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Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! This time of the year, the social media and the internet, as well as shopping malls and bakeries will be flooded with all types of mooncakes – classic baked mooncakes, snowskin mooncakes, pastry mooncakes, in all sorts of fillings, colours and shapes. I have not yet seen a Nyonya kueh mooncake so here’s my take. A sweet potato ang ku kueh mooncake filled with homemade red bean filling. I honestly liked it a lot, it’s chewy and soft, the purple colour of the skin is so rich and beautiful, and my homemade red bean filling just complements the sweet potato and glutinous rice flavour perfectly!
What is ang ku kueh and what is mooncake
So this recipe is really a combination of the classic Nyonya kueh in a mooncake form factor. The glutinous rice skin is coloured and flavoured with the purple sweet potato, steamed and mashed and added to the flour mixture. I have these cute jade ornament and lion face moulds to shape the mooncakes. The skin with purple sweet potato was a little dry but the glutinous rice is very forgiving, and the homemade red bean paste holds its shape well. The result was a very instagrammable looking, delicious rich purple ang ku kueh mooncake that still holds its shape well while it lasts.
The bite, texture and taste of this sweet potato ang ku kueh mooncake will be closer to the ang ku kueh but making it in a mooncake shape does make it a novelty!
In the previous years, I have made these different variations of mooncakes. Mostly refined sugar free and dairy-free.
- Classic Cantonese-styled baked mooncake filled with lotus seed paste and salted egg yolks
- Ferrero Rocher chocolate snow skin mooncake in a cute Japanese cat shape
- A pretty osmanthus snow skin mooncake with homemade refined sugar-free lotus seed paste and yuzu filling
- An osmanthus goji jelly mooncake, made with healthy TCM ingredients
- Mango coconut jelly mooncake, a popular choice with my family, young and old
- Low GI mooncake with white bean paste which is gluten-free, dairy-free and refined sugar-free
- Snow skin mooncake with taro & purple sweet potato which has a very pretty lilac colour and aromatic taro flavour
I have also made all sorts of ang ku kueh in different colours, flavours, shapes and filllings. They are all refined sugar-free, gluten-free and dairy-free.
- Classic red ang ku kueh with peanut filling
- Blue pea flower ang ku kueh with mung bean paste filling with naturally extracted blue colour for the skin
- Pandan coconut ang ku kueh, filled with aromas from the pandan leaves and coconut
- Pumpkin ang ku kueh with chestnut paste filling made in a cute maize shape
- Pumpkin ang ku kueh with purple sweet potato filling made in a cute pumpkin shape
Ingredients to make ang ku kueh mooncake
- Homemade red bean paste for the filling which I made in 30 minutes. You can also use storebought paste filling or try making lotus seed paste, chestnut paste, mung bean paste.
- Purple sweet potato helps soften the dough and a beautiful purple shade to the skin. Purple sweet potato might be a little dry so you got to add more hot water and oil to the dough as you knead. Don’t worry if it turns out a little drier and if the dough cracks a little. After steaming, the dough still holds its shape well. Alternatively you can use the orange sweet potato that contains a lot more moisture.
- Glutinous rice flour is the foundation ingredient of the skin and what gives the QQ and chewy texture. Snacks made with this type of flour turns filmer over time but you can easily soften it again by steaming.
- Seasonings used are stevia sweetener and salt. Stevia sweetener is a zero-calorie sweetening alternative to refined sugar, while salt helps elevate the taste.
- Vegetable oil gives the dough skin some moist, making it soft and smooth, and less sticky.
- Hot boiling water added to the dough helps ‘cook’ and gelatinises the dough, transforming the dry flour into a soft, flexible, and pliable dough that holds its shape.
Tips on making sweet potato ang ku kueh mooncake
- Purple sweet potato compared to the yellow and orange ones. The dough ended up being very dry and crumbly, so you have to adjust by adding more hot water and oil while mixing the dough. The dough is extremely forgiving, after steamed, the skin will still hold its shape.
- The skin might turn slightly firmer if left at room temperature the next day. I find the texture just nice for the bite but you can steam it to soften or just eat it as is like I did.
- Let the flavour develop overnight after steaming the ang ku kueh mooncake.
- The purple colour tone will turn darker and richer after steamed.
- I used baking paper as the base of the ang ku kueh mooncake but ideally it’s better to use banana leaves for its fragrance. I didn’t want to buy a whole pack of banana leaves and only use a small portion of it.
How to store sweet potato ang ku kueh mooncake
Just like storing ang ku kueh or any glutinous rice made snacks, keep it in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. To keep it longer, store in an airtight container in the fridge, for about 5 to 7 days. If it doesn’t smell or taste good, you got to discard it. To serve, just steam on medium heat for about 3 minutes.
The ang ku kueh mooncake is good to enjoy right after it is steamed and cooled down. However it’s best consumed after the flavours develop, overnight.
Pin now, make later
Sweet Potato Ang Ku Kueh Mooncake with Red Bean Filling 紫薯红豆馅 红龟粿月饼
Ingredients
Sweet potato skin
- 120 g glutinous rice flour
- 1 tsp stevia sweetener
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 4-5 tsp vegetable oil
- 1 purple sweet potato, mid-sized, about 70-90g
- 6-7 tbsp hot boiling water
Others
- 7 baking paper or banana leaves, cut into 2.5-inches
- 210 g red bean paste, homemade
- vegetable oil, for greasing
- glutinous rice flour, for dusting
Instructions
- Peel and cut 1 purple sweet potato into smaller pieces. Steam on high heat for 15-20 minutes until softened. Then mash finely. Measure out 80g to add to the dough mixture.
- Mix 120 g glutinous rice flour, 1 tsp stevia sweetener, 1/8 tsp salt. Stir to combine well.
- Add the warm mashed sweet potato and 6-7 tbsp hot boiling water (add gradually in 3-4 parts) to the dry flour mixture. Use a spatula to start mixing until it forms a crumbly dough. When cool enough to handle, use your hand to knead the dough. Add 4-5 tsp vegetable oil (add gradually in 2-3 parts) and continue to knead the dough. Add more hot water and vegetable oil if the dough is still crumbly and dry. I used 6.5 tbsp hot boiling water and 5 tbsp oil in the end. Once the dough forms, it's done. Cover and let it rest for 15 minutes. The dough should ideally be soft and pliable.Note: Yields about 270 g dough. The dough might be a little dry as the sweet potato is naturally starchier and contain less water but that's ok.
- Cut 7 baking paper or banana leaves into about 2.5-inches. Grease 1 side of the paper with vegetable oil.Note: If using banana leaves, wash, boil, and dry the leaves, then cut out the leaves into 2.5-inches, and grease one side of the banana leaves with vegetable oil.
- Divide the 210 g red bean paste into balls of 30g each.
- Roll dough into a balls of 40g each. Shape the dough into a ‘bowl’ shape. If the dough is dry, add some oil to make the handling easier.Place the red bean filling in the middle of the ‘bowl’ and press the edge of the dough to close. Make sure it’s sealed properly as much as possible. Then roll into a ball again.
- Dust the dough ball and mooncake mould with some glutinous rice flour.
- Press the mooncake mould to make the desired shape.
- Place each ang ku kueh mooncake on each baking paper or banana leaf.
- Boil water in a bamboo steamer pot. Place the ang ku kueh mooncake on a steamer tray, leaving about 1-2 inch apart from each piece. Cover with lid, steam on medium heat for about 10-13 minutes until skin turns translucent.Note: I steamed my 70g ang ku kueh for about 12 minutes. If not using a bamboo steamer, leave a small opening of about 1cm during steaming.
- After cooked, brush each ang ku kueh with some vegetable oil.
- Let the ang ku kueh cool down before serving. Enjoy!
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