Of all the kuih-muih, I think my most favourite would have to be the glutinous rice based ones, top of the list would have to be Kuih Salat (a.k.a. serimuka), also fighting hard for first place would probably be Pulut Panggang, not far behind would be Pulut Inti.
Then again I may change my mind and list the three differently on a different day, hmmm, decision, decision, decision… Luckily it doesn’t really matter at all whichever order they come, because I love them all.
However I didn’t know about or came across Pulut Tekan when I was growing up. This colourful blue marbled rice kuih seems to be the lesser known of the glutinous rice based kuih-muih family. I first came across the name just a few years ago from cookbooks and recipes on the net. There is also some confusion as to its name. Firstly ‘Pulut Tekan’ which is its Malay name, meaning compressed glutinous rice. No problems there. But then comes its various other names – Pulut Tai Tai, Pulut Tartal, or even Gading Galoh.
Now what’s a man to do with all these names, I ask you? Could I just eat the kuih in peace without all the confusion please… 
Anyway, from what little I can gather from some quick research, Pulut Tai Tai seems to be its Nyonya name in Penang, and it is served on the side with kaya; Pulut Tartal most probably is its Eurasian (Cristang) name from Malacca and Singapore, and it is served on the side with a white coconut cream sauce; and finally Gading Galoh, this one seems to be another Malay name for it, however the only recipe I found for it is that instead of serving the kaya or coconut sauce on the side like the previous two, a coconut custard is steamed directly on top of the glutinous rice, very similar to Kuih Salat, but distinct with its marbling of the rice using the blue bunga telang (butterfly pea flowers) extract.
Now that’s my takes on the different names with their slightly different serving styles. I don’t know if I’ve got it totally wrong with all these names, but if you do know anything, I would appreciate your thoughts on this matter.
OK, now with the names aside, let’s delve into the kuih itself. The basis of the kuih is the compressed glutinous rice which is marbled with deep blue or indigo colour from the bunga telang extract. Bunga Telang is butterfly pea flower (Latin name Clitoria ternatea) and it is used by the Nyonya and Malay to naturally colour the rice blue in the olden days, such as for making this and other kuih-muih, Nyonya dumplings and also Nasi Kerabu, a specialty of east coast peninsula Malaysia. Nowadays, from what I’ve read, the blue colouring used in commercially produced kuih-muih or Nasi Kerabu is mostly artificial colouring as to extract bunga telang is rather a time consuming task and a lot of petals are needed just to get a small amount of the blue dye. I’ve not been able to get my hand on this flower as yet, but I would love to try my hand in extracting its blue colour one of these days.
Closeup of bunga telang, or butterfly pea flower (Clitoria ternatea)
Photo courtesy of TopTropicals.com
There are various techniques in extracting the blue colouring from the flower. With fresh flowers, you just pound the clean flower petals (lots and lots of it) in a mortar and pestle into a paste and squeeze through a piece of muslin to extract the deep blue juice. With dry flowers, boil or soak them in hot water, then squeeze to get the blue dye.
As I didn’t have access to the real deal, I have resorted to artificial blue food colouring to make my Pulut Tekan. I served it with my recently made Nyonya Kaya, so it is now called Pulut Tai Tai… (BTW, anyone know what Tai Tai means?)
Makes one 20cm square compressed rice.
[Ingredients]
300g (1½ cups) glutinous rice, soaked at least 3 hours or preferably overnight
250ml thin coconut milk
50ml thick coconut milk
2 teaspoons sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
5 pandan leaves, tore along the length into 3-4 strips then knotted together
blue food colouring or blue colour extract from bunga telang, adjust amount to get desired blue colouring
kaya, for serving
banana leaf, blanched in hot water to soften
http://cafeoftheeast.blogspot.com/
[Preparation]
1. Add sugar and salt to thin coconut milk, stir to dissolve then set aside.
2. Drain soaked rice in a colander. Lay a piece of softened banana leaf on the base of a 20cm square tin. Put in drained rice and level the rice, add seasoned thin coconut milk and knotted pandan leaves. With the handle of a wooden spoon, poke through the rice in a few places to make steam holes.
3. Place tin into hot steamer and steam for 10 minutes. Remove from steamer and fluff up to loosen the rice with a fork. Return to steamer and steam another 10 minutes. Repeat the procedure once again and steam for another 10 minutes. Remove pandan leaves.
4. Add thick coconut milk and steam 5 more minutes.
5. Remove from steamer, transfer hot rice to a large glass or metal mixing bowl, leaving banana leaf lining in tin. Drizzle drops of blue colouring randomly on the rice. Fork through the rice to create a marbling effect. (Alternatively, remove one-third of the rice and colour this portion blue then combined with the white rice to create a marbling effect.) Once the marbling is to your liking, return the marbled rice to the tin. Put another piece of banana leaf on top of the rice and press down evenly to compress the rice.
6. Place another tin right-side up (or a small flat plate) on top of the rice and put something heavy (such as a pestle and mortar, or some large tins of canned food) on top of it to weigh down the rice to further compact it while cooling.
7. Let cool completely, about 3-4 hours.
8. When cold, cut into slices and serve with kaya.
[Note]
Please note this recipe uses 1 standard cup of 250ml, 1 tablespoon of 20ml and 1 teaspoon of 5ml.
