Putu Piring

Ingredients

Rice flour mixture

• 400 grice flour
• 150 mlwater
• 1/2 tspsalt

Filling

• 200 ggula melaka, finely chopped or grated

To serve

• 250 gfreshly grated coconut
• 1/2 tspsalt
• 1pandan leaf

Equipment

• small shallow round moulds, about 7 cm across
• squares of muslin
• pandan leaves, cut into rounds
• a steamer

Note

• the flour mixture must be damp and crumbly, not a dough

Directions

1. Put the rice flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the water a little at a time. Rub it in with your fingertips as you go.
2. Keep rubbing so the water distributes evenly. Stop while the mixture still looks like damp sand. Squeeze a handful firmly in your fist. It should hold together in a clump.
3. Chop or grate the gula melaka finely. Preparing the coconut is done in advance. Toss the grated coconut with the salt. Steam it with a pandan leaf for five minutes. Steaming softens it and helps it keep longer.
4. Let the coconut cool completely. Cut squares of muslin large enough to cover each mould. Cut rounds of pandan leaf to sit under each cake. Filling the moulds takes a light hand.
5. Spoon the sieved flour mixture loosely into a mould. Fill it to about halfway up only. Do not press it down at any point. Make a small hollow in the centre with your finger. Spoon a teaspoon of chopped palm sugar into the hollow.
6. Cover the sugar with more flour mixture. Lay a square of muslin over each filled mould. Lift the mould away, leaving the cake under the cloth.
7. Steam them for six to eight minutes over a strong boil. Checking they are done is by look. Lift each cake onto a plate on its pandan round. Spoon grated coconut generously over the top. Serve them straight away, while the sugar is still molten. Warn people that the centre is very hot.

Technique

• The flour must stay damp and crumbly like sand, not become a dough.
• Sieve the dampened flour to aerate it, which is what makes the cake light.
• Never press the mixture into the mould, since compacting it gives a heavy cake.

Substitutions

• Palm sugar or jaggery in place of gula melaka.
• Desiccated coconut moistened and steamed, if fresh is unavailable.

Variations

• With a pandan-scented flour mixture.
• Made larger, though they are harder to steam evenly.
• Putu bambu, the related version steamed in bamboo tubes.

History

Sold from steamers at Singapore’s Kampong Gelam and Geylang Serai, the whistling steam signalling the stall.

Frequently asked questions

What is Putu Piring?

Putu Piring is a dessert from Singapore: steamed rice-flour discs filled with palm sugar, served on pandan with coconut. Sold from steamers at Singapore’s Kampong Gelam and Geylang Serai, the whistling steam signalling the stall.

How long does Putu Piring take to make?

Putu Piring takes 30 min of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 16 pieces. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Putu Piring?

Yes, within limits. Palm sugar or jaggery in place of gula melaka. Desiccated coconut moistened and steamed, if fresh is unavailable.

What is the most important thing to get right in Putu Piring?

Spoon the sieved flour mixture loosely into a mould. Fill it to about halfway up only. Do not press it down at any point. Make a small hollow in the centre with your finger. Spoon a teaspoon of chopped palm sugar into the hollow.