3C water

1C sugar

1C freshly grated coconut (white part only)

1/2t salt (to taste)

- wash the sago and drain.

- mix grated coconut with salt and steam 10mins or so; let cool.

- add sugar to water and boil till sugar dissolves, strain.

- put the syrup back into the pot and add the sago pearls; cook until sago turns transparent, add a little coloring (usually red) ... it is ready when the sagos has all turned transparent and the mixure slightly thickens

- pour into a sheet pan and let cool and set

-when cooled, cut into diamond shapes and roll in the coconut.

Sago Pudding with Palm Sugar syrup

- prepare sago as in the above but without the color red.

- obtain thick coconut milk from the freshly grated coconut and add a little salt to taste

- make palm sugar syrup by simply boiling chopped palm sugar with a little water ; the thicker the syrup the better (let it cool in fridge and it will thicken further) and add pandan leaves if you have then discard the leave when done.

- serve set sago with the coconut milk and palm sugar syrup

I like to set the sago in small dessert cups and then just pour some coconut milk in and drizzle the palm sugar syrup.

This dessert is better when served cold.

I'll post more when I have time.

Edited July 8, 2004 by kew (log)

[His Nibs]

Here's an Ondeh Ondeh recipe that does not use sweet potato (adapted from a recipe book by Agnes Chang titled "Agnes Chang's Hawker's Delights" ISBN: 983-40370-0-7).

A:

240g of glutinous rice flour

120ml hot water

2 tablespoon thick pandan juice (good luck finding this in the US) or some pandan extract mixed with sufficient water to meet required amount (my guess? 0.5 tsp)

2 tablespoon ultrafine sugar

fresh coconut milk or reconstituted kara (enough to mix) [my guess would be the thin kind)

1 tablespoon oil

B

half piece of gula melaka (again good luck finding this in the US), chopped, mixed with 3 tablespoons of ultrafine sugar (use the food processor or mini-chopper)

C:

a mixture of grated young coconut and salt (I think you can susbstitue dessicated coconut reconstituted somewhat, get the unsweetened variety). Steam.

1. Mix the hot water into the flour first. Add in the other ingredients in A until it forms a soft dough. Separate the dough into equal pieces (about 15)

2. Add a little B inside and seal up by rolling them into little balls (sort of like making cheese stuffed hamburgers) .

3. Cook the balls in boiling water. They are ready when they float to the surface. Remove and drain following by a coat with C and serve it either warm or cold. [warm tastes best!]

ps: to get your prep work done, I'll suggest starting with B and C. It doesn't take that long to form the dough and no proofing required.

[edited: to simplify some stuff]

Edited July 8, 2004 by His Nibs (log)

[helenjp]

pandan juice (good luck finding this in the US)

DOES anybody know of an online source for pandan flavorings of any type? I'm finding it very hard to keep reading about it on eGullet and know I can't buy any. It's such a wonderful flavor/fragrance!

[CreamFudge]

Thanks a lot, Kew!! Yes these are the kueh sagu recipes i have been looking for!

[JustKay]

You're welcome creamfudge. Sorry for all the typos - was in a hurry. Feel free to adjust the sugar levels to your liking. I'll share another favorite recipe soon (steamed sago kueh - abuk-abuk).

[Tepee]

I'd be happy to get some for you if you like. Just PM me.

[Tepee]

- make palm sugar syrup by simply boiling chopped palm sugar with a little water ; the thicker the syrup the better (let it cool in fridge and it will thicken further)

To make a nice good thick syrup, I boil together 3 sugars----> palm sugar, white sugar and brown sugar. I find that using palm sugar alone is not sweet enough. Personal preference, though.

Edited July 8, 2004 by TP(M'sia) (log)

[His Nibs]

The pandan extract can be found in most asian supermarkets in the US (it's in a small bottle). My local vietnamese market (vien dong) stocks them. They are usually imported from indonesia. Another question, I can't seem to find gula melaka in the asian marts in my area but I've found Gula Jawa (from indonesia). Wondering if it can be a good substitute?

[Pan]

Helen is in Japan, His Nibs.

[JustKay]

Another question, I can't seem to find gula melaka in the asian marts in my area but I've found Gula Jawa (from indonesia). Wondering if it can be a good substitute?

Maybe spaghetttiiiii can help with the Gula Jawa.

But, in a pinch you can use dark brown sugar.

Or the easier and yummy substitution for the sago pudding recipe - caramel syrup.

edited to add : or simply, pancake syrup (natural flavor) but of course, any falvor works too.

Edited July 8, 2004 by kew (log)

[JustKay]

To make a nice good thick syrup, I boil together 3 sugars----> palm sugar, white sugar and brown sugar. I find that using palm sugar alone is not be sweet enough. Personal preference, though.

True. Some people do that.

I only mix palm sugar with some white sugar for baking like when making Kueh Kasui (or dodol) .... as a syrup though, I prefer the pure taste of palm sugar. Less sweet, the more I can indulge. Heh heh ...

[spaghetttti]

Another question, I can't seem to find gula melaka in the asian marts in my area but I've found Gula Jawa (from indonesia). Wondering if it can be a good substitute?

Maybe spaghetttiiiii can help with the Gula Jawa.

But, in a pinch you can use dark brown sugar.

Or the easier and yummy substitution for the sago pudding recipe - caramel syrup.

Yikes, I've always been under the impression that Gula Melaka and Gula Jawa were the same thing = Gula Merah. So, by all means do use the Gula Jawa.

Oh-oh, now my boss is standing over my shoulder reading this and telling me that Gula Melaka is palm sugar, what we call Gula Aren, and Gula Jawa is made from coconuts.

Anyway, I remember when I was little living in Washington, DC, my mother used dark brown sugar or maple syrup as substitutes. In fact, she almost always used dark brown sugar for those ondeh-ondeh (klepon, to me). Imagine her delight many years later when we discovered the Asian markets in nearby Arlington, VA which carried lots of the ingredients needed to make her favorite Indonesian dishes.

Yetty

Edited July 8, 2004 by spaghetttti (log)

[JustKay]

Gula kabong = "the sugary product made from the sap of the male inflorescence of the palm Arenga pinnata. "

Gula melaka = "the sugar product derived from the tropical coconut tree, Coco nucifera."

I will post more detail info (how they are made, etc ... ) when I have some time.

The short of it, thus, gula jawa = gula melaka. Palm sugar can mean either gula melaka or gula kabung. They are used interchangeably in Malay cooking.

Edited July 9, 2004 by kew (log)

[spaghetttti]

That's great info, thanks for the clarification, Kew.

Here are some Gula Jawa Kawung that are available at my local supermarket. How are they shaped and packaged where you all are?

Yetty

[Pan]

Whoa, Yetty, that's true food porn!

Americans eat maple candy whole, and my parents and I did the same thing with manisan, to the utter disgust of our neighbors. Manisan is not quite as fragrant as maple candy, but it's pretty damn good!

I take it you're getting that sugar in Indonesia?

[spaghetttti]

Hi Michael,

Sassy sugar? (heheh!)

Manisan is not quite as fragrant as maple candy, but it's pretty damn good!

Oooh, the memories! We used to suck on little rounds of maple sugar around Thanksgiving time when we lived in the States. Your manisan sounds good. Ours are tooooo sweet to eat whole.

However, here in West Java, Indonesia, manisan is candied fruit. I like the manggo and papaya manisan. Delicious eaten straight but for real decadence -- manisan with ice cream. Mmmm!

I take it you're getting that sugar in Indonesia?

Yup, the supermarkets here in Bandung carry a lot of different sugars, imported and domestic. I'm sure there's a vast variety available to you in NYC, yes?

Yetty

Edited July 11, 2004 by spaghetttti (log)

[His Nibs]

Heh... the gula jawa sold at my local asian supermart looks likes a cannister that is semi-hollowed out at the top and bottom. It really looks like the gula melaka that I see my mom buy back in singapore. Thus the confusion

Thanks for the explanation spaghetttti!

[Pan]

Yup, the supermarkets here in Bandung carry a lot of different sugars, imported and domestic. I'm sure there's a vast variety available to you in NYC, yes?

I guess so, if I really looked hard. But as with many specialty items in New York, it's best to go to specialty stores for them. Jaggery at the Bangladeshi store, etc.

Have a good day, Sugar.

[spaghetttti]

Here are some Gula Jawa Kawung that are available at my local supermarket. How are they shaped and packaged where you all are?

Yetty

Edited September 8, 2004 by spaghetttti (log)

[spaghetttti]

I just love pisang goreng/ fried bananas, and these are pretty special. Pisang kepok are used and are fanned out just before a dip into the batter and into the fryer.

[His Nibs]

Gotta be the small red bananas for the goreng pisang. Also, don't know if you have it in indonesia but in singapore they sell mung-bean cakes fried up goreng pisang style. Ah... to be back in singapore