[Malaysian Recipes] Muar Chee

I am very fond of Muar Chee, or Malaysian sticky rice balls coated with sugar, ground roasted peanuts, and sesame seeds.

One of the popular sweet snacks found in Penang and other places in Malaysia, muar chee are often sold by roadside stalls or mobile hawkers. The set up is pretty simple: steamed glutinous rice paste and ground peanut mixture in a container. When you order it, the vendor would cut a small piece of glutinous rice paste using a special Muar Chee cutting knife, transfer it into the ground peanut mixture, dice the muar chee paste into small cubes and then coat them with the peanut and sugar. You can top Muar Chee with some fried shallots, but it’s optional. A small pack of Muar Chee costs only RM1 but it’s so tasty and satisfying that I could have them every day as a dessert…

Last weekend, I got myself a pack of glutinous rice and made Muar Chee at home. Surprisingly, it was quite easy to make. As I don’t have a Muar Chee recipe, I had to guess and figure out the basic steps. The Muar Chee turned out very well and looked and tasted almost the same compared to the real ones. The only thing missing was pork lard, I think.

Ingredients:

8 oz glutinous rice flour
2 tablespoons tapioca flour
1 1/2 cup water
Some cooking oil (for greasing)
Fried shallot crisps

Roasted Peanuts Mixture

4 oz ground roasted peanuts
4 oz sugar
2 oz sesame seeds (lightly toasted)

Method:

Mix the glutinous rice flour and tapioca flour with water to form a batter. Transfer the batter into a greased pan. Steamed over high heat for 10-15 minutes until the glutinous rice paste is completely cooked through in the center. Let cool.

In a deep dish, mix the ground roasted peanuts, sugar, and sesame seeds well. Cut a small piece of the rice paste using a plastic knife. Drop it into the mixture and start cutting the rice paste into smaller cubes. Coat well with the mixture, dish out and serve immediately with some fried shallot crisps.

Cook’s Note:

If you want a sinfully delicious Muar Chee, add some lard into the ground peanuts and/or the steamed glutinous rice paste. It’s not healthy but it will taste even better.

This recipe and image sources are referred in website: Rasamalaysia.com. Thanks so much!