Kuih Bangkit

My first ever blog post!

I am submitting this post to Chinese New Year Delights 2013 hosted by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover.

Having never tried making Kuih Bangkit before, nor even eating it until I bought some from the shop to see what I was meant to be making, and not being Malaysian (but loving Malaysian food), I decided to make these for CNY and enter them in a competition!  A little bold (and odd), perhaps!

I used a recipe cobbled together from several sources, including Rasa Malaysia, Kimmy Cooking Pleasure and the Nonya Flavours book published by Star.

I couldn't seem to locate genuine arrowroot flour in Perth, Australia (most of it is actually just tapioca flour) so I couldn't go with the Nonya Flavours recipe pf arrowroot and cornflour.  I had some bought Kuih Bangkit made with tapioca flour that tasted good and melted in the mouth, but left a chalky dry feeling.  I had another brand that was made with sago flour that was very crunchy, less chalky, but didn't melt in the mouth - more like a standard western biscuit.  In the end I thought that half tapioca and half sago might be a good way to go (which was one of Kimmy's suggestions).

Some recipes had a little butter, some didn't.  I decided to leave it out.

So this was my recipe:

250g Tapioca flour
250g Sago Flour
5 Pandan leaves, chopped into small lengths
125g Icing sugar
175ml (approx) Coconut milk
2 Egg whites (extra small)
2 Eggs (whole) (extra small)

I used our own bantam eggs, which are very small compared to regular chook eggs.

First, I "cooked" the flours and pandan leaves over medium heat in a wok - until the pandan was very crispy and the flour seemed, well, "cooked".  I found it a little hard to judge the timing - but about 40 minutes.

Second, I sieved out the leaves and let the flour cool overnight.

Third, I creamed the sugar and eggs and egg whites together until creamy and thick (and a little yellow as our chook eggs are extra yellow because they eat lots of greens!)

Fourth, I added the coconut milk, mixed it some more, then slowly added the cooked and cooled flour a bit at a time until I got a dough mixture that was thick and not too sticky.  I needed the dough by hand for about 5 minutes, then let it rest for a while under a damp cloth.

Fifth, I made the dough into shapes using floured wooden kuih moulds (bought in Penang when on holidays).  I tried 2 sorts: tiny little animal shapes and a larger shape.  The animal shapes were very cute, but they were so small that it would have taken forever, so I swapped to the larger shapes after I had made a hundred or so (I may be exaggerating).

Sixth, I baked them till done, around 20 minutes for the small ones, 25 for the larger ones. I let them bake until just a little browner on the bottom.  

The Verdict:

Pretty good for a first attempt!  They looked great - the moulds created great shapes with lots of detail.  They were crisp and delicate, but didn't fall apart at all.  The larger biscuits cracked a little on the top - not sure why.

They tasted great.  They had a great "melt in the mouth" feel, without being very dry or chalky.  I'm not sure if the mix of sago and tapioca flour helped with this, but the texture was better than both the bought ones I tried, so perhaps it did.

I shall try again next CNY!