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Kuih kosui or kueh ko swee is a soft and delicious rice cake made with tapioca flour and rice flour, and flavoured with pandan leaves or gula melaka (an aromatic coconut sugar). It’s typically served with grated fresh coconut. There are several variety of it across Southeast Asia, such as kuih lompang in Indonesia, mont kywe the in Myanmar, and kutsinta in the Philippines.
In this recipe, I made two flavours, the pandan flavoured one and the gula melaka one. Both are distinctively in tastes and equally easy to make. Kuih kosui might come in different forms, some are made in a large sheet pan, cut into regular shapes and coated with grated coconut. I made mine in little tart moulds with a cut flowery shape and top it with grated coconut. Depending on the size of the mould, it takes 12-15 minutes to steam the cake. My tart moulds are 2-inches in diameter, it took me about 12 minutes. Once steamed, the little “dimple” in the middle of the kueh is the indication that I made the kueh right. The resulting snack is one that’s mildly sweet, bouncy, soft and slightly wobbly.
Do I add lye water to kuih kosui
Many recipes out there add lye water or alkaline water to make it chewy. I didn’t use it in this recipe, or rather I forgot to add them. I thought the texture was what I expected.
How to store kueh ko swee
The kuih kosui I made, my family finished it within a day. But since the ingredients contain freshly grated coconut, kuih kosui should only be stored until the next day chilled in the fridge, and kept in an airtight container. Due to the type of flours used, the kueh might not be as soft as the day it’s made. You can re-steam it or heat it in a microwave in a few minutes to soften it.
Ingredients for kueh ko swee
The list of ingredients is as simple as the steps to make it. You only need these ingredients which are readily available in any Asian grocery stores or supermarkets:
- Rice flour – Not to be confused with glutinous rice flour, rice flour is made from finely milled rice and is commonly used to substitute wheat flour. It is naturally gluten-free and makes the kueh soft.
- Tapioca flour – Another gluten-free flour, tapioca flour is also known as tapioca starch. It is made from the root of the cassava plant. Tapioca flour gives the chewiness of the kueh.
- Fine salt – Salt is added to the steamed grated coconut and the kueh mixture to elevate the taste.
- Pandan leaves – My favourite flavour. Pandan leaves has a distinctive sweet and aromatic profile that’s almost different to get from any other ingredients. In this recipe, I extract the juice that gives the beautiful green colour and the taste of the pandan flavoured kueh.
- Stevia sweetener – A great sugar substitute, I added a bit of this to sweeten the pandan flavoured kueh.
- Gula melaka – A type of coconut sugar and has a bit of a rich smokey coconut yet caramelised taste profile. This is the main sweetener for the gula melaka flavoured kueh.
- Water – Use room temperature water to mix into the kuehs. The dry ingredients should be about 40% of the liquid.
- Freshly grated coconut – Fresh coconut makes a huge difference to the kueh. If fresh coconut is unavailable, you can also use desiccated coconut.
- Vegetable oil – Use this to grease the cake pan or tart mould so that it’s easier to unmould after steaming.
Check out these other kuehs
If you like kuehs like me, you are gonna like these other kuehs. Many of them share the same type of ingredients such as glutinous rice flour, rice flour, pandan, coconut, butterfly pea flowers. Check out kuih seri muka (kueh salat), kue lapis, kue sago lapis, onde onde, pulut tai tai, kueh ubi kayu, ang ku kueh, kueh dadar and etc.
Watch how to make Kuih Kosui on YouTube
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Kuih Kosui – Pandan and Gula Melaka Flavours
Detailed Step-by-Step Video
Equipment
- 1 bamboo steamer 10-inch
Ingredients
Pandan flavour
- 10 pandan leaves, washed
- 60 g rice flour
- 60 g tapioca flour
- 80 g stevia sweetener
- 100 ml water
- 200 ml warm water
- ⅛ tsp fine salt
Gula melaka flavour
- 1-2 pandan leaves, washed
- 60 g rice flour
- 60 g tapioca flour
- 80 g gula melaka
- 300 ml water
- ⅛ tsp fine salt
Others
- 100 g freshly grated coconut
- ¼ tsp salt
- 3 pandan leaves, washed
- 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil
Instructions
Steam the coconut
- Mix together 100 g freshly grated coconut and 1/4 tsp salt in a heat-proof plate. Cut 3 pandan leaves on top.Steam the coconut for 10 minutes over high heat. Then remove the pandan leaves and let the coconut cool completely.
Make the pandan mixture
- Cut 10 pandan leaves into smaller pieces. Add 100 ml water.
- Blend the pandan juice until the pandan leaves are mostly blended.
- Sieve the pandan juice to remove the pulp.
- Add 80 g stevia sweetener into 200 ml warm water. Let the mixture cool completely,
- Mix together 60 g tapioca flour, 60 g rice flour and 1/8 tsp fine salt.
- Add the pandan juice and the stevia mixture. Mix well until the mixture is smooth and well-mixed.
- Sieve the pandan kuih mixture to remove any lumps.
Make the gula melaka mixture
- Chop the 80 g gula melaka as fine as possible.
- Add the gula melaka and 1-2 pandan leaves to 300 ml water. Bring it to boil over medium heat. Let it simmer for 2 minutes. Then remove the pandan leaves and let it cool completely.
- Mix together 60 g tapioca flour, 60 g rice flour and 1/8 tsp fine salt.
- Add in the gula melaka mixture. Mix well until the mixture is smooth and well-mixed.Optional to sieve the gula melaka mixture in to remove any undissolved gula melaka,
- Sieve the gula melaka kuih mixture to remove any lumps.
Steam the kuih kosui
- Grease each mould with a thin layer of 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil. Note: I'm using tart moulds which are about 2-inch diameter.
- Boil water and get the steamer ready.Cover and steam the moulds over medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Stir the kuih mixture before pouring. Then quickly pour the kuih mixture into each mould, filling up to 3/4 full.
- Cover and steam the kuihs over medium heat for 12-13 minutes.
- Once steamed, the kuihs should have a small dimple in the middle. Let it cool completely.To unmould, use a chopstick, poke it in the middle to remove the kuih from the moulds.
- Top with the grated coconut.Best served within the day.
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