Kuih Ketayap

I don’t know what “Kuih Ketayap” means. All I know is “Kuih” means cake or some times associated with cookies. For convenience sake, we could just call this Malaysian Crepe with coconut filling. This is another one of Malaysia’s variety to cakes/desserts and can be eaten at any time of the day. You can get this crepe (already assembled) from “kuih” vendors at any time of the day. And it’s a norm for one to eat “dessert” for breakfast. In fact, in Malaysia (and some other Asian countries) we eat even eat rice, noodles, etc for breakfast.

Anyway, back to the the green Malaysian crepe. The main difference in this crepe batter compared to the Western kind is perhaps the coconut milk (an essential in many Malaysian desserts) and the green coloring which is either the natural juice extracted from the pandan leaves or in my case artificial pandan paste which gives the batter a bright green hue (and a slight pandan flavoring).

The kuih is rather easy to make. The harder part is probably cooking the crepe and ensuring that it does not stick to the pan or tear. I use frozen grated coconut in this recipe and a combination of gula melaka (palm sugar) and brown sugar for the syrup part. I was running low on the gula melaka hence I decided to combined 2 different kinds of sugar. If you have plenty of gula melaka to spare, by all means feel free to use it. If you’re unable to find gula melaka, brown sugar is perfectly fine. Here’s the recipe.

KUIH KETAYAP RECIPE

Ingredients:

Part A (Coconut Filling):

• 3 Oz Gula Melaka
• 3 Oz Brown Sugar
• 2 Tbsp Water
• 6 Oz Frozen Grated Coconut, Thawed
• 2-3 Pandan Leaves
• 1 Tbsp Corn Flour + 2 Tbsp Water

Part B (Crepe):

• 2/3 Cup Flour
• 1-2/3 Cup Coconut Milk
• 1 Tsp Oil
• 2 Tsp Sugar
• Pinch of Salt
• 4 Tbsp Water
• 1 Large Egg, Beaten
• Pandan Paste
• Oil (For cooking crepe)

Method:

In a pot, heat gula melaka, brown sugar, water and pandan leaves over medium high heat. Once sugar has melted, stir in grated coconut. Let coconut cook for about 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. Then, mix 1 tbsp of corn flour with 2 tbsp of water and stir that into the coconut mixture. Cook for another 5 minutes then remove coconut mixture from heat. Let it cool.

In a bowl, add flour, sugar, salt and make a well. Slowly pour in coconut milk, oil, egg and water into the “well” and whisk mixture until you get a smooth batter. Add green coloring according to your preference. Note that the color will turn slightly darker as the crepe cooks. Sieve mixture and set aside.

Lightly oil (with a brush perhaps) a 10” pan and pre-heat it over medium heat. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter onto pan and quickly swirl batter around pan to get a nice thin and even layer. Cook the crepe until edges are slightly brown. The center of the crepe should be cooked by then. Gently loosen the crepe from the pan, using a silicone spatula. Quickly and gently transfer or flip crepe onto a plate. Continue until you use up all batter.

To assemble the “kuih”, place about 2-3 tbsp of the coconut mixture on a piece of crepe. About 1”-1.5” away from the edges. Take the edge closest to you and cover over the coconut mixture. Tuck in the two sides, and continue rolling forward making as tight roll of a roll as possible but gently. The crepe is very fragile!

Serve this at room temperature for breakfast or afternoon tea! This makes about 9-10 pieces of Kuih.