Soon Kueh/Bangkwan Kueh/Jicama Dumplings

Soon Kueh/bangkwan kueh is a very popular snack in Malaysian and Singapore. Tradionally the filling is made out of bamboo shoots but nowadays you can usually get the make from Jicama/bangkwan which I prefer. Added to is mushrooms, carrots or dried shrimps.

I grew up eating this savory kueh as my grandma, aunt and mom will made it over the weekend to feed our big family. My family made a lot of yummy kueh when we were growing up but I don’t think anyone ever write down any recipes. Everything ingredients are just an estimation or agak agak so this is not our family recipe. I try out this recipe from Rose Kitchen and it turn out pretty good.

Chinese Style Prawn Fritters

I made these last year when a couple of friends came over for tea. I like this thin kind of fritters as it is much crispier. I used the recipe of Nasi Lemak Lover but I replaced the chives with spring onions and add a bit of pepper to the batter. It turns out really good and it was well received by my friends.

Steamed Savory Yam (Taro) Cake/Orr Kueh

I am a big fan of yam but I don’t buy it too often it can be quite costly at time. Usually it is around $1.79 - $1.99 a pound and if you buy the vacuum pack peel kind it is about $3.59 a pound. It happen it went on sale a few weeks ago and it was selling at $0.99 a pound so a bought a huge tuber. I used some to cook bubur cha cha and Taro Puffs (recipe coming soon) the rest for this yam kueh. The yams sold here are all good as I have yet to find a bad one. It has a powdery texture and it is really good to make yam kueh. I like a lot of yam in it so I added a bit more to it. Please be cautious when handling yam. I would advise you to wear gloves as it might cause some skin irritation.

Purple Sweet Potato Angku Kuih/Steamed Purple Glutinous Rice Cake

It has been a long while since I last made this kuih/cake. I’ve been having huge craving for the past few weeks and finally made some. I freeze some of it up in case of future craving. The name “angku kuih” or in English translates as “red tortoise cake” is a type of traditional glutinous rice cake with mung bean fillings that’s made into an oval shaped like the back of a tortoise. This kuih/cake is usually used for prayers, during birthdays or baby full moon because it’s symbol of longevity. Normally made with red coloring but I decided to make it with natural color of purple using purple sweet potatoes. The recipe I am using here is the same one that I used before. You can check out some of the step by step pictures here .

Malaysian Food Fest Kelantan Month Round-Up

When the hosting date of the Malaysian Food Fest for the state of Kelantan drew near I was very worried as I knew that it would be a very busy and crazy month for me. A new chapter in my life is starting as I am back into working world again. I know I will be crazy trying to juggle everything at once, my new daily routine and having to blog as well. As I had already said 'Yes' to hosting the Kelantan month, I would just do it and I intended to do it well.

Throughout my blogging years, I have come across some not so nice characters but for each of that, I have encountered the good ones that come tenfold. For that, I am very blessed indeed, as these good people come to my rescue when I needed them the most. I was very worried that I would not have enough time to do research, the write ups and not forgetting the cooking itself which is the very essence of this whole scheme. The cooking is relatively easy but finding an authentic recipe and the ingredients is a bit of a challenge as living far away from home means I have to do without so many ingredients that are essential in many of the Kelantanese recipes.

Throughout the MFF events I’ve learned many things and dishes from other states. One thing that stands out for me is authenticity of a dish. It cannot be determined per se as who is to say the dish originally came from one states. It is not uncommon in Malaysia for dishes to be begged or borrowed from other states, modified to suit local tastes and then claimed as their own. So let’s not be too critical or harsh if any of the dishes featured during this Kelantan MFF are not truly authentic. The whole idea of this feature is to introduce a specific region's food and encourage readers to try new and different foods outside their normal comfort zone.

I am glad that so many of you accepted the challenge and joined in the fun. A special thank you to Nor of Secubit Garam for spreading the word amongst the blogger community and to get so many of you to participate, and also going the extra mile of providing me many of the pictures that appeared in the introduction posting. Also a special thank you to Cik Manggis of Jom Masak Jom Makan Makan for being my number one supporter... cooking a Kelantan based dish almost on a daily basis and also my good friend Shereen for being there for me. Also thank you to those of you who have let me use your photos and recipes, and who answered my many questions. Once again, a big, big thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you who participate and made Kelantan MFF a huge success with 99 entries and if I left out any of your dish in the round up please let me know and I will put them up. So without further ado here are all the dishes that I received.

Appetizer/Salad

Kerabu Sotong Kering by Gertrude of My Kitchen Snippets

Somtam/Papaya Salad by Vivian of Vivian Pang Kitchen

Somtam by Peng of Peng's Kitchen

Chicken Kerabu by Lena of Frozen Wings

Kerabu Taugeh Bersantan by Sheila of Nshafearee

Kuih Akok Kedut - Kelantan Dish 11

I was set to make this kuih for the MFF event after so many people raved about it. Apparently, in Terengganu (a state in Malaysia) kuih akok is smooth looking as they use a higher ratio of flour to eggs whereas their neighbor, Kelantan uses more eggs compared to flour. When a batter has more eggs than flour, the kuih will puff up and then it will shrink upon hitting the cool air hence, the kedut / wrinkly in the name. This kuih is pretty similar to Yorkshire pudding where the kuih will puff up and even the taste is a bit like Yorkshire putting too except that this is the sweet version. As there is quite a substantial amount of eggs in it, the bottom part of the kuih is almost custardy. So, do I like this kuih? I wouldn't sing lyrical on how fantastic this kuih is but it’s a nice enough kuih but not that nice for me to go and hunt for it.

 

 

Cek Mek Molek - Kelantan Dish 9

Sweet potato or Ubi Keledek, in Malay, is a very versatile tuber. The shoots and tuber can be eaten as a vegetable and also be used in sweet and savory dishes. There are a few types of sweet potatoes here and the most common ones are the orange and the light yellow ones. We do get the purple variety here but they are very expensive. It cost around $2.00 a pound. I actually like the orange kind as they are much sweeter but it is not good for making kuih like this. It has way too much water content in it so I will usually add some light yellow variety to it.

Cek Mek Molek (which means "Beautiful Lady") is a traditional Kelantan Kuih and is very similar to Kuih Keria except that this kuih has the sugar on the inside instead of the sugar coating on the outside. I understand you can find savory cek mek molek too in Kelantan where they put serunding daging it. This is the first time I am making this kuih and I just made a few as Carlos is not a fan of sweet potato. As for the recipe it is just estimation as different sweet potato will yield different results.

Kuih Tahi Itik Kelantan - Kelantan Dish 6

Kuih Tahi Itik (duck’s dropping cake) is very popular in The East Coast of Malaysia especially in Kelantan, my opinion not because of its taste, but probably because of its notorious name. In the olden days, it was more economic for people to raise ducks for their eggs rather than chickens because duck eggs are so much larger, and some say with a better flavor. Chickens were raised more for their meat to feed the family. So traditionally, people used duck eggs for their baking, not chicken. When making Kuih Jala Emas (Golden Net Cake) and Kuih Pauh Di Layang (Cut Mango Cake) which uses only the duck egg yolks, there would always be unused egg whites. So it's inevitable Kuih Tahi Itik would also be made. If you make these two kuihs, you must make the other, kind of like 'The Three Musketeers' of the Kuih world. Since this Kuih Tahi Itik is made from this 'by-product' (egg white diet wasn't in fashion then so no one gave a toss to worry about high calories, fat and cholesterol), it derives its name Tahi, which is also a 'by-product'.

The appearance of the Kuih doesn't help either as it does resemble duck's droppings, whitish in color and in clumps. Trust the olden day people to have such a sick sense of humor... lol. Another theory of mine ( please don't quote me on this ) as to why this kuih is named as such, is because when you stir the kuih, the mixture will take a greenish hue from the pandan leaves which makes you even more aware of how close the color is to duck's droppings! From greenish in color to whitish and in clumps! Just as its namesake looks! I guess you spread it on toast but I much prefer to have it as it is. The shape of my Kuih Tahi Itik is not traditional... for my sake purely! I don't think I can bear eating something that looks vaguely like its name. I have also reduced the amount of sugar but in my opinion, you can reduce it even more if you prefer. I have always wondered about this Kuih Tahi Itik, now I wonder no more.

Fried Sweet Potato Balls

This is a well-know snack in Malaysia and mostly sold by the street vendors. These deep-fried sweet potato balls are called ‘fan shu tan’ in Cantonese and it is slightly smaller than the size of a ping pong ball. They are cruncy and golden brown on the outside,soft and sweet on the inside. I remember eating this ages ago at Cameron Highlands. Cameron Highlands is a highland region located around 200km from Kuala Lumpur at the state of Pahang. It is well known for its agriculture and also cool weather which is very popular among tourist. Due to its weather, tea and strawberries, which are rarities in the places under the Equator, are substantially planted here. There is this one street vendor that sells these sweet potato balls at the market and we have to get it each time we visited this place.

I Google for the recipe and there are a few version of it. I finally settle with the one by Angie of Seasaltwithfood . This is a full recipe but I did only half of the recipe which yield about 24 balls

 

Kuih Lepat Liat/Steamed Glutinous Rice Cake in Banana Leaf

When I saw Wendy post this up I knew I have to try it out. I am a sucker for dodol and she said that the texture of this kuih is very similar to it so I gather all my ingredients and made it the same week. Like she said it is sweet, sticky, chewy and coconutty. I made a bit more so I can freeze them up and have it whenever I want to. Half of it I wrapped it with banana leaves and the other half I just steamed it on silicon muffin moulds. I find it is easier doing it that way as the banana leaves here are a bit hard and tough and it tear easily when I tried wrapping it.

 

 

Spiral Curry Puffs/Karipap Pusing

It is good to be home and get back to my regular posting after being away for a while. You might have notice I schedule the posting here as I’ve been so busy for the past 2 months and hardly try out any new recipes or complicated cooking. I still cook but just some simple dishes. For this posting it is something that I made a few months ago and only get to post it now.

Who doesn’t like curry puff? This is by far one of the most favorite snacks of our household. We can have it for breakfast, lunch, dinner or even tea time. I will usually make a large batch of it and freeze them up and will fry a few pieces at a time when craving strikes. I will usually make the one with just the regular pastry but when I am in the hardworking mood I will do the spiral pastry. Well, this is one of them. I posted this recipe in 2008 but that was over 4 years ago and there are so many recipes lost in the archives that I’d love to re-photograph and rewrite some of it. It will take me awhile to do it, but I am placing our favorite ones in the forefront and I am starting with this Spiral Curry Puffs.

Purple Sweet Potato Rice Ball with Palm Sugar Filling/Ondeh Ondeh

If you are my regular blog reader you will notice that I slow down a lot in updating my blog. That is because I am really busy with a lot of things. I travelled to New York for a few weeks, then my best friend came all the way from NZ to visit us and in a few days we will be flying off to Argentina the birth country of Carlos. So blogging will take a backseat for the time being but I will try to schedule a few post while I am away.

Anyway, Diana requested for this ondeh ondeh when I visited her a few weeks ago. I will never say no to any of her request so I bought some purple sweet potato from the Asian grocery store and made these for her.

Sweet Potato Fritters

I was craving for some vadai the other day but found out that I don’t have any yellow dhal in my pantry. And you know when you have the craving you just need to have something. So I came up with this. Since I have some sweet potatoes left from my Kuih Keria so I just put it in the blender and blend it up, mix it with the rest of the ingredients and fried them up. It turns out much better than I expected but not as crunchy as vadai though. Nevertheless I am happy with it. The fritters look very much like Thai Fish Cake isn't it :)

 

 

Kuih Koci Pulut Hitam/Black Glutinous Rice Cake with Coconut Filling

It has been a while since I made this kuih. Kuih koci is one of the traditional snack or dessert popular among the Malay and the Chinese Peranakan. Instead of using just the regular glutinous rice flour, I add some black glutinous rice flour to it. Kristy of My Little Space sent me flour and I’ve been keeping it in the fridge for a while now. It is time to put it to good use. Basically it’s steamed soft glutinous rice dough wrapped in banana leaf. The filling of this kuih is usually grated coconut cooked with palm sugar/gula Melaka.

Kuih Keria/Sweet Potato Rings

My sister already left for Malaysia and I am missing her already. It is good to have her here for over a month. We had a great time bonding with each other. Thank god I have little Bella with me but I know the house will be real quiet when she leaves too :(

Anyway, this is another popular Kuih from Malaysian. It is also known as ‘Malaysian Donuts’ that are made from sweet potatoes. This type of donut is much easier to make than the yeasty donut. All you have to do is steam the sweet potatoes, mash them up and add some flour to it and form it into ring shapes. Then fry them up till golden brown. Getting the right type of sweet potatoes is important. I remember I tried making it once, and the sweet potatoes I got were the soft watery kind. I kept adding flour to it until I am able to handle the dough and end up with very hard donuts. I threw out the whole batch.

For this, I got the orange kind but the yellow kind works well too. Instead of boiling it I steamed it so not too much water seep into the potatoes. It turns out really well, crunchy on the outside and soft inside. This recipe is from my good friend Shereen’s blog. I can’t link it here as her blog is private so I am just going to type her recipe here.

No-baked Mini Swiss Roll with Red Bean Filling

My friend Lynn Yew Evers posted a picture of these rolls at her FB page and I was immediately smitten by it and ask her if she can share the recipe with us and she agreed. Lynn, not only can cook but also an accomplished concert pianist, a teacher, she perform with rock band, and served as a judge for piano competitions. You can read more about her at her website .

Now back to the Mini Swiss Roll. This Swiss roll is made on the non-stick pan. The texture is very much like pancake and the thick apam balik. I really like it. I did tweak the recipe a little bit to suit my taste.

Kuih Talam Gula Melaka/Steamed Palm Sugar Cake

This is another popular snack from Malaysia and Singapore. ‘Talam’ is a Malay word meaning ‘tray’, because the kuih is steamed in a tray-like steaming pan and it is made into two layers, one layer is sweet and the other is on the salty side. One can easily find these kuih (cake) sold at in the morning or night market. Instead the usual green and white one, I tried it with palm sugar. The top coconut milk layer is slightly salty and it compliment well with the sweet fragrant taste of the palm sugar from the bottom layer.

Abok Abok Sago/Tapioca Pearls with Palm Sugar - Day 14

I wanted to make this kuih for the longest time but never get to do it. I always think they are very difficult to make because I have to use the banana leaves to make it into a cone casing and it is a daunting task as I’ve done that before for the Kuih Koci. Fear no more. Now I have these cone shape jelly moulds to use and they are just perfect for this kuih. The shape came out nicely.

This kuih is one of the easiest kuih to make actually. With just a few ingredients you will have perfect kuih for your afternoon tea.

Pulut Inti/Glutinous Rice with Coconut Sauce - Day 12

This is another version of Pulut Inti , Pulut is glutinous rice and inti means fillings. The rice is steamed with coconut milk and the brown filling is coconut cooked in palm sugar. I tinted some of rice blue with blue pea flower/bunga telang given to me by my friend Lesley. Instead of wrapping it in banana leaves I shape them with the Jelly mould and serve them in a bowl drizzle it with coconut sauce. This is one of Malaysian favorite tea time snacks or as dessert especially if you have guest over.

Murtabak Daging/Meat Curry Parcels

This month of August is the Holy Month of Ramadan. This is the time where the Muslim will fast from sunrise till sunset. The fasting is not only forgoing food and drink but also ‘fasting’ of the mind from unhealthy thoughts. This will be the month too where all the Ramadan Bazaars comes to life once a year. Ramadan Bazaars can be found wherever there are substantial population and residents in an area and they are usually located in available spaces in the middle of towns, residential estates and villages. They sell varieties of food and drinks for the breaking of fast, it is a quite a phenomenon and an attraction. The shoppers in the bazaars aren't all Muslim, though; we the non-Muslim and foreign tourists also benefit from the bazaars' mouth-watering traditional and non-traditional food and dishes found in Malaysia.

I used to work at SS14, PJ and the Ramadan Bazaar was just in front of my office. My colleagues and I will visit the Bazaar at least 4-5 times a week to buy all our favorite food. One of them will be this Murtabak Daging where we eat it with pickle onions and curry sauce. Murtabak is an Indian Muslim wrap. It's a large, thin, roti-style shell stuffed with various meat fillings, along with eggs and onions and then pan-fried. Since we don’t have Ramadan Bazaar here in the US to buy this Murtabak Daging, I have to make do with my simple homemade version using spring roll wrappers. It actually turns out pretty good.