I have never been a fan of chwee kueh but I wanted to buy rice flour to make kimchijeon and needed a way to use up the flour. Other than making chee cheong fun and bak tang gao and this - all of which I don't eat - I thought the least 'evil' and potentially fastest recipe would be chwee kueh. At least i like chai po.
The base of all of the recipes is rice flour but then it vastly differs - those adding only tapioca flour (seems to be softer) or wheat flour (seems to keep its shape better), and those mixing e.g., adding corn flour with wheat flour or even one recipe mixing everything! I don't really know if there's any value adding all four flours since I have them all (by some fluke), why not? And I would never get the chance to use wheat flour otherwise! [Interestingly all the recipes start with 150g rice flour]
1. Best traditional recipe Kitchen Tigress (video)
- Rice, wheat, corn
- This is the best method for making stove-top chwee kueh where the mixture has to be partially cooked before steaming.
- Great explanation of the pool of water in the dimple that forms in the centre when the correct mixture is made, to show how the kueh (called 'water' cake) really exudes water that will evaporate when cool. The dimple is correct meaning that the cake is soft enough.
- Kueh need to be completely cooled before removing from the tin. However, Chwee Kueh has to be eaten hot. Go figure.
- Chaipo should be the salted not the sweet kind, which when washed, the sweet one becomes tasteless.
2. What to cook today (video) (tried here)
- Best recipe because suggests tapioca flour or wheat + corn flour. She says when hot, texture seems the same. One commenter said tapioca only seemed softer but mixture of wheat + corn kept shape better.
- Uses sweet chai po. Fry 2 mins and add garlic, fry 30 seconds until garlic just golden. Also makes sambal.
- Must allow water to come to rolling boil then cool for 15 mins before mixing.
- Uses mini muffin tin. Must pre-heat the cups and steamer must be rolling boil before pouring batter into cups. Steam 15 mins (traditional tin) and 20 mins (muffin tin).
- Normal for it to have water inside the dimple, steam 2 mins steamer uncovered to evaporate the water. Cool 10 mins before removing.
- Rice and wheat starch
- Mix sweet and salted chai po. Takes 15 mins of frying at low fire to turn brown.
- Uses steamer (10 mins in traditional cups) or microwave (1.5 - 2 mins) with silicon or ceramic cups.
4. Happy Flour (tried here)
- 150g rice flour yields 28 kueh. Adds tapioca and wheat flour.
- Mixes flours and set aside for 2 hours! Adds hot water and keep stirring otherwise flour will separate. Don't add boiling water otherwise mixture turns gluey.
- Uses plastic chwee kueh cups. Steam for 15 to 20 mins. Leave to cool.
5. Away of Mind
- Adapts from Anncoo Journal.
- Simmers salty chai po with water to really embed the soya sauce flavour
- Mix tapioca, corn and wheat starch (blogger's first attempt but suggests corn starch may be unnecessary)
- Uses traditional mould. Preheat mould and steam for 12 - 15 mins. Allow to cool before removing
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