Talam Tokyo - (MFF-Johor) #6

My 6th MFF Johor dish - And the name of this dish sounds really special. Talam Tokyo.

The very first time I heard the name of this kueh, I started to wonder if it is originated from Tokyo, Japan or what. But no. After some read-ups, I realized that this is originated from Johor. Why is it called Talam Tokyo? Till now, it is still unknown. There's no historical writings that I could find on the internet tho. But with Wendy's encouragement, I decided to give this kueh a try :)

Wendy told me that this kueh taste nice. She had it in Johor before. When I first saw the recipe, I spotted glass noodles in there. I thought it's interesting! But I book-marked the recipe, dragged more than 3 months, then, I started to move my fingers to get it done.

It looks really like seri muka. But it is not. I never try the real thing before, I just try my best to replicate it. As much as I could, as close as it can be.Original recipe ask for 10' x 10' inch cake tin. For me, I don't need such big portion of kueh at home. So, I halved the recipe instead, and I'm gonna use 7' x 7' inch cake tin for that.

Ingredients
(Source : Yatie Memories, with modification)

For Bottom Layer

• 150g Sago (small sized)
• 30g Glass Noodles (aka Soo Hoon / Tang Hoon)
• 50g Grated Coconut
• 50ml Coconut Milk
• 150ml Water
• ½ tsp Salt

For Top Layer

• 2 Eggs
• 150ml Sugar
• 200ml Coconut Milk
• 200ml Water + 2 Pandan Leaves (Blend them together, strained, keep the juice)
• 50g Custard Powder
• few drops of Green Coloring or Pandan Paste
• ½ tsp Alkaline Water
• ½ tsp Salt

Method (for Bottom Layer)

1. Wash sago, soaked in water for 30mins, drained.
2. Wash glass noodles, soaked in WARM water for 30mins, drained and snip into about 1 inch length (or shorter if you want)
3. Prepare a 7' x 7' inch cake tin. Line a layer of cling wrap paper at the bottom of the cake tin. Lightly grease the cake tin with oil.
4. Combine all Bottom Layer ingredients in the cake tin. mix well and spread the mixture evenly.
5. Under a steaming wok, steam the bottom layer kueh under high heat for about 25 minutes. Use a spoon to kinda gently press it if you find that the layer of kueh is uneven.

Method (for Top Layer)

1. First, blend the pandan leaves and water together, strained and set the pandan juice aside. Wash the blender, and make sure it is free from pandan leaves residues.
2. With clean blender, combine all Top Layer ingredients together and blend it away.
3. Strain the mixture, and pour the mixture straight to the wok. Under very low fire, continuously stirring, cook the mixture until thickened and almost going to boil, NOT boiling.
4. Pour the mixture on top of the steamed bottom layer kueh. If you are worried that it will have some lumps in there, strain the mixture one more time before you pour them in.
5. With a clean white cloth cover on top of the kueh, steam it for 25 minutes.
6. Once kueh is cooked, let the cake cooled down COMPLETELY before unmould and cut for serving. 

If you don't have clean cloth to cover the kueh during steaming, the vapor water will drip down, and your kueh will end up having lots of dimples. To prevent that, there are 3 ways.

1. Use those chinese bamboo steamer cover. Those that dim sum restaurants used.

2. Cover the kueh with clean cloth. But the cloth MUST NOT touch the surface of the kueh.

3. Stand infront of the steamer, For every 4 or 5 minutes, remove the steam cover and give the steam cover a very quick wipe, to wipe away the vapor water, and cover it back. This is to prevent steam water drip down. But this motion must be fast, and of course, the most tedious method. But if your kueh still have some vapor drips dimples, gently use toilet roll to absorb the water away from the surface of the kueh.

See! I used blender to lighten up my work. You could use food processor or mixer to do the work too.

Incase you don't know, this is Alkaline water that you could easily get from Phoon Huat. Or sometimes, places like Sheng Siong do have it too. Depends on which outlet you visit :)

And here, the main ingredients. Coconut milk, grated coconut, glass noodles, eggs, pandan leaves and sago.

In a big steaming wok, steam 1st layer for 25 minutes. Once it is cooked, it will looks transparent.

Under very low fire, continuously stirring, cook the mixture until thickened and until it's almost boiling.

Pour the mixture on top of the steamed bottom layer kueh. If you are worried that it will have some lumps in there, strain the mixture one more time before you pour them in.

Once kueh completely cooled, remove from the mould, remove the bottom layer of cling wrap paper and it is ready to cut.

No doubt that the taste of the kueh is nice. I like the texture of the top layer, but I don't really used to the existence of glass noodles at the bottom layer. It's just the overall feel of the bottom layer of the kueh. Maybe it is just me or something. Sometimes, food is very much about individual preference. I distributed some kueh to my neighbor and Serene to try too.

Although I won't categorize this Talam Tokyo as one of my favorite kueh, in overall, it is still a decent kueh that worth my time experimenting. Oh well, I've tried it, and now I know. It is a good experiment experience tho. If you happened to try this, do let me know the outcome and tell me if you like it or not. Okay?  :)