Sweet Rewards

Nonya cakes, or kueh-kueh, are traditionally a labour of love because of the meticulous preparation needed before cooking.

A fastidious Nonya like my mother would have spent afternoons picking out the broken rice grains so that her glutinous desserts would look perfect. Key ingredients for Nonya cakes, in addition to glutinous rice or rice flour, include coconut, pandan leaves, and gula melaka. In the past, many of the recipes required first and second santan (coconut milk).

The first was the extraction from squeezing grated coconut and water; while the second was a more diluted extraction obtained from using the same grated coconut and additional water. The flour was often derived from a lengthy process of soaking and rinsing rice grains and then grinding them using the granite mill (batu boh). The fermentation process also steered clear of baking soda, using traditional ingredients such as coconut water. The challenge, these days, is to replace age-old methods by substituting with time-saving methods and ingredients with the right precision so that the kueh remains the same in taste and texture.