Ang Koo Kuehs

Ang Koo Kuehs! They are popular Nonya Kuehs in South East Asia. Don't know why they are called Ang Koo Kuehs but if you break it up word for word ... Ang means red color; Koo means turtle, yes, turtle as in turtle and Kuehs means cakes. From the photo you can see that the shape of this kueh is like a turtle, maybe that's how they derived the name for this kueh.
The red kueh has red coloring added to it while the yellow kueh is the natural color from the sweet potatoes that I used.
Sally! If you are still following my blog, this is the Ang Koo Kueh recipe that you asked me about. Hope you will like it and have fun doing them.

Red and natural Ang Koo Kuehs.


This is the Ang Koo Kueh mould that I used.


Ingredients: 25 small kuehs
Sweet Potato Skin:
200 g sweet potatoes
300 g glutinous rice flour
2 tbsps oil
160 ml water
Some red coloring (optional)

Mung Bean Filling:
200g yellow split mung beans (soaked until soft)
80g - 100 g castor sugar
½ tsp salt
2 tbsps oil
1/4 - 1/2 cup diced shallots
Water

Method:

Sweet Potato Skin:
Steam the sweet potatoes until soft. In a bowl, mash the sweet potatoes with a fork. Add glutinous rice, oil and water and mix well to obtain a smooth dough. Cover with a damp cloth and leave aside. You can add a little more water if the dough is too dry.

Mung Bean Filling:
Steam the yellow split mung beans until soft. Add in the sugar and mash with a fork. In a non-stick wok, fry the diced onions in oil. Leave aside to cool. In a bowl, mix the mashed split peas, salt, fried onions, oil and enough water to form a soft dough.

Shaping the Ang Koo Kueh:
1. Brush the ang koo kueh mould with a little oil to ease removal of the kueh from the mould.
2. Take a small lump of sweet potato dough and using your palm or a rolling pin, flatten it, into a round shape with the centre thicker than the sides.
3. Spoon some pea filling into the dough, pinch the sides of the dough together, and using the palm of your hand, roll it into a ball.
4. Press the ball into the mould firmly, to obtain the design and shape of the mould. Tap the mould gently on the table to remove the ang koo kueh from the mould.
5. Place the ang koo kueh on a square piece of oiled banana leaf.
6. When all the ang koo kuehs are shaped, steam them in a wok over high fire for 3 minutes covered. After 3 minutes, remove the cover to release steam, then re-cover and steam for another 3 minutes over a medium fire, until the kuehs are cooked. Remove the kuehs from the wok and brush them with a little oil to prevent them from sticking to each other. Serve when cool.

Notes:
If you don't like the mung beans, you can use peanuts or red beans filling.
I used about 26g pastry and 19g filling.