Soap Like Food -- Jajan Pasar !

We are in Week 17 of 2015. Some of you may have noticed that I am not quite up-to-date with my blog posts on Soap Like Food. Last checked, I am at Week 11. *yikes*

I was all excited about this lil project when I first started. I drew up lists of soapy ideas, one for each week of the year and more. What happened? Well, to be honest, I got B-O-R-E-D. It felt like I had an endless list of homework! Ha! It was starting to become a chore. And because I am making these soaps as samples and in teeny weeny quantities, I always had to say 'no' to all the enquiries to purchase my creations. That wasn't very nice either. 

So I have been pondering for the last few weeks. Should I continue with this project? How can I make myself feel better? I needed a little motivation, something for me to look forward to.

And this happened...

Jajan Pasar Kueh Soaps 

A week ago, a friend and regular customer requested for some food soaps as a present for her colleague overseas. To be specific, she wanted Indonesian kueh soaps...and fast. *gulp* My heart was racing, I could feel the adrenaline rush as I pottered in my lil workshop. I loved it! The best part was seeing the sparkle in V's eyes when I placed the box in her hands. I have not felt this good in a long time!

That was the Aha! moment. No more struggling with the weekly blog posts. No more whining. 52 food-like soaps, one for each week of 2015 as envisioned. More importantly, I will be able to make my soapy creations available to you!

I decided to shake things up a little in Soap Like Food. I am going to put aside that 'homework' list and go with the flow. Each month I will present a soapalicious set of food soaps like the one above ... and I will handcraft them in limited quantities.

My Jajan Pasar Kueh Soap set is made up of different traditional kuehs categorised under jajan pasar ( "market buys" or "market munchies" )  in Java. Although jajan pasar are of Indonesian origin, they are very much a part of our lives in Singapore due to our multi-ethnic culture and heritage. These are the 5 kueh (kue) soaps that I handcrafted for V: 

Jajan Pasar Soaps

Kue Ku  is derived from the Chinese Ang Ku Kueh (紅龜粿; Red Tortoise Cake). Made of sticky glutinous rice flour skin with a sweet filling in the centre and moulded to resemble a tortoise shell; it is presented on a piece of banana leaf. The Chinese believed that eating tortoises would bring good fortune and longevity. This kueh was traditionally coloured red and considered a auspicious item during important Chinese festivals, baby's first month celebrations and birthdays in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and in other countries in South East Asia.

Kue Ku Soaps

Kue Lapis Sagu , also popularly known as the 9-layered kueh ( 九层糕 ) in Singapore. It is a layered colourful cake made of glutinous rice, tapioca or sago flour, coconut and sugar. I loved this kueh as a kid and it is still one of my favourite kuehs today. Best way to eat this kueh? Peel off the different coloured layers one at a time and slowly savour the 9 sweet soft chewy layers!

Kue Lapis Sagu Soaps

Kue Dadar Gulung  -- think crepe roll with sugar and coconut filling. The soft thin crepe is made of flour, egg and coconut milk and the distinct green colour and light aromatic fragrance is derived from the pandan leaf. Freshly grated coconut is caramelised in gula melaka and this juicy mixture is rolled and sealed in the crepe. The flavours and texture of this kueh is heavenly. Must try!

Kue Dadar Gulung Soaps

Bolu Kukus  -- "bolu" means "cake" and "kukus" means "steamed". This Indonesian steamed cake is very soft, moist and fluffy with a fine texture. Delicious! It is also known as the "laughing cake" due to its unique shape formed during the rising and cracking of the cake top. Interestingly, this cake does not contain any butter or margarine - the perfect excuse for me to indulge myself!

Bolu Kukus Soaps

Kue Onde Onde  are small round balls made of sweet potato and glutinous rice flour to give it a soft and chewy texure, and beautifully flavoured and coloured green with pandan. Filled with melted gula melaka and rolled in freshly grated coconut, these sweet lil bombs 'explode' when you pop them in your mouth and bite down into them!

Kue Onde Onde Soaps

Handcrafting these kueh soaps brought back nostalgic memories of my childhood. It made me feel comforted. Happy. Hhmmm...I am in the mood to have some kueh for breakfast tomorrow!

Handcrafted Kueh Soaps

Jajan Pasar Kueh Soap Set will be available from HolyroseHandmade.com.  See you soon! :)

Jajan Pasar Kueh Soap Set

Soap like Food -- #11 Chwee Kueh !

Chwee Kueh (水粿) is a uniquely Singapore culinary creation. The Chinese transliteration of 水粿 is "rice water cake". The steamed rice cakes are topped with fragrant and crunchy diced preserved radish --- DELISH! 

Chwee Kueh was first created by Teochew immigrants in Singapore and is a popular hawker breakfast dish. I have loved this simple economical dish since I was a little gal and have recently introduced it to my children. Meimei's favourite Chwee Kueh stall is located at the Ghim Moh food market and this is her soapy choice for Week #11's Soap like Food. 

Enjoy!

Chwee Kueh Soap

Chwee Kueh Soap

Chwee Kueh Soap

Soap like Food -- #10 Iced Gem Biscuits !

Soap like Food! is my personal soapy project to celebrate Singapore's 50th birthday. Whilst brainstorming for ideas, one nostalgic food item that kept popping up in my head was Iced Gem Biscuits a.k.a Biskut Ais Gem (Malay transliteration). 

My dear grandma used to affectionately refer to them in Cantonese as "Belly Button Biscuits". The biscuit bottoms resemble cute lil belly buttons and each biscuit has a brightly coloured icing piped on top. I loved them when I was a kid and still do! I would sort these lil gems by the colour of their icing and munch them according to colour preference - white, yellow, green & pink. Sometimes I would eat the biscuit bottoms and save all the icing (the best!) for the last.  

I had a soapy good time making these lil gems !

Iced Gem Biscuit Soaps

Iced Gem Biscuit Soaps

Iced Gem Biscuit Soaps

Soap like Food -- #9 Gummy Bears !

Things got just a wee-bit tough on the home front last week and I was unable to soap as planned. To make up for week 9 of Soap like Food, I went into a soapy overdrive this week, making over 1000 pieces of these cute lil soapy Gummy Bears!

Handcrafted Gummy Bear Soaps

Handcrafted Gummy Bear Soaps

Have you seen the Soapy Gummy Yummies that I made way back in 2011? Take a peek here !

Soap like Food -- #8 Waffle Ice Cream !

We are experiencing a dry spell in Singapore and I am perspiring buckets even as I fix myself this oh-so-soapalicious dessert ! There is nothing I like better than warm waffle served with a good dollop of strawberry ice cream ...  drizzled with bitter-sweet chocolate sauce and lots of sprinkles! Heavenly! 

Handmade Waffle Ice Cream Soap

Handmade Waffle Ice Cream Soap

Handmade Waffle Ice Cream Soap

Soap like Food -- #7 Fish Nian Gao !

Nian Gao (粘糕) which means "sticky cake" is a popular gift during Chinese New Year. It is considered good luck to eat Nian Gao as the Chinese words 粘糕 sound identical to 年高 which implies prosperity year after year. The tradition of eating Nian Gao, which dates back several thousand years, is believed to ensure that better times will come.

The traditional Nian Gao is round in shape (symbolising wholeness) with an auspicious decoration on top. Nian Gao fashioned into beautiful carps take this tradition to another level of abundance and wealth. Fish Nian Gao -- 年年有餘 symbolises surplus every year !

Fish Nian Gao Soap 

Wishing You a Happy & Prosperous Chinese New Year ! 

GONG XI FA CAI !

年年有餘 !

Soap like Food -- #6 Rainbow Jelly !

Valentine's Day is just round the corner and I am so inspired by all the rainbows and hearts that I see everywhere. This week's Soap like Food is the oh-so-beautiful Rainbow Jelly Soap ... nothing quite as sexy as rainbow jelly shots for your Valentine ! Oh yeahhhh ....

Rainbow Jelly Soap

Rainbow Jelly Soap

Rainbow Jelly Soap

Soap like Food -- #5 Mandarin Orange !

Yesterday was the first day of spring, also known as Li Chun, in the Chinese solar calendar. The Year of the Wood Goat has begun and Chinese New Year is just round the corner!

I have been soaping since 2009 and each year I would receive numerous requests to handmake mandarin orange soaps during Chinese New Year. I always turned down these orders as I was concerned that my mandarin orange soaps would not look realistic. 

When Meimei told me that her good friend Z had asked if I made mandarin orange soaps 2 days ago, I decided to challenge myself and just do it. Shopping for Mandarin oranges during this time of the year is super fun. Meimei and I sampled so many different types of mandarin orange before finally settling for the juicy sweet and tangy Pongkan.

Mandarin Orange Soap

Mandarin Orange Soap

Mandarin Orange Soaps

Ooohhh ... I love how my mandarin orange soaps turned out! Have a great Year of the Wood Goat everyone!

Soap like Food -- #4 Kueh Tutu !

Kueh Tutu, also known as "嘟嘟糕" in Mandarin, is a uniquely Singaporean delicacy made from rice flour and with fillings of either roasted ground peanuts or grated coconut. I recall queueing by the Kueh Tutu tricycle cart together with my Dad when I was little, tingling with delight each time the steamers went "TuTu" !. It was  a nightly ritual for both of us; hand in hand, a short walk across the street to satisfy my cravings for Kueh Tutu. 

Today, it is rather difficult to find authentic ones that taste as good as I remember them to be. Most pop-up stalls at our neighbourhood pasar malams (night markets) are often dry, bland and rubbery in texture.

If only I can cook like I soap! Kueh Tutu will definitely be one of the first local dishes that I will attempt to master. Till then, I'll just indulge in my soapy Kuehs!

Handmade Kueh Tutu Soap

Handmade Kueh Tutu Soap

Handmade Kueh Tutu Soap

Soap like Food -- #3 Macarons !

I have had a love affair with Macarons for several years now. Ok, I am biased. I only crave for the ones from ET Artisan Sweets. They are THE BEST! The first time I tasted one of their G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S macarons during my dear friend's wedding back in September 2011, I was so inspired and soaped out some awesome soapy macarons! You can read all about it in this blog post - Merry Macarons ! These Macaron Soaps became one of my best sellers over the last few years.

I went to 'Macaron Heaven' when I attended a lil princess's 1st month celebration last month and I received this!!

Yummy goodies from ET Artisan Sweets! 

Oh-Macaron-Goodiness! This is what I soaped up for this week's Soap like Food!

Handpainted Mandarin Orange Macaron Soaps

Handpainted Mandarin Orange Macaron Soaps

Handpainted Valentine Heart Macaron Soaps

Handpainted Valentine Heart Macaron Soaps

Handpainted Rose Macaron Soaps

Handpainted Rose Macaron Soaps

Fancy some Macarons without the calories? These limited edition Macaron Soaps will be available soon at www.holyrosehandmade.com ! 

Soap like Food -- #2 Kueh Belanda aka Loveletters !

The Lunar Chinese New Year is just round the corner! All the shopping malls are dressed up in CNY decorations and shelves are overflowing with CNY goodies. Last week's Soap like Food! featured one of my favourite CNY pastries, the Pineapple Tart. The hokkien word for Pineapple sounds like the word for prosperity and this tart is thus considered auspicious to eat during Chinese New Year! Read about Soap like Food! #1 Pineapple Tart ! 

The traditional wafer thin Nonya biscuit known as Kueh Belanda aka Loveletters is another 'must-have' during this festive period. The Peranakan Chinese make these kuehs using molds that are etched with animal motifs such as fish and roosters that are considered to be auspicious and decorative.

Making Kueh Belanda is not for the fainthearted! It is very hard and hot work especially when rolling the fragile coconut flavoured biscuits into thin "cigar" rolls. My Loveletter soaps were made in a rather hot and fiddly fashion too. Both my palms were red and quite swollen after that!

Handmade Loveletter Soaps

Pineapple Tart & Loveletter Soaps

Soap like Food -- #1 Pineapple Tart !

Singaporeans are most passionate about our food. I must admit that I get a lot of my inspiration from food. One of my resolutions for 2015 is to SOAP MORE. As Singapore is celebrating her 50th birthday this year (Golden Jubilee!), I decided to embark on my own soapy celebration project -- Soap like Food!

Soap like Food! will feature 52 soapalicious 'food-like' soaps, one for each week of the year. These soaps will resemble food that I love and are the result of my many hours of day-dreaming about soap. Ha!

One of my favourite bite-sized pastry is the Nonya Pineapple Tart, also known as Kueh Tair. These tarts are a must-have in most households during Chinese New Year in Singapore. Buttery and fragrant melt-in-the-mouth tarts with generous portions of slightly tangy pineapple jam...MMMMmmmmm

Baking pineapple tarts is a very laborious affair that requires lots of time and patience. Thankfully, soapy ones are easier to make ;)

Handmade Pineapple Tart Soaps

Handmade Pineapple Tart Soaps

Handmade Pineapple Tart Soap

Time to visit my favourite bakery for some authentic pineapple tarts! See ya next Thursday :)