Of all the Chinese New Year goodies, my favourite is still kueh kapit or love letters. Light, crispy, sweet, eggy with coconut aroma, it brings back the most happy childhood memories of Chinese New Year. It's easy to lose count of the number of delicious love letters we crunched and munched away during the festivities.
Kueh Kapit which means "pressed biscuit" in Malay is unique to Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. It is also known as "love letters" and Kueh Belanda or Dutch biscuit because of its Dutch origins. (Actually, it is from Spain.) Kueh Kapit is also enjoyed during Hari Raya.
As a child, I love to watch my neighbours make kueh kapit at home for Chinese New Year. It used to be a common communal CNY tradition but these are rarely made at home nowadays. Family and neighbours join in, each playing a role in the process.
I was mesmerised when I stumbled upon this lady making kueh kapit in Sekinchan (Selangor, Malaysia) - it's always a joy to watch people making kueh kapit the old way. Her practised hand made it look deceptively simple but it requires lots of skill. This lady is amazing as she was juggling at least 50 moulds at the same time 😄
(I chanced upon this lady making kueh kapit during our tour of Sekinchan hosted by Tourism Selangor under the Discover Selangor, Heart of Malaysia programme. It inspired me to keep a record of this slowly vanishing traditional craft.)
The key to kueh kapit is the batter made by whisking rice flour, glutinous rice flour, coconut milk, eggs, salt and sugar together till creamy smooth. Other recipes use rice flour and tapioca starch. For a less crispy result with more chew (some prefer it this way), wheat flour is used instead of rice flour.
The "clam" is splashed with a ladle scoop of batter to make a thin film on one of the sides.
The clams are toasted over a trough of red hot charcoal embers.
There are electric versions but it is just not the same. The biscuits literally come out pale in comparison.
The kueh kapit maker has to visually check the kueh and take them off the charcoal trough at the right moment when it is golden brown and crisp.
It's all about experience and expertise. Too soon, the kueh will be pale and soft. Too late, it will be charred. I like the nice, rhythmic clicking and clapping sounds she makes as she went about her task. hmmm.... maybe she can make a performance of it by making kueh kapit music 😄
I am serious 🤔
The golden kueh kapit is carefully peeled off the mould. Here, it is folded while hot and malleable into a triangle like a little yellow napkin. This is the more common version nowadays. In the past, it was more common to roll it into a little scroll with a wooden rolling pin, hence the name, love letters or 雞蛋捲 (egg rolls) in Chinese.
Kueh Kapit is a must for me during Chinese New Year 😋
May I take this opportunity to wish you Happy Chinese New Year 新年快樂.
The golden kueh kapit is carefully peeled off the mould. Here, it is folded while hot and malleable into a triangle like a little yellow napkin. This is the more common version nowadays. In the past, it was more common to roll it into a little scroll with a wooden rolling pin, hence the name, love letters or 雞蛋捲 (egg rolls) in Chinese.
Kueh Kapit is a must for me during Chinese New Year 😋
May I take this opportunity to wish you Happy Chinese New Year 新年快樂.
Origins of Kueh Kapit - A Dutch Legacy?
The Dutch ruled Malacca for 184 years (1641 - 1824) but didn't leave much of an impression on Malaysia or Singapore food. (They influenced Indonesian food more.)
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| Barquillos in Madrid, Spain. Image credit: Wikipedia |
Though known as kueh Belanda which means Dutch biscuit in Malay, kueh kapit resembles the Spanish barquillo more.
The Spanish barquillo could come to Malacca by way of the Dutch because the Spaniards ruled The Netherlands for 92 years (1556 - 1648). The Spanish also ruled the Philippines (1565 to 1898) where the barquillo is popular to this day, especially in Iloilo City.
The Spanish barquillo is considered a Christmas cookie which could perhaps explain why kueh kapit / love letters are also associated with festivities, e.g. Hari Raya and Chinese New Year in Singapore and Malaysia.
Dutch ijzerkoekje or Spanish barquillo? More research required.
Kueh kapit is today either rolled into a little tube (a la barquillo) or folded like a small handkerchief. I prefer the traditional rolled type as that was what I remembered from the 1960s. The folded type, I saw only maybe a decade or two later.
Chinese New Year food traditions 👈 click
Written by Tony Boey on 25 Jan 2017 | Updated 10 Feb 2024
May the traditional practices continue to last. Such feelings of nostalgia...
ReplyDeleteYes its nostalgic. Happy new year.
ReplyDeleteHeaven snack
ReplyDeleteMy favorite too. My late mother used to make them every year and she had a 7” bamboo stick which was used to roll the love letters. I was usually the one who helped her do the rolling and benefitted from the occasional not perfect ones.
ReplyDeleteThe most laborious of them all...i know because i used to help my mum make them.
ReplyDelete