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Soon kueh is a Teochew steamed dumpling, also known as ‘cai kueh’. In Singapore, we typically eat it for breakfast or as a snack any other times of the day, with chilli sauce and sweet black sauce. Traditionally soon kueh is made with bamboo shoots, thus the name ‘soon kueh’ as the ‘soon’ in Hokkien refers to bamboo shoots. However the soon kueh found in markets and food stalls are made mainly with jicama, or turnip, or ‘bangkwang’, because turnip is much cheaper and much more easily accessible in Singapore.

I did manage to find bamboo shoots, pre-cut in packages in the supermarkets. They are softer to cut and need to be blanched to remove the sour taste before cooking. In this soon kueh recipe, I made the filling with dried baby shrimps, shallots, bamboo shoots, turnip, carrot and dried mushrooms. It’s a fun recipe that me and my mummy will make together, she cooking the filling and me making the skin, we will assemble the snack together before steaming it.

For the skin, there are many different recipes out there. Some recipes use rice flour and tapioca flour, some using wheat starch and tapioca flour. I have tried both. The version with rice flour yields a soon kueh with somewhat whitish skin and it’s difficult to roll and seal as the dough breaks easily and is non-elastic. The wheat starch version yields a translucent skin which is stretchable when combined with tapioca flour, and easy to roll and seal, somewhat similar to har gow wrappers.

Are tapioca flour and tapioca starch the same?

The two names, tapioca flour and tapioca starch actually refer to the same product. Depending on where you live, some manufacturers might name it differently but the actual product is the same.

Are wheat flour and wheat starch the same?

On the contrary, wheat flour and wheat starch are not the same. Wheat flour contains starch but not vice-versa.

Tips for making Soon Kueh

It’s important to add hot boiling water to the flour bit by bit when making the dough. The dough will turn out firm, elastic and non-breakable.

Using just the jicama in the filling without the bamboo shoots is perfectly fine, in fact, we preferred the jicama version more than the bamboo shoots. We have also used cabbage to replace jicama and it tastes fantastic.
Lightly brush some vegetable oil after it is done steaming to keep it moist. I used olive oil for that.

How to store Soon Kueh

Cooked soon kueh is best eaten warm just after steaming. You can store it in an airtight container on the countertop for 1 day or in the fridge for up to 3 days or the freezer for up to a month. The skin will turn harder. Just reheat by steaming on high heat for about 3-5 minutes and it will turn soft again.

Uncooked ones can be stored after wrapping. Store it in an airtight container and separate each soon kueh with baking paper. Freeze it in the freezer for up to a month. To cook, steaming without thawing over boiling water for 10 minutes.

Check out other local snack recipes

If you are into local kuehs, do check out these recipes, many of these are gluten-free, eggs-free and made with Monk fruit or Stevia sweetener, making them a healthier snack version from the original recipe:

Pumpkin Ang Ku Kueh with Purple Sweet Potato Filling 紫薯馅金瓜红龟粿

Sesame Ball (Air Fryer Chinese Jian Dui 气炸锅煎堆)

Watch how to make Soon Kueh on YouTube

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