How to Make Kueh Lapis (九层糕)

Kueh lapis, take one: So there I was, poking the first layer of my nine-layer kueh lapis with a pair of chopsticks. Yup, it's cooked! At this point, other people would proceed with steaming the second layer, but not me. Snip, snip, went my scissors, and I popped a small piece of single-layer kueh lapis in my mouth. Ouch, ouch, it's hot . . . and mmm, not bad!

The recipe was from Cooking for the President, which has become my go-to cookbook when I need help with local recipes. After making sure the kueh lapis wasn't too hard, too soft, too sweet, too lemak, or too bland, I steamed the second layer, then third, fourth . . . . Uh oh, problem! Each layer took five minutes to cook, leaving me idle inbetween after I cleaned up the kitchen as much as possible. I got bored, so I kept lifting the lid on the steamer to have a peek, poke the kueh a bit . . . . Yawn . . . .

The kueh lapis was a flop. The layers didn't stick together and each one, except the bottommost, was hard at the bottom. I threw away the kueh, reread the recipe, and realized I made two mistakes.

First, the kueh cooled down a bit whilst I was peeking and prodding. When that happened, the top surface lost its stickiness, so it couldn't stick to the next layer. No peeking, in other words, or at least peek and then reheat the steamer thoroughly, before making the next layer.

Second, the layers I made were too thick. As a result, they took too long to cook, staying liquid long enough for the rice flour in the batter to sink and form a hard bottom for each layer, except the bottommost. Why was the first layer spared? Because it didn't have any cooked layers acting as a shield at the bottom, so it thickened and cooked through more quickly.

Kueh lapis, take two: I followed the recipe exactly, and got myself something to read whilst each layer was being steamed. This time, I had a taste only after all nine layers were done. Piping hot and soft, the kueh lapis seemed like a great success. Once it was cold, however, two problems were apparent. First, it didn't have the stretchy, elastic texture it had before it cooled down. Second, the layers weren't sticking together properly – again. Bloody 'ell!

Kueh lapis, take three: The recipe specified 80% tapioca flour, which stretches like Elastigirl after it's steamed, and 20% rice flour which doesn't. For the third attempt, I omitted the rice flour and used only tapioca flour. And when I topped up the steamer, I added boiling water from the kettle, after the previous layer of batter was cooked. I then let the steamer heat back to a rolling boil before making the next layer. In take two, I added batter and topped up the steamer at the same time. Even though I used almost boiling water, the steamer stopped boiling for maybe 20 seconds. That was enough to make the layers separate. Why didn't I put lots of water in the steamer so that no topping up was necessary? Because the pan for the kueh, before it had enough batter to weigh it down, would bob up and down if the bubbling water was too high. Lastly, I steamed each layer a little thicker than in take two – 3 mm instead of 2 mm – because the pesky rice flour was out of the way.

With the three amendments, my kueh lapis finally had nicely formed layers and the right texture. This time, I gave it several hours to cool down and set before having a piece.

Kueh lapis, take four: Hang on, wasn't take three just about perfect in every way? Um, no. I used a brand of tapioca flour which I'd never tried before. The kueh lapis made with the flour left a chemical aftertaste and dryness in my mouth. It was so bad that after eating one piece, I threw the rest away. I also binned the remaining flour and went back to the brand I'd been using before. This one was bleached, like the one I chucked. But, maybe because the bleach used wasn't as strong, the chemical taste was quite mild. I could detect it but that was because I was looking for it after the bad experience. I hadn't noticed it previously, to be honest.

I can finally make kueh lapis that I'm quite happy with. Gonna die in peace now . . . . Just kidding. If there's a take five, I'll try replacing the tapioca flour with unbleached sago flour that is, I hope, completely free of chemicals. But it's not happening any time soon 'cause I've got kueh lapis coming out of my ears!



Kueh lapis usually comes in rainbow hues of bright red and green. Like the proverbial rainbow, the colourful Nyonya kueh hides a pot of gold. Unfortunately, it's not gold that glitters. Instead, it's black gold because more often than not the colours are man-made. Artificial green food colouring has tartrazine, whilst red has ponceau 4R. These wonderful chemicals are refined from coal, and they're dissolved in propylene which is refined from petroleum.

Petroleum and coal, or bunga telang? I'll take the organic and FOC blue pea flowers, thank you.

Check these out:

10-Minute Kaya (Coconut Egg Jam)	Lotus Seed Sweet Soup (蓮子爽)	Kueh Bengka Ubi (Baked Tapioca Cake)	湯圓 (Glutinous Rice Balls)

KUEH LAPIS (九层糕, NINE-LAYER CAKE) Source: Adapted from Cooking for the President (Makes 10 pieces, 7½ x 3 cm) 4 pandan leaves, wash and cut 10 cm (4 inches) long 240 ml water (1 cup), boiling 185 g sugar (1 cup less 1 tbsp) ⅓ tsp salt 400 ml undiluted fresh coconut milk 200 g tapioca flour 50 bunga telang (blue pea flowers), fresh rinse gently, drain, then blot gently with paper towels 1 piece parchment paper, 15 x 15 cm Gently simmer pandan leaves in water over low heat for 5 minutes, covered. Discard leaves. Measure 160 ml (⅔ cup) pandan water and discard excess, or top up with water as necessary if you're short. Pour pandan water back in the pot, along with sugar and salt. Stir over low heat till salt and sugar dissolve. Turn off heat. Add coconut milk and stir till even. Add tapioca flour and mix thoroughly. Strain and push undissolved flour through the strainer. Pour 1 cup batter into a separate bowl. Place flowers in a strainer and, with a pestle, grind and press flowers to release blue liquid into the batter. Stir batter till colour is even. Bring kettle to the boil and set aside. Wet parchment paper and line bottom of 15-cm (6-inch) square cake tin. Bring steamer to a rolling boil. Pour enough white (colourless) batter into cake tin to form a layer 3 mm thick, about ⅓ cup. Place tin in steamer. Steam 5 minutes over rapidly boiling water using medium to medium-low heat. Repeat with another layer of white, blue, white, white, blue, white, white and blue. There should be 6 white and 3 blue layers in total, each 3 mm thick. Stir batter to mix flour evenly before measuring each round of batter. Steam each layer 5 minutes except the topmost blue layer which should have 10 minutes. Steamer shouldn't have too much water whilst steaming the first 4 layers. Bottom of cake tin should sit above, not in the water. Make sure steamer doesn't boil dry. Top up with boiling water from the kettle after previous layer of batter is cooked, bring steamer back to a rapid boil, covered, then add the next round of batter. After all 9 layers are done, remove kueh lapis to a wire rack to cool down completely and set, about 5 hours. Unmould by running a chopstick along edges, then turning tin upside down. Cut into 10 pieces and serve as a dessert, snack, or for tea. Leftovers should be refrigerated. Steam till heated through, then cool to room temperature before eating. To best enjoy kueh lapis, you should peel off a layer, tilt your head back, say 'Ah!' and then pop the layer in your mouth. If no one is looking, let the kueh lapis hang from your mouth for a few seconds so you look like you've got a very long tongue, before enjoying the chewy texture and coconut fragrance.

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