Back with biscuits

It is ironic that for my first real food post since summer holidays (and my first post for 2008) I have chosen a fiendishly difficult biscuit to make.

It is called kueh bangkit, a traditional biscuit the nonyas make for Chinese New Year. Biscuit making is normally a family affair, the mother (or in law), daughters, sisters etc. This is because it is a lot (no kidding) of work. If chocolate chip cookies are the equivalent of a stroll in the park, kueh bangkit is juggling firesticks and riding a unicyle, backwards. We made just one type of biscuit and it took 3 of us (mom, my aunt bonnie below and me) from 10am to 730pm, when the last tray came out of the oven.

If we were seriously baking, it may be twice that quantity that plus pineapple tarts, love letters and other goodies. The nonyas are very bitchy people and they are always talking about who made the best biscuits this year and other family gossip.



Before you can get to the final product, which is meant to melt in your mouth by the way, you have to start the day by frying flour (try saying that 5 times, really really fast). Mom says this is the hardest part, if you don't do it right your biscuits turn out like rocks. I would disagree, I think every stage is tricky. I burnt the flour once before I got it right (and got flour everywhere, even in my hair).

Thankfully, my mom doesn't rap knuckles with a wooden spoon, unlike what her mom used to do to her when she got it wrong. My grandmother was not born a nonya (she married in) so she actually didn't know any recipes. And nonyas are very proud people, so they would never share their recipes with you. Apparently, my grandma ran a tontine and a nonya lady owed her a lot of money, so she had no choice but to teach my grandma her closely-guarded secrets. I was chuffed to discover that these biscuits had such a history but my aunt told me that our recipe is a more recent one her friend taught her, and the family has adopted it because it was easier.

Easier??? I can't imagine how much more work my grandmother's recipe would involve.

Then we had to squeeze grated coconut for milk, which is really time consuming but you do get nice smooth hands after, possibly because of the coconut oils. It smells and tastes amazing fresh, much better than the antiseptic stuff you get in cans.

Making the dough is intimidating at first, you have to mix a sticky, almost liquid dough with the flour until you get something you can roll out. Cutting out the biscuits is the easiest part, then you have to decorate them with sesame seeds and it is off to the oven. The last thing you want to do is burn them, after having spent so much effort already. Now repeat 306 times. And then it is time to pack your lovely biscuits in jars. Phew. My dad suggested I make them for sale in Melbourne. I shot him a dirty look and said, shouldn't I be studying?

The kitchen still smells sweet, coconut milk and pandan leaves.