Kueh Lapis a.k.a. Steamed Nine-layer Cake (九层糕）

One of the things to overcome while being away from home is the craving for local food. By home, I mean Singapore, my home country. It may not be as bad had it been an Asian country after all. However, it is quite different in a western country where there aren't any hawker centres or street stalls to wake to for a morning breakfast with traditional kaya toast, a bowl of Tau Huay (soybean pudding alike), a plate of Chai Tow Kway (stir-fried cubes of radish cake, a.k.a. fried carrot cake) or even Bak Chor Mee (minced meat noodles in direct translation).

I am convinced that it is often when you don't have it that you think well of it. Perhaps this is also how the proverbial saying of "taking things for granted" prevails. Having said that, in the world of globalisation and ease of human mobility, many (though not all) asian products can now be found in non-asian countries and vice versa. Which means, it is not impossible to enjoy certain asian cuisine in, for example, the States.

But what about traditional snacks which are just not popular or even non-existence amongst the westerners? Well, have them homemade then. This is how I started my research on recipes from baked goodies to traditional snacks like steamed bao and kueh and have them made at home myself. Of course, I have to first make sure that the required ingredients, if not equivalent substitutes, called for in the recipe can be found in the local asian supermarkets.

Although I have thought of making this Kueh Lapis a.k.a. Steamed Nine-layer Cake and gotten the ingredients ready months ago, I was only driven to execute it by the force of the Aspiring Bakers' last theme event. ^_^ The making of this Kueh really brings out one's patience. The reason why I had shelved it for some time was also because of the thought of waiting involved in steaming layer by layer. But trust me, this is definitely not a difficult recipe after all.

Kueh Lapis a.k.a. Steamed Nine-layer Cake