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| HEI TANG FAI GAO |
Read several articles on food ingredients and came across
one article on refined sugar. It is said
that refined sugar is not a healthy food ingredient and should be used
sparingly. It also states that the best
substitute is pure, natural sugar known as Jaggery Sugar [黑糖] . I did some searching on this and finally found out
that Jaggery sugar is actually Gula Merah which is a sugar ingredient I having been using for making kuih muih and some other sweet desserts not knowing it is jaggery sugar. I thought this is the same as brown sugar.
The definition I got for Jaggery Sugar Powder – it is a
natural sweetening substance made by concentrating sugar cane juice without any
preservatives or colouring added. It can
be used for brewing coffee, tea, chocolate drinks and preparing cakes, kuih,
syrups and desserts.
This steamed cake ‘huat kuih’ is made using jaggery sugar
and less refined sugar. I was happy to
see them smiling so beautifully. Next
time I will use 75-100% jaggery sugar for this kuih as I prefer not too sweet
desserts. These huat kuihs are soft and
moist after steaming and remains the same even on the next day. The sweetness is acceptable but I believe can
reduced the refined sugar portion to 1/3.
Ingredients
[makes 12 huat kuihs]
60 gm jaggery sugar [gula merah] + 60 gm caster sugar
240 ml hot water
250 gm plain flour + 4 tsp baking powder
50 ml corn oil or melted butter
12 small/medium papercup cases
- Stir both sugars in hot water until dissolved, then strained.
- Sieve plain flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl.
- Gradually, stir cooled syrup into flour. Mix until batter is smooth, then stir in the corn oil. Mix well.
- Transfer batter into a plastic bag, tied up, make a slit at one corner. Press batter into prepared paper cup cases until 90% full.
- Heat steamer over high heat, place batter in steaming tray and steam for 20 minutes [do not uncover steamer in between steaming].
- Remove and serve.
2 comments:
Kimmy, your huat kuehs are not just smiling, they are laughing with joy! I first came across jaggery sugar while looking for Indian recipes.
Hi Phong Hong, I must have been lucky to get these laughing kuihs without much effort. Sometimes, you are careful and follow the method to the T, yet can fail. These days, I'm trying to use more jaggery sugar. Today I baked banana bread with this sugar. Turned out satisfactory.
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