Kuih Kasui

It's been a long time since I last put up a recipe. It's not that I have not been cooking - I have been cooking quite a bit lately - but it's because of the orders I get.

Yes, I have been doing some catering (with a friend) lately and have been taking orders too for my baking!

How exciting is that? :)

Well, very, very exciting - for me, at least.

Due to the nature of the business, I am more inclined to cook more Malaysian flavours nowadays - my friend is an expert in Beriyani Johor so I guess that is our speciality at the mo, but we also cook all sorts of stuff so anyone out there who may be interested in our catering, big or small, feel free to contact me via this blog or email!

That's my bit of advertising done.

I know that some people may think that one shouldn't share recipes if one is in the food business but I believe that all beneficial knowledge should be shared and spread around...after all, all this knowledge is from Allah and it won't be any use to any of us in the hereafter right? On the contrary, lagi banyak dapat pahala if we share our knowledge together, I think... :)

So here's my Kuih Kasui recipe for you to try.

The recipe originally came from an aunt who is a connoisseur of malay foods but I have tinkered with it a little as her recipe was not exact , as normally old recipes are and I think the result is pretty good.

The trick for the kasui is to make sure the batter is not thick AT ALL. Otherwise the kuih will be pretty hard and tak sedap.

Here's the recipe:

1.5 cups plain flour
1.5 cups rice flour
0.5 cup tapioca flour/ tepung sagu
0.25 cup sugar
2.5 cups water
1 Tbs lye water/ air kapur/ alkaline water

*1 cup brown sugar/ gula melaka
*2 cups water

Boil * until dissolved and leave to cool.

In a medium size bowl, mix all the other ingredients, blend well (in a blender or just use a whisk, which I did). Add the cooled sugar mixture, mix well and sieve into another bowl. Let rest for half an hour.

Heat up the steamer. Make sure your apam moulds are oiled lightly before pouring the batter into them so that the kuih will be easy to take out. Pour the batter into the moulds using a measuring cup - it's easier that way. Cook for about 20-25 minutes.

If you use a tin, you have to wait for the kasui to cool before cutting it I think. But if the mould is used, you can straight away use a knife/ spoon to scoop it out really, without ruining the kuih much.

Don't forget the coconut on top. That should be steamed too for about 10-15 minutes (to make it last longer) with a little bit of salt. If you use dessicated coconut, steaming is a very good way to soften the coconut bits and transform it into something similar to freshly grated coconut.

Good luck!

One more thing I bought..

Got these books too at that car boot sale where we bought Zoyot (see entry below). Bought the whole lot for £5, which makes each one about 20p.

They're a collection of Enid Blyton's Secret Seven and Famous Five books - not the complete set but I think they were a bargain indeed - considering they were the early editions and they are in pretty good condition!

I would have been in absolute ecstasy if I were to be given these a few decades ago. But at my age, I still had a wide grin on my face when I bagged these books off the seller.

Now, I'm hoping to transfer some of my happiness to Big H - he is slowly beginning to read the first of the Secret Seven books, albeit with a pencil and a paper beside him to write those words he could not understand...

Dearest Yoyot...

Yoyot during one of his surgeries.

For those of you who know my family or myself in person, you may know about Big H's cuddly toy, Yoyot (named after a doll (Yoyotte) in the lovely French film 'Ponette').

Yoyot has been with us since Big H's first birthday when I gave him the cuddly toy monkey as a birthday present. I myself fell in love with the monkey when I first saw it at Toys 'R' Us at Mid Valley nearly 7 years ago hence the reason why I bought it for Big H.

Little did I know that Big H would be so attached to it that he can't go to sleep without his Yoyot - even now!

So Yoyot, from the fluffy and cuddly soft toy that he was, is now a limp and sickly looking monkey which has undergone a few 'surgeries' on my operating table when I mended a torn tail or arm or fixed a 'dislocated' filling due to too many times in the washing machine and due to being thrown here and there, pulled, grabbed and jumped on - as young boys normally play with their toys, no matter how much they love them.

Some parents may be concerned about their kids being too attached to a certain item e.g. a blanket, a doll, a pillow but I am not really worried about his attachment to Yoyot as he actually has slept without Yoyot before when we went for trips and sleepovers - to me it's not a big deal, he will grow out of it in his own time and that little monkey won't last for too long now anyway...

Yoyot and his new found brother Zoyot.

But yesterday when we went to a car boot sale at Chigwell, guess what we found? An exact replica of Yoyot, only a slightly darker colour and it appeared to be unused and brand new!

The man sold it to us for £1.50, from £2. I bought it because it was such a find - I actually did try to buy another 'Yoyot' a few years ago because his condition was getting worse and worse even then and I tak sampai hati nak buang without a replacement at that time - but I couldn't find the exact same one.

We did look around at quite a few places back in Malaysia so imagine my surprise when I found it sold in a car boot sale here in the UK!

As soon as I bought it though, I thought...perhaps I shouldn't have bought it after all...what if Big H is going to cuddle to sleep the new one now as an alternative or replacement for his old Yoyot? That will mean he will sleep with that new monkey for a few more years yet because it's still in very good condition!


But as I have found out, I really have nothing to fear, really.

Yoyot is Yoyot and nothing else can replace it, even another monkey that looks exactly the same!

From what I saw from yesterday and today, Big H doesn't really care for the new monkey - only Little H keeps on cuddling it, and if I know Little H, he's just doing it to be funny - that little one's interests range more from Legos to guns and robots so I'm not too worried about him cuddling the monkey for a few days.

Since the new monkey is now owned by Little H, I asked him what he wanted to name his new cuddly toy. He said;

"I know!"

"What?" I had asked.

"Let me whisper it to you..." - recently he has taken up this new 'thing' of whispering his thoughts to Mr S's or my ears.

"Ok..." I had said, bending low so that he could reach my ear.

"I want to name him 'Monkey'..!"

Hmm..

We ended up with the name Zoyot, which Mr S suggested and Little H quickly agreed upon. (Mr S first suggested Boyot for 'brown yoyot' but Little H didn't like it so much so he suggested the former pulak..)

Even though I think Zoyot won't be a long term fixture in Little H's life - I'm certainly going to take care of Zoyot as a reminder of how dear Yoyot used to be. He used to be so shiny, soft and cuddly and in fact, he was taller than Big H when we first bought him! I think I mostly wanted to buy Zoyot for myself, really..as a part of my own memories of my first born in his growing years.

Below are some old pics of Big H with Yoyot in various times and locations...:)

The boys melanyak my bed.

Just waking up from sleep..

With a family friend.

During a trip to Melaka.

On Ateh's sofa.

Bonus Wednesday

Just some pics taken last Wednesday when Mr S had some time off from work. Mr S was unwell actually but we dragged him to the park in the afternoon after picking up Big H from school because the weather was so lovely.

Big H is getting quite good at kicking and passing the ball.

Little H still has a lot to learn but enjoyed himself as well.

Big H doing a header.

Big H playing 'stick-ball' with Mr S (not in pic) - he's getting pretty good at catching and throwing too.

Intermission. Toilet too far away la... what to do?

A Tag - 8 Random Facts About Me

After a long break in receiving tags (perhaps because I've not done most of the tags forwarded to me?? Sorry guys..) I received one from Flowerin and D.

Without more yakking, here goes.
_________________________________________________________________________
1. I'm asthmatic.

2. I'm a worrier.

3. I'm pretty artistic - have some talent in drawing and painting.

4. I'm very particular about my facial skin.

5. I'm not very particular about brands.

6. I have lots of shoes, some are more expensive than others but mostly, they're cheap. However, I have only 1 handbag and it's normally expensive and of good quality - I will use it as long as I can - sampai koyak, basically.

7. I sometimes sleep with 1 knee to my chest - proven by a pic taken by Mr S while I was sleeping. Looks damn weird, I tell you.

8. I love jewellery. Gold, silver, gems, beads - whatever. I love them all.

_______________________________________________________________________________
Done! That was easy! Anyone want to do this one? Feel free to to do it if you feel like it. Am not tagging anyone.

Right. This tagging business over and done with (for now), I'm off to the kitchen to do something that you all know I like doing - cooking!

Oven Malady

When it's time to bake cupcakes or cakes, I will never use my fan assisted oven again.

An old pic taken while I was baking some cinnamon rolls - my fan assisted oven is the one lighted up, on the right side of the cooker.

Although it's supposed to be better - faster, better heat distribution etc. etc., I think the one I have in my kitchen has some sort of fan malfunction - the 'wind' generated from the fan is too strong that it actually blows my cake sideways!!

Look!

The one on the left was baked in my normal oven, the one on the right, using the fan assisted one.
Yikes!

Look at the right side of the bundt - you can see that it's clearly 'blown' by the over-working (or over-worked?) fan!

Annoying!

Now I can only use the fan assisted one to bake crumbles/ pies/ cookies/poultry i.e. for baking/roasting that don't 'rise'. Even then, it would be better for me to turn my baking around halfway through so that it bakes more evenly.

Hassle.

Thank God I have a second oven (see pic above: bottom left of my cooker) which is the normal (non-fan assisted) one that bakes fine.

But about that fan assisted one - anyone with the same problem? Or maybe someone can point out to me that I did something wrong?

Just For Me To Remember...

The boys will always want to join Mr S and I while we solat together, normally during Maghrib or Isya'.

While listening to Mr S reciting one of the surahs, I could hear Big H reciting as well but I could also hear Little H's whisper;

"I love you Allah, so so so so so so so so so MUCH!"

That made my mouth twitch a little during my prayers.

Later, after we had finished, I told the boys to doa (ask from God for whatever). Big H as usual, will just say Amin, amin, amin, when he sees that I'm saying my own doa.

But I heard Little H's doa, a quiet whisper, only just audible;

"Ya Allah..I want a skate board..."

*******


While putting on Little H's pajamas after his shower in the evening, this conversation ensued...

"Mama why don't I have to wear my spender at night?" asked Little H.

"Mmm..because you don't need to, do you...? No one's gonna see your bird-bird if your pajama pants accidentally comes off during the night...." (I deserve whatever I get after this answer..)

"But do YOU wear your spender, I mean, your panties at night, mama?" (I had told him that Mama doesn't wear 'spender' - mama is too kelass to wear such a thing u see he he he)

"Err..I do...."

"But why?.."

"Because...mmm..."

I was still thinking hard for a good answer when he said,

"Mama, make sure, tonight, you don't wear your spender, alright? Because you don't have to wear it..nobody will see..."

"Okay.." (splutters)..."I'll make sure I don't!!"


*******


I heard a conversation between Big H and Little H while they were in the toilet brushing their teeth...

Little H: When your tooth falls out, put it under your pillow and the Tooth Fairy will give you money..

Big H: Yes, but when Horrid Henry puts his tooth under his pillow.... etc. etc. (they were discussing Horrid Henry, a children's book character with a cartoon tv series as well based on the books.)

Mama (cutting in): Eh! There's no such thing as a tooth fairy lah...it's just a silly story...

Big H: But there IS a tooth fairy!!

Mama: Tak ada lah...(getting a little impatient..)

Big H: But Papa said HE is the tooth fairy!!

Mama: Oh.. betul lah tu..(after all their Papa is the only one who makes money and can give any money around here..so I guess Mr S is the family's tooth fairy!)