Asian Desserts

A few of my Asian Sweets

Many Asian pastries and desserts are in their very own special class which sets them apart from many classical European desserts. While many European desserts have a strong identity like cakes and muffins with a key ingredient based either on fruits, nuts, custards, caramels, cream or chocolate, many of our local desserts do not fit into that profile. Key ingredients can be seeds, beans, lentils or or even an ingredient by itself like rice. One such example is the Teochew Rice-Within-Rice Cake.

Fried Red Bean Sesame Puffs.

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A favorite dim sum sweet of Teochew Chinese origins. Best consumed just out from the wok and slightly cooled. The medium thin crust made from glutinous rice flour is crispy with a sweetened red bean paste or mash filling inside. Sometimes, a variation made with mash taro or yam is used instead of the red bean filling. It is fried in hot oil until golden brown. The sesame seeds makes it very aromatic. I could eat this all day long.

 

For the majority of people be it Europeans or Asians; mentioned a dessert such as a Black Forest Cake and the image comes to mind easily. Mention a Blueberry muffin and again, it bridges many cultures easily.

Now mention a 5-spice Fried Cruller (Ham Chee Peng) to a European and chances are, you’ll get a blank stare. Try a different name and call it “Fried Devil” (Yau Chow Kway; fried cake in Oil in Cantonese which also sounds like Fry the Devil) and his confusion is compounded. Recently a well-known American photographer was shown an image of an Indian ‘Murukku’ snack and his reaction was “What the heck is that?!”

Kuih Penyaram or 'Mexican Hats'

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A fried sweet dough made with brown palm sugar of Malay origin. The sticky thick batter is spooned with a well-oiled scoop into a miniature wok filled with hot oil. Leavening agents creates the typical dome in the middle and a skewer is inserted into the dome to fish out the pastry once it is golden brown. A very sweet snack that goes well with Teh Tarik or the local coffee brew.

Fried Plantains or Goreng Pisang Rajah.

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Ripe Plantains or Elephant Tusk Bananas are sliced into thick discs and coated with a batter and deep-fried until golden brown. The crust seals the fruit, prevents steam from escaping and cooks the bananas from within. Very ripe plantains makes for a naturally sweet snack. Very popular for a afternoon snack. Best when eaten hot from the wok. What cares about the diet? Fruit is healthy!

Another culture shock to Europeans and Americans is the usage of chopsticks or fingers to consume desserts. How about another shocker like having a condiment like chili sauces to go with that? Many desserts are also not consumed at the end of a meal but rather as in-between-meal snacks. Typical in-between snacks periods are brunch and late afternoon and of course, the weekends where the diet angel regularly gets banished to the sulk corner and she is welcome back on Mondays.

Bottom line is that Asian desserts are so different in many ways from European desserts and that is a cause to celebrate and eat!

So I would like to start a page(s) to showcase some simple but yummy Asian pastries with the hope that it may create more awareness to the European and American public. This page is on Asian fried or deep fried pastries.

For calories watchers, I’m sorry… this isn’t your page ,;-P

Ham Chee Peng or

5-Spiced Fried Cruller with Honey and Sesame Seeds

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A chewy, aromatic leavened deep-fried bread of Chinese origins with an inside 5-spices coating and rolled up like a Swiss roll, sliced into thick discs and deep-fried. Very popular for breakfast and snacks especially with the Chinese and Asian communities.

Fried Radish Cake

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Made from grated white radishes and flour, it is blended into a dough and steamed. Once cooked, the dough is sliced into manageable pieces and fried until brown and crispy. 


 

Pla Salit

The Case of the Headless Fish

Thai Common name                           Pla Salit, Plat Salit

If Sean Connery pronounces it     Flatt Shawl-lit

Food Name                                           Thai Smoked Salted Gourami

Latin Name of the Fish                     Trichogaster pectoralis

Common Name                                   Snake Skin Gourami, Ikan Spart

Okay, let’s face it… Sean would never eat this stuff… it does not taste like smoked salmon or herring. It will never be in his genes to put this into his mouth. What the heck is this stuff, anyway?

When I was a young baddie laddie, I always thought this was a local salted fish. After all, I used to catch a lot of this fishes in the monsoon drains or longkangs and kept them as pets (Okay, this longkang thingie would be another story later…). I had no idea that it is smoked, only that it had a unique salty flavor to it and was a great condiment for half-boiled eggs, hot steamed rice, congees and durians. Yes Madams and Sirs, place a generous flake of the cooked Flatt Shawl-lit on top of a glorious stinky ripe meaty durian and many durian lovers will swear… it’s just better than sex.

The dried Pla Salit is usually sold as shown above in Asian supply shops. The strong, pungent smell can be overwhelming to those not used to dried-salted fishes and seafood. Store in air-tight anti-rust containers or bags in a cool, dark place.

Trichogaster pectoralis or the freshwater Snakeskin Gourami is a fairly large and common anabantoid fish found in Asia, especially in rice growing regions such as Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia. It favors shallow, slow flowing bodies of water with abundant aquatic plant life. An anabantoid fish that belongs to the labyrinth group of fishes with a unique body organ called the labyrinth chamber, it allows them to extract oxygen directly from atmospheric air.

The Snakeskin Gourami can grow up to 26cm or 10 inches and the male fishes build huge bubble nests during spawning. In Thailand, gourami fries are released into the rice fields after the rice seedlings have been planted and the fields are purposely flooded for a few months until harvesting time. The Snakeskin Gourami which is an omnivorous fish, helps to control filamentous algae which would choke the fields and compete with the rice plants for nutrients if uncontrolled. The fishes also regulate insect and aquatic snail population which would otherwise destroy the rice plants.

In a period of three to four months, the fish would grow to a length of 17-20cm/ 7-8 inches in favorable conditions. About this time, the rice harvest is at hand and the fields are drained and a bonus after the rice is harvested, are the now adult gouramis.

The fishes are collected, beheaded and gutted before heavily salted in successive layers on bamboo trays and stored for weeks under shade. Then, they are placed in kilns and smoked for several hours using dried oily, coconut shells as the smoking media before removed to cool and packed for sale.

To prepare this fish for cooking, clean the Pla Salit by removing the scales and giving it a good rinse in clean, running water. Allow the fish to air-dry for half an hour before frying in hot oil between 220˚C-260˚C until the fish is golden brown and crispy. Nice! It is at its best when it is hot and crispy. It has got a salty, slightly earthy and smoky flavor.

Another way to enjoy it is to add a generous layer of thinly sliced red shallots, sliced red chili as much as you dare, chopped Chinese Parsley, basil or mint, sprinkle a teaspoon of fine castor sugar and squeeze a few ripe calamansi limes onto it; the senses will just be joyfully overwhelming… salty, sweet, sour, spicy, smoky, crispy, herby and stinging from the shallots. What a culinary experience a humble freshwater fish can give.

Fresh Calamansi Limes for sale at an Asian market. 
They are also known as Acid Oranges or Limau Kasturi in Malay

The frying of this fish is best done in an open-air space. If you are cooking this salted fish near Sean’s neighborhood or in other parts of Europe, kindly forewarn your neighbors a year ahead or invest in an industry-grade air filter system in your kitchen like the ones below. Otherwise a team of environmental officers in bio-hazard suits will be visiting you within the hour to investigate bio-terrorism complaints.

Multiple exhaust vents at an industrial complex, Asia.

To pacify the environment officers, invite them in for a cuppa tea with a wee dram of milk and generous wedges of England’s best Blue Stilton Cheese and crackers. On the positive side, you’ll be best mates with your Asian neighbors if you happen to have durians too. Cheers.