Kueh Bangkit

Bangkit isn't a kit for banging. "Bang" is "香" in Teochew and Hokkien; "kit" is "cake" mangled; "kueh" is . . . (just about) anything edible any local delicacy served kinda snack size. In short, "kueh bangkit" means fragrant cookies.

How to make "fragrant cookies" that are not only fragrant but also melt-in-the-mouth?

First, bake or nuke the tapioca (or sago) starch till its weight is reduced by 13% (or 12% if it's a newly opened bag). This is a crucial step because H₂0 is the #1 enemy. If the starch isn't dry enough, the kueh bangkit will not crumble in the mouth and melt. Instead, it'll be hard and crisp.

Second, use coconut cream instead of coconut milk because cream has less water than milk, and is more fragrant. It doesn't make sense to remove the moisture in the starch, then put it back by adding watery milk, right?

Third, there must be enough eggs because eggs have a leavening and softening effect on the dough.

Can you use canned instead of fresh coconut cream? Pandan essence instead of pandan leaves? Well, there're many roads to Rome. Do you want to arrive in Rome in a Ferrari or Toyota?  Or, god forbid, Proton?

The recipe I'm sharing is from Cooking for the President. It's the only kueh bangkit recipe I've tried but I feel I don't need to search further. This is "the one" for me. Me being me, however, there're a few minor changes to the original recipe. I have:

1. Added 1/8 tsp salt to cut through the sweetness. Don't underestimate the importance of a large pinch of salt. It improves the taste of the cookies significantly.

2. Omitted stirring the eggs and sugar with pandan leaves, unheated, because I don't think much pandan flavour would be released just by stirring.

3. Replaced undiluted coconut milk with coconut cream. The original recipe uses part milk and part cream whereas I use only cream.

4. Changed the method for drying tapioca starch. Baking is better, I think, than dry-frying in a wok over low heat. I'll try the traditional method when I want to change my kitchen's colour scheme to white!

5. Increased the baking temperature to 160°C from 150°C. The higher temperature makes the cookies puff up a bit. The slight puff helps make the cookies more crumbly. And the hairline cracks created as a result are quite pretty, don't you think? Of course, if you're a stickler for tradition, you may still want to make patterns on the cookies by pinching each and every one of these little suckers with tweezers. Hey, be my guest, have fun; don't let me stop you, you go right ahead; enjoy yourself . . . .

Here's my video to walk you through the recipe:



5 February 2015 Update
Bake for Happy Kids, in a post dated January 2014 (here), says the kueh bangkit made with Mrs Wee's recipe is crunchy, not crumbly, and not melt-in-the-mouth. Here's my comment posted on the blog:

"Please refer to my video, 4:22-4:27. It shows me crumbling my kueh bangkit between two fingers. And 4:15-4:18 shows me breaking it with a pair of chopsticks. The recipe I use isn't mine but Mrs Wee Kim Wee's. I leave it to your readers to judge whether my kueh bangkit is anything remotely like yours that uses the same recipe."

Bake for Happy Kids' reply to my comment:

"I must admit that the texture might be different depending on the type of coconut cream used . . . some might prefer Mrs Wee Kim Wee's recipe (published at your blog) if they prefer a dough that is easier to handle and use the kind of coconut cream that you have suggested . . . ."

What kind of coconut cream does BFHK use? Canned. What's specified in the recipe? Fresh. My response, which BFHK has censored:

"I use the coconut cream specified in Mrs Wee's recipe. I suggest you do likewise before throwing her recipe to the dogs. Changing her recipe and then saying it's crap, without mentioning you've changed it, is . . . . Well, I leave it to your readers to judge whether your review is fair, underhanded or just plain stupid."

So BFHK doesn't dare to let her readers to read my comment. What a coward, and a stupid one at that!

KUEH BANGKIT (KUIH BANGKEK; COCONUT COOKIES) Source: Adapted from Cooking for the President (Recipe for about 150 pieces) 380 g tapioca starch 1/2 tbsp plain flour 50 g young pandan leaves rinse and cut finger length; dry thoroughly with paper towels 170 g coconut cream refrigerate 350 g undiluted fresh coconut milk undisturbed till cream separates, at least 3 hours; skim 170 g cream and place in a small pot; refrigerate till ready to proceed 120 g sugar  1/8 tsp salt 1 egg, about 50 g 1 yolk, about 15 g 5 g butter Sift tapioca starch and plain flour into mixing bowl. Weigh and take note of weight. Tuck pandan leaves in mixture. Bake at 160°C  for 1 hour. Discard pandan leaves. Re-weigh bowl and contents. If not lighter by 45 g or more, continue baking. When target weight is reached, turn off oven. Leave bowl in oven till almost cool. Re-sift starch and flour, inside a plastic bag unless you enjoy dusting your kitchen. You should have about 335 g starch mixture. Leave till completely cool. Whisk coconut cream, sugar, salt, egg and yolk till smooth. Cook over low heat, whisking, till sugar just melts. Turn off heat. Add butter. Whisk till incorporated. Leave till cool. You should have about 360 g coconut syrup. Set aside 20 g baked starch for dusting. To remaining 315 g, add 315 g coconut syrup. Mix till well combined. Knead thoroughly till smooth and even, drizzling with remaining syrup as necessary, about 2 tbsp, so that dough just comes together. Cover and set aside 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 160°C. Line baking tray with parchment paper. Lightly dust parchment paper with baked starch. Lightly dust worktop and rolling pin with baked starch. Working with golf ball-sized  amount each time, roll dough 3 mm thick, dusting as necessary to prevent sticking. Cut dough with dusted cookie cutter measuring about 3 x 2 cm. Place cookies on baking tray spaced 1 cm apart. Bake cookies till bottom is slightly brown and top has hint of colour around edges, about 15 minutes. Remove cookies to wire rack or plate to cool down. Serve immediately or store airtight.

Butterscotch Popcorn

To make corn pop, the moisture in the kernel must be heated and turned into steam. When the steam builds up enough pressure, it bursts through the wall of the kernel, creating popcorn. The heat mustn't be too strong or the outside of the kernel would harden and stop the corn from exploding. It mustn't be too gentle either or the steam would leak out of the kernel and not explode.

You can pop corn on the stove or in a microwave. Is there another way? Oh yes, there is, in a cannon! That is, I swear, the coolest way to make corn pop. . . .

Popcorn may be American in origin but a Chinese wok is perfect for making it. A wide, deep and hot wok is ideal for tossing popcorn with caramel because there's lots of space and the sugar stays liquid.

If you don't have a wok, or a very big pot, you'd have to toss the popcorn and caramel in a mixing bowl. Because the bowl can't be heated on the stove, the caramel cools down very quickly. A dark caramel would turn hard too fast, so you have to use a light coloured caramel that stays liquid when it's cold. After the popcorn is coated with pale, soggy sugar, it's baked in the oven till the caramel is well browned. That's how wokless Americans do it, the long way.

Have you noticed a Chinese spatula is quite different from its western cousin? The triangular part is wider, longer, and has a raised edge along the two sides on the inside. The design is made for stir-frying meat and veggies efficiently, so popcorn and sugar fit right in. Why? Because they're both vegetables. Yup, corn is a vegetable, and so is sugar since it's made from beets. Vegetables are good for you, you know?

With homemade popcorn, you can adjust the sweetness to your preference. If you don't have a sweet tooth, go for a deeper shade of brown when you're making the caramel. If you do, aim for a lighter shade. Don't change the amount of sugar because any excess will just be left in the wok if there's too much, and the popcorn won't be crunchy if there's too little.

Don't forget to add some salt to the popcorn. With a big pinch, the caramel would be sweet but not sickly sweet. Or you might like more salt so that the popcorn tastes both sweet and savoury. A bit of cinnamon powder wouldn't hurt, I'm sure. Hey, how about cheese powder, five-spice powder, curry leaves, paprika, chilli flakes . . . . Customized coffee is so yesterday, you know? Let's customize popcorn! (Cinemas, take note. This is a big money spinner, bigger than the regular popcorn already selling at obscene prices.)

'Tis the season for feasting. Have a good one, people!

BUTTERSCOTCH POPCORN ((Recipe for 1 wokful) 150 g corn 185 g sugar 40 g unsalted butter 4 tbsp toasted peanuts finely ground to yield 5 tbsp ¼ tsp salt Put corn in warm wok that's 30 cm wide or bigger. Stir 2 minutes over low heat. Spread corn evenly in 1 layer. Cover and wait 1 minute. Check if there's water under the cover. Wipe dry with paper towels if there is. Wait another 3-4 minutes, till corn starts to pop. When popping starts, increase heat to medium. When popping slows down, turn off heat. Wait till popping stops completely (which is when you think it's stopped, plus 30 seconds) before removing cover. Transfer corn to a bowl. Clean wok by wiping with paper towel. Pour sugar into wok. Over medium heat, cook till sugar starts to melt. Swirl wok to heat evenly, till melted sugar is brown like dark honey. Reduce heat to low. Add butter and ground peanuts. Stir till thoroughly mixed. Add salt and stir through. Tip popcorn into wok. Caramel may now thicken because popcorn is cold or at most warm. Increase heat to medium-low to keep caramel liquid. Toss till corn is evenly coated. Turn off heat. Transfer popcorn to a bowl. Break into small pieces. Taste and sprinkle with more salt if necessary. Serve immediately or keep in airtight container.

Butter Cake

When I was looking at butter cake recipes online, I was surprised to find people moaning about cracks in their cakes. That seemed rather odd  to me because the butter cakes my mother bought when I was a kid all had a big crack on top. Isn't the ruptured top the signature of butter cakes?

After I baked my first butter cake with WendyinKK's recipe, I had to agree cracks are a no-no. Yup, the wretched cake ruptured even though Wendy's recipe wasn't supposed to.

As I looked at my cake, I realized something. The people moaning about cracks – now including me – were baking square or round cakes. The butter cakes my mother bought were all loaf cakes. Loaf cakes are supposed to have cracks; square/round ones aren't.

I should have taken the easy way out and just switched to a loaf pan. But, since I wasn't working on unimportant stuff like finding a cure for cancer or solving the world hunger problem, I thought I'd tackle the question most crucial to human civilization: how to bake a square/round butter cake without cracks.

 Why did my cake crack but Wendy's didn't? Because I didn't follow her recipe!

Wendy's was a 4-egg recipe, baked in an 8-inch square pan. I scaled it down to 3 eggs, and baked in a 6-inch square pan though it should have been 7 inches if adjusted proportionately. My batter was thus taller than Wendy's. The taller the batter is, the more it rises.

Besides the pan size, I also changed the amount of sugar in the recipe. I reduced the (scaled down) quantity by one-third, so the batter was less dense than Wendy's. The lighter the batter is, the more it rises.

When the batter rises a lot but the sides of the cake are brown and hard, it pushes through the middle and, if the top is also brown and hard, creates a "cakequake".

To prevent a "cakequake", I made two changes to my second butter cake.

First, I lowered the oven temperature to 160°C at the start of the baking session (Wendy used 170°C) so that the sides of the cake browned slower.

Second, I placed the cake in the bottom of the oven instead of the middle so that the top browned even slower than the sides.

The two changes made the batter cook more evenly, resulting in a cake that domed but didn't crack. When the batter was more or less set, I increased the temperature to 180°C to brown the cake properly.

What about the dome, which some people hate? It deflated nicely once the cake was removed from the oven, leaving the top flat, not round.

Wendy's recipe, which she got from her friend, Mrs Ng, makes an excellent cake that's very buttery and sooooo floofy. Trust me, it's totally worth 25 calories. Yup, it's only 25 calories! Sounds incredible but, cross my heart and hope to die, it's absolutely true. It's merely 25 calories . . . I kid you not . . . per . . . er . . . mouthful.



Many, many thanks to Mrs Ng for her wonderful recipe, the cows that produced milk for the butter, the chickens that laid the three eggs, the wheat farmers, sugar cane farmers, sugar refiners, oven maker, cake pan maker . . . . You all make my dream butter cake (or is it butter cake dream?) come true. Thank you.

 

BUTTER CAKE Source: Adapted from Mrs Ng's recipe (Recipe for one 15 cm cake) 180 g salted butter, softened and cut into small pieces 30 g caster sugar 45 g egg yolks ¾ tsp vanilla extract 150 g self-raising flour, sifted 45 ml full-fat fresh milk 105 g egg whites 70 g caster sugar Preheat oven to 160°C. Line bottom and sides of 15 x 15 x 5 cm cake pan with parchment paper. Cream butter and 30 g sugar till pale and fluffy, scraping sides and bottom of mixing bowl as necessary. Add egg yolks 1 at a time, plus vanilla extract with the last yolk. Beat thoroughly after each addition till whisk leaves distinct trail. Scrape down thoroughly. Re-sift 1/4 of sifted flour into butter mixture. Fold with spatula till just even. Re-sift another 1/4 into mixture. Again, fold till just even, scraping down as necessary to ensure even mixing. Add milk in 2 batches, folding till just fully absorbed after each addition. Re-sift and fold remaining half of flour into mixture in 2 batches as before. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk egg whites till thick. Continue whisking whilst gradually adding 70 g sugar, till egg whites form stiff peaks. Fold egg whites into flour mixture in 3 batches, scraping down as necessary to ensure even mixing. Bang mixing bowl against worktop 2-3 times to remove big air bubbles. Scrape batter into cake pan. Spread evenly and smooth top. Bang cake pan against worktop 2-3 times to remove gaps between batter and pan. Bake cake in bottom of oven till batter doesn't jiggle when shaken, about 35 minutes. Increase temperature to 180°C. Continue baking till inserted skewer comes out clean and cake is evenly golden brown, another 10 minutes or so. Remove cake from oven. Leave on wire rack to cool down. Cake may be unmoulded once dome has subsided and top has flattened. Leftovers may be refrigerated, tightly wrapped. Reheat in oven, wrapped in foil, till warmed through and fluffy soft.

Japanese Soufflé Cheesecake (日式芝士蛋糕)

Soufflé cheesecake is the Japanese take on cheesecake. It's much lighter than the American or German version and not at all cheesy – the ideal cheesecake for cheesecake haters.  The recipe I'm sharing is adapted from Diana's Desserts. I've made four changes to the original recipe:

⋈ The amount of cream cheese is reduced by about 30% to make the cake really light.

⋈ The oven is preheated to 180°C, then reduced to 170°C when the baking starts. The original recipe uses 160°C instead.

Despite the higher temperature and lesser cream cheese, my baking time is about the same as Diana's.

⋈ The cake is baked in the bottom instead of the middle of the oven so that the top doesn't brown too quickly.

⋈ The egg whites are whisked without cream of tartar. I find the cake too sour with the original recipe's ¼ tsp, and the acid isn't necessary for stopping the cake from collapsing.

Besides the above changes, I've added a couple of steps to make the cake as smooth as possible: sieving the cream cheese mixture; and removing big air bubbles in the batter by banging the mixing bowl hard, and by pouring slowly when the batter is transferred into the cake pan.

The inside of a good soufflé cheesecake should have lots of tiny holes, like a chiffon cake, to make it light. Big holes would be unsightly; no holes at all would mean the cake is heavy and dense like a regular cheesecake

Here's my video to help you make a very light, very non-cheesy cheesecake:

JAPANESE SOUFFLÉ CHEESECAKE (日式芝士蛋糕) Source: adapted from Diana's Desserts ((Recipe for one 18 cm cake) 80 ml milk 40 g butter, at (tropical) room temperature, cut into small pieces 140 g full-fat cream cheese block, at (tropical) room temperature, cut into small pieces 50 g cake flour, sifted 15 g cornstarch, sifted ⅛ tsp salt mix evenly with sifted cake flour and cornstarch 75 g egg yolks 2 tsp lemon juice 180 g egg whites 90 g caster sugar Measure and prep ingredients as detailed above. Preheat oven to 180°C (355°F). Put kettle on. Line 18 x 6 cm round cake pan, with parchment paper extending above top of pan by 2-3 cm. Heat milk till hand-hot. Add to butter and cream cheese. Mix evenly. Add egg yolks and lemon juice. Mix evenly. Sieve, twice so that mixture is silky smooth. Add cake flour, cornstarch and salt. Mix till just even. Whisk egg whites till big bubbles become small. Continue whisking whilst adding sugar gradually. Keep on whisking till egg whites form soft peaks. Add egg whites to yolk mixture in 3 batches. Mix till half even after each of first 2 additions, then till just fully even after third addition. Bang mixing bowl against worktop 3-4 times, hard, to remove big air bubbles. Pour batter into cake pan, slowly so that big air bubbles burst as batter flows out of mixing bowl. Reboil water in kettle. Put cake pan in a bigger pan. Fill outer pan with boiling water to about half-way up sides of inner cake pan. Reduce oven temperature to 170°C (340°F). Bake in bottom of oven till top of cake is golden brown and inserted skewer comes out with some crumbs attached, about 1¼ hours. Remove cake from oven. Leave on wire rack to cool down completely. Unmould by inverting onto a plate. Discard parchment paper. Invert onto another plate so that cake is right way up. Cut with serrated knife by moving blade either forward or backward, i.e. do not saw.

Ginger Milk Pudding (薑汁撞奶)

薑汁撞奶 is a Cantonese pudding made with ginger juice and buffalo milk, plus sugar to taste. Without steaming, baking, gelatine or agar-agar, the milk is able to solidify into a custard just by mixing with some ginger juice. Sounds really easy, right? Hey, the devil is in the details!

Recipes for 薑汁撞奶 usually specify the use of old ginger but I've succeeded and failed before with both old and young ginger. It's not the age that matters, but the white stuff you see in the photo above. That's the starch in the ginger juice that solidifies the fats and proteins in milk, turning it into a custard. I've come across old ginger which doesn't have much of it, and also young ginger which has lots. How do you tell if the ginger has lots or not? I don't know. But I do know that if you don't see a thick layer of starch after letting the ginger juice rest a few minutes, you should forget about 薑汁撞奶 and make teh halia instead.

How much ginger juice should there be? The ratio of juice to milk should be 8-10. If there's too little ginger juice, there'd be naturally too little starch and the milk wouldn't set. Too much is bad too unless some of the liquid part of the ginger juice is removed.

The way you add the milk to the ginger juice is critical to the success of the pudding. First, stir the starch sitting in the bottom of the bowl. Stop stirring, then pour the right amount of milk into the bowl in one go. It has to "crash" into the ginger juice, as the Cantonese name for the dessert says. Because the milk fats and proteins start solidifying once the milk hits the ginger starch, the turbulence in the bowl should be just sufficient to mix the starch and milk, then stop asap or the curds being formed would be broken up.

The temperature of the milk has a huge impact on how firm the pudding is. If it's too hot or too cold, the starch may not set at all. The good news is, ginger flavoured milk is quite nice! On no account use this ginger flavoured milk to make ginger tea. If you do, you'll regret it.

The ideal temperature is 75-80°C, i.e. hand-hot. That's for cow milk, btw. For buffalo milk – which is what's used in the pudding's hometown in China –  I suspect the ideal temperature may be different (lower?) because it has more fats and proteins than cow milk and, hence, sets more firmly.

If you want the pudding to be as firm as possible, don't add any sugar to the milk. Instead, make some sugar solution and drizzle it on the pudding like how you'd eat tau huay (豆花).

Finally, because you sooooo need a video to show you how to chop ginger and warm up milk, here it is:

GINGER MILK PUDDING (薑汁撞奶) (Recipe for 2 persons) 360 ml full-fat fresh milk 4 tsp sugar 40 ml freshly squeezed ginger juice, divided equally between 2 serving bowls let ginger juice rest 5 minutes; check amount of starch in bottom of bowls; if there isn't much, do not proceed Heat milk and sugar till hand-hot. Stir ginger juice. Stop stirring, then pour 180 ml milk in one go, quickly, into each bowl. Leave for 10 minutes without moving bowls. Serve.

Hong Kong Egg Tarts (港式蛋挞)

The best tool for flattening pastry dough isn't a rolling pin but a plate. Just place a round blob of dough between two plastic sheets, then press it evenly with a flat-bottomed plate. Peel off the top sheet of plastic, then flip the dough into a tart mould.

Ease the dough into the mould, from the centre to the edges so that there're no air pockets. Trim the excess around the rim, and you're done. That's all there is to it. With this method, even a novice can quickly make pastry shells that are nicely thin and even. It is, for me, much faster and easier than how professional bakers do it. They just press a lump of dough into the mould without flattening it first.

Sieving the custard is necessary only when you plan to use it within a couple of hours. If you have time to let it rest half a day or longer, you can skip this step. Refrigerated, the egg and milk mixture may be stored for maybe one week.

A vanilla pod is good for flavouring the filling. Failing that, a high quality vanilla extract makes a reasonable stand-in. If vanilla is too vanilla for you, how about dark rum, brandy, kahlua or Bailey's? Hey, nutmeg is nice if you like nutmeg. Ginger juice would be appropriate if you're feeling windy.

On no account prick the tart shells to stop them from puffing up in the oven. If you do, they'll leak. Instead, prebake the pastry at a low temperature of 150°C and, if there isn't any air trapped underneath the dough, it should stay nicely flat even without pie weights. If you like, the tart shells may be chilled or frozen either before or after prebaking.

I like my egg tarts shiny, not matte. The shine comes from the slightly undercooked custard on top, which is done by giving the tarts less heat from the top than the bottom. And the heat has to be quite gentle, overall, so that the eggs and milk cook into a soft and silky smooth custard.

If photos and words are too abstract for you and you don't get the picture, here's my video to help you connect the dots:

HONG KONG EGG TARTS (港式蛋挞) Source: adapted from Aunty Yochana (Recipe for 20 tarts) Custard Filling 240 g eggs 160 g sugar   480 ml milk 1¼ tsp vanilla extract Tart Shells 125 g salted butter, softened 60 g icing sugar, sifted 15 g egg white 15 g egg yolk 1 tsp vanilla extract 210 g plain flour To make tart filling, whisk sugar with eggs till melted. Add milk and vanilla extract. Whisk till evenly mixed. Sieve to remove big bubbles, into something that can pour without dripping. Set aside till small bubbles subside, about 1¼ hours. To make tart dough, mix butter and icing sugar till smooth. Add egg white, yolk and vanilla extract. Mix till well combined. If dough is sticky, sprinkle with flour 1 tsp at a time and mix through. If dough is dry and crumbly, sprinkle with water instead 1 tsp at a time. Place dough in freezer till just firm, spread out to cool down faster. This should take 10 minutes or so. When lining tart moulds, remove dough from freezer ¼ portion at a time. To line tart moulds, smooth 2 plastic sheets so that there are no folds. Roll 30 g dough into a ball. Place ball between plastic sheets. Press evenly with flat-bottomed plate to form a circle 2 mm thick and 10 cm wide, checking thickness and evenness by touching dough with palm. Remove top plastic sheet. Place 8 x 2.5 cm tart mould on dough, rim side down. Flip mould, along with dough and remaining plastic sheet, to face upward. Press dough into mould, from centre to rim. Remove plastic sheet. Trim excess dough around edges. Run fingers round tart mould, gently pressing to even out thickness and remove air pockets if necessary. Trim again if there's excess dough. To bake tart shells, preheat oven to 150°C. Place shells on baking tray. Bake 15 minutes in middle of oven. Increase temperature to 180°C. Continue baking till slightly brown, another 5 minutes or so. Remove from oven. Leave on wire rack to cool down completely. To bake tarts, preheat oven to 165°C. If you want to line your baking tray with foil, it should be shiny side down. Pour custard into shells, to 2 mm from rim. Bake 15 minutes in bottom of oven. Reduce temperature to 150°C. Move tray to middle of oven. Top up filling to make up for evaporation. Bake till custard is just slightly wobbly in the middle when shaken, another 15 minutes or so. If custard puffs up during last few minutes but is still too watery in the middle, remove tarts from oven to cool down till custard subsides, then continue baking. Watch custard closely towards the end to make sure it doesn't overcook. Serve hot, or at least warm. Leftovers should be refrigerated. Tarts may be reheated at 120°C using bottom heat only for 10 minutes or so. Pastry isn't soggy at all if reheated without moulds.