Penang nyonya kuih

(Ang koo kuih from Eaton)

What is nyonya kuih?

Nyonya may be originated from the Portugese word "dona", which means "lady". It refers to female descendants of the early Chinese immigrants who settled in Penang, Malacca and Singapore.

Kuih is an Asian concept of cakes and pastries, different from that of the Western one in term of texture, flavour and appearance.

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Ever since I left my hometown of Georgetown Penang for university studies, I developed a craving for authentic Nyonya cuisine and delicacies (especially nyonya kuih). Hence, whenever I return home for my holidays, the first time I do is to search out all the eating joints that serve Nyonya food. It was no exception during my recent holidays in Penang. My hubby happily tagged along as he too likes Nyonya food.

As both my hubby and son are big fans for ang koo kuih*, I took them to buy some from a shop at Batu Lanchang called Eaton. This shop is not only well known for its ang koo kuih but also its yellow glutinous rice with curry chicken and its special satay (without peanut sauce). They also provide full moon** celebration catering. My hubby gave 2 thumb-ups after savoring them. The kuih sold by this particular shop is different from others. If they are left open at room temperature, its skin remains soft and chewy even after 24 hours. The thickness of its skin was also perfectly done. The ingredients used were tasty, and not too sweet. The photo above shows a box of mini ang koo kuihs we packed before departing home.

*Ang koo kuih is a Hokkien pronunciation. Ang means red and koo means tortoise. It resembles the shape of a tortoise. For Chinese, tortoise symbolizes longevity. Hence, it is a popular item used for praying and full moon celebration. Its skin is made of glutinous rice flour. Usually those kuih with red-coloured skin is filled with mung beans and the green-coloured ones with “gula Melaka” coconut flakes.

** Full moon refers to a celebration held for a newborn when he/she turns one month old.

Below is the address of the shop. If you are coming from the opposite direction across the road, instead of crossing the road, you can also buy Eaton’s “kuihs” (savories) sold by a hawker in a coffee shop that faces exactly opposite Eaton's shop. It is a good business strategy as they cater to customers’ convenience from both directions.

Eaton Kuih Centre Sdn Bhd
Address: 110 & 139-M Jalan Tan Sri Teh Ewe Lim (Jalan Batu Lanchang), 11600 Penang.
Opening hours: 7.00am – 5.00pm
Tel: +604 2828355
Website: http://www.eaton.com.my/index.html

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(Nyonya kuihs from Kheng Batu Lanchang Kaya & Nyonya Kuih)

A - Loh mai chi (glutinous rice ball with toasted peanut filling)
B - Kuih talam (it consists of two layers. The top white layer is made from rice flour and coconut milk, while the bottom green layer is made from green pea flour and extract of pandan leaf.)
C - Kuih ko sui (steamed rice pudding topped with grated coconuts)
D - Kuih bengkang bunga
E - Kuih bingka ubi (baked kuih of tapioca mixed in sweet pandan-flavoured custard)
F - Pulut tai tai (blue glutinous rice cake served with kaya)
G - Kuih kochi (pyramid of glutinuous rice flour filled with a sweet peanut paste and wrapped with banana leaf)
H - Pulut inti (glutinous rice topped with caramelised grated coconut flesh)
I - Chai tao kuih (made with grated radish(chai tao) and grounded spices (ketumbar), and topped with crushed peanut)

(Source: Wikipedia)

Besides Eaton, there is a hawker stall called Kheng Batu Lanchang Kaya & Nyonya Kuih located at the nearby Batu Lanchang market, which is famous for their assorted homemade nyonya “kuihs” and “kaya” (a sweetened bread spread made from coconut milk and egg). They sell as many as 30 types of “kuihs”. Some are even considered as “near extinct”, not easily found anywhere else. Prices are reasonable too. Being halal-certified, these delicacies are highly popular among muslim Malays. Indians are also frequent patrons of this stall.

On one afternoon, around 3.30pm, my hubby and I decided to buy some of the assorted “kuihs” from this hawker stall. It turned out that we were a bit early. At 3.45pm, there was still no sign of the stall owner. My first thought was it is closed for business on that day. However, I did a quick check with the stall owner in the adjacent stall to confirm if my hunch was wrong, I was told the “kuih” stall will indeed open that day. It made my feeling of disappointment turn hope. Shortly thereafter, 2 young girls strolled in to make preparation to open the stall. Then, came strolling in was a middle-aged man who pushed a cart loaded with 6 large trays of “kuihs” into the stall. Literally, in split seconds and to our surprise, out of the blue, a group of customers (about 10 people) rushed forward to the front of the stall to give their orders. Suddenly, the place came alive with hustle and bustle. The vendor was busy taking and packing orders. One customer even came holding his own container. My hubby was taken aback by the surging crowd (that looks more like a mob) clamoring to buy the “kuihs”, albeit was amused with the quick turn of the situation. As he is not fluent in the “Hokkien” chinese dialect, he asked me to proceed with our order. I managed to squeeze myself into the crowd which was getting more packed every minute. I didn’t expect to see such a huge crowd on normal weekday. Excuse me if I sound dramatic, but it was how both of us felt then. Guess how much I paid for all those “kuihs” shown in the photo? They only represent 80% of what I bought. The grand sum is RM8.00 (or USD2.20 equivalent).

Kheng Batu Lanchang Kaya & Nyonya Kuih
Address: Store No 29 Batu Lanchang Market
Opening hours: 3.30pm – 6.30pm (closed on Sundays)
Tel: +604 6589405

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Avocado with banana dessert

After making some California hand rolls, I had half an avocado sitting in my refrigerator. So I used it to make a quick and easy teatime dessert for my son. He ate so fast even before I had finished washing up all the dishes used in the preparation! He claimed that he was not full and ate the remaining half of the banana. Then he grinned at me and said, “It tastes good, mommy!”

Ingredients:
½ ripe avocado
2-3 tbsp fresh milk
1 tsp honey
½ banana

Methods:
1) If you have 1 avocado, cut the avocado in half, running your knife around the pit from stem to blossom end and back up again. Twist the halves in opposite directions to free the pit, and pull the halves apart. Dislodge the pit, then scoop the avocado flesh into a large bowl. Mash the avocado with a large fork or potato masher. Press through a sieve. Set aside.
2) Heat up the milk. Add milk slowly into the mashed avocado and stir well. Stop when it reaches the desired consistency.
3) Add in honey and stir well.
4) Cut banana into ½cm thickness and arrange on top of avocado puree........ Enjoy!


(A fully ripen avocado)

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Gingko nuts, dried beancurd skin & barley dessert

This is a very common and popular dessert among the Chinese. In fact, it is also my hubby’s all-time favourite. As there are too many good recipes on hand, I had totally forgotten about his request. Last weekend, I had made this dessert especially for him so that I can happily cross out this “long outstanding” and “KIV” request from my checklist.

My references are from the followings:
a) 我的厨房笔记 (you can also find many good Chinese herbal soups here)
b) House of Annie (with steps-by-steps illustrations)
c) 糖心大排挡 cookbook by Chef Tong

Ingredients (A):

70g barley/ jobstears seed (washed)
1-1.5 liter water (based on own judgement)
4 pandan leaves (washed and tied up a knot)

Ingredient (B):
350g water
120g rock sugar (I personally prefer yellow crystal cane sugar)
4 pandan leaves (washed and tied up a knot)

Ingredients (C):
30 gingko nuts (break shells, soak and remove skin. Use a toothpick to pierce through and remove the bitter core.)
75g dried beancurd skin – approx 1 big piece (break into small pieces, soak until soft and drain)
1 egg (add in 1 tsp water and lightly beaten)

Methods:
1) Bring ingredient A to boil, reduce to low heat and continue to simmer for 30-45 mins.
2) At the same time, bring gingko nuts and ingredients B to boil and reduce heat to medium for 20 mins, till gingko nuts are cooked and softened. Remove pandan leaves and set aside (including the sugar syrup).
3) When the barley splits open (softened), remove pandan leaves. Add in gingko nuts (with the sugar syrup) and soaked beancurd skin, cook for another 5 mins. Taste (add in more rock sugar if necessary).
4) Bring the heat to high for 5 seconds and turn off the heat. Immediately, add in the beaten egg slowly (like a tiny stream) and use a spatula to swirl the dessert in clockwise until the shredded eggs (蛋花) can be seen on the surface. Serve.

Note: This dessert can be served hot or cold.

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Purple sweet potatoes tong sui (dessert)

Sweet potato is one of my son's first baby foods. Since then, it has become his all-time favourite regardless of the cooking methods. Sweet potatoes come in many colours ie purple, pink, yellow and orange. Among them, purple sweet potato is the fastest to turn soft when it is cooked. I had tried to boil colourful sweet potatoes tong sui for my family but purple sweet potato is still considered the best to my hubby in term of its texture and sweetness.

Ingredients:
3 medium size purple sweet potatoes (de-skinned and cut)
1 slice old ginger (pat it flat)
4-5 pandan leaves (washed and tied)
600ml water
sugar (to taste) – I used brown sugar

Methods:
1) Put pandan leaves, old ginger and water in a cooking pot.
2) Bring water to boil, then lower the flame to medium low heat. Simmer for 10 mins.
3) Add in purple sweet potatoes and simmer until it turns soft. It takes about 10 mins.
4) Remove pandan leaves and ginger slice. Add in sugar and stir until sugar dissolved thoroughly. Serve.

Notes:
1) Purple sweet potatoes require a shorter time to turn soft as compared to yellow, orange and pink sweet potatoes. The sizes of the chunk and cooking time should be adjusted accordingly.
2) You can also steam the sweet potatoes until soft beforehand. Then just add them in step (3) and cook for another 5 mins. Continue with step (4).

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Sweetened red bean paste with lotus seeds and lily bulbs

Recently I was given a packet of red beans (Azuki beans) by my cousin sister who had bought it personally from Japan. To my astonishment, these Japanese red beans are as shiny as pearls. They are totally different from those sold in the local market. Therefore, I picked this recipe to try out these beans. The results is: The paste texture is thick and very smooth. The beans were so soft that it will "melt" into your mouth. It is simply marvelous!

Below is my modified version (originated from this source)

Ingredients:
1500 liter water
200g red beans 红豆
30g dried lotus seeds 干莲子
10g dried lily bulbs 干白合
1 quarter (or half) dried tangerine peel 陈皮 - soaked until soft, scraped off the pith (optional)
5-6 pandan leaves 香兰叶 - tied together (optional)
½ rice bowl yellow crystal rock sugar 黄晶冰糖 (or any type of rock sugar)

Methods:
1. Wash red beans, dried lotus seeds and dried lily bulbs. Remove bitter pit from lotus seeds. Soak with clean/ filter water for 2 hours. (Remove lily bulbs before 2 hours if they are too soft).
2. Bring water to boil. Then, add in red beans (including water used for soaking), dried lotus seeds, dried lily bulbs and dried tangerine peel.
3. When the water re-boils, turn the heat into medium low flame and simmer for 2 hours. Cover the lid during the cooking process. Use a bigger pot if necessary. Add in pandan leaves and boil for ½ hour. Remove pandan leaves and dried tangerine peel.
4. Then boil under high heat for another half an hour.
5. Boil the red bean until it turns to paste form and with appropriate water level. Add in water crystal rock sugar.

Notes:
1. Do not soak red beans for too long. Max 1-2 hours. If no time to soak, just extend the cooking time. Do not soak red beans with hot water.
2. Pandan leaves and dried tangerine peel are 2 optional items but they are essential to increase the aroma.
3. Water can be added during the cooking process. The ratio between the red beans and the water is subject to personal preference. It is important that red bean paste should not contain too less red beans otherwise it will become red bean soup.
4. Rock sugar should be added towards the end. Otherwise the red beans will not turn to paste.
5. The reason for boiling red beans with high heat is to make it become paste.
6. Fresh lotus seeds and lily bulbs can be used but the cooking time must be reduced especially for fresh lily bulbs.

(a) Japanese red beans


(b) Dried lotus seeds (c) Dried lily bulbs


(d) Fresh lily bulbs

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Longan + lotus seeds + lily bulbs + wolfberries "tong sui"

This dessert ( 红枣桂圆莲子百合枸杞糖水）is suitable for all seasons. It can be served hot or cold. According to this posting, the combination of lotus seeds and lily bulbs provides the equivalent effect of bird nest.

My modified version is as follows:

Ingredients:
20 fresh/ dried lotus seeds (I used the dried lotus seeds)
2 whole pods fresh lily bulbs /20 petals dried lily bulbs (I used the fresh ones)
20 dried longans
40 wolfberries (kei zhi)
15-20 red dates (seeded)
Handful of yellow rock sugar cubes （according to personal preference)
1500 ml water

Methods:
1) Soak dried lotus seeds with hot water for 15 mins. Cut into halves.
2) Wash lily bulbs, longans and wolfberries.
3) Bring water to boil. Add in lotus seeds and cook under medium heat for another 15 mins or until the lotus seeds turn soft.
4) Add in red dates and continue to cook for another 10 mins.
5) Add in dried longans and continue to cook for another 10 mins.
6) Add in fresh lily bulbs, kei zhi and rock sugar. Cook for another 5 mins. Turn off the heat.

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