Huat Kueh/ Fatt koh

Chinese new year is over. I have been trying to do huat kueh since last year and still not successful. I did not know where to get ENO salt and sweet yeast biscuit. This year, I managed to buy sweet rice in yeast wine that can be replaced the sweet yeast biscuit and cooked rice fermentation. I finally knew where to buy ENO salt that sold in local indian grocery stores. So far, I did not manage to get ENO salt from local stores as ENO salt is out of stock from both indian grocery stores near my place.  I will try to get ENO salt this week.

Last week, I tried both flour type and rice flour type huat kueh and they  were close to success. The fIour type huat kueh,most recipes call for self rising flour and I substitute with flour and baking powder. I  don't really like flour type huat kueh due to baking powder flavor. Maybe I added too much baking powder. The top splited abit. I like more the rice flour type huat kueh and the top splited fairy without ENO salt, but not very much split  like buying from market. I will try with ENO salt this week. This was the kuehs I tried last week. The top (green color) split even without baking powder.

I realized that less water and flour ratio in the recipe make the kueh dry and  more water and flour ratio make the kueh more like Pak Tong Kueh texture (see below picture) based on the result of three recipes I tried (My Asian Kitchen, What's For Dessert Today, Momster's Kitchen). I am not sure whether steaming time affects the kueh texture.

The kueh texture and taste also changes if final batter is fermented too long.  I think 3 - 5 hours should be okay. There are a few things to take note for steaming to make smiling kueh according to the blogs I read. The cups need to preheat in the steamer first before fill in the batter and the water in the steamer should be boiling vigorously. Some more, cross the top of batter with oily knife to make kueh smile.

Until now, I still could not get ENO salt at local indian stores. Seem likes I have to go all the way to Indian town to get it. So, I just try without ENO salt and my kueh still smiles and taste great. I tested a few recipes and decided to use recipe from Momster's Kitchen. The kueh is not dry and fluffy, but small portion of kueh, usually bottom of kueh, still has Pak Tong Kueh texture. I am not sure whether I steamed not long enough or the batter was watery? Probably I should try recipe from Baking Tempatations which is similar to recipe from What's For Dessert Today that is a little bit dry compare to Momster's Kitchen.

I made 1/4 portion of recipe that yields 4 - 5 kuehs each time. The last batch, I did my own rice fermentation with rice, yeast and water and fermented 2 days. Since I don't have ENO salt, I added salt and baking powder for smiling purpose. I did cross the top of batter with oily knife. The small ones smiles a lot. The big ones are okay smile.

Ingredients (fermented Rice):

• 150g cooked rice
• 2tsp yeast  {origin: 1/2 piece sweet yeast biscuit ( chau peang ) , pounded till fine and sieve }
• 4TB water {origin: omit}

Ingredients (Hat Kueh):

• 150g fermented Cooked Rice
• 500ml  water
• 200g  sugar
• 450grice flour
• 4 tsp salt {origin: ENO - fruit salt}
• 1 tsp baking powder {origin: omit}

Direction:

1. Place the cooked rice in a bowl. Mix yeast and warm water and let it sit for 5 minutes. Add yeast mixture to cooked rice.{origin:Then sprinkle the pounded sweet yeast biscuit on top of the rice.} Cover the bowl and  ferment for 1 1/2 days to 2 days under room temperature.
2. Blend the fermented rice with 500ml  water and pour it into a mixing bowl.
3. Add in sugar and rice flour and mixed well. {origin:Sieve the batter with a siever.}
4. Let it ferment for another 3 hours to 5 hours (origin: 3 hours).
5. Divide the batter into 4 portions and mix with your favorite colourings.
6. Add in 1 tsp of  salt {origin: 1tsp ENO salt} into each portion of the batter , baking powder and mixed thoroughly. Do it portion by portion.
7. Pour the batter about 3/4 of a muffin cups. {origin: 2/3 of  cup)
8. Dip a spatula or knife in oil and make an “X” across the batter
9. Steam over hot boiling water for 20 - 30 minutes. Remove and served with shredded coconut.

Note: 

1. Make sure to add the ENO into the next portion after you have finished the first portion and you have to mixed it thoroughly in order for the ENO to dissolve. Failure to do so you will get brown dots on your Huat Kueh.

Last minutes, I decided to kuehs from What's For Dessert Today for my hubby's friend. I increased the fermented rice to 50g and steamed with bamboo steamer. Some kuehs' top were flatten because domed lid is low and did not have enough room for kueh to rise. In future, I plan to try flour type recipe from Cherry's Kitchen , Ellenaguan, Cheat Eat. If I can find better recipes, I will try again.