Caught up with some visitors from Malaysia yesterday, my godparents, close friends of my parents. Uncle S and Aunty T are here for Christmas. (Uncle S and Aunty T showed me around town when I was in Malaysia in March this year.)
Aunty T very thoughtfully brought us, in her hand luggage, some Malaysian kuih (Malay plural kuih-muih). Kuih are traditional sweets, usually made of rice flour, coconut milk, sugar and various flavourings. Oh, and lots of food colouring. Kuih are usually steamed, not baked or fried. They have a very dense texture and are quite rich.
Left to right: ang ku kuih, kuih talam, kuih lapis
I’m not sure if the middle kuih is really kuih talam, as kuih talam is normally white and green (not yellow). The top layer is coconut cream, and the bottom yellow layer here is of tapioca flour. Kuih talam is normally made of coconut cream, rice flour, green mung beans and flavoured with pandan essence. The word talam means tray or platter – kuih talam is usually steamed on a huge platter and cut into pieces when done.
On the right, kuih lapis, “layer” kuih. We amused ourselves trying to count the number of individual layers – I think we stopped at sixteen.
We also had putu piring, which were very light and fluffy, and Mum’s favourite. I didn’t manage to get any pictures, but for the real thing (and great pictures) take a look at this post from EatingAsia.
Note that although Uncle S and Aunty T aren’t actually related to us, they are addressed as Uncle and Aunty as is Malaysian custom.
6 Comments
I hope the kuih were declared – my dad can attest to how awfull it can be getting a grilling by customs when they find hidden food (I think it’s put him off coming over).
Oh, yes of course, Aunty T was assiduous/painstaking in her packing – she even labelled each container of kuih, complete with ingredients! A package of curry powder she had was confiscated (apparently cloves are not permitted), but the kuih were fine. Customs are very thorough, aren’t they?
I haven’t had any of those sweets in ages. I’m keen on putu piring as well… mmmm.
I trust ‘Aunty’ and ‘Uncle’ are both well? š
jl, you ought to take a trip to Malaysia some time! It’d be a blast I reckon š Think of it, all that kuih, nasi lemak, char kuay teow, laksa, goreng pisang… rambutan, mangosteen, ciku, durian, nangka, cempedak… radio and tv in BM… sights and smells…
And yes they are both well!
They look so pretty!
Are they anything like Indian sweets? I really like them. I haven’t had much in the way of other Asian cuisine sweets though.
Hi Penny, they are different from Indian sweets – the textures and flavours are quite different. I don’t know if you have easy access to South East Asian grocers where you are in NZ, but if you do, sometimes they sell kuih.