Kuih

Colourful Kuih Lapis in Singapore

Many different colours of Ang ku kueh (紅龜粿)

Kuih (also kueh, kue, or kway; from Hokkien: 粿 koé) are bite-sized snack or dessert foods found in the Malay Archipelago as well as the Southern China provinces of Fujian and Canton. Kuih is a fairly broad term which may include items that would be called cakes, cookies, dumplings, pudding, biscuit, or pastries in English and are usually made from rice or glutinous rice.

Kuih are more often steamed than baked, and thus very different in texture, flavour and appearance from Western cakes or puff pastries. Many kuihs are sweet, but some are savoury.

Chinese kuih

Chinese kuih, written as "guo" (粿) or sometimes as "gao" (糕), are usually made from ground rice flours. Many of the kuihs are made especially for important festivities such as the Qingming Festival or Chinese New Year, however many others are consumed as main meals or snack on a daily basis. Example of these kuih include:

• Nian gao (年糕): Known in the Hokkien language as "Ti Kueh" (甜粿)
• Caozai Guo (草仔粿): Pronounced in Hokkien as "Tsao wa kueh" (chháu-á-ké). Also known as "Tsukak kueh" (鼠麴粿, chhú-khak-ké) from the herb it is made from.
• Turnip cake (菜頭粿, 菜頭糕): Eaten straight, panfried, or stir-fried with egg as Chai tow kway.
• Taro cake (芋粿, 芋糕)
• Chwee kueh (水粿)
• Fun guo (粉粿)
• Red Tortoise Cake (紅龜粿)

A dish of Chwee Kueh   Cantonese pan-fried brown-sugar kuih   Chai tow kway stir-fried dark (with dark soy and molasses) or light (salt and fish sauce)

Many Chinese kuih require the use of a Kuih mold similar to that use in mooncakes, which is either carved out of wood or made of plastics. Kuih molds with turtles are ubiquitous, though molds of peaches are usually quite common. Red coloured turtle kuih are known especially as "Ang ku kueh"/"Red Tortoise Cake" (紅龜粿). Since many Chinese no long make kuih at home, these molds have become less common in many kitchens.

Peranakan kuih

Styles

Kuihs are not confined to a certain meal but can be eaten throughout the day. They are an integral part of Malaysian and Singaporean festivities such as Hari Raya and Chinese New Year, which is known as Tahun Baru Cina in Malay among the Peranakan.

In the Northern states of Perlis, Kedah, Perak and Kelantan, kuih (plural kueh-mueh or kuih-muih in Malay) are usually sweet. In the Southeast Peninsular states of Negeri Sembilan, Melaka and Selangor, savory kuih can be found. This is largely due to the large population of ethnic Chinese and Indians which held much cultural influence in these states.^{[citation needed]}

Nyonya Kuih   Kuih Wingko   Kueh tutu (or putu piring) with its ground rice outside and a sweet peanut or coconut filling.

In almost all Malay and Peranakan kuih, the most common flavouring ingredients are grated coconut (plain or flavoured), coconut cream (thick or thin), pandan (screwpine) leaves and gula melaka (palm sugar, fresh or aged). While those make the flavour of kuih, their base and texture are built on a group of starches – rice flour, glutinous rice flour, glutinous rice and tapioca. Two other common ingredients are tapioca flour and green bean (mung bean) flour (sometimes called "green pea flour" in certain recipes). They play a most important part in giving kuihs their distinctive soft, almost pudding-like, yet firm texture. Wheat flour is rarely used in Southeast Asian cakes and pastries.

For most kuih there is no single "original" or "authentic" recipe. Traditionally, making kuih was the domain of elderly grandmothers, aunts and other women-folk, for whom the only (and best) method for cooking was by "agak agak" (approximation). They would instinctively take handfuls of ingredients and mix them without any measurements or any need of weighing scales. All is judged by its look and feel, the consistency of the batter and how it feels to the touch. Each family holds its own traditional recipe as well as each region and state..

Names

Nyonya (Peranakan) and Malay kuih should not be distinguished since Peranakans have settled in the Malay Peninsula. They have adapted to Malay culinary and cultural heritage. Therefore there are many kuih native to Malay culture which have been improvised and retained by the Peranakans. The term Kuih/Kue/Kueh is widely used in the region of Malaysia and Indonesia to refer to sweet or savoury desserts. It is almost impossible to distinguish between Malay, Peranakan or Indonesian kuih as not many kuih history or recipe have been documented.

Though called by other names, one is likely to find various similar versions of kuih in neighbouring countries, such as Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia. For example, the colourful steamed Kuih Lapis and the rich Kuih Bingka Ubi are also available in Burma, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Types

Nonya kuih come in different shapes, colours, texture and designs. Some examples are filled, coated, wrapped, sliced and layered kuih. Also, as mentioned earlier, most kuih are steamed, with some being boiled or baked. They can also be deep-fried and sometimes even grilled.

Indonesian kue

Indonesian kue (including Kue Lapis and Kelepon) for sale in Indo Toko in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Indonesian kue (or occasionally kueh) are popular in Indonesia and due to its historical colonial ties also in the Netherlands. Examples of Indonesian kue are Spekkoek (or Lapis Legit); Kue lapis; Wajik (or wajit); and Kelepon.

List

Some of the more well known types of kuih include the following:

• Bingka ubi is a baked kuih of tapioca mixed in sweet pandan-flavoured custard. The kuih is yellow in colour but has a dark brown crust at the top caused by the baking process.
• Kuih apam is made up of soft and tender beef
• Kuih cara berlauk is made up of flour, egg, coconut milk and turmeric. The mixture is mixed thoroughly before being cooked in a special mold until it hardens. Before it hardens, a filling made up either spiced beef or chicken is added. This kuih is very popular in the month of Ramadhan.
• Kuih ketayap is a cylindrical shaped kuih with caramelised grated coconut flesh inside and a green pancake skin wrapping it. This is done first by rolling the pancakes around the coconut filling, then folding the sides and finally rolling it again to form cylindrical parcels.
• Kuih karipap is a small pie consisting of specialised curry with chicken and potatoes in a deep-fried pastry shell. The curry is especially thick and rich to prevent itself from running.
• Kuih keria (a.k.a Kuih gelang) are sweet potato doughnuts. They resemble just like the regular ones except that they are made with sweet potato. Each doughnut is rolled in caster sugar. This is usually eaten in Malaysia during breakfast or in the morning tea hours of the day, along with other cakes such as apam or the more savory pratha.
• Kuih kaswi are rice cakes made with palm sugar. The ingredients are mixed into a batter and poured into small cups (traditionally, it is done with Chinese tea cups). When served, the cup is removed and the rice cake is topped with grated coconut flesh.
• Kuih koci is a pyramid of glutinuous rice flour filled with a sweet peanut paste.
• Kuih lapis Batavia or spekkoek (layer cake) is a rich kuih consisting of thin alternating layers made of butter, eggs and sugar, piled on top of each other. Each layer is laid down and then grilled separately, making the creation of a kueh lapis an extremely laborious and time-consuming process.
• Kuih talam (tray cake) is a kueh consisting 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.
• Kuih serimuka is a two-layered dessert with steamed glutinous rice forming the bottom half and a green custard layer made with pandan juice (hence the green colour). Coconut milk is a key ingredient in making this kuih. It is used as a substitute for water when cooking the glutinous rice and making the custard layer.
• Lapis Sagu (a.k.a 9-layers Kueh) is a steamed multicoloured and multilayered firm kueh made from tapioca flour, coconut milk, and flavoured with pandan. The layers are separately steamed.
• Pulut inti is glutinous rice topped with caramelised grated coconut flesh and wrapped in a cut banana leaf to resemble a square pyramid.
• Pulut tekan is just a plain glutinous rice cake. It is served with kaya (jam from pandan leaves) coconut jam. The glutinous rice cakes are coloured with bunga telang. Half-cooked glutinous rice is divided into two portions. Both are them added with coconut milk but one of them is added with the bunga telang juice. This gives the rice cake a very bright blueish-indigo colour which is appealing to children. The half-cooked glutinous rice is then scooped in alternating fashion into the original tray to give it a marble effect of blue and white. The rice is then cooked some more and when it is cooked and cooled, it is cut into tall rectangles.
• "Onde-Onde"

See also

• Ketupat
• Lemang
• Kuih nagasari
• Dodol
• Cucur