Yi Buah

A Hainanese kueh not commonly found in Singapore

Yi Buah
For the dough:
10g rice flour
100g + 150g water
1 + 1 tablespoons oil
250g glutinous rice flour

Place the rice flour, 100g water and 1 tablespoon oil in a pot and cook until it thickens. Mix with the glutinous rice flour while it is hot. Add 150g water gradually until a smooth dough forms. Knead in the last tablespoon of oil. Allow to rest covered while you prepare the filling.

For the filling:
125g gula melaka
150g water
3 pandan leaves
2 tablespoons grated ginger (with its juice)
¼ teaspoon salt
200g grated coconut
40g sesame seeds, toasted
50g peanuts, toasted, coarsely ground

Combine the gula melaka with water and pandan leaves in a wok. Heat gently until the gula melaka melts and the pandan leaves have infused their flavour into the water. Remove the pandan leaves. Add the grated ginger, salt and coconut. Cook until all excess liquid has evaporated. Add the sesame seeds and peanuts and fry for another minute.

For assembly:
16 small strips of pandan
16 banana leaf strips (2”x8”), blanched, wiped and greased lightly
Red food colouring (or beetroot juice mixed with oil and a little flour)

To assemble the yi buah, divide the dough into 40g balls and fill each with a generous amount of filling. Seal and place pretty/ smooth side down on a work surface. Top the yi buah with a strip of pandan. Wrap the banana strip around the yi buah and push down the excess leaves on the top to cover the dough. Turn the yi buah the right side up and place on a plate. Steam on medium low heat for 10 minutes. Dip the end of a chopstick in the red food colouring and dot each yi buah.