So I am into making talam at the moment. Making and doing research and I felt like I have been to mathematics class last couple of weeks and back. kekekekekeke

Luckily I have enough guinea pigs and even the British neighbours have been promoted to try though it is very far and few that you will meet any British born and bred whom will like our kuih-muih. Well except my husband! He has actually placed an order for a special kuih lapis of his designs! I accepted his challenge. I just have to figured out how to make what he wants as I have not seen this designs online So watch this space!

Today I have decided to finally pen this recipe out. If I tried some more (research) my friends and neighbours and family might kill me. I have bought 2 dozen tins of coconut milk. Go figures However when my classmate from age 13 years old informed me that I have made the best talam pandan she have ever tasted I believed this recipe is a keeper.

Now when I said I felt like I have been to Mathematics class the last week, I meant I have calculated ratios of countless talam recipes online and from my cookbooks. This is the final ratio that I settled on which I can comfortably slice without breaking because I prefer softer talam.

However I did make some in glass jars and those I add a touch more liquids and a touch more salt for the crazy hubby who (thinks he’s a food critic) really like a touch more salty top to contrast with the sweet bottom (his words; not mine!) Shocking right? Coming from a white British guy – hahahahaha

Now if you have read all my musings this far I think you deserve a good tip. I actually added A DROP of alkaline water to my top layer. it works fine but do not be tempted to add more. If you want to know why, you can try it and see I did and the talam went into the bin.

TIP – Use as many pandan leaves as you can afford. Blend with water the night before. Store in a container with a cover and put in the fridge. I hate cross contamination of smell in the fridge. My everything is in either lock & lock, tupperwares or vacuumed sealed. For this recipe of 7×7 tin I used 2 packets of pandan leaves.

The next day when you are ready to make, it is entirely up to you how you use your pandan juice. You can throw the top water away and used the more condensed bottom bit or you can use all but sieve again one more time to remove residue.

TIP – If you want your pandan green to be slightly more deeper green try adding a few drop of intense blue pea flower water. Just boil blue pea right down to get a darker colour. However I am not sure I like it. I prefer a more natural pandan leaf colour. Which do you prefer?

TIP – As long as you stick to the flours and liquid ratio, do experiment. You can omit the tapioca flour and used just green bean flour and rice flour…..but you cannot do the reverse aka you cannot omit the green bean and used tapioca instead. Well I suppose it is all up to you to try Enjoy trying. I did.

p/s I am also trying to perfect the gula Melaka talam. Will update that recipe this weekend if free. It’s so much easier to make as just need to melt the gula Melaka

Here is another post hubby was able to recover from the net, from my old block. It’s ‘Chuk bi peah’ I have made both sweet ones and savoury ones.

This ‘peah’ literally means ‘biscuit’ in Hokkien dialect. This is only sold in Kuching in the old days as far as I know. Only those who grew up in Kuching will know this kueh and some have not even eaten them before.

A few times when I phoned my mother she was on and on about this chuk bi peah. She kept telling me how much she misses this kuih. and she’s in her 70ies.

So I wanted to learn this kuih and make it for her one day. Thanks to some of my classmates, their patience with me and guidance, taking pics for me so I am able to make this in UK. Thank you Ron, Cindy and Mary. Hubby extended his ‘Thanks’ too. He said next time in Kuching beers on him!

He preferred the haebee one because of my sambal even though he ate 4 of the tausah cause I fried and served them first! 

I will defo make this again. Love the crunchiness – Happy me.

First published – 1st August 2018

It has been a very long time since I last wrote on my blog. Today I decided it is time I start again after being unwell.

I chose to post this old Nonya kuih – Bingka Beras. This seem to be a forgotten Nonya Kuih which I love with all my heart. As a young child I remember wanting this always whenever I was taken to the morning market where the hawker sold this. I just love the aroma of the coconut with the slightly burnt bits on top! The coconut sweetness, the banana leaves smell, the slightly caramelized top and sometimes the taste of a bit of bitter burns is FABULOUS. I just <3 <3 <3 this “fei chui yuk” aka fat pork belly, in Cantonese because they resemble a piece of fat pork.

Luckily my husband, though British born and bred loves all kuih-muih. Makes life a lot easier for me. I can make a kuih and he’ll eat it all day long and I don’t need to cook anything else.

This kuih is so easy to make so I hope those who have rice flour handy will try it out. Especially more so now we are still staying at home. This lockdown due to Covid19 have seen such a lot more baker, home chefs, gardeners, hairdresser, dressmakers as well as teachers and many other skills. Amazing what we can do when we have to.

TIP – Melt some butter and mix with the reserved 1 tbsp coconut milk. Brush on top of the kuih for that extra ummmph before you grill. kekekekeke

Pulut Tai Tai with gula malacca kaya (gift from a friend) Pulut Tai Tai according to Wikipedia – Pulot Tartal is Malacca-based dish where white coconut milk sauce is served with glutinous rice (pulut)

I have always been a bit of a rebel deep down. Hence a green coloured Pulut Tai Tai

I am steamed my glutinous rice the same way I did for my Seri Muka recipe. https://www.julieolive.co.uk/2018/12/26/kuih-seri-muka-special/

Compress the rice lightly but firmly. Do NOT press to hard until your rice are tough! I prefer my glutinous to have a little give myself. However this is again arguably to personal taste.

I also like my rice slightly more salty as it goes so well with the sweet kaya. Again you can adjust to your taste.

If you soak your rice a longer time, say more than 8 hours you might need less coconut milk and less steaming time. It is entirely up to you to try.

Of course it stands to reason then your steaming time also depends on your heat. I used medium. Happy trying.

This traditional Indonesia/ Malay/ Nyonya kuih is semi-soft, it’s chewy and most important of all it’s fragrant. It has an inviting aroma from the banana and pandan leaves, the eggs and the coconut milk. The most important thing is that it is so easy to make and your whole house smell nice when it is baking in the oven! It is also extremely delicious to me.

This version is a tad healthier than the Pinoy (Philippines) version which I have tried many times and love too due to my work with a lot of Philippines nurses before. The Pinoy version had added evaporated milk, condensed milk and cheddar cheese. What I love is the shredded coconut strands on top. It is also delicious! Oh I need to make one soon too. Must wait till I have guests with sweet tooth.

I was thinking of making a kuih for the last month. In recent year there opened a new Asian eatery place 15 minutes drive from my home and it has been so easy to get my Asian fix. There are many stalls there and just like a big eating hall in Malaysia. However I do realised not only do these food contains lots of sugar and it is just a bit lacking.

Lacking in theirs is the traditional kuih bingka, the way I like it with both the aroma from banana leaves and pandan leaves. To get my fix I just need to bake it at home myself.

Last night when this was in the oven, the daughter who was asleep woke up and came downstairs – “mum what are you baking at this time of the night? I can smell it in my room!” It was barely 22.00 and I was watching Chernobyl (highly recommend watching, by the way)

This morning a happy hubby ate a big chunk with his black coffee for breakfast. All the sliced pieces in this pic were shared between the 2 of us (shocker)

p/s This recipe is based on trail and error and if you live in a country where freshly grated coconut is impossible to get. Hence it’s a 1 tin 400ml can used.

Both the husband and I love this Kuih Seri Muka. There is just something about glutinous rice, be it cooked sweet or savoury, something special. It is heart warming and comforting to me and I am just lucky the British hubby loves it too. 

Kuih Seri Muka is one of our favourite. I have been thinking of making this for months. Much appreciation to my Facebook friend who makes this to sell for the invaluable tips she gave me. I have found the perfect combination in my opinion to the kaya layer that actually has a layer of dry ‘skin’ just like the traditional ones I have had eaten as a child growing up from the morning markets in Malaysia.

I wanted to make this Seri Muka mine, a la Julie style and so I have to crank my brain. Luckily I love sitting and contemplating cooking, baking, plating up and anything to do with food. I decided to add black glutinous rice cause I wanted the colour to seep into the white glutinous rice to colour it pink a bit. However this time I think I have rinsed the black glutinous rice too much and the colour is not too pink. I will make again and update another picture as soon as I buy more glutinous rice this weekend. Hubby much prefer this to my Mango Sticky Rice recipe.

Hubby happily agreed as he polished a quarter of this kuih for his lunch today.

Update – 3rd March 20202

First TIP – Today I was in a push for time as I am making for a friend’s son. to be pack and hand carry to his University up North.

So this morning I quickly washed and soaked the white glutinous rice.

Then I rinsed the black glutinous rice and quickly bring them to boil, simmering for 30 minutes till al dente. Then I put it in the garden to cool down as weather here is still cold. I did not rinse them more because I want to retain more colour to make my white glutinous rice more PINK

Second TIP – I mixed the soaked white glutinous rice with the coconut milk before putting them to steam on top of banana leaves for 15 minutes, then fluff, add in the black glutinous rice, press and then steam again for 15 minutes while I cook the top layer slowly.

Third TIP – I find that mixing the top layer batter earlier and let it sit (beat it with a whisk when you can) actually makes a smoother top.

Also updated some pics to explain new TIPs

Updated – 22nd September 2020