Peanut muah chee is a common treat in Malaysia. It’s soft, chewy and fragrant with the roasted peanuts and the addition of shallot oil.
Peanut muah chee reminds me of walks through the pasar malam or night market in Malaysia. I always end up buying a packet whenever I see the muah chee uncle at his roadside stall. He’d chop up the dough in front of me, and toss everything in his huge tray of peanuts. There’s something comforting about the warm chewy dough and the sweet peanut mixture that coats each piece entirely.
If you’ve tried Japanese mochi, muah chee is the Chinese version. It’s much softer, “formless” and usually coated in ground peanuts or sesame seeds. Shallot oil gives a nice fragrance to authentic muah chee, but you can also use normal cooking oil.
More local street snacks to try:
- Fried Nian Gao Sweet Potato Yam Sandwich
- Chinese Pumpkin Cakes 南瓜饼
- Ondeh-Ondeh (Pandan Glutinous Rice Balls With Coconut Palm Sugar)
If you made this recipe, do leave a comment and rating below because I love hearing your feedback. Make sure to tag me on Instagram @eatwkriss so that I can see your recreations!
Peanut Muah Chee
Ingredients
Muah chee dough
- 120 g glutinous rice flour
- 1 tbsp shallot oil (instructions in the note section below)
- pinch of salt
- 2 tbsp white sugar
- 180 ml water
Peanut coating
- 100 g roasted peanuts ground
- 40 g sugar
Instructions
- In a steam-proof bowl, combine all the muah chee dough ingredients. Mix well to get a smooth, watery batter.
- Steam for 15 minutes.
- Immediately after steaming, mix/knead the dough together with a pair of chopsticks. The dough should be springy, sticky and the skin should be smooth.
- In another bowl, combine ground roasted peanuts and sugar.
- Once the dough is cool to touch, cut it into bite sized pieces with a pair of scissors. Drop into the peanut sugar mixture and coat each piece evenly.
- Serve while still warm.
Notes
- Slice 4 shallots evenly. Don’t cut them too thin, otherwise they will burn easily.
- Add 1/4 cup of oil to a small pot and heat it over medium heat.
- Once a chopstick inserted in the oil starts to sizzle, fry the shallots in batches. Once the shallots appear to brown, quickly remove them from the oil and place on a paper towel to drain.
- Keep the crispy shallots in an air-tight container, and use the shallot oil for your cooking.
