Last week, I had a family engagement whereby I promised the fair hostess that I would bring some appetizers. Kuih Pie Tee, or Top Hats, were my choice – and to make matters interesting, I have never made Pie Tees before in my life! I’ve only eaten it though. So, with the blessings and guidance from my fellow foodilicious blogger, Rasa Malaysia, I have decided to brave the unknown and embark on a kitchen experiment to make Pie Tees for 18 people!
Okay, to be honest, the hardest part were making the crispy base for the dish and it took me 5 tries before I got it right – the rest is really easy as it is just about assembly. 
[Edit: I made my Pie Tee cups with Pie Tee moulds, to those who wonder. And since I am not in Malaysia, I bought mine from a fellow Malaysian who is selling it in her blog. Check out Rasa Malaysia for Pie Tee moulds AND roti jala moulds if interested ]
Kuih Pie Tee is really a Nyonya dish that makes an excellent amuse bouche. Basically, it’s got a nice crispy cup base made from rice flour with a delicious jicama/yam bean filling topped with some sliced ommelette, pickled red chilies and spring onions. Traditionally, the filling includes shrimps or small pieces of pork. Boiled shrimps are also used as topping, if wanted. I made my Kuih Pie Tee a meat-free version and it is equally good. What is most important is a balance of flavors and the jicama filling needs to be flavorful. The crispy cups only act as a vessel to carry all the goodies before you pop them in your mouth.
As for the recipe, I followed Bee Yinn of Rasa Malaysia’s Kuih Pie Tee recipe but I did a little tweaking on my Pie Tee cup’s recipe. I used the Pie Tee cup recipes from Nonya Flavors cookbook and it goes like this:
180g rice flour
50g cornflour
50g plain flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 egg
300-350ml water
Method:
Mix all the ingredients together and combine well.
This is a very good recipe that keeps well. I made my cups 2 days in advance and kept them in an air tight container before the big day. If and should your cups turn soft, maybe due to humidy in your area or whatever, don’t worry as all is not lost. Just warm them up in the oven and they will crisp up again 
Remember to only start to assemble your Kuih Pie Tees just before serving otherwise the cups will disintegrate from the filling.
For the rest of the Pie Tee recipe, I just followed Rasa Malaysia’s instructions, minus the shrimps. The end result was a crowd pleaser. We had middle eastern, canadian, mexican palate to please that evening and they were bowled over at how delicious these Kuih Pie Tee poppers were. I was of course, very pleased. Nothing makes me happier than making food for people – and they love it! 
How did you make the shape of the pie tie cup dear?
I want to make this but don’t have the mould. Will buy one when I am back to Malaysia next. Better right it down now!
Will come back to look your recipe when I am make it. Thanks.
elsie: I bought the mould for it from Rasa Malaysia
peb: Cool! Let me know how it works for you
These look so beautifully elegant! Wow, 5 tries? I would have given up after the first failure. Well, I guess that’s why I never can create something so beautiful as these.
Aww…those little cuties, can i maybe make it with the tiny tartelette mold? looks very delicious
Hey hey, you made it. I am so happy they turned out successfully. Did my batter recipe not work well? I worked perfectly for me.
Anyway, I will have to make them again. They are sooooo addictive.
eatingclub: Lol…5 tries on making the crispy cups, not five times making the whole thing again. I would have given up on the 1st try if it had failed miserably!
Zita: Hi, i am not sure if you can make it with your tartelette mold unless you do some modifications to it, like soldering a handle to the middle of the mold so that you could dip it in and out of the hot oil to deep fry the batter.
RM: Hey! yea, I am glad it turned out well too! Your batter should work perfectly, I had a lot of rice flour in my pantry and wanted to try the recipe with more rice flour
Yes! You are so right about it being addictive, everyone at the party couldn’t stop popping it into their mouths – i was having a hard time bringing out a full plate to the main room 
Wow, you made it from scratch! You can hold a theme party in future – popiah and pie tee party!
I love pie tee. It’s just so easy to pop into your mouth. But somehow I prefer popiah more. I guess it’s because it’s less sinful. Hehe…
tigerfish: yeah a popiah and pie tee party sounds like fun. i will definitely put that on my list of parties-to-do in the future!
cutie: tell me about it…it’s like pringles, once you pop, you can’t stop lol
ok…never heard of these, BUT they are soooo damn cute! all those yummy flavors with a crispy shell…i could eat a dozen
Jules and Ruby: This a very Straits chinese cuisine that can be found in Malaysia. A heritage cuisine for me, and if you ever want to buy the mold to make these crispy cups you can check out rasamalaysia.com