Lepat Labu @ Steamed Pumpkin Parcels

Lepat Labu is one of my favourite Malay kuih. 

But, it’s not easy to find one that is not too heavy with flour. 

I prefer it soft and supple, and with plenty of coconut filling. 

It’s easy to make. 

Ji Jor

Chee Jor or Ji Zhor depends on how one is going to romanize it..It's a chewy sweet potato finger.

The non-muslim community in Kuala Kangsar will know of this snack.This is sold at a small hawker stall near the town's supermarket, only available evening onwards, made by a Hokkien lady who resides few doors away from my old residence, a family friend.. It's like those sweet  potato balls, but made into fingers.

Steamed Sweet Potato Gems

This is an easy kuih and it's nice to eat. I can finish the whole lot of it myself! LOL.

Previously, I have eaten the pumpkin version of this, and having it in sweet potato form is an interesting change.

Ants' Nest Cake ~ Kek Sarang Semut

I first had a piece of this, not too long ago, maybe 5 years back? And I was smitten by the taste and texture. My SIL baked it for the 2nd time and I asked her if she put in any cocoa powder, because it felt like I was eating a bouncy chewy chocolate cake. She said no, it’s just caramel. I was totally taken by surprise.

Then 3 years ago, I had this sudden “want” to bake this cake and eat it too, I asked my SIL for the recipe. She actually got this recipe from a fellow church friend Mrs Elaine Wong. My SIL was smitten by Elaine’s cake and that got her to request for the recipe. The love bug for this spreads....

Mrs Elaine Wong  ~~  SIL  ~~~  Me  ~~~~  Annielicious (after she ate this)

Kuih Koci Pulut Hitam 鸡脚指~ Black Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Coconut

Kuih Koci is a chewy dumpling wrapped in banana leaf, with sweet coconut filling. The 'skin' can come in green, purple or white, depending on the ingredients used.

The Cantonese community here calls this as 鸡脚指 'gai geok jee' that means Chicken Claws. It's just a nickname due to the similarity in the sound 'Kuih Koci' with 'Gai Geok Jee'. I'm not sure if there are any other names for this kuih.

Kuih Ketayap

This kuih goes by many names

Kuih Ketayap
Kuih Dadar
Kuih Gulung
and my ex students from Selancar calls them kuih hijau

Malaysian school's home science textbooks calls this kuih ketayap.
Period.

Sweet Potato Balls with Red Bean Filling 红豆番薯蛋

When I was a small kid... around 4 or 5. My grandaunt used to buy sweet potato balls from an elderly neighbour for my breakfast. This neighbour, whom we call as "Sou Cheh 苏姐' is a single lady, in her 70's with an adopted son. She sells traditional Cantonese snacks in the market, like sweet potato balls, jeen doy (煎堆 sesame balls) and dan shan (蛋散 syrupy egg crackers) to make a living.

Kuih Bakar Pandan

Kuih Bakar Pandan is a dense and rich baked cake, almost like a tropical clafoutis, but better.

Some people do it in a flower shaped mould and hence the name changes to Kuih Bakar Kemboja. I'm not sure the Kemboja here refers to the Frangipani (Plumeria obtusa) or Cambodia, the country. In the Malay language, the same word is used for both flower and the country.

Anyway, I'm just baking it in a pan, so, it just stays with Kuih Bakar Pandan. :)
Easy, no confusion.

Kuih Lompang Pandan

I do get occasional cravings for this kuih. No food colouring used, all natural.

Bad. As my pandan plant is half dead, so I need to buy the leaves and now that I'm working, it's not that easy for me to drive out and get it as I wish. I have time constraints.

Some northern Nonya cookbooks will call this as Kuih Kosui Pandan, but in Home Science books, they are called as Kuih Lompang, the kuih in a cup that comes with a crater filled with grated coconut. Kuih Lompang is the general name used in the Malay community.

Kueh Sarlat - AFF Singapore #4

My final AFF entry.....

Kuih Sarlat is known as Seri Muka here in Malaysia,  generally comes with white rice and green custardy layers. Seri Muka is the favourite of my man.. and also my little man now, haha!

This time, I shall try it with some blue pea extract, like how it's common in Singapore. I heard this colour combo is also found in Malacca... but it's for Singapore this round. No arguments please. Acknowledge the similarities, and embrace the differences.

Liang Yuan (Cool Rounds) 凉圆 - AFF Taiwan Chewies # 1

Liang Yuan is an old time snack in Taiwan. Sold by uncles on pushcarts, displayed on blocks of ice. But of course.... not all are sold that way nowadays.

I didn't know of this, until my mom, an avid fan of Taiwanese cooking shows told me about it.
My friend said, it's not that nice to eat.. hmmm.... So, should I try?
I thought.. no harm to try. And so I did.

Maja Blanca @ Coconut Pudding with Corn - AFF Philippines~ Merienda #2

Maja Blanca is a popular merienda/meryenda (tea time snack) from Philippines. The taste isn't unfamiliar to us. And the topping Latik (fried coconut curds) gives it a wonderful touch, although looking deceivingly unimportant, but I do not recommend leaving it out as it imparts a beautiful flavour and textural contrast to the merienda. Latik is what we locally know as tahi minyak found on top of kuih kole kacang.

Cassava Bibingka - AFF Philippines~ Merienda #1

July is the month of Philippines delights! Hop over to Swee San's blog to read up more about our event this month.

For the past few months you have been reading so much savoury recipes on my blog and this month I'm going to turn sweet tooth. I know many of my fellow Facebook friends are waiting for this month.

Granite Tang Yuan 石头汤圆 - Balls #3

I saw this special form of tang yuan many years ago and had been hoping to try it out. Finally I did.
Every year, I do hope to make some  for the winter festival (although there's no winter here), but I just never made some, because no one bothers about it and just end up only me "shiok sendiri".

I was lazy to wrap fillings and decided to serve it 'muah chee style'. Now it looks like pebbles on sand...
I am thinking whether I can construct an aquarium bowl to serve it, complete with aquatic plants, fish and maybe prawns, haha, but that will be sooo big. It's just a crazy idea.

Mine look more like marbles and if you take a look at my source's granite balls, they look sooo real and nice.

I kept mine for more than 6 hours, soaked in room temperature water, waiting for my hubby to come home from work. I reheated the granite balls in the microwave, still submerged in water. Drained them and put them on the peanut sand. He enjoyed his after dinner dessert, saying the peanuts were the loveliest touch.

Granite Sticky Rice Balls
Idea adapted from: maimaidejianguo

200gm glutinous rice flour
14gm or 1 Tbsp butter
90ml boiling water
1-2 Tbsp water

1 tsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp bamboo charcoal powder

3/4 cup ground roasted peanut + 1/3 cup castor sugar (roughly 2:1 ratio)

1. Bring 1/2 cup of water to boil on a saucepan.
2. Measure the flour and butter and put it in a bowl. Make a well and when the water has  boiled, measure 90ml water into the well. (You can either use  6 Tbsp or a measuring cup, or weigh 90gm of water with the mixing bowl directly on the scale)
3. Mix it with chopsticks or a fork. Add in 1 Tbsp of room temperature water and knead (it might still be very warm, but it won't  burn your hand). Add  more water if it's needed and knead until a dough forms.
4. Divide  dough into 4 parts  and  knead 1 part with  charcoal powder and 1 part with cocoa  powder.
5. Roll each part into long logs, with equal length. flatten them and stack. Cut the stack into half and stack.
6. Cut the stacked dough into smallish pieces, it's ok if they are not in exact sizes.
7. Roll them into pebble shapes.
8. Bring a saucepan of water to boil. Put the balls of  dough into the  boiling water. Let them boil until they float. Lower the heat to medium low and let them simmer for another 2-3  minutes.
9. Remove the dough balls from the water and serve with peanut sugar.

You can serve these in light syrup too, of which is the usual way.

Blog on Break :)

See you in January for AFF Hong Kong Macau with a chicken week.

Hoon Kuih - Penang MFF # 8

My friend HM who is born and bred in Penang sent me a recipe for Hoon Kuih, and told me, it's a kuih found in Penang that is very popular.
She told me it is usually tinted pink and smelled of infused pandan. I looked at the recipe and it looked quite simple. Almost like making kuih tako, but a lot lot easier. But then I suspected the flavour.. starch, sugar and infused pandan.... should be ok I think. Just like old fashioned agar-agar without the coconut.

Tee Nya Kuih - Penang MFF #1

This month's MFF is Penang's turn. One of the most famous spots for good food in Malaysia.

If you ever ask me about Penang food that I can't find out of the state, this will be the first answer from me.

Famous Penang cuisine like Asam Laksa, Prawn Noodle, Char Kway Teow or Nasi Kandar is found all over Malaysia, and in almost every Malaysian restaurant overseas. But not Tee Nya Kuih.

Akok Kedut Kelantan- MFF Kelantan #5

My favourite Kelantanese kuih!
Akok kedut is translated as Wrinkly Akok. Because on the east coast, Terengganu's akoks are smooth : )
And there are many types of akok too.

When I told my Kelantanese colleagues from Selancar that I loved Jala Mas, they recommended that I try eating akok and it's even better. Hmmmm....

One day, during Ramadan  Bazaar in Serdang, Selangor, I saw some  akoks being sold. So I bought some.
URRGHHHHH! It was disgusting! It tasted like a soggy cake, almost a syrup soaked bahulu that reeked of imitation essence. Eeewww!

Cek Mek Molek (with video)~ Beautiful Lady - MFF Kelantan #3

It's true. My Malay friends told me, Kelantanese girls are known for their beauty.

Some said, it's because they eat a lot of 'pulut' (sticky rice) instead of the usual rice, that's why their skin is fair and smooth. Is this statement true or myth... I don't know. But what I really do know is, Kelantanese Malay ladies do look fairer comparatively.

And so, could this be the reason for this snack to be named as 'beautiful lady'? Actually I prefer to translate these as "My Fair Lady". This kuih is found all over Malaysia but it very popular in both Kelantan and Terengganu. Some just fondly call it as cek mek, but anyway... it's the same thing.

Tahi Itik~ Duck Poop- MFF Kelantan #2

2nd attempt

Kelantanese kuihs have very cute names.

It's not made of poop. It's made from the remnants, that is duck egg whites from the eggs made into jala mas. Tahi can also mean remnants instead of poop. But is usually understood as the latter.

My Kelantanese friends never introduced this to me. Instead I got to know of its existence through Raykinzoku's site. After thoroughly reading the site, I found out that he is the brother of my colleague in Selancar. I noticed the relation because of one post.. the one regarding the earthquake and so I called up Sofia. The funny thing is that Sofia doesn't know her brother has a blog until I told her The world is kind of small. It's been years since I last heard from this dear friend.

Ok ok, It was through this site that I found a family who made very delicious Kelantanese fare, so good that they supply to the palace for royal occasions. Raykinzoku knew because he is one  :) I was so glad that the royal kuih maker resided not far from town, quite near the hotel where I stayed when I visited Kota Bahru. But I did need to ask around to make sure I got the right house. Even my fluent Malay can't get me around town much as I can't understand them, but they can surely understand me.
The Kelantanese speak in a special dialect that is indigenous only to the Kelantanese that outsiders may barely understand.

Kuih Jala Mas, the Golden Threads of Kelantan (with video) - MFF Kelantan #1

First attempt

THIS IS NOT ROTI JALA

Whenever I think of Kelantan, the first thing that comes to mind is jala mas.
It was introduced to me by my friend Nurul during my teaching days in Selancar.

And the first reaction I got from my Malay colleagues while seeing me eat was, "Tak manis ke?" which meant, isn't it sweet?
Yes they are sweet, but it's not meant to be eaten like chomp chomp chomp. If one were to slowly savour it, thread by thread, it's actually very nice and fragrant.