I’m not big on traditions and I don’t like to follow rules.
Society norm? *pfffftttt*
This lack of regard for conventional behaviour is what usually makes me stand out above the crowd, but it is also what gets me in trouble most of the time. This also carries over to my love of food.
Thus, it shouldn’t be a surprise to know that I’m not a fan of traditional cakes or desserts from Malaysia.
Yep. Don’t shoot me. It’s like a sin being Malaysian.
I don’t like kuehs (kuihs) and I don’t like soupy desserts (except Pulut Hitam).Β I don’t hate them. I just don’t like them enough in the food category sense to love them π
I’ll go to great lengths to not eat them. There was this one time, when I was visiting a friend’s home, where I had to politely accept a piece of kueh as her mother looked on. I took a bite into the kueh, exclaimed how lovely it was before she moved away. I next subtly hid it in my handbag to discard it later at home. The trick was to bide my time about it to avoid looking as if I wanted another piece.
It’s not all bad though and there is some semblance of hope, as I do love deep-fried things.
I’m a firm believer that once anything is deep-fried, it’ll be delicious!
Hence why I like curry puffs, deep-fried banana fritters, deep-fried prawn fritters and deep-fried sesame balls. These are probably the only type of traditional Malaysian kuehs which I love dearly.
The non-conventional type, because I’m a non-conventional type of girl.
The Boy knowing this has tried to force feed me kuehs by buying them and cooking them.
He’ll coax me and he’ll demand that I try a bite. In the end, it always has the same result. If it’s not deep-fried, there’s no making me eat it.
Which is why, he made me a modified version of the traditional Malay kueh known as blotok and he had to pull the hand brake on me before I finished the whole plate on my own π
Sweet Potato Puffs with Minced Lamb Recipe
(a modified version of Norzailina Nordin’s Blotok Recipe from the “Bite Size: A Collection of Traditional Malay Treats” cookbook)
Ingredients (Dough):
500g of Sweet Potatoes
250g (or more) of Plain Flour
Pinch of Salt
Ingredients (Filling):
250g of Minced Lamb
1 Brown Onion (finely diced)
2 Egg Yolks
1 tsp of Ground Cumin
1/4 tsp of Ground Black Pepper
Pinch of Salt
Canola Oil
Procedure:
Peel and cut sweet potatoes into chunks. Heat a pot of water and place sweet potatoes into the boiling water. Cook until tender.
Once cooked, drain and finely mash the sweet potatoes. Pass them through a fine mesh sieve to rid of any lumps. Place sweet potatoes aside to cool and dry out.
Heat a frying pan with 2 tablespoons of canola oil and add your onions. Lower the heat and let the onions sweat for 5-7 minutes. Cooking the onions on low heat helps to release its “sweetness”.
Increase to medium heat and add your minced lamb and ground cumin. Stir meat until it is cooked through.
Add the egg yolks, salt and pepper into the pan and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Remove filling from the pan and set aside to cool.
Make sure that your mashed sweet potatoes are dry to touch and completely cooled down. I find that the dough tends to be too “sticky” if the sweet potatoes are still warm and “wet”.
To prepare the dough, knead mashed sweet potatoes, plain flour and salt until you get a soft and smooth dough. Add a little more flour if needed, to get it to the right consistency.
Take a small portion (size of a small egg) of the dough and flatten it with a rolling pin.
Take a spoon of your filling and place it in the middle of the dough. Fold it into half and pinch the seams to close it. Similar to how you would shape a curry puff.
Heat a pot of cooking oil (or use a deep fryer) at 180Β Β°C (Celsius). Gently lower the puffs into the oil and deep fry them until it reaches a golden brown colour.
Drain on a wire rack or kitchen towel.
Serve while they are still hot. Dip them in ketchup, sweet chilli or hot chilli sauce. Sublime!
So what do you think my friends? Has he done well?
Also, do share with me your food dislikes and how you’ve circumvented eating it!
Waaaaaw, I like it π Thank you very much !
Hahahah! You are very welcome!
HAHA it’s true!! deep-frying stuff do make them taste better! π hmm.. i’m imagining this as a sweet dish! maybe lotus or red bean paste for fillings? yummmmm
Uhuh… even deep fried toffee apples! OH yeah.. you could make this into a sweet!
Omg I thought I was the only once since I’m only half Malaysian… I don’t like kuehs either or those soupy things… i love pulit hitam (with icecream) and ondeh ondeh but that’s probably about it π
Ahhhh I remmeber you saying ‘Blotok’ alot before you guys went home to make them. hehe they look freakin amazeballs!
x
Nopes! You are quite normal IMHO π I do like pulut hitam and only started to eat ondeh ondeh when you made them π
Yeeeeeeeeeeeaah deepfried meat and starch!!!!! Yummo!
Happy happy joy joy
Ooh it definitely looks sublime. Everything is better deep fried.
Are you sure it’s not sublemon? Hahahha
OH YUM!!! I’ve never had blotok before. I don’t even know if I can call myself a Malaysian cox actually I don’t even know what it is. π Looks like an interesting mix!
I didn’t know myself until I bought a Malaysian recipe book π
Your boy is a real gem! That looks seriously appetizing.
P.S. Hiding kuihs in your handbag to discard later? Sounds like you DO hate them, despite your denial. :p
Hahhaha… NoooOooo…. i just really dislike kuih lapis.. i know it’s a lot of hard work, but its’ lost on me!
YUM! I’m glad you’re non-conventional, we get to benefit from your creations π Although could we bake them, do you think?
Heidi xo
Ahahah I see what you did there.. you mean cray cray don’t you?
Hahahha i love how candid you are with how you don’t like society norms π and think it’s absolutely fine not to like what your culture likes eating hahahaa π
These look really interesting to me π but damn it’s got lamb hehe
I could have been more burtal π Oh well!
I like deep fried stuff, and since I definitely like trying out new things I will try making the sweet potato puffs using the recipe you’ve provided.
Excellent!
OMG! Delish!!! I think being non-conventional is great. There’s too many norm around anyways
Yayy! Thank you!
Very easy and most importantly very, very tasty. thanks for the recipe.
OMG! Delish!!! I think being non-conventional is great. Thereβs too many norm around anyways
OMG! Delish!!! I think being non-conventional is great. Thereβs too many norm around anyways
Delish!!! I think being non-conventional is great. Thereβs too many norm around anyways