Chwee Kueh

Ingredients

• 200 g rice flour
• 40 g wheat starch
• 20 g cornflour
• 1 tsp salt
• 250 ml boiling water
• 650 ml cold water
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 200 g chai poh (sweet preserved radish)
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 shallots, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• sambal or chilli sauce, to serve

Before you cook

• Rinse the preserved radish under cold water twice, then squeeze it dry and chop it finely.
• Mince the garlic and finely chop the shallots.
• Whisk the rice flour, wheat starch, cornflour and salt together in a large bowl.
• Stir the cold water into the flours until no lumps remain.
• Brush twelve small metal saucer moulds or shallow ramekins with oil.

Steps

1. Pour the boiling water into the flour mixture in a thin stream, whisking hard the whole time.
2. Keep whisking for one minute, until the batter thickens slightly and turns silky.
3. Stir two tablespoons of the oil into the batter.
4. Set a steamer over high heat and bring the water beneath it to a full boil.
5. Place the oiled moulds in the steamer and heat them empty for three minutes, so the batter sets the moment it lands.
6. Whisk the batter once more, then fill each hot mould to just below the rim.
7. Cover the steamer and steam the cakes for twenty minutes, until the tops are translucent and firmly set.
8. Lift the moulds out and leave them to cool for fifteen minutes, which firms the cakes so they release cleanly.
9. Heat the remaining two tablespoons of oil in a wok over medium heat.
10. Fry the shallots and garlic for two minutes, until pale gold.
11. Add the chopped preserved radish and fry it for six to eight minutes, stirring, until it smells toasty and the edges look dry.
12. Season with the sugar, white pepper and sesame oil, then cook for one minute more.
13. Run a thin knife around each rice cake and turn it out onto a plate.
14. Spoon a heap of the fried radish onto each cake.
15. Serve warm, with sambal on the side.