ang koo kueh

A traditional must-have during a child's first month celebration, commonly know as 满月. Not too sure what it symbolises though, but red is usually used in happy occasions like in weddings and all. ang koo kueh literally means "red tortise kueh". traditionally made in a mould with the shape of a tortise shell.

I came across Amanda's blog while searching for the japanese cheesecake recipe and saw that she used her mooncake moulds to make these kueh. I found it really rather interesting and thought they looked really pretty! Since I've also got those moulds, why not try them?

Im pretty pleased with how the skin turned out and i thought it remained soft even when it was cooled and not oily like what's sold outside. (i guess that's cos i didnt brush it with oil after i steamed it) But, i guess D begged to differ and thought it had a teeny weeny of crust on the edges.. hmmm..

It was my maiden attempt at these kinda things so I just wanted to prepare a fast, easy filling. Peanut filling. Didn't turn out too well though =( not too sure if it was because i used already sweetened ground peanuts or because of the sesame..

I didn't have red colouring on hand, so i just used the closest, rose pink but added LOTS of it. It doesn't look as red as what's sold, but i guess im pretty happy with the turn out =)

Ang Koo Kueh

Ingredients:

Sweet Potato Skin:

200 g sweet potatoes

300 g glutinous rice flour

2 tbsps oil160 ml water

Some red coloring (optional)

Mung Bean Filling:

200g yellow split mung beans (soaked until soft)

80g - 100 g castor sugar

½ tsp salt

2 tbsps oil

1/4 - 1/2 cup diced shallots

Water

Method:

Sweet Potato Skin:

Steam the sweet potatoes until soft.

In a bowl, mash the sweet potatoes with a fork. Add glutinous rice, oil and water and mix well to obtain a smooth dough. Cover with a damp cloth and leave aside. You can add a little more water if the dough is too dry.

Mung Bean Filling: [I did not make this filling and used peanut filling instead]

Steam the yellow split mung beans until soft. Mash with a fork.

In a non-stick wok, fry the diced onions in oil. Leave aside to cool.

In a bowl, mix the mashed split peas, salt, fried onions, oil and enough water to form a soft dough.

Shaping the Ang Koo Kueh:

1. Brush the ang koo kueh mould with a little oil to ease removal of the kueh from the mould.

2. Take a small lump of sweet potato dough and using your palm or a rolling pin, flatten it, into a round shape with the centre thicker than the sides.

3. Spoon some pea filling into the dough, pinch the sides of the dough together, and using the palm of your hand, roll it into a ball.

4. Press the ball into the mould firmly, to obtain the design and shape of the mould. Tap the mould gently on the table to remove the ang koo kueh from the mould.

5. Place the ang koo kueh on a square piece of oiled banana leaf.

6. When all the ang koo kuehs are shaped, steam them in a wok over high fire for 3 minutes covered. After 3 minutes, remove the cover to release steam, then re-cover and steam for another 3 minutes over a medium fire, until the kuehs are cooked. [i used a electric steamer and steamed for 10 minutes]

7.Remove the kuehs from the wok and brush them with a little oil to prevent them from sticking to each other. Serve when cool. [i forgot to brush with oil and they were indeed a little sticky]

Notes:If you don't like the mung beans, you can use peanuts or red beans filling.I used about 26g pastry and 19g filling. [i followed her porptions for dough:filling. The mould i'm using is 4.6cm in diameter]

*I made using half the recipe with the same dough:filling proportions and ended up with 13 pieces.

adapted from Florence