Pie Tee, finally!

Last week, I had a family engagement whereby I promised the fair hostess that I would bring some appetizers. Kuih Pie Tee, or Top Hats, were my choice - and to make matters interesting, I have never made Pie Tees before in my life! I've only eaten it though. So, with the blessings and guidance from my fellow foodilicious blogger, Rasa Malaysia, I have decided to brave the unknown and embark on a kitchen experiment to make Pie Tees for 18 people!

Okay, to be honest, the hardest part were making the crispy base for the dish and it took me 5 tries before I got it right - the rest is really easy as it is just about assembly. :)
[Edit: I made my Pie Tee cups with Pie Tee moulds, to those who wonder. And since I am not in Malaysia, I bought mine from a fellow Malaysian who is selling it in her blog. Check out Rasa Malaysia for Pie Tee moulds AND roti jala moulds if interested :)]

Kuih Pie Tee is really a Nyonya dish that makes an excellent amuse bouche. Basically, it's got a nice crispy cup base made from rice flour with a delicious jicama/yam bean filling topped with some sliced ommelette, pickled red chilies and spring onions. Traditionally, the filling includes shrimps or small pieces of pork. Boiled shrimps are also used as topping, if wanted. I made my Kuih Pie Tee a meat-free version and it is equally good. What is most important is a balance of flavors and the jicama filling needs to be flavorful. The crispy cups only act as a vessel to carry all the goodies before you pop them in your mouth.

As for the recipe, I followed Bee Yinn of Rasa Malaysia's Kuih Pie Tee recipe but I did a little tweaking on my Pie Tee cup's recipe. I used the Pie Tee cup recipes from Nonya Flavors cookbook and it goes like this:

180g rice flour
50g cornflour
50g plain flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 egg
300-350ml water

Method:
Mix all the ingredients together and combine well.

This is a very good recipe that keeps well. I made my cups 2 days in advance and kept them in an air tight container before the big day. If and should your cups turn soft, maybe due to humidy in your area or whatever, don't worry as all is not lost. Just warm them up in the oven and they will crisp up again ;)

Remember to only start to assemble your Kuih Pie Tees just before serving otherwise the cups will disintegrate from the filling.
For the rest of the Pie Tee recipe, I just followed Rasa Malaysia's instructions, minus the shrimps. The end result was a crowd pleaser. We had middle eastern, canadian, mexican palate to please that evening and they were bowled over at how delicious these Kuih Pie Tee poppers were. I was of course, very pleased. Nothing makes me happier than making food for people - and they love it! :D