NINE LAYER KUEH

Continuing the Food from The Heart - this is the replica of the Nine-Layer Kueh from my grandma repertoire. I can remember that my grandma used to make this for her own birthday. I guess it is the meaning- you know -nine-nine= meaning long life in Chinese. We definitely looked forward to this every time. Her kueh is in red and white with red layer on top- again good luck to see red!

She started the procedure by preparing the glutinous rice. Sorting out any of the rice so that she get pure glutinous rice before soaking it overnight. The next morning, she would go to our neighbour's house - they had a stone mill and she would milled the rice herself . The milled rice mixture is then taken back home and divided into 2 parts. She mixed one part red with the red powder. She would sit by the steamer as she slowly steamed each layer (we used wood back then). It is really a food of patience and love. And nothing beats the favour.

I came upon a recipe and here I have reproduce it. The recipe use Rose Syrup for the red colour and Pandan Juice for the green colour. Of course, nowadays, we use the packet glutionous rice powder. Try the ones from Thailand. I made 2- one the traditional red/white that my grandma used to make.

I mix 3 parts, white, pink and red. Easier to divide into 3 jugs for easy pouring and getting the same layer throughtout.

Wait till the last layer is steamed- around 5 minutes each before adding the next layer.

How to eat this kueh- I like peeling off each layer and savouring it layer by layer.