Kikiam (Que – kiam)
Que-kiam is another popular Chinese dish adopted into Filipino cuisine. Locally known as kikiam, it is made with ground pork and vegetables wrapped in bean curd sheets then deep-fried until golden. I’ve wanted to cook this dish for some time now but finding the bean curd wrapper, or tawpe, had been quite a problem. Until last Sunday.
My husband and I were in Quezon City canvassing prices for the hardware of my new computer. I’m bequeathing my two-year-old laptop to my kids so I’m getting a replacement. Since I don’t work in an office anymore, I really don’t need another laptop. I want a fully loaded desktop with a 17″ or 19″ flat screen monitor. There is a three-story building along Gilmore Avenue that houses at least a dozen computer stores. The problem was parking. We had to look for available parking space within the vicinity but not too far from the computer stores. We found ourselves in front of an Oriental store. There was a sign that said “Parking for customers only”. Ok, fine. I suggested we get something to drink so that we would be bona fide customers entitled to the parking slot. We could just then proceed to the computer stores. Drinks were all we intended to buy. But when we entered the store, we stayed a little longer. And bought a lot. The bean curd sheets for the kikiam, Japanese green tea, oriental noodles, soy paste, rice vinegar… Most of the ingredients one reads in cookbooks or hear about in Chinese TV shows were there. Plus, they had all sorts of frozen dumplings and even fresh sea cucumber. The store’s name was… I can’t remember. Sorry.
Anyway, that was how I got my ingredients for the kikiam I cooked tonight.
Comments
23 Responses to “Kikiam (Que – kiam)”Trackbacks
Some related discussions...-
[...] Trixie and I to hear the 6pm anticipated mass. We got there early, around 4:30 pm. After having a kikiam and fish ball galore (considered as yummy street foods, not for the faint of heart and weak [...]
-
[...] quekiam is so called only because it is shaped and colored like the real quekiam. In truth, it’s mostly flour. So are the fish balls, [...]
-
[...] the bean curd wrapper that we bought last Sunday, we also bought a pack of dried bean curd sticks. These are the yellow [...]
If you want your own pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
Stay updated!
View the archive
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Oct | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | |||||
Broiled pork chops and onion rings
Creamy ox tongue stew
Chocolate crinkles
Bak kuh teh (meat bone tea, pork bone tea)
Samosas, a delightful vegetarian appetizer
Appetizers
Asian
Birthdays & Parties
breakfast club
cakes
cheese
Chinese
chocolate
Christmas & New Year
Cooking for one
Daddy cooks!
Filipino
Italian Job
muffins & cupcakes
omelet
pasta
salads
School lunchbox
spring rolls
Superb soups
Conversations
- Mia on 'Penne with portobello mushrooms': Hi, I just bought a bag of pre-washed, pre-sliced portabellos and...
- faye on 'Cheesecake with homemade blueberry topping': hi ms connie. wats the difference betweeen ur 2...
- Crisma on 'Chocolate chip cookies with fresh mint': How many cookies were you able to make, Connie? And...
- cia on 'Lemon chicken': can i use the ordinary ginger instead of the turmeric? thanks…
- RobKSA on 'Honey-glazed, herb-crusted whole leg of lamb': Since no pork here in Saudi Arabia, this is a...
hi connie, i’ve been browsing and trying recipes on your site. Everytime, it’s a success. May I ask where can I buy taupe wrapper? I would like to try this recipe.
thanks!
i find this site really informative and enjoyable. =)
My mom knows how to cook que-kiam and I remember her asking my aunt to buy some for her in ongpin everytime my aunt goes to manila, since she cant find one here in the province. Your site is very informative and my wife and I learned a lot. Thanks, Connie.
hi, can you help me where i can buy bean curd sheets or taw pe here in the US? thnks…
Connie,
Hi!
I’ve been trying to look for bean curd sheets but none of the oriental stores here in Oxford, UK doesn’t seem to have it. What they always have are the dry bean curd sheets. I asked them if that’s the same sheets used for wrapping, and they said no… what does it look like Connie? Can you help me?
Thanks.
Beige and wrinkled. Comes loosely rolled.
does anyone know where can i get bean curd sheets in california? i’m dying to try the kikiam recipe.. i’ve been buying the prepacked kikiam here and they taste like crap seriously!
bean curd sheets, lagi kong nakikita to sa mga chinese supermarkets.
katabi ng mga tofu at soy milk products nila.
akala ko dati mahirap hanapin to, andami pala binebenta.
If i were to freeze kikiam, would it be better to do so before or after frying?
After. To reheat, thaw then place in a hot pan (temp on low) with no added. Oil. Same as reheating fried spring rolls.
hi connie, the store where you got those chinese ingredients is called “Little Big Store”. I usually have them deliver for me like jellied pig ears- cold cuts(yum yum),my fave crab rice when I don’t feel like cooking, fresh tofu, gluten bread loaf, black chicken, native chicken, sea cucumber and beef/pork tendon to name a few, when i’m in the mood to cook chinese food.
Connie,
Can I get the soy paste from the Oriental store too? What does it look like?
Thanks!
Yes. Looks like oyster sauce but darker. Comes in long neck bottles too instead of jars.
HI Ms Connie,
Is soy paste the same as soy sauce paste? I want to make kikiam so i started buying all the ingredients you mentioned and i found soy sauce paste in Robinsons Pioneer supermarket, thinking it might be the same, i bought it na. It looks like oyster sauce nga. The tawpe, my hubby will buy in Ongpin na lang since he frequents that area naman.
Yes, the same.
yey! buti na lang! I saw the Kimlan Soy paste too but the container of the one I bought (WAn Ja shan) looks “prettier” and its cheaper (i guess because it was smaller ata) so thats what i bought na
Hi Ms Connie!
My hubby bought tawpe and I was expecting its shape to be similar to that of a lumpia wrapper. However the tawpe he brought home is rectangular in shape with size around 18inches by 9 inches (like a long pad paper). Is it similar to the one you use in wrapping the kikiam you made? Im not sure how to use it kasi or how to wrap the mixture. If i divide the kikiam mixture into four portions, shall i use the whole sheet in wrapping one portion or do I need to cut the sheet into two?
Whether or not to cut the tawpe depends on how large you want your kikiam. Use the tawpe like you would lumpia wrapper. But larger because you’re forming fat logs.
okay will do! thanks
HI! I tried this recipe over the weekend. From all your recipes that I’ve tried (im a real fan!), this i can say was the most laborious! Sus, so hard to wrap the mixture in tawpe, kasi very delicate yung tawpe nasisira nga if you dont handle it carefully. For the other half of the mixture, i added spring onions and it came out good as well. I used to buy kikiam before kasi and i know there was something colored green in the mixture so i thought lang baka it spring onions yun.
I’ll try this recipe again soon because when i made this last weekend, natatanggal yung wrapper while cooking. I guess i didnt seal it properly. Thanks for all the great recipes 