No-Frills Recipes ... cooking, baking & excerpts on travel

Finally, yes finally I managed to see the 'Huat Kueh', 'huat' or smile beautifully at me.  I can't believe my eyes and was elated because this is my first attempt at this recipe and I'm so glad I succeeded and achieved what I wanted.  I had tried to make Huat Kueh a few times during the MCO (Movement Control Order) but none of them 'huat' so much as this one and some of the recipes I tried, left a weird after taste perhaps due to the amount of baking powder.  This kueh is soft and nice and remained soft the next day, kept in an airtight container.   But you can always steam them again for a short while if you prefer piping hot ones.  I'm very grateful to Marvellina of  'What to Cook Today' and I'm glad I found you.  Thank you! Steamed Cocoa Huat Kueh aka Fatt Koh  ~   蒸可可发糕  Ingredients 250 gm plain flour 1/2 tsp salt 2 tsp baking powder 65 gm brown sugar ) reduced from  65 gm caster sugar...

These steamed cakes are delicious, aromatic and full of coconut flavour.   They are refreshing and can be enjoyed at any time of the day. Gula melaka/Palm sugar steamed cake ~   椰糖蒸蛋糕 Ingredients 150 gm plain flour 100 ml coconut milk 60 gm palm sugar 2 Tbsp canola oil 2 tsp baking powder 1 egg pinch of salt Method Sift plain flour, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl. Roughly crumble the palm sugar and mix into the flour mixture. Blend coconut milk and oil, then pour into the flour mixture. Lightly mix till free of lumps. Let batter rest for 10 mins. Divide batter into paper lined cups. Steam on medium heat for 20 mins. Test with a skewer till it comes out clean. Yield : 4 steamed cakes

After making the   Okinawan black sugar steamed cakes , I  made these and this time  added in some sweet potatoes.  These are moist, not overly sweet and can be enjoyed as a healthy breakfast or served with  a hot pot of brewed tea to snack on. Sweet potato steamed cakes ~  红薯蒸蛋糕 Ingredients 1 egg 60 gm caster sugar a pinch of salt 100 ml milk 150 gm plain flour 2 tsp baking powder 2 Tbsp vegetable oil 150 gm sweet potato Method Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into 1 cm cubes, soak in water, drain. Mix the plain flour with baking powder and salt, sift. Whisk egg and mix in sugar. Add in milk, mix well, followed by oil, mix till well incorporated. Mix in the sifted flour and drained sweet potatoes. Mix well and scoop into paper and silicon cups. Steam  in medium boiling water for about 20 mins. Remove from steamer and let stand for 10 mins. before unmoulding. Yield :  6 steamed cakes

These Okinawan black sugar steamed cakes are soft, moist, fragrant and rich in flavour.  It has a toffee-like caramelised sugar flavour, slightly chewy texture and best taken piping hot from the steamer. Also great with a morning cup of hot coffee or tea.  Leftovers can be chilled and reheated before serving. Okinawan black sugar steamed cake  ~   黑糖蒸蛋糕   (Adapted from  'here' ) Ingredients 180 gm plain flour 20 gm cornflour 175 ml milk 80 gm Okinawan black sugar  2 Tbsp vegetable oil (I used canola oil) 2 tsp baking powder pinch of salt Method Sift plain flour, cornflour, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl. Roughly crumble the black sugar and mix into the flour mixture. Blend milk and vegetable oil, then pour into the flour mixture.  Lightly mix with a spatula till free of lumps.  Let rest for 10 mins. Divide batter into paper lined ramekins or cups. Steam over high heat for 20 mins. Tes...

This Steamed Purple Sweet Potao Kuih is my second attempt as the top layer was too thick on my first try.  So, this time around I decided to reduce the recipe for the top layer and it does look much better!  Taste wise, you may ask .... mmm, soft and not too sweet, good for breakfast or snack, any time of the day! Recipe for Steamed Purple Sweet Potato Kuih Ingredients - Bottom Layer 180 gm rice flour 30 gm green pea flour 300 ml water 480 ml water 220 gm granulated sugar 50 gm steamed sweet potato bits Method Mix the rice flour, green pea flour and 300 ml water thoroughly.  Sieve the mixture into a pot. Add in 480 ml water and sugar, keep stirring and cook on low heat. Once the mixture  starts to thicken, turn off  heat.  Pour mixture onto an oiled 8.1/2 inch square tin. Toss in the steamed sweet potato bits.  Steam on medium heat for 25 mins. or till the surface is a ...

This is my first attempt at making this 'Savoury Steamed Pumpkin Cake'.  I was a bit hesitant in the beginning and after googling here and there for the recipe, decided upon trying it out.  Fortunately, it turned out well and family members gave the thumbs up.  Phew  ....... worth all the effort, chopping and frying in this weather!

K uih are typical Malaysian cakes served any time of the day  and are more often steamed than baked.   The Malays refer to them as ' kuih ' while the Chinese refer to them as 'gao'.  They are mostly made with rice, rice, tapioca and wheat starch flour, coconut milk and sugar but we do have some that are savoury.   I've heard that the best purple sweet potatoes are those from Indonesia and must admit that I was really taken in by their overwhelming colour.  To me, the Japanese  purple sweet potatoes come in second compared to their Indonesian counterparts.  Purple sweet potatoes have high contents of anthocyanin which is associated with a reduced cancer risk.  There are two categories of sweet potatoes, some are firm and dry like the purple sweet potatoes while some are soft and moist.  Read more about sweet potatoes, it's nutrients, benefits, etc......' here '.

I adapted a recipe from Christine's Recipes to make these cute little steamed 'woon chai ko' with red bean.  However, I tweaked the recipe a bit by using palm sugar instead of brown sugar.

Ipoh, the capital of Perak state in Malaysia is famous for its 'white coffee'.  This 'white coffee' originated from an old coffee shop, 'Sin Yoon Loong' tucked in a corner of Leech Street now known as 'Jalan Bandar Timah' in the old town of Ipoh.  Other than white coffee, 'Kai Dan Kou', steamed sponge cake sandwhiched with a layer of their housebrand 'kaya' ~ coconut jam is also a popular item on their menu.  If you want to take a peep @ this coffee shop, do hop over to this   site   for a short review.

I made this using the same recipe as my previous post of  'Steamed sponge cake' but this time added in black sesame seeds to lend an extra flavour.  I was very pleased with the result as the cake was soft, not too sweet and tasted good with a slight sweet aroma of sesame.  I can never resist steamed sponge cake as it's light, oil free and the best part is that I can have more without much hesitation!

I've been hunting for a recipe of Steamed rice cake, which is eaten with palm sugar/gula melaka and garlic oil. Think it may be a Hakka kuih but I'm not quite sure.  Stumbled upon Christine's post of Steamed rice cup cakes with red beans and it came quite close to what I had in mind.  I modified the recipe a little and must admit that I'm pleased with the result.  This rice cake wasn't as chewy and 'crunchy' as those bought from the vendor as I didn't add any 'lye' water into the batter.  I had a bad experience of biting into a bitter rice cake once and had to throw it away immediately.  I reckon that the 'lye water' was not well mixed  into the batter or it was an accidental overdose, anyhow the taste was awful.

As mentioned in my   'Steamed Mantou ~ Flower Bun'   post, this is the soy braised pork belly that I whipped up to pair with the steamed buns.  I had made this a day before and over time the meat mellowed and it was so soft and tasty the next day.  This meat together with the sauce complimented the Mantou very well.

Mantou is a steamed plain bun but void of  filling.  It's a staple food in Northern China where wheat and not rice is grown due to the cold weather.  On the other hand, rice is the staple food of the Southern Chinese.  This bun is very versatile, as it can be eaten plain on its own or dipped in sauces of most Szechuan dishes.  Not being a street food back here in Malaysia, mantou are often served in restaurants as an accompaniment with dishes and they are delectable once sponged up in sauces of these delicious dishes.  For an interesting tale regarding the origin of  this mantou, check it out  'here'

I googled and stumbled upon this Mochi recipe that requires wheat starch and the method is slightly different from the norm.  As it looked pretty simple and easy enough, I set out to try as I've some wheat starch sitting in the pantry.  I could envisage a disaster looming when the dough was so wet and gluey and as there was excess glutinous rice flour, fortunately, I loaded in an extra 3 ounces before the dough became pliable enough to work with.  Phew ..... that was close!  Oh, you must be wondering what are those  'Bunga Telang' doing in the picture above.  For decor?  Yes, it was one of the ingredients that I used to make these Mochi, but alas, their bluish colour was not overpowering enough, hence the end result was Mochi with a very faint shade of grey! Just a short introduction about these 'Bunga Telang' .... they do resemble the Morning Glory and while Bunga Telang is in Malay, it's Butterfly Pea ~ Clitoria Ternatea in English....