Chwee Kueh (Water Cake with Chai Poh / Preserved Turnip)

Step 1

You can make a full recipe or half recipe of this chili paste (chili boh). I use this chili paste as a base for many of my other sambal chili. When you stir fry it on a pan, you don't need anymore oil. Add sugar and salt. Adjust to your taste. The color will change to darker as the sugar caramelizes. You can add more sugar and/or salt to your taste

Step 2

Rinse the chai poh in water several times to get rid of some of the saltiness. Drain and squeeze out all excess water as much as you can. Finely chop them into small pieces. Heat 2 Tbsp of cooking oil in a wok/skillet. Stir-fry shallots until soft, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and stir fry for another 30 seconds. Add chopped preserved radish along with seasonings and stir-fry until fragrant and dry. Have a taste. It should be sweet and slightly salty. Add more sugar as needed

Step 3

In a large bowl, mix together all the flour and salt. Add room temperature water and stir to mix. The mixture will be thick. Add in the boiling water which has been left 15 minutes after boiling. This step is very important. You don't want the flour to be cooked but you also don't want the water to separate from the flour, this method is to stabilize the flour and give each rice cake the dimple in the middle, like water ferns

Step 4

Prepare your steamer by adding water. Water in the steamer needs to be in a rolling boil at all time during the steaming of the rice cake. This is very important or your cakes will come out starchy

Step 5

If you have individual condiments bowls, you can use them, or you can use mini muffin tins. Brush them with a bit of oil. Make sure you place these inside the steamer and let them steam empty for 1-2 mins over high heat. Then depending on the size of your bowls, spoon the batter to 3/4 of the bowls, ( It's easier to use a measuring cup with pouts to pour the batter), close the steamer lid and steam on high for 15 minutes for smaller cakes or 20 minutes if the cakes are bigger. Give the batter a stir each time before I pour them into the bowls/cups as the flours tend to settle at the bottom after a while

Step 6

The cake will still appear to be very soft and with some water pooling in the middle, that's normal and don't be alarmed. Let them continue to steam without the lid for another 2 minutes to let the water evaporates. Let them cools down for at least 10 minutes after that and then unmould them using a rubber spatula or some people use a toothpick to pick it up from the mould

Step 7

Arrange on a plate and then fill with toppings and serve with sambal chili on the side