Soon Kueh (Turnip Dumplings) (I)

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Soon kueh is a Teochew steamed dumpling. It used to be made with bamboo shoots. That’s why it’s called “soon kueh”, which means shoot dumpling. Nowadays, jicama has replaced bamboo shoots because it’s way cheaper.

Soon kueh may be eaten steamed or pan-fried. Some people like it with chilli sauce and sweet black soya sauce. Some like it without. It’s great for breakfast. It’s also a great snack.

I’ve tried 6 soon kueh recipes.

1) The one from Chan Chen Hei, ex-chef of Hai Tien Lo, failed outright because it had way too much water. What the recipe made was a batter, not dough.

? 2) The Best of Singapore Cooking gave me a dough that cracked even before it was steamed. The ingredients – rice flour, tapioca starch, water, salt and oil – were similar to the recipe I succeeded with. But the water added to the dry ingredients was hot instead of boiling.

3) I also tried the recipe in Cooking for the President. The dough I got, using rice and tapioca starch cooked on the stove, was simply too wet and soft to be shaped or rolled. I think there was way too much water and oil.

4) And then there was a Taiwanese recipe which used glutinous rice flour mixed with a bit of plain flour. That one wasn’t too bad if eaten hot but it hardened badly when it was cold.

5) The 5th recipe I tried was cornercafe’s recipe for ‘crystal pastry‘, which used tapioca starch, wheat starch, oil, salt and boiling water. What I got was a very bouncy dough that squelched (!) when it was kneaded, somewhat like what The Best of Singapore Cooking gave me although the ingredients and methods were substantially different between the two.

The squelching was rather scary. I threw away the dough before it became alive and attacked me.

6) The successful recipe I tried was from Rose’s Kitchen. The dough was not bouncy, not too soft and, most importantly, it didn’t fart squelch. The minute I started kneading, it just felt right.

Search mission accomplished.

Soon Kueh

The bulk of the work in making soon kueh is rolling the dough wrapper one at a time. Why not roll out a big sheet, then use a round cutter to cut the required size? Because the wrapper is thicker in the middle and thinner along the edges. If the edges are too thick, they would be too hard and thick after they're sealed.
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Video

Prep Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes
Course Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine Chinese, Malaysia, Singapore
Servings 32 pieces
Calories 90 kcal

Ingredients
  

Dough

  • 300 g rice flour
  • 100 g tapioca starch plus ¼ cup for adjusting and dusting
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 600 ml boiling water
  • 2 tbsp corn oil

Filling

  • 40 g dried mushrooms
  • 40 g dried prawns
  • 1.1 kg turnip
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 2½ tbsp corn oil
  • 3 tbsp light soya sauce
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • ¾ tsp ground white pepper
  • 1 tbsp shallot or corn oil

Instructions
 

Dough

  • Mix rice flour, tapioca starch and salt thoroughly. Pour boiling water evenly over mixture. Immediately stir till well mixed and cool enough to handle but still extremely hot. Drizzle with corn oil. Knead till evenly mixed to make a smooth, sticky dough. Continue kneading, dusting with tapioca starch till dough is no longer sticky (like glue) but still quite tacky (like Post-it paper). Cover and let dough rest 10 minutes or up to a few hours.
    300 g rice flour, 100 g tapioca starch, 1 tsp salt, 600 ml boiling water, 2 tbsp corn oil

Filling

  • Rinse mushrooms and soak in ¼ cup water till soft, about 30 minutes. Squeeze dry, reserving the water. Remove stalks (discard or use them for making stock). Slice thinly.
    40 g dried mushrooms
  • Rinse dried prawns. Soak in 2 tbsp water till soft, about 15 minutes. Squeeze dry, reserving the water. Chop roughly
    40 g dried prawns
  • Wash and peel turnip. Cut or grate matchstick size to yield 1 kg.
    1.1 kg turnip
  • Peel garlic and chop roughly.
    4 cloves garlic
  • Heat corn oil in a wok till just smoking. Over high heat, stir-fry dried prawns till lightly golden. Add garlic and stir-fry till translucent. Add dried mushrooms and stir-fry till everything is nicely golden brown. Add turnip and continue stirring till thoroughly heated and wok is very hot again. Add light soya sauce and sugar. Stir till light soya sauce is absorbed. Add water drained from dried prawns and dried mushrooms, which should be no more than 2 tbsp or so.
    2½ tbsp corn oil, 2 tbsp sugar, 3 tbsp light soya sauce, ¾ tsp ground white pepper
  • Continue stir-frying till turnip is wilted but still crunchy. Sprinkle with ground white pepper. Stir through. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Turn off heat. Push turnip to side of wok to drain. If turnip is very wet, drain in a colander. Leave till cold. Transfer to a bowl.

Assemble

  • Dust worktop lightly with tapioca starch. Knead and roll dough made earlier into a log shape, dusting with tapioca starch if too sticky. Cut into 32 pieces (30-32 g each). Shape into round balls. Cover.
  • Flatten dough ball into a round disc. Roll to form 11-cm circle about 2 mm thick, dusting with tapioca starch to prevent sticking.
  • Place 30-32 g filling on the dough, in the middle. Fold bottom half of dough upward, bringing edges together. Press to seal, from the middle to the corners. Set aside, covered. Fill and wrap rest of dough as before.

Steam

  • Brush perforated tray with oil, or line with parchment paper. Place soon kueh on the tray spaced 1 cm apart. Steam over rapidly boiling water till slightly puffed, about 10 minutes. Brush lightly with shallot or corn oil. Transfer to an oiled plate, spaced apart whilst cooling down. If desired, pan-fry just before eating.
    1 tbsp shallot or corn oil

Notes

Turnip – aka 沙葛, bangkuang, yam bean and jicama. 
Soon kueh may be eaten with sweet dark soya sauce and/or chilli sauce. Leftovers should be refrigerated, then steamed or pan-fried till thoroughly heated through before eating.