Khanom Chor Muang & Khanom Jeab Nok (Thai Steamed Flower & Bird Dumplings)

Recent months, I've been intrigued by Thai desserts, especially the traditional ones that are served to the Thai Royalty since ancient times. I had wanted to go to BKK to attend classes but couldn't find the time.

Then, last weekend I happened to be at northern Chonburi and took the opportunity to visit a Thai Traditional Dessert Cafe called Hom's House at the Bang Saen area. Totally fell in love with the cafe, as well as the desserts served there!

My desire to make these intricate and pretty looking desserts was so strong and after watching several YouTube videos and researching in online recipes, I thought I would start with this Khanom Chor Muang as out of all the desserts I tried, I love this the most, as it's both sweet and savoury. It's basically a chicken dumpling but palm sugar is added to the chicken filling so it's sweet. I thought it's more apt as an appetiser but the Thais categorised it as a dessert.

Anyways, bought ingredients, tools and even similar serve ware (as the cafe) and this whole week I'm basically eating and breathing Chor Muang!! LOL!!

Proudly presenting my Khanom Chor Muang which is Thai Steamed Flower Dumplings and Khanom Jeab Nok which is Bird Dumplings. For the flower dumpling, anchan or butterfly bluepea flower is used as colouring; I wanted to get a pink flower so used beetroot but the colour turned out white -_-

A crimping tool (the thais call it Chor Muang tweezer) is used to shape the flower petals, yes petal by petal. It's quite therapeutic I must say. The Bird is much harder to shape and crimp!

All in all, I made three batches (five actually but threw out two - problems with cooking the dough and a particular recipe). So why three? The first batch (above picture), I used beetroot to colour the flowers pink but they turned out white. In addition, the texture of the dumpling is slightly different from what I ate, it's a bit hard and less soft and chewy.

The second batch (below picture), I intensified the beetroot water and the colour turned out more visible but it's more orangey than pink -__-. I also experimented with a different flour to try to get better texture but failed.

As for the third & final batch (same picture below - in blue), I changed the proportion of the flours used and hey, the texture turned out slightly closer to the one I tried! Yippeee! In addition, I used another crimping tweezer to create a different flower. Can see the difference? There are 2 videos below that show both crimping.

Anyways, I'm pleased that I managed to make this dessert! It's definitely not 100% yet, but I'm satisfied for now. Hopefully will make more improvements along the way. Let me rest from Chor Muang for some time first :p

Here's sharing my process of making Chor Muang. Like I said, this is not a perfect recipe yet yah. The full recipe will be after the brief explanations.

First step, cooking the chicken filling. Ingredients are simple, minced chicken, onion, coriander root, garlic, palm sugar, salt, white pepper, fish sauce and oil.

First of all, pound the coriander root with garlic and white pepper into a paste. In a frying pan, add the cooking oil, saute the paste till fragrant, then add onion and chicken. Finally season with palm sugar, fish sauce and salt (to taste). The filling shouldn't be too wet else difficult to wrap into the dough later.

Second step, will be the dough. Ingredients include rice flour, tapioca starch, arrowroot starch (or mung bean starch), glutinous rice flour, coconut milk, water (which can be coloured according to preference).

I use butterfly bluepea flower for blue, beetroot for pink and just water for white (the bird).

Mix all the ingredients together to form a runny batter. If necessary use your hand to do the mixing as there might be bits of undissolved flour. Alternatively, sieve the batter after mixing. I use my hand LOL!

Next comes the cooking of the batter into dough. Pour the batter into a COLD, NON-STICK pan, it's important! If the pan is hot, it will cook the batter to a rubbery dough (yes I tried it, it's one of a batch I threw out). Cook the batter using low heat (I'm using electric induction cooker, temperature is 60 degree celsius), stir constantly. It will get thicker and sticky and eventually come together in a dough. It took around 8-10 mins per batch colour. Non-stick pan is very useful here, makes it easier to cook the dough. And the pan is clean after each batch, no need to clean the pan between batches.

Now, the dough will still be very sticky, sprinkle some tapioca starch on a mat and knead the dough till smooth and not so sticky (it will still be a little tacky like soft play dough, when pull apart it stretches a little). Basically the dough will be slightly hot to touch initially and knead till it's barely warm.

Third step, wrapping the filling into the dough and crimp into shape! Please refer to the pictures below and a short video on the steps. Each dough ball is around 10.5g-11g. Filling is about half teaspoon.

For this particular flower design, the crimping tweezer is like a leaf shape. A bit tough initially, but after practising a few, it became manageable. Remember to dust with some tapioca starch in between crimps, otherwise the dough will stick onto the tweezer.

Fourth and final step, steaming the dumplings. Prepare a steamer on medium high heat. Place a banana leaf onto the steamer, brush with some cooking oil to prevent the dumplings from sticking to the leaf. Place the dumplings onto the leaf, using a spray bottle to spray some water onto the dumplings to prevent them from drying. Steam for 10 mins, after they are done, brush the surface of the dumplings with oil to give a little shine and prevent them from drying. 

Here are the before steaming pictures of the "pink" flower and the birdies, so cute right? But seriously they look nice but difficult to shape and too much dough :p

Yep, the "pink" flowers became white.

 

And so I made a second batch! For the first batch, I merely soak cubes of beetroot into cold water, probably that's why the colour wasn't intensed enough. This batch, I blended the beetroot and soak it in hot water for a longer amount of time. The colour turned out much better and I was quite happy!

 

BUT, after steaming, the colour turned out orangey rather than pink pink! Oh well -_- maybe next time try another type of natural colour or just use food colouring? Hmmm....

For the second batch, I also replaced arrowroot starch with mung bean starch to see if the texture of the dumpling would improve. Nope, didn't make much difference. 

And so I made my third batch! Increased the amount of tapioca starch and reduced rice flour, and also used a different crimping tweezer, which is more squarish shape. Below is another video of how the crimping looks like.

 

Hope that the explanations above are useful! Here's the full recipe.

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Khanom Chor Muang ~ Thai Steamed Flower Dumpling

(each batch of dough weighs about 130g, makes 11-12 flower dumplings or 8-9 bird dumplings )

(A) Chicken Filling (enough to make 3 batches of dumplings)

• 150g chicken thigh, minced
• 70g onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1-2 coriander root
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• 25g palm sugar
• 1.5-2 tbsp fish sauce, to taste
• Pinch salt, to taste
• 2 tsp cooking oil

1. Pound the garlic, coriander root and white pepper into a paste.
2. In a frying pan, add cooking oil on medium heat.
3. Add paste (from 1) and saute till fragrant. 
4. Add onion and fry till slightly translucent.
5. Add minced chicken and fry till cooked. Use spatula and break up the minced chicken into smaller pieces during frying.
6. Season with palm sugar, fish sauce and salt, to taste.
7. If filling is too wet, turn up heat and simmer till sauce dries up. The filling is just a little moist.
8. Dish and set aside.

(B) Dough (quantity is for one batch, repeat to get 3 batches)

• 1/4 cup rice flour
• 2 tbsp tapioca starch
• 2 tsp arrowroot starch or mung bean starch
• 2 tsp glutinous rice flour
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 2 tbsp butterfly bluepea water or beetroot water or just water
• Butterfly pea flower water - soak 10g bluepea flower in 50g hot water for at least 30 mins.
• Beetroot water - blend 15-20g beetroot and soak in 50g hot water for at least 30 mins.

1.  Mix the 4 types of flour/starch together.
2. Add coconut milk and mix well till no bits of flour.
3. Add bluepea water/beetroot water/water and mix well.
4. Sieve the batter to get rid of fine bits of flour (or use hand to mix the batter).
5. Add the batter into COLD frying pan on very low heat. Stir the batter till it thickens and eventually comes together into a dough. Each batch takes 8-10 mins. Repeat for 3 batches. The dough will be sticky.
6. Sprinkle tapicoa starch onto a mat, knead the dough till barely warm, and texture less sticky.
7. Dough weight is around 125-130g. *For the flower dumpling, divide dough into 11-12 pcs, each piece around 10.5g to 11g. For the bird dumpling, divide dough into 8-9 pcs, each around 14-15g)
8. Shape dough to circle/bowl, scoop half teaspoon of chicken filling into the centre, close up the dough and roll into a ball. *for the bird dumpling, after closing the dough, pinch some excess dough to form the head and neck of the bird.
9. Use crimping tweezer to crimp the ball into flowers. *For the bird, crimp lines for the bird's body. 
10. For the bird's beak, cut carrot into small triangles and stick the carrot into the head. For the eyes, stick black sesame seeds.
11. Prepare a steamer on high heat, place banana leaves into the steamer. Once water boils, brush the banana leaves with oil and place the dumplings onto the leaves. Spray the dumplings with water.
12. Steam the dumplings for 10 mins. Once done, brush the surface of the dumplings with some oil.
13. Scoop the dumplings into serving plate and serve with fried garlic, lettuce, coriander and chilli.
14. Best eaten warm and on the same day.

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Hope the recipe and videos would be useful! Below are more food porn LOL!

Enjoy!

It has been an exciting week for me to make these dumplings. Hope to find time to attempt more Thai desserts, stay tuned!

Honey Ginger Lime Granita

The weather continues to be unbearable hot and I find myself craving for icy cold desserts all the time!

This icy treat is actually inspired by a ginger lime granita welcome dessert served to guests at my favourite hotel in Melaka. It usually takes about 3 plus hours including traffic jam into Melaka old town area and by the time we finally reach the hotel, I would be feeling nausea and uncomfortable, so I really look forward to enjoying it every time!

The ginger always soothes my queasiness and discomfort and the tangy lime is totally refreshing. Therefore I would miss this granita from time to time (and it's also one of the reasons why I always choose to stay in that particular hotel :p)

It never dawn on me that I could actually make this icy dessert easily at home until recently. Silly me!

Instead of using sugar to make the granita, I used Huiji Honey which is made of  pure natural raw honey and is more nutritious and healthier form of sweetener.

Initially I was thinking of making a sorbet, but granita is more fuss-free, with minimum equipment needed. Moreover, I love eating crush ice, more than the smoother texture of sorbet :p

Ingredients are really simple, ginger, water, honey and large lime.
Simply boil sliced ginger in water, let the ginger water cool down before adding honey and lime juice to taste. I also added some lime zest to enhance the fragrance of the granita.

Then pour the mixture into a shallow tray and place the tray into the freezer for 30 mins. After 30 mins, remove tray from freezer; part of the mixture would be slightly frozen, use a fork to rake the ice. Place tray back to freezer and wait for another 30 mins, repeat the same steps. Do this at least 3-4 times and you'll get a nice tray of granita. Yes, it's that easy. No machine or simple utensils required.

Honey Ginger Lime Granita
makes 2 trays (tray is 30cmx18cm), about 2 packed cups (500ml) of granita

• 3 cups water
• 50-70g ginger

1. Wash and cut ginger into thin slices and add them into a pot with water.
2. Boil for the ginger water for about 20-30 mins.
3. Let the ginger water cool down before use.
*Quantity of ginger depends on individual, whether wish to have stronger/more spicy taste of ginger.

• 1 cup ginger water
• 60-70g honey, to taste
• Juice & zest of 1/2 large lime

1. Add honey, juice and zest of lime to the ginger water. Mix well.
2. Pour mixture into shallow tray and place tray into freezer for 30 mins.
3. After 30 mins, remove tray from freezer. Some parts of the mixture would be slightly frozen. Use a fork to rake all the frozen mixture.
4. Place tray back into the freezer for another 30 mins. Then repeat step 3.
5. Repeat the freeze-and-rake at least 3-4 times and granita is ready.

I love how the granita turns out! The mellow sweetness of the honey will hit you first, follow immediately by the tangy lime and finally the spicy ginger which will linger in the mouth for a while.

What a cool treat! This is especially good when I have too much food and feeling some indigestion. Or when afternoons are too hot and I need something to freshen up. I'm surprised that the HB loves it as well because he usually dislikes ginger taste.

I'm already thinking of making other flavours of granita, like honey pandan lemongrass, honey mint watermelon and more!

Give it a try and keep chilling =D

Shibuya Honey Toast

Shibuya Honey Toast used to be the "in" dessert a few years back. I first tried it at After You Cafe in Bangkok in 2011, it was super popular then and I had to queue around 20 mins in order to get a seat in the cafe! The one I had was a simpler version with a thick slab of bread toasted till golden brown and topped with ice-cream, whipped cream and drizzled with honey.

There are even more elaborated ones where a whole square block of sandwich loaf is hollowed in the centre and the removed cube of bread cut into small cubes. Next the hollowed loaf and bread cubes are generously buttered and toasted till golden brown and crunchy. The bread cubes are added back to the hole along with some fruits. The toast is decorated with ice-cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, assorted fruits, nuts and finally a drizzle of honey.

I guess it's popular because the dessert looks virtually appealing with all the ingredients added, what youngsters call "IG-worthy" or "Instagrammable". LOL. Well, for me, it's a sugar & carbo-bomb but I do crave for it once in a while.

When Singapore Home Cooks and Huiji Honey once again approached me for a collaboration to create dishes using Huiji Honey, I immediately thought of Shibuya Honey Toast :)

I decided to make a "over-the-top" Shibuya Honey Toast, with honey introduced to various components of the toast. I have Honey Buttermilk Loaf Bread, Honey & Vanilla Bean Ice-cream, Honeycomb as well as Honey Dark Chocolate Sauce!!

Basically honey is the sweetener instead of sugar which I suppose is better since honey is more healthy and nutritious with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. And Huiji honey is made from pure natural raw honey with a light jasmine flower scent :)

Since it's school holidays, I created a "picnic-at-home" with the kiddo and we had great fun digging into the toast and making a whole mess using our fingers.

Actually making Shibuya Honey Toast is not difficult; essentially it's an assembling job, combining the various components together and can be as simple or as elaborate as you like it. Most of the ingredients can in fact be store-bought rather than homemade, but this time I chose to DIY the whole thing just for fun.

This is a simple 4-ingredient ice-cream without use of ice-cream machine (I don't have one at home as our household eats very little ice-cream). Hot honey is used to temper the raw egg yolks (hence the yolks are not fully cooked per se), so for those uncomfortable with it, please use pasteurized eggs.

Honey Vanilla Bean Ice-Cream

• 200g dairy whipping cream
• 2 egg yolks (pasteurized)
• 75g honey
• 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste

1. Add egg yolks into a mixing bowl, whisk the yolk on medium low speed for a minute.
2. Add honey into a sauce pot (preferably with spout), bring to boil.
3. Once the honey is boiled, pour the honey in a steady stream into the whisked yolks. Whisk till the mixture is creamy and pale, and cooled to room temperature, around 5 mins.
4. Add vanilla bean and mix well for a minute.
5. In another mixing bowl, whisk the whipping cream on high speed till stiff peak.
6. Fold the whipped cream into the yolk mixture until blended.
7. Pour the batter into a loaf pan. Cover with clingwrap.
8. Freeze overnight and ice-cream is ready.

The ice-cream turned out very nicely, not as creamy as those churned by ice-cream but good enough for me :) Love the subtle taste and aroma of honey which is accentuated by the addition of vanilla bean paste.

I love to munch on honeycomb! Use to eat a lot of Cadbury Crunchie which is chocolate coated honeycomb bar when I was a teenager :p

Making honeycomb at home is in fact very simple, but you do need a candy thermometer as the syrup needs to be heated to 150 degree celsius. Most recipes use very little honey in making the honeycomb, mostly sugar and golden syrup or light corn syrup. I decided to replace all the corn syrup with honey so that the taste of honey can be enhanced. Sugar is still an essential ingredient though I tried to reduce the amount.


Homemade Honeycomb

• 100g sugar
• 60g honey
• 1.5 tsp baking soda
• 30g water

1. Add sugar, honey and water into a sauce pot, do not stir the mixture, bring the mixture to boil till 150 degree celsius.
2. Upon reaching 150 degree celsius, remove from heat, add baking soda and stir quickly for10s.
3. Pour the mixture onto a tray lined with non-stick parchment/baking paper.
4. Let the honeycomb mixture cool down and harden for about 20-30 mins.
5. Cut or break the honeycomb into pieces. Store in airtight container.

After pouring the honeycomb mixture onto the lined tray, do not touch it just let it spread out by itself. I made the mistake of using a spatula to smoothen the mixture but it became messy and you can see some pockmarks created as a result.

The honeycomb hardens quite quickly in less than 30 mins, but they tend to turn soft and sticky if left exposed in room temperature due to our humid weather. So be sure to store them in airtight container.

Honey Dark Chocolate Sauce

• 50g dark chocolate
• 50g whipping cream
• 1 tbsp honey

1. Add whipping cream and honey into a heatproof container and set the container over boiling water.
2. Heat the mixture till honey is melted and cream is hot to touch.
3. Pour the mixture into the bowl of dark chocolate and stir to melt the chocolate.
4. Chocolate sauce is ready to be used.

Love the dark chocolate sauce with an undertone of honey, and the honeycomb tasted even better with the sauce! Couldn't stop munching already :p

And now for the main star, the honey buttermilk loaf bread! Have made this a few times in order to adjust the quantity of dough to the loaf tins I have. Really pleased with the results of the bread which is soft and fluffy, even till the next day or the day after. Try to finish up the loaf before third day because no preservatives added and the bread will turn moldy quickly. I always prefer making small loaves of bread so that they can be finished within two days.

Honey Buttermilk Bread


9"x9" loaf tin                       12"x12" loaf tin
1.5 tsp warm water                1 tbsp warm water
1/2 tsp instant dry yeast          1 tsp instant dry yeast
80g fresh milk                         160g fresh milk
1 tsp lemon juice                     2 tsp lemon juice
115g bread flour                     230g bread flour
10g cake flour                        10g cake flour
1/4 tsp salt                             1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda                1/4 tsp baking soda
20g honey                               40g honey
10g unsalted butter                  20g unsalted butter, room temperature


1. Mix warm water and yeast together, set aside for a few minutes till mixture is foamy.
2. Mix fresh milk and lemon juice together, set aside for a few minutes till mixture is cuddled (turns into buttermilk).
3. In a mixing bowl, add bread flour, cake flour, salt and baking soda and stir to mix well.
4. Add the yeast mixture, buttermilk mixture and honey. Knead the mixture using a dough hook on low speed till everything comes together. Turn to medium low speed (speed 4).
5. Once gluten is formed, add in butter and continue to knead until dough is smooth and elastic (window pane stage). It takes around 12-15 mins on speed 4 of KitchenAid.
6. Remove dough from bowl and round it. Grease the bowl and place the dough back. Cover with clingwrap and let the dough proof till double-size (takes around 45-60 mins).

7. Remove dough from mixing bowl, lightly knead to remove the air.

8. Use a rolling pin and roll the dough roughly into square shape.

9. Fold both sides of the dough into the centre.

10. Roll up the dough and pinch to seal the ends.

*weight of dough for 9" loaf tin is about 240g
*weight of dough for 12" loaf tin is about 480g

11. Place the dough into a well-greased (with butter) square loaf tin.
12. Cover the loaf tin and let the dough proof for second time, till about 80% height of tin (takes around 30-45 mins).
13. Preheat oven to 200 degree celsius.
14. Once ready, place the loaf tin into the preheated oven. Bake at 200 degree celsius for 30 mins.
15. Remove the loaf tin from the oven, and unmould the loaf from the tin immediately. Let the loaf cool on a wire rack completely.
 

Shibuya Honey Toast

• 2 square sandwich loaves
• 50g salted butter
• 1 tbsp honey
• Assorted fruits (I use banana, cherry, blueberry)
• Honey ice-cream
• Honeycomb
• Honey Dark Chocolate Sauce
• Honey

1. Slice off the top crust of the loaf.
2. Carve out a square in the middle of the sandwich loaf, leaving about 1cm around the edges including the bottom.
3. Insert blade near the bottom (likewise leaving 1cm allowance) of one side of the sandwich loaf.
4. Gently remove the the sandwich cube from the loaf.

5. Cut the sandwich cube into smaller cubes.

6. Melt 50g salted butter with 1 tbsp honey. Preheat oven at 180 degree celsius.

7. Place the bread cubes and loaf onto a baking tray.

8. Brush the small cubes of bread and the entire loaf (including the insides) with honey butter.

9. Bake the bread cubes and loaf at 180 degree celsius for 15 mins.

10. Remove from oven, let the bread cool completely before use.

11. Add a layer of bread cubes into the hollow loaf, add some sliced bananas and top with another layer of bread cubes.

12. Decorate the toast with honeycomb, honey vanilla ice-cream and fruits. Drizzle honey chocolate sauce and honey.

13. Enjoy!

So here we have it, my petite Shibuya Honey Toast.

And the regular size Shibuya Honey Toast!

I made two loaves of Shibuya Honey Toast this time, one regular and one petite so that both of us can have one each. But truth is we couldn't finish them as they are simply too much ingredients. Truly over-the-top :p

This can be a fun parent-and-child project at home, getting the kids to help out in decorating the toast and afterwards eating it together! Give it a try and I'm sure the kids will love it :)

Steamed Red Date Huiji Layer Cake 养生养颜红枣汇集千层糕

Check out my other dishes created with Huiji Waist Tonic:

Fresh Huaishan and Eryngii Mushroom in Huiji Sauce 汇集鲜淮山杏鮑菇

Stir-fry Pork & Kidney in Huiji sauce 汇集炒猪肉猪腰


I was introduced to the Steamed Red Date Layer Cake 红枣千层糕 in Hong Kong by the HB who had tried it during a previous business trip. Apparently it's quite a popular dessert in Hong Kong and usually sold in Dim Sum restaurants. We both love the chewy texture of the cake which bears a resemblance to the local Kueh Lapis Sagu or Nian Gao but made using red dates. This steamed cake is not common in Singapore and so far I only found it at Tai Cheong Bakery, Holland Village. So as usual, I decided I must try to make this at home, adding it to my long-list of to-makes (since more than a year ago) :p.

Been procrastinating until recently where I was offered a complimentary bottle of Huiji Waist Tonic 汇集补腰精 and try to introduce it to any cooking/baking dishes. I've heard about Huiji Waist Tonic, supposedly good for strengthening the body and waist, as well as invigorate vital energy and blood, but have never drank it before because I thought I don't need any health tonics :p But I guess age is catching up and I ought to start maintaining my physique!

I learnt that Huiji is made with 6 different kinds of premium-quality herbs: Cordyceps, Ginseng, Du Zhong, Dang Gui, Shou Wu and Da Zao with no alcohol content, added sugar, honey or thickening agents, even suitable for vegetarians. Other than drinking it directly, it is also suitable for cooking as an alternative to actual herbs. After researching on the internet, I was surprised to see that this tonic is already widely used in many dishes/recipes.

In terms of taste, Huiji is bittersweet with strong hints of tonic aroma. I guess it depends on individual preference; the HB and kiddo don't like to drink it neat because of the tonic taste but I'm ok with it. And so I decided to introduce it subtly to the red date cake because I thought the combination would work well with each other. In fact, Da Zao (Chinese Date, Fructus Jujubae, 大枣) is already a key ingredients in Huiji. Da Zao or Hong Zao (Red date) itself is a superfood which is packed with nutrients and vitamins with a host of benefits such as maintaining youthful looking skin, as well as great for nourishment especially for ladies. Most of the time I use red date when cooking soups, or in desserts like Cheng Tng, but using it as an ingredient in cake is a first (not counting medjool dates which I use for sticky date bundt cake).
 

The red date cake is typically steamed layer by layer to increase its chewiness and also because of aesthetic I guess. I decided to make it 7 layers, with 4 layers of original red date cake and 3 layers added with Huiji.

In terms of preparation, it's a bit time consuming but actually recipe itself is fairly straightforward.

First of all, boil the red dates in water for 30 mins and let it cool down for 1-2hrs.
Next, mash and strain the cooked dates to extract the red date juice.
This step can be prepared a day in advance.

Ingredients include red date juice, red date sugar (can be found at NTUC Finest or Cold Storage, or replace with brown or red sugar), mixture of tapioca starch, glutinous rice flour and water chestnut flour and Huiji Waist Tonic.

Melt the red date sugar in the red date juice and let the mixture cool completely before use. This is important as hot mixture will "cook" the flours instead of dissolving them. *I didn't add all the red date sugar shown in the picture, but to taste (used about half portion only).

Add the red date juice gradually to the flour mixture, and stir till the flours has dissolve. Strain the batter to get smoother texture. The red date batter is ready for use.

Take out a portion of the red date batter and add Huiji Waist Tonic.

Oil a 7" square baking pan and place it inside a steamer. Bring water to boil on medium high heat. Add the red date batter for the first layer, steam for 8 mins, follow by Huiji layer for another 8 mins. Continue until all batter used up. There should be 4 layers of red date and 3 layers of Huiji red date. After adding the last layer, steam the whole cake for another 40 mins.

Let the cake cool down completely before unmoulding. It's still very soft and difficult to unmould and cut neatly. So if wish to get neat cuts, chill the whole pan in the fridge till firm. To cut the cake, oil the knife as the cake is quite sticky.

*I reserve a bit of red date batter to make a mini cake so that the HB can try the original taste without the Huiji.

Steamed Red Date Huiji Layer Cake 养生养颜红枣汇集千层糕
(makes one 7" square 7 layer cake)

Ingredients

• 400g pitted red dates, halved
• 1.25L (about 5 cups) water
• 70g red date sugar or red/brown sugar (less sweet version, to taste)
• 240g tapioca starch
• 60g glutinous rice flour
• 30g water chestnut flour
• 120ml water (more or less, as necessary)
• 50ml Huiji Waist Tonic

Steps

1. Rinse and drain the red dates,  place them in a pot, add 1.25L water and bring to boil. Boil for 30 mins, then let the red date water mixture cool down for 1-2hrs.
2. Mash the cooked red dates and sieve to extract the juice, which is about 480ml (could be more or less, depends on type/quality of red dates).
3. Pour the juice into a pot, top up additional water (120ml, could be more or less) to bring total amount of liquid to about 600ml, add the red date sugar and bring to boil till sugar is melted. Set aside and let the red date juice cool down completely.
4. Place the tapioca, glutinous rice and water chestnut flours into a large mixing bowl and stir well to mix. Add the red date juice gradually and stir till all the flour is melted.
5. The batter comes up to be around 750ml. Take out about 150ml, add Huiji Waist Tonic, stir well to mix. Now there are 2 portions, about 600ml of red date batter and 200ml Huiji red date batter.
6. Oil a 7" square baking pan and place the pan inside a steamer. Bring water to boil on medium high heat.
7. Pour about 140-150ml of red date batter into the pan, steam for 8mins, follow by 60-70ml of Huiji red date batter, steam for 8 mins. Continue until all batter used up, there will be 4 layers of red date batter and 3 layers of Huiji red date batter. After last layer is added, steam the cake for about 40-45 mins.
8. After steaming, let the cake cool completely before unmoulding.
9. Cut the layer cake into bite size pieces and serve.

*Amount of sugar has been reduced for this recipe, feel free to adjust according to taste (red date also has natural sweetness). The red date juice may taste quite sweet at first, but after adding the flour mixture, it's balanced out.
*After the cake is cooled from steaming, it will still be very soft and difficult to cut neatly. For ease of cutting and serving, it's best to let the cake chill in the fridge till firm. To serve, steam the slices for 5-8 mins.
*The cake is quite sticky, to get neat cuts, oil the knife after each slice.

I love how this Red Date Huiji Layer cake turns out :) The texture is bouncy and chewy (what we call QQ). Just the right amount of sweetness, with distinct taste and fragrance of red date and undertone of Huiji tonic.

I let the HB try the mini red date cake first and he gave thumbs up saying that it's exactly the same as what we've eaten in HK! Then he tried the version with Huiji and said it was nice as well; overall the taste was quite balanced without overwhelming tonic taste. The kiddo who is super picky and would gagged at the taste of tonic ate it without fuss and also gave thumbs up =D

Really pleased that I can now have my dessert which tastes yummy and nourishing at the same time! This recipe is certainly a keeper for me :)