Happy Chinese New Year! For those of Chinese descent who make offerings to the deities at home, besides the auspicious food and fruit, here are some lucky desserts for Chinese New Year offerings that you can make yourself or buy for the occasion.
1. Khanom Kheng (Steamed Sweet Sticky Rice Cake)
Ingredients
- 1 kg glutinous rice flour
- 1 cup water
- 1 kg palm sugar
- 300 g grated coconut
- Banana leaves or khanom kheng cups
- Vegetable oil (for greasing the cups)
Method
- Grease the cups thoroughly with vegetable oil and set aside.
- Knead the glutinous rice flour with the water until soft, then add the palm sugar and knead until smooth and evenly combined.
- Stir in the grated coconut, then spoon the mixture into the cups until about 3/4 full.
- Arrange the cakes in a steamer and steam over boiling water on high heat for about 30 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and leave to cool completely. Use scissors to trim any excess cup to fit the cake, and serve.
2. Khanom Thian Sai Khem (Savoury-Filled Sticky Rice Cones)
Filling Ingredients
- 1 kg split, hulled mung beans
- Garlic
- Pepper
- Vegetable oil (for frying)
- Ground salt (to taste)
- Sugar (to taste)
Making the Filling
- Wash the split mung beans well and soak for at least 2 hours or overnight. Steam until cooked, then leave to cool completely.
- Pound the garlic and pepper together until fine, then add the steamed mung beans and pound coarsely.
- Heat vegetable oil in a pan, add the filling mixture and stir-fry until fragrant. Season with salt and sugar to taste, aiming for a sweet, salty and peppery flavour. Turn off the heat, remove from the stove and leave to cool, then roll into balls and set aside.
Dough Ingredients
- 1 kg black glutinous rice flour
- 200–300 g palm sugar
- The prepared filling
- Banana leaves for wrapping
Making Khanom Thian
- Melt the palm sugar in a pot over the heat, simmering until dissolved. Turn off the heat and leave to cool.
- Knead the black glutinous rice flour with the melted palm sugar until well combined and set aside.
- Fold banana leaves into cones, add a ball of filling, spoon in the dough, then wrap neatly and arrange in a steamer.
- Steam over vigorously boiling water on high heat for about 30 minutes or until cooked. Turn off the heat and remove from the steamer.
3. Khanom Pui Fai (Steamed Fluffy Cupcakes)
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour (about 300 g)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups sugar (or 250 g)
- 1 cup water, at room temperature
- 4 tsp SP cake emulsifier (quality improver)
- 3 tbsp evaporated milk
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tsp jasmine essence (or 2 drops of nom maew flower essence)
- Food colouring (optional)
Method
- Sift the cake flour and baking powder together and set aside.
- Put the eggs, sugar and water into a mixing bowl. Smear the SP emulsifier onto the whisk attachment and beat on high speed for about 3–5 minutes, or until the mixture has tripled in volume.
- Reduce to low speed and gradually add the flour, beating until it is all incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat until smooth. Slowly pour in the evaporated milk, followed by the lime juice and jasmine essence, and beat for about 30 seconds more. Turn off the mixer, cover the bowl with a damp muslin cloth and leave to rest for about 30 minutes so the batter can rise.
- Fill the steamer with water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat.
- Once the resting time is up, gently fold the batter together again with a rubber spatula. Divide it and tint with food colouring as you like.
- Place pleated paper cups in aluminium moulds and fill each about 3/4 full with batter. Arrange in the steamer and steam on high heat for about 15 minutes. Remove from the steamer, take the cakes out of the moulds and serve.
4. Khanom Pia (Chinese Flaky Pastry with Mung Bean and Salted Egg Yolk)
Mung Bean and Salted Egg Filling Ingredients
- 300 g hulled mung beans
- 320 g sugar
- 50 g vegetable oil
- Hard-boiled salted eggs
Outer Dough Ingredients
- 250 g all-purpose flour (Red Lotus brand)
- 175 g all-purpose flour (Kite brand)
- 20 g icing sugar
- 150 g vegetable oil
- 180 g cold water
Inner Dough Ingredients
- 150 g all-purpose flour (Red Lotus brand)
- 125 g all-purpose flour (Kite brand)
- 100 g vegetable oil
Making the Mung Bean Filling
- Soak the mung beans in water overnight, or for at least 2 hours, until swollen. Boil until soft, about 30 minutes, then blend until completely smooth.
- Transfer to a brass pan, add the sugar and stir continuously over low heat until the mixture starts to thicken.
- Add the vegetable oil and keep stirring until the bean paste is thick and dry enough to shape into balls. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
- Cut the salted eggs in half, scoop out only the yolks and chop them into small pieces.
- Divide the bean paste into as many portions as the number of pastries you want to make. Flatten each portion, place some egg yolk on top and roll into a ball. Repeat until all the filling is used, and set aside.
Making the Outer Dough
- Sift both flours and the icing sugar together.
- Make a well in the centre, pour in the vegetable oil and cold water, and gradually stir from the inside outwards until the dough comes together. Rest the dough for at least 30 minutes.
Making the Inner Dough and Assembling
- Divide the inner dough into 20 equal pieces; the dough will be white and smooth.
- Flatten a piece of outer dough and place a piece of inner dough in the centre.
- Bring the edges of the outer dough up to enclose the inner dough completely. Using a rolling pin, roll up and down (vertically only) to form a long, flat strip.
- Fold the top end down to the centre, then fold the bottom end up, and turn the folded dough 90 degrees.
- Roll up and down again with the rolling pin (vertically only), then roll the dough up from one end like a mat and cut into portions as needed.
- Stand each portion flat on the table and press it down, then roll only the edges thin. Place a ball of filling in the centre and wrap into a round ball, with the seam underneath.
- Arrange on a greased baking tray, ready to bake.
- Brush the tops with egg yolk mixed with water and dab three dots of orange food colouring on each pastry.
- Bake in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for about 20–25 minutes (depending on size). When done, the pastry will look dry. Remove from the tray and place in a pot for smoking with a scented Thai candle, then serve.
Source: cooking.kapook.com
