INTRODUCTION

This is another recipe that i had wanted to share earlier but did not take an effort to issue the recipe.

I remembered when I issued the chwee kuih recipe (Chwee Kueh or Steamed Rice Cake With Preserved Radish) , some members in a Facebook Group was asking if I have this recipe. That is how I know there exist such a cuisine. They said many years ago, this wa kuih was sold in a hawker centre in Bukit Timah area and they missed eating the kuih.

Hmmm, I am unsure if this kuih is similar to the one being sold in Singapore and this is a recipe that was created based on a popular Taiwanese snack, minced meat wa kuih (肉燥碗糕）。

“Wa” means bowl and as the name implies, wa kuih is a type of rice cake that was prepared and served in a bowl. It is essentially the same as chwee kuih but with different toppings. Whereas chwee kuih uses preserved radish or cai poh as the topping, wa kuih used braised minced meat as the toppings..

In fact, another variations of this category of rice cakes include the  famous Hong Kong sweet red bean kuih – Put Zai Ko as in the picture above. Recipe: Hong Kong Red Bean Steamed Rice Cake aka Put chai ko (砵仔糕)

This is the first time I prepared yet my kids loves it.. We have eaten this as lunch and on the average, 1.5 bowls shall be sufficient to substitute a meal. We also drizzle the sweet chilli sauce on top of the kuih to make it even more delicious. The kuih itself is springy and complement well with the savoury minced meat filling and the braised eggs. An alternative for braised egg is to use salted egg yolk instead.

I have modified the recipe to suit the taste buds of Singapore and Malaysian readers. When I posted in the Taiwanese food group, it solicits a very good response but most commented that the wa kuih looked more delicious than what is sold in Taiwan as my pictures has much more toppings . I have purposely put more toppings as the kuih in itself is rather bland and without these toppings, it will be like eating a white piece of seasoning flavoured cake.. Therefore, the choice is up to the readers to decide how much filling you will like to put in that bowl of rice cake.

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: About 8 soup bowls of wa kuih

Toppings

• 350 grams of minced pork (肉碎）
• 4 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced into small pieces （香菇）
• 2 tablespoons of dried shrimps , soaked （虾米）
• 3 tablespoons of deep fried shallots （葱酥）
• 1 tablespoons of minced shallot and/or garlics （蒜泥)
• 2 tablespoons of caramelized dark soya sauce (甜酱油）
• 1 tablespoon of dark soya sauce （黑酱油）
• 1/2 teaspoon of five spice powder （五香粉）
• 3 tablespoons of cooking wine （烹饪酒）
• A small cube of rock sugar （冰糖）
• 4 hard boiled eggs （水煮蛋）
• Dashes of white pepper (白胡椒粉）
• Salt to taste （盐巴）

• 150 grams rice flour （粘米粉）
• 1 tablespoon of wheat starch (澄粉）
• 5 tablespoon of oil (食用油）
• 160 ml/grams of cold water （冷水）
• 500 ml/grams of hot water (热水）
• pinches of salt （盐巴）

STEPS OF PREPARATION

• In a pan, put 2 tablespoons of oil, sauté the minced garlic until fragrant. Add the shredded shitake  mushrooms and dry prawns and stir fry for 1-2 minutes until the aroma of dry prawns permeates the air. Add the minced meat followed by five spice powder, dark soya sauce, caramelized dark soya sauce. Stir fry until well mixed which took about 2-3 minutes. Add the cooking wine, about 1/2 cup of water, bring to boil, add the deep fried shallots, white pepper and rock sugar. Add the eggs and reduce the heat to low to medium. Simmer for about 15 minutes until the water dries up . Add salt and adjust seasoning if necessary. Let it rest in the pan for about 1 hour before proceeding to the next step to let the flavour further develop.

• Lightly greased 8 bowls with cooking oil and cut the 4 braised eggs into 8 pieces.

• In a pan, put all the ingredients for the kuih and stir until well mixed. Place the pan over the stove and use low to medium heat to heat up the rice flour situation. Constant stirring is required until the flour solution slightly thicken. Off the heat immediately and continue stirring . If it thicken too fast, you can add some water back to the sticky batter.

• Put 1-2 tablespoon into a bowl, add a tablespoon of the minced meat prepared earlier, cover  the minced meat with another 1-2 tablespoons of batter. Lightly level it, put half an egg and followed by some more fillings on top.

• Steam under high heat for about 15 minutes or until a skewer inserts at the centre of the bowl comes out clean. Timing is for reference as it will depend on the depth of the bowl you used.  Best serve hot as a meal or a snack  with additional sauces or chilli sauces if preferred.

CONCLUSION

If you like chwee kuih, you will like this. If you are wondering how is it taste like, it tastes like chwee kuih with another type of savoury minced meat topping.

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