zi zhoh (sweet potato kueh)

(This post is specially dedicated to my maternal grandmother. Be at peace, Mama. We are all doing fine - do not worry.)

Whenever I mention the snack "Zi Zhoh" to anyone other than my Malaysian relatives, I am often met with a "Huh? What is that?" response. I do not know the English name for this snack. The closest that I can come up with is, for want of a better name, "sweet potato kueh".

According to my maternal grandmother, the recipe for "Zi Zhoh" hails from China. The ingredients are simple (sweet potato being the main ingredient) and the snack is filling (as glutinous rice flour is used). The process of making the snack is very labour intensive (as the dough is very dense), a testimony to the diligence of the migrants who came from China in the early 20th century to settle in Singapore and Malaysia.

The recipe that I am going to post below is as per what my grandmother gave me, which requires 3 kg of sweet potato. For Chinese New Year this year, I bought 5 kg of sweet potato to make the "zi zhoh" to bring to Muar, Malaysia. If this is the first time that you are making "Zi Zhoh", my suggestion would be to start small (eg. 500g of sweet potato) as the process of mixing the mashed sweet potato with the glutinous rice flour can be exhausting (as the mixture is very dense) and I do not want your first experience making "Zi Zhoh" to put you off making "Zi Zhoh" again due to a sore arm.

Ingredients

3 kg sweet potato

600g glutinous rice flour

400g sugar

1 pkt uncooked bee hoon (rice vermicelli)

oil for frying

Method

1. Scrub the skin of the sweet potato to remove the dirt. Place the sweet potato (with the skin intact) in a big pot and cover the sweet potato with water. Boil the sweet potato until it has softened.

2. Using a butter knife, peel off the skin of the sweet potato.

3. Mash the sweet potato (without the skin) until there are no more lumps.

4. Add the glutinous rice flour and sugar to the mashed sweet potato and mix thoroughly.

5. Using your hands, roll out some of the dough into the shape of a bolster.

6. Deep fry the "Zi Zhoh" in medium heat.

7. When the "Zi Zhoh" is golden brown, remove the "Zi Zhoh" from the frying pan and drain off the excess oil.

8. Place the uncooked bee hoon (rice vermicelli) at the bottom of a large pot. Arrange the fried "Zi Zhoh" on top of the uncooked bee hoon (rice vermicelli).

9. Use a dry cloth (instead of a lid) to cover the pot.

Tips

1. According to my grandmother, when you fry the "Zi Zhoh", you are not supposed to count the "Zi Zhoh" as you are frying it. The belief is that if you count as you fry, the "Zi Zhoh" will turn mouldy soon. For me, regardless whether I believe in this superstition, I conscientiously avoid counting when I am frying the "Zi Zhoh". After all the work in making the "Zi Zhoh", I am not about to take the risk of the "Zi Zhoh" turning mouldy!

2. If you are using your hand to take the "Zi Zhoh" from the pot to eat, make sure that your hand is dry. If you are using a fork or a pair of chopsticks, make sure that the utensil is dry as well. Moisture in the pot can turn the "Zi Zhoh" mouldy.

3. The older folk will not eat the "Zi Zhoh" on the day that it is fried because the use of glutinous rice flour makes the snack "heaty" and older folk tend to get sore throat if they eat the "Zi Zhoh" fresh from the frying pan. As such, they tend to eat the "Zi Zhoh" overnight. If you keep the pot of fried "Zi Zhoh" in a cool place, it can last for several days without refrigeration and the "Zi Zhoh" will remain soft.

4. There are many types of sweet potato that are sold at the wet markets and supermarkets. The most ideal type would be the slim and long sweet potato that is very deep orange in colour. These tend to cost more but it is worth it because "Zi Zhoh" made using this type of sweet potato is very sweet and soft.

5. As an alternative to steps 1 and 2 of the method above, you can peel off the skin from the sweet potato before you steam the sweet potato until the sweet potato has softened. The rest of the steps remain the same.

6. If you deep fry the "Zi Zhoh" in high heat, the outside of the "Zi Zhoh" will burn before the inside has cooked. If you deep fry the "Zi Zhoh" in low heat, the fried "Zi Zhoh" tends to stick together. As such, I would recommend that you use medium heat to deep fry the "Zi Zhoh".

7. When the "Zi Zhoh" has cooled down, it will flatten but remain soft. The sweet potato kueh that you may be able to buy commercially tends to retain its shape because it contains more flour than sweet potato.