Kuih Seri Muka. Delicious layers of coconut-infused glutinous sticky rice with a creamy pandan coconut custard. A chewy and luscious dessert popular in Southeast Asia for good reason!
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What is Kuih Seri Muka?
Kuih Seri Muka is a delicious layered dessert made of chewy glutinous rice flavored with coconut and a pandan custard layer on top. It's a fragrant, sweet dessert with different textures that originates from Indonesia and you can find it in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.
During my travels to Malaysia, kuih was a dessert served at many dessert shops and dessert stands. There are many different types of kuih, such as kuis lapis which is a layered cake using rice flour, not glutinous sticky rice or kuih with a layer of gula melaka in between glutinous sticky rice. The list goes on!
I absolutely love this dessert so much because of the chewy taste is incredibly with that creamy pandan custard layer. It's also super aromatic thanks to the pandan leaves.
Ingredients
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
White Glutinous Rice Layer
- Glutinous Rice: this is not the same as short-grain rice
- Full Fat Coconut Milk
- Cold Water
- Salt
- Pandan Leaves: it must be pandan leaves and not pandan extract. You can find these leaves in the frozen section at select Asian grocery stores
Blue Glutinous Rice Layer
- Glutinous rice
- Full Fat Coconut Milk
- Cold water
- Salt
- Blue Butterfly Pea Powder: you can usually find this ingredient online or at select Health Food Stores
- Pandan Leaves
Pandan Custard Layer
- Cold water
- Pandan leaves
- Cornstarch
- All-Purpose Flour
- Large eggs
- Full Fat Coconut Milk
- White granulated sugar
Equipment
- Blender or immersion blender
- Fine Sieve
- 9x9 Square Pan
- Steamer
- Steaming Rack
Expert Tips
- Use fresh pandan leaves when making this dessert because it is so much better than the extract and much better than the powdered version. Pandan leaves can be found at South-East Asian grocers in the freezer section.
- Make sure to incorporate the butterfly pea powder after the rice has been mixed with the wet ingredients. If you add the blue powder after the rice has been steamed, it will be more difficult to evenly colour the rice.
- When creating the custard, heat it over low-medium heat and DO NOT bring to a boil. This will cause the custard to not be creamy. Therefore, as soon as you see chunks form at the base of your custard, then it is time to remove the custard off the heat immediately.
- While layering, make sure the rice and the custard are still very warm. I would suggest covering the first and second rice layer with a warm tea towel or a lid to keep it warm.
- Prior to adding the rice to the base of your square dish, grease it well with oil. This will allow the rice to come out more easily.
- When adding your rice to the square dish, distribute it evenly for even layers. I actually found it easiest to slide the rice off the plate (wearing heat proof gloves) right into the pan versus scooping uneven chunks of the rice having to even it off later with my eye.
- Pack the rice down hard using a spatula. This will ensure the custard does not leak through any holes ruining your layers.
- Before steaming your dessert, cover the lid with a tea towel or aluminum foil. This will prevent any droplets of water from hitting the custard creating small holes.
- Slice kuih with a wet oiled paring knife at an angle. This dessert is very sticky so the oil and water help the knife glide through the cake more easily.
How to make Kuih Seri Muka
Soak the Glutinous Rice the Night Before
In two separate bowls, divide the glutinous rice equally with 200 grams in each one. Soak glutinous rice with enough water the night before or 4 hours prior. This is important, if you do not do this the rice will not be soft and sticky after steaming.
Strain soaked rice
On the day of cooking, strain the water from each bowl of soaked rice using a fine sieve. Transfer the rice back into each bowl.
Add Coconut Milk, Water, & Salt
To each bowl of strained rice, add coconut milk, water, salt and mix well.
Add Butterfly Pea Powder to One Rice Bowl
To one of the bowls, add blue butterfly pea powder and mix well. You should have one bowl with white rice.
Transfer Blue Rice to a Shallow Bowl
Next pour the blue rice and the liquids onto a wide shallow bowl. Then place knotted pandan leaves into the rice.
Steam Blue Rice with Liquids
Fill a large wok halfway with water and place a wire rack or bamboo steamer inside. Bring to a boil. Once you reach boiling point, reduce to medium heat. Cover and steam the blue rice for 25 minutes. Checking every now and then to ensure there's enough water in the steamer. If not, refill with more hot water. Remove the plate from steamer with oven mitts and keep warm.
Steam White Rice with Liquids
Next transfer white-colored rice and liquids to a wide shallow bowl. Transfer to the steamer. Cover and steam on medium heat for 25 minutes checking occasionally if the steaming water needs to be refilled with hot water. Once white rice is done steaming, remove pandan leaves and remove from steamer. Set aside and keep warm.
Blend Pandan Leaves & Water
Meanwhile, add 10 pandan leaves and 200 ml of water into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the content into a fine sieve and strain the liquids, discarding the pulp. Pour this pandan extract into a medium sized pot.
Make Pandan Layer Custard Mixture
To the same pot, add pandan custard ingredients: cornstarch, all purpose flour, eggs, coconut milk, and sugar. Mix well and place over stove top to heat over low-medium heat continually stirring until it thickens. Do not bring to a boil.
Remove Custard off Heat
When chunks begin to form as you stir, remove the pot off heat.
Dissolve the Custard Chunks
Next stir the mixture well until the chunks have dissolved completely. Cover to keep warm.
Grease Square Pan
Then grease a 9x9 square baking pan or baking dish with oil. Set aside for later.
Transfer Steamed Blue Rice to Square Pan
Using oven oven mitts, slide the blue rice into the greased square baking pan to create an even layer. Use a spatula to pack the rice down hard ensuring there are cracks if possible. It must be packed well or the custard will seep through the cracks, affecting the layers. Smooth out the layer of rice.
Transfer Steamed White Rice to Square Pan
Then slide the white rice over the blue rice and pack down very well ensuring no cracks if possible. Smooth it out with spatula.
Pour Custard Liquid on White Rice
After that, pour the pandan custard over top. Gently tap the pan on a even surface to remove any air bubbles.
Steam the Entire Cake
Steam over medium heat for 30 minutes covered using a lid covered in aluminum foil or a clean tea towel. This prevents the water droplets from making holes into your pandan custard layer.
Remove & Cool
Finally remove cake from steamer and allow to cool down completely. Slice with a wet and oiled knife at an angle and serve to enjoy!
Storage
Kuih is best consumed same day but it can last for 36 hours in the fridge stored in an airtight container.
FAQ
No, unfortunately the glutinous rice layer will go hard and lose it's chewy texture even after reheating.
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📖 Recipe
Kuih Seri Muka (Pandan Custard Sticky Rice Dessert)
Ingredients
White Glutinous Rice Layer:
- 200 grams Glutinous Rice
- 75 ml Coconut Milk full fat
- 50 ml Water cold or room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 2 Pandan Leaves knotted
Blue Glutinous Rice Layer:
- 200 grams Glutinous Rice
- 75 ml Coconut Milk full fat
- 50 ml Water cold or room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon Blue Butterfly Pea Powder
- 2 Pandan Leaves knotted
Pandan Custard Layer:
- 200 ml Water
- 10 Pandan leaves
- 5 Tablespoons Cornstarch
- 3 Tablespoons All Purpose Flour
- 3 large Eggs
- 200 ml Coconut Milk full fat
- 140 grams white granulated sugar
Instructions
- In two separate bowls, divide the glutinous rice equally with 200 grams in each one. Soak glutinous rice with enough water the night before or 4 hours prior. This is important, if you do not do this the rice will not be soft and sticky after steaming.
- On the day of cooking, strain the water from each bowl of soaked rice using a fine sieve. Transfer the rice back into each bowl. To each bowl of strained rice, add coconut milk, water, salt and mix well. To one of the bowls, add blue butterfly pea powder and mix well. You should have one bowl with white rice.
- Next pour the blue rice and the liquids onto a wide shallow bowl. Then place knotted pandan leaves into the rice.
- Fill a large wok halfway with water and place a wire rack or bamboo steamer inside. Bring to a boil. Once you reach boiling point, reduce to medium heat. Cover and steam the blue rice for 25 minutes. Checking every now and then to ensure there's enough water in the steamer. If not, refill with more hot water. Remove the plate from steamer with oven mitts and keep warm.
- Next transfer white-colored rice and liquids to a wide shallow bowl. Transfer to the steamer. Cover and steam on medium heat for 25 minutes checking occasionally if the steaming water needs to be refilled with hot water. Once white rice is done steaming, remove pandan leaves and remove from steamer. Set aside and keep warm.
- Meanwhile, add 10 pandan leaves and 200 ml of water into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the content into a fine sieve and strain the liquids, discarding the pulp. Pour this pandan extract into a medium sized pot.
- To the same pot, add pandan custard ingredients: cornstarch, all purpose flour, eggs, coconut milk, and sugar. Mix well and place over stove top to heat over low-medium heat continually stirring until it thickens. Do not bring to a boil. When chunks begin to form as you stir, remove the pot off heat.Next stir the mixture well until the chunks have dissolved completely. Cover to keep warm.
- Then grease a 9x9 square baking pan or baking dish with oil. Set aside for later.
- Using oven oven mitts, slide the blue rice into the greased square baking pan to create an even layer. Use a spatula to pack the rice down hard ensuring there are cracks if possible. It must be packed well or the custard will seep through the cracks, affecting the layers. Smooth out the layer of rice.
- Then slide the steamed white rice over the blue rice and pack down very well ensuring no cracks if possible. Smooth it out with spatula.
- After that, pour the pandan custard over top. Gently tap the pan on a even surface to remove any air bubbles.
- Steam over medium heat for 30 minutes covered using a lid covered in aluminum foil or a clean tea towel. This prevents the water droplets from making holes into your pandan custard layer.
- Finally remove cake from steamer and allow to cool down completely. Slice with a wet and oiled knife at an angle and serve to enjoy!
Rosemary
Wow those layers are so cool! I love sticky sweet rice so much hehe
Michelle | Sift & Simmer
I haven't had kuih seri muka but the colours are amazing! I love kuih lapis though, so I'll have to try it soon!