Melt-in-the-Mouth Pineapple Tart

I have been trying out pinapple tart recipes lately. This time it is the enclosed type i.e. pineapple jam enclosed in the pastry rather than exposed. This one is the melt in the mouth type, which I love. However, a good friend of mine asked me for a more biscuit-y / harder type. Anybody have a great recipe for that?





The original recipe was posted at Makansutra by Joshua or better known as Gan55 at Makansutra forum. I must sincerely say this is the best melt-in-the-mouth enclosed-type Pineapple Tart I have come across. Well done, Josh.

Since the recipe has been removed by the moderator of Makansutra, I'll repost here for those who requested it. Happy baking :)

Ingredients:
250g butter (soften and cut into chunks)
170g cream (Nestle UHT cream in the can will do!)
75g caster sugar
430g plain flour
50g milk powder
3 egg yolks
1 additional egg yolk + 1 tsp caster sugar (for glazing)

Method:
Sift flour and milk powder together
Using a cake mixer, blend the cream, butter and sugar together till you get a creamy mixture. (15 mins on speed 2)
Add the 3 egg yolks and sifted flour and milk powder into the creamed butter mixture.
using the cake mixer's dough mixer, mix till it becomes a smooth dough that is slightly sticky in texture.
Allow the dough to stand for 10 mins.
Divide dough into small balls and the pineapple filling into balls roughly 1/2 the size of the dough.
Wrap filling ball with dough ball and shape as desired.
Glaze with the glazing mix.
Bake at 180 degrees (gas mark 5) for 15 mins in a oven.
Remove from oven and reglaze again before baking for another 5 mins till golden brown on top.

Pineapple Filling:
4 pineapples
9 cloves
Caster sugar

Method:
Peel the pineapple
Grate the pineapple using a grater or using a juicer (grater better)
Squeeze out the juice from the grated pineapple fibre.
In a frying pan, put the pineapple fibre and heat using low flame.
Add cloves and fry till water has dried up halfway.
Add sugar to taste. (Amount depending on how sweet pineapple was originally and how sweet u want filling to be)
Continue frying till filling starts to dry and turns golden in colour (abt 1 hr later)

Note: While frying, you have to stir continuously and remember to keep the flame small. Its easier to add sugar by dissolving it in some of the unwanted pineapple juice and adding this to the grated pineapple.

Egg White Chocolate Cake with Ganache

After my pineapple tart experiments, I am left with quite a bit of egg whites. Not wanting to waste them, I search around for recipes using egg whites. The cake recipe is from Sedap-Sekejap, and I modified the recipe for the ganache as I believe ganache made using rich cream is much nicer than that made using plain old milk.



Ingredients:
(A)
7 egg whites (about 280 gr)
1/2 tsp cake emulsifier (ovalett, SP)
1 tsp cream of tartar 
200 gr castor sugar 

(B)
100 gr plain flour
30 gr cocoa powder 
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda 
1/4 tsp baking powder 
15 gr milk powder 
20 gr corn starch
 
1 tsp vanilla powder (or extract)
50 gr margarine, melted 
25 ml milk 

Ganache:
300 gr dark cooking chocolate
170 ml heavy cream 

Method:
1. (A)Beat egg yolk with emulsifier for about 3-5 minutes. Add cream of tartar and continue beating. Add castor sugar bit by bit and continue beating until stiff.

2. Sift together (B) ingredients into the egg white mixture and fold to incorporate. Add melted margarine and milk and mix evenly.

3. Grease and line a 20 cm round tin, pour mixture into it and baked at 180 C (or 160C fan-forced) for about 30-40 minutes. Let the cake cool down then slice horizontally into 2 or 3 pieces.

4. To make the ganache, bring the cream to boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and add in chocolate squares and stir evenly with a wooden spoon until the chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Allow to cool

5. Assemble the cake by stacking the layers up in between ganache spread. Pour the remaining ganache on top of the cake and spread evenly on top and the side of the cake.

Serves 15

Chilled Strawberry Cheese Cake

After seeing Judy's cheese cake that turned out so beautifully, I added this cake on my 'must try' list. I made a little amendment to the recipe by Amy Beh (Cyber Kuali) , because Vicky said her aunt thought it was too creamy. Another thing I must not *must use more melted butter for the base*. I guess the dry climate here means the crushed biscuits need more liquid to bind them together. Taste wise, it is delicious. Thanks god for sweet strawberries which are in season at the moment. Below here is the amended recipe of Irish origin:




Ingredients:
200g digestive biscuits, crushed
60g melted butter (more if too dry)

Filling:
1 1/2 tbsp powdered gelatin
4 tbsp water
250 g cream cheese, cubed, thaw to room temperature
125g castor sugar
125ml whipping cream
400g fresh strawberries, pureed
3 tbsp whiskey (optional)

Garnish:
6 strawberries, hulled, halved
mint leaves (optional)

Method:
Line a 20 cm spring form plan with cling wrap.
Crush biscuits, mix evenly with melted butter, press onto the base of spring form pan with a metal spoon or bottom of a glass. Refrigerate to chill (about 30 mins)

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually add sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy. Set aside.

Sprinkle gelatin over water. Set aside until it turns spongy. Heat up in microwave on mid-low power until liquid turnes clear.

Add dissolved gelatin mixture to strawberry puree. Whip up whipping cream until soft peaks form. Add strawberry puree (and whiskey, if used) to cream.

Combine strawberry mixture with cream cheese mixture and smoothen the top with a spatula. Chill for 3-4 hours until firm. Decorate as you wish.

Serves 12

Pineapple Tarts

Thinking of baking some pineapple tarts, I am now testing out pineapple tarts recipe
to find the ONE to keep. These were made using Jo's recipe for the pastry. I actually had to add quite a bit of flour than specified in the recipe in order to get the pattern nicely cut out. Also, I refrigeratef the pastry while working on it portion by portion. The texture is light and they do melt in your mouth.
Thanks Jo for such a nice recipe.

Rum Truffles

Another treat I made. Seems like I have been making truffles quite a bit lately.



Recipe posted here .

Nougat

Since I was home alone on Sunday, I digged out the recipe I have promised Edith I would try. So here it is.... Almond Nougat



I am not very pleased with the result. Seems like it is the chewy type, not the crunchy one I like better.

Powder Puffs

While browsing through my recipe collection, I came across these little powder puffs. They do remind me of the sponge we use to apply powder to our face! Small round spongey little 'cake' that are so light. Andy said they reminded him of little pikelets, only much much lighter. I was told by Evelyn that these powder puffs are also known as UFO. The original recipe is by Siu Ling Hui, published in Good Weekend magazine. I re-arranged the recipe to make it easier to follow.



Ingredients:
(A)
2 egg yolks
40 g caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

(B)
2 egg whites
pinch salt
1/2 level tsp cream of tartar
30 g caster sugar

(C)
35 g cornflour
2 tbsp plain flour
1/2 level tsp cream of tartar
1/2 level tsp bicarbonate of soda

berry jam or your choice
thick cream (45 per cent or more fat)
icing sugar

Method:
(A) Beat the egg yolks with sugar until the mixture is thick, pale and forms a ribbon. Beat in the vanilla extract.
(B) In a clean large bowl, using a balloon whisk, whisk the egg whites with the salt until they hold soft peaks. Then gradually whisk in the sugar and cream of tartar until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
(C)Sift together the cornflour, plain flour, cream of tartar and baking soda.

Whisk the yolk mixture into the stiff whites. Then carefully fold in the flour mixture.

Line flat baking trays with baking paper. Drop teaspoonfuls of the batter, spaced about 2.5 cm apart, onto the trays. Bake in a preheated 200C oven for about 10 minutes. They should be pale golden brown. Do not overcook or they will dry out too much.

Allow to cool a few minutes on the baking tray, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. When cold, store in an airtight container until required.

Assemble the puffs at least 1 hour before serving. Spread the underside of one puff with jam and the underside of another puff with cream. Sandwich them together. Repeat with the remaining puffs. Cover and refrigerate the assembled puffs in the refrigerator for about 1-2 hours. They will become puffy and soft. Just before serving, sift icing sugar over.

Note:
60gr eggs are used in this recipe.
The measurement used is Australian standard i.e. 1 tbsp = 20ml

Marshmallow Jelly

This no-bake cheesecake-look-alike jelly is a treat on hot day. The recipe was posted by Lee Lee at M4M (Thanks, Lee Lee!)and was warmly received. It is a fairly easy recipe, but a little caution to those who want to try: BE PATIENT! Because this recipe is very time consuming, try to make other thing at the same time to resist the temptation to proceed before the mixtures are ready. My first try was a failure because I didn't wait long enough for the marshmallow layer to set before pouring the jelly layer on top of it, resulting in the jelly seeping under the marshmallow. Not a very pretty sight. The recipe below has been modified slightly by me. I used low-fat/diet products to cut down on the kilojoules. Choose jelly of the colour that complements the fruit of your choice. I used orange-mango jello with mango slices.



Base:
180 gm marie biscuits
80 gm melted butter

Method:
1. Line the base of a 8-inch springform tin with cling wrap for easy removal.
1. Crush biscuits (by hand in a plastic bag, or use your food processor!) and mix well with melted butter.
2. Press the biscuit mixture onto the base of the tin using the bottom of a drinking glass.
3. Refrigerate for later use.

Marshmallow Layer:
250 gm of marshmallow
150 ml-low fat/no-fat milk
300 ml light thickened cream 
2 tsp of gelatine powder
fruit for topping

Method:
1. Bring the milk, marshmallows and thickened cream to a boil on small fire, stir frequently until marshmallows dissolve.
2. Remove from heat, sprinkle gelatine into the mixture and whisk until gelatine dissolves.
3. Let the mixture cool down then slowly pour it into the tin with biscuit base.
4. Freeze for about 15 minutes, then arrange fruit topping.
5. Freeze again for 1 hour.

Jelly Layer:
1 pkt of diet Jello
200 ml boiling water
200 ml cold water
2 tsp of gelatine powder

Method:
1. Dissolve Jello on boiling water, then sprinkle gelatine on top of it and whisk until dissolves.
2. Add cold water, stir to mix evenly.
3. Spoon the jello mixture carefully on top of froozen marshmallow layer. If you see the jello seeping under the marshmallow, it is not ready. Freeze the marshmallow again!
4. Put in the fridge to chill (about 3 hours). Remove the jelly from the tin. Cut into serving size.

Serves 8

Almond Truffles

I got this recipe from Sedap-Sekejap and tweaked it a little bit. The original recipe called for powdered almond, I used chopped almond instead so as to get more crunch not unlike that of Ferraro Rocher. However, I found following the exact quantities yielded soft-centred truffles. So I remixed the ingredients and add more melted chocolate to make it harder. Alternatively, lesser amount of cream should have been used.



The following is the original recipe as translated:

Ingredients:
100 g ground roasted almonds
50 ml thick cream
30 g butter
150 gram milk cooking chocolate, broken into small pieces
1 tsp almond essence

Coating:
250 g dark cooking chocolate, broken into small pieces, melted
100 g white cooking chocolate, cut into very fine dices

Method:
1. Melt the butter and cream together (in a microwave or on double boiler on stove), stir to mix until chocolate is melted. Add almond powder and almond essence. Stir to combine.
2. Keep the mixture in the fridge for 1 hr to harden, then shape into small balls
3. Roll the truffles on white chocolate. Put 1 tbsp melted dark cooking chocolate on a saucer, roll the truffle in it (alternatively, pour the dark chocolate on the truffle).
4. Finish off the rest the same way.

Witches Fingers

We do not actually celebrate Halloween Festival in Australia. But in the past few years there had been occassions whereby little kiddies came knocking on our door asking for treats. So I thought I should be well-prepared this year with some goodies. Here is my first attempt at Witches Fingers. The same recipe has been circulating on the net and you can find easily. The resulting biscuits are very light and buttery. Be careful though when shaping the fingers. Make them as thin as you can i.e as wide as the almond and no more. They expand in the oven. If you make them too wide, you might end up with Witches Toes instead of Witches Fingers!



Ingredients:
1 cup (250 mL) butter, softened
1 cup (250 mL) icing sugar
1 egg
1 tsp (5 mL) almond extract
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
2-3/4 cups (675 mL) all-purpose flour
1 tsp (5 mL) baking powder
1 tsp (5 mL) salt
3/4 cup (175 mL) whole blanched almonds
1 tube (19 g) red decorator gel (blood for fingers)

Method:
In bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg, almond extract and vanilla; beat in flour, baking powder and salt. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Working with one quarter of the dough at a time and keeping remaining dough refrigerated, roll heaping teaspoonful (5 mL) of dough into finger shape for each cookie.
Press almond firmly into 1end for nail. Squeeze in centre to create knuckle shape; using paring knife, make slashes in several places to form knuckle.
Place on lightly greased baking sheets; bake in 325F (160C) oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until pale golden. Let cool for 3 minutes. Lift up almond; squeeze red decorator gel onto nail bed and press almond back into place, so gel oozes out from underneath. Remove from baking sheets; let cool on racks. Repeat with remaining dough.

Makes 5 dozen

Fruit Tarts Again

Feeling a little bit less than totally pleased *hm...hmm* with the previous attempt for fruit tart, i.e. the creme patissiere was a bit too watery for my liking, I tried baking another batch. This time, just for comparison sake, I use Jo's egg tart recipe for the pastry. The creme recipe was from Super Food Idea. This time I am happy with the result. There is not much different in the two pastry texture-wise. But my friend Mag thought M4M pastry was sweeter than Jo's. For the ease of making, I would recommend M4M pastry. It is less sticky and easier to work with. And if you don't have much time on hand, it can be used straight away, unlike Jo's recipe that requires 2 hours refrigeration.



Ingredients:
Pastry:
125 g butter or margarine (soften at room temp) 
62.5 g castor sugar
1/4 egg 
250 g plain flour 

Method:
Grease the tart tins with melted butter or oil.
Cream the butter with caster sugar until pale and creamy. 
Add egg and continue to beat. 
Fold in flour until it becomes a dough. 
Line the small tart tins with dough. 
Poke holes using a fork on the tart shell 
Bake at 350F or 175C or gas mark 5-6 until edge slightly brown. 
Slide tart out and let it cool down. 

(hint: if you are slow, keep a portion of the dough into the fridge to prevent the butter from melting, making the dough oily) 

Creme Patissiere:
2 cup milk 
1/2 tsp vanilla essence (or 1 vanilla bean, split)
6 egg yolks 
1/2 cup castor sugar 
1/3 cup cornflour

Method:
Heat milk in a saucepan with vanilla bean until almost boiling (scald). Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat egg yolks, sugar and cornflour until thick. Whisk warm milk into this mixture.
Pour mixture back into saucepan. Stir constantly over moderate heat until boiling, thick and smooth. Simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Beat well. Allow to cool.
 
Scoop the cooled custard into each tart shell, decorate top with fruits (strawberry, kiwi, peach, grapes etc). 

Glaze:
1/2 cup apricot jam
1/4 cup water

Method:
Warm jam in a small saucepan. Sieve to remove lumps or seeds. Return to pan with water. Blend well. Bring to the boil, stirring. Brush over fruit. Allow to set. Serve with cream. 

Note:
The pastry recipe is from M4M. It is supposed to be for 25 portions, but I only managed to get about 14-15 portions. The creme recipe is from Super Food Idea. It yields more than 12 portions! The original recipe calls for 2/3 cup instead of 1/2 cup castor sugar.

Serves 12

Fruit Tarts

Many forumers have tried this recipe and I have read quite a few good reviews of it. It is supposed to produce fruit tarts not unlike those of Delifrance. Having not tasted the real thing, I can't give my verdict on that aspect. But it is definitely delicious and easy to make. The picture shows a collaboration between me and my friend Magdalene. Well done, Mag!

ANZAC Biscuits

An ex classmate from Melbourne University is here visiting me. She told me how her sister loved Anzac Cookies and had asked her to buy some home. However, I managed to persuade her to try her hand at making them herself. Most people would know ANZAC cookie as the lone piece of thin brown crispy biscuit that came wrapped in plastic, served on QANTAS flights. It is a very popular biscuit in Australia, much like Chocolate Chip cookies are in the USA. The biscuit is named ANZAC cookies in honour of the brave soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought in the WW1. It is said that this recipe started during the war when not much ingredients were available. They were often lovingly baked for the soldiers as something from home. There are many version of ANZAC Cookies recipe, but the main ingredients remain the same. This recipe is adapted from a recipe I found on the net. I have reduced the amount of sugar used because I found it a tad too sweet.

Meme - Childhood Memory

I have been tagged by FooDcrazEE to continue with this Meme about childhood memory, together with Lily. And boy! How quick Lily was with her meme and tagging people. I am not so enthusiastic about writing this up since I am not a very descriptive person, and I don't have pictures to dress up this post. But if I don't get on with it, I would sure run out of bloggers to tag! So here goes....

I tend to agree with other bloggers who said that FIVE is a very small number to choose from a wide variety of favourite food. How to choose, and what to choose? So I would just start with my earliest memory and see what I can come up with

Food in General
I was born in my parents' first home the day after they moved in. Probably it was the stress of the move caused my mum to deliver me two months too early. The house was something you may call a shop house. It was one of a row of about seven (?) houses with shop front, which people later on renovated to make them more homely. It was situated in the favourite part of the town food-wise. There were just so many things you can choose to eat. You can start your day eating from as early as 7.30 or 8 o'clock and continue until mid night. Some of the hawkers would set up their stall outside a house, and pack everything away when they finished serving their last customers. People didn't seem to mind having food stalls outside their home. It was a convenient way to get food, and also, as the landlord you get special discount! When I was about two or three, there was a tambi kueh (aka min jiang kueh) stall outside our house. And since forever there was this char kway teow stall next door.

Before I submitted myself to the life of a student, as a little child and later as ahigh school student who attended afternoon class, we used to have Lek Tau Suan for breakfast.

It is a kind of sweet, rather sticky gruel made from skinless mung bean. The soup is thickened with starch, and usually served hot topped with deep fried chinese doughnuts (cruelers) called Yu Char Kueh. Later on in my life, when I lived in Singapore brieftly before furthering my studies in Australia, I used to like the Lek Tau Suan at Tangling Shopping Centre and occasionally I ate Tau Suan at the basement of Yaohan. Either one of them, can't remember which alredy, has a very nice caramelly smell. Probably it was butter?

Another breakfast favourite that we hardly had as children was Tauhu Hue or in Singapore speak it is Tauhwee. It was so soft, white and served hot with sugar syrup and optionally a sprinkle of ground peanut. The seller's family lived behind our later home. Either because of the benefit of the soya bean or simply genetic (they were hakka), the children of that family all had beautiful clear and pinkish complexion. I said we hardly had Tauhu Hue - because my dad forbade us from eating it. Later on, after we moved to the second home, we could see what went on at the front yard of that family where they spread the beans out to sun dry. They were exposed to the elements, including the family dogs who walk about and around and probably on the beans. LOL...

From around 10 am to noon there were more things to eat. My mum would usually have come back from grocery shopping and would have brought back some kueh for snacking. Sometimes she would bring back Kue Lumpang, a brownish round cake in the shape of a saucer with a little dent on top, with shredded shaved coconut sprinkling. Other time it would be Getuk, a square shape kueh made from steamed tapioca which then passed through a meat mincer to produce thredded square of naturally yellow snack topped with shredded shaved coconut. There are just too many kueh to reminiscent about...And if we didn't feel like having kueh, there were always Kway Kia Teng, Kway Chap, Lontong Sayur etc that were peddled on pushed cart. A little bit later, there were Bakso (Beef Ball soup), Curry Rice and Yam Mieto choose from for lunch.

Night time was even busier. We usually had home-cooked dinner, but supper was another story. The Char Kway Teow next door was the usual supper choice, if we were willing to wait quite long to be served. We called it Geng Chee Kway Teow (economy class kway teow) because the ingredients were just rice noodles, green vegie, and beansprout. You could ask for an egg to be added, and you could even bring your own egg to be added. It was sold by a husband and wife team, with the husband cooking the kway teow and the wife wiping clean the huge leaves used to wrap the food. Later on they abandoned the leaves and used waxed paper instead. But it was always fun watching the precision exercise in distributing the content of the wok (if 5 portions was order, he would produce exactly 5 portions!), and the skillfull hands of the wife wrapping up and tying up the food into little parcels. Later on in my life, no matter how I tried, I cannot replicate the smell of this kway teow cooked by the husband and wife team. I think every cook produces different smells and taste. But still this kind of kway teow is what I like. I missed it very much when I lived in Singapore. The only thing that comes closed to it is the Penang Char Kway Teow. The sweetly flavoured Singapore style is just too different. And I didn't like to have yellow noodle mixed to my CKT either. When I grew older, my palette changed a bit, and I started liking other thing in my CKT apart from green vegie and beansprout. That was the time I upgraded to Gu Bak Kway Teow (Beef Kway Teow). This kway teow story reminds me of a Beo (a kind of parrot) we later had. The Beo was very good at saying "Char kway teow, lok hiam cio", imitating people ordering fried kway teow with chilly. Probably the previous owner was a char kway teow seller.

Bovril

Picture from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovril
Probably the first food additive I know as a child. Being Teochew, rice porridge was the usual breakfast food in my family. My parents used to buy Bovril in bulk for us the children to mix into our porridge. Apart from the nutrition value, it taste darn good! The cap used to be made of metal and it was white, not red and plastic as it is now. And each bottle comes in a cardboard box with picture of a little girl and little boy. Everytime we took out a new bottle, I would ask our ah-yi (helper) to cut out the pictures for me to play with. The habit of eating brown-coloured porridge continue on until we were pretty big. Graduating from Bovril, we moved on to put Maggie Aroma or soya sauce into our porridge. Only when I was in high school I started to take my porridge plain.

China Apple Juice
When I think of my childhoon little luxury, I would remember the China-made fizzy apple juice. It comes in a glass bottle with a picture of two red apples on the label. We were hardly allowed to drink fizzy drinks as children, so the few times we had them were memorable. I don't know if you still can get them nowaday, but about 7 or 8 years ago I found them at an eatery at South Buona Vista.

Sugus
A search on the net reveals that the packaging of this sweet has changed. It used to come as indivually wrapped square pieces that were put together in a tube. It was a very popular sweets among the children .. and I still can recall the jingle... Kembang gula sugus, enak rasanya. Digemari oleh tua dan muda...
My favourite was the avocado-coffee one. I wonder if I still can get it.

Preserved Fruit
Anybody remember this? These products of China usually comes in a small cardboard box with a plastic pick, usually in the shape of a panda climbing on top of a bamboo stick. There were many varieties of fruit available, but I never cared to look at the picture and would be just pleased to surprise myself when I opened the box. My grand mother used to bring us boxes of these when she came to visit.

Fruity Jelly
I don't remember the last time I ate this. It is a kind of jelly, not so chewy, rather hard in fact if you compared to Konnyaku. It is very sugary and comes in 3 varieties: pineapple (yellow), mandarin (red) and orange (obviously orange colour!). The jelly is shaped like the original fruit, with each segment individual wrapped in cellophane paper and then all bound together to form a fruit and tied with a red ribbon on top. Hm.. nice!

Hm... enough alredy of my rambling. Sorry for the fragmented stories and lack of pictures. I would update with pictures if I am lucky enough to come across them in the future.

Now I must quickly pass on the baton before someone else beat me to it.
So, here you go:
Everything That Is Or Was Began In A Dream.
Play-play in the Kitchen
Lynn's Kitchen

After reading LavaMama's meme, in which she explained how this chain posting is supposed to be, I decided to "retrace" the route.

1. Boo_licious
2. Funky Cookies
3. Eternity
3. FoodCrazEE
5. Yours truly

Supreme Big Pau (Dai Pau)

I have been wanting to make this pau for the longest of time, eversince I saw the recipe at Jo's website. Since I still had a packet of Vietnamese "steamed bun flour", I made the skin using that flour rather than following Jo's recipe. And, hm.. my paus are upside down :) I had the pinched side at the bottom instead of the top.



Vietnamese Steamed Buns Cake flour




Dough:
1 packet (397 g) Steamed Buns Cake flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp cooking oil

Filling:
3 hard boiled eggs, quartered
6 dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated, halved
12 slices Vietnamese sausage
Chinese BBQ pork (red), chopped
Chinese crispy skinned BBQ pork, chopped
2 stalks of spring onions, diced
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
½ tsp wine
½ tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
white pepper to taste
1 cm ginger, chopped finely
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped finaly

GladBake paper for lining

Method:
Cut small pieces (abt 8x8 cm square) of GladBake.

Skin: Mix the flour with milk and sugar, knead dough well for 10 minutes, then add cooking oil and continue kneading until oil is well incorporated into the dough. Leave aside for 30 mins - 1 hr.

Filling: Mix the meat with the spring onions, oyster sauce, soy sauce, wine, sesame oil, sugar, cornstarch and white pepper. Fry the chopped garlic and ginger in the fat from the crispy skinned BBQ pork. When the garlic is nicely browned and aromatic, add the meat mixture and continue cooking until the sauce is thickened. Set the meat aside to cool.

Making the pau: Divide the dough into 12 portions. Shape each portion into a small ball, then roll the ball into a small, flat cirle. Using a rolling pin, roll the edges thinner than the centre of the cirle (or pinch using your fingers). Put a piece each of the egg, mushroom and sausage and the rest of the meat mixture in the centre of the circle and pinch the edges together to enclose the filling. Put the pau on the Glad Bake. Continue with the rest of the dough. To steam the buns, fill th steamer with water and let it boil. Add 2 tbsp vinegar into the water to whiten the buns. Steamed for about 15 minutes.

Serves 12

Green Tea Rolls

So much has been said about the benefits of green tea for the body. Among those benefits are to aid digestion, prevent illness, refresh body and mind, promote healthy skin tone and hm.. hm... help weight loss. This green tea rolls are made using Omaccha, powdered Japanese green tea, which is quite pricey. I have been using it in cheese cake, chiffon cake and milk shakes. You can hardly taste the green tea, since only a tiny amount (1 tsp or more) is used in each recipe, but it definitely gives a nice flavour and brilliant colour to food.



Ingredients:
2/3 cup milk
30 g butter
30 g sugar
1 tsp salt
200 g bread flour
1 1/3 tsp matcha
7 g dry yeast

Topping:
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp tea leaves for topping

Method:
Put ingredients into bread machine in the above order, set the machine at dough-bread setting.
After the cycle is completed, divide the dough into 8 portions and leave it to rise for another 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Shape the dough into round balls. Place on a baking sheet and leave for 20 minutes to rise for the third time.
Using your fingertips, wet the top of the dough with a little water, sprinkle with sesame seeds and tea leaves, or any dried herbs.
Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Snowskin Mooncakes

Finally, after searching here and there, my sister managed to locate a shop that sells koh fun (cooked glutinous rice flour). So, last Sunday I made this mini snowskin mooncakes using the recipe from M4M. However, instead of shortening (no Crisco here, only Copha), I used lard. The result is not bad in term of taste, but I still couldn't get the imprint to appear nicely. And also, my wrapping skill still left a lot to be desired.

Japanese Souffle Cheesecake

This Japanese Cheesecake is denser in texture compared to the one I tried before, and less eggy. It is more 'cheesecakey' than 'chiffony'. Personally I prefer this one, although the cake is pretty low. I might have to scale it up a bit next time. The amount of lemon juice in the recipe is just nice, not sour at all. And the apricot glaze is a definite must! This is the second time I baked this cheesecake. After trying out other recipe that calls for 6 eggs on 8 inch tin, I was a bit disappointed to see a low cake on the first occassion I tried this recipe. I thought it could have been my fault. But now after baking it another time, I was pretty sure this recipe yields a low cake on 7 inch pan, as shows in Kyoko's website.



Ingredients:
200g full fat cream cheese (room temperature)
50ml milk
3 eggs (separated)
100g caster sugar
30g cornflour (cornstarch)
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Glazing:
2 tbsp apricot jam (or whatever you like)
1/2 tbsp water

Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 175?C (350?F) or gas mark 4. Line a 7 inch (18cm) cake tin with greaseproof paper.
Soften the cream cheese with milk in a bowl. Add half of the caster sugar, egg yolks, cornflour, lemon juice and cream of tartar and combine together.
Place the egg whites in a large bowl, whisking them until they form stiff peaks and then keep whisking, adding the remaining sugar in 2 - 3 batches until the mixture stands in stiff peaks.
Fold the half of the egg white mixture into the cream cheese mixture as gently as possible, then fold in the remaining egg white mixture gently but thoroughly.
Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin and level the surface. Put the tin into a larger roasting tin and create a bain-marie by pouring boiling water in the roasting tin. Bake on the lower shelf in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Leave in the tin until cool enough to handle.
Put the jam in a sauce pan on a low heat with the water and warm up until it's melted. If necessary, thicken this glaze by simmering a bit and then spread the glaze on top of the cake.

Cook's tip: If the surface of the cake becomes too dark while baking, cover with a piece of tin foil but be careful not to open the oven door until it has been in the oven for at least 20 minutes. It's easier to remove the cake from the tin if you insert a knife around the cake whilst it is still hot, however don't remove the cake yet - it will collapse if not left to cool

Serves 6

Cappuccino Muffins

I am not a real muffin lover, so I hardly ever baked muffins. But today I came across this very simple and easy muffin recipes, so I decided to give it a try. My instant coffee was the granulated type, not the powdered one. So I dissolved the coffee in a little bit of hot milk, then mix it with the milk & oil mixture.



Ingredients:
250 g self-raising flour
scant 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
scant 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp instant coffee powder
150 g caster sugar
2 large eggs
125 ml milk
125 ml sunflower oil

Method:
1. Sift flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and coffee powder together. Add salt
2. In another bowl, whisk eggs, milk and oil together. Fold this mixture into flour mixture, the batter should still be lumpy.
3. Spoon into greased muffin cups, filling each to two third full. Bake in preheated oven at 200C for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for a few minutes on a rack, then serve warm with butter.

Makes 10 pcs

Mooncakes

Made the Cantonese mooncakes for the very first time. If it wasn't for my sister, I probably wouldn't have attempted this. It would be much easier buying a box! Since we cannot get good quality mooncake fillings where I live, I spent one whole day making lotus seed paste, red bean paste and the syrup. And then spending another day making the mooncake with my sister. Finished at 11 p.m. last night. Very tiring indeed, but worth it!

Ngoh Hiang Chicken & Mushroom Spiral Mooncake

I am not sure this is a "Teochew" mooncake, although I came across quite a few reference on the net that this is indeed a Teochew-style mooncake. In my hometown where the people are predominantly Teochew, a different kind of mooncake with paper-like pastry (almost like filo pastry), which we call La Pia is more popular. I am still trying to figure out the recipe for the La Pia pastry.

When I was living at home with my parents, my aunt who lived in Singkawang, a Hakka-influenced place, used to send us boxes of this spiral pastry mooncake. We love it because the savoury filling is a nice change from the normally sweet mooncake filling. And when all of us siblings lived away from home because of our study commitment, my mum used to freeze these mooncakes for us to savour when we went back home for holiday.

This is a colaboration between me and my sister. I made the pastry, and the filling is her 'estimate' recipe. It turned out nearly like the real thing, except for a blunder I made. I inadvertently baked the mooncakes at lower temperature, which means they took longer to brown, resulting in drier pastry.

Pandan Kaya Cake

After seeing some successful attempt at this cake by my internet buddies, I was tempted to try myself. I used Jo's Pandan chiffon cake, and the kaya recipe contributed by Nora.



As requested, here it the recipe of the pandan custard by Nora, and also her excellent tips!

Kaya Topping
Ingredients:
500ml water
160-200g sugar
50g butter (to make the texture smoother)
150ml water
250g coconut milk
80g hoon kueh powder
½ tablespoon instant jelly
Green and yellow colouring

Method:
1. Boil water (500ml), sugar and butter until boiled.
2. Mix coconut milk with water (150ml), hoon kueh powder, instant jelly and colouring together and add into 1 and cook until thick.
3. Must be boiled. (If you find that it is not thick enough, you can use a bit more hoon kueh to mix with some water and add in.)

To Assemble
1. Surround the cake with a 9” cake ring and put layer of cake in then followed by kaya, then cake alternately depending on how many layer you want, but the top layer must be the kaya.
2. If you are using cake tin, then kaya first and then cake then kaya and last layer is cake.
3. Let the cake cool down then put it in the fridge to set for few hours or overnight.
4. Then after you may coat the side with desiccated coconut.

NOTES BY VARIOUS PEOPLE
1. You can use your own sponge cake recipe, just add pandan essence to make it green if you find troublesome to buy optima flour and ovalette.
2. If it is too difficult to buy optima flour and ovalette, you can actually use the premix for sponge cake, my friend tried and said result is about the same. Just make sure you add pandan paste into your cake mixture instead of pandan essence which I find is better.
3. I think the key point for this cake is the kaya spread.
4. My teacher used a knife to go round the tin to loosen the cake. He said if you don’t have instant jelly; don’t put agar-agar powder as it will harden the kaya. Just need longer time to set in the fridge. Don’t use gelatine too, as gelatine is for making mousse cake. If you don’t have hoon kueh powder, you can substitute with corn flour but hoon kueh smell nicer. (I only can smell coconut but not the hoon kueh.)
5. Actually I did it with agar-agar powder, and the result is just as good. I used ½ tablespoon agar-agar powder.
6. One thing to note is that try making more kaya, because the last time I bake this, I found it isn’t enough to cover the side of the cake.
7. I use a layered cake cutter to cut the cake evenly.
8. Your cake has to be completely cooled, then you boil the kaya. You need to assemble the kaya and cake when the kaya is hot.
9. To get a smooth surface:
a) Use a cake tin, wash it but don’t dry it, it should be wet with water droplets.
b) Pour some kaya into the cake tin, spread it evenly.
c) Then put in a layer of sponge cake, press down the cake a little in order for the cake to stick to the kaya.
d) Then pour some kaya on top of the sponge cake, and spread it evenly.
e) Same as step C.
f) Same as step D.
g) Put the last layer of cake.
h) It is up to individual how many layer you want to make your cake.
i) Then chill the cake.

Luncheon Meat with Potato

This is my interpretation of a dish my mum often cooks. I hardly cooked this because of the work involved in frying up the potato cubes. But now that I have a deep-fryer to do the job, it is a very easy dish to prepare.

Cabbage Rice

Feeling lazy to come up with something elaborate, I thought of cooking cabbage rice. However, I couldn't locate Min's recipe which I have tried before. So I came up with my own version, which is not too bad at all. Another delicious variation of this one-pot-rice dish would be to use pieces of yam and snake beans in it.



Ingredients for rice:
2 rice-cooker cups rice
200 g cabbage, coarsely shredded
1 cup skinned and blanched peanuts
1 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
2 tbsp chinese cooking wine
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp ground white pepper

Topping:
2 lap cheong (dried chinese sausages), finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
5-6 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked, sliced
handful of dried prawns, soaked, cleaned and well drained

Method:
Cook the rice in a rice cooker, with water level slightly above level 2. Add the sauces. Prepare the topping by stir frying the sausages. Add other dry topping ingredients, add a bit oil if the oil oozed ouf the sausage is not enough to fry the ingredients. Pour the well browned topping ingredients to the partially cooked rice. Served garnished with coriander leaves, spring onion, fried shallots. sliced red chillies and a dash of ground white pepper.

Serves 4

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Icing

A cake I baked for a friend's birthday. Happy Birthday, N. Hope you get what you wish for this year!

It is my first properly decorated cake, ie. crumb-coated, buttercreamed, piped decoration. Because I didn't do a great job the first time around, I prepared another recipe of the ganache and coated it all over. So it is totally chocolate and sugar laden. To people who ate it at Saturday night's dinner, sorry guys if I put you off chocolate for a long while :).

Perkedel Ayam

I normally make perkedel kentang with beef mince. For a change, I tried this recipe using chicken mince instead. I found this recipe a bit too soft, I had to add some flour to firm up the patties.



Ingredients:
400 gram fried (or steamed) potato, mashed
100 gram chicken mince
1 sprig of spring onion, finely sliced
2 tbsp fried shallots
1 egg
oil for frying
1 egg for coating, loosely beaten with a fork

Ground Ingredients:
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp salt

Method:
1. Combine the mashed potato, chicken mince, spring onion, fried shallots and egg. 2. Shape the mixture into patties, dip in the egg.
3. Fry in hot oil until thoroghly cooked.


Makes about 18 pcs

Beef Risoles with Fresh Green Salad

Because Christmas is coming, i.e. non stop eating for about two weeks, we try to lose weight now in anticipation of weight to be put on in Christmas, if that makes sense LOL. A typical dinner in the Rutt family, which we have about twice a week. Lots of green salad with a simple meat or fish dish.

Tofu Stir-fry

This is a dish my mum used to cook, and I love it.

Oat Porridge

A tummy warming breakfast for cold wintry morning.

Curry Puff

This simple curry puff is easier to make than the spiral type, but it taste equally good. The pastry is made using Lynda's recipe submitted to Rainbow Connection.

Banana & Walnut Teabread

I suppose it is called 'teabread' because although it looks more like cakes (that you eat with your tea), it is eaten more like bread (sliced and butter) and also it is in the shape of a loaf of bread. More importantly, the leavening agents used are baking powder and bicarb soda instead of yeast, making it more like a cake than a bread. This teabread is simple and easy to bake. Just dump everything in a big bowl and mix with your electric mixer for 2 minutes.



Ingredients:
3 ripe bananas
30 g walnuts, chopped
200 g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
125 g caster sugar
75 g soft margarine
grated rind of ½ lemon
2 eggs
50 g seedless raisins.

Method:
Grease a 23 x 13 x 7.5 cm loaf tin. Set the oven at 180C. Mash the bananas.
Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl. Beat for about 3 minutes by hand using a wooden spoon or for 2 minutes in an electric mixer, until smooth. Put the mixture into the prepared tin loaf. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes, or until firm to the touch. Cool on a wire rack.


Makes about 12 slices

Minty Chocolate Truffles

Very easy to make and refreshing taken with a cup of hot tea.


Ingredients:
150 g dark cooking chocolate, broken into squares
30 g butter
50 g thick cream
1/2 tsp mint essence

For coating:
50 g icing sugar
50 g dark cooking chocolate, broken into square, melted


Method:
1. To make the truffle, either melt the butter, cream and chocolate together in microwave oven, at lowest setting, at 20 seconds interval, stirring in between interval or heat up the butter and cream together and pour the liquid into chocolate then stir until the chocolate melts.
2. Add mint essence, stir to combine and refrigerate the chocolate for 1 hour. Shape into rounds the size of marbles.
3. Roll the truffles in icing sugar then drizzle with melted chocolate.

Makes about 15 pcs

Melting Moments

I got this Melting Moments recipes from an old-fashion cookbook. It is a very light cookie. Very buttery.



Ingredients:
100 g butter or margarine
75 g caster sugar
2 tbsp beaten egg
85 g self-raising flour
40 g custard powder
pinch of salt
rolled oats for coating
4-5 glace cherries, quartered

Method:
Grease two baking sheets. Set the oven at 180C. In a mixing bowl, cream the margarine and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the egg with a little flour and beat again. Stir in the remaining flour with the salt, mix well, then shape the mixture into 16-20 balls with hands. Space the balls on the prepared baking sheets. Place a small piece of glace cherry in the centre of each. Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes until pale golden brown. Leave to stand for a few minutes on the baking sheets, then cool on a wire rack.

Makes about 16 - 20 pcs

Barbecued Pork Ribs

A bit time consuming to cook, but you can cook this dish while preparing others. The meat is tender and almost falling of the bones. Recipe taken from allrecipe.com and scaled down for 2.



Ingredients:
2 slabs pork spareribs
1/4 cup butter
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup barbeque sauce
1/2 lemon, juiced
salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. Place ribs in large skillet or roasting pan. Cover with lightly salted water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 1 hour. Remove from heat, and drain.
2. Prepare the sauce. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion and garlic in butter until the onion is tender; remove from heat. In a blender, combine 1 cup water, vinegar, ketchup, barbeque sauce, and lemon juice. Pour in the melted butter mixture, and puree for 1 minute. Pour into a saucepan, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, add the ribs, turn down the fire and simmer for another 1/2 hour. Place the ribs and sauce in a roasting pan, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

3. Preheat grill for medium-high heat. Brush grill grate with oil. Grill ribs for 10 to 20 minutes, or until well browned, basting with sauce and turning frequently.

Serves 2

Sweet & Sour Chicken.

As a student many years ago, my flatmates and I often had sweet & sour pork made from minced pork, as it was very easy to prepare and delicious to boot. Later on, I was advised by a cousin who worked in a restaurant to never ever order sweet and sour anything from restaurants. Apparently, restaurants would use their best/freshest meat for dishes that will bring out the freshness of the meat. Sweet & sour sauce is the sauce they use to mask the taste of old meat. So prepare your own sweet & sour meat if you love it. This is a relatively easy dish to cook, and very satisfying.



Ingredients:
400 g chicken breast, skin off, diced abt 2 cm x 2cm
1/2 cup plain flour
1 medium size onion, cut into half, then each into 4 segments, peel off layers
1 small lebanese cucumber, diced
1 tomato, cut into segments
1/8 of pineapple, cut into segments
1 paprika (peppers), diced abt 2cm x 2xcm
2 stalks spring onions, cut into 3 cm length
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tbsp tomato ketchup
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
water
cooking oil
coriander leaves (for garnishing)

Method:
Heat up oil in a wok / pan (about 3 cups), cpat the chicken lightly with flour, shake off excess and fry until light brown (about 5 mins). Set aside.

Pour away the oil. If there are flour residue, wipe off.

Heat up abt 2-3 tbsp cooking oil, add the onion and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add ketchup and mix well.

Add all the rest of the ingredients, except for chicken. Stir to mix. If it is too dry, add a bit of water. If you add to much water, you can thicken up the sauce with 1 tbsp cornflour + a bit of water mixed together.

Switch off the stove. Add the fried chicken and mix well. Serve garnished with coriander leaves.

Serves 2-4

Turkish Delight

Edith, a friend in Rainbow Connection, asked for suggestion as to what to do with her bottle of rose water. I suggested this recipe, and since I have not made Turkish Delight in such a long time (the previous time being Chrismast 4 years ago, and the result wasn't that great), I was keen to try it out myself. I am very pleased with the result this time. It is chewy with the right sweetness, and the rose water gives a real nice fragrance.



Ingredients:
25g gelatine
350 g sugar
1/4 tsp citric acid
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
2 tsp triple-strength rose water
few drops of food colouring (optional)
50 g icing sugar
25 g cornflour

Method:
Place 250 ml water in a large saucepan. Sprinkle the gelatine on the liquid. Set aside for 15 minutes until the gelatine is spongy. Add the sugar and citric acid, place the saucepan over gentle heat, and stir constantly until dissolved. Bring the mixture to the boil and boil for 20 minutes without stirring. Remove from the heat and allow to stand for 10 minutes.

Stir in the vanilla essence, rose water and colouring (if used). Pour into a wetted 15 cm (6 inch) square baking tin. Leave uncovered in a cool place for 24 hours.

Sift the icing sugar and cornfour together on to a sheet of greaseproof paper. Turn the Turkish delight on to the paper and cut into small squares using a sharp knife dipped in the icing sugar mixture. Toss well in the mixture so that all sides are coated. Pack in airtight container lined with waxed paper and dusted with the remaining icing sugar and cornflour.

Makes about 500 g

Here is how rose water looks like

Lontong Sayur

This dish consists of lontong(compressed rice)and the vegetable soup called sayur lodeh. You may use other vegetables of your choice i.e young jackfruit, petai etc. If you can't take hot food, scrapped off the chilli seeds. This recipe produce a big pot of soup!



SAYUR LODEH
Ingredients:
4 tbsp cooking oil
3 pc daun salam
5 cm galangal, bruised
2 stalks lemon grass, bruised
2 tbsp dried prawns, washed and dried
300 g small prawns, shelled and deveined
1 choko (labu siam), julienned
1 can bamboo shoots, cut into 2.5 cm squares
80 g Chinese cabbage, cut into 2.5 cm squares
160 g long beans, cut into 3 cm length
160 g French beans, cut into 3cm length, at a slant
600 g (2 pieces) firm tofu
1 can (400ml) coconut cream

Processed ingredients:
5 red chillies
12 shallots
5 cloves garlic
6 candlenuts
1 tbsp prawn paste (belacan)
¼ tsp turmeric (kunyit) powder

Garnishes:
fried shallots
fried soy beans
fried dried prawns
fried colourful crackers

Method:
1. Cut the firm tofu into small cubes or slices.
2. Heat up the oil in a deep heavy-based pot. Stir-fry the tofu until light golden brown. Remove and drain the tofu.
3. Lower the flame, fry the processed ingredients together with daun salam, galangal and lemon grass until fragrant. Add the dried prawn and continue stir-frying.
4. Add the small prawn and 5 tbsp coconut cream and stir-fry a few minutes.
5. Add the remaining vegetable, stir to mix.
6. Add the remaining coconut cream and 4 can of water (4 x 400ml). Bring to the boil and continue stirring.
7. Add the fried tofu, simmer for 10-15 minutes. Season with sugar and salt to taste. Serve with lontong (compressed rice cubes), topped with garnishes.

Lontong

I used to make lontong (compressed rice cakes) using ziplock bags until I read Donlung's tip at NK to use the packaging of the rice itself. Here is what I do.



Ingredients:
500 g long / medium grain rice

Method:
Cut the top of the rice package off and remove 275 g of the rice, leaving 225 g in the bag. Fold the top down 1 cm twice, secure with staplers. With a satay skewer, poke about 10 holes through both layer of the bags. Put the bag in a big pot filled with water. Make sure there are enough water for the bag to expand. Boil for 1 hour, checking frequently that the bag expands to a nice smooth shape. Cool the rice and cut into cubes with a wet sharp knife, clean the knife in between cuts.

Bubur Ayam Sukabumi

This Indonesian chicken porridge is very aromatic. It is a nice change from the traditional chinese chicken porridge. Although the list of ingredients seem daunting, it is not hard to prepare. Instead of boiling the chicken and then tear the meat to small pieces, I sliced the chicken breast fillet thinly, boil it in the gravy, drain the pieces when cooked and then grill them in an oven to get crispy edges. Instead of yu char kway and fried soya bean, I used wantan skin strips and fried peanuts as toppings. I also omitted the coconut milk from teh porridge, instead I use 1 tbsp of coconut cream.



Ingredients A:
250 gr rice, washed and drained
1.5 l water
2 pandan leaves
2 daun salam
800 ml thick coconut milk


Ingredients B:
500g chicken thigh
3 tbsp oil for pan frying
1/2 tsp sugar
2 daun salam
2 stalk lemon grass, bruised
3 kaffir lime leaves
1 spring onion, finely sliced
700ml water
5 yu char kway, finely sliced (and grill to crisp if preferred)
100g soya beans, fried
wantan wrapper, fried
parsley, finely sliced

Ingredients C:
5 shallots
3 cloves garlic
3 cm turmeric, toasted
1/2 tsp white pepper
3 candlenuts
salt to taste

Method:
1. To make the porridge: boil the rice with pandan leaves and daun salam from ingredients A. Add coconut milk and salt, cook while stiring until porridge is thickened.
2. Ground/process ingredients C finely.
3. Heat up the oil from ingredients B and pan fry the ground ingredients until aromatic. Add the daun salam, lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves from ingredients B, stir to mix. Add the chicken and spring onion, cook until chicken just changes colour.
4. Add water and sugar, cook until the ingredients are absorbed. Remove the chicken from teh gravy, then tear the chicken meat into fine shreds.
5. Serve the porridge in a bowl with shredded chicken meat, yu char kway, fried soya beans and wanton strips. Garnish with parsley.

Serves 6

Pepes Ayam

An inexpensive and easy recipe. The aroma of the spices when you grill the pepes is heavenly. You can use chicken thigh fillets, but wings are good too. The spices can be either ground or sliced finely. This recipe was given to me by my Indonesian friend Judy Cole. Thanks Judy.



Ingredients:
6 big chicken wings
3 red chillies, seeded
6 shallots
6 cloves garlic
3 cm turmeric
4 candle nuts, toasted
1 stalk lemongrass, bruised
3 kaffir lime leaves
salt
pepper
msg (optional)

Method:
Slice the ingredients finely or pound/grind them. Rub the chicken with the spices, then wrap it in banan leaf (or aluminium foil). Steam on big fire for about 10 minutes, then grill.

Serves 2-3

Urap Sayuran

This is a very easy vegetable dish that can be made from almost any basic vegetables you have on hands. I didn't follow the recipes strictly. Instead of fresh shredded coconut, I rehydrated dried shredded coconut from the Phillipines.



Ingredients:
10 string of yard long bean, chopped into 2cm lengths 
75 gram cabbage, chopped
100 gram beansprout 
50 gram spinach, chopped 
100 gram cassava leaves, chopped 
1/2 medium ripe coconut, peeled then shred coarsely 
 
Ground spices:
5 red chillies 
4 cloves garlic 
10 cm lesser galangal (kencur)
5 kaffir lime leaves 
1/2 tsp sugar 
1 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)   

Method:
1. Boil each vegetable separately, drain well and set aside.
2. Mix the ground spices with shredded coconut, then wrap in banana leaf. 
3. Steam the parcel until cooked. Mix with the vegetables to serve.

Serves 6

Huat Kueh

Source: Cheat Eat



Ingredients:
200g muscovado or dark brown sugar
400ml water
300g Hong Kong flour (low gluten flour used in Chinese pastries, substitute with cake flour if unavailable)
60g rice flour
4 tsp double acting baking powder

Method:
Bring the 400ml water to a boil and add sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolve. Leave the sugar solution to cool.

Arrange Chinese tea cups or a 12 bun ½ cup muffin tin in a wok. Add water to the wok and bring it to a boil. At the same time the tea cups will be heated up by the steam.

Sieve the Hong Kong flour, rice flour and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Slowly add the sugar solution into the flour, using a whisk to mix. Alternatively, if you are lazy like I am, use a standmixer. Make sure that there are no lumps in the batter.

Make sure water in the wok is at a roaring boil. Pour the batter into the hot tea cups to at least 80% full. If using muffin tin, place cupcake liners in the tin before pouring the batter. Steam for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the cake. Do not open the lid for the first 10 minutes however or the cake may go flat.

Don't mean to toot my own horn but these home made huat kueh are the best I have ever tasted. They are fluffy, moist and have that intense flavour of muscovado sugar which I love.


Serves

Banana and Raisin Triangles

For easy apple pie taste without the hazzle, this pastry can be made using ready-rolled puff pastry. If you have a sandwich maker, it is even easier.



Ingredients:
400g can pie apple
1 banana, sliced
1/2 cup sultanas or raisins
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp mixed spice
4 sheets frozen sweet puff pastry, halved
icing sugar, to dust.

Method:
1. Preheat a 2 hole sandwich maker (see note). Combine apple, banana, sultanas, sugar and spice in a bowl.
2. Place half a sheet of pastry onto the base of the sandwhich maker. Place a spoonnfull of apple mixture into each recess. Place another pastry half on top.
3. Close machine. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Continue with remaining ingredients. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm with custard.

Note:
You will need to use a traditional sandwich maker with this recipe - not a sandwich press (which does not seal the filling). If you do not have a sandwich maker, cut pastry into even sized squares, add filling and fold pastry over to form a turnover. Bake in a hot oven (200C) for 10-15 minutes or until puffed and golden.

Serves 4

Coffee and Walnut Shortbread

A shortbread for coffee lovers. Because I did not have coffee powder, I used instant coffee granules and 'squashed'them in my flour sieve. I added 1 teaspoon of coffee emulco for the extra fragrance.



Ingredients:
250g butter, cubed
1 cup icing sugar
2 cups plain flour
1 cup cornflour
2 tbsp coffee powder
30 walnut halves

Method:
1. Place butter and icing sugar into a large bowl. Beat together with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Sift flours and coffee together. Stir into creamed mixture to form a soft dough.

2. Form dough into walnut-size rounds. Arrange on lightly-greased baking trays, leaving room for biscuits to spread. Flatten biscuits slightly. Prick with a fork. Top with walnuts.

3. Bake in a slow oven (150C) for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden. Serve with espresso coffee if desired. Store in an airtight container.

Variation 1
Replace the walnuts with hazelnuts, pecans, almonds or macadamia nuts if preferred.
Variation 2
Drizzle some melted dark or milk chocolate over cooled biscuits to achieve a tasty and attractive effect. Or dip half of each bisuit into melted chocolate. Allow excess chocolate to drip off, the place onto baking paper-lined trays to set.

Makes about 30