Polo Bun Revisited

Baked Nian Gao

I had the opportunity to eat this Baked Nian Gao when i was at a temple lunch and it was so delicious  but unfortunately the contributor could not be found and therefore no recipe.  I am sure there must be a recipe somewhere in the net, so googled and found an image of the cake which looked very similar to the one i ate.  It is HERE and i decided to try it and scaling down the recipe to a third.  The result is very acceptable and i think i should share with all my readers as it is a very easy recipe and can be made in a jiffy.

Orange and Lemon Chiffon Cake

I am sharing this more diabetic friendly recipe as it calls for less flour and sugar.  Baking too is different as this recipe is steamed baked with a lower oven temperature too.  To obtain a very fine texture, this cake has to rise above the cake pan and then for the last 20 minutes, it will fall back to the height of the cake pan.  The cake will only start rising at about 15 to 20 minutes and continue to rise.  This recipe will enable you to hand press to dislodge the cake.

Kuih Talam Revisited

Although my previous recipe Kuih Talam is ok but my need to tweak more for a better texture has been on my mind for the longest ever.  I think i have found what i tweaked is to my satisfaction and i have to post it, not for my own reference but for everyone or anyone who will be interested to make a perfect kuih talam. Sweetness is just nice, just as what kuih should be, sweet enough to please the palate and the tinge of saltiness is there, complementing the sweetness.  Oh yes, the richness of the coconut milk is just right from the whole can of CHAOKOH coconut milk which has 50% of saturated fat.

Flaky Pastry Egg Tarts

 When my friend, Peng, linked me a video about a hong kong grandpa retiring and teaching his grand daughter to make his famous flaky pastry egg tart, i remembered that i have also made the flaky pastry this way but have not posted cos i have been neglecting my blog, but this recipe will be lost if not shared.  All flaky recipes have been following the western way of layering by wrapping the butter dough with the less butter dough(the chinese called this the water dough and the butter dough, oil dough), but for this egg tart, it is the other way round, the water dough is wrapped by the oil dough.  It is really flaky and easy to roll.  I have used the traditional ingredient - LARD but vegetable shortening can be used.  LARD  is available in 1 lb block in all our supermarkets and it is inexpensive.  Follow my instructions and you will have perfect flaky egg tarts.

Nutella Flower Bread

There are several Youtube videos making this bread and all of them are pretty good but i find that Steve's Kitchen is clear and his instruction is easy to follow. I have changed the bread recipe and used a bread machine to make the dough.  The result is a lovely googy sweet bread which is too pretty to break up and devout, but who can resist, the fragrance perfumed the whole house.

Love Fried Rice For Valentine's Day

According to Wiki,  Qixi Festival (Chinese: 七夕), also known as the Qiqiao Festival (Chinese: 乞巧節), is a Chinese festival that celebrates the annual meeting of the cowherd and weaver girl in Chinese mythology and this festival is the chinese Valentine's Day.  Although the chinese does not celebrate Valentine's Day like the West does by giving flowers and gifts, they demonstrate their love by cooking their favorite foods.  and since rice is a symbol of life itself, to the chinese, and we have all heard the line that “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”  For sure, who doesn’t love a great meal, especially when someone cooks it for you?  You do not have to spend alot of time and money, just fry these simple fried rice following these recipes.  I have shared 2 ways and these ways are the simpliest ways to good fried rice.

Please give me a feedback if you should woo your love ones if you should cook this,

 HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY.

Kasutera - Japanese Honey Castella For Chinese New Year

Here is another cake which is deliciously sweet to serve to your guests during the Chinese New Year.  The green tea present will be auspicious and bring 'choy'/prosperity to your home. Kasutera aka Castella is a speciality of Nagasaki, this cake was brought to Japan by Portuguese merchants in the 16th century.  This cake does not contain any fat or butter but it is very moist and soft, the honey is the culprit, that is why sometimes this cake is called Honey Cake..  

Cream Cheese Chocolate Layer/Lapis Cake - Cakes For Chinese New Year

Everyone's oven has been working overtime in most Asian homes especially in Malaysia and Singapore.  The heat is on for baking cookies and cakes for The Chinese New Year Celebration.  How not to join in the fun????  Baking during this time of the year for us here in Colorado is so welcome as the oven heat warms up the kitchen and the aroma from the baking perfumes the whole house (all windows and doors are closed so tightly to prevent the effect of Polar Vortex).  

I will try to share as many recipes and i know you all will like this Cream Cheese Chocolate Layer/Lapis Cake which tasted better when kept, how appropriate to serve to guests who will drop by to 'pai leen' at whatever or whenever they wish.  

Pumpkin Tang Yuan/Tong Yuen With Dried Persimmon in Cinnamon and Ginger Sweet Soup

Winter may just be getting started, but those looking forward to a bit more daylight have not much longer to wait. This Saturday that is today is the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and it will experience the shortest daytime and longest nighttime. After the Winter Solstice, days will become longer and longer. As ancient Chinese thought, the yang, or muscular, positive things will become stronger and stronger after this day, so it should be celebrated.  So to keep up with traditions, i have made Pumpkin Tang Yuan/Tong Yuen and served with a sweet soup that has Korean influence Cinnamon And Ginger With Persimmon (Soojunggwa).

With this recipe i would like to wish all family and friends HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE

Orange Chiffon Cake

I am always happy to find people who, like myself, share the same passion for food,  or are passionate about cooking and baking with the same intensity but am happiest when my daughter, told me to look at her pictures in facebook.  Before i could log in to facebook, i thought that it would be pretty pictures of my grand daughter, but no, they were pictures of her bakings and cookings.  I was so proud of her, her butter marble cake was so well baked.  Now, i know we are in the same page, i have promised to teach her how to make Chiffon Cakes and for a start, i have to post this recipe which i have depended on to produce the best chiffon cakes ever.  My cousin, Audrey, who i have shared this recipe with, has been making so many successful chiffon cakes, more than i can count.

Rose Wantan

 

 

Has it been that long?  5 weeks????? no posting!!  OMG, time really goes by fast when you are occupied.  Was really occupied, entertaining visitors, entertaining myself by going for a
Cruise - Disney Fantasy Cruise.  Had a Fantastic time especially enjoyed the food on board,  fine dining nightly with the most fabulous menu.  Could not decide what to order and our server had to bring me 2 entrees and 2 desserts - yes nightly.  The best part of all is that the orders are free,  the menu has no price tag.  Can't wait for breakfast every morning,  the buffet lounge is endless, the food was displayed in a circle and breakfast items are endless too - gravlax, smoked salmon, smoked mackerel, smoked trout, etc. Even the egg benedict served here was perfectly done and i had the pleasure of ordering egg benedict at Royal Court which was delicious.  Am running out of words to describe the food.  The second best part of the cruise was that i did not have to cook although i would love to.  But i did learn how to make strudel dough from scratch and make lobster ravioli from the chef of REMY. the famous french restaurant on board.

 

Now that i am back on land, the kitchen will be busy again.  There is nothing much that i can cook with until grocery shopping time.  Found some shrimp and wanted to make wantan but oh no, no wantan skin!!.  Found a packet of egg roll skin and remembered that making fried wantans with egg roll skin is in my do list.  Can't wait to start making them and the finished wantans were not only deliciously crispy but oh so pretty.

 

Mini Shanghai Mooncakes

The Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar,  and it falls on September 30th this year (2012).  Although it is still about 1 1/2 months away, preparation for the making the mooncakes has to begin now especially if you are to make the Traditional Mooncakes - the syrup has to be cooked and kept until needed, in fact the longer it is allowed to settle, the better it is.  Most mooncakes bakers will cook the syrup last year for this year's baking.  If this syrup cooking is too tedious and intimidating, i am sharing this recipe which s full of the fragrance of butter and pure lotus paste/red bean paste and the best part, you don't need any mooncake molds.

I make mooncakes every year and somehow could never find time to post it in time for my readers who would like to try and have a hand in making some for the festival.  This year, i make sure that i will post first before i start getting into the actual baking and forget to post.  Sorry.................

Fruit Rojak

It is not so much fun eating this fruit rojak without the CRISPY.  I have been searching for this CRISPY recipe for a long long time but no one is sharing.  So have to put on my thinking cap and try to cook some CRISPIES that go so well with this fruit rojak, they are a perfect match.  

This is one of the favorite snack of all snacks, especially to Sandra and if it is so to you too  please 'like' it on my facebook page, if not, do tell me what is your favorite snack?

Assembling this snack is easy if every ingredient has been prepared ahead.  The Rojak Sauce can be prepared way way ahead and be left in the fridge until needed or if you are lucky enough, your asian store might carry - The Rojak Sauce.(pic of the can is in the pic above).  For the peanuts and sesame seeds topping are no fuss too, just pound or chop some ready to eat roasted peanuts and even sesame seeds come roasted.  None of the above in hand, then sweat it out - roast raw peanuts without skin, in the oven until fragrant, cool, then pound or chop.  Raw sesame seeds are better done over the stovetop as it has to be watched cos it burned fast - no answering the phone or doorbell.  You think these preparations are tedious, you still have not made the CRISPIES yet !!!!!

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Do not fret, the easy part is on the way - the fruits only need to be washed, peeled and cut.  I say CUT cos cutting the fruits in an angle allows more surface area for the sauce to coat and this is good eats.