Sachima (萨琪玛） takes me back to my early
years. When I was younger, I really liked eating this. They taste very good.
They are popular snacks for both adults and children, and they are the ideal
edible gift for Chinese New Year.
Making sachima dough is like making
egg noodles. So, basically, they are egg noodles that have been deep-fried till
they are puffed, occasionally topped with additional ingredients for flavor,
bonded together with melted sugar, pressed into a square pan, and then sliced
into squares.
Sachima is distinguished by its beige
hue, crisp and delicate flavor, sweetness and delectability, and rich maltose
aroma. One of Ipoh, Malaysia's regional specialties! A few years ago, my husband and I made a trip
to Ipoh's "Mistress Lane" (二奶巷) to try the local Sachima, which has
been there for more than 50 years. There are a lot of different kinds of sachima
including ones with sesame, pumpkin seed, walnuts, cranberries, and almonds. According
to the workers, the reason sachima looks glossy is because it includes maltose.
The sachima will look burnt rather than shiny if it is prepared entirely using
white sugar.
Cooking the water syrup is the most
crucial step. The syrup must be cooked until it is thick which you can test it with
a drop of some syrup in a bowl of cold water will not spread, indicating that
the sugar syrup is thick enough.
I'm using baking paper to line an
8" square pan. You can use a square tin foil basin instead of lining it
with baking paper.
INGREDIENTS
Egg Dough
180g High Protein flour
2 eggs
20g melt butter
some potato starch (for dusting)
1/8 tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
Add on ingredients
10g toasted pumpkin seeds
½ tbsp toasted black sesame seeds
½ tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
1 ½ tbsp desiccated Coconut
Sugar syrup
195g maltose
135g sugar
75ml water
METHOD
1. Combine the baking powder and
high-protein flour. Put the eggs, salt, and melted butter into a mixing bowl, Mix
it well with a hand whisk. Slowly add in
flour, mix and knead until you get a smooth dough. Cover the dough and let it
rest for half an hour.
2. After half an hour, cut the dough in half.
Work with one at a time and keep the other covered. Dusted some potato starch
on the working surface as well as the dough. Roll the dough into pieces about
1/8-inch (about 3 mm) thick. Cut into 3
small pieces. Cut into strips about one inch wide. Toss with potato starch to
prevent noodles from sticking to each other and set aside.
3. Heat up some cooking oil in a wok.
Slowly add the noodles to the wok over medium-high heat. Fry the dough strips
in batches until they float to the top and puffy, about 3-5 seconds or so.
Don’t overcook them.
4. Mix all ingredients for syrup in a
large wok or large deep heavy-bottom pot. Cook over low-medium heat until sugar
and maltose are dissolve, and the mixture is bubbly and foamy and thicken
slightly, about 10 minutes. You may drop some water syrup into a bowl of cold
water and do not spread. If you use a candy thermometer, it should be around
118°C.
5. While preparing the water syrup, line
a baking paper with the pan and sprinkle some shredded coconut in it.
6. Once the water syrup is ready,
turn off the heat, add in the fried dough strips together with the toasted sesame
seed, pumpkin seeds and desiccated coconut, give it a quick stir to let all the
dough stirps well coated with the syrup and stick to each other while it’s still
hot.
7. Transfer right away to the
prepared pan, spread out as much as you can, and then use baking paper or
parchment on top to press everything down evenly.
8. Allow it to cool slightly while
it's still warm and then use a knife to cut it into squares of any size. They
can be stored for weeks if you keep them in an airtight container.
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