Huat Kueh
Huat Kueh aka "Fa Gao" (發 糕) or "Prosperity Cake" is one of those traditional cakes that people will make during the Chinese New Year season. However, the making of this cake has lots of superstitions involved. I guess all of you know what it is ... the name of the cake tells you so!
This recipe was given to me by a friend, who tried it and said that it was nice. All along I thought that Huat Kueh is made using rice flour but there was no rice flour in her recipe. Her recipe uses some glutinous rice flour in it so that accounts for its chewy texture. Anyway, I'm still keen to try it. I mixed everything according to her recipe but the batter was rather thick, so I added more water. When everything was ready, I put it into the steamer and waited 15 minutes for it to be cooked. Keeping my fingers crossed as I'm not sure if it will "huat" - crack open like a flower for me or not.
Beep ... beep ... beep, time's up! Anxiously, I lifted the lid off the wok and I had six "Fa Gaos" smiling at me. Ha...ha! I know I will "huat" in 2008.
Ingredient: (6 standard muffin size)
150g plain flour
50g corn flour
25g glutinous rice flour
8g baking powder
130g sugar (I used rock sugar)
330ml water
Method:
1. Cook sugar with water till sugar dissolved. Leave aside to cool.
2. Add sugar syrup to all the dry ingredients and mix till smooth.
3. Add coloring if desired.
4. Place liners in the muffin tray and fill with batter up to 95% full.
5. Steam on very high heat for 15 - 20 minutes.
Notes:
1. Make sure the water is very very hot before you steam the Huat Kueh.
2. Do not open the lid at all. The Huat Kueh will be cooked in 15 - 20 minutes for standard muffin size.
3. I added red and green coloring to the batter.
4. The Huat Kuehs are chewy and moist with no floury or chemical aftertaste
Labels: CNY Goodies
posted by Florence @ 6:50 PM
17 Comments:
WOW....your Huat Kueh are fantastic! Brought back old memories eating them with mile high butter (which I avoid now)...Happy New Year!
HI Florence,
I'm a member of KC...just wanted to know...for this recipe...what is corn flour? is there another term for it cuz I'm locaterd here in canada. plain flour = all purpose flour?
asan,
Happy New Year
Hi,
Plain flour = all purpose flour
Corn flour = corn starch
Hi Florence,
I am your regular blogger but first time to drop you message. Guess what! I checked out your blog this morning on the "Huat Kueh" and I couldn' t wait to try it same day after work. I made 2 batches with the mini muffin cup: the first batch, batter was rather thick as you said, it "smiles" a little but not as big as I expect; the second batch, I used palm sugar instead of rock sugar and added some Rose essesne to make the pink color, the batter was thinner than the first batch (no idea what I did with exact measurement) and it "smiles" more than the first batch. I still smell a little floury taste. Wondering if substituting coconut milk instead of water would get rid of the floury taste? Anyway, Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. Wah
Hi,
Thanks for letting me know.
This is the first time I made Huat Kueh, still room for improvement.
I guess when I eat it straight out of the steamer, I didn't smell the floury taste.
Do try with coconut milk and see if it is any good.
Yeah, I needed to add extra water to make the batter less thick.
Gong Xi Fa Cai
Happy New Year
florence
i too love to see the smiles when you open the steamer.
i used to have a recipe which is made with rice flour and does not need to have a starter. Wonder if you have come across a good one.
happy new year
wow.. great, it loks yummy, i will try that recipe soon, thank you for sharing:)
Florence:
Happy Lunar Year to you. After seeing your Huat Kuet, I made some last night. Like you said, there is room for improvement. Some "Smile" very nicely and some were flat like pancakes. I made my with rice flour and coconut powder. I don't like the taste because I put too much Eno fruit salt in. I got a dozen of them smile out of 300grs of rice flour. I still consider I'm Huat this Rat Year,right?
:)
PP
Hi Florence,
I got to know of your blog via KC. Wanted to let you know that I had great fun this CNY holidays trying out your recipes (Blueberry cheesecake, baked sago pudding, paper cup cakes) Your recipes really makes the taste tuned to asian tastebud, unlike those we find from US sites. (Too sweet, too heavy).
Got a question. How do you remove your cheese / mousse cakes from the tin? I had to present my cheese cake in the tin itself cos I didn't know how to remove it
SGPmum
Thank you for dropping by.
Did you use a springform cake pan or ?
I used a springform cake pan.
Use a hair-dryer or hot towel to warm around the cake pan and the cake will release itself smoothly
Hey Florence! I'm a 19 year old malaysian living in nz with a penchant for the art of baking, over the past few days I've been obsessively delving into this hidden community of other asian bakers (and cooks) and I must say the delicacies featured on each of ur sites are truly awe inspiring. I came upon this blog from the 'baking mum' and what an amazing suprise, I can't believe people are actually capable of making and baking such gorgeous treats, so hats off to you!
My mum upon seeing me surfing through these sites made a remark to find a recipe for huat keuh and that I did on this very blog. It's awesome that I'm able to share in your culinary experiences but not only that, it's possible to gain feedback from the master herself. I picked up on that huat hueh recipe to try myself but alas it seemed I could not match the expectations I had set up from the photo displayed on the screen, the huat kueh just did not huat! It would be reali great if I could get some feedback from you on this one, any ideas?
(And sorry I left such a long comment, just had too much to say to you.)
Oh, and I did follow the recipe exactly so I'm kinda baffled now...
Hello Florence...Wishing you a happy new year... Beautifully baked and lovely pictures too!!
Do stop by my site and take a peek !!
Hi Florence,
I tried your Huat Kueh recipe over the weekend...i made two batches...the first batch i poured the batter over a muffin tray which is only 2cm in height...after steaming it for 20 minutes, the kueh did not smile at me...the 2nd batch, i poured the same batter into the standard muffin tray...this time the kuih did smile at me...i'm guessing the muffin tray plays an important role in order to have a smiling kuih...correct me if i'm wrong k? BUt great job! The kuih taste really yummy...smiling or no smiling...it's yummylicious!! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Hi Samantha,
Thanks for letting me know.
I think Huat Kueh is rather fussy:
1. batter too thick, it won't smile
2. batter too thin, it won't smile
3. too shallow, it won't smile
4. water not hot enough, it won't smile.
Seems like we have to have everything in conducive mood for the kueh to "huat".
Hi Florence, I tried making this huat kueh this evening with this recipe. But mine did not huat at all hehe... it was like a dome at the top... very slight crack only.
I think my mistake was the water wasnt boiling rapidly when I put the cups in. But the batter was pretty thick too. What is the right consistency?
Thanks!
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