Wednesday 16 July 2008

Bingka Ubi.

I really dislike when food writers tend to mislabel food. It really shows that they have failed to do their homework and take lightly the history behind the cuisine.

Take for example Bingka Ubi. It is actually a very basic Malay kuih (kuih - meaning cake in malay). A food writer who writes for The Star had labeled Malay kuihs as Nyonya Kuihs without making any reference to the origin of Nyonya cuisine. Apart from Pulut Telang most of the Kuih she labeled as Nyonya Kuihs actually are of Malay origin. However, the Nyonyas, to some extent, have made the kuih's more commercial by adding vibrant colours and sago to make it more manageable.

Ubi literally means tubers. Ubi Kentang being Potatoes, Ubi Keledek being Sweet Potatoes and Ubi Kayu being Tapioca. Ubi Kayu (Kayu - Wood) is such named as when the tuber is left too long in the earth, it becomes woodlike and unedible. There are two types of tapioca, white and yellow. The latter being the sweeter version.

Ubi Kayu is a plant that is easy to propagate. Cut the stem into 1 foot long or slightly less and just stick in freshly turned earth with the buds facing upwards. Apart from being easy to propagate, it is also very low maintenance. Make sure that the earth is properly turned or tilled, so that the root will have sufficient space to grow, and water it on hot days. Other than that it can be left as it grows, unless it is grown in an area where there is wild boar. Tapioca is a favourite food of theirs.

The young shoots of the plant can be cooked as a vegetable. Just blanch it until softened and it is ready to be eaten with Sambal Belacan. Or after blanching it, cook with shallots, belacan, dried whitebait and coconut milk for Masak Lemak. Delicious with hot steaming rice and just fried turmeric salted mackerel. Are you salivating already?

Normally the plant is left to grow until it is 6 feet or so. One way to check to see when it is ready for harvest, is to clear abit of the earth around the base of the tree. If you see that the root is around 4-5 inches or so in circumference it is ready. Cut the tree trunk to around 3-4 feet. Clear the base from any grass or vegetation and slowly clear the earth in a circle of 3 feet. Using a small shovel or hand held cangkul, clear the earth, being careful not to damage the root. Once the root is partly exposed, start rocking the trunk of the tree by pushing and pulling it. The earth will move where the roots are located. Clear it to ensure easy removal. Once you can pull the trunk out with the roots, dig the earth to make sure you have not left any of the useable roots behind.

From personal experience, it is hard but fun work. Get a few people to help out, preferably children (cheap labour!) and supervised by adults. The pulling out part should be done by adults (preferably the men - but from experience the women end up doing this! It's starting to sound like the Hen and the Wheat story!). The effort is worthwhile once you pop a piece of hot boiled tapioca in your mouth!

Tapioca was a starch replacement during the Japanese Occupation years, when rice was a scarce commodity. My father used to tell me stories of those times. My mother was luckier as my maternal grandfather was a plumber therefore during those years could exchange his service for rice.

There are several ways to eat tapioca. First you need to clean it by removing the earth. Cut the root into manageable pieces. Make a shallow slit on the side. The root is covered by two layers of skin. Remove both layers by using the tip of the knife under the second layer of skin and pushing it off the flesh of the root. The layers will easily be removed. Once the roots are skinned, the best thing to do is to place the pieces in water. This will prevent the flesh from oxidising and also help remove any bitterness. From thereon you have a choice of boiling it in salted water, or grating the flesh to make kuih or patties.

The simplest way of cooking it will be to boil it in salted water until it can be pierced with a fork. You can eat hot it with sugar (I know it's not healthy...but that's the way I like it!), with shredded palm sugar and coconut or with sambal tumis. YUM! The important thing to remember that there is an in edible string in the root that needs to be removed before eating or grating.

After grating tapioca, some cooks squeeze water out of the grated flesh and leave the water to stand. A sediment will form. They will throw away the water and add the sediment to the flesh to be used. They believe by doing so it will remove any bitterness. So far I have not encountered any bitterness even if I skip this step. But it does help to drain a little bit of the liquid to make sure that the end product is not too watery.

So back to Bingka Ubi. If a type of Kuih uses the name Bingka, it means that it has been baked. Talam is used if it has been steamed and Lepat if it cooked steamed in individual parcels of banana leaf.


The ingredients: Grated Tapioca, Sugar, Coconut Milk (fresh or boxed/canned), Eggs and Salt. Mix everything together. Pour into a greased tin and bake in 200C oven for 45-60 minutes. If you want it to be nice and brown on top, grill it for a couple of minutes until the top is golden brown. Cool, then remove from tin and slice.

The recipe I used is from a booklet titled 'Malaysian Cakes and Dessert' written by Rohani Jelani and published by Periplus. I find that recipes written by Rohani Jelani are usually dependable and doable. The bingka turned out just like in the photo. The sweetness was just enough to highlight the tapioca without overwhelming it. It is 'lemak' from the coconut milk and the texture softly chewy. A piece is not enough!

Happy salivating!

Tuesday 1 July 2008

China Treasures at Sime Darby Convention Centre

China Treasures at Sime Darby Convention Centre.

This was my first visit there. I have been to their sister restaurant Halia a couple of times for buka puasa and dinner.

China Treasures serves Halal Chinese Cuisine. Currently they are having a dimsum buffet lunch promotion of RM33++ per person with a minimum of 2 people.

I love dimsum. The portions are small and it is always nice to go in a group of friends as you can order a great variety and share and share a like. Razman is not really a fan of dimsum. He prefers the fried rice and the chinese beefsteak, so this time round I have resisted from doing the buffet. Instead we ordered the fried rice and a few selection of dimsums.

Boneless Beef Shank. Very tasty. Moist and flavourful. Melts in the mouth. The beef was cold, not really sure whether that is normal.


Fried Rice with Salted Egg and Seafood. The salted egg left a dusty taste of yolk that was suprisingly not salty at all. The squid was cut in minute pieces and prawns were very fresh.


Crystal Prawn Dumplings is one of my must orders. The skin was translucent and the prawns crunchy.
Prawns in Rice Rolls is another must order. Extra smooth to the tounge and the sauce slight saltiness really pairs well with the blandness of the rice rolls. My favourite!

Steamed Chicken Siew Mai. Spongy. The mushroom earthy taste really cuts through the chicken flavour and gives a nice contrast.

Chicken Claws with Peanuts. My daughter's favourite. The claws were partly deboned. Very soft and jellified. The sauce was a balance of sweet, sour and salty. The peanuts were soft without being mushy . It will be a repeat order the next time we come here. Some people balk at eating chicken claws. They are claims that this is actually good for the skin. Personally, I like it because it is delicious.

Mini Egg Tarts are my son's favourite dessert. The pastry left a slight greasiness on the palate but all is forgiven with the extra smooth custard and flakiness of the crust. I could down all three, but had to share with husband and son.

Overall, the food was good. However,as I did not go for the dimsum buffet, I can't really say much about the other dishes. The service was slow and the waiter who served us was a tad clumsy. Discounting that, I definitely would come again.

China Treasures
Sime Darby Convention Centre
1A, Jalan Bukit Kiara 1,
60000 Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia
Tel: 603 2089 3788 Fax: 603 2089 3699
chinatreasures.sdcc@simedarby.com

Happy Birthday!

On the 29th June 2008 2.30pm at KLGCC bowling alley, Sura, Ina, Tape and Me invited some friends to celebrate our joint birthdays in May and June. We had bowling and food. Teams for formed via balloting. There were prizes for best team, best bowler and LQ- Longkang Queen.

The best bowling team comprised of Tape, Ina and Me, but because we were the hosts, we disqualified ourselves and therefore the first place went to Team BOOBee; Rock, Etty and Bee. Best bowler was Tape, and again because she was one of the hosts, the prize went to Bee. Longkang Queen was Zuri. She managed to dethrone Zura...

With Shima. I haven't met her since her Asasi Sains years! She is on a two-week break from her PhD studies in Ireland.








Donie, Datin Norzie, Tape, Me and Ina. Just before Norzie had to leave...busy lady always having curfews. Thanks for the Telekung. Donie and Lila, Thanks for the Japanese Cookbook. Still figuring out how you knew I didn't have that particular book.

The cake I made for the birthday party. The '4' is chocolate and the '0' is butter.



The group who made it. Some had to leave early. Thank you to all of you who came. Thank you Sura, you are THE HOSTESS TO THE MOSTEST!