Talam Keladi Berlauk Daging ( Steamed Yam Cake In Coconut Milk)

Talam Keladi Berlauk Daging ( Steamed Yam Cake In Coconut Milk)

   April 02, 2020       Lyn Alina

---

It was my first experiment in making my homemade talam keladi berlauk aka steamed yam cake.
Apparently, there have been two versions of these kueh - the first one is the Chinese version of steamed yam cake, or they called as Taro cake.
Chinese version of steamed yam cake has no coconut milk (because coconut milk is not regular in most of Chinese dishes), usually added with Chinese sausages, Chinese mushrooms and the five spice powder.
The rest are pretty similar - with dried shrimp as the main seasoning and the cake batter is made using rice flour and a little bit of tapioca flour, corn starch and wheat flour to enhance its texture.
I actually enjoyed eating the Chinese version of steamed yam cake, the cake is stickier and savory - it is usually serve with spicy chili sambal and sweet black sauce (I'm not sure what is it called).

The second version - well, this is the version that I am going to elaborate further in this post, it is the steamed yam cake made with coconut milk.
This version of yam cake also uses dried shrimp as it's main seasoning, fried until fragrant and mix with fried shallots (bawang goreng), chopped green onions and chinese celery and sliced red chilies.
The yam is cubed and is either boiled until tender or stir fried until browned.
The cake batter preparation is almost similar with the first version, the only difference is that, coconut milk is added into this second version of steamed yam cake, making it sweeter and rich in nutty flavor.

I have no intention to make steamed yam cake when I bought two pieces of yam a few days back.
And the yams were left there in my fridge, untouched until a video of making steamed yam cake popped up in my recommended video lists in Youtube.
I was so excited to make it myself, thinking that it's not that difficult to be prepared.
Furthermore, this is going to be the first dish that'll be using the Chinese celery and green onion that I planted about two months ago in a vase in my balcony.
I just need to skip a few ingredients which I do not prefer to use for my steamed yam cake.
As I was preparing the ingredients, I was frustrated to learn that I have run out of the dried shrimp stock!  Arghh!! If only I noticed earlier, I should have bought it the day before.

So, I have to change my initial plan and make my steamed yam cake with minced beef instead of the dried shrimp.
It'll definitely taste different from the original version but to think it in a constructive way, this is going add a new twist into the dish, and a good option for those who don't like or is allergy to seafood.

Oh! Before I forgot, the texture for the steamed yam cake which made with coconut milk will not going to be sticky, unlike the Chinese version, since the fat coconut milk itself somehow helps to moisten the cake batter and I didn't add tapioca flour in it.
This cake is soft textured, but still firm enough to be cut into smaller pieces after it is completely cooled.
To complete the dish, I prepared two types of sauces, one is sweet and another one is spicy.
The sweet sauce is more or less like the Yong Tau Fu or Chee Cheong Fun sauce while the spicy sauce is pretty similar with the dim sum spicy dipping sauce.
The cake, as its name suggest, is to be steamed.
I use an 8"X 8" baking pan for this recipe, but you may also use a round baking pan or a casserole.

Lets get the nitty-gritty of this recipe.

TALAM KELADI BERLAUK DAGING

(STEAMED BEEF YAM CAKE IN COCONUT MILK)

Cuisine : Malay

Serve : 5 to 6

Ingredients:

500 grams of yam (cut into cubes)

200 grams of minced beef

3 cloves of garlic - chopped

1 teaspoon of white pepper powder

Approximately 5 tablespoons of cooking oil

Salt to taste

2 red chilies - sliced diagonally

1/4 cup of chopped green onions

1/4 cup of chopped Chinese celery

1/4 cup of fried shallots

For The Cake Batter:

2 cups of rice flour

1/3 cup of wheat flour

1/4 cup of corn flour

 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt

5 cups of coconut milk (I used 3/4 cup of coconut cream + 4 1/4 cups of water)

Instructions:

1. Heat oil in a pan and fry the yam cubes until browned, remove and set aside.
2. Using the same oil (add more if necessary), fry garlic until fragrant and slightly browned, add minced beef and season with white pepper powder and salt.  Fry until beef is opaque over medium heat.
3. Turn off the heat and mix with sliced red chilies, chopped green onions and chopped Chinese celery.
4. Next, in a large wok, combine rice flour, wheat flour, corn flour and salt.  Stir to combine.
5. Pour coconut milk little by little while continue to whisk to avoid lumps formation.
6. Cook the batter over low heat until it thickens (but not too thick) and  fold in fried yam and 1/3 of the beef mixture. 
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan greased with cooking oil.  Spread the batter with a spatula.
8. Steam over medium heat for 45 minutes, or until inserted bamboo skewer comes out clean.
9. Top the cake with the remaining beef mixture, light pressed down the topping with a spatula and steam for another 10 minutes.
10. Remove from the steamer and let the yam cake cools completely before making an attempt to cut it. It should takes about 5 hours for the cake to completely cool.  You may pop it in the fridge, after 3 hours left at room temperature to accelerate the cooling process.
11. Cut the cake with a sharp knife, soaked first in hot water to get nice, cleaned cut cake.  Or you may opt for plastic cake knife to cut the yam cake.

THE SAUCES

Ingredients for Sweet Sauce:

1/2 palm sugar (or 1 piece if you're using the smaller size)

1 1/2 cups of water

2 cloves of garlic - skin intact and crushed

2 tablespoons of sweet soy sauce

Salt to taste

1 tablespoon of corn flour (mix with 3 tablespoons of water)

Instructions:

Add palm sugar, water, sweet soy sauce and crushed garlic in a pot and bring the mixture to boil over medium heat.

Lower the heat and add the corn flour mixture.  Allow the mixture to simmer gently over low heat until it thickens to your desired consistency.  Season with salt.

Remove the garlic and ready to be served with the yam cake.

Ingredients for Spicy Sauce:

2 red chilies 

1 clove of garlic

3 tablespoons of dried chili paste

1 1/2 cups of water

3 tablespoons of white sugar

1 tablespoon of white vinegar

1/2 tablespoon of corn flour (mix with 2 tablespoons of water)

Salt to taste

Instructions:

Blend red chilies with garlic until smooth and pour in a pot.

Add water, dried chili paste, white vinegar and white sugar and bring the mixture to boil over medium heat.

Lower the heat, add corn flour mixture and allow it to simmer over low heat until it thickens.

Season with salt.

Ready to be serve with the yam cake.