Kuih Seri Muka

Ingredients

• 400 g glutinous rice
• 200 ml coconut milk, for the rice
• 100 ml water
• 1 tsp salt, for the rice
• 3 pandan leaves, knotted
• 12 pandan leaves, for juicing
• 300 ml coconut milk, for the custard
• 4 eggs
• 140 g caster sugar
• 40 g plain flour
• 30 g cornflour
• 1/4 tsp salt, for the custard

Before you cook

• Rinse the glutinous rice until the water runs clear, then soak it in cold water for at least four hours or overnight.
• Drain the soaked rice thoroughly.
• Blend the twelve pandan leaves with 150 ml of water, then wring the pulp through muslin to get about 120 ml of deep green juice.
• Line a 20 cm square tin with a strip of baking paper and grease it lightly.
• Whisk the eggs, sugar, plain flour, cornflour and salt together, then whisk in the 300 ml of coconut milk and the pandan juice.
• Strain the custard mixture through a sieve to catch any lumps.

Steps

1. Tip the drained rice into the lined tin and stir through the 200 ml of coconut milk, the water and the salt.
2. Tuck the knotted pandan leaves down into the rice.
3. Set the tin in a steamer over boiling water and steam it for thirty minutes.
4. Lift out the pandan knots and fluff the rice with a fork.
5. Press the rice down firmly and evenly with a greased spatula, working out every air pocket.
6. Return the tin to the steamer and steam for a further ten minutes.
7. Pour the strained custard into a saucepan and set it over low heat.
8. Stir the custard constantly for eight to ten minutes, until it thickens to the consistency of double cream and coats the back of a spoon.
9. Take the custard off the heat before it has any chance to turn lumpy.
10. Pour the warm custard gently over the hot rice, letting it fall onto the back of a spoon so it does not dent the surface.
11. Tap the tin on the worktop to release any trapped bubbles.
12. Wrap the steamer lid in a clean cloth so no condensation drips onto the custard.
13. Steam the kuih over low heat for thirty minutes, until the custard is set but still trembles faintly in the middle.
14. Leave the kuih to cool completely in the tin, which takes about two hours.
15. Cut it into diamonds or squares with a lightly oiled knife.