EXPERIMENTAL KITCHEN: Kuih Lapis

One of the many Malaysian desserts that I like to eat is Kuih Lapis.

It is sweet and somewhat sticky.

You could find it in many interesting colours as well.

I'm going to share the recipe that I've used before and I think the taste of the end product is just superb!

Kuih Lapis (by Seasaltwithfood)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

KUIH LAPIS

160g castor sugar

600ml water

3 pandan leaves

200g rice flour

60g tapioca flour

1 can/400ml coconut milk

1/8 tsp sea salt

Red food colouring

1. Bring sugar, water, pandan to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer ~ 8-10 minutes. Let cool slightly.

2. In a large bowl, mix rice flour, tapioca flour, coconut milk, sea salt and sugar syrup. Stir until well blended and let mixture rest for an hour. Strain mixture and divide into 2 portions. Set aside one uncoloured and ~ 4 to 5 drops of food colouring to the other portion.

3. Put steamer on. Start with coloured mixture, pour ½ cup into pan, set timer for 6 minutes and wipe cover after every layer is done. Stir batter every time before pouring the next layer.

4. Continue alternating colours. Add a few extra drops of red colouring for the 9^th layer, stir well and pour it over the steamed layer and steam for about 10 minutes.

5. Remove from steamer and let cool completely, about 5 hours, cut into desired shapes

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My Take:

I couldn't find pandan leaves so I used vanilla essence instead.

Instead of sea salt, I used normal table salt.

Why I used vanilla essence? Because the smell reminds me of pandan :)

That is the sugar, water and vanilla essence in the pot.

The bowl with the coloured mixture

The bowl with the uncoloured mixture

I didn't have a normal looking steamer pot. So I used a regular bamboo steamer, lined with aluminium foil. 

To make sure the kuih does not stick to the aluminium foil making it hard to remove later, I also sprayed vegetable oil on the foil.

The next couple of photos will show you how I did Step #3.

After the last step, the steamed kuih looks like this.

 Top view after the aluminium foil has been taken off

Side view

With this sticky kuih I didn't use a knife to cut it into desired shapes.

Instead, I used a thread because it is easy to dispose off due to lack of interest in washing a sticky knife :)

You could use any other stuff you can find in your house that will make it easy for you during clean up,provided it is clean and sanitary of course!

 Almost clean cut

And the end product...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope you've enjoyed reading my way of making this delicious treat.

x