11 Jun / Radio Recipes
Welcome KUOW listeners! Here are the recipes I talked about on Sound Focus on June 11. Enjoy and feel free to look around my blog and email me!
Indonesian Cupcakes (Kue Mangkok)
The teacups we used are about the size of sake cups.
As a little girl, I would make these delightful steamed cupcakes with my mum. I couldn’t reach the kitchen counters yet so we’d sit on the flour mixing the batter. Then we’d pour the batter into dainty little teacups arranged in a steamer rack. We’ve always used metric measurements and they’re more accurate but I’ve also converted them into cups for convenience in the American kitchen. The method used below is very traditional–feel free to use a wooden spoon or a beater to mix the batter. Instead of teacups, you can use a mini muffin tin. Just adjust the steaming time.
Makes: 40 cupcakes
1 teaspoon instant yeast
100ml (1/2 cup) warm water
1/2 cup (100g) rice flour
4 cups (750g) shaved palm sugar
3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
3 1/3 cups (750 ml) coconut water (the liquid found within the husk, not the milk squeezed from the grated meat!)
3 1/2 cups (550g) rice flour
3/4 cup (125g) tapioca flour
1 1/3 cup (325 ml) coconut milk
Mix yeast, warm water and 1/2 cup rice flour until well combined. Leave for 15 minutes until the mixture foams and the starter is formed.
In a medium saucepan, bring the palm and granulated sugars and coconut water to a gentle boil over medium heat. Stir until the sugars have dissolved. Strain and let cool a little.
When the starter is ready, mix it together with the remaining rice flour and tapioca flour. Pour warm sugar syrup into the mixture a little at a time and mix until smooth with your hands. Beat the mixture with your hands for about 30 minutes.
Pour in the coconut milk and mix well. Leave in a warm place (somewhere in the kitchen) for 3 hours until it rises.
Grease the moulds with vegetable oil and heat them in the steamer rack for 15 minutes until they are hot.
Pour batter into the moulds until almost full and steam over high heat until the cupcakes blossom, about 15 minutes. Don’t open the lid during steaming. Take off the stove and unmould the cup cakes when cool.
Quinoa Salad and Green Onion Oil
Gently infused green onion oil is such a versatile condiment. It traditionally accompanies Asian dishes such as Cantonese white poached chicken and Vietnamese grilled beef wrapped in wild betel leaves (Bò Lá Lốt). Or drizzle it over grilled corn, a roasted or grilled vegetable mélange, or mix it into this fresh salad made with quinoa and market-fresh vegetables.
Makes: 4 to 6 servings as a side salad
Green onion oil:
1/4 cup canola oil
5 green onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
Quinoa salad:
2 cups corn kernels (from 2 medium ears of corn)
1 cup quinoa, cooked according to package directions
3/4 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 medium cucumber, peeled and diced (2 to 3 cups)
1 small onion, chopped finely
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
1/4 cup lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Place green onions in a heatproof bowl.
Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat until it starts to bubble gently, about 2 to 3 minutes. Don’t let it smoke. Remove saucepan from the heat and pour oil carefully over the green onions. It might sizzle and splatter so stand back. Sprinkle with salt and mix well.
Place in the refrigerator to cool and help preserve the green onions bright green color. Remove after 10 minutes and set aside at room temperature until ready to serve.
In a large bowl, combine salad ingredients and mix toss with green onion oil. Serve warm or chilled.
For Gloria’s suman (coconut-soaked sticky rice bundles wrapped in banana leaves), please go here.
i’m a singaporean studying in chicago, and having stumbled across your blog, i must say it is a pleasure to read. i’ve been in search of some good old comfort food recipes and your posts about lor bak, adobo and such resound greatly with me. thank you for the recipes, i am especially excited to try the adobo one.
Pat, do you usually eat the Kue Mangkok with grated coconut? If I remember correctly, the kue mangkok that my mom bought at the “pasar” will have some freshly grated coconut. Here, since I am lazy… I used the frozen grated coconut but I steamed the coconut with daun pandan and season the coconut with a dash of salt. Yummy. I think the Philippine and the Malaysian have similar kue, as well.
What an absolutely lovely idea to make cupcakes in those gorgeous tea cups. I love it. I’ve made cake in mason jars, baked in the oven, but your recipe tops all. Thank you so much for sharing. Wonderful site.
I love the way the teacups were photographed….good perspective and reminds me of good ol’ chinese tea which we normally drink from cups like these. Btw, this recipe’s similar to what the Cantonese call “woon chai kou” translated cupcakes..which are savoury.
Melissa, happy to provide some nostalgia for you.
Tuty, ooh yes. We’d eat kue mangkok with lots of grated coconut!
Teresa, you should try the teacups and let me know how it turns out.
My bug life, I haven’t had woon chai kou but now I’ll have to look them up. Thanks for the tip!
Pat,
I have been looking for the kue mangkok mould, but never found one in Winnipeg. However, I just bought teacups in one of Asian stores here, so I can use them for making kue mangkok.
Thank you!
According to their website The All-Sinatra format aired throughout the month of September. ,