White Gourd Braised Rice (白莆焖饭）

Posted on by

IMG_5903

INTRODUCTION

This is an old recipe relocated from the Guaishushu’s Facebook pages with new photo taking.

IMG_5897

When you looked at the picture, you may think that it is fried rice, in fact it is not. It is a braised rice or vegetable rice. In Mandarin, there are a number of name to it, it can be called 油饭，菜饭，焖菜饭 or 焖饭。  

IMG_5887

My late parents used to cook this type of rice. Unlike other dialect groups, Chawan (Zhaoan or 诏安）braised rice usually limited to two types of vegetable, white gourd （白莆） and bok Choy (大白菜）or napa cabbage。Green vegetables will not be used as these leafy vegetables cannot withstand long hours of cooking. In addition, the green colour will turn yellowish when cooked for long hours. Therefore, only white vegetables were used traditionally. Having said that,  other dialects do braised rice using long bean, cabbages or mustard green.

IMG_5885

Traditional cooking are using lard to sauté the shallots. However, for health purpose, I have used normal vegetable cooking oil. Of course, that will sacrifice the taste of the dish. But is it not health is more important?  This dish shall be categorized as a one pot noodle and rice dish.

IMG_5879

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings :5-6 adult servings

PicMonkey Collage1

  • 500 grams of white gourd (or napa cabbage)
  • 250 grams of pork belly meat (or minced meat)
  • 2 medium sized mushrooms – soak and cut into thin stripes
  • 5 small shallots – slice into thin pieces
  • 1 small carrots – julienned into thin stripes
  • 1 tablespoons of dried shrimps (not in picture)
  • 3-4 cups of white rice  (washed)
  • 2 tablespoon of cooking oil (not in picture)
  • Dashes of white pepper
  • Pinches of salt
  • Seasoning (chicken stock, light soya sauce or vegetable stock) to taste

STEPS OF PREPARATION

  • De-skin the white gourd, julienne into thin stripes and set aside. When slicing the white gourd, if you knife can easily cut through the seeds, these seeds are edible. If it is hard to cut, it considered as too mature and you have to throw away all the parts that have seeds.

1005100_512951155442636_1732892946_n

  • Blanch the pork belly in hot water for 15-20 minutes. Drain and cut into think stripes. Keep the meat broth. Alternatively, you can also use minced meat for this dish.

10645_512951198775965_1082439288_n

  • In a big frying pan, put some oil and fried the shallots until almost golden brown. Add small shrimps, pepper, salt, mushrooms and sliced pork belly (or minced meat). Fried for a while until well mixed (about 2 minutes). Add in julienned white gourd and carrots and fried for another 2 minutes and until well mixed.

1069130_512951035442648_397431027_n

  • Wash your rice, sieved and put the white rice. Stir fried 2-3 minutes until well mixed. Add seasonings of your choice (e.g.. Light soya sauce, sugar, more pepper, fish sauce, mushroom concentrates ). Transfer to a rice cooker or you can continue using this frying pan (Wok). Add the meat broth earlier to the rice cooker The quantity of liquid should be just enough to cover the rice. If you want your rice to be damp, more meat broth can be added. (see notes below)

IMG_0186

  • Use the rice cooker function for oiled rice (if any) or white rice. Occasional stirring is required to ensure all rice are evenly cooked.  Add additional meat broth or re-cook for another cycle if your rice is uncooked. Keep the rice in the rice cooker for at least 15 minutes before serving. Best served hot with additional garnishes such as : Seaweed meat floss, spring onions, Chinese gallery, fried eggs .

IMG_5883

 

Note :

  • Generally, 1 cup of rice will require 1 cup of meat broth. As this is a vegetable rice, your water should be slightly reduced since cooked vegetable will emit some more vegetable juices. For example, if 4 cups of water is required to cook 4 cups of rice,than for vegetable rice, 3 cups of water should be adequate. In the event you find that the rice is too dry or not cooked, just add some more meat broth.

  • Another point to note is the vegetables and meat will add to the capacity of the rice. For example, if the capacity of your rice cooker is 5 cups, the more you can cook will be 3-3.5 cups of vegetable rice.

IMG_5877

CONCLUSION

Remember that is a rather basic recipe for vegetable braised rice.. Alternative vegetables that you can consider are: long bean, cabbage, napa cabbage, mustard green. This is a flexible recipe, a bit more or less is acceptable and feel free to adjust the seasoning to suit your family’s taste buds.

IMG_5881

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

IMG_5893

IMG_5875

 

Orange Huat Kuih (香橙发糕）

Posted on by

IMG_8962

INTRODUCTION

There is nothing to shout about this recipe. It is the modified recipe from my Pandan Huat Kuih.. If you are interested, you can refer to this post: An Auspicious Steamed Cake To Celebrate My Blog Anniversary–Pandan Huat Kuih (香兰发糕）

IMG_8956

Most readers are pleased with my Pandan Huat Kuih but I have decided to test the recipe again with the use of mandarin orange juices..

IMG_89381

The outcome was very encouraging and as usual, the huat kuih flourished beautifully .. I felt very happy to see the result of this experiment.The only regret that I had was not adding the orange zest and as such, the mandarin orange flavour were not very distinct.

IMG_8942

This huat kuih is my favourite huat kuih recipe.. Not only because it is beautiful, I love its texture and flavour. Unlike other recipe which is dense and dry, this recipe is fluffier and softer..

IMG_8954

The butter and egg in the recipe do give its the huat kuih a unique fragrance and taste.. It tastes a bit like steamed sponge cake (kuey nerng ko)

IMG_89311

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: Prepared about 6 huat kuih

IMG_8917

  • 250 grams of self raising flour （自发面粉）
  • 150 grams of castor sugar （白砂糖）
  • 1 teaspoon of double acting baking powder or baking powder (双重发粉或发粉）
  • 1 egg (鸡蛋）
  • 200 grams or ml of orange or mandarin orange juices (橙汁）
  • 50 grams of melted butter （牛油-溶化）
  • 1 teaspoon of orange zest (橙皮碎）

IMG_8965

STEPS OF PREPARATION

  • Get ready a steamer with water capable of steaming the Kuih for at least 20 minutes.

IMG_8924

  • Heat up the sugar and orange juice in a microwave for one minute or over the stove until the sugar dissolves. Add the melted butter and egg. Stir until well combined. Set aside.

  • In another big mixing bowl, sift the self raising flour and double acting baking powder. Make a well in the centre. Add the orange juice – butter – egg mixture gradually. Use a hand mixer and whisk until well mixed.

  • Transfer it to some cupcake cups and fill the cups with the batter until at least 95% full. Steam in the steamer under high heat for 15-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre come out clean. It is best that the cupcakes cups be pre-steamed before filling of the batter. You shall use high heat in the entire process of steaming. Best served hot as a snack .

IMG_89481

CONCLUSION

I really love this huat kuih for its texture and fragrance though the orange fragrance were not distinct without the use of orange zest. I seriously believed that you can easily transform this huat kuih to any type of flavour you like such as chocolate or even banana flavour.

IMG_8964

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

IMG_8958

IMG_8950

Shiny Sugar Glazed Yam And Sweet Potatoes Sticks (金银糕烧）

Posted on by

IMG_8906

INTRODUCTION

This is a common Teochew household dessert or snack that most Teochew (Chaozhou) granny will know how to do.. Usually yam cubes were used . However, for Chinese New Year, sweet potatoes were added and purposely cut into  stick form so that they resemble gold bars and yams as silver bars signifying abundance of wealth..

IMG_8900

The method of cooking is called Ko Sio (糕烧）。 It is to boil some sugar solution until thick syrup form and evenly coated the yam and sweet potatoes. Further boiling of this syrup and if dips into cold water  will transform into another form of dessert called candied floss yam stick (拔丝芋头/地瓜）

The above is the candied floss banana balls (Source of picture: http://a2.att.hudong.com/57/39/20300542517430139908396961330_s.jpg)

IMG_41281

Further boiling will render more evaporation of water and sugar will start to recrystallize and coated on the yam and hence transformed into another dessert called sugar coated yam stick. (反沙芋头）。 If you are interested in this recipe – you can refer to : Playing With Recrystallization of Sugar–Sugar Coated Yam Sticks (反沙芋头）

IMG_8910

All these are simple recipes  that use sugar and water as the main ingredients to sweeten the yam or sweet potatoes. It can be easily prepared at home and all that is needed is some experiences or practises…Don’t worry, too watery will become this recipe, to thick will become candid floss and when sugar recrystallized, it is another dessert. In the event that your sugar recrystallized, add water and it will come back to this recipe.. Is it not fun to play with these traditional recipes?

IMG_8904

Traditional household recipes are generally very easy and definitely easier than in this illustration. For home consumption, shape is not of absolute importance and the prime consideration shall be a healthier dessert and I will share the simplified steps later.

IMG_8888

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: 3-4 adult servings

IMG_8869

  • 200 grams of yam sticks
  • 200 grams of sweet potatoes sticks
  • 120 grams of castor sugar
  • 100 grams (ml) of water
  • 1 teaspoon of minced shallots garlics
  • Some cooking oil for deep frying (optional)

* This is a flexible recipe, a bit more or less is acceptable including substituting the yam or sweet potatoes with others

IMG_8892

STEPS OF PREPARATION

IMG_8875

  • Heat up some cooking oil in a wok. The oil is considered as hot enough when a wooden chopstick inserted into the hot oil, bubbles start to emit. Add in the sweet potatoes and yam sticks. Turn the heat to medium. Deep fried the sticks until the exterior are hardened. Note that the step of deep frying is optional and and the purpose is to  maintain the shape of the yam stick from disintegration when cooked. These yam and sweet potatoes sticks will continue to get cooked in the next step. It took me about 10 minutes to get the texture I wanted. Drain and set aside.

  • In the same wok, put the minced shallots and garlics, sauté until it is slightly brownish. Add the deep fried yam and sweet potatoes sticks. Stir fry for one minute until well mixed.

IMG_8880

  • Add the sugar followed by the water, bring to boil and continue to simmer until it reaches thick syrup form. You will witness the bubbles start to get bigger and bigger.  Use a spoon to take the syrup out and when the syrup exposed to the air, if it flow thickly, it is considered as done. If it become some floss like or sugar recrystallize, It has been overcooked. Add a bit more water to dissolve the candy or crystallized sugar and cook until the sticky, gooey texture is reached.  Best served warm when it is hot.. Sprinkled with some sesame seeds if desired.

IMG_8908

Note:

  • Most tuber roots can be used. Besides yam(taro) and sweet potatoes, you can also use tapioca. Shape of the yam and sweet potatoes is of individual preference. It can be in stick form or cube form or even mould into flower shape. Shape will affect the timing of the cooking,. The smaller it is , the shorter will be the timing.
  • For home consumption, there is no need to deep fry the yam and sweet potatoes. The main purpose of deep frying is to maintain the shape of the yam and sweet potatoes. As such, after sautéing the minced shallots, add the yam plus sweet potatoes, add adequate water to simmer the yam until soft, add sugar and continue to cook until thick syrup form.  Off heat and serve when hot. The yam and sweet potatoes may slightly disintegrate if overcooked but it will be a healthier alternative..

  • To make it even healthier, sautéing can be omitted, just add water and sugar to yam and sweet potatoes stick, simmer until thick syrup form.. But it lacks the aromatic that shallot oils gave.

IMG_8884

CONCLUSION

This recipe is not difficult.. Don’t worry that it is too sweet.. If you found it to be too sweet, either dilute the syrup with a bit of water or just scrap away the syrup ..However, adding too much water will become sweet potato soup!!  Remember that you can use tapioca or other roots, cook in different shapes, use different type (colours) of sweet potatoes…Trust me, kids will love this dessert (?)… but why my late mum always cooked this as breakfast.. Haha

IMG_8902

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

IMG_8911

IMG_8898

 

Zhao An (Chawan) Smoked Chicken (诏安熏鸡)

Posted on by

IMG_8826

INTRODUCTION

i may or may not have shared with readers about my dialect group.. I belong to a Chinese dialect group called Chawan or Zhao An (诏安）。 Zhao An is a town situated in the Province of Fujian border and next to Chaozhou (潮州） and Santou (汕头）that situated at the border of Guandong Province, People’s republic of China. Dialect and culture wise, I honestly believed that has resemblances of half Hokkien and half Teochew…Most of the dishes that we had are very much influenced by the Chaozhou cuisines. However, there is one rather authentic and unique dish that Zhao An has is the sugar cane  smoked chicken.

IMG_8838

Most Sarawakian Zhao An will know of this dish.. It was always featured in the annual Kuching Festivals… As to why only Zhao An dialect group prepared this dish and not other dialects group is still a mystery to me.. I am rather puzzled that why our close associates like Teochew and Hakka did not have such a dish..

IMG_8844

I need not to search for any recipe for this special smoked chicken. I grew up with them. During my childhood days and in major festivals such as Chinese New Year Eve, Ching Ming or Ghost Festivals, my families will slaughter 5-6 chickens, 2-3 ducks and lots of pork belly for praying.. As most families did not have any refrigerator in the 1970s, after praying, one of the ways of preserving large quantities of meat is to smoke these meats. After praying and dinner, those  poached chicken that were not consumed during the day were marinated with sugar, dark soya sauce and white pepper. It was then smoked until the desired colour and flavour .. After smoking, these smoked meat were left in an airy place and can kept for 3-4 days without the need of re-heating..

IMG_8850

Smoked chicken is not uncommon in China. In fact, most provinces do have their ways of smoking the chicken  but the uniqueness of Zhao An smoked chicken is that it is sweet and juicy and the smoking time is rather short as compared to other recipes. Sugar cane (if available) or otherwise white sugar were used to generate the smokes for the smoking process. These was different from other recipes that uses tea leaves or rice grains. Hence the smoked chicken is glossy, slightly sweet on the skin and a rather faint smoky flavour. Of course you can smoke longer to get the strong smoky aroma if you prefer that.

IMG_8846

Traditionally, sugar cane was used in the smoking but in most cases it was not used especially when it was not readily available. Instead, white sugar was used instead. I can’t claim that this recipe is authentic but it is my family recipe that we have been using all these years.. It is in fact a very straight forward and easy recipe but yields great taste..

IMG_8822

I have been hesitating of preparing these smoke chickens in my Singapore home as traditionally, a wok have to be set aside purely for the purpose of smoking the chicken. I am not willing to invest in having a wok purely for this purpose but most of my brothers’ families in Kuching do have such wok. Today, I have decided to simplify the method and see if it works.. Yes, it worked and it did not dirty much of my utensils. Of course, i have smoke the chicken with full precaution with the hope that it will not dirty my wok or pot and rendered it became unusable for other purposes…

IMG_8832

WHAT IS REQUIRED

IMG_8796

  • One small to medium size chicken, cleaned.
  • 1-2 tablespoons of dark soya sauce
  • 2-3 tablespoons of castor sugar
  • 1 tablespoon of white pepper

IMG_8812

STEPS OF PREPARATION

IMG_8804

  • Get ready a pot of water and bring to boil.  When the water is boiling , submerge the whole chicken into the water with its back facing up.  The reason letting the chicken having its back facing up is because chicken breast takes longer time to cook  and positioning chicken this way will ensure that breast are fully cooked. Lower heat and simmer for approximately 30 minutes.(for medium sized chicken). Timing will depend on size of the chicken, the smaller the chicken, the shorter will be the timing.

  • Once the chicken is ready, transfer out and let it cool at room temperature. Meanwhile, mix all marinating agents (dark soya sauce, half of the sugar and white pepper) and set aside. Once the chicken is cooled, brush the marinating agent over the entire chicken and let it marinate for at least half an hour. If you are short of time, you can directly brush the marinating agent over the hot chicken.

IMG_8810

  • In a big pot or wok adequate to put the entire chicken, put a piece of aluminium foil or some aluminium plate in the centre, add the remaining half of the sugar. On the heat (high heat) until the sugar starts to melt and caramelize. Once the sugar starts to caramelize and smoke starts to come out, reduce the heat to low.  Put something on top of the aluminium plate to hold the chicken and place the marinated chicken on top. Close the lid and let it smokes for about 20-30 minutes (at 15 minutes junction, you can check if the smell is too strong for your liking).

IMG_8818

  • Once the chicken is done, off the heat and let it rest in the pot or wok for another 15 minutes to continue the smoking process. Open the lid and transfer out for cooling. Throw away aluminium plate that were full of burnt sugar.

IMG_8840

NOTE:

  • Smoking at such a short period is to provide flavour to the chicken. If you need it for real preservation purposes, you will need to smoke for at least 1-2 hour. The longer the smoking time, the more smoky flavour it will have but the chicken will also become less juicy. Over smoked chicken can also turn bitter . Low heat shall be used throughout. As long as the sugar is burnt and smoke generated, it is adequate. After smoking, the skin of the chicken shall be dry and glossy. If it is still wet, the smoking process need to be continued.

  • Make sure that the sugar crystals do not drop on any part of the wok or pot besides in the aluminium plate. Otherwise, you will have a hard time of cleaning the wok or pot. Should it happens, you may need to boil the pot with hot water and soak overnight before you can clean the burnt sugar.

IMG_8854

CONCLUSION

I have prepared this dish as a respect to my dialect (Zhao An) and my late mum. I missed this dish very much though my sister in law did prepare for me to enjoy while I was having holiday in Kuching. Even when my mum is around, such dish will not be prepared unless there are festivals.. I hope with this recipe, more readers of other dialect can try our delicacies. Trust me, this smoked chicken, unlike other recipe, have a rather subtle smoky taste.. It is sweet and juicy due to the ingredients and method of preparation. I believed most readers will be able to accept this humble dish of ours.

IMG_8834

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

IMG_8842

IMG_8824

 

Homemade Fish Balls (传统自制鱼丸）

Posted on by

IMG_8703

 

INTRODUCTION

When I was young, it is not common to have fish balls sold in the counter.. If you want to eat fish balls, families will have to prepare their own fish balls. Well, then recipe is very simple, just debone to get the meat, chop, slam and shape.. Nothing to shout about and most families will know how to make such fish balls.

IMG_8705

As time went by, stores started to sell fish balls. For those wet market version that sells fresh fish balls, they are preparing it on the spot by dropping the fish paste into a pot of hot water manually and it is consider as done when the fish balls floated up. The texture is not much different from the one prepared at home. But supermarket sold another type of fish balls that are very bouncy and springy and I am prejudiced to term it as “ping pong fish balls” ..

IMG_8697

I have never liked these supermarket fish balls since it was introduced to the market .. It is overly springy, some are rather fishy and some are very salty.. However, I do miss the homemade fish balls that are slightly firmer, not as springy as the “ping pong” fish balls. If you can’t imagine the texture, it resembles sotong balls or prawn balls or even meat balls commonly sold in the supermarket.. If one can accept squid or prawn balls, I am sure he or she can accept the texture of these homemade fish balls..

IMG_8721

Fish balls recipes are very simple but one of the challenges of making the fish balls is to make a bouncy fish ball. Some said to slam the fish balls for a long time, some said adding baking soda, lye water (alkaline water) while others have resorted the use of tapioca starch or sweet potatoes starch; some frozen the fish meat while some uses egg white to smoothen the fish balls.  Whatever method used, what I can assure is that homemade fish balls will never have the same texture as the factory produce fish balls. If readers are looking for the texture of commercial sold fish balls, this recipe may not be suitable for you.

IMG_8713

I am pleased with this batch of fish balls. It is firm and springy. It;s sweetness is derived purely from the fish itself. Not much starches were added and hence a fish ball is equivalent to a mouthful of fish meat..As for the shaping, my hand is no machine and hence size is not regular and shape is not actually round. I am sure readers will know what I mean after trying out the recipe as we are dealing with some sticky paste of fish meat.

IMG_8717

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: Prepared about 40 fish balls depends on sizes

IMG_8677

  • 1 kilogram of deboned and de-skinned fish meat
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 1/2 tablespoon of white pepper
  • 50 grams of corn starch or tapioca flour or sweet potatoes starch
  • 250 grams of icy cold water
  • 2-4 egg whites (optional and not included in this illustrations)

IMG_8701

STEPS OF PREPARATION

IMG_8683

IMG_8758

  • If you do not have a food processor, use the back of a knife and chop the fish meat until as fine as possible. You can also put the fish meat in a food processor, blend until as fine as possible. The fish meat will gradually become stickier and stickier. Add in half of the ice cold water gradually,  the corn starch, white pepper, salt and egg white (optional), beat until well combined into a sticky paste. Transfer to a mixing bowl.

  • Use a pair of chopstick and stir in an unilateral direction for at least 15 minutes. In this process, gradually add in the other half of the water. As you stir, you will see the fish paste become smoother and smoother and become glossier. Alternatively, shape the fish paste in a big ball, slam the fish paste onto a bowl or chopping board for at least 50 times. This will also force the air out in the fish paste and making it a springier fish ball. You can opt to perform either one or just chose a combination of both. The bottom line is the fish paste become smooth and shinny. In this illustration, I have used the chopstick method for about 15 minutes and I just slammed a few times to force the air out before proceeding to the next step.

IMG_8694

  • To cook the fish ball, have a pot of hot boiling water. Wet your hand with some water, have some fish paste in your hand, squeeze out and use a tablespoon to scope out the portion being squeeze out. Drop it into the hot boiling water, once the fish balls float up, it is considered as cooked.

IMG_8709

Note:

  • Choosing the fish – Most elders will know that Ikan Parang (西刀鱼 or wolf herring) is ideal as it is tasty and produce a more bouncy fish balls. However, there are a lot of small bones and pounding or blending will need to be much longer. Other common types of fish are Ikan Tenggiri Batang and Ikan Tenggiri Papan (马交 or Spanish Mackerel). These fish are less fishy, less fine bones, no scales with lots of fleshes). In fact any fish can also be used but it will produce different fish balls of different texture and fishiness.

IMG_8719

CONCLUSION

Every recipe will tell you almost the same type of ingredients for fish balls. It is just fish, water, some seasonings and some starches (which are optional).. What is important for bouncy fish balls is the slamming or constant stirring of the fish paste. However, the springiness can never be compared to the commercially sold fish balls. As far as I am concerned, I can always forgo such sponginess as I knew exactly what are the ingredients used to make the fish balls.

IMG_8711

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

IMG_8707

IMG_8699

 

Homemade Seaweed Meat Floss (海苔肉松）

Posted on by

IMG_7001

INTRODUCTION

Happy New Year, readers. May all your wishes be materialized.. Well, financial is one thing, health and smooth sailing in all what you are doing are equally important.. I hereby wish all successful in all your future undertakings.

IMG_6986

I always “admired” friends who have a bread machine as apparently it can prepare a lot more things besides bread. But it made no sense for me to buy a “trendy” bread machine just for other purposes…We don’t eat bread very often and when I need to prepare bread, I can always use my standing machine to do the kneading….

IMG_6994

One of the “admirable” functions of bread machine is the ability to stir frying something over a long period of time such as sambal, dodol, peanuts , meat flosses and etc.… While I am “admiring” others, I took a step back and re-thought how homemade pork flosses were being prepared without the use of bread machine? I started goggling and there are some recipes in the internet that provided ways of preparing meat floss besides using bread machine..That is totally logical as I do not believed home made meat flosses is only possible after the creation of bread machine.

IMG_6982

Meat flosses were prepared from meat with strong fibre usually rather lean meat. These meats can be tough to chew even after cooked. Some families boiled soup and throw away the meat…It is such a waste to throw away “food” and any recycling will definitely be welcoming..

IMG_6988

So is meat floss very difficult to prepare  without bread machine? No, it is not.  As for the taste and flavour, it will be very much depends on what you like and the taste of meat floss that you are used to. All readers should know every company will have their unique taste of meat floss and the recipe that I am sharing is close to the taste of Bee Cheng Hiang’s seaweed meat floss. The word is “closed to” and not “exactly like” as no one will know the trade secrets of any commercially sold goodies.

IMG_6992

Per Wikipedia, meat floss or rousong (肉松）

“Rousong, also called meat wool, meat floss, pork floss, flossy pork, pork sung or yuk sung, is a dried meat product with a light and fluffy texture similar to coarse cotton, originating from China. Rousong is used as a topping for many foods, such as congee, tofu, and savoury soy milk. It is also used as filling for various buns and pastries, and as a snack food on its own. Rousong is a very popular food item in Chinese cuisine and Taiwanese cuisine. Rousong is made by stewing cuts of pork in a sweetened soy sauce mixture until individual muscle fibres can be easily teased apart with a fork. This happens when the collagen that holds the muscle fibres of the meat together has been converted into gelatine.[2]The teased-apart meat is then strained and dried in the oven. After a light drying, the meat is mashed and beaten while being dry cooked in a large wok until it is nearly completely dry. Additional flavourings are usually added while the mixture is being dry fried. Five kilogrammes (11 pounds) of meat will usually yield about one kilogramme (2.2 pounds) of floss” （Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rousong)

IMG_7003

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: Prepare about 100 grams of meat floss

IMG_69361

Braising

  • 500 grams of pork sirloin (猪腿肉）
  • 2 slices of ginger
  • 2 sprigs of spring onion – cut into big pieces
  • 2 tablespoons of castor sugar or rock sugar of the size
  • 2 tablespoons of Chinese cooking wine
  • 2 tablespoons of fish sauce (optional substitute with 1 teaspoon of salt)
  • 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce
  • 1 teaspoon of five spice powder

Stir frying

  • 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds
  • 3-4 pieces of seaweed cut into small pieces (optional)
  • Additional seasoning to taste (sugar or other meat stock)

IMG_7005

STEPS OF PREPARATION

IMG_6961

  • Cut the meat in big chunks. Put all the ingredients in a pressure cooker and pressure cook under the meat function for cycles. If after one cycle, your meat is soft and can be tear apart by a fork, it is ready. Otherwise, continue to cook until the meat is soft and tender. (For this illustration, I have cooked for about 1.5 cycles).

IMG_6966

  • Drain and keep the meat broth. You can use the meat broth and make into a soup base for vegetable soup. Transfer the drained meat to a stand mixer, use your stand mixer’s lowest speed to “beat” the meat and at most in 1-2 minutes, your meat shall become be broken into small pieces. (alternately you can use the fork to tear the meat apart).

  • Transfer the broken meats to a non stick pan (alternatively normal frying pan with some oil). Stir fry under medium heat until the meat floss dries up. It took me the most is 15 minutes to get this done. Colour will gradually change and the stir frying will get easier and easier. Take some meat floss out and taste if this suit your taste buds. Otherwise, add seasonings of your choice (fish sauce, additional sugar etc.) Add the seaweed stripes and sesame seeds. Stir fry until well mixed and the seaweed stripes become crispy. Off heat and let it cool completely before store in an air tight container.

IMG_6972

Note:

  • If you do not have pressure cooker, by all means cook the meat until fibre can be tear apart by a fork. It can be over the stove, rice cooker soup function, slow cooker or other kitchen equipment. Pressure cooker shall be the faster gadget available for cooking such type of meat.

  • While I can’t locate any recipe that uses fish sauce as the seasonings, but both me and my wife have tasted the store bought, compared with homemade version and concluded that fish sauce is the critical seasoning. After adding the fish sauce, the taste is very close to the store bought.

  • There is no need to start the recipe from fresh meat, you can always collect the meat from the pork bones while boiling soup until a sizeable amount before proceeding.

  • Do play around with the seasonings, who say meat floss cannot be curry flavoured or black pepper flavoured. You can also play around with other meats such as chicken, duck, beef or even fish. Of course the timing of cooking will be relatively shorter.

  • Once the colour changed to light brown, you shall off the heat, continue stir frying will make the meat floss too dry and easy to break become flour. In addition, do not let the stand mixer to beat the meat for too long. Once the uncooked meat is too fine, it will become flour like after stir frying.

IMG_6984

CONCLUSION

This is not a difficult recipe.  With non stick pan, it is rather fast and quite effort less. Without bread machine, you can also enjoy homemade meat floss.. Remember that you can have any flavoured meat floss as you like and create one that become your family’s secret recipe.

IMG_6990

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

IMG_6998

IMG_7007

Egg White Steamed Prawns (蛋白蒸虾)

Posted on by

IMG_6537

INTRODUCTION

I believed this will be the last Chinese New Year recipe for the year of Horse before ushering the year of Goat – 2015.

IMG_6543

When one is actively baking Chinese New Year cookies and for my recipe, one recipe portion of kuih bangkit yields 8 egg whites, one recipe portion of pineapple tarts yields 4 egg whites plus egg whites resulting from preparation of egg wash and one lapis legit will yields 30 egg whites. It is no joke if there are no immediate usage of these egg whites. Though it can be deep froze for future usage, however, is it not a better way if we can consume within the day the eggs were cracked?

IMG_6551

I do have a few egg white recipes and if you are interested you can refer to the following post:

IMG_6559

I am facing the same problem too and with my illustration of Authentic Lapis Legit (Spekkoek 印尼千层蛋糕）, the cake left me with 30 egg whites (about 2/3 x 60 grams per egg x 30 eggs)= 1.2 kilograms of egg whites. I have tried to use it to fry rice, preserved radish egg (cai poh nerng) and other savoury dishes.. As the Chinese New Year baking spree started, the egg white kept increasing and I have a container purely to collect egg whites..

IMG_6545

The family do not really like sweet western desserts like meringue nest or pavlova and that prompted me to search for egg white recipe. Then I stumbled across a recipe of egg white steamed prawns from Violet’s Kitchen – 酒香蛋白蒸虾Steamed Prawns with Wine and Egg White. After digesting the recipe, i headed to my kitchen and get ready the dish for dinner. Beside the usage of egg whites, another reason that I have chosen this recipe is because I believed it is a very presentable dish during Chinese New Year reunion dinner.. If you want to prepare some prawns for the re-union dinner, why not consider preparing this dish?

IMG_6549

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Recipe adapted from: 酒香蛋白蒸虾Steamed Prawns with Wine and Egg White.

IMG_6521

  • 10 medium size prawns
  • 3 cm ginger – julienned into thin strips
  • 1/2 cup of Chinese cooking wine
  • 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce
  • pinches of salt
  • 4 egg whites (about 120 grams) – estimated *
  • Dashes of white pepper
  • 2-3 sprigs of spring onion  – cut into 4-5 cm length
  • 1-2 tablespoons of shallot oil.

* The amount of egg whites will depend on your steaming plate. If it is deep, more may be required. The egg white should be adequate to half covered the prawns.

IMG_6541

STEPS OF PREPARATION

IMG_6526

  • Use two skewers to pierce the prawns near the head and near the tail. The main purpose is to straighten the prawns after it was cooked. Marinate the prawns with the salt, white pepper and Chinese cooking wine for 15-20 minutes. At the bottom of the steaming plate, put half of the shredded ginger, spring onion and the marinating liquid (cooking wine and salt and pepper). Place the prawns on top.and sprinkle with remaining half of the sprinkle ginger.

IMG_6534

  • Steam the prawns at high heat for 4-5 minutes. For egg whites, you can either use only the egg white for steaming or you can add 2 tablespoons of water plus one teaspoon of corn flour, beat until well mix for steaming. The second method make the steamed egg whites softer but this step is absolutely optional.

  • Once the prawns were steamed, pour the beaten egg white to the steaming plate until the prawns are half covered. Steamed for another 2-3 minutes or until the egg white was set. The timing of the steaming will depends very much on how deep is your plate and how much egg whites you have used. Once done, drizzle with hot shallot oil and best served hot directly from the kitchen as part of a Chinese set meal.

IMG_6547

CONCLUSION

This post have dual purpose – one is to provide readers to utilize excess egg whites and to provide another choice of New Year Eve reunion dinner.

IMG_6539

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

IMG_6557

IMG_6563

 

Special Compilation Of Chinese New Year Cookies, Snacks And Cakes Recipes

Posted on by

PicMonkey Collage

INTRODUCTION
Chinese New Year is approaching and I do not think readers needs any more recipes at this very late juncture.. However, I am curious too as to how many recipes I have for Chinese New Year snacks and cookies. I feel that it is fun to do a recap on the cookies recipes..Please click on the picture or the blue title to go to individual recipe.
Nuts Crispy Brittle or Nuts Sweets (坚果脆片）
img_7807_thumb
Cherry Blossom Stained Glass Cookies (樱花玻璃曲奇）
img_5848_thumb
Nestum Cereal Cookies (麦片饼干)
img_7138_thumb
Salted Egg Yolk Cookies (蛋黄酥饼）
img_7060_thumb
Cream Cheese Bak Kwa Savoury Cookies (肉干咸香饼干）
img_6851_thumb
Green Peas Cookies (青豆饼）
IMG_6392
Melting Moments
IMG_4414
Uppåkra (Swedish Butter Potato Starch Cookies) (瑞典马铃薯粉牛油饼干）
img_22051_thumb
Chilli Shrimp Floss Cookie
10933967_10205997582601468_1252961028412224624_n
Shrimp Floss Rolls aka Sambal Udang Kering Mini Rolls (虾米卷）
img_5698_thumb (1)
Arrowhead Chips (香脆慈姑片，茨菇片）
10423709_10206051475588759_4650790210101448183_n
Prawn or Fish Crackers (Keropok, 炸鱼饼，炸虾饼）
IMG_07711
Acar Timum Sarawak – a must have for Sarawakian during Chinese New Year
IMG_37621
Snow White Mini Popiah Rolls
img_5961_thumb
Crispy Crabstick Snack (酥脆蟹肉小吃）
img_1794_thumb
Seaweed Fish Fillet Snack (紫菜鱼丝条）
10372295_10206017872788710_4660318611929007577_n
Nian Gao Puff (酥脆烘年糕）
10919049_10205957493079255_7328315914182270626_n
Peanut Butter Cornflake Cookies (免烤酥脆玉米片曲奇）
IMG_4710
Kueh Bahulu （蛋花糕）
IMG_5870
Pistachio and Almond Biscotti (开心果及杏仁饼干）
10968343_10206070713749701_7241221300241167203_n
Golden Cheesy Bar (黄金芝士条）
10353088_10206009730105148_5828528197398666057_n
Nan Khatai or Indian Short Bread Cookies (杏仁酥油饼）
10802022_10206036854223234_1636811687410657056_n
London Almond Cookies (伦敦杏仁饼)
IMG_5213
Traditional Short Bread Biscuits (英式传统牛油饼干）
IMG_3686
Daisy Biscuits, Biskuit Semperit, Biskuit Dahlia, 挤花饼干
IMG_07111
S Shape Butter Cookies (Kuih S)
IMG_93611
Plum Blossom Cookies (梅花饼）
10389275_10206057189771610_4341890582181907311_n
Kueh Momo or Kueh Makmur or Ghee Cookies
10337698_10206101497639279_7008097407552689274_n
Peanut Cookies (花生饼）
10949733_10206037870288635_2437401336209115546_n
Almond Biscuits – 杏仁饼干
10980724_10206129662663387_5098557416380730976_n
Chinese Walnut Crisp–Hup Toh Soh （核桃酥， 合桃酥）
10959530_10206127613292154_3976535304517174585_n
Macadamia Russian Tea Cakes
10419596_10206004222727467_4870459543903040014_n
Open Faced Pineapple Tarts (凤梨挞）
img_78971_thumb
Golf Ball Pineapple Tarts (凤梨酥）
img_38501_thumb
Traditional Kueh Bangkit
10393864_10206096515674733_5757722396901406282_n
Mung Bean Cookies or Kuih Koya (绿豆糕)
IMG_4947
Authentic Lapis Legit (Spekkoek 印尼千层蛋糕）
img_6236_thumb
Lapis Horlicks

IMG_21891

Instant Chinese Pork Jerky
10958716_10206051747155548_700147837376519897_n
Glutinous Rice Cake, Nian Gao (年糕）
10915194_10205913125930104_1314050767782590196_n
Huat Kueh (发糕）
10981444_10206148457013234_7087980176263772243_n
Kuey Nerng Ko (鸡蛋糕）
10959567_10206167512569611_1932054086591425601_n
Radish/Turnip/Carrot/Daikon Cake （腊味萝卜糕）
img_95121_thumb

 

CONCLUSION

I wish to take this opportunity to wish all readers a happy Chinese New Year and may all your wishes come through.

10959696_10206151421567346_8981893375407795859_n

For these Chinese New Year related cookies, snack and steamed cake recipes, you can have a copy of “Easy Chinese New Year Recipes – A step by step guide” that was packed with 30 recipes, 60 pages at a reasonable convenience fee of USD3.50. The recipes covered various recipes from auspicious radish cake to nian gao to traditional kuih bangkit to trendy London almond cookies. Of course not forgetting both type of pineapple tarts. You can purchase by clicking the link above. You can either pay using Pay Pal or Credit card account. Please ensure that you have an PDF reader like Acrobat or iBooks in your mobile phone or iPad if you intended to read it in your ipad or mobile phone. Should there be any problems of purchasing, feel free to contact me at kengls@singnet.com.sg and separate arrangement can be made. （While you may not used these recipe for the time being, it will be part of the collections of at least 10 E-book of Guaishushu)

coverlow-final5722[2][2][2]

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

10409213_10206023279563876_7990514909632495095_n10933910_10206023279323870_5255362246386012691_n 

PicMonkey Collage1

Nuts Crispy Brittle or Nuts Sweets (坚果脆片）

Posted on by

IMG_7791

INTRODUCTION

I do not know the name of this snack and I do not have the time to really find out the background of this well like crispy nuts brittle.. What I knew is that, at times people called it Bienetta Crisp or Florentines..

IMG_7807

The name sound so alien to me … and a search of these recipes showed that a special type of sugar powder called florenta or bienetta flour is needed.. Most recipe requires to mix the nuts with these special flours and bake in the oven to let the sugar melts, become syrup and harden when cooled.

IMG_7799

Looking at the transparent nuts brittle, I knew that it did not go far away from the Chinese traditional snack peanut sweets.. For the making of peanut sweets, I knew rather well.. I came from a family of making confectionary and when I was young, I have seen these snacks being made.. To be more precise, the type of sugar caramelized snack which is crispy and sweet..

IMG_7809

I am reluctant to go out and find these special flour, even if I found it, I presumed the price will not be cheap either. However, I knew the Chinese version  of preparation which did not use oven and with one ingredients that Chinese snack like to use – maltose – a type malt syrup.. This wonderful ingredient appeared in many Chinese snacks..

IMG_7803

Since I knew the ingredients, the next question is the proportion.. I have experimented twice. The first attempt is a failed attempt as I have inadequate maltose at home and it refuse to harden properly. It become a slightly chewy snack. After I get a new bottle of maltose, I experimented again and it was a great success.. A crispy brittle type of nuts sweets.. It is addictive and family members loved them very much.

IMG_7811

WHAT IS REQUIRED

IMG_7842

  • 1 cup of white sugar
  • 1/2 cup of maltose
  • 1/2 cup of plain water
  • 2 cups of nuts of your choice..

Note::

This illustration picture used sliced almonds, pumpkin seeds and white sesame seeds. The final picture came from the second illustration which uses only pumpkin seeds and white sesame seeds. Feel free to change to your favourite nuts. Even peanuts can also be used.

IMG_7805

STEPS OF PREPARATION

IMG_7840

  • In a non stick pan, put maltose, sugar and water together and bring to boil under medium to high heat. Ocassional stirring is required. during this boiling process, you will start to witness the bubbles being formed. These bubbles will change in size from small and gradually get bigger. The bigger the bubble, the more sticky is the syrup as water vapour are evaporated leaving the thick syrup in the pan. To test the readiness of the caramelized syrup, take a small spoon of the syrup, place it in a metal plate and cool it using a fan. If after it cooled, a transparent piece of solid sugar is formed, the syrup is considered as done. While you are testing the syrup, reduce the heat to low to avoid over caramelization.

IMG_7841

  • When the syrup is ready, off the heat, quickly add in the nuts and sesame seeds. Stir until well mixed. Transfer it to a piece of baking paper.and spread as thin as possible. Quickly put another piece of baking paper on top, use a rolling pin to roll it even. While it is still warm, use a pizza cutter to cut into the desired sizes. Once completely cooled, the sweets will become crispy and shall be stored in an air tight container.

Note:

  • The entire process can be very fast and it is advisable that you get ready the baking paper, pizza cutter, rolling pins in advance. If properly caramelized, it will turn hard in a a minute or two. Once it turns hard, you will not able to roll and cut. Therefore, you will only have 1-2 minutes to get all action done.

  • The critical success factor of this recipe is the sugar caramelization.. If you off the heat too early, the water inside the syrup will inhibit the crystallization of the sugar and you will have a thick syrup type of chewy texture. If it really happens, add a bit of water, re-melt the sweets and continue boiling until it can crystallize properly.

IMG_7793

CONCLUSION

This shall be the last 2014 Chinese New Year snack recipe this year. If you are unable to find florenta or bienetta flour, you may want to try this recipe. 

IMG_7801

For more Chinese New Year related cookies, snack and steamed cake recipes, you can have a copy of “Easy Chinese New Year Recipes – A step by step guide” that was packed with 30 recipes, 60 pages at a reasonable convenience fee of USD3.50. The recipes covered various recipes from auspicious radish cake to nian gao to traditional kuih bangkit to trendy London almond cookies. Of course not forgetting both type of pineapple tarts. You can purchase by clicking the link above. You can either pay using Pay Pal or Credit card account. Please ensure that you have an PDF reader like Acrobat or iBooks in your mobile phone or iPad if you intended to read it in your ipad or mobile phone. Should there be any problems of purchasing, feel free to contact me at kengls@singnet.com.sg and separate arrangement can be made.

coverlow-final5722[2][2]

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

IMG_7813

 

I’m submitting this post to Best Recipes for Everyone Jan & Feb 2015 Event Theme: My Homemade Cookies organized by Fion of XuanHom’s Mom and co-hosted by Victoria Bakes

 

Best_Recipes

IMG_7795

Cantonese Roast Duck (粤式脆皮烤鸭）

Posted on by

IMG_73981

INTRODUCTION

I am very busy baking my Chinese New Year cookies and I am rushing out this post as Facebook members are waiting for this recipe for Chinese New Year reunion dinner. .So unlike my other post, this post will be rather short and without much description on this recipe..

IMG_74161

Roast duck is very common in Singapore and Malaysia and usually sold at the roast meat stores together with roast pork and char siu. The skin are supposed to be crispy and the meat are tender and juicy.

IMG_73821

I am not pleased with my roast duck in terms of its outlook as it looked burnt. I am still trying to “conquer” my new oven .. It seems that I still cannot understand my oven well. Part of the bird looked burnt in appearance but in fact, it is not burnt at all. I have tried eating the darkest part of the skin and it still taste delicious and not even a bit of charcoal taste.  Taking images in a late afternoon worsen the picture quality, it looked even darker.. Lol.

IMG_73841

But seriously, I LOVE THIS ROAST DUCK.. I seldom boast about my recipe but I really like the overall taste of the duck. Unlike the store bought version which is rather salty, this duck is on a sweeter side. The duck gravy after roasting is divine with a blend of sweet and salty..

IMG_74091

This is a Cantonese roast duck recipe and I did not have any regret of trying out this recipe. After the Chinese New Year, I will try roasting another duck purely for another session of picture taking.

IMG_74001

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Recipe adapted from: VANESSA’S CANTONESE ROAST DUCK RECIPE | Peay …

IMG_7340

  • One duck of about 1.5-2 kg

Dry marinade

  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon of Chinese five spice powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon of Sichuan peppercorns powder

IMG_7342

Liquid marinade

  • 3 tablespoons of dark soya sauce
  • 2 tablespoons of Hoisin sauce
  • 2 tablespoons of Chinese cooking wine
  • 2 tablespoons of white sugar
  • 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
  • 1 tablespoon of minced ginger or ginger powder
  • 1 tablespoon of cooking oil
  • 2 star anise, broken into pieces

IMG_7351

Blanching liquid

  • 20 cups of water
  • 2 tablespoons of dark soya sauce
  • 1/3 cup of maltose
  • 1/4 cup of Chinese cooking wine
  • 1/4 cup of white vinegar

IMG_73961

STEPS OF PREPARATION

IMG_7346

  • Wash the duck, pat dry with kitchen towel, rub the duck with the dry marinade. Let it marinade for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator. Purpose of this step is the make the duck meat tasty.

  • Meanwhile, in a frying pan, put one tablespoon of cooking oil, sauté the minced garlic, minced ginger (ginger powder), star anise until fragrant. Add in all the other liquid marinade sauces and liquids, bring to boil and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes. Off the heat and set aside for later use.

IMG_7353

  • After 2 hours, open the duck cavity and poured the cooked liquid marinade inside the duck cavity. Use a needle with a thick thread to sew and seal the duck cavity. Purpose of this step is to prevent the blanching liquid from entering the duck cavity in the next step.

  • Meanwhile, put all the blanching liquid ingredients in the big wok or pot. Bring to boil.

IMG_7358

  • Once the blanching boils start boiling, pour the hot liquid over the duck repetitively until all the skins have contracted. I have repeated this step four times (meaning boiling, blanching, boiling blanching, boiling blanching, boiling blanching using the same liquid). Pat dry the duck using some kitchen towel. Either air dry or sun dry the duck for 3-4 hours. I have put my duck uncovered in the refrigerator for about 3 hours. By then, the skin will be quite dry.

IMG_7378

  • Pre-heat the oven to 200 degree Celsius.

  • Place the duck on a aluminium tray  lined with baking paper.  Roast the duck in the pre-heated oven of 200 degree Celsius for 30 minutes with the position of duck breast side up. Turn the duck and baked continue baking for another 20 minutes. Turn the duck back to its original position and roast for another 10 more minutes or until the colour of the duck is rich browned. When the inner temperature reaches 80 degree Celsius, the bird is considered as cooked.

  • Once the duck have slightly cooled, cut and remove the string and let the meat juices and marinade drain to a bowl. Cut the duck  into preferred sizes and drizzle with the meat juices collected earlier.

IMG_74151

CONCLUSION

After this attempt, I seriously believed that roast duck is not as difficult as what I thought earlier. Once again, I loved this roast duck for its delicious taste and the failure of the outlook is possibly due to the temperature unevenness of the oven.

IMG_73941

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

IMG_73901

IMG_74111