Seri Muka

Mike?s favourite kuih!!!

The best seri muka is made by the Malays. It feels like eating kaya, just that it?s in a more solid form. I have a friend, Siti Zubaidah who told me her mom makes some kick ass good seri muka. And there's no exact recipe. Just agak-agak(estimate). And she told me her mom said, put in some flour, how much... "tak taulah nak cakap, tapi sikit saja." (Dunno how to say, but it's just a little bit). There u see... traditional household cooking.............

As for the Chinese kuih vendors...Theyput in way too much flour or starch, making the custard layer too uncustardy. I got one kuih recipe book written by Malaysian Chinese writers, and it confirms my point. BTW, not refering to nyonyas.... Nyonyas make kuihs like the Malays.

This recipe is adapted from Rohani Jelani?s Kuih Asli Malaysia.

(A)
300gm glutinous rice
50ml coconut milk
200ml water
1 tsp salt

(B)
150ml eggs (3 medium, grade B or C)
150ml coconut milk
150ml pandan juice
180gm sugar
15gm cornstarch
30gm all purpose flour

1. Soak rice for at least 2 hours. Drain. Put rice into a baking pan suitable for steaming. Mix it with coconut milk and salt. Add in water. Make sure the water is abt 3mm above the rice. If added in the stated amount and it seems slightly more, it?s ok. But not higher than 1cm definitely! If water level?s too low, add more water. Cos it depends on how well u drain the rice.
2. Steam rice on high heat for 20-30 minutes until rice turns translucent. Remove from heat and immediately fluff rice with a fork or chopstick. Place rice into a 8 inch round pan or 7 inch square pan. Level and press rice to compact it. U may either use a flat bottomed glass or a layer cake press. If ur hands are heat resistant, u may use it too!! Haha! But do it over a aluminium sheet or baking paper. Do this while the rice is still hot. Return compacted rice in pan to steamer and steam until custard is ready.
3. Mix all the ingredients in (B) and cook in a heavy saucepan on low heat, stirring slowly all the time to ensure it doesn?t burn until it thickens slightly. Remove from heat.
4. Pour (3) over compacted rice and steam on medium low heat for 25 minutes. Do not use high heat as it will cause the kuih surface to be uneven? suitable for surfing.
5. Cool kuih thoroughly before cutting into pieces.