Easily one of the most popular glutinous rice-based cakes.
Rice layer:
300 g glutinous rice, washed and soaked overnight
200 ml thin coconut milk (extracted from ? coconut)
3/4 tsp salt
1 pandan leaf, tied into a knot
Custard layer:
6 large pandan leaves (use 8 if leaves are small)
100 ml water
3 medium eggs (150 ml when cracked into a measuring cup)
180 ml coconut milk from ? coconut
150g white sugar
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp plain flour
Method :
1. Pick out any husks and foreign particles from the rice and wash
until water runs clear. Cover rice with fresh water and set aside
to soak overnight. Next day, rinse and drain rice.
2. Place rice in a shallow, round or square cake tin (18 - 20 cm
across). Mix salt and coconut milk and pour over rice. Bury the
pandan leaf in the rice and steam over rapidly boiling water for 20
minutes and taste a few grains for doneness. If not completely
cooked through (i.e. the rice still tastes gritty), steam for
another 10 minutes.
3. Once the rice is done, remove pandan leaves and fluff rice up
with a fork. Using a folded square of banana leaf or aluminium
foil, press the rice down (into the same container that you steamed
it in) to form an even, compact layer. Steam rice for another 15
minutes.
4. While the rice is steaming, make the custard layer: Pulverize
pandan and water in a blender until fine. Strain, squeezing the
pulp well with your fingers to extract juice (you should have 100
ml of pandan extract). Discard solids.
5. In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, coconut milk and sugar,
stirring well with a whisk until sugar dissolves, but don't beat.
You want to avoid a foamy mixture. Add the pandan juice, corn flour
and plain flour and stir well until smooth and lump-free.
6. Strain mixture into a metal bowl. Sit bowl over a pan of gently
simmering water. Stir continuously with a wooden spoon until
mixture starts to thicken to the consistency of say.. condensed
milk.Don't let it set!
7. Pour this over the rice layer. Steam about 25 minutes or until
completely set, being careful to keep the water in the steamer on a
gentle simmer. (This is something I have to constantly remind
myself about - if the cake is steamed over rapidly boiling water,
the top layer will set like a 3D model of a mountain range,
complete with hills and valleys - needless to say, rather
unattractive. Steaming it over gentle heat will result in a
beautifully flat top.)
8. Cool cake completely before cutting into neat square or
'diamond' shapes.