These are my sister’s favourite growing up. I was not a big fan of these nyonya kueh growing up, but I learned to like them as I grew up, gotten married, migrated.
I realized how tasty they are when foreigners tell me they are. These ones are made of sweet potatoes rather than purely flour, and of course no coloring. The colors are from the colourful sweet potatoes, beet root and pandan leaves.
They taste better and are healthier. If you love kueh, then this is an excellent recipe to try.
9 Layered Steamed Sweet Potato cake (九层糕 / Steamed Kueh Lapis)
Equipment
- 8 inch square cake tin with no loose bottom
Ingredients
Main Mixture
- 500 ml water
- 1 tsp salt
- 270 g sugar
- 5 pandan leaves tied to a knot
- 330 ml thick coconut milk
- 250 g tapioca starch
- 130 g rice flour
Roots
- 60 g beet root
- 60 g purple sweet potatoes
- 120 g yellow/orange sweet potatoes
- 10 pandan leaves ground to a pulp with 2 tbsp water and squeeze for pandan juice
- 1 tsp pandan essence
Instructions
- In a heavy pot, boil water with sugar, salt and pandan leaves for 10 minutes.
- Add the coconut milk and mix through.
- Cool the mixture to room temperature.
- Add the flours and mixture through.
- Divide this mixture into 4.
- Blend one portion with half the orange sweet potatoes. Divide this into 3 equal portions.
- Blend another portion with half the orange sweet potatoes with pandan juice and pandan essence.
- Blend the third portion with the purple sweet potatoes. Divide into 3 equal portions.
- The last portion with the beet root. Divide this mixture into 3 equal portions.
Steaming Instructions
- Oil the pan.
- Heat up the steam oven or boil the water.
- Pour one portion of the orange mixture and steam at high heat for 4 minutes.
- Do likewise for the purple, for 4.5 minutes.
- Then the green and then red. Each layer for 5 minutes.
- Repeat this process until the mixtures are all used up.
