ang koo kueh - making them at home

used to make ang koo kueh (red tortoise kueh). think the chinese name comes from the design and shape of the kueh. i have stopped making them when i found out that this kueh is not very popular with the younger people. my daughter ida did not take to it, so it was with most of my younger colleagues.

the amc pot was very convenient for cooking the mung bean. but what i found most convenient was the availability of the banana leaf which i used to protect the base of the ang koo kueh. there was this banana tree growing next to the pond, near my block of flats. each time i made ang koo kueh, i would sneak downstairs and cut a leaf or two from the tree. sometimes i would go as late as 10.00p.m. to get the leaves. but i don't think i would dare go at midnight, remembering the stories about pontianak from my childhood days.

although i have succeeded in making ang koo kueh, i am still experimenting with making the peach shaped ‘rice kueh’ - with filling of glutinous rice, dried shrimps and groundnuts. the first time, i made the ‘rice kueh’, they were too hard. in a subsequent attempt, they turned out to be too soft. i am very determined to succeed because my mother thinks that i will not be able to master the art of making them. my mother makes the best 'rice kueh'.