Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Dessert

Malaysian Glutinous Rice with Pandan Custard (Kuih Seri Muka)

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To Prep
Take ½ of glutinous rice amount, soak for at least 4 hours or overnight. Do not cover.
Soak the blue pea flowers until the water turns blue. Use the blue water to soak the remaining ½ of glutinous rice for at least 4 hrs or overnight. Do not cover.
Line 2 baking pans with banana leaves.

To Make the Rice Layer
Mix the 300ml thin coconut milk and salt. Half the portion and mix each with the white and blue rice until well-combined.
Put the white and blue glutinous rice into the two baking pans separately and add the pandan leaves randomly between the rice.
Steam each portion over high heat until cooked, about 25 mins. Remove from heat and loosen with chopsticks.
Combine both portions of rice in a baking pan, make it flat and compact. Add the 100ml thin coconut milk and steam for 10 mins.

To Make the Custard Layer
Mix all ingredient and strain it. Cool over a double boiler until the custard slightly thickens yet able to pour through a sieve.
Remove the baking pan with rice from steamer and pour in the custard through a sieve. Cover loosely with foil to prevent water dripping on it. Steam for 30-40 mins over medium-low or until custard is firm.
Remove from heat and let cool while covered. Ready to serve when it drops to room temperature.

Traditional Mooncake

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For the Mooncake Skin
Prepare all ingredients needed to make the pastry.
In a large bowl, add in golden syrup, peanut oil, followed by alkaline water (iye water). Whisk until all the ingredients are well blended.
Next, add in the 240g of all-purpose flour (A). Using a wooden spoon or spatula, stir to combine all ingredients but, do not over-stir.
Cover with a cling wrap and set aside for 4 hours.

For the Salted Egg Yolk and Melon Seeds:
Crack salted egg and gently take the yolk out. Repeat the same with the rest of the eggs.
Then, bake the salted egg yolks in a 175ºC preheated oven. Bake for 5 mins and set aside to cool.
Next, roast melon seeds in the preheated oven for 5 mins.

Assembling the Mooncake
Mix the roasted melon seeds into the lotus paste. Lightly knead to combine the melon seeds into the paste.
Roll lotus paste into a log, divide into 10 equal pieces about 110g each and roll into balls.
Then, take the skin dough which have been set aside for 4 hours and mix in the 120g all-purpose flour (B).
Gently knead the rested dough just until it comes together and firms up. Divide the dough skin into 10 equal pieces, each about 50g. Roll each portion into a small ball shape.
To assemble, first take a lotus paste ball and poke a hole in the middle with your finger. Place the baked egg yolk inside. Roll and shape into a ball.
Use a rolling pin to evenly flatten skin dough. To avoid skin dough from sticking to the rolling pin, place dough between two pieces of cling wrap before rolling. Put lotus paste ball onto the flattened dough and enclose filling by gently pressing edges until filling is sealed.
Gently push, press and squeeze the dough, holding the ball securely in your palm, until the dough skin gradually covers the lotus paste ball. Repeat this step to finish the remaining dough skin and lotus paste balls.
Prepare the wooden mould by dusting lightly with flour. Put dough into the lightly floured mooncake mould and press hard and flatten the dough to ensure that the dough fully fills the mould. Gently knock a few times to dislodge the moulded mooncake.
Transfer the moulded mooncakes onto a baking sheet. Preheat oven to 200ºC. Place the mooncakes in the preheated oven to bake for 10 mins. Remove the mooncakes from the oven and leave to cool on wire rack for 5 mins.
Lightly brush the entire top of mooncakes with beaten egg yolk. Then, bake in the oven for another 10 mins or till golden brown.
Remove from oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.
Store in air-tight container for 1-2 days and the mooncake skin will become soft and shiny. Now the mooncake is ready to be served and enjoyed with a pot of freshly brewed Chinese tea.

Moon-viewing Dumplings (Tsukimi Dango)

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To Prep
Knead the rice flour while adding warm. The more you knead the dough, the chewier the dango will turn out to be.
Prepare and heat a bamboo steamer.

To Cook
Tear dough into several pieces, and place in steamer to steam on high for 20 mins until the dough centers are warm. Remove from steamer and allow to cool until temperature of dough is cool enough to handle.
Combine the pieces and knead until dough is springy and glossy. If the dough gets hard, add some water while kneading.
Divide the dough and roll into balls of 3-4cm in diameter.
Line a bamboo steamer with parchment paper to avoid the dango from sticking to the base of the steamer. Steam on high for 15 mins. Remove dango from heat, and set aside to cool. They will become glossy when cool.
To serve, arrange and stack dango to form a pyramid – as offering to the moon.

Lotus Paste Jelly Mooncake

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To Prep Jelly
Combine agar-agar powder, sugar, salt and water in a saucepan. Add the knotted pandan leaf and bring contents to boil until sugar dissolves. Then add milk and orangey-red food colouring, and stir well to mix.
Pour into small, round ice-cube moulds and gently knock out the ‘yolks’ when set.

To Make Lotus Paste Filling
Blend cooked lotus seeds and coconut cream in food processor and blend until finely pureed. Strain to remove excess liquid, then add agar-agar powder, salt and water.
In a heavy-based saucepan, cook sugar over a medium-low flame until sugar has caramelised. Be careful not to burn the sugar. When the sugar melts and turns slightly golden brown, remove the saucepan from the fire and pour in a small amount of lotus seeds paste mixture. Stir well to incorporate the caramel, and then pour in the rest of the lotus seeds paste. Keep stirring then add the pandan leaves. Cook until mixture comes to a simmer. Add in thickening and stir well.
Pour mixture into patty tins (or muffin pan). Put one ‘salted egg yolk’ into the centre of each filling. Leave to set then unmould. Cut out neatly with a 5cm round cutter and set aside the fillings for use later.

To Prep Skin
In a pot, add water, pandan leaves, sugar, agar-agar powder and salt. Cook over medium-low heat until it comes to a boil.
Add coconut milk, whipping cream, and food colouring (any colour of your choice). Stir well, and continue to cook for 1 min or until sugar is dissolved, and mixture is fairly thick. Discard the pandan leaves and remove pot from heat.
Spoon a tablespoon of agar-agar mixture into a wet plastic jelly mooncake mould. Set aside for 1 to 2 mins.
Place a filling in the centre of the mould and add more agar-agar mixture to fill up the mould. Set aside to cool and then place in the refrigerator to chill and set completely.

To serve, cut jelly mooncake into wedges and serve with a pot of freshly brewed Chinese tea. Best eaten chilled.

Indonesian Rice Pudding (Bubur Sumsum)

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For the Palm Sugar Syrup:
Tear pandan leaf into strips and tie strips together in a knot. In a small saucepan, add pandan leaf, sugar and ¼ cup of water, and simmer to about 5 mins. Keep stirring until sugar is completely dissolved. Discard pandan leaf and pour syrup through a sieve into a bowl. Set aside to cool.

For the Bubur
In a mixing bowl, combine the coconut milk, rice flour and ½ tsp salt. Pour mixture through a fine sieve to get rid of lumps.
Place mixture in a non-stick saucepan, add pandan leaves and cook the mixture on low heat for about 15-20 mins. While cooking, stir constantly until the mixture thickens and start to boil. Remove from the heat and pour into serving bowls.
Combine the grated coconut and salt, and mix well.
To serve, top bubur sumsum with the salty shredded coconut and a drizzle of Palm Sugar Syrup.

Indonesian Pandan Crepe with Sweet Coconut Filling (Dadar Gulung)

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To Cook
Make the Coconut Filling by bringing the sugar and water to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for about 10 mins, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture turns syrupy. Add all the other ingredients and cook, stirring constantly, for 10 to 15 mins, until the mixture dried up. Remove from the heat, discard the pandan leaf and set aside.
To make the crepe, combine the flour, eggs, coconut milk, salt and pandan juice/paste in a mixing bowl, and whisk into a smooth batter that has a pouring consistency. Strain to remove any lumps.
Lightly grease a non-stick wok or skillet and heat over low heat. Stir the batter and ladle 1 scoop (about 3 tbsp) onto the pan and turn the pan to obtain a thin round layer, about 18cm in diameter. Cook until the crepe sets and begins to brown, then flip it over and cook for a few seconds, and remove from the heat. Continue to make the crepes until all the batter is used up.

To Assemble
Place a crepe on a flat surface and top with 2 tbsp of the coconut filling. Fold one side of the crepe over the filling, then fold in the sides and roll up tightly into a cylinder. Assemble the remaining crepes in the same manner.

Note: The crepes and Coconut Filling can both be made in advance and refrigerated. Allow to warm up to room temperature before assembling.

Steamed Banana Cakes (Kue Nagasari)

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To Prep
If using small bananas, peel and slice each banana in half. Set aside. If using large bananas, peel and cut the bananas into 1 cm slices diagonally. Set aside.
In a bowl, combine the rice flour and mung bean flour (or tapioca flour) along with 325ml of coconut milk and mix into a smooth, lump-free batter. Set aside.

In a saucepan, combine the remaining sugar, salt and coconut milk and then heat over medium heat, mixing well until the sugar is dissolved. Increase the heat to a boil, then pour in the batter and continue to cook for about 5-10 mins until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
Pour boiling water over the bananas leaves to scald them, so they become soft. Dry the leaves and place them on a clean surface.

To Wrap the Cakes
spread 2 tbsp of the flour mixture across the center of a piece of banana leaf. Lay a slice of the banana on top and then spread another 2 tbsps of the flour mixture over it, covering the banana. Wrap by folding one side of the banana leaf over the filling, then the other, forming a tight parcel. Tuck both ends underneath and fasten with toothpicks. Use up the remaining ingredients using this method.
Placed the little parcels into a steamer to steam for 25 mins.
Remove kue nagasari from steamer and set aside to cool. Best served at room temperature or chilled.

Indonesian Mashed Banana Fritters

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To Cook
In a mixing bowl, mash bananas with flour, sugar, salt (optional) and coconut cream into a sticky, slightly moist mixture.
In a wok or large saucepan, heat the oil to a very hot temperature. Using very damp fingers, pinch about 1 heaped tbsp of the mixture, roll it into a ball and gently lower it into the hot oil. Deep-fry for 3-5 minutes, turning occasionally, until crispy and golden brown on all sides. Be sure not too fry too many balls of batter at once for this will lower the temperature of the oil. When finished, remove from the oil and drain on paper towels.
Move the fritters to a serving dish and serve warm with ice cream or with a scoop of coconut cream on top.

Glutinous Rice Cakes with Palm Sugar (Wajik)

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To Prep
Wash the glutinous rice multiple times in water, stopping when the water becomes clear. Leave to soak overnight.
Line a streamer basket with a cheesecloth and equally distribute the glutinous rice on the cloth. Steam the rice for 15 mins, then turn and fluff it up with a fork and steam for 10 more mins until cooked.

To Cook
In a saucepan, bring the sugar and water to boiling point over medium heat and then simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the syrup has reduced to half, taking about 15 mins. Add all the other ingredients and mix well. Continue to simmer for 3 to 5 more mins and remove from the heat.
In a large saucepan, combine both the glutinous rice and coconut milk mixture, mixing well. Then cook over low heat, stirring form time to time, until the mixture thickens and becomes sticky. After 10 to 15 mins, remove the mixture from the heat and discard the pandan leaf.
Move the cake to a lightly greased shallow cake skillet or plate (around 17cm over), smoothing the surface with the back of a wet spoon, and put aside to cool. Slice the cake into squares or jewel shapes and serve at room temperature.

To speed up the soaking process, pour boiling water over the glutinous rice after rinsing and allow it to stand for 1 hr. Drain, then pour more boiling water over the rice and soak for another 30 mins.

Green Tea Sponge Cheesecake

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To Cook
Line the base and sides of an 8″ round cake pan with parchment paper. For the sides, make sure the parchment paper extends higher than the cake pan by about 1.5 inches as the cake will expand and rise above the rim of the pan. Set it aside.
Sieve together corn flour, cake flour, and green tea powder. Set them aside.
In a double boiler, melt cream cheese and butter in a double boiler. Stir until the mixture is lump free. Remove from heat and leave it to cool.
Add the egg yolks to the cream cheese and butter mixture one at a time, and with a balloon whisk. Whisk to combine.
Add milk and lemon juice one at a time. Whisk to combine.
Sieve over the flour mixture, whisk to combine. Whisk the batter gently till there are no lumps, do not over mix.
Beat egg whites and lemon juice in a clean, dry mixing bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until mixture becomes frothy and foamy.
Add half of the sugar and turn to medium-high speed and beat the mixture.
Continue to add in the remaining sugar mixture in separate additions and beat until the egg whites reach the soft peak stage.
Turn to low speed and beat for another 1-2 mins.
Add the beaten egg whites to cream cheese mixture in 3 separate additions, each time fold with a balloon whisk until just blended.
Pour batter into the prepared cake pan. Tap the pan lightly on a table top to level up the batter and also to further remove air bubbles.
Place cake pan in a baking tray. Fill the baking tray with hot water. The water should rise up to about 1 inch of the cake pan.
Bake on the lower rack of the oven for 60 mins at 150°C.
Remove cake pan from oven and immediately drop the pan at a height of 20-30cm onto the table top to prevent the cake from shrinking upon cooling.
Unmould the cake immediately. Place a large plate or baking sheet on top of the cake pan, invert the cake pan onto the baking sheet.
Remove the cake pan and the parchment paper on the base and sides of the cake.
Next, place a cooling rack on the base of the cake, invert the cake right side up onto the cooling rack and leave to cool completely.
Leave the cake to chill in the fridge for about 2-3 hours or overnight before serving.

Steamed Pumpkin Cakes (Khanom Fak Thong)

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To Cook
In a steamer, steam the diced pumpkin for about 20 mins or until cooked through and soft. Let it cool for a few minutes and then mash it until it a nice, soft puree.
When the pumpkin has cooled, add in the sugar, rice flour and potato flour and mix thoroughly.
While mixing, slowly pour in the coconut milk and then add the salt and about half of the shredded coconut and mix well.
Pour the batter into moulds or small bowls suitable for steaming. Fill them up until they are about ¾ full and sprinkle the remaining shredded coconut on top of each mould.
Steam for about 10-15 mins until they thicken and have a custard-like texture.
When the cakes have finished steaming, remove them from the steamer and serve!

Steamed Tapioca Cake (Kuih Bingka)

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To Prep
Line a 23×5 cm square cake tin with banana leaves, and grease the surface making sure is the right side up (shiny side is right side up). If banana leaves are unavailable, they can be replaced with baking paper. Preheat oven to 180°C.
Peel the tapioca and grate finely. Place the grated tapioca in a strainer over a bowl. Leave for 30 minutes to allow juices to drain into the bowl.
Discard the liquid in the bowl slowly. Take care to leave behind the tapioca starch at the bottom of bowl.
Put the strained, grated tapioca into a large mixing bowl. Then add the tapioca starch from the previous step. Add sugar, beaten eggs and salt. Mix the ingredients thoroughly until the sugar has dissolved.
Add the pandan leaves to the mixture. Knead, squeeze and twist pandan leaves in mixture. This is to release the oils from the leaves into the mixture.
Next, pour in the coconut milk and water and mix thoroughly. Remove the pandan leaves from the batter.
Pour the batter into the cake tin and make sure the batter is evenly mixed. Smooth the top layer of the cake.

To Cook
Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until top is golden brown. Make sure not to over bake the cake, otherwise the cake will be dry and tough.
Remove cake from oven and cool on wire rack for 30 minutes. Remove the cake from the cake tin and leave the cake on wire rack to cool completely.
The tapioca cake is quite sticky, so use an oiled knife to cut the tapioca cake. Serve at room temperature.