Sunday, May 10, 2009

How to make Ang Ku Kuih aka Kim Ku Kuih


The Kim Ku Kuih aka Ang Ku Kuih was made in our kitchen with the help of a couple of friends, last month. We named them “Kim Ku” which means golden tortoise in Hokkien because it derives this golden hue from the mashed Kumara (orange-coloured sweet potato) which we kneaded in when making the dough. We were very pleased with our variation from what is normal “ang ku” that we were talking about how to patent the kim ku kuih. Of course, we were joking. Traditionally, they are coloured red, hence the name “Ang Ku Kuih” (red tortoise cake).The dough of the "red tortoise cake" is dyed red, because red colour is a sign of happiness in Chinese culture. And it is molded to shape like a tortoise which signifies longevity in Chinese traditional belief.

We always question the use of food colouring in our food. We may be given the assurance that certain food colorings have been banned after many years on the market because they were found to be carcinogenic. I am still cynical about certified food colours used today. But if you removed food coloring, wouldn’t the food taste the same? I am sure it does, but for commercial reasons, food manufacturers are adding toxic food colorings so that their highly processed and artificially colored foods beckon you to buy.

Here is the homemade and naturally coloured Kim Ku aka Ang Ku Recipe:

Filling:
300g split mung beans, soaked overnight
300g sugar
4 tbsp oil





Pastry Skin:
500g glutinous rice powder
250g kumara (orange sweet potato) peeled, steamed and mashed.
5 tbsp sugar
3tbsp oil

1 pc banana leaf, (if unavailable, use grease proof paper) cut into size to fit mould.
1 tbsp oil for greasing cooked angku.

To prepare filling,steam mung beans over boiling water for 30 minutes. Combined steamed mung beans and oil in a pan and stir continuously over a medium heat until beans and sugar form a smooth texture and does not stick to hand. Set aside to cool.

To make the pastry skin:
Combine all the ingredients together and adding a small amount of water each time to knead until a smooth dough is obtained. Form dough into balls to fit the size of the mould.




Flatten a piece of dough to ½ cm thick with hand and put a ball of filling in the centre and wrap the pastry skin around the filling to cover it completely. Roll it lightly in the palms to smoothen the surface.
Dust the mould lightly with glutinous rice powder and press the ball into the mould. Dislodge the uncooked angku from the mould by tapping the side of the mould on the table. Place the Angku on a lightly greased banana leaf or grease proof paper and steam over medium heat for 15 minutes.

Lightly brush steamed angku with oil to prevent sticking. When cooled, trim the banana leaf neatly around the base of cooked angku,

23 comments:

  1. finally the recipe is here!!

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  2. Hi BY,
    This is specially for you, to celebrate the birth of your baby girl. Congratulation!

    Cheers!

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  3. Wow! I love Ang Ku Kuih. Will make this for my next Asian party.Thanks for the recipe Phil.

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  4. My favourite~~~~~~

    BY - I reserve peanuts filling kind! kekeke

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  5. Hi Clare of Norway,
    I'm sorry that I have mistakenly deleted your comment. Can you post again?

    Cheers,
    Phil

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  6. Wow liao..got online delivery? You should start business so I can order! Lots of orders...e.g. dumplings - "ke zhang", how to make it?

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  7. Hi Danny,
    Wollongong is too far to send the angku lah! But you can come and help to make Bak Chung for the coming Duan Wu Jie (Dragon Boat Festival).
    Cheers.

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  8. Hi Phil!

    Was wondering if grinding glutinous rice to powder is the same as the glutinous rice flour in your recipe ? I have a big bag of glutinous rice and haven't seen the powdered version in shops here yet!
    Clare in Norway

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  9. Hi Clare,
    Necessity is the mother of all inventions. I once used a coffee grinder to make rice powder,but the result was not satisfactory. It must be milled very fine to be used in this recipe.

    Cheers.

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  10. Hi Uncle Phil,

    Did you mention using sieve to make the mung bean fine and smooth?

    Cheers
    Lim

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  11. Hi Lim,
    You are right. To get a finer and smoother bean paste, pressed the cooked mung bean through a sieve. Thanks Lim for the tip.
    Cheers

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  12. how to make the peanut filling??

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  13. Hi BY,
    You can buy skinless raw peanuts from your Asian grocery store.
    1.Roast peanut over low fire in a wok or frying pan.
    2.Be careful not to burn the peanut.
    3.Set aside roasted peanuts to cool.
    4.Roll roasted peanuts with a rolling pin until fine like grain of sugar.
    5.Mix 1 cup sugar to 2 cups rolled roasted peanut.

    Cheers

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  14. Hi Uncle Phil
    You're doing a good job. Keep up the good work!
    Cheers
    Geraldine

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  15. Hi Geraldine,
    Thanks for visiting and your support.

    Cheers

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  16. Hi Uncle Phil,
    An Ku kuih is one of my 'specialties', that is according to one of my siblings who has a strong liking for it. I can suggest an easier way to prepare the mung beans filling.
    I steamed the mungbeans in a stainless steal bowl for 30 mins and when it is done, I use a mortar pounder and lightly pound the beans while it is still hot. In a jiffy, the mungbeans are meshed and ready for cooking with oil and sugar.

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  17. Hi Jadelee,
    Thanks for sharing your recipe.
    Cheers.

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  18. Hey, why do we need to put a banana leaf under the Ang Ku Kueh?

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  19. Hi Anonymous,
    Banana leaf was used so that it won't stick to the tray when it is cooked and it is also practical and easily available. You can use the non stick grease paper for the same purpose, but I still think banana leaves are much more environmentally friendly.

    Cheers,
    Phil

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  20. my dad already passed away. If he is still living, he is 85 years old. Years ago, I have specially ordered some orange colour potatoes angku for him(all the way,from KL to bring back Ipoh), however, he was not amused at all. He told me, in "nippon hands" when all the flour mills stopped working, and his generations already know how to "think out of the box" used stone grind to grind glutinous rice to make angku during the 3 years 8 months period.

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  21. Hi Anonymous,
    We can never be able to appreciate and comprehend the hardship our parents'generation had gone through during the WW2 without their oral history. Thanks for sharing.
    Cheers!

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  22. After listened to his story, (I just kept quiet, as usual, Asian upbringing), of course, I was not happy then (hehehe, he was not appreciative at all), but again, this is Asian, filial piety, and no answered back. But, few years later I recalled, maybe, during the war, the liner steamers carrying wheats had stopped plying the sea route, even if it were, may be it was costly, thus, the mills also stopped milling. During the Japanese occupation, Dad also reared pigs, he told me once that before the Japanese soldiers came, he already slaughtered the pigs, and made into lap cheong, long yoke (bak kwa) for his own family, neighbours,relatives and friends for chinese new years, then keep few live pigs for japanese soldiers. Then, I asked whether any monies given to him and he told me yes, but not much, it was banana currency. The Japanese soldiers asked how much to pay, and for safety reason (to get them leave the place soonest possible), my dad quoted them a much below market price, because after taken the live pigs, they soon left immediately. Only after Then, it is celebration times for my dad, relatives and friends. Happy winter solstice festival!

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