Multi-Colour Huat Kuih -综合发糕

没想到吃发糕可以吃到这么丰富。有巧克力，有绿茶，有草莓，香兰，芋头等等的口味。真的太幸福了！

作天经过厨娘香Q秀的厨房，看到制作美丽又零失败的发糕，今天就迫不急待就开始做了4个口味的发糕；有巧克力搭配巧克力米； 香兰搭配日本黑豆；芋头香精搭配紫色番薯；草莓香精搭配蔓越莓；哇塞，每个发糕都笑到非常灿烂，而且好吃, 成功！

结论：不粘牙，有弹性。冷了有点硬，下次做可以再加多一点水。

Never imagined eating Huat Kuey can be so exciting. There's chocolate, green tea, strawberry, pandan, yam, etc flavours. I feel so blessed!

Happened to visit 厨娘香Q秀, and I couldn't wait any longer to try out their beautiful and successful Huat Kuihs. I made chocolate combined with chocolate rice, pandan combined with japanese black beans, yam combined with purple sweet potato, strawberry combined with cranberry. wow! all came out smiling at me! and delicious too! Success!

Verdict: not sticky on the teeth, with a good level of elasticity. however it was a little hard when cold, so I can probably add more water next time.

Recipe: I made 1/2 recipe of the original

Ingredients:

250 g water

1.5 g salt

30 g  whole egg (without shell)

300 g plain flour

1 tablespoon double acting baking powder

150 g fine sugar

Method:

1) Sift flour (2 x) into a big mixing bowl, add in the remaining ingredients, mix to combine a free lumps and smooth mixture.

2) Divide mixture into  3 or 4 portions, stir in the colour and flavour to your liking.  Pour batter into small cups /mould till 3/4 full. Steam over high heat for 15 - 20 minutes or until cooked.

Banana Huat Kuih

Huat ah! Huat ah! 发啊！发啊！Wishing all dear bloggers  have a Happy and a Prosperous Chinese New Year.

Happy Forever。永远开心，笑哈哈。

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Starter dough:

60g plain flour

1 tsp instant yeast

50ml water 

combine all ingredients together and leave it to ferment for 1 to2 hours.

Ingredients A:

200g very ripen bananas - mashed and set aside for10 minutes

Ingredients B:

150g plain flour

1/2 tbsp baking powder

100g caster sugar

125 ml thick coconut milk

Method:

 1)Combine sugar, baking powder, mashed banana and coconut milk into the starter dough.  Mix well.

2)  Add sifted flour into (1) and mix well.

3)  Spoon mixture into muffin cups liners, fill till 3/4 full.  Steam over high heat for 20 minutes.

Vietnamese Steamed Rice cake

I remember when I was young, every 1st and Fifteen, Festivals and Chinese New Year of the Chinese Calender, my mom would buy 'fa gao' from the market for praying to the gods and ancestors. In those time, ' fagao' was mainly made with rice flour and came in 2 colours - white and pink. They tasted a bit sour and hard, not very nice, thus we did not usually ate those meant as offerings.

One day, I chanced upon this link ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCp7O03IV_E) Vietnamese steamed rice cake. Literally translated, the Vietnamese name "Banh Bo", means cow cake. That resembles the "bai tang gao" (白糖糕) and "fagao"(发糕）。However, the Vietnamese rice cake is mainly made with coconut milk rather than the typical plain water. I also noticed very creative Vietnamese steamed rice cakes from some links, some are salty, others have meat fillings, while some also have cheese, chocolate, peanuts etc. They are attractive and beautiful due to the bright and and wide range of colours used.

Today, I gathered all ingredients for this recipe. It tastes better than the traditional steamed rice cakes because I used coconut milk. I like how fragrant and chewy the small cake is.

There is a subtle difference in using plain flour vs rice flour. I suggest you try out, it is worth the effort.

Recipe: Adapted from Helen's Recipe

Ingredients:

500 g rice flour

1 bowl (1 00 g) tapioca flour

7 g instant yeast (1tsp + 3/4 tsp)

400 ml coconut milk

300 g sugar

450 ml warm water

Method:

1) In a saucepan, dissolve sugar and coconut milk on medium heat. One dissolved, let cool to room temperature.

2) Mix rice flour, tapioca flour and yeast in a mixing bowl. Add in warm water and knead well for 10 minutes (very soft dough).

3) Mix the batter with the mixture of sugar and coconut milk until everything has dissolved.

4) Let sit for at least 1 1/2 hours until batter rises and many bubbles appear.

5) Bring water in the steamer to boil.

6) Grease the moulds. Cover the lid to warm up the moulds for a few minutes.

7) Pour the batter into the cups till full. Steam for 10 - 15 minutes.

8) Remove the cakes from the moulds. These cakes should have a slight chewy and honeycomb like texture with distinctive "fermented" taste.

Pumpkin Huat Kuih - 南瓜发糕

My Huat Kuih looks beautiful and springy in texture, but just do not understand why they don't smile (means split open).

为什么今天做的发糕不会笑（裂口)? 幸好做出来的颜色是美美的啰，还有口感是QQ的.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

A)

100 ml water

1 tsp instant yeast

100g plain flour

B)

250 g plain flour

2 g double-acting baking powder

200 g pumpkin (steamed and mashed)

150 g sugar

150 g coconut milk

1 whole egg

Method:

1) Combine ingredients A and mix well, cover with a piece of damp cloth and rest for 1 hour at room temperature.

2) Add in mashed pumpkin and sugar into mixture 1) , stir well and pour in coconut milk, mix well.

3) Fold in sifted flour and double-acting powder, blend well till well mixed.

4) Spoon batter into paper cups or small tea cups (grease) till 3/4 full.

5) Steam for 20-25 minutes.

Gula Melaka Huat Kueh 椰糖发糕

"清明时节雨纷纷,路上行人欲断魂。借问酒家何处有,牧童遥指杏花村。" 光阴似箭，转眼又是清明节。今天一大早，我们一家人驾车回马国扫墓。一路开车到柔佛关口和到K城，交通都非常顺畅比预算时间早到许多。 我做了发糕回去拜拜，这个食谱在去年贴过的。我喜欢做这个发糕因为它真得很好吃。

Time really flies, Qing Ming festival is arriving. I make some huat kuehs as a offering for the Qing Ming. I like this huat kueh because it is very easy to make and the recipe dose not need yeast to work as the raising agent. And as you can see, all the huat kuehs are smiling. Aren't they beautiful?.And they are delicious too.

Recipe:
Ingredients:
500 g plain flour
1 1/2 egg ( about 86 g)
400 g gula melaka
250g water
250 ml coconut milk (santan)
3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
3 teaspoon hot water

Method:
~~1) Bring water to a boil with gula Melaka (palm sugar) until sugar dissolves. Drain and leave to cool.
~~2) Beat eggs and milk until well mixed, add in  flour and melted gula Melaka , mix well.
~~3) Dissolves bicarbonate of soda with 3 teaspoon of hot water, stir well and pour into the mixture of (2). Mix well.
~~4) Spoon batter into paper cups until 3/4 full, steam over high heat for 15 minutes.

Sweet Potato Huat Kuay and Banana Huat Kuay

Banana:


Sweet potato:

I made these as offerings for my sister's 100-day death anniversary. The sweet potato version was not as fluffy as i would have liked. 吃起来很硬很结实，好像在吃娘惹糕。As for the banana version, it was also not spongy and the taste was not what i desired. Since they are not up to standard, i have decided not to post the recipes for these failure products which wasted my time and ingredients.

gula melaka 'Huat Kueh'

I don't really like to eat huat kueh .It is simply because it is rough, hard and taste of yeast. But after eating aunty Lily's huat kueh, I 've fallen in love with it. The texture is soft, light, and "QQ" (means springy) when you bite on it. It is not sticky, and no crumbs will fall when you tear or bite on it. Of course the palm sugar also enchanses the flavour of the kueh. She is so sweet and kind to pass me the recipe.

Recipe:

Ingredients:
1 kg plain flour
3 eggs
800g gula Melaka (palm sugar)
500ml water
400 -450 ml thick coconut milk
1.1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda + 6 tsp hot water


Method:
1) Boil gula melaka with water and pandan leaves till sugar is dissolved. Drain and leave to cool for later use.
2) Add in beaten eggs into (1) stir well.
3) Add in flour to the egg mixture, stir and blend until become smooth batter.
4) Dissolve baking soda with 6 teaspoon hot water and pour into the batter and mix well.
5) Spoon the mixture into the paper cups with 3/4 full. Steam at high heat for 15 minutes.