Kueh Salat second attempt

This one's better. I'm fairly happy now. The approximate recipe is below. Quantities given can probably fill a 24cm cake mold, but I used a 20cm one.

 1. Make a concentrated pandan juice from 200g of deep green pandan leaves only. This is overkill - i think I need less, but having more juice is better than having less. Just blend with cut up pandan leaves with as little water as possible in batches, then squeeze/sieve the lot.

2. Make the rice. Steam 250g of glutinous rice (there will be excess) with a cup of half/half mix of coconut cream and water. Add 1/2 tsp salt. steam the lot for about 20 mins. Take out, fluff and mix the rice (coconut milk will not be evenly distributed). Then ladle rice to the mold (20cm dia) and tamp it down with a oiled potato masher (flat end). Should fill about 1/3 of the depth.

3. Make the custard.

3a. Mix about 150ml coconut cream + 250ml of pandan concentrate + pinch of salt and 120g sugar. Add a few drops of vanilla essence.

3b. Beat 5 eggs + 1 yolk (cold eggs from fridge). Sieve to get smooth egg mix.

3c. Gently heat mix from 3a until sugar is dissolved. When mix is hot (about 70C to 80C), add a roux (slightly runny, so use a bit more butter) made from 2 tablespoons of flour, slowly stirring it in. Stir until the mix thickens a bit and coats back of spoon. Do not over heat and boil.

3d. Pour a dribble of the mix into the egg a little at a time and stir continuously to tamper the eggs. Then when half done, combine all together. Stir to mix completely.

4. When 3d is started, put the mold into the steamer to steam another 5 mins or so to get the rice hot.

5. when 3d is ready, take the mold out of steamer and pour the mix into the mold through a sieve to catch any lumps.

6. gently steam (about 87C) until a instant read thermometer inserted into the kueh reads about 77C. Note to self: egg custard hardens at about 82C.

7. Take out and rest until kueh is cool (about 2 hours). Unmold and store, or eat.

Kueh Salat First attempt

I tried doing a kueh for the first time - this is a kueh salat. Tastes ok, but nothing like the sublime concoction I ate the other day at a function. The main difference being the wobbly texture of the top custard layer. Well... there's always another time.

I adapted a recipe from http://kitchentigress.blogspot.sg/2012/02/kueh-salat.html

What's the difference? Well, the most visible difference is lack of bunga telang
(this gives the distinctive blue color streaking the glutinous rice base). First I did not know where to get it, and second, I figured I would leave it out for the first try as not significantly affecting the taste of a first time preparation. Another significant difference is using coconut cream and not milk.

Other differences. The recipe does not mention sieving of the warm custard prior to laying on top of the rice. I did it - otherwise there'd be lumps. Instead of just adding in flour, I first did a roux (I was doubtful of just adding in the raw flour into a non-oil based liquid) with butter and flour and put it in (however, it probably did thicken it a bit too much). I did not bother with the multi-step procedure for the rice - I simply steamed it for 25 mins with a coconut cream and water mix in a separate container, then added it in, tamped it down and steamed for another 5.

Mistakes?

• I think I followed the quantities given, but I still ended up with a slightly too thin top layer.
• The top layer is over cooked. First, probably because the thin layer was too thin and the cooking time is shorter. Second, I was using my thermometer to check on it, but I forgot to set the alarm - by the time I got to it, it had hit 83C - too hot.
• I think I needn't thicken the custard that much before adding it in. A mild thickening would have done.