AI-generated image
Kueh kosui
Kueh kosui: bouncy palm sugar and tapioca flour cakes rolled in salted coconut
Little brown domes of kueh kosui sit beside the kueh lapis and ondeh-ondeh at Peranakan and Malay kueh shops in Joo Chiat and Bedok, bought by the plastic tray for breakfast or tea and taken to Hari Raya open houses. The cakes are firm, springy and slightly translucent, with a deep caramel flavour from gula melaka and a scent of pandan, and every piece is rolled in fresh grated coconut seasoned with salt so it tastes sweet and savoury at once. A few drops of alkaline water give the classic bounce. The usual mistake is cutting or unmoulding them while warm; they are soft and sticky until fully cool and only then set clean. Chef's tip: strain the batter and stir it right before each pour, as the starch sinks to the bottom in seconds and gives you a hard base with a watery top.
- Total time
- 60 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
For the palm sugar syrup
- 5 ½ oz palm sugar (gula melaka)chopped
- 1 ⅜ oz dark brown sugar
- 1 cup water
- 3 pandan leavesknotted
For the batter
- 2 ⅛ oz rice flour
- 1 ¼ cups water
- ½ tsp alkaline water (lye water)food-grade; handle with care
- 1 pinch salt
For the coconut
- ¼ tsp salt
For the moulds
- 1 tbsp vegetable oilfor greasing
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Spices & pantry
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Simmer 5 ½ oz palm sugar (gula melaka), 1 ⅜ oz dark brown sugar, 1 cup water and 3 pandan leaves in a pan over a medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring, until the sugars melt completely. Strain and cool for 10 minutes.
5 minStep 2: Whisk 3 ½ oz tapioca starch (tapioca flour), 2 ⅛ oz rice flour, 1 pinch salt and 1 ¼ cups water in a bowl until smooth. Slowly whisk in the warm syrup, then add ½ tsp alkaline water (lye water) and stir well.
Step 3: Strain the batter through a fine sieve into a jug to remove any lumps or palm sugar grit.
Step 4: Grease 16 small kueh cups or a 20 cm square tin with 1 tbsp vegetable oil and heat them in a steamer over a medium-high heat for 3 minutes.
3 minStep 5: Stir the batter thoroughly and fill the cups about 90% full (or pour it all into the tin). Cover, with a cloth wrapped round the lid, and steam for 15–20 minutes for cups or 30–35 minutes for a tin, until the cakes are set, glossy and translucent, with no milky centre.
30 minStep 6: Meanwhile, toss 5 ½ oz freshly grated or frozen white coconut with ¼ tsp salt and steam in a separate bowl for 5 minutes. Spread out to cool.
5 minStep 7: Lift out the cakes and cool completely at room temperature, at least 2 hours. Don't refrigerate, or they turn hard and white.
Step 8: Ease each cake out with an oiled knife (or cut the tin into 16 squares with an oiled knife) and roll in the salted coconut until coated. Eat the same day.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 200 kcal
- Protein
- 1 g
- Carbs
- 40 g
- Fat
- 5 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does kueh kosui take?
- About 60 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 8 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of palm sugar (gula melaka)?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
- What can I use instead of dark brown sugar?
- White sugar + 1 tbsp molasses or treacle per 200g.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Baklava
The famous layered pastry: crisp sheets of buttered fillo sandwich a filling of almonds, pistachios and cashews spiced with cinnamon, cardamom and saffron. After baking, the hot baklava is soaked in a syrup of sugar, honey, lemon, rose and cardamom and decorated with almond and pistachio flakes. Cut into 40 diamonds; serve with fresh cream or ice cream.
Undu walalu
Walalu means bangles, and these dark, sticky rings of fried urad dal soaked in kithul treacle are a sweet that Sinhala families bring out for Avurudu and for special almsgivings, often made in large batches by an aunt known for her steady hand. A thick, fluffy paste of ground black gram is piped into loops and fried until crisp, then plunged straight into warm treacle, so the rings stay crunchy on the outside while drinking up the syrup. They taste a little like a darker, smokier jalebi, with a toffee finish from the palm treacle. Watery batter is what ruins them; it spreads into flat blobs, so grind the soaked dal with as little water as possible and beat it until light. This recipe uses no asafoetida, so it is naturally gluten free. Chef's tip: pipe the rings onto small squares of baking paper and lower them into the oil paper and all; the paper peels away in seconds.
Sri Lankan
Marquesitas
Evening in Mérida's Plaza Grande means the smell of marquesitas: thin batter pressed in hot hinged irons until crisp, then rolled like a cigar around grated Edam cheese and a sweet filling such as cajeta, chocolate-hazelnut spread or jam. Edam came to the Yucatán through the port trade with the Netherlands and became part of the local cooking, and the salty-sweet combination is the whole point. At home you can cook them in a thin, wide frying pan. Edam is usually made with animal rennet, so check the label or use a vegetarian Gouda-style cheese. Chef's tip: roll while the crêpe is still in the pan and hot; within seconds it hardens and will crack.
Mexican