Chwee Kueh

Decided to adapt from Happy Flour and What to eat today combined.

Ingredients (makes 13 kueh)

150g rice flour

20g tapioca flour

25g wheat flour

½ tsp salt

200ml water

600ml hot water (boil and then let cool for 15 minutes)

2 tsp cooking oil

Topping

2 tbsp cooking oil

1 tsp lard

3 cloves garlic

7-8 shallots (I substituted with 2 stalks of spring onion, white parts only as I didn't have shallots)

150 - 200g salted chai po

50 g dried shrimp, chopped (optional - I saw these in some other recipes and I ran out of chai po)

1 tbsp dark soya sauce (cooking caramel)

2 tbsp sugar (to taste)

½ tsp pepper

Method

1. Preparation: Boil the water and let it cool for about 15 minutes. Grease the traditional tin moulds with oil. Start the wok/steamer with water and bring to a rolling boil. Prepare the steamer.

2. Topping: Prepare the chai po. Rinse once and then soak for 10 minutes. Drain into a sieve and use a teaspoon to press down to squeeze dry. Set aside.

3. In a frying pan, add the cooking oil. Stir fry the shallots until on low heat until soft and fragrant.

4. Add the garlic, chai po and dried shrimp if using. Stir fry until the garlic is just golden. Add the seasoning. Set aside.

7. Grease the moulds. Place them in the steamer to pre-heat about 1 - 2 mins after the water has come to a rolling boil.

8. Batter: Place the flours and salt into a pouring bowl with a spout or measuring jug. Add the room temp water and stir, the mixture will be thick. Add the hot water and stir. (This helps the flours to mix but don't use boiling water as it will cook the flours and turn it gluey).

7. Stir the flours and then pour into the prepared moulds. Fill till about 3mm from the top. Cover and steam at high heat for 15 mins. They may very soft and have a pool of water in the dimple in the centre, that's normal. Steam uncovered for 2 mins.

8. Let the kueh cool in the tins for 10 mins before removing with a spatula, palette knife or tooth pick run round the rim.

9. Serve with toppings in the dimple.

Using microwave for the leftover. 1min 40 seconds. Doesn't look great but tastes ok.

Recipe feedback

- I was worried that because my mould had scalloped edges, that my kueh would stick to the mould. I really slathered with oil was not necessary as when I poured on the batter, it caused the oil to 'float' up and mix with the batter.

- You really do have to wait until totally cool to remove and it's best done with a toothpick to go around the edges, then a small spatula to scoop out from the bottom. When the kueh is still warm, the spatula inevitably cuts into the kueh so best to wait until the mould is totally cool.

- This batter remains soft even when totally cold so worth the extra effort of mixing 3 different flours. Whether hot or cold, the kueh is soft rather than chewy. When hot, it is too soft to handle.

- I did 6 per steamer level in my bamboo steamer, 15 mins for lower level, then removed that level and checked water level before steaming top level for another 5 mins. The steam cannot be too intense as I found out when the batter puffed up and over-flowed. When there is only 1 level left, turn down the fire to medium high. NOT advisable to open the lid every 2 - 3 minutes to release the steam so that the batter can deflate back into the mould on its own.

- The leftover batter went into the microwave safe bowl for microwaving.