wa ko kueh

A childhood favourite of mine…

In fact, many friends of my generation would remember this lovely cake. It is steamed rice cake, made from fermented rice and rice flour.

As a child, my sister and myself used to go to my maternal younger aunt’s home to stay overnight. It was one of the greatest highlights in my childhood, being able to stay overnight. I remember playing till later than usual, squeezing in with my cousins in their bed and “fighting” for the best pillow and bolster. I won, of course. I was the youngest of the lot, after all. Ha! The good part about being young is you win by default, especially if an adult is watching.

My absolute favourite part of staying over is, of course, the supper. After playing till we were all tired out, having a bath and resting, around 10pm, an uncle on a bicycle would come by the neighbourhood, hawking the most delicious steamed rice cakes. They would be piping hot and fragrant. My favourite, of course, were the pink coloured ones. 🙂 These beautiful soft steamed cakes are eaten with shredded coconut and orange sugar. I think they were selling at S$1 for 5. Those were the good old days when things were good and cheap.

Now, these cakes are not as easily found. One can still find some selling at bakeries or night markets, though I do not think they use the fermented rice method. Baking powder is used solely instead to keep costs low.

star design – got this while playing with small bits of leftover batter

This recipe is passed to me by my good friend R’s mum. R has told me not to let anyone else know, so I will not publish the recipe here. Instead, hop over to Y3K for a somewhat similar recipe. Don’t be daunted by the long waiting process. The end result of a soft fluffy fragrant cake is worth all the wait.