04 February 2012

Chinese New Year Love Letters and Kuih Rose from Malaysia (1 Feb 2011)


Love starts with a rose

Every time my dad has a chance to visit Malaysia, especially around Chinese New Year, he brings back large tins of wafer thin homemade Love Letters from the relatives like last time. This year was an added bonus of the very crunchy and intricate looking Kuih Rose (also known as Honeycomb Cookies or Kuih Loyang it seems), mini Pineapple Tarts and tasty Arrowroot Chips. My aunty in Malaysia says it's quite easy to make the Kuih Rose, perhaps for them anyway, and all you need is 2 cups flour, 1 cup of rice flour, coconut milk (consistency to your liking ), castor sugar, a few drops of rose essence and add in an egg (beaten) into the mixture and viola the batter is ready. Heat the mould in the hot oil before dipping the mould into the bowl of batter. The batter will stick onto the mould and then just dip it into hot oil and the rose biscuit will come out by itself and into the oil. I also found a recipe on A Table For Two for a Kuih Rose with measurements.

They said the arrowroot chips are even easier to make. The preparation is a bit tedious but after that, you can get lots of chips. Just remove the skin of the arrowroot. Slice them evenly with a slicer. Heat up the oil and just deep fry them. When it turns golden brown, remove them with a strainer and put them straight away on greasproof paper and sprinkle salt on the chips immediately. This will keep the chip dry and crispy. When cool, store them into tins. If anyone knows of a shop in Sydney that sells love letters, kuih rose and arrowroot chips please let me know. I'd love to see if they're as good as the ones my dad brings back from the motherland but I'm suspecting they won't be.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: Delicate and tasty cookies with an amazing crunch factor, It's Malaysian so it must be good ;-)
CONS: Haven't found anywhere in Sydney that sells the Love Letters and Kuih Rose, You need the special mould and patience to make them yourself
MUST TRY: Maybe making them one day otherwise I'll have to wait until my dad comes back with another batch when he visits Malaysia again

A few yummy treats I get to enjoy from Malaysia — this was only a tiny sample of some huge tins my dad brought back with him

Kuih Rose aka Kuih Loyang and Honeycomb Cookies
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)



Love Letters
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)


Arrowroot chips
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Pineapple tarts

10 comments:

Miss Kimbers said...

I've never seen such sweets before. They look beautiful. I would be interested to try the pineapple tart:)

chocolatesuze said...

omg i freaking love arrowroot chips! my aunt makes them in ginormous quantities and we lug it back to sydney to feast argh i wish someone made them here!

OohLookBel said...

The kuih rose looks so delicate. It would be great if you found some here.

Simon Leong said...

hi miss kimbers, you definitely should try the kuih rose, something very unique.

hi chocolatesuze, hopefully we'll find someone that sells them in Sydney. let me know if you find out too.

hi bel, i'll be sure to share the news if i find a place that sells them. i think a home cook could make a bundle if they did it as a business.

Tina@foodboozeshoes said...

Oh is that what they're called...! I think there's a slightly different Chinese version of the rose too

Simon Leong said...

hi tina, I never know the traditional names of these things so I'm always relying on those more in the know.

jaylen watkins said...

How come rose responsible for love start.
Thanks for this lovable eatables.


love letters

Simon Leong said...

hi jaylen watkins, i think a rose is a symbol for love so if you give someone a rose it's a sign of showing your love for them.

YW said...

Hi Simon,

Just wondering, if you ever did manage to find arrow roots in Sydney? Chips or just arrowroots themselves to make those chips. It's almost CNY again!! :)

Simon Leong said...

hi YW, i haven't had the opportunity to find the arrowroots in sydney but i'm looking forward to chinese new year celebratations and eating again :-)

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