Not a Foochow Yam Kueh (O Kueh)

O is the Hokkien pronounciation for yam. Foochows call it Wor. Foochows eat their Yam (Wor) Kueh a whole piece pan fried. Normally, the kueh itself has meat, dried prawns and mushrooms and there will be no toppings.


Other dialects seem to take Yam Kueh, plain yam only with toppings. Hokkiens call them O Kueh. It's definitely one of my favourite kueh but we only like homemade ones. This is because the ones selling out there are so miserable I could hardly taste the O or anything else at all. It's all flour only! If i made mine, I would in all kiasu-ness combine the foochow and the none foochow way.


The Kueh:

400 to 450 gm of good bin lum yam, diced to small pieces
160 gm of rice flour
80 gm of tapioca flour
150 gm of mince meat (pork or chicken)
4-5 pcs of big dried shitake mushrooms, diced
20 gm of dried prawns, chopped finely
1 tbsp of salt
1 tbsp of sugar
1 tsp of pepper
850 to 900 gm of water

1) From the 850 gm of water, take say 1/4 to be cooked together with the yam. Cook for about 10 min and check. If the yam is cooked (you can break the pieces), stop cooking. Do not overcook yam. It is much nicer to have kuih with little pieces of yam to munch with.

2) In a large bowl, mix flours with sugar, pepper and salt. Add about 1/4 of the water. Stir well until there are no lumps. Set aside.

3) Cook dried prawns with some oil till fragrant. Add meat and mushrooms. Stir fry till fragrant. Add to yam mixture.

4) Add another 1/4 of water to the mixture. Stir till ingredients are combined and smooth. Add flour water mixture. Continue stirring. Then the last 1/4 of water. Cook and stir and if the bottom feels sticky, stop. Dish out onto an oiled 9 inch cake tin.

5) Steam over high fire for 20min. You can slice the Kuih and pan fry with a little oil and eat it as it is in the Foochow way. Slice only upon cooling.


Topping:
200gm of salted radish, washed. Taste to see if it is not too salty but please dont overwash, it will be bland
80 to 100 gm of dry prawns, chopped finely
1 tbsp of garlic, minced
1 tbsp of red shallot, minced
2 -3 stalks of spring onion, sliced finely
3-4 tbsp of oil


6) Heat oil. Stir fry dry prawns till fragrant. Dish out. Add radish to oil. Stir fry till fragrant. Add others and a little salt to taste. Add back the dry prawns. Dish the topping onto the cooked yam kueh immediately after the kueh comes out from the steamer. Press toppings gently with the back of spoon onto the kueh.

7) Cool before cutting. At least 3 hours. Serve.