← Nouns Cooking · Bakery

Ingredients

• 2 ripe pineapples (about 1.2 kg flesh), peeled, cored and grated
• 150 g rock sugar or granulated sugar
• 1 Cinnamon stick
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 Star anise (optional)
• 250 g plain flour
• 20 g Cornflour (cornstarch)
• 30 g Icing sugar
• ¼ tsp Salt
• 170 g cold butter, cubed
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 tsp milk, to glaze

Method

1. Squeeze some juice out of the grated pineapple and put the pulp in a wide, heavy pan with the sugar and spices. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, for 50–60 min until the liquid has gone and the jam is thick, sticky and amber. Stir constantly near the end so it does not catch.
2. Remove the spices and cool the jam completely, then chill it for 1 hour so it is easy to roll. Roll into 40 small balls of about 10 g.
3. For the pastry, rub the butter into the flour, cornflour, icing sugar and salt until sandy, then mix in the yolks and press together into a soft dough. Do not knead. Heat the oven to 170°C (150°C fan, 340°F) and line two trays.
4. Take 12 g of dough, flatten it in your palm, set a jam ball in the middle and wrap the pastry around it to seal. Roll into a smooth ball or a little oval and set on the tray. Repeat.
5. Brush lightly with the egg glaze and bake for 18–20 min until pale golden. Cool completely on the trays; they are very tender while warm.

Tips

• Short on time? Use a 400 g tin of crushed pineapple, drained, cooked with 100 g sugar for about 30 minutes.
• Many Nyonya families use margarine or a butter blend in the pastry; stored airtight they keep for 2 weeks.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Nyonya Cooking Rasa Malaysia Roti n Rice