There are 2 vivid memories of my grandfather and the first one is wrestling. In fact, he was the one that got me into the art of wrestling whereby kayfabe was still a thing in the wrestling industry. The second thing is chwee kueh (水粿).
When I was a boy, my grandfather would drag me along to the morning market. I used to think it was a chore, because I needed to wake up early and help him carry half of the groceries home. However, in order to cheer me up, he would always buy me a couple of chwee kueh while on our way home. Until today, watching wrestling with my grandpa and eating chwee kueh from the morning market are some of my fondest memories I had with my grandfather.
What is chwee kueh
Chwee kueh is rice cake topped with salty and sweet preserved radish. They are very common in Malaysia and very cheap. You could easily get a Ringgit piece (depend on the size). However, it has been quite some time since I last bought one. It should cost more nowadays.
How it tastes
Chwee kueh itself can be very bland. It has a very nice texture to the bite, smooth and slightly chewy. The taste mainly comes from the sweet and salty preserved radish.
How to make
Making chwee kueh is quite a breeze. There are 2 major steps:
- Rice cake: We will start by combining water and rice flour. We then steamed it to perfection.
- Topping: As for the preserved radish, we will first slightly rinsed it. We then stir-fried it with shallots and garlic, and seasoned it with sugar and soy sauce.
Chwee kueh is a very simple and cheap dish to make at home. We think it is ridiculous to spend more than a Ringgit for a piece when you can make at lower cost. Besides, you can add as much preserved radish as you like which you could not if you buy or need to pay extra.
Follow our recipe below and enjoy your chwee kueh at home!
Chwee Kueh (水粿)
Equipment
- Steamer
- Few small bowls
- Whisk
- Spatula
Ingredients
Rice cake
- 100 g Rice flour
- 9 g Starch
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 100 ml Water
- 240 ml Boiling water
- A bit of cooking oil
For topping
- 150 g Preserved radish (roughly rinsed)
- 2 clove Garlic (finely chopped)
- 3 Shallot (finely chopped)
- 1/2 tsp Dark soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp Starch
- Sugar and soy sauce (season to your liking)
- Cooking oil
Instructions
Making the rice cake
- Sift the rice flour and starch into a mixing bowl. Add ½ tsp of salt in and 150ml of water in, mix it well. Make sure there are no lumps.
- Now add the boiling water in and whisk it well.
- Get your bowls and brush a bit of cooking oil in it. Pour the rice cake batter into the bowls.
- Steam them on high heat for about 20 minutes or until the cake is set. Switch off the heat, take the cake out and let it cool to room temperature.
For topping
- Prepare all the ingredients. Rinse the preserved radish and finely chop the garlic and shallot.
- Heat about a tablespoon of cooking oil in a pan on medium high heat. Add the garlic and shallot in. Stir fry until fragrant.
- Add the preserved radish in and continue stir-fry a little bit longer. About 2 minutes.
- Season it with dark soy sauce, sugar, and soy sauce. Be gentle on the sugar and soy sauce as the preserved radish can be quite salty or sweet depending on which type you bought
- Dilute the starch with a tablespoon of water and add it in. Mix it well.
- Continue the cooking until all the liquid is almost evaporated. The topping is ready.
Serving
- Grease your spatula with some cooking oil and gently scrap the rice cake out from the bowl.
- Top it with the radish and plate it nicely. Enjoy~
