Kolak (Pisang)

 

Kolak (Pisang)

My father’s helper is a multi-talented girl. Not only is she a capable nursing aid, she is also an enthusiastic cook.

Today, she served me a bowl of Indonesian dessert called Kolak. It’s a sweet potato and banana soup dessert but with a slight twist. The overtones of the syrupy soup has a hint of salt and ginger, which gives it a very complex taste that I like.

The original dessert uses coconut milk, but since it is not available, she used milk instead. 

Here’s Trisna’s recipe, all portions adjusted to personal taste :

Ingredients:

Sweet potato, cut to small wedges

Some fresh ginger bits

Bananas, just ripe, cut to thumb size

Milk (Coconut milk)

Sugar, salt

Method:

Combine sweet potato and ginger. Cook in water, sugar.

When the sweet potato is cooked, add banana, milk and salt to taste.

Turn off the heat.

Yummy, hot or cold.

Credit: Eka Trisna

Sweet potato peek-a-boo bun

I made this on a whim because the grocer had a batch of lovely sweet potatoes and it would be silly not to buy them. Perhaps the buns can do with a touch of pandan flavor but in any case, it was well received.

The ends of the buns needed to be tucked in tightly so that they do not open after the second rise. That takes practice and  it means that there will be an occasion for a second batch sometime soon.

Makes 8 medium buns.

Ingredients :

Dry  ( Combine the following ) :

250g bread flour

30g caster sugar

5g instant yeast

1g fine salt

30g dry milk powder

Wet ( Combine the following ) :

1 egg, lightly beaten

100g milk

20g softened butter

Filling :

400g Sweet potato , any color of your choice ( steamed and cooled )

20g dry milk powder

20g caster sugar

1 Tbsp heavy cream

Method :

Prepare filling.

Steamed the sweet potatoes. Cool.

Together with milk powder , sugar and cream, process the potatoes until it forms a ball.

Make out 8 portions, 50g each. Form into balls.

Set aside,covered.

Prepare dough.

Combine wet ingredients to dry ingredients in a stand mixer.

Knead until dough is no longer sticky.

Ferment until dough doubles, covered.

Punch down dough. Knead and form a thick rope.

Make out 8 portions. Roll into balls.

Wrap the prepared potato filling with the buns.

Roll into a rope, 2 hand spans long.

Score the bun until potato is just visible.

Bring the ends together to form a tight bun.

Transfer buns to a lined tray.

Brush with egg glaze.

Leave to rise until balls almost doubles.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 15-20 minutes or until bun tans.

Glace with softened butter.

Cool before serving/storing.

Mainly Tapioca Cake

Cake or kueh, you decide !

My maternal grandmother wanted to have nothing to do with tapioca or sweet potato. Those were her wartime food and up till now, she would shudder at the mention of these root vegetables.

On the other hand, tapioca cake ( she called this 'kueh' in Teochew ) was my late mother's regular contribution to my school funfair  because it was the kind of cake that she could make at a whim. It was not my friends'  favorite, a point she happily ignored, because it was too marketplace.

Nostalgia  made me do this, but what I had in mind was the type sold at Bengawan Solo ( kueh bengka ubi )  and nowhere near as colorful as this. I have never intended the end product to look like this.  But when I discovered that I was running short of tapioca, I used the lone sweet potato lurking in the dark recess of the fridge  to make up for the shortfall. Then, I selected the wrong   grating plate for the processor  and what ended was this colorful gritty-looking cake with plenty of bite. It just goes to show that there are mistakes and then there are happy mistakes.

What's worth celebrating was that the folks at home who would have nothing to do with tapioca actually helped me finish this cake . Now, that's  cause for celebration.

Ingredients :

1 egg

150g fine sugar ( 120 g for a less sweet version,  but a much less sweeter version will reveal the bitterness of the  tapioca )

Pinch salt

300g grated tapioca, finely grated

80g orange sweet potato, finely grated

200ml coconut milk

50ml water

4 pandan leaves, bruised and intact

In a big mixing bowl, mix all the ingredients ,including  pandan leaves.

Remove leaves and transfer the ingredients to a lined / non stick pan, 7 inches.

Bake at 170C for 30-40 minutes until top is caramelised.

Cool tapioca cake in its tray.

Lift cake from tray and remove parchment.

Cool further on a rack.

Serve hot or cold.

Ondeh Ondeh, sweet potato poppers

Off green ondeh ondeh because the sweet potato was orange to start with.

' Ondeh ondeh : A Malaysian  snack, similar to a sweet potato popper, encased with palm sugar. It looks like a green fur ball dusted with grated coconut and is terribly addictive.'

Ever since a sweet potato was found lurking in the fridge, the idea of making ondeh ondeh gripped me. For an entire week, I assembled my stash of pandan leaves,  gula melaka and  glutinous rice while valiantly warding off the urge to make a couple of tiny edible balls that requires so much work.

But after acquiescing  to my inner voice, out popped 12 lovely  ondeh ondeh, and better still, without the  heavy chewiness  of store bought ondehs.

Now, I only have two lingering questions :

Should it be an 'ondeh ondeh' or a 'ondeh ondeh'? If one such snack is 'ondeh ondeh' , will two be 'ondeh ondeh ondeh' or 'ondehs' ? Beats me!

Here's what I did to make 12 ondeh ondeh balls.

Adapted from <http://www.seasaltwithfood.com/2010/01/ondeh-ondeh-with-sweet-potatoes.html> .

Ingredients

250 g  sweet potato , steamed and mashed

1 Tbsp pandan juice extracted from ground up pandan leaves / 1 t pandan paste

75g glutinous rice flour

75 g Gula Melaka (palm sugar), 12 small cubes

75 g Grated Coconut

1 T water ( as needed )

A pinch of salt

Method

Microwave the potato, covered, for about 10-15 minutes, depending on size. When a skewer is able to pierce through the tuber, it is ready. Cool well.

Skin potato and  mash the potatoes in a potato riser.

Combine the sweet potato with glutinous rice flour  and pandan extract. Use water sparingly, if needed. Knead  to form a soft dough. The texture should be like playdoh. Rest the dough for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the grated coconut with a pinch of salt and microwave for about 1 minute. Let cool completely.

Bring a pot of water to boil. Make balls of  dough ( 12 portions in all )  and flatten centre with a finger .

Encase the balls  with palm sugar and roll to form a smooth ball.

Cook the ondeh ondeh in the boiling water. Ondeh  is ready when it floats  to  the surface. Let it bob in the boiling water for half a minute.

Remove balls with a slotted spoon. Shake off excess water.

 Roll the ondeh ondeh on the plate of  grated coconut and serve immediately.

Because of the coconut, it is preferable that you consume the ondeh ondeh on the same day.