Pumpkin ang ku kue - Traditional Chinese steamed cake made of glutinous rice dough and pressed into a tortoise-like mold and filled with sweet peanut filling.
Banana leavescut into 20 pieces of 4x4 inch square
Neutral-tasting cooking oil for brushing
Instructions
Prepare the dough:
Bring water to a boil. Mix the glutinous rice flour with salt, and sugar. Stir to combine. Make a well in a center and pour in the pumpkin puree. Pour in 100 ml of hot boiling water first and use a rubber spatula to start stirring until it forms a crumbly dough. When it's not too hot anymore you can use your hands to knead and add oil and continue to knead into soft pliable dough. If the dough is too dry you can add a bit more water until it comes together into a soft smooth dough
Prepare the filling:
Place the peanuts in food processor and chopped the peanuts. I like to be able to bite into some of the peanuts, so I roughly chopped them. Mixed the chopped peanuts with honey and set aside
Wrapping:
The amount of the dough and filling depends on the size of your mould. I have 30, 50, and 60 grams mould. For example if I use 50-gram mould, I can portion 30 grams of dough and 20 grams of filling or 25 grams of dough and 25 grams of filling. I believe you get the idea! Portion out the filling and roll them into balls for easier wrapping
Portion out the dough about into the size you want. Flatten them with the palm of your hand. Place the filling on the middle and bring all edge together and roll them into a smooth ball again
Dust the mold with some sticky rice flour to prevent sticking and gently knock off excess flour. I roll the dough ball into the flour thinly too. Place the dough ball into the mold. Slightly pressed it down as you stretch them out to fit the mold. Knock the mold once on a countertop (lined with some cloth to minimize banging sound) and the dough will flop out of the mold. Place individual ang ku kueh on a greased banana leave
Steaming:
When the water in the steamer is boiling vigorously, place the ang ku kueh inside the steamer about 1/2-inch apart. Lower the heat t medium and when you cover the lid, let it crack opens about 1/2-inch and steam for 10-15 minutes, depending on how big your ang ku kue. This is very important as it helps to maintain the imprints on the cake and to make sure you ang ku kueh is not flattened. If you steam them on high heat with all the steam trapped inside ,all the imprints will mostly be blurred and cake will expand to the side and flattened.
Remove from the heat onto a plate and then brush with some cooking oil. Let them cool down completely
Storing:
They can be kept at room temperature (where humidity is low) for about 3 days. If you keep them in the fridge, you just need to reheat them in the steamer for 3-5 minutes, as the skin will toughen. But once reheated, they will be soft again
The cooked ang ku kueh can also be kept frozen in the freezer for up to 3 months and they go from freezer to steamer and steam for 8-10 minutes or until heated through