Tuesday, 26 June 2012

Kueh Tutu aka 嘟嘟糕


Kueh Tutu (嘟嘟糕) is a traditional Singaporean delicacy which is made using roasted rice flour and fillings such as grated coconut or peanut powder. Nowadays it is not easy to find some authentic ones which taste as good as it used to be.

Recently I have posted a Kueh Tutu photo on facebook (HERE) which draws over "300+ likes" from readers and some even suggested a few places where we can still find some yummy Kueh Tutu.


KUEH TUTU
嘟嘟糕


3rd Trial of my Kueh Tutu with Coconut Filling
My love for Kueh Tutu starts when I was in primary school as I remembered vividly that my father used to get them for me at least twice a week from one of the shop near our area. And I always love those with coconut filling compared to the rest.

So when readers ask about Kueh Tutu recipe, I thought perhaps I could try to Google. With lucky, I managed to find some posts online using a similar recipe they adapted from the Food And Travel Magazine (Singapore version). You can read more about Kueh Tutu and where to get it's mould HERE.


Recipe adapted from Food And Travel Magazine, August 2010 issue.

(Make: 12 |          Preparation: 15 minutes |         Cooking: 8 minutes per batch)

Ingredients:
1 Kueh Tutu Mould
2 Cups Rice Flour
3/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Caster Sugar
170ml Hot Water
Pandan Leaves, cut into squares

Coconut Filling:
1/2 Cup Fresh Grated and Skinless Coconut
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar/Gula Melaka

Steps On Coconut Filling:-
1. Prepare the coconut filling. Heat a pan over medium heat and melt the brown sugar together with some pandan leaves.

2. Stir in the grated coconut and cook until the mixture is well coated with the melted sugar and fairly dry. Set aside.

(You can use either frying pan or microwave method to roast the rice flour)

Steps On Cooked Rice Flour:-
3. Next dry roast rice flour in a non-stick pan with some pandan leaves for 2 minutes on medium heat or alternatively you can microwave it on medium high heat (1 minute) with some pandan leaves.

4. When done, remove it from heat and leave it to cool.

5. Mix salt and sugar in the hot water and sprinkle over the roasted rice flour.

6. Using a fork combine the liquid and flour until the mixture is cool enough to touch. this this an important step, the flour mixture should not be too dry nor too wet or else it would affect the end result when shaping the kueh tutu as well as its texture)

7. Sieve the grainy mixture to get a fine and sandy texture. (the texture resemble grated coconut with that bit of moisture)


Steps On Shaping the Kueh Tutu:-
8. Fill half the kueh tutu mould with prepared flour, top with 1 teaspoon of the coconut filling and cover with more flour.

9. Place a small piece of pandan leaf over it and press with a square muslin cloth.

10. Turn it over (lightly give it a knock) on the steamer rack with the muslin cloth below.

11. Repeat the above steps until the remaining flour and coconut filling(or peanut filling) have been used up.

12. Steamed the kueh tutu for about 7 minutes on medium heat. Remove from the steamer and serve immediately.


2nd Trial of my Kueh Tutu. Photo taken using iPhone
Although making Kueh Tutu at home is not an easy task and some of you might not be able to get hold of the mould because of the country that you are in. But as long as you could get hold of the rice flour(any brand), pandan leave(can be omit), grated coconut/peanut you could apply this recipe by using similar size plastic or aluminum foil cases to act as the mould.

Just for your information, a reader(Janetan) wrote me a note to me that she found a useful tips online:-
"to let the kueh stay soft, the secret is roast the rice flour then steamed using steam bath and cover with a wet cloth".
Perhaps you would like to consider this point when preparing the rice flour which is the key success of the Kueh Tutu.

Don't worry if you don't get the texture right on the 1st trial, always starts with 1 cup of the flour to test out the recipe if you prefer. Happy trying and I hope to hear from your feedback too.

25 comments:

  1. Hi Ellena, thanks for the wonderful step by step instructions. This kueh tutu is indeed a all time fav for us. I will try to make them soon... Provided i get my mould 1st.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi MiMi,

      Thanks for our kind words.Don't worry if you can't get hold of the mould, you can always use any tart mould which is similar in size to try this out :)

      Delete
  2. ohh..I love kueh tutu too!
    Thanks for your recipe~~

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are welcome myme :) Hope if you do try, share with us your experience too!

      Delete
  3. Is this kueh Tutu same like Putu Piring? I have never heard of kueh Tutu before, but the prepration look same like putu piring..I like that one with gula melak filling. I heard you searching for pickled sakura from Nami, maybe you want to join my latest giveaway, check it out.

    ReplyDelete
  4. yoohooo... finally you post the recipe... this will definitely my must-try-recipe..thanks..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Janetan,

      Thanks for the extra "notes" that you have shared with us :)

      Delete
  5. I bought the mould years ago but never really gotten into making my favourite. Now now you are motivating me. I read that sieving the flour is taxing. Did you have such problem?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes yes, I saw your comments and note in Kitchen Caper way back too :) And i am sure you can do a better job than me :)

      Emmm sieving the flour is a bit tedious and it yield lesser from what it weight from 1 cup

      Delete
  6. Hi ellena, can I check with you if you use brown or orange coloured sugar? You have a pic of it? Thanks :)

    Claire

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Claire,

      The orange coloured sugar is called "brown sugar" in local supermarket. You can find it together with those dried stuffs such as red bean, green beans and etc.

      Delete
  7. This is my favourite Tutu Kuih, now seldom seen in KL.But there is one famous Kuih Tutu stall in 250,Jln Tengkera, Melaka , do check it out if your are there.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I've never tried this before but looks like this is very popular dish and I'm missing out! So fragile to make!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yup, this is one of the yummy local snacks that most of us loved. It comes with peanut and coconut fillings. Emmm quiet similar to one of the Korea steamed rice cake too :)

      Delete
  9. totally salute you because i know kueh tutu is really tough to make - will check out fb to see where are the good tutu kueh recommendations instead! ;p

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Janine,

      I thanks God, i pulled through the tedious making process :)

      Delete
  10. How do I roast the rice flour? Place flour on a baking tray and bake flour in the oven using convection? What is steam bath? Thanks! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Roast the rice flour mean you can either microwave it on high for 1 to 1.5 mins or you "dry" fried it on a pan/wok. "steamed bath" means after you roasted the flour, steamed it on a rack for about another 3 mins to keep moist. HTH

      Delete
  11. Hi Ellena,

    I am from Australia and am very interested in making the kueh Tutu. I am wondering, can I use the western rice flour? The type they make short bread with. Also, the brown sugar here is really brown while the ones in your photos is orangish. Is there a difference? There is no way I can get the mould here, can I use any other mould, lie mini cupcake ones?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Chirpy,

      I have stayed in Oz b4 and i know you can get CHINESE rice flour at Asian supermarket. The "brown" sugar mentioned above is actually "orange sugar" for making sweet soup. If you can't find you can replace it with gula melaka.

      As for the mould, you can try those tart shell or disposal tart foil. HTH :)

      Delete
  12. Hi Ellena, does the texture turn hard and dry after cooling down?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi, when you say roast the flour and then steam it in a bath, does that mean you skip the part of adding water and sieving it?

    ReplyDelete

Dear All,

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Regards
Ellena (Cuisine Paradise)

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