Top Hats (Kuih Pie Tee) 派迪/高顶帽

Top Hats (Kuih Pie Tee) 派迪/高顶帽

Recipe source :  Adapted from Flavours magazine, Vol 7, Issue 2 No. 24 Dec 1999 - Feb 2000

Kuih pie tee is a popular Peranakan snack. The crispy tart shells or cases are made from flour deep-fried in hot oil while the filling is made of shredded yam bean, carrots and prawns. The dainty shells look  very pretty once filled up with shredded savoury vegetables. 

Many local and Thai restaurants serve them as appetisers while waiting for the main course to be served. They are meant to be appetisers yet we always ended up placing extra orders for more pie tee because they are very tasty and addictive! 

Another family favourite of ours!
 

Ingredients for batter

100g plain flour
1 tsp rice flour
1 egg, beaten
1 cup water
A pinch of salt
Oil for deep-frying

Ingredients for filling

1 tbsp oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
250g prawns, diced
500g yam bean, shredded
160g carrot, shredded
30g Chinese parsley
pepper to taste
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp light soy sauce
2 chilli padi for garnishing, sliced

Yam bean, Chinese parsley, chilli padi and carrot

Prawns

Making the shells

1.  Put both flour into a mixing bowl. 

2.  Add beaten egg, water and salt. Mix well.

3.  Whisk the batter until smooth and strain through a sieve.

4.  Pour the batter into a mug.

5.  Heat oil until hot with the pie tee mould in the oil.

6.  Turn down the heat to medium.

7.  Remove the mould from hot oil and dip the mould into the batter so that it is thoroughly coated almost to the brim.

8.  Allow the excess batter to drip off and place the mould into the hot oil.

9.  Let the shell cook until light brown or golden.

10. Store in an air-tight container.

 Pie Tee mould

 Close-up view of the pie tee mould

 Heat the pie tee mould in hot oil

 Then dip the mould into the batter in the mug. 
Make sure the batter reaches a few mm below the top of the mould

 Lower the mould into hot oil. 

Jiggle the mould lightly up and down to dislodge the cooked batter.
 The shell will dislodge and stay afloat

Use a pair of chopsticks to flip the shells to make sure all the sides are thoroughly browned.

A shell which has dislodged and remained afloat

Cooking the filling

1.  Heat oil and saute the chopped garlic until fragrant.

2.  Add prawns and stir-fry for one minute.

3.  Add in the shredded yam bean and carrot and stir-fry until soften.

4.  Add salt, pepper and sugar to taste and cook for a further 5 minutes.

5.  Lastly, add in the chopped Chinese parsley.

6.  Allow to cool before filling up the shells.

Tips

1.  The mould should not be too hot. The batter should not sizzle when the mould is immersed into it.

 2.  Make sure the batter coats the base of the mould.
Otherwise the shells will end up with holes underneath!

3.  Allow the batter to fry a while until slightly harden before dislodging the shells
This is to ensure the shells retain their shapes.
If the shells are dislodged too early, the batter will be soft and unable to hold its shape.

To serve

1.  Place some cooked filling into the shells.
2.  Garnish with Chinese parsley and sliced chilli padi.
3.  Serve with chilli sauce

Cooked filling, ready for serving

Empty pie tee shells

 

Just fill them up. Yummy!

I am linking this post to Little Thumbs Up

The theme for March 2014 is Prawn

Hosted by Moon from Food Playground

This event is organised by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids 
and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY

I am also linking this to Cook-Your-Books #10

 

Organised by Joyce of  Kitchen Flavours

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