Soft Tofu and Fish Paste/老少平安

This dish is simple to prepare and it is considered as Mom's cooking. I don't know about other Moms but i do know that my Mom love to cook this and the whole family loved the dish. After the family laid my Mom to rest last year, my brother took us out for lunch and he ordered this dish. It was then that he told me the name of this dish - Lo Sui Ping On.

To read further and for recipe, click HERE

Fried Shallots from Scratch

Shallots are called bawang merah kecil (small red onions) in Malay. Do not confuse shallots with green onions or scallions. Shallots tend to be more expensive than onions but their sweeter, milder, more complex flavor are worth it, no wonder they are much favored by chefs. I am quite lucky that shallots are not that expensive and affordable unlike Down Under, i was told that they are cost double digits $$.

The step by step is HERE

Easy Popiah

Now that i have made Fresh Popiah Skin, i can't wait to try tasting them. Can't have a traditional Popiah Meal without the necessary ingredients and a good Popiah Meal require a long lists of fresh ingredients

The recipe for the filling is HERE

Nasi Lemak

Without a doubt Nasi Lemak is possibly the greatest dish ever created by Malaysians.  It needs no introduction, nasi lemak is one of the most versatile meals that can be found everywhere in Malaysia,  be it in the heart of any Malaysian cities or in the remotest areas of the country.


The recipe and how to are HERE

Fried Tofu Squares With Beef

What do you really miss/crave when away from your homeland? Do you crave some basic things, that seem small, but their absence is heavily missed. I do and what i missed most is - going to the wet markets and getting all the ingredients to cook. This simple ingredient is tasteless, but delicately flavored--soft soy bricks known as tofu. Here there are two main kinds of tofu, silken or soft tofu, and firm or regular tofu and they are boxed. What i missed most is the kind which is called - SANG FAH in cantonese. They are usually square and has a thin skin layer of the pattern of the muslin cloth used to cover it. In fact, in IPOH, MALAYSIA a city which is popular for the best tofu, even displays the tofu still with the muslin cloth and when you wish to purchase it, then only will the cloth be removed. I don't know if this practice is still there and i hope it is cos they are the best tofu, so smooth and delicate. One bite and you will be in TOFU HEAVEN. IPOH -lites, please tell me that these tofu are still selling in the wet markets.




The recipe for Fried Tofu Squares with Beef is HERE

Chicken In A Jiffy For Hainanese Chicken Rice

In a Jiffy - i am branded with this statement so i must keep my up with my repertoire of cooking in a jiffy, i would like to share my way of cooking 'Chicken in a Jiffy For Hainanese Chicken Rice'. 

For step by step on how to microwave chicken and hainanese chicken rice, the recipe is HERE

Ong Lai Rabbit/Rabbit Pineapple Tarts

Would like to share some of my Pineapple Tarts which i made this year.  Since this is the year of the Rabbit, i tried making some in the shape of the Rabbit and it was quite fun to make especially i had Renee helping me.  She was a great help and i should say, we were a great team.  When i had the Rabbit's body ready, which was a round piece of dough wrapped with pineapple jam, she had the Rabbit's tail, ears and nose ready for me.  Alexander, helped too, he did the egg white wash so that i could adhere the tail, ears and nose.  The Rabbits looked great and cute, before they were baked but when they came out of the oven, they had attitute.  Some lost their tails and noses and Renee blamed Alexander for doing a shoddy job in glazing.  Well, these tarts are handmade and can we expect factory-machine made tarts?


I tried making some other shapes like gold ingots, which i gave up after making a few, cos it took up too much time and it was laborious.  Besides it did not turn out so pretty.  The pineapple shape was good, easy and fast.  The next time around i would use more dough rather than more jam, then they would be better looking.


GONG XI FA CAI

Continue HERE

Almond London Cookies

What's behind that name of this cookie? For the Almond, it is self explanatory but London????? Could this be a signature dessert for the Londoners? Whatever, these cookies are very popular in Malaysia, more so for the Hari Raya Celebration than the Chinese New Year.


Continue for recipe HERE

Hakka Pestle Tea Rice/Ham Cha Farn/Looi Cha Farn

This dish is from the Chinese migratory Hakka dialect group and is several hundred years old. The Hakkas, especially this sub-group called Ho Poh , have a unique tradition regarding this dish as medicinal, a detox meal which is also reputed to boost metabolism and servet his supersalad, with 7 types of vegetables, on the seventh day of Chinese New Year just like the cantonese tradition of serving Yee Sang which most chinese are accustomed to.

Ham Cha Farn(salty tea), Looi Cha Farn(ground tea) or Thunder Rice, has a lot of variations. The tea used ,be it green or black signifies and determine the flavour and taste of the dish. It is sometimes kept simple by grinding the tea, add salt to taste and hot boiling water, to make a broth. However others may add roasted peanuts, sesame seeds or both together with the tea leaves and herbs like mint, basil, perilla and saw coriander, in the grinding process to make into an almost medicinal tea broth. This alters the flavour of the dish significantly. The taste however, is not for everyone. Some find it enervating and refreshing, others do not like the bitter or strong herbal notes.

The essential ingredients are Farn(Cooked Rice), which can be puffed rice (mee chang) or rice grains fried with garlic and a little oil, prior to cooking and three of the seven ingredients which will determine a good Ham Cha Farn/Looi Cha Farn are dried shrimps, choy poh(preserved radish) and firm tofu. These three are to be sauted and seasoned with sugar and white pepper..

To complement the tea and rice, a wide variety of carefully selected vegetables (including blanched long beans, cabbage, carrots, four-angled beans, chye sim, celery, are used. It should be noted that meat and fish is seldom added to this diah as the the main idea is to eat lots of vegetables, making this dish cheap, hearty , nutritious and a fibre-rich.

Continue for recipe HERE

Pan-fried Fish Fillet with Pace Picante Sauce

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received 2 bottles of Pace Picante sauce. They arrived just in time, making my cooking dinner easier as i was under the weather and did not feel like cooking an elaborate dinner, not that i cook elaborate everyday but at least it must be substantial.

I would usually serve pan-fried fish , fillets or whole fish with some maggi or soya sauce as this way it is more friendly for the younger ones in the household, but since i have Pace Picante Sauce, i decided to serve the adult's portion of the fish with some Pace Picate Sauce, smeared on top, straight from the bottle. It was a hit and thank you Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program.

Continue HERE for recipe

Pandan Flavored Ban Jian Kuih

According to Wikipedia - a QUEST is a journey towards a goal and my QUEST is to make the perfect ban jian kuih and the GOAL is that it should be chewy and honey-combed.

Many attempts and i am still 'in search of"???.

For recipe continue to read HERE

Step-by-step Mui Choy Kau Yoke

A task which usually take 5 minutes was not so and it was so frustrating.  Anyway, how difficult or time-consuming it was, i made a promise to post the step-by step on How to make Mui Choy Kau Yoke and .........

the promise is kept

The step-by-step can be found HERE

Kuih Lapis Rainbow

It is strange but it is true with our tastebud, there are so many kinds of food that i do not like when i was younger but love them now.  Kuih Lapis which is chewy is one of them,  I like this Traditonal Nyonya Kuih Lapis  which is rich and soft.  But!!!  now that i have tried making this recipe after too many requests for this chewy type, and surprising i liked it.  I think i know why i did not like this chewy type cos i have eaten too many badly made ones.  I found that this kuih will be good if a considerable amount of thick coconut milk was used in the recipe.  I shall not call this 'Nine Layers Koh' cos i have made it with 10 layers.  I wanted to have 3 colors, so i ended with 9 layers - 3 layers of every color and a topping layer thus making it 10 layers.

Ingredients:

A:
80 gm rice flour
80 gm all-purpose flour
180 gm tapioca starch
2 x 400ml cans coconut milk(SAVOY brand)
100 ml water
240 gm fine granulated sugar
1/8 tsp potassium carbonate & sodium bi-carbonate solution aka 'kan sui'
1/4 tsp salt

B:
Food colorings
Pandan paste
Vanillin

Method:

Mix all the ingredients A in a large bowl and then pass through a fine sieve onto to a large microwave-safe bowl.

Microwave the batter, one minute at a time, stirring after every minute.  I did 3 times(my microwave is only 900 watts).  The sugar should have dissolved and the batter thickens slightly.

Measure 3 portions weighing 435 gms. Leaving the rest of the batter as the topping or last layer.

Leave one portion white and divide into 3 bowls - each weighing 145 gms.

Color the next portion pink and divide into 3 bowls - each weighing 145 gms.

Color the last portion with pandan paste and divide into 3 bowls - each weighing 145 gms.

Color the topping layer with a darker red color.

Heat a 9 inch greased pan in the steamer for 5 - 10 minutes, then pour in one of the white color batter.

Steam for 5 minutes and if the layer is cooked through, pour in one of the pink color batter and steam for 5 minutes..

When pink layer is cooked through, pour in the green layer and steam.

Repeat with these layerings until all 9 layers are done.

Finally pour in the topping layer and steam until cooked through and further steam the whole kuih for another 10 minutes.

Remove from steamer and allow kuih to cool to room temperature before cutting.  Use a very sharp knife for cutting.  Although i like the plastic crinkle cutter, it does not do a very good job on this chewy cake.

Serves

Chicken And Wood Ear Fungus Wine Soup

This dish is a confinement dish.  The chinese, especially the cantonese would cook this dish as a post-natal diet for the whole month of confinement after childbirth.  During pregnancy, a woman may feel bloated and feel like there is a lot of gas in the tummy. This is due to the softening of our body ligaments and etc to make way for the baby’s growth. To expel those gas from the stomach, one soothing food we can take is ginger but after childbirth, gas is bloating in abundance, ginger and more ginger in every dish will help, as food prepared with ginger develop a tendency to move outward.  The chinese do not encourage fresh fruits and vegetables, so ginger is the only source of fiber.  After delivery, the body is susceptible to 'cold' and must be kept warm, therefore wine is the best as it moves  upwards and pushes up the energy. Wood Ear Fungus helps to prevent various forms of bleeding and prevents blood clotting   All these practices are considered efficacious for curing the body's imbalance but especially as a preventive therapy against ailments in later years.  I, the renegade must remain cognizant and respectful of the indigenous beliefs and practices linking the events of reproduction and the health status of women.



Ingredients and Method

 
Recipe is the same as Chicken With Stone's Ginger Wine except peanuts are omitted, vegetable oil and glutinous rice wine were used instead of sesame oil and Stone's Ginger Wine.  This dish was cooked for my friends to enjoy the Home-brewed Glutinous Rice Wine. 

 

Serves

Kuih Gading Galoh

My sisters have always told me that i take too much upon myself in whatever i do, and they are absolutely right.  And, do i learn???? No!  Same old me, repeating my habits and trying to do too much.  Like last saturday, i had a potluck to go to and not satisfied with just bringing one kind of kuih, decided to make another one at the eleventh hour.  See, what happened to the most delicious kuih made, it was shabbly cut cos it was not cold enough and there was not enough time to do a good job.  I hate myself for that but do you think i will make kuih in a hurry again, you guessed right, i will.

Ingredients:

Rice Layer:

1 1/2 cup glutinous rice - washed and soaked

100 ml thick coconut cream

Thin coconut milk - enough to cover the rice
1 tsp  kosher salt
2 pieces pandan leaves
1 tsp dried bunga telang - reconstitute with 1 tbsp hot water and a drop of vinegar

Topping:

3 large eggs
300 ml thick coconut milk
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp tapioca starch
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar

Method:

Put soaked glutinous rice into the rice cooker and enough thin coconut milk to just covering the rice.  Add salt and pandan leaves.

Press the cook function and as soon as the rice is cooked,  discard the pandan leaves and pour in the thick coconut cream.  Close the lid and leave on warm for 10 minutes for the coconut cream to marry into the rice.

In the meantime, mix the ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute and stir.  Continue to cook for another 1 more minute.  The mixture should still be runny.

Remove rice from the rice  cooker and put it in a greased 9 inch cake pan and pressed the rice down.  Sprinkle the coloring from the bunga telang on to the top of rice.  If you like a marbled look, then you would have to stir in the color to the rice and then press down.

Put the rice to steam for 5 minutes, then pour in half of the topping.  Steam the topping until cooked, then using a fork, roughen the surface with a fork before pouring in the rest of the topping.  Steam on medium heat until cooked and done.  Do not use high heat - patience will rewarded with a smooth topping.

When done, leave kuih to cool before cutting.

Serves