![]() Pie tees served in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | |
Course | Pastry |
---|---|
Place of origin | Malaysia [1] [2] [3] [4] |
Region or state | Southeast Asia |
Associated cuisine | Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia |
Kueh Pie Tee is a thin and crispy pastry tart shell kuih often filled with a spicy, shredded Chinese turnips, sweet mixture of thinly sliced vegetables and prawns. It is a popular Peranakan dish, that is often consumed during Chinese New Year or tea parties. The shells are made of flour and though some stores will make them from scratch, they can usually be found ready made in most supermarkets. Similar to popiah , the main filling is shredded jicama and carrots, and usually these two dishes are sold by the same stall in hawker centres. [5]
Kueh Pie Tee is known by different names across the Southeast Asia region, with several variations in spelling. Kueh Pie Tee is pronounced /ˈkweɪˈpaɪˈtiː/ , and is also known as Koay Pai Ti', 'Kuih Pie Tee' or 'Kuih Pai Ti. The word 'kueh' is a loanword that combines the Malay word kueh, which means dessert, and from the Minnan dialect kueh (Minnan: kueh or koé (粿); Chinese: 粿; pinyin: guǒ) which means a flour-based dish. [6] 'Pie' is derived from the English word 'pie' while other regional variations that use pai uses it as a loanword from the Malay language, 'pai' which means pie. In other accounts, the phrase pie tee (or pai ti or pai tee) may have been derived from the English term 'patty'. [2] [7]
In Malaysia, the kueh pie tee is also known as Tophats, suggesting that part of the dish was likely influenced by Western culture. [2]
While the origins of the kueh pie tee remain unclear, there are several speculations on how the Kueh Pie Tee was invented. Based on currently available sources, the Kueh Pie Tee was invented in the early 20th century. [4] The kueh pie tee is believed to be derived from the popiah. The popiah was likely introduced to the Southeast Asia region by the Chinese migrants moving there. The snack's prolonged exposure to its surrounding multi-ethnic influences, such as Malay cuisine and Western cuisine, led to the adaptation of the original 'baobing' recipe to create the kueh pie tee.
In Malaysia, many locals recognise the kueh pie tee by the name 'Tophats' instead because the piecrust shell resembles Western tophats. As such, some locals in Malaysia believe that the kueh pie tee may have been invented in Malaysia. [2] [7]
Another possible speculation suggests that the kueh pie tee is originally from Singapore. One of the earliest recorded kueh pie tee recipes is found in Ellice Handy's My Favourite Recipes , published in 1952. This recipe book was one of the first few recipe books that featured Malayan dishes and ingredients. In this recipe book, the instructions to make the kueh pie tee are found in two recipes named the Popia and the Pie Tee. Handy's Popia recipe provides steps to make the kueh pie tee's filling, while her Pie Tee recipe contains instructions to make the piecrust shells. [8] Noting that the recipe is found in a recipe book published in Singapore, this suggests that the kueh pie tee's origins may be related to the local cuisine of Singapore.
Baba Ong Jin Teong has also suggested in his Peranakan heritage books that the Kueh Pie Tee may have originated in Singapore. The recipe found in Ong's book, Penang Heritage Food , belongs to his mother, who compiled the recipe in the 1950s. Additionally, the kueh pie tee is also known as the 'Singapore Poh Piah' or 'Syonan-to Pie', further suggesting that the snack may have originated from Singapore. [4]
Currently, the kueh pie tee remains popular in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Chaoshan cuisine, also known as Chiuchow cuisine, Chaozhou cuisine or Teo-swa cuisine, originated from the Chaoshan region in the eastern part of China's Guangdong Province, which includes the cities of Chaozhou, Shantou and Jieyang. Chaoshan cuisine bears more similarities to that of Fujian cuisine, particularly Southern Min cuisine, due to the similarity of Chaoshan's and Fujian's culture, language, and their geographic proximity to each other. However, Chaoshan cuisine is also influenced by Cantonese cuisine in its style and technique.
Malaysian cuisine consists of cooking traditions and practices found in Malaysia, and reflects the multi-ethnic makeup of its population. The vast majority of Malaysia's population can roughly be divided among three major ethnic groups: Malays, Chinese and Indians. The remainder consists of the indigenous peoples of Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia, the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia, the Peranakan and Eurasian creole communities, as well as a significant number of foreign workers and expatriates.
Malay cuisine is the traditional food of the ethnic Malays of Southeast Asia, residing in modern-day Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Southern Thailand and the Philippines as well as Cocos Islands, Christmas Island, Sri Lanka and South Africa.
Youtiao, known in Southern China as Yu Char Kway, is a long golden-brown deep-fried strip of wheat flour dough of Chinese origin and also popular in other East and Southeast Asian cuisines.
Popiah is a Fujianese/Teochew-style fresh spring roll filled with an assortment of fresh, dried, and cooked ingredients, eaten during the Qingming Festival and other celebratory occasions. The dish is made by the people and diaspora of Fujian province of Mainland China, neighbouring Chaoshan district, and by the Teochew and Hoklo diaspora in various regions throughout Southeast Asia and in Taiwan, The origin of popiah dates back to the 17th century.
Kuih are bite-sized snack or dessert foods commonly found in Southeast Asia and China. It is a fairly broad term which may include items that would be called cakes, cookies, dumplings, pudding, biscuits, or pastries in English and are usually made from rice or glutinous rice. In China, where the term originates from, kueh or koé (粿) in the Min Nan languages refers to snacks which are typically made from rice but can occasionally be made from other grains such as wheat. The term kuih is widely used in Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore, kueh is used in Singapore and Indonesia, kue is used in Indonesia only, all three refer to sweet or savoury desserts.
Singaporean cuisine is derived from several ethnic groups in Singapore and has developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes in the cosmopolitan city-state.
Mee siam is a dish of thin rice vermicelli of hot, sweet and sour flavours, originated in Penang but popular among the Malay and Peranakan communities throughout Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, although the dish is called "Siamese noodle" in Malay and thus appears to be inspired or adapted from Thai flavours when Thailand was formerly known as Siam. Mee siam is related to kerabu bee hoon although there is a significant difference in the recipe.
Malaysian Chinese cuisine is derived from the culinary traditions of Chinese Malaysian immigrants and their descendants, who have adapted or modified their culinary traditions under the influence of Malaysian culture as well as immigration patterns of Chinese to Malaysia. Because the vast majority of Chinese Malaysians are descendants of immigrants from southern China, Malaysian Chinese cuisine is predominantly based on an eclectic repertoire of dishes with roots from Fujian, Cantonese, Hakka and Teochew cuisines.
Penang cuisine is the cuisine of the multicultural society of Penang, Malaysia. Most of these cuisine are sold at road-side stalls, known as "hawker food" and colloquially as "muckan carts". Local Penangites typically find these hawker fares cheaper and easier to eat out at due to the ubiquitousness of the hawker stalls and that they are open for much of the day and night. Penang island. On February 22, 2013, Penang was ranked by CNN Travel as one of the top ten street food cities in Asia. Penang has also been voted by Lonely Planet as the top culinary destination in 2014.
Peranakan cuisine or Nyonya cuisine comes from the Peranakans, descendants of early Chinese migrants who settled in Penang, Malacca, Singapore and Indonesia, inter-marrying with local Malays. In Baba Malay, a female Peranakan is known as a nonya, and a male Peranakan is known as a baba. The cuisine combines Chinese, Malay, Javanese, South Indian, and other influences.
Kue is an Indonesian bite-sized snack or dessert food. Kue is a fairly broad term in Indonesian to describe a wide variety of snacks including cakes, cookies, fritters, pies, scones, and patisserie. Kue are made from a variety of ingredients in various forms; some are steamed, fried or baked. They are popular snacks in Indonesia, which has the largest variety of kue. Because of the countries' historical colonial ties, Koeé (kue) is also popular in the Netherlands.
Kue kochi or koci is a Maritime Southeast Asian dumpling found in Javanese, Malay and Peranakan cuisine, made from glutinous rice flour, and stuffed with coconut fillings with palm sugar.
Pineapple tart is a small, bite-size tart filled or topped with pineapple jam, commonly found throughout different parts of Southeast Asia such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore in various forms.
Ang ku kueh, also known as red tortoise cake, is a small round or oval-shaped Chinese pastry with soft, sticky glutinous rice flour skin wrapped around a sweet central filling. It is molded to resemble a tortoise shell and is presented resting on a square piece of banana leaf. As suggested by its name, red tortoise cakes are traditionally red in color and has a sticky, chewy texture when eaten. Red tortoise cakes are shaped like tortoise shells because the Chinese traditionally believed that eating tortoises would bring longevity to those who are eating it and bring about good fortune and prosperity. Considered to be auspicious items, these sweet pastries are especially prepared during important festivals such as Chinese New Year as offerings to the Chinese deities.
Apam balik also known as Martabak Manis, terang bulan, peanut pancake or mànjiānguǒ, is a sweet dessert originating in Fujian cuisine which now consists of many varieties at specialist roadside stalls or restaurants throughout Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. It can also be found in Hong Kong as, Taiwan as, Southern Thailand as Khanom Thang Taek (ขนมถังแตก) and in the Sulu Archipelago, Philippines as Tarambulan.
Kue semprong, Asian egg roll, sapit, sepit, kue Belanda, or kapit, is an Indonesian traditional wafer snack made by clasping egg batter using an iron mold which is heated up on a charcoal stove. It is commonly found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.
The Eurasian cuisine is a 'fusion' cuisine, mainly existing and found in the countries of Singapore and Malaysia.
Char kway teow is a stir-fried rice noodle dish from Maritime Southeast Asia of southern Chinese origin. In Hokkien and Teochew, char means 'stir-fried' and kway teow refers to flat rice noodles. It is made from flat rice noodles or kway teow of approximately 1 cm or about 0.5 cm in width, stir-fried over very high heat with garlic, light and dark soy sauce, chili paste, whole prawns, shelled blood cockles, chopped Chinese chives, slices of Chinese sausage, and bean sprouts. Other common ingredients include fishcake and belachan.
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