What're u bingeing? 又在吃什么?
吃不饱的.
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| Ingenious creation |
In remembrance of Ah Ma 1975...The kueh splendour in my home fizzled out from that year onwards and my little hands and tiny brain were then inadequate to inherit Ah Ma's basket of treasures. Along with her, they were returned to the Lord. Some of her delicacies were not missed as my mother had good diplomatic relations with the old aunties in the neighbourhood and we were on their VIP lists. While the other kuehs that she often made were on sale in the store but we had to compromise on the quality.
The dissatisfaction aroused my curiosity in the world of cooking and baking and set me off a journey of learning to prepare the snacks I enjoyed in my childhood. From community cooking schools to Masterchefs guest appearance in hotels' kitchen, I was there. In none of them, Kuih Karas was ever taught and none of my fave food bloggers penned it either. At beginning 2015, I stumbled upon the recipe by Teratai Flour in Google and it gives a scratchy details of the preparation. Armed with it and two weeks in my kitchen lab with a Einstein cap on, was I able to present you this wonderfully delightfully crunchy munchy. To reach this fine texture of rice vermicelli, i disposed trays of thick ones that of Maggi noodles texture. I marvelled at this new cooking technique acquired where a very hot syrup is poured to cook the flour and drizzled into hot oil.
The hunt for a Kuih Karas mould was like searching for a needle in the hay...even a day trip to Johor Bahru returned empty handed. I tried using pepper shaker to plastic cup poked at the bottom, the results were nothing near to the hundreds I gobbled . My last attempt was the use of a dusty roti jala mould hiding in the a dark corner kitchen cabinet. Eventually I figured out the combination of the dough thickness and the size of the funnel holes. Yes, shortened the funnels to get bigger holes for the thick batter to flow through smoothly with the help of a very sharp knife. You have to watch out for your fingers as the roti jala mould is made of very hard plastic. Take a deep breath and saw with all your might !!!
The recipe does not specify the degrees of the water hotness and through several trials , 90 degrees centrigrade is optimal to blend with the rice flour to achieve a thick yet flowing batter. Below this temperature, the batter is too runny and the end result is that of thick instant noodle.
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| A thick roux |
You can create different flavours with coconut milk, gula melaka, lemongrass, limau purut leaf or even mint leaf, simply boiling them in the syrup.
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| suggested flavouring |
A surprise CNY goodie for the family this year....bringing the tradition back.
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Cook's pointers:
- Pour the hot syrup all over the flour, not in one location.
- Stir the flour and syrup slowly.
- Ensure oil is hot while swirling the batter into the oil.
- Best let batter rest 1 hour .
- The further you hold the mould from the oil, the finer the texture.
Recipe:
- 120g rice flour
- 150g very hot water 90 degreesC
- 80g sugar
- 50g coconut milk (substituted 50g water) - optional
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Paula Cooking Fingers is a cooking memoir of a culinary enthusiast group, featuring Straits Chinese and International flavours.
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