Lily's Wai Sek Hong - Favorites

Belly Pork Roast/Siew Yoke - Step-By-Step

2012-01-31T14:12:00.004-07:00

I have been getting too many questions as to why the cracklings are not so crackling although they follow my recipe to the 'T". So, i have decided to create this Step-By-Step and hope that the cracklings will crackle like it should.

There are many factors to achieve a good 'Siew Yoke/Roasted Pork Belly". First is to get a good piece of belly pork. Choose one that is 2 inches in height which is quite difficult as the Asian stores here tend to leave a lot of meat to the ribs thus leaving a very thin piece of belly pork. Secondly, choose a piece which is level in height, an uneven level piece will have to be adjusted with aluminium foil so that the skin will be level while broiling/grilling. As suggested in my previous recipes Roast Belly Pork , Roast Belly Pork II and Roast Belly Pork III, the marinated piece of belly pork would like a vacation in the fridge, uncovered, overnight to dry out the skin. This process will allow shorter crackling time. I have now become lazy and found that i can achieve good crackling without drying. So, you can omit the vacation process.

An important tip: When you scald the meat, make sure that the water is boiling hot when you put to meat to cook. This is to remove scum and the piggy smell. If the meat is thick, you can par-cook the meat by boiling it longer and this will ensure that the meat will cook through when the crackling is done.

The oven used for broiling/grilling has to be considered. Here i have chosen the wall unit oven of which most of you will have in your kitchen, but, i have used the grill function on my Microwave oven and the Turbo Oven and made pretty good Siew Yoke. If you are using the Turbo Oven, use the lower rack so that the meat is furthest away from the fan and half way through the grilling, put a piece of aluminium foil under the meat so that the meat will not cook further and dry out.

I hope i have covered all the tips and now get started to crackle...............

In a large skillet, bring water, salt and vinegar, to the boil, then add in the belly pork skin side down first(apologies - forgot to take picture of the skin side cooking , so picture was taken after i have scored the meat )

Turn belly pork over and cook the meat side

Remove belly pork and place meat side on to kitchen towel, using kitchen towel, press all over the skin

Press all over the skin to remove as much moisture as possible

Sprinkle generously with salt

Rub the salt on to the surface of skin and leave aside

Using kitchen towel, dab and press onto skin, as salt will draw out more moisture from skin

Turn over to the meat side and score the meat, by scoring, the marinate is more effective

Cut a few slits on the edges of meat, this will avoid the meat from curling when grilling

Cut slits on the edges of the other end of meat

After scoring the meat, turn over and now score the skin with a very sharp knife. Score as finely as possible but do not cut through, score only the skin. Score like you would score squid/sotong.

Scored skin

Prepare the marinate: sugar, salt, pepper, 5 spice powder, garlic powder, onion powder, soya sauce and cooking wine

Use a pastry brush to brush marinate over the meat

Turn marinated meat over and place onto to cake rack which is place on to baking sheet which has been covered with aluminium foil. Rub generously with vinegar over the skin

Put to broil/grill on low heat, on the lower third rung of oven. Broil/grill for at least 45 minutes until the skin crackles. Check on meat every 15 minutes, if certain spot on skin is not crackling so well , adjust..............

.............use aluminium foil under the meat at the spot where the crackling is not so well done and continue to broil/grill. If you find that there is oil collected on certain parts of the cracklings, use kitchen towel to dab away the oil, this will allow to crackle better and not cooking in oil.

When the crackling is satisfactory to your liking, sprinkle salt over the crackling and put back to broil for 5 minutes.

The salt will further dry the crackling. Certain areas of the cracklings will be charred more, this is inevitable and this shows that the cracklings are thoroughly crackled. The over charred cracklings can be scraped away. Turn meat side over and broil/grill for 5 or 10 minutes if you like it to be most roasted. (i like mine still moist and not charred)

Allow roasted belly pork to cool before chopping up into bite sizes and enjoy.

Meat is still luscious and moist

Yan Yat Yee Sang

2012-01-29T11:02:00.001-07:00

Yan Yat Yee Sang - this must sound like a tongue twister, that's how chinese sounds when you do not speak or know how to, Alexander will ask - What did you say? and mumble whatever came out of his mouth. The Chinese Lunar New year is celebrated for 15 days, read about how these 15 days are celebrated. The chinese has their humour in a funny way - 12th day is The Diarrhea Day - ha ha. Today is the seventh day and It is known as "人日" Rénrì in mandarin or Yan Yat in cantonese or Everyone's Birthday, the day when everyone grows one year older. In West Malaysia and Singapore, Yu Sheng/Yee Sang, raw slivers of fish are tossed together with various pickles and vegeatble into a Salad. As they toss the salad, they raise the salad high with their chopsticks and say auspicious words.

This year, i have added purple and regular cabbage to make this salad more colorful. I wanted the color yellow and was searching for a vegetable which is yellow and will be crunchy, nothing came to mind, i have decided to dye some white shredded daikon/radish into yellow but did not have to do that. As i halved the regular green cabbage, i found that the center of this cabbage is yellow and i was grinning like i have found gold. I mentioned adding these cabbages to my traditional Yee Sang to a dear friend and immediately she replied that it will be no good but me, i will always give it try at least once before i make any judgement. I was glad that i added the cabbages, the platter was so colorful and everyone commented that it was too pretty to mess it up and i think this will be my Yee Sang for the years to come. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL.

For how to prepare Yee Sang Step By Step:

Payaya Shreds
Taro Shreds
Roasted Peanut and Crackers
The rest of the preparation
The Tossing

Seaweed Crispies

2012-01-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

GONG XI FA CAI

This is a spin-off from Nori Crisps. These seaweed /nori crispies are so addictive and flavorful that they have to be fried and served for The Chinese New Year. They are so easy, just 3 ingredients and oil for deep frying. This year, instead of rolling them up or plain flat, i have twisted them into ribbons following Sesame Ribbon Crisp but do not double up the prepared pastry. For this recipe i have tweaked and used egg whites instead of the whole egg and found that the crispies remained crispier.
Ingredients:

10 pcs seaweed/nori sheets
20 sheets spring roll wrappers
2 egg white, lightly beaten with 1/2 tsp salt for glazing
Vegetable Oil for deep frying
Method:
Lay a piece of spring roll wrapper on the pastry board.

Brush with egg white glaze

Place a sheet of seaweed sheet onto the glazed spring roll wrapper, glaze the the seaweed/nori sheet(sprinkle with sesame seeds if you wish) an then place another sheet of spring roll wrapper onto to the glazed seaweed/nori sheets.

Cut into 2” x 1” strip/rectangle and use the tip of the knife ,cut and make a slit in the middle of the rectangle lengthwise. For each pair of strips/rectangles, Insert or push the top end of the strips/rectangle into the slit twice to form a twisted ribbon.

Heat up some vegetable oil for deep frying. Fry the ribbons until golden brown. Remove and drain the oil.

Let cool completely and store in air tight container.

Kuih Bangkit Gula Melaka Flavored

2012-01-18T08:19:00.000-07:00

Gula melaka a.k.a. Palm Sugar or 'Malacca Sugar'. Why Melaka/Malacca,? I have no idea and hope that you readers can enlighten me. Gula melaka is made by first extracting the sap from the flower bud of a coconut tree. Several slits are cut into the bud and a pot is tied underneath the bud to collect the sap. Then, the sap is boiled until it thickens after which, in the traditional way, it is poured into bamboo tubes between 3-5 inches in length, and left to solidify to form cylindrical cake blocks.

Coconut palm sugar is being advertised as a healthy sugar; low in the glycemic index and full of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. It apparently tastes great with amazing caramel and butterscotch taste and it's gaining popularity rapidly until most coconut farmers are cashing in to this new high demand of palm sugar as "healthier sugar", by converting their coconut trees into coconut sugar production. No wonder, the price for a can of coconut milk/cream has triple the price lately.

I do not use gula melaka/palm sugar for any other reasons except to flavor these few desserts like
Onde Onde,
Kuih Dadar,
Kuih Koci,
Kuih Koci Pulut Hitam,
Kuih Talam Ubi Kayu,
Lepat Ubi Kayu/Casava Wrap,
Kuih Kosui

and now am using it to flavor my Kuih Bangkit, and can you tell me the characters of these cookies? They are pressed from the same mould.

Ingredients:

225g tapioca flour
3 pandan leaves cut into small pieces
30g margarine
90 gm gula melaka/palm sugar - chopped fine
1 egg yolk
75ml – 90ml coconut milk
a pinch of salt

Method:

Line a large pyrex bowl with greaseproof paper, microwave the flour and pandan leaves on high 1 min at a time for 5 times, stirring every minute.

Set aside, cool completely before using.

Cook gula melaka and 75 ml coconut milk in medium low heat until gula melaka dissolves. Set aside to cool.
Cream margarine, then add in yolk cream well till well combined, then add in the cooled gula melaka and coconut milk mixture.

Add flour to mix till a non-sticky dough is formed. If dough is too dry, add more coconut milk but add 1 tsp at a time, otherwise, dough may be too sticky. Leave dough to rest covered with a damp cloth.

Take a quarter of the dough and roll dough on a floured table to 3/8 inch(this thickness is necessary to obtain a nice size cookie)and use cookie cutters to cut into shapes. Using a pincher to pinch desired designs. Alternatively wooden moulds can also be used and that omits rolling the dough.

Baked on lined tray in preheated oven at 300 f convection for 15 mins. .

Remove to cool completely before storing

WU HAR/TARO BALLS

2012-01-15T11:02:00.000-07:00

I remembered that when i was frying this Taro Crunch, i was saying to myself that there must be a better way to hold the taro shreds together while frying them and i thought of the net ladle used for steam boat. Yes, it is very successful and it makes pretty good balls of even sizes, light and crunchy. Prepping for these taro balls is tedious, the taro has to be sliced into 1/4 inch thick slices, then using a potato peeler, peel taro along the edge of 1/4 inch slice to make long thin strips, do not peel along the flat 1/4 inch but peel the 2 edges, creating a slightly point in the middle, then peel the middle, thus making strips that are not too wide. Try to peel the longest strips if possible. The 1/4 inch thickness to the taro slices is the best for the peeling, as it is hardy enough to hold and does bend like thinner slices would.. These long thin strips are desirable, cos then it can be curled up into a ball, enclosing the sprig of coriander inside it. I have learned alot from this Hong Kong Video. Unfortunately, this video is in cantonese and there are very valuable tips. The most valuable tip is that if the shredded strips are mixed with all other ingredients, they have to be fried , otherwise they will be soggy and then the result will not be good eats. This is definitely a buddy project in the kitchen and since that i have to fry it alone, i have broken down the recipe to this small portion which i can handle. Please do double, triple ......... the recipe as much as you and your friends can handle, these taro balls are addictive. If making multiple recipes, mix in the rose wine and seasonings for 1 recipe at a time, this might look like too troublesome, but this is to ensure that the taro balls will be light.

Ingredients:

Makes 15 taro balls

150 gm taro strips
1 tsp Rose wine

Seasonings:

1 tbsp glutinous rice flour
1/2 tbsp rice flour
1/4 tsp 5 spice powder
1/4 tsp chicken granules
2 tbsp white sesame seeds
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp white ground pepper

Coriander leaves

Method:

How to prepare taro strips:

If using fresh taro with skin on, wash taro skin to rid of dirt. Leave taro to dry or dry thoroughly with kitchen towel before peeling the skin(if wet, taro will be slimmy and difficult to handle). Use rubber gloves as taro contains calcium oxalate, which is a skin irritant and cooking removes the calcium oxalate from taro roots.

Do not wash peeled taro and if you have to, dry it before slicing.

Slice a piece from the taro root thus forming a flat base. Using a long sharp knife or chinese cleaver, cut taro into 1/4 inch slices.

Using a potato peeler, peel on the edges of the 1/4 inch thus making a sharp edge in the middle. Peel this way - right edge twice, left edge twice, then the middle edge twice and so forth to make long strips which means that the peeling has to start from the top to the bottom of the 1/4 slice.

Loosen out the strips so that they do not stick together.

To prepare taro balls:

Add rose wine to coat the taro strips.

Mix the seasonings together, then sprinkle it all over the taro strips. Coat the taro strips with this seasonings in light gentle mixing.

To Fry Taro Balls:

Heat enough oil for deep frying to moderately heat - 325 f.

Put in the net ladle to heat in the hot oil.

Take a bundle of taro strips, enough to fit into the net ladle, flatten the strips out onto the palm of your hand and put a sprig of coriander leave in the middle. Form and curl taro strips into a ball gently, do not press and put it in the net ladle.

Lower net ladle into hot oil for frying. As soon as the net ladle touches the hot oil, the taro ball will start to expand, use a pair of chopstick to gently hold the ball in the net ladle and prevent the balls from floating up too much and this will take only a few seconds. Allow the taro balls to fry till golden balls, it will dislodge from the net ladle when fried through.

Remove from oil onto a cooling rack which is lined with brown paper to catch the dripping oil.

Continue to make taro balls with the rest of the taro strips.

When the balls are cooled, enjoy or pack into an air-tight container.

Sesame Ribbon Crisp

2012-01-11T11:55:00.001-07:00

When i was making the Crispy Crackers for Yee Sang, i decided to make this Sesame Ribbon Crisp as it is the same recipe only it is formed into ribbons. These ribbons do not need any introduction, one bit into one and before you can chew on it, your hand will be reaching out for another. That's how good they are.

Ingredients:

2 cups plain flour

2 eggs

2 pieces of lam yee

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp 5 spice powder

1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

enough water to make into a dough

2 - 3tbsp black sesame seeds

Vegetable oil for deep frying

Method:

Combined all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix into a smooth dough. Cover with a piece of wet towel and rest for 30 minutes.

To fold dough into ribbon shape:

Roll out the dough thinly as thinly as possible (about 1/8”). Cut into 2” x 1” strip/rectangle Using 2 strips/ rectangles, place one on top of each other and use the tip of the knife ,cut and make a slit in the middle of the rectangle lengthwise. For each pair of strips/rectangles, Insert or push the top end of the strips/rectangle into the slit twice to form a twisted ribbon.The reason 2 strips/retangles are used to make a piece of ribbon cookie is because the ribbon will bloom after frying..

Heat up some vegetable oil for deep frying. Fry the dough until goldebrown. Remove and drain the oil.

Pineapple Tart Filling

2012-01-08T11:34:00.001-07:00

Ever since i owned a microwave oven in 1986, i have been using it alot to aid my cooking and it is the most used appliance in my kitchen. I would not have made or cooked so often if i have to slave on a stovetop for hours on end. The microwave has allowed me to cook faster without having to attend to the cooking and allowing me time to fulfil other tasks and the best part is that i do not have extra pots and pans for cleaning. This time of the year is always busy, busy, especially when the Chinese New Year is just 2 weeks away and it means that it is time to bake Pineapple Tarts which is a must for this celebration. Why Pineapple Tarts??? Chinese is a tonal language and punning based on tones is very common. The word for 'pineapple' in Hokkien dialect 'ong la i' is also a pun for the "king" (ong ) or "prosperity"(ong) and "comes" (la i) i.e. hopes for royally rich or a prosperity year to come! Before the pineapple tarts can be made, the filling has to be cooked first and i am sharing How to cook it in the Microwave.

I use crushed pineapple for the pineapple tart filling

Drain juice from crushed pineapple and process until fine

I use a bowl but a cup or whatever is ok, to measure the amount of processed pineapple -1 bowl/cup pinneapple pulp to 1 bowl/cup sugar, 3/4 bowl/cup will be acceptable as canned pineapple tend to be sweeter than fresh ones

Put the processed pineapple into a large microwave-safe bowl

Measure the amount of sugar with the same bowl/cup used to measure the processed pineapple

Add cinnamon sticks and cloves to the sugar and pineapple mixture and cook in the microwave. Cook it for a longer period if you have a large amount

With this amount of sugar and processed pineapple, i cook for 10 minutes, stir after every cycle and continue another two more 10 minutes and stir. I have a 900 watts microwave oven and if your microwave has a higher wattage, use shorter time and also it depends on how dry the processed pineapple is drained. I do not drained until too dry cos i like the flavor of the pineapple in the juice. When the mixture begins to thicken, reduce the time to 5 minutes and so forth, until filling thick and caramelized.

After every cycle of cooking, remove from the microwave oven and stir well to distribute the heat

After stirring, continue to cook in the microwave until filling has thicked and caramelized

Pineapple filling has thickened and caramelized. It will be more dry when it hs been cooled, so do not cook until too dry otherwise the filling will be too hard after the tarts are baked. If you have gone too dry when cooking, just add in a little water and give it a buzz or two to heat the water

Allow the cooked pineapple filling to cool before removing the cloves and cinnamon sticks. Caution: cooked pineapple filling is very hot, handle with extreme care. When cooled, store in air-tight container. This filling can be prepared ahead and can be frozen until needed.

Tip: When the filling cooled, adjust the taste with lime/lemon juice and some salt will bring out the flavor of the pineapple

Financiers

2012-01-03T12:41:00.001-07:00

Financiers, a small French cake, are as rich as the bankers they were named for. The financier is a light, moist teacake, sweet, tender and beautiful in their simplicity. They are made from ground almonds, sugar, unwhipped egg whites, flour and an enormous quantity of melted butter, which is cooked until it is golden brown, imparting perfect nutty flavor. And, since the Chinese New Year is around the corner, these Financiers will be very auspicious to be served as they resemble ingots/gold bars.

Adapted from Paris Sweets, Great Desserts from the City's Best Pastry Shops

Makes 12 cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces; 180 grams) unsalted butter
1 cup (200 grams) sugar
1 cup (100 grams) ground almonds
6 large egg whites
2/3 cup (90 grams) all-purpose flour

Method:

Put the butter in a small saucepan and bring it to the boil over medium heat, swirling the pan occasionally. Allow the butter to bubble away until it turns a deep brown, but don't turn your back on the pan - the difference between brown and black is measured in seconds. Pull the pan from the heat and keep it in a warm place.

Mix the sugar and almonds together in a medium saucepan. Stir in the egg whites, place the pan over low heat, and, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, heat the mixture until it is runny, slightly white and hot to the touch, about 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the flour, then gradually mix in the melted butter. Transfer the batter to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, pressing it against the surface of the batter to create an airtight seal, and chill for at least 1 hour. (The batter can be kept covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Butter 12 rectangular financier molds (recommended mold size 3-3/4 x 2 x 5/8-inch [10 x 5 x 1-1/2-cm] rectangular molds that each hold 3 tablespoons), dust the interiors with flour and tap out the excess. Place the molds on a baking sheet for easy transport.(i do not have rectangular molds of the recommended size so i used some mini bread molds)

Fill each mold almost to the top with batter. Slide the molds into the oven and bake for about 13 minutes, or until the financiers are golden, crowned and springy to the touch. If necessary, run a blunt knife between the cookies and the sides of the pans, then turn the cookies out of their molds and allow them to cool to room temperature right side up on cooling racks.

Best Ever Carrot Cake For Tatum

2011-12-31T10:39:00.000-07:00

Your Merry Christmas may depend on what others do for you. But your Happy New Year depends on what you do for others - Anonymous. Thank you for such a meaningful greeting and just as the clock signals the arrival of New Year on the this midnight, i wish you all a better beginning tomorrow and A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

My Christmas was merry indeed and i would like to thank all my family and friends for all the thoughful gifts. Thank you, Sandra, Jeremie, Renee, Alexander, Tien Hsi, Bruce, Timmy, Belinda, Wally, Coleen, Jerry, Vicky, Sammy and Kaylee.

I know this coming New Year will be a happy one cos i have already started to make Tatum happy, i hope, by baking her this best ever Carrot Cake. Happy Birthday Tatum and Cole.

Ingredient:
6 cups grated carrots
1 cup brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups fine granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 ttsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts

Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 ozs Cream Cheese 2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp orange juice

Method:
Combine grated carrots and brown sugar. Set aside for 60 minutes.
Put the chopped walnuts onto a baking sheet and put in the cold oven. Turn on the oven for preheating to 350 f. Turn on the timer for 10 minutes, check on the walnuts at 5 minutes, give it a good stir and continue to roast for another 5 minutes. Remove from oven and allow oven to preheat.

Line the bottom with parchment paper, grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans.

Beat eggs until light. Gradually beat in the sugar, oil and vanilla. Stir in the drained crushed pineapple.

Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, stir well to combine all the dry ingredients with a fork or a whisk.

Add this flour mixture into the wet mixture and stir until absorbed.

DRAIN the carrot and then stir in to the cake batter together with the walnuts. Adjust the texture of the cake batter with the liquid that has been drained from the carrot. The cake batter should be thick but runny - bot too runny otherwise you will have a pudding and not a cake.

Pour evenly into the prepared pans.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick test comes out clean from the center of the cake.

Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

When completely cooled, frost with cream cheese frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
Whisk/beat cream cheese, honey and orange juice until light and soft.

Sandwich the cake with this frosting and decorate the cake as you wish.

Christmas Star Bread

2011-12-23T09:05:00.001-07:00

Christmas has come and i would like to thank all my family, friends and readers for their support. I have baked a Christmas Star Bread as the Christmas Star is so very special and magical. Although this bread does not shine but it does light up my heart to see the smiles in the family when it was presented to be shared. Thank you Feeding My Enthusiasms for your inspiration.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Ingredients:

Follow the recipe from Koledna Pitka

Method:

Follow the first paragraph of the method in Koledna Pitka.

When dough function is done, divide dough into 6 equal portions and let it rest for 5 - 10 minutes. Shape these portions into rounds and let rest again.

For the first portion, roll it out into a long rope and coil it up like snail and tug in the end.

For the other 5 portions, divide them into 3 equal parts.

Roll all the parts into equal lengths for plaiting - you should have 5 plaited bread.

Arrange the 5 plaited bread around the coil to form a star and place star onto an overturned baking sheet which has been lined. Allow star to rise until double it's size.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Glaze the dough with egg yolk mixed with a tbsp of water and put to bake for about 20 minutes and if it is browning too fast, cover top loosely with foil and bake until instant-read thermometer registers 190 degrees when inserted in the thickest part of the dough.

Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Happy Winter Solstice

2011-12-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

If you live in this hemisphere, it’s your signal to celebrate. The shortest day is here! After the winter solstice, the days will get longer, and the nights shorter. It’s a seasonal shift that nearly everyone notices. Since the pace of living has become faster and people are now busier, some customs have fallen into oblivion but we should not allow it. We have to celebrate today, the Winter Solstice with a happy get-together and eat. Food plays an important part in my family during any festivities and we are going to enjoy 'Tong Yuen' in hot ginger sweet soup. Today is sure going to be the shortest day for us here, let is fall, let it fall, we have no where to go but to enjoy our 'Tong Yuen' and become one year older.

Happy Winter Solstice/Dōng Zhì. The Chinese characters for Dōng Zhì are 冬至, the first character means “winter” and the second character means “arrival.”

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of mashed purple sweet potato
3/4 cup glutinous rice flour
1 1/2 tbsp rice flour
1/4 cup hot boiling water (more if dough is too dry)

Filling:

1/2 cup of mashed purple sweet potato
3 tbsp confectioner's sugar
1 tbsp shortening
A pinch of salt

Sweet Soup:

Ginger slices
Sugar according to taste
Water.

Method:

Mix glutinous rice flour and rice flour together and put half of it into a large bowl.

Pour in boiling hot water and add mashed sweet potato to mix. Knead into a smooth dough, cover and leave aside for 10 minutes.

Pinch off small portions and roll into balls.

Mix the filling ingredients into a paste.

Flatten a piece of dough and put in some filling. Seal up into rounds or tear-drop shape. Repeat with the rest of the dough balls.

Bring a pot of water to the boil and put the filled balls to cook. Reduce the heat to low as too high heat boiling will burst the balls. Poach the balls until they float to the top. Remove and soak in cold water for 5-10 minutes.

Filled another pot with water together with the ginger slices and bring it to the boil and continue to cook for 10 - 15 minutes. Add in sugar and cook until sugar dissolves.

Add in the cooked balls and enjoy.

Happy Winter Solstice!!!!!!!!

Koledna Pitka Bulgarian Christmas Bread

2011-12-18T12:52:00.002-07:00

I had wanted to bake something Chrismas and instead of heading the cookie way, decided to make bread I know that bread is baked and shared on Chrismas time in most european countries. I googled and found this recipe which looked easy. I fell in love with it the moment i set eyes on the google image of this bread. This bread recipe is from Easteuropeanfood.about.com and it says that this bread is typically eaten on Christmas Eve and throughout the holidays. There are many ways to shape this bread, but I think this sunflower look is most festive and i agree totally, Often, a silver coin is tucked inside and the one to find it should expect good luck in the coming year, I do not own a silver coin, so it was omitted, guessed we would have to expect good luck in another way. This recipe requires only one rise and since i used the breadmachine, the dough had a first rise in the breadmachine and another before baking, in this case, more could be better, i hope i am right. The bread turned out so deliciously pretty that i think i can feel the good luck by just looking at it.

Ingredients:

•4 large eggs (reserving 1 egg yolk to brush on bread)
•1 cup water
•1 tablespoon salt
•2 tablespoons sugar
•2.2 pounds all-purpose flour
•2 tsp instant yeast
•4 tbsps softened butter

Oil/Melted butter for brushing

Method:

Put all the ingredients according to the order starting with liquid and end with instant yeast, into the breadmachine bowl and start the dough function. Let the breadmachine knead and check to see if dough is too dry, add 1 tablespoon water at a time or if it too wet add 1 tablespoon flour at a time until desired consistency. Knead until smooth and pliable, then add the butter and allow the dough function to complete.

When dough function is done, divide dough into 7 equal-size balls. Place 1 ball in the center of a greased 12-inch baking tray like a pizza pan without a lip. Cover with greased plastic wrap while you roll each of the other balls into 10-inch circles and, using a pizza cutter, cut into 8 triangular pieces. Lightly brush the top of each triangular piece with oil or melted butter. Stack three pieces on top of each other. Twist to form a cone. Repeat with remaining dough. You will have 16 "cones." Arrange these around the center ball of dough with the wide side of the cone facing out. Cover and let rise until almost doubled.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Slash an "X" in middle ball of risen dough.

Brush bread all over with remaining beaten egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon water.

Bake about 20 minutes and if it is browning too fast, cover top loosely with foil and bake until instant-read thermometer registers 190 degrees when inserted in the thickest part of the dough.

Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Pull off "cones" for individual servings.

Help OXO Bake a Difference with Cookies for Kids’ Cancer! Giveaway Result

2011-12-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

Although there are not many responses for this giveaway, i hope that i have spread this message and have reached at least one support for this OXO charity “Cookies for Kids Cancer”.

Here is the result:

Since there are only 5 comments and after trying for more than hour on how to paste the generated result from Random.org successfully, i gave up and decided just to announce it:

Here it is:

Number 5 and it is Brown Cookie Blog.

Congratulation Brown Cookie Blog, please email me your address so that i can send you the spatula as soon as possible.

Thank you Friends and Readers for joining this OXO Giveaway. I want to take this time to thank you all for your continued support to Lily's Wai Sek Hong and Lily's Wai Sek Hong Favorites. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Help OXO Bake a Difference with Cookies for Kids’ Cancer!

2011-12-07T11:00:00.004-07:00

Support Our Cause

I have partnered up with OXO to offer you this super cute “Good Cookie” spatula of which are sold nationwide to support the charity “Cookies for Kids Cancer”. It was founded by two OXO employees, Gretchen and Larry Witt, who were inspired by their son Liam’s battle with pediatric cancer. Cookies for Kids’ Cancer was born to help raise funds to help fight pediatric cancer through the concept of local bake sales. OXO employees were inspired to help “bake a difference” by baking cookies and holding bake sales and through their efforts have helped raise over $150,000 to support Cookies for Kids’ Cancer.

This year, OXO will donate up to $100,000 to support research for new and improved therapies. You can help by visiting Bed Bath & Beyond or Amazon.com and purchase one if you do not win my giveaway.

Bake a difference and join OXO in the movement to find a cure for pediatric cancer.

If you’d like to learn more about the organization, find out where bake sales are being held, or how to organize one of your own, visit the OXO Good Cookies website. - Oxogoodcookies.com There you will be able to send Virtual Cookies to help spread the word and find out how to host a Bake Sale or fundraising event for Cookies for Kids' Cancer. Until December 31st, OXO will match all proceeds from registered bake sales, up to $100,000.

Now on to the giveaway details!

Giveaway Details

Winner who are in the United States will receive the following:

One (1) OXO “Be a Good Cookie” Spatula

How to Enter

To enter to win, simply leave a comment on this post and answer the question: “What’s your favorite cookie?”

You can receive additional entries to win by doing the following:

1. Subscribe to Lily's Wai Sek Hong Favorites by either RSS or email. Come back and let me know you’ve subscribed in an additional comment.

2. Become a fan of Lily's Wai Sek Hong on Facebook. Come back and let me know you became a fan in an additional comment.

Deadline: Today (Thursday), December 15, 2011 at 11:59pm MST.

Winner will be chosen at random using Random.org and announced here tomorrow. If the winners do not respond within 24 hours, another winner will be selected.

GOOD LUCK!!

Disclaimer: This giveaway is sponsored by OXO and Lily's Wai Sek Hong Favorites.

Sambal Belacan

2011-12-02T10:47:00.001-07:00

What type of sambal do you like best? But before you can answer, you would have to know what Sambal is. Sambal is a chili based sauce which is popular in South East Asia and normally used as a condiment.

What do you think is the key ingredient for this fiery-kick tasty sambal? There will be no sambal belacan without belacan aka shrimp paste and it will not work with no fresh red chillies, they are both partners in crime.

A Malay style sambal is what i am about to share with you. Fresh red chilies are pounded together with toasted belacan(shrimp paste) in a stone mortar to which sugar and lime juice are added. Originally, limau kesturi or calamansi lime is used but since this is scarce outside of Southeast Asia, green lime is used as a substitute. My greatest find in the asian stores here in Denver is this calamansi juice in their freezer and now my homemade Sambal Belacan is no more adulterated with lime juice. To make it more authentic, my wish fairy, Peng, bought me a stone mortar enabling me to pound away in rhythm and perfume the house with so much comfort(my comfort) but it can unpleasant and stinky to those who are not familiar. Another good find is that roasted belacan is available and if i have a choice, i would prefer this to raw belacan.

Thank you Peng for striking off this stone mortar from my wish list. Before, the appearance of the stone mortar, i have been using the chopper or food processor and they made good acceptable sambal belacan but for textured sambal belacan, the stone mortar is the way to go.

Ingredients :
3 fresh red chilies,cut into small pieces
10 chili padi/thai chillies(less if you cannot handle the heat)
1 tbsp toasted belacan
3 packs of frozen pure calamansi juice(more if you prefer)
1 tsp sugar
Salt to taste

Method:
With a stone mortar, start pounding the chilies - crush and pound with rhythm until chillies are crushed..

Add the roasted belacan and pound to combine into a paste.

Remove from mortar and add sugar, calamansi juice and salt to taste.

Serve with rice, noodle dishes or whatever you fancy, even on burgers.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

2011-11-24T09:11:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth thursday in November each year and it is TODAY. Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!. It is a special joyous family festival, well-commemorated to express gratitude and appreciation, a sincere thanksgiving offered to God for all His blessings, to the family, loved ones and friends for all their support. This is a holiday celebrated with lots of enthusiasm which involves family getting together from near and far, for a time of special communion and togetherness. In addition to family time, there are numerous activities and traditions which go along to make this day one of the most eventful days of the year, especially for Grandparents and Parents. Thanksgiving Dinner is usually the main event of the day and that's where the Turkey will be the center of attention.

I had better stop all these yaddy yaddy yaddy and get myself to some serious baking and cooking. But before i do that, i would like to express my thanks and appreciation to all my family, friends, readers, fellow bloggers for their support and their continuation to visit this humble blog. My greatest thanks go to Renee, who wrote so many wonderful things about me and said that i will love her forever, which i do and will love not only her but also Ashley and Alexander as well. I have enough of LOVE for all of them including the whole family.

With greatest gratitute, I wish you all HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Brined Pork Chop Dinner

2011-11-20T12:43:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving is around the corner and i have been so caught up with whatever??????? and you would not believe me when i tell you that i have not even bought 'The Turkey' - a must have for Thanksgiving. Renee and Alexander are very optimistic that they might win a turkey AGAIN this year in their school Turkey Pokey. They confidently told me the other day when i mentioned that i have not bought the turkey yet - they said - Popo don't buy, we MIGHT come home with one from the school's Turkey Trot. I was so happy that they showed so much enthusiasm, i love all three of my grandchildren as they are such good kids - The chinese saying or rather my saying - "Ah po has no naughty grandchildren until they lau kei". So, for all those people who have not bought the turkey, please do so today cos these frozen birds take awhile to thaw and the clock is ticking fast to Thanksgiving Day. In the meantime, we all still have to dine and since the mind has been refreshed to BRINING, i would like to share a BRINED PORK CHOP dinner which has never failed to please every member of the family including yours truly. I have never cooked pork chops without brining since i learned how to and you too can learn about it from HERE.

The recipe i am sharing is from Alton Brown, the regular recipe stated 1 cup salt but I cut it down to 3/4 cup you could even reduce the salt down to 1/2 cup but go ahead and use the 1 cup if you wish, remember kosher salt ONLY or you will not be able to eat the chops, and only brine the pork for 2 hours, NO MORE than that! If you HAVE to use table salt, use half of 3/4 cups.You can use less than 5 large thick-cut pork chops or you might be able to fit more pork chops than five, just make certain that the meat is completely covered with the brine.

BTW, when The Turkey is bought and thawed, learn how to BRINE it from HERE

Ingredients

5 thick loin-end pork chops (there are 5 in our family)
Oil for browning.

Brine:

3/4 cup kosher salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon mustard powder ( do not use prepared mustard!)
2 cups cider vinegar ( heated until hot)
1 lb ice cubes

Sauce:

1 teaspoon butter
1/2 cup onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup apple cider
1 teaspoons chicken granules

Method:

For the brine:
In a large plastic container with a lid, put in the salt, brown sugar, peppercorns and mustard powder; add in the HOT vinegar and swirl to dissolve the sugar and salt completely.

Let the mixture stand for 20 minutes at room temperature to develop flavor.

Add in the ice cubes and shake to melt most of the ice.

Add in the pork chops, making certain that the meat is completely covered with the brine.

Cover with lid and refrigerate for 2 hours (NO MORE than 2 hours!). (I have left a piece of pork chop in the brine for more than 12 hrs and it was fine, perhaps i used less salt)

Rinse the pork well under cold water before cooking.

To Pan fry the brined pork chops:

Heat a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add oil and when oil is hot, put in 2 pork chops. Cook until lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer the chops onto a plate and continue to finish cooking the other 3 pieces of pork chops..

To make the sauce
Melt butter in the pan; add onion, stir to coat, cook, stirring often, until starting to turn translucent and brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add wine and stir, scraping up any browned bits; cook for 1 minute. Add in cider and chicken granules, bring to a boil. Nestle the chops into the sauce, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 3 minutes. Turn the chops, cover and cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the chops registers 145°F, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer the chops to a warm platter and tent with foil.

Bring the sauce in the pan to a boil and cook until it is syrupy, 3 to 4 minutes. Spoon the sauce over the chops and serve.

I served the chops with potato and sweet potato fries together with Spring mix.

Tiramisu Charlotte

2011-11-13T14:31:00.011-07:00

Tiramisu, an Italian cake and dessert. literally means "pick me up". It is made of ladyfingers (Italian: Savoiardi) dipped in coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of egg yolks and mascarpone, and flavored with liqueur and cocoa. Tiramisu is usually made in deep dish or casserole but i have decided to make it into a Charlotte. As this is going to be served to children, I am not in favor of raw egg yolks and have also left out the liqueur. This is a big sacrifice but if this is going to be an adult cake, please do not leave these out, the egg yolks are ok to be left out but the liqueur bring this Charlotte to another level.

Ingredient

Ladyfingers
Dark Bittersweet Chocolate

Filling:

1 pouch /2 1/2 teaspoons (7g) unflavoured gelatine
1/4 cup water
90 gram/3/4 cup/3 ozs confectioners' sugar - sieved
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp Amaretto/kahlua/Tia Maria (optional)
225 gram /8 oz mascarpone cheese
200 gram /7 fl oz, heavy cream

Topping:

Cocoa powder

For the espresso syrup:

2 tbsp expresso coffee powder
1 cup boiling water
1 tbsp sugar

To make the Espresso Syrup:

Dissolve instant espresso coffee powder, sugar in boiling water. Leave to cool. Set aside

To make the Filling:

In a mixing bowl, with a manual whisk, whisk mascarpone cheese with confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract, liqueur (if using) until blended.

With an electric mixer whisk the whipping cream until soft peak (do not over whip).

With a spatula, fold in 1/3 of the whipped cream to the mascarpone mixture. Fold in the remaining whipped cream to the mascarpone mixture.

In a glass measuring cup, sprinkle 1 pouch unflavoured Gelatine over 1/4 cup (50mL) cold liquid. Let stand for 1 minute.

Microwave on High (100%) for 30 - 40 seconds; stir once and
add it in to the mascarpone cheese and heavy cream mixture.

To assemble the cake:

Cut off one end of the ladyfingers so that each one is about 3" in length and line them around the sides of a 7" round springform pan.or an Adjustable Cake Mold (do not dip them in the espresso syrup). You will need about 17 ladyfingers (depending on the type/brand or how even your homemade ones are). If the last ladyfinger cannot fit in nicely, trim away part of it to fit it in or just adjust the cake mould to fit..

Gently dip (do not soak) ladyfingers. one at a time, in the espresso syrup and use them to line the base of the prepared pan.Trim the ladyfingers to fit if necessary. Use the ltrimmings to fill the gaps.

Spoon over half of the filling. Using an small oiffset spatula, spread evenly.

Grate the dark bittersweet chocolates over the filling.

Repeat with another layer of ladyfingers and spoon over the remaining filling. Spread and smooth the top.

Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, best left overnight.

Just before serving, unmold the cake and dust the top with cocoa powder.

Ladyfingers

2011-11-09T20:12:00.000-07:00

According to Wikipedia, Ladyfingers, are light and sweet sponge cakes roughly shaped like a large finger. They are called savoiardi in Italian (meaning "from Savoy"), or in French biscuits à la cuillère or boudoirs. In the UK they may be called sponge-fingers, trifle sponges or boudoir biscuits. In Dutch, they are called lange vingers, literally translating to "long fingers". In Germany they are called Löffelbiskuit, which translates to "spoon biscuit".

Ingredients:

3 eggs, separated
6 tbsp fine granulated sugar
¾ cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
A pinch of salt
Confectioners' sugar for dusting

Method:

Preheat your oven to 450 f.

Make a template to guide the size of the fingers, by folding the parchment paper into half lengthwise(length of half sheet baking pan) and then fold into half and half again making four approximately 3 1/2 inches - 4 inches markings

Lightly grease 2 baking sheets and line with this folded parchment paper.
Whisk the egg whites using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment on the medium speed until foamy then gradually add the 6 tbsps of fine granulated sugar, one tbsp at a time and continue beating until the egg whites become glossy, smooth.and in soft peaks.
Beat the egg yolks lightly with a fork (so that the yolks can easily incorporate into the whites) and using a large spatula, fold the lightly beaten egg yolks into the meringue,.

Sift the flours and salt, to aerate and then sift over this egg mixture. Fold gently until just mixed.(It is important to fold very gently and not overdo the folding, otherwise the batter would deflate and lose volume resulting in ladyfingers which are flat and not spongy). The batter would be thick and a plastic bench scraper would not flip when placed in the middle of the batter..

Fit a large pastry bag with a plain 1/2 inch tip and fill with all the batter.

Pipe the batter following the template 3 1/2 inches to 4 inches long and 3/4 inches wide strips leaving about 1 inch space in between the strips.

Sprinkle confectioners' sugar over the ladyfingers and let it rest for 10 minutes. The sugar will pearl or look wet and glisten. Again, sprinkle with more confectioners' sugar and let rest for another 5 minutes. The confectioners' sugar and resting give the crispness.to the ladyfingers.

Bake the ladyfingers for 8 minutes, or until the fingers turn lightly golden brown and are still soft. Rotate the sheets halfway through baking.

Allow them to cool slightly on the sheets for about 5 minutes before removing the ladyfingers from the baking sheet. Remove with a metal spatula and cool on a rack.

Store them in an airtight container till required. They should keep for 2 to 3 weeks.

Braised Beef Shank

2011-11-01T18:34:00.001-06:00

I love this beef stew with daikon/radish. It is a Cantonese favorite and it's usually eaten with egg noodle soup and tasted just as delicious with white rice. I like mine with lots of beef tendon, so i cooked this dish with beef shank instead of the usual beef brisket. Adding Daikon /radish to this stew is a must as beef and daikon/radish together is a marriage made in heaven.. Daikon/radish is bland by itself but will taste very distinct and tasty after it has soaked up those wonderful flavors of this stew. How to choose a good daikon/radish? As with any root crop, look for one that are free of growth cracks and bruises with firm and crisp roots. It must be heavy as a light one will be dry and hollow which is not good eats. Chu Hou Sauce is made from soybeans, garlic, ginger and sesame seeds,therefore a convenient cooking sauce for braising meats and vegetables. It brought this stew totally to another level and i consider this sauce as an important ingredient.

Ingredients:

2 lbs beef shank
2 lbs daikon/radish - cut into roll-cut pieces
1 piece dried tangerine peel
3 cloves garlic - sliced
1/3 cup sliced ginger
1/4 cup cooking oil

Seasoning:

4 tbsp Chu Hou sauce
1 cup stock
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp soya sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp shaoxing wine
Freshly ground black powder ︰
1 tablespoon tapioca/cornstarch plus 1 tbsp water
1 tsp Sesame oil

Spring onions for garnishing

Method:

Cut the beef shank into large cube size pieces.

Bring water to the boil in a wok and cook the beef shank until foamy and beef shank is no more pink.

Add in the daikon/radish pieces and let the water come back to the boil, cook for 2 minutes.

Drain the beef and daikon/radish pieces and wash away the scum thoroughly.

Heat 1/4 cup oil in a wok and when oil is shimmering, add the ginger slices. Fry ginger slices until soft, then remove and leave aside.

Remove half of the oil from the wok, saute garlic, orange peel and Chu Hou sauce. Return the cooked ginger and saute to combine. Remove into the slow cooker.

Return the other half of oil and fry the beef and radish in high heat. Add in the wine to the side of the wok, then add the stock, syster sauce, salt, sugar and soya sauce. Then let it come to the boil.

Transfer to the slow cooker to stew over low heat for more than 2 hours or so until beef shank is soft. Adjust the taste and make a slurry with the tapioca/cornstarch plus water and add in to gravy to thicken. Give a dash of freshly ground black pepper and sesame oil.

Garnish with coriander and serve hot with white rice or with egg noodles.

Chestnut Cake With Ganache Filling and Lacquer Glaze

2011-10-17T20:40:00.000-06:00

This glaze has intrigued me since I borrowed Rose Levy Beranbaum’s newest book, “Rose’s Heavenly Cakes”, which received “Cookbook of The Year” award and was also the winner in the “Baking: Savory or Sweet” category at 2010 IACP Cookbook Awards. Very well deserved. I finally had the opportunity to make it for Sandra's birthday. I used this glaze to replace the chocolate glaze suggested in Dorie Greenspan's Chocolate Caramel Chestnut Cake from her book - Baking From My Home to Yours. I made the cake following the cake recipe and baked the cake in Wilton's Fanci-Fill Cake Pan. As suggested by Rose, the cake should have a Ganache Coating as the Glaze will show the slightest imperfection. I would have loved to coat my cake with Ganache but had instead coated with Chocolate Buttercream cos i ran out of heavy cream and had enough heavy cream only to make the filling - the Chocolate Caramel Ganache(i could only make 1/2 recipe)

The Lacquer Glaze was so very shiny (you can see my reflection on the cake) and went well with the cake making it so stunning. You might notice I left the top alone - I thought it was starkly beautiful but i can't say the same of the sides to my cake. I had to decorate the sides with sugarpaste flowers.

Lacquer Glaze

Recipe from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s “Rose’s Heavenly Cakes”.

Makes 1 1/2 cups
1/4 cup cold water
2 tsp gelatin
2/3 cups/133 gm sugar
1/3 cup water
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp corn syrup
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp(sifted before measuring) unsweetened (alkalized)cocoa powder
1/3 cup/2.6 fl oz heavy cream

To make the lacquer glaze

Pour 1/4 cup cold water in a small mixing bowl, sprinkle gelatin over the top, give it a stir, cover tightly with plastic wrap to prevent evaporation and set aside.

In a small saucepan, whisk together sugar and 1/3 cup water over medium heat. When the sugar completely melts, take off heat and with the help of a wire whisk, stir in corn syrup, followed by the cocoa. You’ll have a smooth and glossy mixture.

Stir in heavy cream with a spatula and return pan to medium heat. Bring the mixture to the boiling point(190f/88c). Bubbles will just start to form around the edges. Remove the pan from the heat and strain the mixture into the metal bowl. Cool slightly for almost 15 mins. An instant read thermometer should register 122f to 140 f /50 - 60c

With the silicone spatula, stir in the softened gelatin until it is dissolved completely and no longer streaky.

Strain the glaze into a bowl and let cool until an instant-read thermometer registers 80F/27C (best temperature to glaze the cake, This lacquer glaze really need to be at the right temperature/consistency, so have patience and heed the correct 80F/27C, otherwise even at a slightly higher temp., the glaze will be too runny and will not glaze well)

The glaze can be covered and refrigerated for up to 1 week or in the freezer for several months. Reheat it in a double boiler over hot not simmering, water or very carefully in a microwave with 3 seconds bursts, stirring gently to ensure that it doesn't overheat or incorporate air.

For the Cake:

Recipe from Dorie Greespan - Baking From My Home to Yours

2 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 sticks/8 ozs unsalted butter - room temp.
1 1/4 cup light brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup store-bought sweetened chestnut spread with vanilla(i used 150 g of sweetened chestnuts and blended to a paste with 1/4 cup whole milk)
1/4 cup whole milk

Method:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350F.

Spray both Fanci-fill pans with vegetable pan spray. Dust the inside with flour, tap out the excess.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Worlong with a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed until smooth and light. Add 1 cup of the brown sugar and cnntinue to beat until fluffy.

Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating after every addition until well blended.

Beat in the vanilla extract, chestnut spread and milk.

Reduce the mixer speed to low, add the dry ingredients and gently mix them in. Scrape the batter into a large bowl and thoroughly wash and dry the mixer bowl.

Whisk egg whites in the clean ,mixer howl until they form soft peaks. Add in the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar and beat until the peaks are stiff but not dry/

Using a large rubber spatula, fold in 1/3 of the egg whites to the chestnut batter until well blended. Fold in gently the rest of the egg whites.

Scrape the batter into the prepared Fanci-fill pans in equal portions.

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until cake is golden on the top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.Transfer cakes to a cooling rack and run a knife around the cake to loosen it from the sides of the pan. Let cool to room temp. in the pan.

For The Syrup:

2 tbsp (packed) brown sugar
1/4 cup brandy (i used warm water cos brandy is not kid friendly)

Method:

Atir brandy (if using) or warm water and brown sugar together until sugar dissolves.

For The Ganache:

Should be enough to fill and coat 3 layers of 8 inch cake

9 ozs milk chocolate - finely chopped
3 ozs bittersweet chocolate - finely chopped
6 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp water
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup plus 2 tbsp heavy cream
1/3 tsp salt
2 1/2 sticks/10 ozs unsalted butter - room temp.

Method:

Put milk and bittersweet chocolates in a heatproof bowl.

Put the sugar, water and cinnamon stick in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, stir, place over medium-low heat and cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat, bring to boil and boil, without stirring, until the caramel turns a deep amber color, brushing down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush to remove any sugar crystals and swirlingthe pan from time to time.(Depending on the size of your pan, it will take between 5 - 7 minutes for the caramel to color properly.) Stand back. and add the cream and salt - the mixture will bubble furiously and it might seize, but it will smooth out as you heat it. With the caramel at the boil.whisk it for another minute, or untiil it is smooth, then pull the pan from the heat and discard the cinnamon stick.

Pour the hot caramel over the chocolate and gently stir until then chocolate is melted and the ganache is smooth. Let stand. stirring occasionally, until it is completely cool, about 1 hour.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth and fluffy. Add the chocolate ganache to the butter in 4 additions, beating on low just until smooth. Scrape the ganache into a container, cover, and refrigerate overnight.(The ganache can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 3 days)

For The Buttercream:

2 sticks/1/2 pound),unsalted butter softened
3 1/2 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp table salt
2tsp vanilla extract
4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream

Method:

Cream butter for a few minutes in a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Turn off the mixer.

Sift 3 cups powdered sugar and cocoa into the mixing bowl. Cover the stand mixer with a large piece of plastic wrap (this will prevent the powdered sugar from blowing everywhere).

Turn your mixer on the lowest speed until the sugar and cocoa are absorbed by the butter.

Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes.

If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add a little more sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add additional milk 1 tablespoon at a time.

TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE

Cut a cardboard round which is the size of the cake and cover the cardboard round with foil.

Brush syrup all over the cooled cakes.

Fill cavities of cooled cakes with The Ganache.

Assemble cake by inverting top layer onto bottom layer.

Place cake onto foiled cardboard round.

Ice cake with Chocolate Buttercream and refrigerate until buttercream is firm and ready to glaze.

Put a cooling rack over a piece of wax paper(the drip catcher) and put the chilled cake on the rack.

Pour The Lacquer Glaze over the cake. There is enough glaze to cover the cake in 'one shot' without having to touch up the sides. Should you happen to miss a spot, you can use a small metal spatula to add a small dab of glaze. This glaze is a lot more forgiving than the ganache glaze and will not show the touch up. You might have left over and it can be frozen for many months, thawed, reheated and poured perfectly.

You can watch Rose Levy Beranbaum herself apply the glaze over a cake here.

Rice Cake Soup / 떡국 / Ddeokguk

2011-10-14T16:06:00.001-06:00

When i cooked Ddeokbokki, i had to cook Ddeokguk, a soup filled with soft Korean rice cakes (Ddeok). Ddeokbokki was too spicy for my grandchildren. Renee will not try it , Alexander said that his palate is more mature and tried a piece. You should see his face turned red and his eyes rolled big from the spiciness. He reached for his Sprite and gave a big smile. We praised him for being so brave and he was beaming with pride. Luckily Ddeokguk is simple to cook. This again might not be what most koreans expect Ddeokguk to be but give this recipe a chance, you might like it as much as Renee and Alexander did.

Ingredients:

6 cups beef stock
1 pound Korean rice cake.
1/4 pound beef - sliced thin
4 shitake mushrooms - soaked and slice thin
1/2 pound of green leafy vegetables - washed and cut to bite sizes
Sesame oil
Green onions for garnishing
Salt and pepper to taste

Marinate for the beef:

2 tbsp soya sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp shaoxing wine
A dash of pepper
1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp water
1/2 tsp sesame oil

Method:

Soak rice cakes in cold water for 30 minutes to 1 hour and separate the rice cakes.

Marinate sliced beef with the marinate for 10 minutes.

Bring the beef stock to a boil and add shitake mushrooms. Cook for 10 minutes until mushrooms have released their flavor.

Add rice cakes and boil until soft.

Add in green leafy vegetables, cook until vegetables are cooked.

Add in marinated beef and bring the soup to the boil.

Sprinkle with sesame oil and adjust taste with salt and pepper

Serve hot garnished green onions.

Ddeokbokki - Stir Fried Rice cake with Gochujang Sauce

2011-10-12T14:19:00.000-06:00

What is the difference between 'Ddeok' and 'Nian Gao'? 'Ddeok' is of Korean origin and 'Nian Gao' is chinese(Shanghainese). The only similarity is that they are both Rice Cake, the shapes might defer but the texture of the cake is the same - bland and chewy. You might be surprised to hear that ddeokbokki (Korean) originated from the royal palace in the Chosun dynasty. At that time they used soya sauce instead of gochujang paste, and the King had this Gungjung Ddeokbokki on New Year's day. Gungjung means “palace” in English. The chinese too serve this 'Nian Gao' on New Year's day, is this coincidental or what?????. There you go!

This Ddeokbokki that i am sharing will probably taste a bit different from the ones you may have tasted before but you should definitely give this a try. It has a very clean, spicy and sweet taste that’s quite addictive. Be prepared to have alot of jaw exercise and my apologies to all who have partials.

Ingredients:

300 g fresh rice cake
1/2 lb si rlion beef - sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 an onion - sliced
4 shitake mushrooms - soaked and sliced
1/2 lb green leafy vegetables(i use shanghai bok choy) - washed and cut to bite size
3 tbsp cooking oil
1/3 cup water

Seasoning sauce (mix these in a bowl well) :

2 tbsp Gochujang
1 tbsp soya sauce
2 tbsp sugar (I used dark brown sugar),
1/2 tsp Chili powder
1 tsp garlic chopped

Garnishes

Chopped spring onion
Cilantro
Sesame oil

Method:

Separate the rice cakes with your hands and soak in water.
Heat wok until shimmering hot, add in 2 tbsp cooking oil.

Add in sliced beef, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Brown the beef. Remove and set aside.

Add in the remaining oil and saute the sliced onions, then add in the sliced shitake mushrooms. When shitake mushrooms aare caramelized, add in the leafy vegetables. Cook until vegetables are limp - semi cooked so as to retain some crunch.

Drain the rice cakes and add them into the wok together with the seasonings and the water. Cook until rice cakes are heated through.

Add in the cooked beef and mix to combine.

Garnish with chopped spring onions and sprinkle with sesame oil before serving.

Korean Seasoned Spinach (Sigeumchi Namul)

2011-10-08T08:11:00.000-06:00

Remember Popeye? I do cos i was called Olive, his girlfriend, for the longest ever. I supposedly looked like her in my teens, skinny as a stick, tall with a small head. Popeye, the cartoon character Popeye the Sailor Man , is portrayed as having a strong affinity for Spinach. He squeezes cans of spinach into his mouth and instantly developed muscles and super strength becoming physically stronger after consuming it. he may have been protecting himself against various illnesses as Spinach has a high nutritional value and is extremely rich in antioxidants, especially when fresh, steamed, or quickly boiled.

Sigeumchi namul is a simple Korean side dish made with spinach. Namul is the general term that refers to a seasoned vegetable dish, and sigeumchi is spinach. There are many recipes to this dish. Although the cooking method and seasonings vary, the vegetables are typically blanched first and then dressed with seasonings. This is my version of this side dish which i love to serve.

Ingredients:

1 bunch spinach (about 10 ounces)
1 stalk spring onion - chopped
3 tsps soya sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp roasted sesame seeds
Salt and pepper to taste
Method:

Trim off the roots from the spinach. Wash thoroughly until there is no sand in the water.

Put a large pot of water, add a tsp salt and blanch the spinach briefly until wilted, 30 - 40 seconds.

Quickly remove the spinach from the pot and shock in cold iced water to stop the cooking.

Drain and gently squeeze out excess water.

Cut into 3-inch lengths.

Add the remaining ingredients and mix everything well by hand. Let the salad sit as it will take about 10 minutes for the flavor of the seasonings to seep into the spinach.

Korean Style-kong Namul Muchim/Soyabean sprout salad

2011-09-28T14:06:00.002-06:00

What is Banchan? Banchan (pronounced "bonchon") refers to the assorted sides served alongside a main course in Korean cuisine. About 2 to 12 banchan are served at any meal; are served in small portions, meant to be finished at each meal and are replenished during the meal if not enough. To me, the most important and well-known is kimchi, follow by cucumber kimchi ,daikon kimchi, soybean sprout salad, seasoned spinach and many more. As promised, i will try to post the banchan that i so often cooked when we have a korean bbq meal.

Ingredients:

8 ozs soybean sprouts (about 2 handfuls)
1 tbsp spring onion
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp soya sauce
1/2 tsp vinegar
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp sesame oil

Method:

Wash soybean sprouts and drain.

In a pan, add the soybean sprouts and add enough water until the soybean sprouts are covered.

Boil them in a covered pan for about 10 minutes on high. Do not open the lid while the soybean sprouts are boiling as it will affect the flavor.

After 10 minutes, drain the water and set them aside to cool.

Add all the rest of the ingredients to the cooked soybean sprouts and toss well.

Chilli flakes can be added if you prefer spicy

Look out for the Seasoned Spinach recipe in my up-coming post.

Bulgogi and Kalbi/Galbi(Korean barbecued beef)

2011-09-23T15:34:00.000-06:00

There are three dishes in Korean cuisine most people are familiar with. The first one is kimchi which is fermented spicy cabbage. The 2nd and 3rd most popular are Korean barbecued beef dishes, Bulgogi and Kalbi / Galbi. The primary difference between bulgogi and kalbi/galbi, is the cuts of beef used, although the marinate is the same.. Kalbi/Galbi uses short-ribs while Bulgogi is thinly sliced, against the grain rib-eye steak. The marinate makes these two types of beef, sweet, tender, juicy and makes a deliciously enjoyable eating experience. Originally cooked over a wood fire but when prepared in at home or restaurants nowadays, the meat is often seared on a special curved broiler plate/hibachi grill placed in the middle of the table, where each guest cooks his or her own.

Bulgogi and Kalbi/Galbi are served as a main dish with a bowl of hot steamy white rice or as a component in other Korean dishes such as japchae, lettuce wraps, banchan (an assortment of Korean side dishes), bibimbap, and kimbap to name a few. I will post some of the banchan recipes in my up-coming postings, so do come back for them.

Ingredients

1-1.5 lbs. of thinly sliced rib-eye steak (available from a Korean market). Or you can slice your own rib-eye or sirloin steak across the grain into paper thin slices. Partially freezing the beef helps with cutting clean slices.

or

2 lbs Kalbi/Galbi

1/3 cup of soy sauce

3 tbsps fine granulated sugar
1 tbsp sesame oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced(i use a garlic press)
1/4 of a medium yellow onion, halved and sliced into medium moon shaped slivers
2 stalks spring onions including the white parts, finely sliced into small pieces
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Whisk all the ingredients together in a shallow casserole except beef and onions. When most of the sugar has dissolved, add beef or kalbi/galbi and onion slices to the bowl and massage the marinade with your hands into each slice of beef.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Kalb/Galbi is thicker, so i like to marinate is longer.

To pan fry, place a few slices of beef in single layers, completely flat on a hot oiled special curved broiler plate/hibachi grill and fry each side until cooked or cook the bulgogi until the edges have turned dark brown and crispy.

Serve with a bowl of hot rice.

Enjoy!

Flax-o-nana Bread/Banana Bread

2011-09-21T07:48:00.000-06:00

I named this bread Flax-o-nana cos it is a banana bread with flaxseeds and oats added. I have heard so much about Flaxseeds, .is it the new wonder food? Some call it one of the most powerful plant foods on the planet.That’s quite a tall order for a tiny seed that’s been around for centuries.

I had wanted to bake healthy so this banana bread was baked with whole wheat flour, flaxseed meal, quick oats and instead of butter, i used olive oil. All healthy, healthy and suprisingly, it turned out very well and it was accepted by the family with no questions. The flaxseed meal was nutty and the bananas kept the cake moist. This recipe is definitely a keeper. i did bake a banana bread with whole meal flour before and it was a total disaster, the bread was dense, googy and whatever, it was definitely not a bread.. I have given up trying to find out what went wrong and brave myself to try this recipe. BTW, the disaster did not go to waste, it was recycled and became banana biscotti which turned out to be a hit.

Ingredients

1/3 cup flaxseed meal

1/3 cup quick oats

3 1/3 cups whole wheat flour

6 bananas

1 1/2 cups sugar(2 cups if you like)

4 large eggs

1 cup olive oil

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F

Grease 2 - 4 x 8 inch loaf pans or 4 - 3 x 7 inch loaf pans and line the bottom of pans with wax paper.

Combine the bananas and sugar and mix with a potato masher until smooth.

Combine the olive oil, eggs and vanilla extract in a separate bowl then add the banana sugar mixture.

Combine the flours, baking soda, and salt in another bowl.

Add to the combined wet ingredients. Mix to combine, do not overmix.

Pour batter into the lined pans

Bake for 50 minutes - 1 hour for the bigger loaf pans and 45 minutes for the smaller loaf pans, or until center registers 210F and a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean.

Allow to cool on cake rack for 15 minutes then remove from pan and allow to cool completely before slicing.

Tightly wrapped bread will keep at room temperature for about 5 days.

Samosas

2011-09-19T12:56:00.001-06:00

Samosa, the delightful tasty little savory patty is a great gift to the world. from India. Samosa is so delicious and addictive that it cannot be mentioned in singular, Samosa, it has to be plural - Samosas, cos when served, - 'satu makan dua mahu" - in Malay, translated - 'you eat one and you will ask for seconds'.

Samosas are cheap, easy to make and the beauty is, you can make them in so many different ways, each cook adding their own different signatures to this time honored patties. I have known Samosas as triangular patties made with popiah skin filled with spicy potatoes, peas and meat but my neighbor told me that the traditional Indian Samosas are made with homemade pastry and the shape is not flat triangle but more puffy, pyramid shape. When i heard, "traditional", i get all excited, i have to keep all sorts of tradition die, even it is not my tradition. This has been in my to do list for a long time and finally i gave these Samosas a try.

Ingredients:

The pastry:

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
100 ml warm water (more for adjustment).

Method:

Put flour in the food processor together with the salt. Pulse a few times to mix the salt in.

Add in oil and water and pulse till a dough is formed.

To make Samosas:

Divide the pastry into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and roll out into a circle of 6 inches. Divide this circle into two equal pieces with a knife.

Brush a little water along the straight edge and then form a cone shape around your fingers, sealing the dampened edge.

Fill the cones with a tbsp of filling , dampened edges and press the two together to seal the top of the cone. Then fold it over and shape the patty so that it sits somewhat like a pyramid. Continue with the rest of the pastries.

Deep fry the samosas in hot oil until crisp and brown take out and drain on a paper towel.

The Filling:

1/2 lb minced meat (beef, goat or chicken)
2 - 3 large potatoes - peeled and diced
1/2 cup fresh green peas
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic - chopped
2 heaped tbsp curry powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup stock/water
2 tablespoon oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

Brown minced meat in a skillet with a little vegetable oil. Remove and set aside.

Add in the remaining oil and sweat the onions, then add in garlic.

Add in the potatoes, curry powder, water/stock and the meat. Cover and cook until potatoes are fork tender and have soaked up all the water/stock. Add in fresh green peas and cook until peas are heated through. Adjust taste with salt and pepper.

Let filling cool before stuffing.

Slow Cooker BBQ Pork Ribs

2011-09-15T13:20:00.000-06:00

There are many right ways to make BBQ Ribs and it's all up to you and don't let anyone tell you that it isn't right. After all the best pork BBQ rib is the one you like best. So if you want them fall off the bone tender then make them that way. You can put sauce on them or not, you can make your BBQ Ribs spicy hot, or sticky and sweet, however, whatever.

I, for one does not like to buy store bought sauces and being part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received KC Masterpiece Barbecue Sauce Southern Style for sampling. When i received it, it was the time of the week where i am cleaned out of fresh ingredients. I had no ingredients and no time too, i was kept busy making mooncakes but i had to prepare dinner. This bottle of barbecue sauce was beakoning - cook with me!, cook with me!. So, i defrosted some pork ribs

and took out the SLOW COOKER. Now all i needed was an onion, yes, there was an onion all alone in the basket. Thank goodness it was still good, you know how onions die on you fast. These 3 ingredients, pork ribs, onions and barbecue sauce, went into the slow cooker - set it and forget it. Dinner was served 3 hours later with the best tasting ribs ever. The sauce was just right, it did not need any adjusting, just have alot of napkins during dinner.

Ingredients:

2 lb.Pork ribs
1 large onion, sliced
1/2 cup KC Masterpiece Barbecue Sauce (adjust with more sauce if you like)

Method:

PLACE sliced onions, then pork ribs in slow cooker; top with the barbecue sauce. Cover with lid.

COOK on LOW 6 to 8 hours (or on HIGH 3 to 4 hours). Remove ribs from slow cooker; cover to keep warm.

SKIM excess fat from sauce; return ribs to sauce. Stir gently until evenly coated.

Serve warm with whatever or however way you like.

Lily's Marble Cake

2011-09-14T19:30:00.000-06:00

I saw Gale Gand of Sweet Dreams in The Cooking Channel one morning, baking this marble cake which she said was deliciously moist. I don't know why, but lately i was not able to make a pound cake which will marble the way it should. So, when i saw Gale Gand did it, i had to give her way of marbling a go. When i went into Cooking Channel for the recipe, then did i know who Lily was. When you all first read the title, you might have thought that i have named a marble cake after myself. How i wish!!!!!! I am not that talented to have created a recipe. I might have dished up some dishes for dinner, cooked with what i have in the fridge or the pantry but never create a cake recipe. I am so blessed to be able to go into the internet and find so many recipes that so many bloggers graciously and sincerely shared and i thank all of them.

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), plus more for the pan
2 cups sugar (i used 1 1/2 cups only)
4 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour, plus more for the pan
2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch salt
3 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted
1 cup shredded coconut( i used dessicated coconut)

Methods:

Butter and flour a straight-walled 10-inch tube pan.(i used a bundt pan) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and continue to mix well. Add the eggs 1 at a time and beat until incorporated.

In a bowl, whisk together the milk and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Reduce the mixer's speed to low. Alternately add the flour and milk mixture until a smooth batter is formed. Continue mixing for 5 minutes. (It's important to mix for the full 5 minutes.)

Transfer 1/3 of the batter to a bowl and whisk in the cocoa powder. Stir the coconut into the remaining batter.

Pour the coconut batter into the pan; then spoon the chocolate batter around. Run a knife through the batter, cutting the batters together to create a marbled effect. (Do not stir.) Bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour 15 minutes.

Alexander's 6th Birthday Cake

2011-09-13T13:25:00.000-06:00

My grandson, Alexander turned six on 26th July but his birthday party was posponed cos there was a freak accident which burned him quite badly. He had to have a skin graft and it was done a few days before his birthday. Thank goodness he has recovered well and we celebrated his birthday with several of his Grade 1 classmates. He wanted his cake to be like Renee's, with all the Pokeman characters but i told him that the cake will be too big and convinced him to have only Picachu and promised that Picachu will be playing tennis, his favorite (or his Dad's) sport, anyway his team was Sport Balls.

Follow the recipe for the cake, sugarpaste and fondant from Renee's 9th Birthday Cake

Bake cupcakes from the same cake recipe and frost with Buttercream

Clorox Back-To School Kit

2011-09-12T09:03:00.001-06:00

As a part of the DailyBuzz Moms Tastemaker Program, The Clorox Company sent me a package of products to review.

Brita Filtering Bottle As promised by Brita, this bottle does give you great-tasting water on the go, without the cost and waste of bottled water. The reusable Brita® Bottle filters ordinary water as you drink, to make tap water taste great anywhere. The best part is it’s BPA-free, dishwasher safe (top rack) and recyclable.

Clorox Disinfecting Wipes
I have bought Clorox Disinfecting Wipes before cos my grandchildren's school asked for them and it has to Clorox only. Now that i have used them, i know why the school wants this brand only. The Wipes did their job especially in the car, on ice-cream night.

Glad To Go Lunch - I think Glad has come up with this ingenious all-in-one solutions which made it easy to pack combos that you want to keep separated, like salad with dressing or soup with croutons. Glad® To Go Lunch features a large reusable plastic container, along with a dressing cup that snaps into the lid — perfect for holding condiments or toppings. Renee is pretty excited to pack her crispy shrimp fritters with the sauce separated.

All of these products are awesome tools for a busy working mom like me. Seriously, I can use all of the tools that I can get.

Disclosure: I received these items as samples for review purposes on behalf of the DailyBuzz Moms Tastemaker Program. All opinions are mine

Gravlax

2011-09-09T15:12:00.000-06:00

When Don from Simplybest From Food and Life posted Gravlax, i told her that i have not tasted Gravlax before and she gave me a lengthy tutorial on how to cure the salmon. Don and I chat on skype ever so often and it does not necessary the both of us, when we see Peng online, she will be added to the conference and the three of us will chat until the cows come home, that is 'the cows in Germany'. I knew Don from way back when food forums were very popular, we were very active members and we met many other members who were just as passionate in cooking and baking. Although most food forums died naturally, our friendship continued to another level, we chat on skype.

Nothing new or exciting ever happen in Aurora(this is my opinion only) but when IKEA officially opened its store, almost all coloradans had to visit it and that included yours truly. It caused massive congestion, not only the traffic was affected, the queue in the food court was more than a mile long. My daughter, Sandra and i had ample time to choose what we would like to eat as the line was long.....and while we were nearing the dish that we like, the lady in front of us, pointing to the dish and saying out loud - How digusting !!!!!. Sandra looked at me and i returned eye contact with her and wondered???? What is wrong with the Gravlax Salad that we wanted to eat so badly? We looked at all the plates of Gravlax Salad on display, they looked perfectly fine. They turned out to be the best salad i have ever eaten.(i am not a salad fan). After tasting that delicious cured salmon, i thought of Don's tutorial and i must get some salmon fillets for curing. I have always mentioned to friends that if you wish hard enough, you will get your wish granted. I wished i had salmon fillets and i had a box of freshly caught salmon from Alaska, frozen and perfectly packed. Thank you Andy for fulfilling my wish, now i can make Gravlax . i did cure 2 pieces of salmon and they were better than what i had for lunch at IKEA. Thank you Don and Andy , i hope you will cure some following this recipe. This recipe is for one pound of salmon fillet and you would have to calculate the other ingredients according to the weight of the salmon fillets.

Ingredients:

For every pound of salmon fillet,
2 tablespoons kosher salt,
2 tablespoons sugar,
2 teaspoons ground black pepper

Method:

Examine the salmon for bones by visual inspection and by touch., remove them with a needle nose pliers or tweezer. Drape the salmon fillet over an inverted bowl, this will help force the tips of the bones up, making them easy to grasp and remove.

Place the salmon fillet skin side down on a large piece of plastic wrap which is about three to four times the length of the fillet.

Mix the salt, sugar, and black pepper into a bowl until evenly distributed.

Spoon the mixture onto the exposed salmon flesh, making sure to cover as much of the exposed areas as possible.

Wrap the salmon fillet tightly in the plastic wrap. Take a second sheet of plastic wrap and wrap again.

Place the package in a baking dish or container. to catch the juices that will flow from the package during the curing.

Place this in the refrigerator. and refrigerate the salmon fillet for at least two days. Longer refrigeration will intensify the flavors.

Remove the container from the refrigerator, open the package, and rinse gravlax in water. If any pieces of salt or pepper are stuck to the flesh, just wipe it gently off. Dry with a paper towel and sprinkle with more freshly ground pepper..

Use a sharp boning knife to cut the gravlax. Position the gravlax so you will be cutting from the tail end (the small end) first. The gravlax should be sliced thinly on the bias (at an angle). Each slice should be detached from the skin.

I served my gravlax with spring mix and mustard dill dressing but gravlax can be served by itself, on top of toasted bread, crackers, or any other way you would serve a smoked salmon appetizer. A squeeze of lemon juice can also be a welcome touch.

Mustard Dill Dressing

1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons honey
1/2 teaspoon dill seed
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste

In a small bowl, whisk together all dressing ingredients. Pour over spring mix salad and gently toss until well coated. Top with thin slices of Gravlax and serve immediately.

ENJOY

Team Continuum Pixels of Promise Promotion

2011-09-03T17:24:00.000-06:00

This promotion is to help raise awareness about Team Continuum, a charity non-profit organization dedicated to providing immediate non-medical, assistance to cancer patients and their families where the diagnosis results in disruption, hardship and uncertainty in their everyday lives. It is also to create awareness about their charity and drive traffic to their 'Pixels of Promise' website at http://www.pixelsofpromise.org/.
I would like to encourage my readers to visit http://www.pixelsofpromise.org where they can read up about the charity and donate to Team Continuum's great cause - if you can afford it.

About : The Mission of Team Continuum is twofold:

"We provide immediate non-medical, assistance to cancer patients and their families where the diagnosis results in disruption, hardship and uncertainty in their everyday lives.

We've bought airline tickets, purchased schoolbooks and laptops for children, paid bills for patients struggling to take care of themselves and their families, and helped in a million small ways.
We also provide funding to health care facilities and foundations, to enhance the delivery of care, communication and educational services for cancer patients.

We've funded patient narrative programs, cooking programs, bought wheelchairs for under-funded hospitals, spruced up waiting rooms...and once even brought a Christmas tree to a hospital."

Not Called Team CAN For Nothin'

Founded as a not for profit charitable organization in 2003, Team Continuum provides immediate, vital, non-medical assistance to cancer patients and their families. What we do is quite simple, but has a direct, profound effect on their lives.

Team Continuum is honored to be an official Charity Partner of the New York Road Runners. With several hundred entries we are among the largest independent teams in the world-class 2010 ING NYC Marathon. Athletes who did not get in via the lottery or did not register at all can secure their entry by joining the team and registering online at www.teamcontinuum.net. Benefits include coaching, race day gear, and a private pre-race pasta party.

For more information visit our website www.teamcontinuum.net or call 917-595-4168.

“This sponsorship is brought to you by Team Continuum who we have partnered with for this promotion.”

Pan fried Salmon Fillets with tomatoes and sage butter sauce

2011-08-31T13:23:00.000-06:00

Can you think of even one Chinese dish that uses olive oil? I can't !! i cook everyday and not necessary chinese and i do not cook with Olive Oil until as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received Crisco Olive Oil. and the Light Tasting Olive Oil which was recommended for frying caught my attention. It's about time that i have to think of my family's health and according to a well known chinese chef, that when cooking with Olive oil , the ingredients don’t absorb large amounts of olive oil as they do with other types of oil, thus will help reduce calories.

Ingredients:

1 lb salmon fillet, skin on (scaling is not necessary), pin bones removed,
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
3 tbsp Crisco Light Tasting Olive oil
2 cloves garlic - chopped
2 shallots - peeled and sliced
3 sprigs fresh sage - chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 ripe plum/roma tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tbsp butter
Fresh chives for garnish

Method:

Heat wok until shimmering, then add in 2 tbsp of Crisco Light Tasting Oil. Salt and papper both sides of the salmon fillet and put into hot oil to pan fry. Fry until beautifully brown then flip over to brown the other side. Remove fish and place on to kitchen towel, then transfer it to the serving platter.

Remove all the oil from the wok and wipe the wok clean with kitchen towel.

Heat wok with 1 tbsp Crisco Light Tasting Olive Oil and add in the shallots, fry until soft, then add in the chopped garlic and sage.

Add in the white wine and cook it down, then add in the chicken stock and chopped tomatoes. Cook until sauce thickens slightly. Turn heat to very low and add in the butter, 1 tbsp at a time. Dish sauce over pan- fried salmon fillet and garnish with chopped chives and fresh sage.

Serve hot..

Eclair

2011-08-23T10:36:00.002-06:00

I have made eclairs and i have made eclairs, also i have made cream puffs but what is the difference between a cream puff and an eclair? Both are made with choux pastry, so, shape is only essential difference. Every time i make a batch of choux pastry, i will pipe some round and some long. To my grand kids, don't ask if they want cream puffs or eclairs. Renee will say she wants the round ones and Alexander prefers the long ones - no name calling. To me, somehow the round ones - cream puffs are more photogenic but eclair is the ugly duckling. I could never get a good shot and strangely, when i think it looked good, it was out of focus. I think i got a lucky break when i found this éclair à la vanille from this cookbook - Laduree: The Sweet Recipes. The recipe started with making a vanilla pâte sablée which is rolled onto a thin layer and place on top of each éclair. When you bake them, the sablée melts into the choux and gets mostly incorporated, making a perfect éclair, with a thin crunchy layer on top. You would not have guessed that this thin layer could kick up the eclair with pronouced butter and vanilla flavor. I have changed the recipe but the idea was adapted from this cookbook.

Ingredients:

For the pâte sablée:

4 ozs butter - chilled and diced
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 ozs confectioners'/powdered sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract

To make the sablée:

Mix the flour, sugar and rub in the cold butter. Work quickly with your fingertips (or use a food processor) until the dough holds together. Divide into 4 portions and form into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

When you have piped the choux pastry, put one of the disk on a large sheet of baking paper, cover with another sheet. Using a rolling pin roll the pastry between the two sheets until very thin and cut into the size of the piped eclairs about 2 inches long and 1 1/4 inch wide..

For the Filling :

2 cups milk
1/4 cup white sugar
2 egg yolks
1 egg
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup heavy whipping cream
To make the filling:

In a heavy saucepan, stir together the milk and 1/4 cup of sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and egg. Stir together the other 1/4 cup sugar and cornstarch; then stir them into the egg until smooth and pass through a fine sieve into another medium bowl. When the milk comes to a boil, drizzle it into the egg mixture in a thin stream, stirring and mixing so that you do not cook the eggs. Return the mixture to the saucepan, and slowly bring to a boil, stirring constantly so the eggs don' t curdle or scorch on the bottom.

When the mixture comes to a boil and thickens, remove from the heat. Stir in the butter and vanilla, mixing until the butter is completely blended in. Pour into a heat-proof container and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled.

With an electric hand mixer or a standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat cream (you can use a hand whisk; it just will take longer). Start slowly -- if you set it on high at first, you'll have cream all over the place. I like to use a large piece of cling wrap and wrap it around the top of the bowl to catch the splatter. Set the mixer so it goes as fast as possible without splashing.

As the cream thickens, turn the speed up. As it gets foamier, start checking for a soft peak, which is what you want. The peak should bend over at the top when you remove the whisk. As it gets close, slow down, because if it goes too far, it will clump and separate (essentially become butter).

Mix 1/3 of whipped cream into the chilled pastry cream. Stir well to mix and then fold in the rest of the whipped cream.

Chill before using.

For the Choux paste:

1/2 cup water
1/4 cup milk
1 stick unsalted butter - cut into small pieces
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 cup bread flour

2 large eggs
2 large egg whites

To make the Choux paste:

In a medium saucepan, bring the water, milk, butter, salt and sugar to a vigorous boil. Remove saucepan from heat. Add the flour all at once and stir mixture quickly with a wooden spoon. This will cause a ball of dough to form immediately. Continue to cook the mixture for approximately one minute until it forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the mixture to cool for 15 minutes to approximately 130f(54c) to prevent the eggs from cooking as they are added to the mixture.
Transfer the dough into the bowl of an electric mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix the dough on low speed. Add 2 whole eggs, one at a time, blending well after adding each egg. Then add 2 egg whites, one at a time, blending well after each addition. The dough should hold its shape somewhat and should not be too loose. The color of the dough should be yellowish from the butter and eggs, and it should look glossy. Alternatively use the food processor.
Preheat oven to 350 f.

Fill a large piping bag with a 1/2 inch round tip or Wilton 1M and pipe out long strips about 2 inches in length.onto a tray lined with silpat or baking paper. Make sure to leave about 2 inches between each pastry to leave room for them to spread. Cover each with the thin layer of prepared sablée.

Bake for about 8-10 minutes in the hot oven, until they raise. Open the oven door a tiny bit so that moisture can escape, and keep cooking until they have a deep golden hue, about 20 minutes (I used the handle of a wooden spoon to keep the oven slightly open).

Remove from the oven and with an icing nozzle, poke a small hole into each puffs. This helps dry out the moist inside of each eclair and allows them to cool faster.

Shortly before serving: whip the cream until firm, and mix it with the custard. Fill lightened custard into a piping bag and pipe into eclairs.

Sprinkle lightly with icing sugar or drizzle with melted chocolate and serve.

Twice Baked Potatoes

2011-08-20T19:50:00.001-06:00

Potatoes need no introduction and bla bla bla about how good and bad they are. I just would like to let you all know about toxicity in potatoes. I am sure many of us did not realise that potato plant poisoning occurs when someone eats the green tubers or new sprouts of the potato plant. The poison is found throughout the plant, but especially in green potatoes and new sprouts. Never eat potatoes that are spoiled or green below the skin, always throw away the sprouts (the green is due to a high concentration of the glycoalkaloid poison). Potatoes that are not green and have had any sprouts removed are safe to eat. Read more from Snopes.com

I had the most embarassing moment showing my ignorance of my cantonese language. I have always known the Potato in cantonese is 'Shi Chai' and i also know that there is a vegetable which is called 'Shi Chai Choy'. If i translate 'Shi Chai Choy' into english, it would be 'The leaves or shoots of the potato plant'. OK, here is the embarassing moment - when a friend in Los Angeles told me that he was able to plant 'Shi Chai Choy' and the plant thrived very well in his garden, i was excited and asked if he ever got any potatoes from the root. He laughed his head off and i did not know how stupid i was. Then he told me - aunty lily, 'shi chai' is 'small tree' - shi for tree and chai for small/baby. See, you never cease to learn no matter how old you are but i still do not know why potato is called 'shi chai'. Calling it 'holland shi' made more sense - the dutch could have introduced it when they were in Malacca.

Now back to the recipe that i am sharing, Twice Baked Potatoes. It is a very popular side dish that goes well with any meat or poultry and is healthier than fries.

Ingredients:
4 large russet potatoes, scrubbed and dried
4 tbsps unsalted butter
1/3 cup sour cream
1 stalk spring onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar
2 tbsp fried shallots
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

First, wash and scrub the potatoes under running water (no soap of course!). Then pat them dry with paper towel.

Puncture a few holes in the potatoes, with the tip of a sharp knife or a fork. This is important, as it allows the steam to escape, otherwise the potatoes may explode when you cook it and will cause quite a mess.

Place the potatoes on a microwave-safe dish and then place it in the microwave oven. Cook on high for 5 minutes. Using oven gloves, turn potatoes over and continue to cook on high for another 5 minutes.
Remember, each microwave oven is different, so you need to stick a knife in the potato to see if it is done. The knife should slide in easily and you should be able to squeeze the potato without too much resistance. If not so, continue to cook for 1 - 2 minutes more. Then let it sit covered with foil, for a couple of minutes, for it to actually finish cooking.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut the potatoes into halves lengthwise to make a canoe-like shape. Carefully scoop out most of the potatoes into a bowl. Take care to leave enough potato in the skin so the shells stay together.

Mash the scooped out potatoes lightly with fork along with the butter and sour cream. Stir in the chopped spring onions and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Season the skins with salt and pepper. Refill the shells with the potato mixture.

Sprinkle the cheese on top of the potato filling.

Set the prepared potato halves on a baking sheet, and bake until heated through, about 20 minutes. Top with fried shallots and serve immediately. Alternatively, if the potatoes are still warm, i would use the broiler to melt and brown the cheese.

Fish Maw Soup

2011-08-18T18:24:00.000-06:00

In Cantonese culinary, 鲍参翅肚 (abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin, and fish stomach) are considered the top four gourmet items from the sea. The fish stomach referenced here is the fish maw.

For those who don’t know, fish maw is the air bladder (also called swim bladder) that is found in all fish except sharks and rays. The maws served in restaurants are usually from the conger pikes. The cleaned maw is dried and then deep fried to make it puffy. In this state it will keep indefinitely. . The maw in itself is a texture ingredient only, it has no fishy taste, and is usually cooked with other strongly flavoured ingredients.it takes on the flavor of surrounding ingredients it is cooked with like a sponge.

Like a lot of ingredients in Chinese culinary traditions, the fish maw is an excellent source of collagen and is
regarded as a nourishing tonic that helps blood circulation and beneficial to the general health.

Now we know what they are, how can we prepare them for cooking?

Fish maws are sold dried in two forms – deep fried or non-deep fried. Deep fried fish maws are puffy, light and look like a yellow sponge or pork rind. Whereas the other type is in stiff, cream-colored sheet. For the deep fried ones, all you have to do is to soak them in cold water or simmer to reconstitute to rid of some of the oil. For the non-deep fried ones, deep fry them in moderately hot oil until it puffs up and become white. Then soak it until pliable and also to remove some of the oil. Repeat the soaking if necessary. The fish maw is now ready and good to go, just cut them into slices of desired size.

Ingredients:

Fish maw , soaked and cut into bite size
4 large/small handful dried scallops - soaked
1 whole chicken
6 shitake mushrooms, soaked
1/2 handful yoke chook/solomon’s seal
6 - 8 pieces wai san/chinese yam slices
1 tbsp kei chi/wolfberries
2/4 cup dried longan
3 slices fresh ginger
1 tsp shaoxing wine
Water

Method:

Wash and soak the yoke chook, wai san, kei chi and longan in cool water for at least one hour.

Wash and cut up the chicken into 8 big pieces. Put them and the ginger slices in the pressure cooker and put enough water to cover the chicken. Bring it to the boil over medium heat, occasionally skimming off the foam that rises to the top. When most of the scum is removed, cover with lid and pressurized for 30 - 45 minutes.

Release the pressure and remove the lid. Strain the soup and skim away the fat.

Clean the pressure cooker.

Put the chicken stock into the pressure cooker together with dried scallops, yoke chook, wai san, kei chi, longan and shitake mushrooms. Cover and pressurized for 30 minutes. Release the pressure before removing the cover.

Add in the fish maw and boil until it is soft and tender.

Add shaoxing wine and season with salt if necessary(i normally do not like to add salt to herbal soup)

Serve soup hot.

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2011-08-16T10:37:00.000-06:00

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Yau Yee Cheng Chee Yoke/Steamed Ground Pork With Dried Squid

2011-08-15T10:30:00.000-06:00

This dish is without a doubt in any MOM's repertoire, asian moms that is. Steaming ground pork and adding whatever to enhance the ground pork has been cooked and served since time immemorial. This was classified as homecooking but no more, it has appeared in the menu of chinese restaurants and has no dimarcation, the rich, poor, young or old, at some point of their lives must have encountered tasting this dish. Busy MOMs love cooking this dish as it takes a very short time to prepare especially nowadays when pork comes already ground and there is no need to start a steamer to steam, just leave the uncooked prepared dish on top of the rice while it is on its last stage of cooking.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb ground pork
1 piece dried squid - soaked
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp shaaxing wine
1 tsp tapioca starch/cornstarch
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp chicken granules/a pinch of msg
1 tbsp oil (if ground pork is too lean)
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp ginger - julienne thinly

Method:

Grease a shallow dish which can fit into your rice cooker.

Chop the reconstituted squid into fine pieces and mix it with all the other ingredients except the ginger.

Knead the ingredients well and pat it down. Top with the julienned ginger.

Before the rice cooker function turns to 'warm', put prepared dish on top of rice, close rice cooker lid and allow to cook. Do not open rice cooker lid until you are ready to serve dinner.

Serve hot.

Buttermilk Scones

2011-08-12T10:43:00.000-06:00

Using buttermilk, instead of heavy cream, makes a lighter, more bread-like scone. They are baked at a higher than normal oven temperature which gives them a darker, crispier crust. Buttermilk has a nice thick creamy texture with a rich tangy buttery taste that makes baked goods tender. It is now commercially made by adding a bacteria to whole, skim, or low fat milk. However, in the past it was the liquid left over after churning butter. You can make your own by adding 1 tablespoon of white distilled vinegar, cider vinegar, or lemon juice to 1 cup of milk. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes before using.

Plain scones are traditionally served warm, split open, and topped with butter, jam or preserves, clotted cream, and/or lemon curd. However, many of the scone recipes today that are flavored with fruits, spices, nuts, zests are best eaten plain.

Ingredients:

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup fine granulated sugar
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
10 tbsp. (1 1/4 sticks) chilled, unsalted butter, cut into small pcs
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs

Glaze:
1 egg
1 tsp water

Topping:
2 tsp fine granulated sugar

Methods:Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375f.

Line baking sheet with parchment paper and grease lightly or use Silpat to line the baking sheet.

Combine flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt in the food processor. Pulse several times, to mix the ingredients well.

Add in butter pieces and pulse till mixture resembles coarse meal.

Tranfer this mixture into a large bowl.

Whisk buttermilk and 2 eggs in small bowl and stir into flour and butter mixture until soft dough is formed. Do not overmix, some loose flour is fine.

Transfer dough into prepared baking sheet and form dough into a ball by using light pressure. Divide dough into 2 portions. Form each portion into 3/4 - 1 inch thick disk of about 8"in diameter. Using a sharp knife, score top of each round into 8 wedges - do not score through the bottom.

Whisk egg with 1 tsp water to make the glaze. Brush glaze over scones. Sprinkle with 2 tsp sugar.

Bake scones till golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Cut through along the score marks and serve hot with fruit jams and butter/clotted cream.

Enjoy

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2011-08-06T11:11:00.001-06:00

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Coconut Milk Egg White Tart

2011-08-03T11:29:00.027-06:00

Julie, a reader of my blog, requested if i have a recipe for this egg tart. She said that she does not know how to call this tart, so do I !!!. I have not heard of it, she said she ate them in Hong Kong and I regreted that she did not ask me a year ago cos i was in Hong Kong last year and would have gone to get some. Julie, thank you for introducing me to this tart and have the confidence in me to try and build up a recipe from looking at a picture. i don't know if i got it right but this is my first try and i should say, it was tremendously delicious. Julie, i hope you will try to make them and give me a feedback.

The first few tarts i baked, it was just coconut milk, water, cornstarch, sugar and egg white, it set beautifully but the white color is not prominent, so i added a tbsp of milk powder to the custard mixture and the second batch turned out more appealing and the taste had more depth.

Ingredients:

1 crust recipe from Hong Kong Egg Tarts.

Coconut Milk Custard:

1/2 cup whole milk or 1/2 cup water plus 1 tbsp milk powder
6 tbsp sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup Coconut Milk
2 egg whites

Method:

To make the Coconut Milk Custard:

Put milk, sugar, salt and cornstarch into a 2 cup pyrex measuring jug and microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir until sugar dissolve.

Add in the coconut milk and egg white. Beat until egg white is well mixed and pass mixture through a fine sieve into another 2 cup pyrex measuring jug. Microwave on high for 1 minute and stir well, mixture should thicken slightly. If it is not thicken, microwave another 20 seconds and stir well. Mixture should be slightly thickened and pourable.

To make the egg tarts::

Prepare crust following the method from Hong Kong Egg Tarts.

Preheat oven to 450 f.

Fill crust with the coconut milk egg white custard and put to bake at the lowest rung of the oven for 10 minutes and without opening the oven door, reduce oven temperature to 350 f and continue to bake for another 15 minutes. Egg tarts is done when the custard is still jiggling in the center. Remove from the oven and cover loosely with aluminium foil to finish cooking the custard.

Enjoy when the tarts are cooled.

Soft Tofu and Fish Paste/老少平安

2011-07-31T16:29:00.000-06:00

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. Wow, what a befitting name!! "Lo" in cantonese means elderly; "Siu" means the young; "Ping On" means safe and sound. Thus, this dish is safe and sound for both the young and elderly. The two main ingredients, tofu and fish paste, prove themselves to be safe without a doubt. The elderly can enjoy this dish without much chewing or getting choked, while the moms can confidently feed this dish to their young ones, without having to worry about fish bones.. Hence, both are both safe and sound.

Ingredients:

1 box Silken/Soft Tofu
1 recipe Fish Paste
Light Soya Sauce/fish sauce
White ground pepper
Sesame oil
Chopped spring onions

Method:

In a large bowl, put the silken/soft tofu and the fish paste and mash the two together until they are combined.

Transfer contents into a deep dish/platter and put to steam on high heat until fish paste is cooked through.

Drizzle with light soya sauce/fish sauce, white ground pepper and sesame oil.

Garnish with chopped spring onions before serving.

Serve hot with white rice.

Lau Sar Pau

2011-07-19T08:20:00.000-06:00

With less exposure of asian food, i am so behind with the 'in' asian food if not for my good friends from the Orient. They would ask me if i have eaten these or that and thank goodness for the internet, i am able to Google as to what they were asking about. It might not be first time lucky with google, like in this case 'Lau Sar Pau'. You hope that someone might post a recipe but most postings were telling how delicious it was, from this restuarant and that restaurant. I was the happiest when i found a posting of the name of this pau written in chinese. With those 3 chinese words, i was able to get a few recipes in chinese and had them translated. The translations were perplexing and i had many entertaining moments, laughing about the translations. Finally i asked for help and was explained that the filling of this pau should 'Lau' meaning 'leaking' in cantonese and 'Sar' is 'sand'. So my conclusion is that the filling should have 'a flowing sandy texture'. Now the recipes made some sense and i tested a few but the filling does not 'Lau' but kept seeping out of the pau leaving no filling at all, they should be renamed 'Pit Sar Pau'. Thinking that the high heat in steaming caused the filling to burst and my thought was right, this time the filling was fine when i steamed in low heat. But, the filling did not 'Lau' as much, it was a more like a custard and i think that i must have made 'Lai Wong Pau' instead. I had given up figuring out how the filling should be but it pricked my curiosity again when one of readers asked if i have a "Lau Sar Pau' recipe. Ok, put on your thinking cap, Lily, the filling should be flowing like melted candy !!!! - what are the ingredients for candy???? sugar, heavy cream or condensed milk. Yes, condensed milk must be it cos chinese chefs don't use heavy cream. And i was right, this time the filling remained 'flowing' even when the pau is cold.

Ingredients:

For the Pau

1/2 - 3/4 cup water (more if the flour is too dried)
4 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp shortening
1/2 tsp double action baking powder
2 cups low gluten flour/pau flour
1/2 tsp instant yeast

Method:

Put all the ingredients according to the order as above with the yeast last.

Start the dough function and adjust with water so that there is no more loose flour.

Let the dough function perform and dough will be ready in 1 hour 30 minutes.

Filling:

3 salted egg yolks - steamed
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp fine granulated sugar
3 tbsp condensed milk
A pinch of salt
1 tbsp milk powder

Method:

Cream butter and sugar until combined.

Add in condensed milk and salt, mix well.

Add in milk powder and lastly using a garlic press, pass the steamed egg yolk through (alternatively pass through a sieve).

Leave in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.

When filling is frozen, divide into 20 portions and put them back in the freezer.

To make 'Lau Sar Pau'

Divide dough into 20 portions - about 1 oz/ 28 grams each.

Remove a few fillings from the freezer and wrap a frozen filling with one portion of the pau dough. The filling has to be frozen so that wrapping can easier. If the edges of the pau dough has some oily filling smeared, it will not close no matter how hard you try to pinch them together. Place the filled pau, seam side down onto a tiny foil mould or a mini muffin pan, this somehow produces a lovely pau that will not go out of shape.

Continue to wrap up all the rest of the portions and leave pau to rise for 30 minutes before steaming.

Bring water to the boil and then steam the pau, tightly covered for 3 minutes and then place a chopstick under the cover so as the lower the heat. (Too high heat will burst the paus).

Continue to steam for another 3 minutes. Bigger paus might need longer to steam.

Repeat to steam the rest of the paus.

East Meets West- Zucchini with Pork and Rice Stuffing

2011-07-18T14:01:00.000-06:00

This is a guest post from Reese Darragh of The New Art Of Baking. A Malaysian living in the United States, not to mention a huge fan of Aunt Lily’s blog.

My dad put in 4 zucchini plants in the garden for me this year after I started dabbling in homemade zucchini relish last summer. The relish came out so good that dad thought I will be delighted to have more zucchini in the garden for more relish this year. The problem with zucchini is when you have a bumper crop. Boy do they grow!

After making what seems to be like 20lbs of zucchini relish last week, enough is enough. The next thing to do is to use them for dinner. Something I have never tried is making stuffed zucchini, the American way. See, my all American family have different idea compared to us, Malaysian, when it comes to stuffing vegetables. They don’t subscribe to Yong Tau Foo, so trying to stuff the zucchini with fish paste is strictly out of the question. I tried last year with eggplants from our garden and ended up eating all of them on my own.

It hit me yesterday to come up with an east meets west style of stuffing zucchini. I know for a fact that they love American Chinese food, pork fried rice in particular. Plus I really do not like tomato sauce with zucchini, like most recipe I found in cookbooks have suggested. So, why not make something entirely my own. The verdict: Everyone loves it! They went gaga over the fresh zucchini, pork fried rice and cheese combo. If your zucchini plant goes crazy on you this year like mine, give this recipe a try.

East Meets West Zucchini with Pork and Rice Stuffing

(Serves 4-6)

Ingredients

3 large zucchinis, sliced lengthwise, cored
1 large red bell pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 stalks scallion, sliced
1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
A handful of raisins or dried cranberries
2 cups cooked rice
3 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
Salt and pepper, to taste

For Pork

2 boneless pork chops, cut into 1/4 inch cube
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp Chinese cooking wine or dry sherry
Pinch of baking soda (to tenderize the pork)
Dash of pepper

Directions

Step 1: Prepare all the ingredients. Cook the rice and prepare all vegetables except for zucchini. Combine pork with soy sauce, cooking wine, baking soda and pepper. Cover and leave to marinade in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or more.

Step 2: In a pan, heat 3 Tbsp of olive oil over medium high heat. Add in marinated pork. Cook till pork is done. Dish out into a bowl using slotted spoon and set aside. Leave the remainder oil in the pan.

Step 3: In the same pan, add in the chopped onion. Cook till softened. Add in garlic, raisins and chopped bell pepper. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes.

Step 4: Once vegetable has softened, add in the pork. Stir to combine well. Remove from heat. In a large bowl, add sautéed vegetable and pork mix to 2 cups of cooked rice. Stir well to combine and set aside. The rice stuffing will taste just like pork fried rice at this point, minus the dark soy sauce, of course.

Step 5: Prepare the zucchini. Sliced zucchini lengthwise and remove seeds bed. Using a spoon, scoop out the insides of the zucchini.

Step 6: In the same pan used earlier, sauté the zucchini till softened slightly, 2-3 minutes. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Dish out the zucchini. Drain off all liquid. Set aside.

Step 7: Preheat a grill to 450F. Brush the zucchini shell with olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Grill zucchini, cut side down, till it has a nice charred mark and shell is softened slightly, about 5-7 minutes. Remove zucchini onto a baking sheet lined with foil.

Step 8: Divide the cooked zucchini meat, rice and pork stuffing among shells equally. Top each zucchini generously with grated pecorino romano cheese. Cover zucchini with foil and placed it on the grill. Let cook for 15 minutes till zucchini shell has softened. Alternately, you can finish the cooking in a 400F oven for 15 minutes. Remove foil in the last 5 minutes of cooking to brown the top lightly.

Let cool for 5 minutes before serving. There you have it, a zucchini boat stuffed with pork fried rice and cheese.

Omelette Soup

2011-07-15T12:14:00.000-06:00

When it comes to summer weeknight cooking, the name of the game is getting dinner on the table fast and not slave over a hot stove. It is an added bonus when quick dishes like this soup can be so simple and delicious. This soup is light enough to counteract the rising temperatures. and guaranteed to cool you down on those hot summer days. I am sure everyone knows about the popularity of The Egg Drop Soup and this soup is very closely related. The ingredients are the same only the method is different - for the Egg Drop Soup, the beaten egg is Dropped at the end of cooking but in this case, the beaten egg is Dropped into the pan at the beginning of cooking, making an omelette.

Ingredients:

2 cups chicken/vegetable stock
2 eggs lightly beaten with 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp cooking oil
Chopped Spring Onions
Sesame oil and Ground pepper to taste

Method:

Heat wok until shimmering, then add in 2 tbsp oil. When oil is hot, add in the beaten eggs, it should puff up. Let omelettle brown on one side before flipping over. When both sides are golden brown, break omelette up into bite size with the wok spatula.

Add in the stock and bring to the boil.

Soup is ready when the stock comes to a boil. Turn off heat.

Garnish with chopped spring onions.

Serve with a dash of sesame oil and ground pepper.

Almond Sugee Cake Transformed

2011-07-12T11:11:00.002-06:00

How in the world can these young minds tackle these complicated toys - The Transformers? I dread it when my grandson comes and ask me to transform it cos i can never get it. It really makes me feel so stupid and wished that my Ah Poh had put in an extra item in my rattan school bag on my first day of school. The
Spring Onion and The Mirror did not help for me at all when these Transformers are concerned. I needed a brain transplant, a young brain cos this old brain of mine is only good for transforming a plain looking cake into something which will be presentable on a festive occasion. This cake is the same Almond Sugee Cake, baked in a different pan, then glazed with chocolate and top with toasted almond flakes.

Ingredients and Method for the cake :

Refer to Almond Sugee Cake

Chocolate Glaze:

1 1/2 cups whipping cream
12 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 tbsps light corn syrup

Method:

Bring cream to simmer in large saucepan over low heat.

Put chocolate in the food processor and pulse until fine.

With the food processor running, pour the hot cream through the chute and turn off as soon as the mixture is well combined.

Stir in corn syrup.

Cool glaze until barely lukewarm.

To Glaze the cake:

Put the cake on top of a cake rack and place cake rack onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. The excess glaze is collected in the parchment paper and reused.

Pour the warm chocolate glaze over the cake and top with toasted almond flakes.

Leave in the fridge for the chocolate glaze to harden.

Almond Sugee Cake

2011-07-06T14:20:00.026-06:00

Today is the first day of school for my grand children. Renee is in Grade 4 and Alexander is in Grade 1. Seeing the both of them going to school this morning brought me back to when i started school a long long time ago. It was early January, 1952 when my grandma, Ah Poh, took me to the Convent School. My Ah Poh was very persistent that i should be in an all girl school and had to bribe the nuns to take me in cos we were non-catholic nor rich enough. On the first day of school, i remembered i was made to carry a rattan basket but i did not have any school books cos i have not been accepted as a student yet. But, i do have several contents in there which were very interesting. My Ah Poh had her rituals and all meant for the wellness of my future. The contents in my rattan basket (which was a very fashionable school bag of my era) were a chinese almanac, a stalk of chinese celery, a sprig of green onions and a small mirror.

The chinese almanac in cantonese is called "Tung Shu". ‘Tung’ means ‘pass thru’ but in this case. a more accurate meaning would be ‘everything become clear’. ‘Shu’ means book. Therefore ‘Tung Shu’ is a book about everything or a book about myriad of things. In Hong Kong which is predominately Cantonese, the book is known as ‘Tong Sing’. You see, ‘Shu’ sounds like losing while ‘Sing’ sounds like victory which is vastly more auspicious and more accepted by the Cantonese. So, this almanac is for me to see everything clearly through my learning in school.

Chinese celery in cantonese is 'Kan Choy' and this will be Ah Poh's hope that i will be 'Kan Lek' - Assiduous in work or study and diligent.

Spring/Green onion has hollow green leaves and in cantonese, it is 'thoong sum'. The thoong sum spring/green onion is supposed to allow me to see things through with ease - 'thai tak thoong'

The pencil sharpener with a mirror on the otherside was what i had in my rattan basket, perhaps this was the best buy, dual function, a mirror was needed and i could sharpen my pencil.. A mirror can stand for either truth or vanity and it provides readily available images of a viewer that match what others see. So, the presence of that small mirror was to create self-awareness and allow me to lead to fruitful introspection and attempts to get to the “truth.”

Did my Ah Poh's ritual make me a better person? For all you readers who know me, tell me if i should thank my Ah Poh and that i did not let her down? Bless her kind soul.

I know that there is no relation whatsoever with what i shared and the recipe that i will be sharing. The only thing i know that this recipe cannot be as old as the story above cos it has 1 tbsp of cake stabilizer.

Ingredients:

8 ozs butter - room temp.
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 ozs sugee /semolina
1/2 cup ground almonds
4 large eggs
1 tsp baking powder
4 ozs fine granulated sugar
3 tbsp water(3 tbsp if the eggs are smaller)
1 tbsp cake stabilizer/ovalette
4 ozs all-purpose flour

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 f.

Grease and line the bottom of a 8 inch cake pan.

Beat butter until fluffy, add vanilla extract, sugee/semolina and ground almonds. Mix thoroughly.

Whisk together the eggs, baking powder, sugar, water, cake stabilizer and flour at top speed for 6 minutes until stiff.

Combine sugee mixture with egg mixture.

Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake for 50 minutes until cooked. A toothpick test in the middle of cake should come out clean.

Char Siew Pork Ribs

2011-06-27T20:32:00.000-06:00

The Char Siew posting in this blog is one of the most sort after and from the comments, i know that everyone who have tried making Char Siew with this recipe liked it alot. My family always give me the thumb up when Char Siew Pork or Char Siew Pork Ribs are served. Make sure you have a huge pile of napkins ready cos these Char Siew Pork Ribs are so finger-licking good . Basically, the marinate is the same, the only difference is the choice of meat, one is just shoulder/belly pork while this are Ribs be it Spare or Baby Back..

Ingredients:

2 lbs pork ribs - spare or baby back

Marinate:

4 tbsp Hoisin sauce
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp soya sauce
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp wine - Mui Kai Lo
1 tsp 5 spice powder
1/2 tsp salt
Dash of pepper

Glaze:

2 tbsp dark soya sauce
2 tbsp honey or maltose
2 tbsp oil

Method:

Marinade pork with seasonings for 2 hours.(optional). Pork can be cooked as soon as it is marinated.

Transfer marinated pork on to the pressure cooker, close lid and let the pork and marinate cook for 10 minutes - time is when the pressure is build up. Release the pressure by running cold tap water over the lid of the pressure cooker.

Open the lid and continue to cook the pork ribs on high heat until the sauce has thickened. Stir constantly to prevent burning.

When sauce has thickened, transferred pork ribs to the grill or broiler. Grill/broil until the surface is charred.

Coat charred ribs with the Glaze and put back to grill/broil for 3 - 5 minutes more.

Enjoy.

Flaky Egg Tarts

2011-06-21T09:07:00.001-06:00

If you are a Dim Sum lover, you will recognise these delectable tarts and if you frequent the Dim Sum restaurants, you will know that these tarts disappear fast. If you do not ask the waitress to reserve some when they are out of the oven, you will not have any. You must be wondering why, after so many years of baking, it is only now that i am posting these egg tarts. I have to admit that these tarts are one of the most difficult of all the bakings i have baked. It was quite challenging and the family had been eating the not so pretty products, they tasted good but just not presentable. One would think that the recipe was at fault but no, it was me, not that proficient - first the pastry had to be mastered - good rolling skills and patience needed. The best part of these tarts was the flaky pastry, it has to be flaky of course, although the custard had to br right too. This marriage will be in a very rough situation and not very forgiving if not worked properly. To make this marriage work, the thickness of the pastry had to be right, too thick - there will not be enough room for the custard, too thin - the flakiness in the pastry will not be effective. Docking the pastry was my greatest regret. i must have poked too hard and the custard seeped through, making the tart impossible to remove from the mold. Then the baking - know your oven - a hot oven to me worked best and baked these tarts at the last third of the rung in your oven, this will ensure that the pastry will get browned and the custard being further away from the top elements will not get cooked before the pastry. Lower the heat after 15 minus to finish cooking the custard to perfection and this did not mean that the whole tray of tarts will be ready at the same time, uneven hot spots in the oven are to be blamed and this is a common fact. You would have to remove the tarts accordingly and leave the uncooked ones to finish baking. Accordingly means that the tarts with firm custard around the rim and will jiggle slightly in the middle, are to be taken out of the oven. When or if the custard in some of the tarts should puff. open the oven door to lower the oven temperature. These tarts have to be baby-sat for the last part of the baking and they can be moved around for even baking - do not move them if the custard is not firm around the edges, otherwise another regret, the uncooked custard will spill over causing ????????.

Do not let this lengthy jabber hinder you from trying to bake some, just heed my advise and you will produce the most delicious tarts ever.

Ingredients:

Lard Dough

4 ozs lard - melted and kept lukewarm
5 ozs all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt

Mix the above ingredients and put it into a sandwich zip-loc bag. Press dough flat to fit the bag, leaving about 3/4 - 1 inch away from the top. This will be about 5 x 6 inches.

Leave in the fridge to firm up for at least 1 hour.

Water Dough

6 ozs all purpose flour
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 1/2 ozs chilled butter - cut into small cubes
1 egg yolk
3 tbsp iced water - more if flour is too dry

Combine flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. Pulse a few times to mix the ingredients well.

Add in the cold cubed butter and pulse. Pulse until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Beat the egg yolk with the iced water and add in to the flour and butter mixture. Pulse until a dough forms. Add more water if necessary, some loose flour is fine.

Remove from food processor and put into a Gallon Zip-loc bag. Flatten dough to fill the bag but roll the height to 8 inches only. Leave in the fridge for gluten to relax for at least 1 hour.

Rolling the Pastry:

Take the water dough from the fridge and cut the gallon bag open. Place dough onto to lightly flour surface and make a mark the longer side into 3 equal parts.

Take the lard dough from the fridge and cut open the sandwich bag. Place dough on to the middle of 2 equal parts of the water dough. Fold the last equal part of the water dough over half of the lard dough and then fold the other half of the lard dough together with the water dough over. Seal the edges well.
Let dough rest in the fridge for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Place dough with narrow side facing you, using the rolling pin, press lightly at intervals to roll to a rectangular 8 x 10 inchs. Fold bottom third of dough over and bring top third down. Press narrow edges firmly to seal and cool in fridge for 30 minutes. This is the FIRST rolling.

Repeat roll and 3 folds TWICE. Cool in fridge after eaching rolling.

To line the Tarts: Moulds

Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough till 1/8 inch and using a round cutter which is 1/2 inch bigger than the circumference of the tart mould. Place the cut circle dough into the tart mold. Try to center the dough to the center of the tart mould and press lightly on the sides to get impression from the fluted moulds. Prepared tarts have to be chilled in the fridge for at least 1 hour before baking and at this stage, it can remain chilled for a day and if longer they have to be frozen - wrapped tightly with a few layers of plastic wrap.

To make the Custard:

8 ozs sugar
4 tbsps condensed milk
2 cups water
4 large eggs
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp custard powder mix with 1 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine 2 cups water, condensed milk and sugar and cook till sugar dissolves and milk is heated through.

Mix custard powder with 1 tbsp water and add in beaten eggs and vanilla extract. Mix well.

Pour the hot milk sugar mixture gradually into the egg mixture and stir well.

Cook over low heat, stirring all the time, until the custard has thicken slightly but is still runny. Instead of the stovetop, the microwave can be used, 1 minute at a time, stirring after every interval). Sieve this mixture and allow to cool before using to prevent bubbles forming while baking.

To Bake Egg Tarts:

Preheat oven to 450f.

Place chilled tarts onto a baking tray and pour custard into tarts, 80% full, do not overfill, regrets and regrets!!!!!!

Bake for 15 minutes on 450f and then reduce the oven temperature to 275f to continue baking for another 10 - 15 minutes or until the pastry is browned and the custard is cooked ( read notes on the top of page)

Step by Step: How to prepare Fried Shallots

2011-06-15T17:18:00.000-06:00

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 $$.

I can't do without shallots, there will be no sambal, curries, kerabu(salad) etc. One most desired condiment in Asian Cuisine is sliced deep-fried shallots, although they are readily available deep-fried but they are not the same as when they are deep-fried from scratch at home. It might seem tedious and finicky when deep frying to obtain perfect fried shallots but with a little patience and attention, it can be done. When frying, do not answer the phone or doorbell, a blink of the eye, it will be burned. Constant stirring of the sliced shallots will ensure the shallots will be evening fried to perfection and the most crucial is - remove the shallots from the oil when they are golden. Residual heat will continue to further fry the shallots to golden brown.

Ingredients:

2 lbs shallots
4 cups cooking oil
2 tsp salt

Method:
Steep shallots in cold tap water for 30 minutes, the skin of the shallots will be soaked through and easier to peel.

Peel and slice shallots (i use the mandolin for even slices).

Sprinkle salt over the sliced shallots and leave for 10 - 15 minutes.

Wash them under running water for a few seconds and then squeeze the liquid out, as much as possible.

Pat dry, loosen the slices and spread the shallots on top of kitchen towel. It is important to dry them as much as possible to shorten the frying time

Heat cooking oil in heavy pan / wok to medium heat. Toss in the sliced shallots and deep fry until they turn light golden and all the moisture is cooked out, Stirring constantly.

Remove shallots from oil with a spider strainer and drain on paper towel lined tray

Let cool

Store in an airtight container.