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.