Ang Ku Kueh!

Ang Ku Kueh is a small red round oval shaped Chinese cake with soft sticky skin wrapped with sweet filling in the center.The oval shaped of the cake is designed to resemble tortoise or turtle.It's literally translate to Hokkien as Red Tortoise or Turtle Cake. It's creates a high symbolic and ritual value. Usually Chinese used Ang Ku Kueh for ritual offering during religious event,child birth and birthday. Well,to be more specific Ang Ku Kueh is a steamed glutinous rice flour cake mix with mashed sweet potato and fill with mung bean paste filling,red bean paste or crushed roasted peanut filling which original from Malaysia by Chinese and Nyonya.

Hennie's comment: It's something that i've never tried before! And even though it is sticky, but i do love the taste of the filling! 


Priced at $0.90 per piece.
Never seen anything like it? Head down to Bengawan Solo now!!!! 
Do drop by the website to find out the branches: http://www.bengawansolo.com.sg/Default.aspx

You can always try doing it yourself!


RECIPE
ANG KU KUEH (14 pieces)
10.5 oz (300 g) glutinous rice flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp red coloring
7 fl oz (200 ml) water
Pinch of salt

COOKING METHOD FOR SKIN:
Mix the glutinous rice with all the ingredients above and knead until it is not sticky and pliable. Set aside for wrapping
Mung Bean paste filling
10.5 oz (300 g) mung beans
7 oz (200 g) sugar
5 fl oz (150 ml) water
Banana leaves
Oil for brushing

COOKING METHOD FOR FILLING:
1. Soak the beans overnight
2. Discard the soaking water and steam the beans for about 30 minutes and then pour into the blender and blend them until you get a smooth paste. Set aside
3. Prepare a sauce pan and boil the sugar in water. Lower the heat and add in the bean paste and continue to stir until it is dry and pasty. Set it aside to let it cool before wrapping
WRAPPING:
1. Divide the dough into 14 equal balls. Flatten them with the palm of your hand or rolling pin. Spoon about 1 Tbsp of the filling and bring all edge together and form them into balls again
2. Place the dough ball into the greased mould. Slightly pressed it down and you will get the imprint on the ang ku kueh

Other Place that you can get it!

JI XIANG Confectionary Address: Blk 1 Everton Park, #01-33 Singapore
Tel: +65 6223 1631

Tang Yuan!

Tang Yuan, which is a dessert made from glutinous rice flour. It is mixed with a small amount of water to form balls and there are different choices of fillings that you can choose from! Some are actually, black sesame and peanuts. They are then served with different soup bases like sugar water, ginger and rock soup and such. 


It is usually eaten during festive seasons like - Lantern Festival or during Yuanxiao. In a traditional term, it actually means being united as a family! 


One of the most famous area that you can try it out is at Ah Chew Desserts! 

Hennie's comment : There are different fillings like peanut and black sesame! and different colours too. It is really very special to have this in Singapore! I'll definitely come back to try more!




How to get there! 

Address: 1 Liang Seah Street, #01-11 Liang Seah Place,Singapore

Want to try doing it out yourself? Enjoy the time with family by doing it with them!

Ingredients
For the rice ball:
300 gram glutinuous rice flour (about 1 cup)
1 teaspoon of cherry red colour essence
½ cup of water

For soup:
3 slices of ginger
5 pandan leaves, washed and cut off dead edges, tie leaves into a knot/ bundle
1 lump of rock sugar or brown sugar (about palm size, adjust sweetness to your liking)
1 pot of water, 50% filled (about 1000ml)

Dipping:
Ground peanut mixture (peanut, white sesame and sugar)

Method
1) Place glutinuous rice flour in a clean large bowl. Put some water (in few stages) while kneating the flour into dough, which means mix the flour with a little bit of water, kneat and put a little bit of water again. Repeat the step till it becomes dough. The texture of the dough has to be smooth and a little sticky.

2) Split half the dough. Half of it to mix with red colour, while the other half remains white. Take a small lump of dough, put on your palm and roll into bite-sized ball. Repeat step till all complete.

3) To add ground peanut into the rice ball as its filling: take a biggr lump of dough, put on your palm and roll into (size of fifty cents) ball. Then, kneat with finger tips to flatten the piece. Put half teaspoon of ground peanut at the centre of the dough, fold it half and kneat around the edge to seal it. Tenderly roll it into ball. Repeat step till desired amount of rice balls. Reserve rice balls for later.

4) Boil a pot of water over high heat. Place ginger slices and pandan leaf bundle into the boiling water. Add rock sugar. Bring broth into a boil again.

5) Place rice balls into the boiling broth. Wait till all rice balls rise to the surface of the broth, when cooked. Heat off and serve.

Other Places that you can try it out too! 

1. Ah Balling Peanut Soup - 23 Serangoon Central Nex

2. Ji De Chi - Address: 8 Liang Seah Street, #01-03 Singapore

Pancake

This might not be a typical Desert from Singapore, but from the neighborhood. And foreigners love it:

Pancakes soybeans from jollibean (http://www.jollibean.com/store.htm)

The fluffy Pancakes (widely known in Singapore as Mee Chiang Kue), which come in different sizes, are stuffed with lot of filling. The typical ones are with peanuts inside or with a paste of red beans but you can also get them with cheese or chestnut filling…

 

 

A small pancake costs 70 Cent, a big one 1 Dollar. If you buy more than 1 (and believe us, once you tried them, you will!) you get a small discount.

Hennie's comment: I've tried the different flavours and I'm in love with the one wrapped with red bean! It is not very expensive too! It is really delicious and I want my friends to try it too!

Recipe for such Pancakes!

Ingredients:

• 300 g Cake Flour
• 15 g Plain Flour
• 500 ml Warm Water (approx 40 degree celsius)
• 4 tbsp Sugar
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1 tb Baking Soda mixed with 1 tb water
• 1 tbs Yeast

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients throughly and leave to rise for 2 hours. At the end of 2 hours it should have doubled in height.
2. Lightly oil a flat frying pan. Ensure the fire is turned down very low so the base does not burn. Ladle half the batter into a large flat-based frying pan. The height of the Ming Jiang Kueh should be uniform.
3. The batter should cook for approx 4-5 min. Make sure you check on the base to prevent burning. Once the top appears fully cooked through resulting in a spongey and slightly bouncy texture, turn the fire off and sprinkle the peanut filling generously on half the pancake. Fold it into half.
4. Cut to serve.

Where else can you find?

Located are the stores all over Singapore. Just watch out for one…
If you want to try such a pancake from a small stall at a hawker center just go to the Tiong Bahru Market (where you can eat the best Tau Suan in Singapore, we talked about). There is a stall which also sells these lovely pancakes.

Durian Lovers!

One of their top bestsellers, the constant queues at their branches is proof of this product's never-ending popularity. This hot pancake is made on-the-spot at their branches and they use an icy cold D24 Durian Meat as a filling. This fusion of hot and cold creates a tasty sensation.

Hennie's Comment: "I can smell the durian smell from afar, and there is really plenty of durian filling. It's a pity that some people do not like durian's smell! ... But i'm sure, i do love it!" 

Branches: Takashimaya, AMK Hub, Serangoon NEX and The Clementi Mall

Operating hours: 10am – 10pm except for Takashimaya which closes at 9.30pm.

Daring enough to try the awesome snacks of Asia?!?! THIS IS THE ONE THAT YOU SHOULDN’T MISS!! IT WILL MAKE YOU CRAZY AND CRAVE FOR THEM EVERY SECOND!!

Recipe

Ingredients
250gm Hong Kong Flour (all purpose flour)
65gm Sugar
50gm Egg Yolk
600gm Fresh Milk
15gm Butter
1000gm Durian Paste
1000ml Fresh Cream
300gm Eggs

Preparing the durian paste
1. Pre-prepared the flesh durian by having the fresh durian frozen or use fresh durian flesh.

Preparing the fresh cream.
1. Whip the fresh cream to stiff peak.

Preparing the pancake batter
1. Melt the butter and allow it to cool.
2. Mix sugar and flour into a mixing bowl mix it. Add in the egg yolk and continue mixing.
3. Add in fresh milk bit by bit, combining all ingredients together.
4. Lastly, add in the melted butter.

Pan frying the pancake
1. Heat up the pan lightlly. make sure that the fire is low.
2. Scoop 40gm of pancake batter and put it in the lightly heated pan, swirl it to ensure that the pancake is smooth, thin and even.
3. Pan fry the pancake one minute on both sides.
4. Remove pancake from pan and lay it out flat on the table to keep cool.

Wrapping the pancake
1. Apply fresh cream on the pancake skin, followed by a table spoon of durian ppaste.
2. Fold the pancake into half a moon.
3. Trim the sides and you have a durian pancake ready.

Other Places to try:

http://www.emicakes.com.sg/minidurian/

Beancurd

Bean curd is the byproduct obtained from of coagulation of soy milk. It is popularly called as Tofu.  For desert you get it either warm or cold with a sweet sauce.

For a soy beancurd (either warm or cold) you should go to Rochor Original Beancurd You Tiao. There they serve the famous beancurd for over 40 years. The business started making it's name at Rochor when they are selling on the street in the late morning after midnight.

  
Hennie's Comment: Their Grass Jelly, Peanut Balls, Eggtarts, Butterfly Buns … also tasts very yummy…

So go to:

Rochor Original Beancurd You Tiao

2 Short Street, Opposite Wilkie Edge

http://www.facebook.com/rochorbeancurd

Want to try doing Beancurd on your own? 

Places that you can find other types of beancurd of your liking! 
Selegie Soya Bean - 990 Upper Serangoon Road

http://www.hungrygowhere.com/singapore/Lao_Ban_Soya_Beancurd_old_airport_road/

Swirl Art!

Swirl Art came into existence when the gathering of the Great Minds dreamt of introducing self serve yoghurt into the Singapore Market. With a desire to make the healthy dessert a way of life for all, the Great Minds toiled to find the perfect recipes that would appeal to every little creature with eager taste buds!

What’s so good about eating Yoghurt?

Live Culture = Boosts Immunity
High Calcium = Healthy Bones and Teeth
Low Fat = Indulge with no weight gain!

Flavours that you’re interested in?

- Cookies & Cream ; Strawberry ; Kiwi; Mango; Raspberry; Root Beer and many many more!

How about finding some toppings to go with it?

- Fresh Fruits like Peach, Strawberry, Kiwi, Lychee, Longan …
- Other toppings include: Oreo, Chocolate chips, Fruity Pebbles, Gummy Bears and many more!

Comment: 'There are plenty of flavours, those that hardly can be found! I would really like to try all the flavours with all the different toppings! It really taste .. Yummy!" 

How to get there: 

Branch 1 - 417 River Valley Road
Branch 2- 1 Liang Seah Street #01-13/14, Singapore, Singapore
Enquiry - enquiry@swirlart.com.sg, hr@swirlart.com.sg

·         What You Need to Make Yogurt

Ingredients

·         1 quart 2-percent milk

·         1/2 cup powdered milk

·         1 to 2 tablepoons honey

·         1/2 cup plain yogurt, room temperature

Directions

Pour milk into small saucepan and whisk in powdered milk and honey. Place over medium heat and bring to 120 degrees F on an instant read thermometer. Once milk has reached 120 degrees F, pour into a cylindrical plastic container, reserving 1/2 cup. Whisk in the reserved 1/2 cup into the yogurt and add back to the milk mixture.

Place container into a narrow wine bucket, lined with a heating pad. Set the heating pad to medium. Let the mixture ferment for 3 to 12 hours making sure the temperature stays as close to 115 degrees F as possible.

After fermentation is complete place into the refrigerator overnight.

Other Places :

Yami Yoghurt - http://www.yamiyogurt.com.sg/
Soghurt - http://www.sogurt.com.sg/

Hougang 6 Miles Famous Muah Chee

Muah Chee is a is a local desert/snack made from a glutinous rice paste coated with crushed peanuts. It is very common in Singapore, especially at make-shift pasar malam stalls. Also YiKouWei stalls at shopping malls. The qualities to good muah chee would be soft and not too sticky. 

Hennie's Comment:
"The Muah Chee at Hougang 6 Miles was very yummy!! The peanut and portion was generous, fragrance and smooth texture of the muah chee which will melt in your mouth. And yet it was not too sweet. In fact, I like the fried onion oil, very good and add on very well to it." 


One of the popular Muah Chee stalls in Singapore is located at Hougang 6 Miles Famous Muah Chee at the Broadway Coffee Shop. It’s a stall run by one family for many years. They add sesame to the  Muah Chee before dipping it into grinded peanut.

You can choose what portion you want between small, medium and big.

Whereby a small version costs $2.50.

Address: 
Hougang 6 Miles Famous Muah Chee

644 Hougang Avenue 8
S530644

Mobile: 98621501 

Opening Hours: 12pm to 10pm Daily

Other places of delicious Muah Chee you should try:

Hougang Famous Muah Chee

862 Hougang Ave 8
#01-346 Meng Kiat Eating House S530682

Tel: 63872081

Opening Hours: 12pm to 9.30pm Daily

Thong Kay Delight

270 Queen Street
#01-97 Albert Centre Market & Food Centre S180270

Opening Hours: 12pm to 9pm Daily

For those who want to make your very own Muah Chee...
Here is the recipe...:)

Ingredients:
Dough batter
200g glutinous rice or sticky rice flour
2 tsp of sugar
0.5 tsp of salt
250 ml water
1 tbsp cooking oil or shallot oil*

1 tsp of oil or shallot oil for brushing the cooked dough

150g roasted peanuts
40g dry roasted sesame
75g sugar

Brush the steamed dough with shallot oil and leave to cool slightly.

Scoop small pieces of dough onto the peanut mixture.

Method:

1. Make the peanut mix by putting peanuts, sesame and sugar in a food processor and blitz to a fine mixture.
2. Mix the dough batter ingredients together. Pour into a deep dish and steam for about 25 minutes. Test the centre to make sure it is cooked through before taking it out of the steamer.
3. Brush the dough with a little oil. Leave to cool down slightly.
4. Spread the peanut mix on a tray. Scoop small pieces of the dough onto the peanut mix then toss to thoroughly coat them. Can press the dough pieces lightly to coat with more peanut mix. Ready to enjoy

THERE YOU GO! ISN'T IT VERY SIMPLE?
Now you can try making your very own traditional delicacy.