Recipe: Appetizing Chwee Kueh (Water Cake)

Chwee Kueh (Water Cake). Learn how to make soft water cake topped with sweet and savory chai poh (preserved turnip) toppings and served with homemade spicy sambal sauce you will absolutely love. How to cook chwee kueh (water cakes) at home with a steamer or a microwave. These cakes are delicious with the generous amount of preserved Chwee kueh (水粿) literally translates to water cakes!

Chwee kueh is a popular breakfast item in Singapore and Johor. One of our local breakfast favourites, this is something that every Singaporean loves with a passion! Chwee Kueh literally means water cake. You can cook Chwee Kueh (Water Cake) using 16 ingredients and 7 steps. Here is how you achieve that.

Ingredients of Chwee Kueh (Water Cake)

1. It's of Chwee Kueh Batter.
2. It's 1 cup (150 g) of rice flour.
3. It's 1 tablespoon (15 g) of wheat flour.
4. You need 1 teaspoon of salt.
5. Prepare 1 1/2 cup (350 ml) of water.
6. You need 1 1/2 cup (350 ml) of boiling water.
7. It's of Chai Poh Topping.
8. Prepare 1 cup of chai poh (salted preserved turnip).
9. It's 1/2 cup of vegetable oil.
10. Prepare 8 of chopped shallots.
11. Prepare 1 tablespoon of minced garlic.
12. You need 1 tablespoon of minced dried shrimp.
13. It's 2 tablespoons of sugar.
14. It's 1 teaspoon of dark soy sauce.
15. It's 1/2 teaspoon of corn starch.
16. It's 3 tablespoons of water.

Put vinegar in boiling water in steamer so that the steamed chwee kueh will be white Chai Poh toppings can be prepared before hand and kept in the freezer for about a week. Chwee kueh should have a slight depression in the middle after it's steamed. That's the classic hallmark of chwee kueh. In fact, it's the water collected in the depression that gives chwee kueh its name, which means "water cake".

Chwee Kueh (Water Cake) instructions

1. FOR THE CHAI POH TOPPING ---Soak the chai poh in water, rinse and drain. But not too much so that it retains some saltiness..
2. Chop the dried shrimp, soak and drain. Mince the shallots and garlic..
3. Mix the corn starch with the water..
4. Heat up oil in wok. Fry the shallots, garlic and dried shrimp. Add the chai poh and fry till fragrant. Add caramel soya sauce, corn starch mix, salt and sugar..
5. FOR THE CHWEE KUEH BATTER --- Mix the rice flour, wheat flour, salt and water together. Once it's smooth, mix in the boiling water..
6. Heat up the steamer, oil the bowls. Making sure the batter is well mixed before pouring out into bowls and steaming for 20 minutes. (Afternote: fill a third to half of bowl so that final result is thinner and softer.).
7. Drain the excess water, and let the chwee kueh cool down before scooping it out and add the chai poh topping. Alternatively, you can also top it with curry chicken..

Where does the water come from? Chwee kueh batter is made with rice flour. But that alone would make a rather hard kueh. The amount of water in the batter is crucial to the success of chwee kueh. If the ratio of water to flour/starch is wrong, the steamed cakes will be too hard or too soft.

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