Kueh Lapis (九层糕)

Kueh lapis, take one: So there I was, poking the first layer of my nine-layer kueh lapis with a pair of chopsticks.  

Yup, it's cooked!

At this point, other people would proceed with steaming the second layer, but not me.  

Snip, snip, went my scissors, then I popped a small piece of single-layer kueh lapis in my mouth.  

Ouch, ouch, it's hot . . . . Mmm, not bad!

The recipe was from Cooking for the President, which has become my go-to cookbook when I need help with local recipes.

After making sure the kueh lapis wasn't too hard, too soft, too sweet, too lemak, or too bland, I steamed the second layer, then third, fourth . . . .  

Uh oh, problem!

Each layer took five minutes to cook, leaving me idle inbetween after I cleaned up the kitchen as much as possible. I got bored, so I kept lifting the lid on the steamer to have a peek, and poke the kueh a bit.

The kueh lapis was a flop. The layers didn't stick together and each one, except the bottommost, was hard at the bottom. I threw away the kueh, reread the recipe, and realized I made two mistakes.

First, the kueh cooled down a bit whilst I was peeking and prodding. When that happened, the top surface lost its stickiness, so it couldn't stick to the next layer. No peeking, in other words, or at least peek and then reheat the steamer thoroughly, before making the next layer.

Second, the layers I made were too thick. As a result, they took too long to cook, staying liquid long enough for the rice flour in the batter to sink and form a hard bottom for each layer, except the bottommost. Why was the first layer spared? Because it didn't have any cooked layers at the bottom, acting as a heat shield, so it thickened and cooked through more quickly.

Kueh lapis, take two: I followed the recipe exactly, and got myself something to read whilst each layer was being steamed. This time, I had a taste only after all nine layers were done.

Piping hot and soft, the kueh lapis seemed like a great success. Once it was cold, however, two problems were apparent. First, it didn't have the stretchy, elastic texture it had before it cooled down. Second, the layers weren't sticking together properly – again.  

Bloody 'ell!

Kueh lapis, take three: The recipe specified 80% tapioca flour, which stretches like Elastigirl after it's steamed, and 20% rice flour which doesn't. For the third attempt, I omitted the rice flour and used only tapioca flour. And when I topped up the steamer, I added boiling water from the kettle, after the previous layer of batter was cooked. I then let the steamer heat back to a rolling boil before making the next layer.

In take two, I added batter and topped up the steamer at the same time. Even though I used almost boiling water, the steamer stopped boiling for maybe 20 seconds. That was enough to make the layers separate.

Why didn't I put lots of water in the steamer so that no topping up was necessary? Because the pan for the kueh, before it had enough batter to weigh it down, would bob up and down if the bubbling water was too high. Lastly, I steamed each layer a little thicker than in take two – 3 mm instead of 2 mm – because the pesky rice flour was out of the way.

With the three amendments, my kueh lapis finally had nicely formed layers and the right texture. This time, I gave it several hours to cool down and set before having a piece.

Kueh lapis, take four . . . . Hang on, wasn't take three just about perfect in every way? Um, no. I used a brand of tapioca flour which I'd never tried before. The kueh lapis made with the flour left a chemical aftertaste and dryness in my mouth. It was so bad that after eating one piece, I threw away the rest of the kueh. I also binned the remaining flour and went back to the brand I'd been using before. This one was bleached, like the one I chucked. But, maybe because the bleach used wasn't as strong, the chemical taste was quite mild. I could detect it but that was because I was looking for it after the bad experience. I hadn't noticed it previously, to be honest.

I can finally make kueh lapis that I'm quite happy with. Gonna die in peace now . . . . Just kidding.

If there's a take five, I'll try replacing the tapioca flour with unbleached sago flour that is, I hope, completely free of chemicals. But it's not happening any time soon 'cause I've got kueh lapis coming out of my ears!



Kueh lapis usually comes in rainbow hues of bright red and green. Like the proverbial rainbow, the colourful Nyonya kueh hides a pot of gold. Unfortunately, it's not gold that glitters. Instead, it's black gold because more often than not the colours are man-made. Artificial green food colouring has tartrazine, whilst red has ponceau 4R. These wonderful chemicals are refined from coal, and they're dissolved in propylene which is refined from petroleum.

Petroleum and coal, or bunga telang? I'll take the organic and FOC blue pea flowers, thank you.

31 October 2012 Update
My step-by-step video:

KUEH LAPIS (九层糕) Source: Adapted from Cooking for the President (Recipe for 10 pieces) 4 pandan leaves, wash and cut 10 cm long 185 g sugar ⅓ tsp salt 400 ml freshly squeezed coconut milk, undiluted 200 g tapioca starch 50 fresh bunga telang (blue pea flowers) rinse gently and remove ants if any; drain, then blot gently with paper towels 1 piece parchment paper, 15 x 15 cm Pound flowers finely. Strain to yield 2-3 tsp juice. Set aside. Discard pulp. In a small pot, make pandan water by gently simmering pandan leaves for 5 minutes, covered, in just enough water to cover. Discard leaves. Measure 160 ml from the pandan water and discard excess, or top up with water as necessary if you're short. Put pandan water back in the pot, along with sugar and salt. Stir till salt and sugar dissolve, over low heat if you like. Add coconut milk and stir till even. Add tapioca starch and mix thoroughly. Strain into a mixing bowl. Push undissolved starch through strainer. Measure 270 ml from the batter. Add flower juice. Stir till colour is even. Bring kettle to the boil and set aside. Rinse 15-cm square cake tin to make it wet. Line bottom with parchment paper. Bring steamer to a rolling boil. Pour enough white batter into cake tin to form a layer 3 mm thick, about 100 ml. Place tin in steamer. Steam 5 minutes over rapidly boiling water. Steam another layer of white, then blue. Repeat the white-white-blue sequence twice, making 9 layers in total. Other than the first one, each layer needs about 90 ml batter. Stir batter to mix starch evenly before measuring each round of batter. Have measured batter ready before lifting lid on steamer. Once lid is removed, quickly pour batter into cake tin and cover steamer. Every layer is steamed 5 minutes except the topmost, which gets 10 minutes. Make sure steamer doesn't boil dry. To top up steamer: 1) wait till previous layer of batter is cooked; 2) reboil water in kettle; 3) add boiling water to steamer as necessary; 4) bring steamer back to a rolling boil, covered. After step 4, proceed to steam more layers as described above. When all 9 layers are done, remove kueh lapis to a wire rack to cool down completely and set, about 3 hours. To unmould kueh, loosen edges with a knife. Cover top of kueh with parchment paper to keep it clean, then turn cake tin upside down and knock firmly against chopping board till kueh falls out. Discard top piece of parchment paper. Cut kueh by pressing knife downward, i.e. do not saw. Discard bottom piece of parchment paper. Serve kueh lapis as a dessert, snack, or for tea. Leftovers should be refrigerated. Steam on a perforated tray till just heated through, then cool to room temperature before eating. To best enjoy kueh lapis, you should peel off a layer, tilt your head back, say 'Aaah!', and then pop the layer in your mouth. If no one is looking, let the kueh lapis hang from your mouth for a few seconds so you look like you've got a very long tongue. Shake your head to make the tongue flop from side to side before enjoying the chewy texture and coconut fragrance.

Teochew Ngoh Hiang

I can never get enough of ngoh hiang, the deep-fried meat rolls that are full of the fragrance of five-spice powder and yam, the sweetness of prawns and pork, and the crunch of water chestnuts. The salty beancurd skin wrapped around the filling adds to the aroma and, more importantly, it stops moisture from escaping, keeping the meat roll moist and juicy. Mmmmm . . . .

What makes Teochew ngoh hiang Teochew? It's the yam, which Hokkien ngoh hiang doesn't have. Of course, the Teochew version is far superior, in my totally unbiased, impartial opinion.

Seetoh is right about Teochew ngoh hiang having yam (0:25 in the video). But the yam isn't used as a thickener. Instead, it's added because it complements the five-spice powder, 五香粉, which gives the meat roll its name, 五香.

Does Teochew 五香 have a lot of flour, as Seetoh says? Only when cost is more important than quality, and flour is used as a cheap filler! That goes for anything made with minced meat, not just ngoh hiang, and certainly not just ngoh hiang that's Teochew.

I guess Seetoh doesn't know much about Teochew ngoh hiang, and he's eaten only bad ones. But he is right about one thing though. Good ngoh hiang, be it Hokkien or Teochew, must have lard. Please repeat after me: Good ngoh hiang must have lard! All together now: Good ngoh hiang must have LOTS of lard! Praise the lard! Hallelujah . . . . HalleluLARD!

People stopped eating lard in the 1980s, fearing for their life. But 30 years of abstaining from delicious pork fat hasn't delivered any of the benefits promised. The number of people suffering from high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol, strokes and heart diseases have increased relentlessly over the past three decades. So why is everyone still afraid of lard? And even eggs, which doctors have given the ok for donkey's years? Because abstaining from something enjoyable harks back to their childhood. It reminds them of how they were praised when, as kids, they did as they were told. It gives them a reason to say, as their parents did when they didn't misbehave, 'Good girl/boy!'

Do you want to be naughty for a change? If you do, scroll down for the recipe.

TEOCHEW NGOH HIANG (五香, FIVE-SPICE MEAT ROLLS) (Recipe for 16 small rolls) 60 x 40 cm salted beancurd skin (½ sheet) wipe both sides with damp cloth, and cut into 16 pieces each measuring 10 x 15 cm Filling ¾ cup yam (aka taro) diced 5 mm deep-fry over high heat till just cooked, 1-2 minutes ½ cup water chestnuts diced 5 mm 150 g prawns shell, devein, rinse, dry thoroughly with paper towels, and cut pea size 350 g fatty pork mince (mix 250 g lean meat with 100 g lard) 1 tbsp oyster sauce 1 tbsp Shao Xing wine ½ tbsp white sesame oil ¼ tsp ground white pepper 2 tbsp water ½ tsp cornflour ⅔ tsp five-spice powder vegetable oil for deep-frying Instead of small rolls, you can make big ones 4 cm thick and 15 cm long. These would have to be steamed, then deep-fried and cut bite size. Cooked twice, biggies wouldn't be as juicy as small ngoh hiang deep-fried without steaming. Prepare beancurd sheet as detailed above. Set aside. Prepare yam, water chestnuts and prawns as detailed above. Thoroughly mix all ingredients for filling except prawns. Stir, in one direction only, till mixture is sticky, about 5 minutes. Add prawns and mix through. Place 1 beancurd sheet vertically on a plate. Spread bottom end with 30 g (1½ tbsp) filling, up to 1 cm from edges. Roll upward tightly without folding in the sides. Set aside, seam side down. Repeat . . . . With a non-stick pot, deep-fry meat rolls in moderately hot oil over medium to medium-low heat till golden brown and just cooked. Best served hot as finger food, as it is. Only bad ngoh hiang need to be dunked and smothered in sweet dark soya sauce or sweet chilli sauce, to hide the fact that it's bad.

Crispy Bean Steamed Cod (豆酥鱈魚)

This is steamed cod served with a topping made with hot bean paste, crispy beans (豆酥), garlic and spring onions. The fish is moist and oily. The topping is crisp and fragrant.

This is a ball of crispy beans, aka 豆酥, the main ingredient in the topping. The taste is a bit like natto.

The ball has to be broken up and pounded into coarse bits.

This is the video that shows how to steam the fish and make the topping.

Ladies and gentlemen, good luck. . . .  . . .  . . .  . .  . . . . .

CRISPY BEAN STEAMED COD (豆酥鱈魚) Source: Adapted from 阿基師 (Recipe for 4 persons) 800 g black cod cut 3-cm thick, rinse, debone and slice into 8 equal size pieces any white fish such as threadfin, sea bass or red snapper would do too ½ tsp salt 2 tsp white rice wine 1 sprig spring onion, wash, trim and cut 5 cm long 4 slices ginger 4 tbsp 辣豆瓣醬 (hot bean paste) 5 tbsp vegetable oil 45 g 豆酥, pound/grind into coarse bits, 1-2 mm 1 tbsp vegetable oil 3 cloves garlic, peel and mince very finely 1 sprig spring onion, wash, trim and cut ½ cm long Preheat plate by steaming over rapidly boiling water for 3 minutes. Sprinkle salt and rice wine on fish. Mix thoroughly. Spread ginger and spring onion on plate. Place fish on ginger and spring onion. Cover and steam over medium-low heat till just cooked, 7-10 minutes. Check that fish is totally opaque inside by flaking thickest part with chopsticks. Remove from heat. Discard ginger and spring onion. Baste fish with liquid in the plate. Whilst fish is steaming, stir-fry hot bean paste in 5 tbsp oil over low heat till fragrant. Strain oil onto crispy beans. Mix well. Set aside till fish is cooked. If pan/wok is not non-stick, wipe clean with paper towels. Keep drained hot bean paste for other dishes, such as 麻婆豆腐 or 回锅肉. If pan/wok is not non-stick, wipe clean with paper towels.) Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil till moderately warm. Add crispy beans, minus excess oil (which may be used as for drained hot bean paste). Stir-fry over low heat till colour changes slightly, removing bubbles if any. Add garlic. Stir-fry till mixture is lightly golden. Taste and add some drained hot bean paste if too bland, or pinch of sugar if too salty. Turn off heat. Add spring onion and stir through. As residual heat dissipates, beans and garlic should turn just golden brown. Spread mixture evenly on steamed fish. Serve immediately with rice.

Sambal Ikan Bilis (I)

The good news is, anchovy stocks have doubled because their predators – the type that doesn't have legs – have declined sharply in numbers. This is where we, the two-legged predators, need to step up our efforts. Eat more anchovies, people!

I don't know about you but I don't need much persuasion to eat sambal ikan bilis. The salty little fishies and deep-fried peanuts make a perfect ménage à trois with the sweet and spicy sambal.

Nasi lemak simply woudn't be complete without some sambal ikan bilis. No coconut rice? Never mind, it also goes well with Teochew porridge and steamed rice. Or just eat it on its own, but be warned that once you start nibbling, you won't stop till you eat everything. Which is fine if it's everything on the plate. Just don't go eating every anchovy in the oceans.

9 July 2012 Update

SAMBAL IKAN BILIS (ANCHOVIES WITH CHILLI PASTE) (Recipe for 6 cups) Sambal (makes 1 cup) 40 g lemongrass, white part only 150 g shallots 75 g garlic 20 g ginger 50 g red chillies 15 g dried chillies trim stems, cut 2 cm long, soak in warm water till soft, about 30 minutes; squeeze dry and discard water 15 g belachan roast at 150°C or dry-fry over medium-low heat till dry and crumbly 80 ml vegetable oil 20 g tamarind paste mash with 2 tbsp hot water, drain and discard seeds 30 g palm sugar, roughly chopped vegetable oil for deep-frying 150 g peanut ½ tsp salt 250 g ikan bilis, gutted and split 4 tbsp sugar Rempah (spice paste): Wash, trim, peel and roughly chop lemongrass, shallots, garlic, ginger and red chillies as appropriate. Grind or pound with dried chillies and belachan till smooth. Set aside. Peanuts: Deep-fry in warm vegetable oil over medium-low heat, stirring, till light brown. This should take 4 minutes or so. Turn off heat. Remove peanuts from oil. Immediately season with salt. Set aside. Anchovies: Rinse briefly and immediately dry with paper towels. Heat oil till just smoking. Add anchovies and deep-fry over high heat, stirring, till lightly golden. Push anchovies to side of wok. Let oil reheat to just smoking. Stir anchovies into oil and fry till almost golden brown. Turn off heat. Continue stirring till residual heat dissipates. Place anchovies with peanuts. Sambal: Remove excess oil from wok, leaving about 80 ml. Stir-fry spice paste over medium-low heat till fragrant, colour darkens and oil separates. Add palm sugar. Stir till melted. Add tamarind water. Stir till evaporated. Turn off heat. Remove to a bowl. Mix: Remove oil from the wok. Over medium heat, stir sugar till melted. Reduce heat to very low. Add peanuts and anchovies. Toss till evenly coated. Add sambal. Toss thoroughly. Taste and add more sugar if necessary. Turn off heat. Remove to a plate to cool down completely. Serve: sambal ikan bilis is excellent with steamed rice, nasi lemak, or Teochew porridge. Also makes a great nibble. Store leftovers in the fridge, tightly covered unless you like your fridge smelling of fish.

Pickled Green Papaya

The world is divided into two parts: those who love pickles, and those who hate pickles. ....... . . . .. ... . . ... . . .... . .. . . . . . .

If you're a pickle lover, you'd be drooling over this crunchy, sour and spicy pickled green papaya. If you're pickle hater, no amount of persuasion would make you make crunchy, sour and spicy pickled green papaya. Hence, no persuasion is necessary. .......  . . . .. ... . . ... . . .... . .. . . . . . .

PICKLED GREEN PAPAYA (Recipe for 1 kg) 300 g sugar (1½ cups) 300 g white vinegar (1¼ cups) 1.15 kg firm, unripe papaya, with green skin that has a hint of yellow peel, halve, remove seeds and trim head to yield 1 kg 2 tbsp salt 3 bird's eye chillies, rinse and slice thinly After cutting the papaya, you may find that it's too ripe for pickling, and too green for eating. In which case, please proceed to plan B: Buah Paya Masak Titek. Please note that pots, bowls and jars used should be non-reactive. Heat and stir sugar with vinegar until dissolved. Leave till cool. Rinse papaya thoroughly. Slice crosswise as thinly as possible, with a mandolin if available. Sprinkle with salt and mix thoroughly. Leave till limb and soft, about 10 minutes depending on the thickness. Rinse and drain. Mix with vinegar mixture and chillies. Cover and refrigerate. Papaya may be served after turning translucent. This may take 12 hours if papaya is paper thin and not too green. If totally green and not-so-thin, you'll have to wait 1-2 days. Adjust seasoning after papaya is ready for eating, if necessary, then wait at least 3-4 hours before serving.

Bubur Cha Cha

Coconut milk is the most important ingredient in bubur cha cha, so I've got a photo of a coconut tree:

Nice, eh? ....... . . . .. ... . . ... . . . . . . ... . .. . . .... . .. . . . . . .

How does Miranda Kerr get her million-dollar bikini body?

By eating coconut oil everyday, as reported here and here. If you think coconut oil is evil, you are so last century. There was a time when the luscious oil was public enemy number one because of its saturated fats, but it's now the darling of health food enthusiasts.

What's the spin this time? It's medium-chain fatty acids. The MFAs, found in great abundance in coconut oil, supposedly help your body burn fat, and boost your metabolism. In other words, coconut fat is a fat that makes you thin. I'm sure the health 'experts' will, in due course, change their minds. But until then, coconut oil is the 'miracle food' of the moment, and you can even learn about the benefits of coconut oil whilst earning a nutrition degree online. Not only does the wondrous liquid make you look like a Victoria's Secret model (only from the neck downwards, I presume), the lauric acid it contains helps boost immunity, improve digestion, stop itching and inflammation, kill viruses, bacteria and fungus, prevent aging, high cholesterol and high blood pressure . . . .

I'm not into coconut oil much but I love coconut milk. So I'm inhaling laksa, nasi lemak, curries, all sorts of Nyonya kueh . . . anything cooked with coconut milk, all in the name of good health. Oh yes, mustn't forget bubur cha cha, the Peranakan sweet soup that's as colourful as a sarong kebaya. Mustn't forget my bikini either. See? It's working already. MFAs improve the memory.

"Hey, anyone seen my bikini?"

BUBUR CHA CHA (YAM & SWEET POTATOES IN COCONUT MILK) (Recipe for 4 persons) Tapioca jelly (makes ½ cup; source: Cooking for the President) boiling water 60 g tapioca flour (½ cup) 2 drops red food colouring, or 10 g dark brown palm sugar finely minced 3 drops green food colouring, or juice of 25 g young pandan leaves 1 tsp sugar 75 g rock sugar, break into small pieces if big boiling water 6 pandan leaves, lower half only, wash and cut each piece into 2 1 cup yam (aka taro) diced 1½ cm ½ cup orange sweet potatos diced 1½ cm ½ cup purple sweet potatoes diced 1½ cm pinch of salt 200 ml undiluted fresh coconut milk Choose yam that's light for its size and has lots of red veins inside. Trim about 1 cm thick when peeling, and 2-3 cm around the head and bottom. These parts are usually not powdery. Drizzle 50 ml boiling water on tapioca flour. Knead to form an elastic dough, dusting with tapioca flour if too sticky. If too dry, wet hands before kneading. Divide dough into 2 equal size pieces. Add red colouring (or palm sugar) to one piece. Knead till colour is even. Roll into a rope 1½ cm thick. Cut crosswise 1½ cm wide. Dust thoroughly with tapioca flour to prevent sticking, and set aside. Add green food colouring (or pandan juice) to remaining dough. Proceed as for red dough to make jelly beads. Cook in boiling water till floating, stirring to prevent sticking. Remove with slotted spoon to a bowl. Sprinkle with 1 tsp sugar (to prevent sticking), mix thoroughly and set aside. Discard water. Place rock sugar, 1 cup boiling water and pandan leaves in a pot. Stir till sugar melts. Add yam and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer gently over low heat till just soft, about 7 minutes. Don't use high heat or yam would disintegrate. Discard pandan leaves. Remove yam with slotted spoon to a bowl. Place sweet potatoes in the pot. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer gently till just soft, about 5 minutes. Add salt, coconut milk, and boiling water to dilute coconut milk to taste, about ¾ cup. Stir to mix thoroughly. Taste and adjust sweetness if necessary. Turn off heat as mixture comes to a gentle simmer. Add tapioca jelly and yam. Serve hot or chilled.

Fried Wontons

Fried wontons are different from wontons in soup, apart from the fact that they're fried.

The filling for boiled wontons should have dried sole (大地鱼, aka 铁脯). The fish is toasted till brown, crisp and fragrant, then chopped into little bits. If it's not available, deep-fried shallots are a good substitute. With either of these ingredients in the filling, wontons cooked in soup would have a rich, intense aroma they wouldn't have otherwise. In Hong Kong, the motherland of Wonton Soup, the stock used is made with dried sole, amongst other things.

Fried wontons, on the the hand, don't need any dried sole or deep-fried shallots because the fragrance from the golden brown wrappers is sufficient.

Boiled wontons may be any size so long as the seams don't burst. Fried wontons, however, have to be quite small. If there's too much filling, the wontons would be brown before the inside is cooked. How much is too much? It depends on the mix of meat – use less if there's more pork, more if there's more prawns, and chicken would be somewhere inbetween. If you like your fried wontons big and meaty, 100% prawns would be the way to go.
 If you hate deep-frying because of the mess it may make, fried wontons would be good news. The wrappers are dry, so the oil doesn't splatter at all. Having your deep-fry and no cleaning is better than having your cake and eating it too!

FRIED WONTONS (炸云吞) (Makes 50 pieces) Filling 150 fatty coarsely minced pork 250 g prawns peel, devein, wash and dice 5 mm 3 water chestnuts peel, wash and dice 3 mm 2 tbsp thinly sliced spring onion 1 tbsp finely minced ginger 1 tbsp oyster sauce 2 tsp Shaoxing wine 2 tsp white sesame oil ½ tsp salt ¼ tsp sugar ¼ tsp ground white pepper 50 wonton wrappers water for sealing wrappers oil for deep-frying To make filling, place all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Gather mixture in one hand and throw back into the bowl, hard. Repeat till mixture is sticky, 3-4 minutes. To wrap, please refer to video below but use only 1 rounded tsp filling per wonton. Wrappers may be sealed with beaten egg as in the video, or water. Alternatively, you could put some filling in the middle of the wrapper, dab some egg/water on the edges, fold to form a triangle/rectangle/semi-circle, then press edges to seal. (Click here if you need 12 photos (!) to show you how to make triangular wontons. But I'm assuming you are quite intelligent . . . .) Wonton wrappers brown very easily. Do not use too much filling, oil that's too hot, or fry the wontons when they're chilled. Otherwise, the inside may still be raw when the wrappers are brown. To fry, use moderately hot oil. Test by dipping wonton (or an uncoated wooden chopstick) into the oil. Temperature is just right when oil bubbles softly. If there's rapid bubbling, let oil cool down slightly before testing again. If there's no reaction from the oil, continue heating till bubbling softly. When oil is at right temperature, fry wontons over medium heat till golden brown, about 90 seconds. Drain and serve immediately with garlic or sweet chilli sauce on the side.