Life is so fragile.
I woke up to the news of Steve Jobs passing away. Throughout the day, condolences swamped Twitter and Facebook that seemed to envelope everything with a sadness. Then this evening, we received news about an ex-colleague who lost the fight against lung cancer.
Sigh...
Strangely enough the jellies seem to be even touched by a sense of blueness today. Not intentional I assure you but something I just observed after I uploaded and edited the pictures.
Most of my creations are often sparked off by a certain memory and when I saw this recipe in a magazine, it hit a nerve with me.
It is a rather strange one since it came from my childhood days. I vaguely remember when I was a kid in primary school, my parents went on a long trip to tour Europe and they asked my brother to look after me. It was a weird situation since we weren't very close due a huge age gap (he was back from summer holidays from boarding school) but I guess since no one was around to look after me, he had no choice.
During that time, he cooked (I remember roast chicken was his specialty - just chuck everything into the oven) and he would walk me up the hill and back for school. One clear memory stuck to my brain cells, he made this corn hoon kueh dessert - a very easy-to-mix sweet. I guess it was lodged in my memory forever since I don't ever remember my mother making us desserts even though we had our fair share of home bakes.
My banana version is not perfect cones (I've still not perfected the art of turning it over into the ideal cone unless I use tons of agar agar powder) but the taste of this dessert definitely brought back sweet memories of bygone days.
Rest in peace Steve and Elizabeth. Thanks again for the happy memories.
Banana Hoon Kueh (Makes 2 moulds and a little more to keep in a tupperware)
3 ripe bananas
1 packet (85g) hoon kueh flour (white colour)
200ml thick coconut milk (I used Kara brand)
400ml water
pinch of salt
100g caster sugar
Steam whole bananas with their skins for 5-7 minutes. Remove from the steamer. Peel bananas. Cut into 3cm rounds. Set aside. In a pot, heat remaining ingredients over medium heat; stirring continuously until it thickens. I like to leave it on the steamer so the mixture does not over thicken and scoop the mixture out.
Place about 3cm high of hoon kueh mixture in the mould. Place the banana slices in one layer. Add more hoon kueh mixture, about 3-5cm high. Place the banana slices in one layer. Add remaining hoon kueh mixture till the top leaving about 1cm gap. Repeat for the second mould. Any excess can be stored in a container. Chill for 2 hours. Turn over and serve.
Reminder: Support the cause by buying a Royal Selangor Nick Munro pewter mould as all proceeds go to breast cancer welfare association. Also, do remember to submit your suggestions to booliciouskl@gmail.com or leave a comment for the mould to win the Olympus camera VG-110. For more pictures, see the Flickr set for all the whole Royal Selangor Jellyriffic challenge. To view, all the jellies, see this link to the Royal Selangor website.