Love Letters...the edible kind
>> Monday, February 1, 2010
Kuih Kapit, also known as Love Letters is a favorite Chinese New Year delicacy in Malaysia. Why are they called Love Letters? Well, the Nyonya descent who first came up with the recipe was illiterate, thus making these delicious wafer-thin cookies was her way of expressing her love, hence Love Letters! Ok, I just pulled that one off my hat. I'm not quite sure how it really got its moniker; there're many versions of its origin but a brief research revealed that Kuih Kapit was an adaptation of a Dutch cookie, substituted by local (Malaysian) ingredients and made popular by the Peranakan (Nyonya) community in Malaysia. "Kapit" in Dutch means cupid in English, hence the nickname Love Letters. It's very similar to the Italian pizzelle, albeit made with rice instead of wheat flour, coconut milk and requires a much more time-consuming and labor-intensive process as you must cook them in special moulds, one by one, over burning charcoals. Ok, so I confess: D and I cheated! As exciting as the idea of spending the entire weekend toiling over hot charcoals sound, we decided to fire up the gas grill instead. There didn't seem to be any compromise in the flavor department and we're pleased with these little puppies!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhRbJ7qq5mlcd9xey5eefVhdkF695ysGM1sJ2fRW3rwpn8H6XyMoihMvJpUpveuIj2BZkqLmN8GX1MKWr26WdBDdtA7OGQZQtHSGwaGaGPg4-SMxyAdqp_hXQGx9NAJT7e9p3gzgKEI00/s320/IMG_8488.jpg)
I never knew I had asbestos-fingers. Folding, shaping and rolling these wafers as soon as they are dislodged from the hot mould but before they turned cold was an occupational hazard in and of itself. Getting the batter to be the right consistency and ladling just enough to cover the mould present another set of challenge. Not for the faint-hearted in the kitchen, but certainly a tradition worth preserving.
Love Letters (Kuih Kapit)
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups rice flour
3 Tbs all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 3/4 cups coconut milk (one 8 -oz can)
3 eggs
2 egg yolks
You do need these special moulds to make the traditional CNY Love Letters.
Alternatively, you can also use a flat crepe pan or hot plate.
Alternatively, you can also use a flat crepe pan or hot plate.
Method:
1. Sift rice and all-purpose flour into mixing bowl.
2. Whisk in sugar, coconut milk and eggs until well blended
3. Strain the batter.
5. Heat the mould over the grill (or turn on the heat if using flat pan)
6. When hot, ladle a spoonful of batter over the mould, give it a swirl, clamp the mould tight and return to the heat.
7. Allow to cook on each side for ~ 30 seconds, turning the mould to cook the batter evenly. Scrape excess batter around the mould.
8. Once the batter is golden brown, remove and immediately fold - half, then quarter or you can also choose to roll the wafer like so (INSERT PICTURE). Here's where the asbestos fingers come in! Work quickly otherwise all you get are wafer crumbs once they are cold.
9. Allow to cool and store in air-tight container.
10. Warning: they are extremely addictive!
4 comments:
wow this totally brings me back to my grandma's house in malaysia... where i remember eating these. you did an AWESOME job. where did you get the molds?
by the way, i'm adding you to my favorites!
Tia, I got lugged them home all the way from Malaysia! It's been many years ago though but this is the first year I'm using them here!
Thanks for the add!
very nice!! and your pics are gorgeous!
Can't find the mold shown in the picture in the states. Can I use the Norwegian krumbkake maker? Is it thin enough?
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