Firstly let me clear the misconception of Asian definition with regards to food. If there's such a thing as American cheesecake or British bread pudding, or Australian Carrot Cake, there's indeed no such thing as Asian Dessert anything. You will find however numerous desserts across different ethnic groups in Asia.
So imaginable how rich the Asian food culture is, should you collectively identify them as Chinese, Malay, Japanese, Indian, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Burmese, Indonesian, Arabic, Philippines etc. Each culture carries by using it a totally different tradition and heritage which is reflected within their desserts too.
One particular "Asian" dessert that's little known amongst Westerners would be the traditional Malay kuihs. These are delightful chewy and rich desserts which are made from 100 % natural ingredients like tapioca flour, yams flour, bananas, palm sugar, coconut milk, glutinous rice etc. There tend to be more than 100 various kinds of Malay kuihs and these recipes emerged and originated from the Indonesian and Malay villages. I knew growing up these kuihs and accustomed to watch my grandmother lovingly prepared her goodies within the stove and delighted in feeding us those delectables. She too learned the skill from her homeland in Sumatera Indonesia before she migrated to Singapore.
In those times, the womenfolk discovered resourceful methods to make their desserts and snacks from 100 % natural ingredients or what you grew within their garden and grew on trees. These kuihs were steamed mostly, sometimes grilled - baking was nonexistent simply because they not only didn't have any oven, electricity was scarce. Besides sweets, there's also savoury version that is eaten or served during tea time.
Today kuihs are such popular desserts in Southeast Asia mainly inSingapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Yet not many people be aware of secrets of making kuihs as numerous recipe books are designed in English. Some recipes can be found on the internet. I understand of many Western friends or those residing in the west, who does regularly request translated version from me. In this world, it is quite simple to find these desserts in the wet sell to hotels and restaurants. Many from the recipes happen to be simplified and subsitutes are introduced for eg fullcream milk can be used instead of coconut milk.
Many locals earn a living from selling these kuihs because there are more people prepared to eat rather than learn the art of creating these traditional and delicious desserts. The Malays knew the tips for make these kuihs differently using their company desserts by using banana and pandan leaves for fragrance and colour, by way of combined flour to provide contrasting tastes and employ of palm sugar melted like cheese in order to increase the eating sensation.
If you like baking and cooking, you'll enjoy learning the skill of making this "Asian" dessert which is one of the Malay or Indonesian ethnic group. While Asians understand western desserts, and enjoying an excellent choice of desserts, the westerners are yet to locate a whole new realm of desserts which may be quickly learned and simply made. Not to say, to impress the whole neighbourhood!
Click the hyperlink to get your free Malay kuih recipes and observe the pictures and video.
Noraini Maskuri is definitely an advertising professional who's also been trained in bakery, a food enthusiast and loves to share her fascination with east/west cooking and baking. Visit her blog at mycookery.com/blog and download a totally free chicken cookbook too.
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