Kuih Lapis

Hmm.. just the thought of it puts a smile on my face. I love kuih lapis. The fun of peeling off the layers one by one and savoring the tasty kuih. Whenever Ah Po goes to the night market or pasar malam, she'll bring back some kuih lapis for me. She sayang my brothers and I equally though. So, she'll also bring back kuih talam and kuih serimuka for my brothers as those are their favorites. Additionally, she'll also get tau fu fah because that's Aaron's favorite, too.

The kuih lapis-making process was tedious, but I find out kinda fun. And I think I'm addicted to the aroma of pandan leaves!

Can you count the nine layers?

Kuih lapis: A steamed, multi-layered and multi-colored firm pudding-like cake made from rice or tapioca flour, coconut milk, and flavored with pandan. The layers are steamed separately.

Kuih Lapis
150 gm of rice flour
30 gm of mung bean flour
560 ml of coconut milk
180 gm of castor sugar
150 ml of water
1/4 tsp of salt
2 pandan leaves, knotted
Red coloring

Combine sugar, water, and pandan leaves in a saucepan. Bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar. Drain and set aside to cool.
Put rice flour and mung bean flour into a mixing bowl. Pour in coconut milk gradually and leave aside to soak for 40 - 45 minutes.
Add salt to the rice flour and mix well.
Stir in the syrup.
Strain the batter to ensure it is free of lumps.
Measure 16 fl ozs of batter and add in the pink coloring. Measure another 16 fl ozs of batter (this will be white or no color). For the remainig batter, add in red coloring.
Place a greased 8 inch tray in the steamer and heat up for 4 - 5 minutes.
Pour 4 fl ozs of the white batter onto the heated tray. Cover and steam over medium heat for 5 - 6 minutes or until set.
Pour 4 fl ozs of the pink batter onto the white layer and steam covered for 5 minutes.
Repeat the process, alternating white and pink batter until all the batter is used up. Lastly, pour the red batter to form the final layer.
After the final layer is set, steam for another 12 - 15 minutes. Halfway through, uncover the lid to release the steam, then cover again until the end of the steaming process.
Cool the kuih thoroughly before cutting into small diamond-shaped pieces.