A Labour Of Love

Chinese love letters is something I love....to eat.

One of my favourite foods during Chinese festivals, particularly Chinese New Year. It is known locally as “kuih kapit”. “Kuih” is biscuit whilst the word “kapit” comes from the clamping of the love letters mould. This thin crispy biscuit comes in the shape of a folded fan or an edible cigar. As a child, I used to helped my mom with the making of the Chinese love letters. It was a yearly ritual come every Chinese New Year. We would bring out those moulds and have them cleaned before the baking takes place over a small coal fired stove. It was indeed a labour of love slaving over the hot stove!

The love letters mould is round with inlaid patterns and held by two long metal handles. The baking is relatively simple. You just open the mould, pour the batter all over the inside, clam it shut and place it over the coal stove.

For me, the difficulty in making Chinese love letters is in the folding of the layers where you have to be quick and skillful. When the layer turns golden brown, carefully and quickly remove it from the hot mould and fold it into the shape of a fan or roll it into a cigar. This is done when the layer is hot and pliable. Burning your fingers is not optional and I suffered an occasional burnt or two. Those that had been unsuccessfully folded were deemed spolit so I “erased” my mistakes by eating them up. They were not presentable enough for us to serve it during Chinese New Year. Those not so perfect pieces with little burnt edges have to be trimmed to make sure it is all nice and golden brown. Yes…it has a lot to do with taste as well as presentation. Somehow, if it doesn’t look good, it would not taste as good.

Once cooled, the love letters will be carefully arranged into Milo tins and a layer of baking paper will be placed over the top of the tin before you close the lid. The baking paper helps to seal the biscuits in air-tight condition to help retain its freshness.

In my household, we make extra tins to give away to friends and relatives during Chinese New Year. That, to me is the special way we express our love and appreciation to our loved ones by giving away Chinese love letters.

Here’s a simple recipe to try:-
150g rice flour
60g plain flour
25g starch flour
600ml thick coconut milk (from 1 coconut)
4 eggs
225g castor sugar



Sift all the flour into a mixing bowl. Add in thick coconut milk and mix into batter. Beat the eggs and sugar till sugar dissolves. Mix into the batter. Strain. Pour a little batter into love letter moulds, bake till golden brown. Roll up or fold up while hot.



Preparation time: 30 minutes
Baking time per piece: 3 to 5 minutes