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Yam Cake (Or Kuih) - Steamed cake made from yam pieces, dried prawns and rice flour, and usually served with a chilli dipping sauce.
Or Kuih
Whenever I visit Malaysia, I always indulge in a variety of kuih, the local sweet or savory cakes. One of my favorites is yam cake “Or Kuih” made from yam (known as taro in the US). Despite my love for it, I’ve never tried making kuih in the US.
This recipe is contributed by Bread et Butter.
Yam cake or “or kuih” literally means yam and “kuih” means snack or cake. This popular dish in Malaysia and Singapore is a steamed cake made from yam pieces, dried prawns, and rice flour. It’s often topped with crispy fried shallots, spring onions, chilies, and more dried prawns, and served with a spicy chili dipping sauce.
You know, I don’t know why I never tried making yam cake before, because it’s actually pretty simple! There’s some prep work involved in dicing the yam, but overall it’s quite easy.
The best part of the recipe is that it uses rice bowls for measuring. The ratio is straightforward: 2 bowls of water, 1 bowl of flour, and 1½ bowls of yam. This method is flexible—slight variations in the measurements won’t affect the final product much.
The size of your bowl doesn’t need to be exact, as long as it’s a Chinese rice bowl (not a wide, shallow cereal bowl). Just stick to the 2:1:1½ ratio, and you’re good to go.
Recipe Ingredients
- Yam
- Rice flour
- Wheat starch
- Water
- Shallots
- Dried shrimps
- White pepper
- Salt
- Five-spice powder
- Spring onion
- Red chillies
- Deep fried shallots
How to Make Yam Cake
Step 1: Heat a pan over medium-high heat and fry the onions and dried shrimp until aromatic, about 3-5 minutes. Add the cubed yam to the pan and fry it with the onion and dried shrimp mixture until browned.
Step 2: In a separate bowl, mix the rice flour, wheat starch, and water, stirring until it forms a smooth paste, making sure there are no lumps. Slowly add the flour mixture to the pan, stirring until everything forms a thick paste. Add the salt, pepper, and five-spice powder, and mix well.
Step 3: Pour the mixture into a heatproof bowl or plate and steam over high heat for 45 minutes, or until cooked through.
Step 4: To serve, sprinkle with deep-fried shallots, chopped spring onions, sliced chilies, and chopped dried shrimp. A side of chili sauce is also highly recommended.
What To Serve With Yam Cake
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Yam Cake Recipe (Or Kuih)
Ingredients
For the kuih:
- 1½ bowls yam, diced into 1-2cm cubes
- 1 bowl rice flour
- 2 tablespoons wheat starch
- 2 bowls water
- ½ – ¾ bowl dried shrimps, heh bee – I used ¾ bowl because I cannot express how much I love an abundance of it in or kuih
- 5 shallots, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon five-spice powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
For the topping:
- deep fried shallots, I buy mine ready fried from Chinatown
- spring onions, sliced finely
- red chillies, sliced finely
- dried shrimps, heh bee, chopped finely and fried (optional – you can just put more heh bee in the actual cake)
Instructions
- Heat a pan over medium-high heat and fry the onions and dried shrimp until aromatic, about 3-5 minutes. Add the cubed yam to the pan and fry it with the onion and dried shrimp mixture until browned.
- In a separate bowl, mix the rice flour, wheat starch, and water, stirring until it forms a smooth paste, making sure there are no lumps. Slowly add the flour mixture to the pan, stirring until everything forms a thick paste. Add the salt, pepper, and five-spice powder, and mix well.
- Pour the mixture into a heatproof bowl or plate and steam over high heat for 45 minutes, or until cooked through.
- To serve, sprinkle with deep-fried shallots, chopped spring onions, sliced chilies, and chopped dried shrimp. A side of chili sauce is also highly recommended.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Delicious recipe. Just follow exactly the instruction. I have made it twice. Turn out perfect. Thanks so much
Awesome thanks for trying!
Awesome recipe. Follow exactly ur recipe n it works yummy yummy. Tq Bee for d recipe.
Thanks!
Can check from u your measuring bowl is which type ?
US measuring cup/bowl.
Hi dear…i tried ur yam cake recepi….its simply delicious……ur instructions simple and easy to follow up….Thank you Bee…..God bless u. ?????❤
How to check if yam cake is cooked?
It’s cooked when a tooth pick inserted into the middle and it comes out clean.
Tq! :)
I wish I didnt read the comment as many said it was watery etc, so I reduced my water and the yam cake turned out pretty dense. But still taste really good, bring back the childhood memory ?
P.S. You need to stir the flour mix into the shrimp/taro mixed while the pan still hot, so the flour still kinda being cooked while you stir them. By doing so, it will reduce the liquid.
HI Jessy, awesome, thanks for trying!
I wish I didnt read the comment as many said it was watery etc, so I reduced my water and the yam cake turned out pretty dense. But still taste really good, bring back the childhood memory ?
P.S. You need to stir the flour mix into the shrimp/taro mixed while the pan still hot, so the flour still kinda being cooked while you stir them. By doing so, it will reduce the liquid.
Hi. I followed your measurement using rice bowls. But they turned up watery and soft. I tried to reduce the water to 1.5 bowls, also same. Any idea why?
I don’t know why, it worked for me.
Hi, I used glutinous rice flour instead of rice flour (coz the store only stocked the former and I thought it was the same). The result is a super soft and sticky yam… MOCHI. Could this be the issue faced by Jin?
Glutinous rice flour is not rice flour. Just like glutinous rice is not white rice. This recipe works if you follow the recipe exactly and doesn’t replace ingredients.
Same here. It’s watery and doesn’t firm up even after steaming for 1 and 1/2 hr.
This recipe works. If it doesn’t firm up, it means your measurement is probably off.
Hi dear…i tried ur yam cake recepi….its simply delicious……ur instructions simple and easy to follow up….Thank you Bee…..God bless u. ?????❤
Thanks for trying.
Hi Rasa Malaysia
can you update your recipe with modern measurement instead of bowl – no idea of your bowl measurement?
Thanks
Yoke
This recipe was contributed by another food blogger.
Hi Bee, can I know if these much of ingredients can fit into a 8×8 pan? Just want to gauge how much servings this will provide. Thanks!
I think so I can’t remember anymore it’s a very old recipe.