Rempah Udang

Rempah udang, what can I say, this was the kuih that started it all. I was introduced to watch this soap drama called Little Nonya by my aunt and uncle who thought it was a good idea for me to learn more about my heritage. The movie is a Singapore based show which probably started its epic run on 25 November 2008. In the movie, the cho cho's favourite kuih was the rempah udang. It is a savoury kuih which can be eaten as a desert or snack or for breakfast or afternoon tea. Cho Cho loved this snack and bosom buddy was the best rempah udang maker. It was mentioned in the show that cho cho would get angry should she have to eat a poorly cooked rempah udang. So, to win her heart and thus the right to marry her grandson and great grandson, the suitors had to proof to her that she can cook and sew and of course make the ultimate rempah udang.

Rempah udang means spiced prawns in Malay. It is made from frying chopped up dried shrimps in a spice paste until fragrant. The spiced prawns are then enveloped in a casing of steamed glutinous rice and finally wrapped in banana leaves. Before serving the rempah udang is grilled over bbq or if you don't have one in a frying pan until fragrant or slightly toasted.

I found this really cool video on utube on how to make rempah udang. Check it out. Hope you enjoy this as much I as enjoyed making and of course eating it.

Orange Chiffon Cake

Tonight, the kids and I made Orange Chiffon Cake. We read a few recipes on the internet but decided to use the exact same recipe as our Pandan Chiffon Cake but instead of pandan juice, we replaced it with juice from 2 oranges.

It was fun baking with the kids, they were so eager to help and so curious to learn why we had to do things a certain way. It was a mixture of a cooking class and a science class as I believe baking is a science.

The cake was beautiful and tasted even better, I guess it was because it was made with so much love.

Pandan Chiffon Cake

Oh my gosh!! I never thought I can make this cake. It always seem so hard as it is sooooo soft, fluffy and is made in the funny funnel cake pan.

Anyway, after mastering up the courage, I decided to try this cake out. Step by step I made sure I followed all instructions and with the help of my 2 year old, I successfully made this cake for my family.

My eldest daughter's remark when she saw the cake was enough to bolster my confidence for any future recipes I have yet to tackle......she basically just shouted out "This is my favourite cake".

I love this cake, it is just so soft, fluffy, not too sweet and you can taste the fresh pandan in the cake.

I hope you enjoy this cake as much as I do.

Kow Chan Kuih (Kuih Lapis)

This is my fav kuih when I was younger.....what am I talking about, I am still young. Anyway, the kids absolutely love this because it is pink......what else.......no they love it because they can peal away layer by layer an enjoy the kuih bit by bit.

Kow Chan Kuih literary means nine level kuih in hokkien.

The ingredients are very simple. Rice flour, coconut cream, syrup and it taste spectacular, not too sweet. The only tedious bit of making this kuih is you have to steam it layer by layer.

I  made this kuih for my girls and now when my 2 year old sees it she straights away say "Yummy".

Pulut Tai Tai

Finally, I have been cooking since 8:00am this morning but I had some time to rest during the day to do the mummy errands like ballet class and grocery shopping. So, all in all a good day.

Mum is off to her ladies night with her pulut tai tai and home made kaya. I do hope it will be popular. Thank you mum for helping me promote my kuih creations.

So what is pulut tai tai. Pulut means rice in Malay. It is also called Blue Glutinous Rice Cakes in English. You eat it by dipping the pulut into kaya which will give it a sweet taste. In Asia the blue comes from Bunga Telang or Blue Pea Flower. We can't find the flower here in NZ so I substituted it with blue colouring.

So what are the ingredients, well all you need is glutinous rice, thin coconut and thick coconut milk and some banana and pandan leaves. You also need a lot of patience steaming the pulut.

Ingredients in pictures,

You will need to soak the glutinous rice in water overnight to soften it. It helps to cook the rice faster.

The next day, mix the thin coconut milk into the glutinous rice. Don't forget to drain the water out.

Next, steam the rice

Once the rice is cooked, put the rice into a square cake tin and cover with a banana leaf. If you don't have banana leave, you can use an aluminum foil.

Finally, once it is cool, slice it up and prepare to taste the kuih. Don't forget to put some kaya on it. Enjoy!!!

Kaya

Cooking kaya is one of my favourite things to do. The aroma that fills the house is beyond words. The smell is so tantalizing, coconut, caramalised sugar and pandan leaves. Wow, that brings me back to the days when I would go to the kopitiam with my ah kong and there I would see the ah pek and ah soh ordering black coffee with toasted kaya bread.

Kaya is one of the more versatile food. You can eat it for breakfast with a toasted bread, on a piece of biscuit or you can eat it with Nonya kuihs like Pulut Tai Tai. Let me tell you a secret, when I was young, I would just scoop the kaya and eat it on it's own. There, I said it, no wonder my ah ma always complained why the kaya was disappearing.

My mum has a ladies night today, so she has asked me to prepare pulut tai tai. Kaya is a must to go with pulut tai tai.

Kaya is very simple to make, it just takes damn long to cook (1 to 1.5 hours) and you will need to constantly stir the mixture as you don't want it to burn.

There is also only 3 ingredients, sugar, coconut cream and eggs (5 to be exact). All you need to do is mix them all in a bowl and put it on top of a double boiler and stir away for 1 to 1.5 hours.

Let me share with you what I did.....

Ingredients

Mix all ingredients together

Put the mixture on top of a double boiler

Stir away........, the mixture will slowly thickened

Once it is thickened and lumpy, stop cooking. If you like your kaya smooth, put it through the blender.

If you like your kaya a bit more golden brown, take about 70g sugar and slowly disolve the sugar until it is a rich dark golden colour. Mix the melted sugar into your kaya.

Now, slice a big fat piece of bread, toast it and get ready to enjoy your home made kaya.

I have been making more kayas and now package them to share with all of you in these 300ml containers.

Bubur Cha Cha

Bubur cha cha means dancing porridge in malay. It is made from a medley of sweet potatoes (yellow, orange and purple), yam (or taro), black eyed peas, tapioca balls and banana cooked in a sweet coconut base. Each ingredient on it's own is not very tasty, however when combined it makes a colourful, sweet and yummy dessert. Bubur Cha Cha is generally prepared on festive occasions in Penang and is a must have for Chap Goh Mei (15th day of Chinese New Year). My favourite part of the bubur cha cha is the colourful tapioca balls and the bananas. When I was younger, I would just eat the tapioca balls and bananas and leave the sweet potatoes behind. Now I just eat everything. 

So what do you need to prepare this dish?

Next, chop up the sweet potatoes and yam and steam them

Prepare the sweet syrup

Slice the bananas and mix in with the syrup

Pour in the coconut milk

Finally, once the sweet potatoes and yam are softened, combine the sweet potatoes and yam to the sweet coconut base and bananas

For those interested in watching a u-tube version of how to make bubur cha cha, see the link below

Kuih Dadar Tayap

This one is for you Amy.

Kuih Dadar is also known as Kuih Tayap, Ketayap or Kuih Dadar Tayap. It is made with a soft green crepe flavored in pandan juice and is filled in grilled coconut infused in palm sugar.

I tried making this kuih with my daughters today. We got up early in the morning and assembled all the ingredients. After that we made the batter for the crepe and prepared the grilled coconut filling. Once the filling is cook, we cooked the crepe until it is lightly brown and crispy. The next step is to assemble the kuih. The final part is the best, eating it. It is so delicious to eat as it has 2 very different textures. The exterior is soft and silky while the interior is fragrant, slightly crispy and sweet.

First step, prepare the shaved palm sugar

Assemble the ingredients

Prepare the batter

Prepare the coconut filling

Prepare to assemble the kuih

Now prepare to eat it