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Dessert

Kuih Bakul

A sweet, browned rice cake made from sticky rice flour, sugar, and water, steamed in banana leaves.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓

Kuih Bakul

Time7–8 hours

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the tins

  1. Line each tin with banana leaves, making sure they overlap each other and extend well above the rim of the tin.

  2. Fold the banana leaves back down so that they are folded over the outside rim of the tin. Tie a piece of twine around the circumference of the tin to secure the folded leaves in place.

Make the batter

  1. Gradually mix the water into the rice flour until smooth and well combined.

  2. Stir in the sugar until completely dissolved. Let rest for 15 minutes.

  3. Stir the mixture, and divide it evenly between the prepared tins.

Steam and finish

  1. Bring a few inches of water to boil in the bottom of a steamer.

  2. Place the filled tins in the steamer. Wrap the lid in a cloth to prevent condensation dripping, and cover the steamer.

  3. Steam for 7–8 hours, topping up the steamer with additional boiling water as needed. When the cake is cooked, it should be browned.

  4. Remove the tins from the steamer, and let them cool and rest overnight.

  5. Untie the twine, and unmold the cakes.

  6. If desired, use scissors to trim the excess banana leaves flush with the top of the cake.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

710Calories
17 gProtein
2 gFat
153 gCarbs

Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 3 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  2. Rice + flourtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Rice + sugartop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,744 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sticky/glutinous rice flour
Forms the cake's structure and gives it a chewy, sticky texture when steamed.
Water
Hydrates the rice flour into a smooth batter that steams into a moist cake.
White granulated sugar
Adds sweetness and contributes to browning on the cake's surface.

The step that matters

Topping up the steamer with boiling water. Steaming for 7–8 hours can drain the water, and if the pot runs dry the cakes stop cooking evenly. Adding boiling water rather than cold keeps the steam steady and the temperature from dropping.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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