Kuih Bengka (Tapioca/Cassava Cake)
It’s a good honor to have Madam Kwong of Madam Kwong’s Kitchen guest posting on Nyonya Food these days. Raised in Penang, Madam Kwong can be a retired Nyonya chef currently based in Australia. I have been a secret fan of Madam Kwong’s Kitchen—her gorgeous blog with quite a few authentic and delicious Nyonya/Malaysian recipes. Please welcome Madam Kwong and her daughter Suz (the photographer) to Nyonya Food with her kuih benka or tapioca/cassava cake Recipe. Kuih Bengka is usually a incredibly delicious Nyonya kuih, one of my late grandmother’s specialties and also my personal favorite. Enjoy!
Firstly, I wish to thank Nyonya Food for inviting me to guest post in her amazing blog. I was so excited when she emailed me and am really honored. We share something in common, well, besides cooking, speaking the very same language or the love of food. We are both from our beautiful island of Penang, Malaysia. She wanted me to “cook up” a Nyonya dish. The option of Nyonya cooking is vast and hard but this recipe is very basic. Oh! She did hint she wanted a kuih. So, I whipped up Kuih Bengka. My daughter, the amateur photographer, Suz took the photos and soon enough ate most in the kuihs.
In the past where there was no electricity, Nyonyas utilized charcoal to bake Kuih Bengka (Cassava). The top with the kuih would become dark brown. These days, you can still get the same top crusty effect in a fan forced oven which is caused by the baking procedure. The kuih is light yellow in colour and has a sweetly scented coconut flavor. You are able to even bite into the grated coconut. I used the old fashion wooden coconut grater to grate the coconut in this recipe. Ahhh! Life is tough, knowing that you are able to purchase frozen grated coconut. This is an effortless recipe to make and hope you try it as well…
