KUEH KLEDEK

I was at the wet market on Saturday and sweet potatoes seem to be in season, - not those  purple Japanese type but rather the local varieties - yellow and orange ones.  Though everyone nowadays is going after those purple coloured varieties as they are purported to be good for  health,  these  sweet old yellow/orange ones do not lag  far behind in the list of healthy super foods for tomorrow.  Besides they are much  cheaper and it is always better to support our local farming  industry. Also, I find that the local potatoes always taste much sweeter too.

Straightaway, a recipe which I had bookmarked some time back came to mind and I bought a kilo of the sweet potatoes.  

When I saw the recipe Kueh Kledek in the BBC Good Food Magazine June 2012 (oh, just a year ago :D!), I just knew that I will have to try it one day.  This seems a  good time to try, sweet potatoes aplenty and besides the Dumplings festival just over too. What has it got to do with the Dumplings festival?  Well if you have eaten those Nyonya Dumplings you will know what these Kueh Kledek will taste like.  Yes, those fillings are similar to the fillings used for the Nyonya dumplings. The combination of  coriander powder and cekur is a distinct flavour for these dumplings.   Cekur belong to the ginger family and I had 2 pots growing in my garden for a very long time.  However, I was only able to get a few very small roots, so out of the pots  it goes into the open ground- hopefully they will flourish!    

According to the magazine, these kueh kledek can no longer be found for sale in Singapore. The disappearance of this  Nyonya delicacy maybe due to the work involved in making them.  Actually, all the work can be done one day, but I also took 2 days to finish them and it is definitely worth all the work involved.  The results are indeed moist sweet balls with a delicious savoury/sweet  meat filing.          

Sweet potatoes steamed for 25 minutes and then mashed.  Mix with a tablespoon of sugar, 140 gm of glutinous rice flour and 105 gm of rice flour to a smooth dough. You will need to add water a bit at a time (around 120-240 ml) to bring the mixture to a smooth dough. I  kept the dough overnight.  

The fillings: finely diced chicken breast, candied melon and mushroom.  These are saute together with a mixture of minced garlic, shallot,  coriander powder and cekur till fragrant.  Add a bit of water to simmer  till the meat is tender and moist.    Season with white pepper, salt and dash of dark soya sauce. Set aside to cool.      

Divide the dough into around 25 pieces.  Flatten to a disc and spoon around 1 tablespoon of filling and close and seal to form a smooth ball.   

Deep fry the balls, a few at a time till golden brown. You have to move/roll  them as soon as they are in the pot otherwise they tend to stick to the bottom of the pan. 

You like fried Sweet Potatoes? You like the spicy sweet/savoury filing of those  Nyonya Dumplings?  

You have got the best of both worlds in this Kueh Kledek.