Pumpkin Xi Ban

I was intrigued with the article (Pumpkin Xi Ban) that QQredapple posted in KC, thus I did a search and started to delve into this item called Xi Ban(喜粄) which a traditional yet important snack in the Hakka cuisine.

What is Xi Ban (喜粄）？
Ban is the Hakka version of rice snack as in the equivalent of "kuih" in Hokkien. Ban is a snack that is made mainly of glutinous rice flour or rice flour. Ban is the highlight of all special occasions in the Hakka cuisine be it in wedding celebrations, funeral mournings, temple rituals/praying or any other celebrations.

Some of the Bans that we are familiar with are:
Hong Ban(紅粄) - this is similar to our Ang Gu Kuih (紅龜粿). They usually make this ban red in color for any happy celebrations such as wedding or baby's full moon.
Fa Ban(發粄) - this is similar to our Huat Kuih (發粿 ). The Hakkas make these for funerals, Ching Ming festival and temple rituals. These Fa Bans must crack wide open with big smiles to be considered auspicious.

Why is the Ban(粄) an important item in the Hakka celebrations?
Ages ago, the Hakkas were very poor and the main ingredients for Ban is glutinous rice which is a stomach filling item. These Bans were served before any main dishes for any celebrations, so the guests will be full by the time the mains were served and hence the host saved on monies spent on the mains - thrifty nature of a Hakka!

If you have not tasted a Xi Ban before, let me tell you what it is like. The texture of this Xi Ban is soft and bouncy, moist and fluffy and slightly chewy when you bite into it. Wow! All the sensation in one little Ban.


The pretty yellow color is the color of the pumpkin that I used.


Ingredients:
(A)
200g plain flour
2 tsp yeast
170ml warm water

(B)
200g glutinous rice flour
100g plain flour
2 tbsp oil
250g-280g mashed pumpkin
110g sugar

Method:
1. Mix all the ingredients in (A) well in a big mixing bowl. Cover the bowl with a wet towel and let it prove for 3 hours.
2. Steam pumpkin for 15 minutes. Remove from steamer, add sugar to the hot pumpkin and mashed it with a fork.
3. Mix mashed pumpkin into the rest of ingredients in (B). (Do not add all pumpkin at once, I first add 200g and then 20g every other time till you get a pliable dough.
4. Knead (1) and (3) together till you get a smooth dough. Dough is a little sticky but you should be able to mould it into small round balls, otherwise add in 10g of flour till you get the dough that you can handle.
5. Divide dough into 50g pieces, mould them into smooth round balls and flatten them. Place them on greased baking sheet or banana leaf. Prove for 90 minutes then steam on medium heat for 16 minutes.
6. Stamp them with red coloring, however, this is optional. Glace them with cooked cooking oil and leave to cool before serving.

Recipe Credit: (星洲日報/大都會•2007.09.01)