I was introduced to kueh salat back in my secondary school days and remembered absolutely loving it. However, somehow I never really got around to making it. Studying abroad last year, I made it for the first time as a way to combat homesickness and to share a bit of local flavours with the local students and my Singaporean batch mates. I used pandan essence back then, as that was the only form of pandan that was readily available to me. Still, it tasted quite good. This year, I got into a bit of a pandan craze so I decided to recreate this dessert again, and it was a great hit in my family and amongst all my neighbours whom we shared it with.
The pink layer was actually a bit of a happy accident that happened when I had leftover pink coconut milk sitting around in the refrigerator from my last failed agar agar attempt (where I mistakenly bought agar agar premix powder instead of agar agar powder *faints*). Anyway, long story short, I initially made the green kaya layer, found it a little too thin for my liking and also the pandan flavour was really strong so I decided to add a second pink coconut only layer to add some coconut flavour and also, since it was already coloured pink, why not?
The end product-- a three layered kueh salat! Not so traditional, but pretty in its own way. This recipe is really easy to make once you have sorted out your pandan extract bit (see my other post on how to obtain your pandan extract). Then all it requires is a bit of arm work and some patience, so yes definitely worth a try!
Recipe is adapted from travellingfoodies and makes one 8-inch square pan. Or if you want your kueh salat to be taller, use a smaller pan.
Ingredients
For glutinous rice layer
300g glutinous rice (soaked overnight)
100ml fresh coconut milk
100ml water
1 tsp salt
2 pandan leaves (cut into 1 inch pieces)
For green kaya layer
3 eggs
200 ml fresh coconut milk
110g sugar
100g pandan extract (from 200g pandan leaves)
10g corn starch
40g flour
For pink coconut layer
3 eggs
300 ml fresh coconut milk (simmer with a knot of pandan leaves for added fragrance)
110g sugar
10g corn starch
40g flour
a pinch of salt
Method
Making the glutinous rice layer
For easier removal, grease with oil or line your pan with parchment paper before you begin.
In a measuring cup, mix together 100ml fresh coconut milk, 100ml water and 1 tsp salt.
In a separate steaming dish, drizzle the mixture over 300g of pre soaked glutinous rice and stick the pandan leaves into the rice. Dimple the rice surface for more even cooking.
Steam for 20-25 minutes on high heat. Then remove the pandan leaves and transfer the rice mixture into your 8-inch square tin. Compress the rice to form a compact layer of even thickness. (I used a spoon initially, then my hands to press it further when the rice started sticking to the spoon. It also gave me a better feel of how compact the rice layer actually was. Remember to compress the rice at the edges of the tin. I used my fingers for this.)
Combine 3 eggs, 10g corn starch, 40g flour, 110g sugar, 100ml pandan extract and 200ml coconut milk and whisk until there are minimal lumps remaining.
Transfer to a pot and cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly to prevent large lumps from forming. (If you want to get it cooked really quickly, I found that you can also cook it on high heat, but you must whisk it very vigorously while doing so.)
Once the mixture starts thickening slightly, take it off the heat and sieve it directly onto your rice layer. (Rice layer should still be slightly warm at this point.) Remember to taste your kaya mixture in case you want to adjust the sweetness of the coconut layer.
Use a piece of aluminium foil to cover the tin, then return it to the steamer to steam at medium low heat for about 15 min or until the kaya layer has firmed.
While that is steaming, prepare the topmost coconut layer by combining 3 eggs, 10g corn starch, 40g flour, 110g sugar, 300ml coconut milk and a pinch of salt and whisk until there are minimal lumps remaining. Colour your coconut layer. (For the pink colour in the picture, I used two drops of red food colouring, but you can use any colour you like. Do remember that your mixture's base colour is yellow-beige depending on the colour of your egg yolks so that will affect the colour. This means that added red colouring may initially cause your mixture to turn orange, so increase the amount of food colouring used accordingly. It's best to add food colouring a drop at the time.)
Transfer to a pot and cook over medium low heat until the mixture slightly thickens. Then sieve it over your green kaya layer. Cover with aluminium foil and steam over medium low heat for another 15 minutes or until the coconut layer has firmed.
When it is cooked, remove from steamer and let it cool on a cooling rack for about 3 hours or until completely cooled.
Remove the kueh from the tin and consume within the day or keep in the fridge and re-steam it the next day. Due to the coconut milk content, it is best to consume within 1-2 days.
That's about it! Haha do give this recipe a try and let me know how it goes (:
Super grateful to travellingfoodies for sharing such a great base recipe that I adapted for my not so traditional three layer kueh salat. Here's the link: https://travelling-foodies.com/2013/08/22/kueh-sarlat/
Carina xx
Comments