Mango Salad Appetizer or Kerabu Mangga (酸辣芒果开胃菜）

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INTRODUCTION

Kerabu basically means salad in Malay.. Some fruits, vegetables or meats are mixed with a concoction of herbs and spices, tossed and served as an appetizer or salad.. It is very appetizing well liked by many families..

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Though this is a dish that is  more common with the Malay and Peranakan families, my late mum who hailed from China also prepared this dish occasionally at home. The more common fruits or vegetables that we used were pineapple, cucumber, jicama, buah kedongdong and etc. and I had always looked forward to her preparation during hot weather where most people do not have appetite for oily food..

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As this is a common dish, I believed every family will have their own style of Kerabu and what I am sharing is my own recipe, based on the Kerabu Mangga (Mango Salad) that I have tasted in Malacca recently.  I am really impressed by the one that the restaurant had prepared.. It definitely suit my taste bud..

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If this set of illustration pictures looked different from the Mango salad that you have tried in the restaurant, probably it is because of the usage of ripe mango instead of the unripe mango.. There are two reasons that I have decided to use the ripe mango. One is because it is very sweet and less sugar need to be added.. Another reason is the price.. It is rather ridiculous that 3 unripe smaller mangos is only less than a dollar difference as compared to the 3 ripe big mangos…. I felt that it is not logical if I buy the “baby mango” that can be overly sour as compare to the sweet mango. Of course the disadvantage is that you cannot cut the mango into very fine stripes if ripe mango is used.. Well, I will leave it for the readers to decide your choice..

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To appreciate this dish, readers must also appreciate the aroma and texture of uncooked herbs such as shallots etc..If you can’t take raw onion, this dish is not for you.. But having said that, you can always reduce the amount of the ingredients that you do not like.. Recipe is very flexible and this is very basic  and I can guarantee that in my next preparation, I will opt out certain herbs if it is not readily available in my refrigerator..  I may add dried shrimps or shrimp paste if I have stocks at home. But what i think crucial to the basic taste of kerabu is “Lime or kalamansi, shallots, chilli, sugar and a bit of salt or fish sauce”. All others can be optional depending on individual preference..

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WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: About 3-4 Adult servings

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  • 2 medium size mango of your choice
  • 2-3 shallots
  • 5-6 kalamansi or 2-3 limes , squeezed into juices
  • 1/2 tablespoon of sugar
  • 3-4 chilli padi
  • 2 sprigs of coriander leaves (optional)
  • 10-15 pieces of daum kesom (laksa leaves)
  • 3-4 pieces of kaffir lime leaves
  • 1 tablespoon of grounded peanuts
  • 1-2 teaspoons of fish sauce

Note: Most quantities listed are for your reference. Kerabu cannot have an exact recipe and it depends very much on your personal reference of the herbs and spiciness.

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STEPS OF PREPARATION

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  • Julienned the shallots, chilli padi, daun kesom, kaffir lime leaves, coriander leaves into small pieces. Set aside.

  • Skinned the mango, Use the peeler to slice the mango as thinly as possible. Use a knife to cut it as thin as possible. Transfer the cut mango into a serving bowl, add all the chopped herbs above, add the sugar and fish sauce. Toss it lightly and sprinkle sparingly with the grounded peanuts. Best served chilled as an appetizer in a full course meal.

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CONCLUSION

The dish is a good appetiser and I especially like it when the weather is hot.. For me, a good kerabu shall be slightly sweet, sour and spicy.. Feel free to reduce or increase the herbs and change the mango to other types of vegetables or fruits you like.. How about unripe papaya? You can even added some cooked belachan, chincalok or dried shrimps. What differentiate your household recipe with others is based on your unique concoction of herbs.. Lastly, as I did not check the Thai mango salad recipe, I am unsure if this recipe is the same as their Thai counterpart.. I believed it should be rather close.

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

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Japanese Strawberry Mochi – Ichigo Daifuku (いちご大福， 草莓大福）

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INTRODUCTION

Sticky rice or glutinous rice are very common in Asian cuisines. The rice was grinded into flour to make varieties of cakes and sweets.. Chinese have cakes that made from glutinous rice flour like Hainanese E-bua, tortoise longevity cake, tang yuans and etc.; Malay have kuih koci, ondeh ondeh etc. and Japanese have its own mochi.

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All these cakes have one common similarity. Some sweet filling wrapped with glutinous rice flour dough.  I have always liked mochi as it is soft sweet and slightly chewy.

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As per Wikipedia, 

“Daifukumochi (大福餅?), or Daifuku (大福?) (literally “great luck”), is a Japanese confection consisting of a small round mochi (glutinous rice cake) stuffed with sweet filling, most commonly anko, sweetened red bean paste made from azuki beans. Daifuku comes in many varieties. The most common is white-, pale green-, or pale pink-colored mochi filled with anko.   Nearly all daifuku are covered in a fine layer of corn or potato starch to keep them from sticking to each other, or to the fingers. Some are covered with confectioner’s sugar or cocoa powder.Though mochitsuki is the traditional method of making mochi and daifuku, they can also be cooked in the microwave..  A variation containing strawberry and sweet filling (Ichigo Daifuku), most commonly anko, inside a small round mochi. Creams are sometimes used for sweet filling. Because it contains strawberry, it is usually eaten during the springtime. It was invented in the 1980s. Many patisseries claim to have invented the confection, so its exact origin is vague. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daifuku)

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What i am sharing today is the Ichigo Daifuku, some strawberry wrapped with red bean paste and glutinous rice flour dough. For this illustration , I did not go until the extent of preparing my anko (red bean paste) using the Japanese method but instead use the ready made red bean paste available in the stores. I also did not  go to the Japanese supermarket to by the Japanese glutinous rice flour (mochiko), instead, I used the normal glutinous rice flour from Thailand..

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Preparation is not difficult at all if you are using microwave. If you do not have the microwave, you can either steam the batter or cooked it in a non stick pan until a soft dough is formed.. Don’t worry, the outcome will be the same.

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WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: 5 Ichigo Daifuku

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  • 100 grams of Mochiko flour or glutinous rice flour
  • 100 grams of Anko or red bean paste
  • 100 grams of water
  • 20 grams of castor sugar
  • 2 tablespoons of potatoes starch or corn starch
  • Drops of red permitted food colouring

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STEPS OF PREPARATION

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  • Clean the strawberry, pat dry and cut off the part attached to the green leaves. Take about 20 grams of red bean paste, shape round, slightly flatten by palm, place a strawberry on top, seal the edges and make it as round as possible. Set aside for later use. If your strawberry is big, you may need a bit more red bean paste to wrap the strawberry.

  • In a microwavable bowl, put the glutinous rice flour, water, sugar and food colouring. Stir and until well mixed.

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  • Heat the batter in the microwave oven for 1.5-2 minutes. After one minute, give it a stir.

  • Dust the working surface with some potato starch. Transfer the cooked dough to the flour surface. Use a scissor to divide the dough into 5 pieces. Take one dough, shape round, lightly flatten, put a red bean paste on top of the flatten dough, seal the edges and roll on the potatoes starch again.. The dough can be rather sticky and hot to handle but you have to do it quickly. When the dough is cooled, it will not be sticky and cannot form a ball. Pat your hand with potatoes starch before shaping.

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CONCLUSION

Is it not this is a simple recipe to try? Remember that if you do not have a microwave, pan fried the batter over the stove using non stick pan or steamed it in a greased pan.  It may take you 5-10 minutes slightly longer. Feel free to add flavour to your mochi such as green tea powder, pandan essence, milo flavour etc..

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

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Yorkshire Puddings (约克郡布丁)

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INTRODUCTION

I know it is still early but keep this post and you will be able to prepare Yorkshire puddings for your Christmas feasts.

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What is Yorkshire pudding? Yorkshire pudding in essence is a pancake that was baked at high temperature to obtain a special tall pancake that have a cavity… It was usually served during Christmas dinner together with main dish as a substitute to bread rolls  to absorb the meat juices in the Christmas feast…

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However, it can also be served as as dessert to go with ice cream. A good Yorkshire pudding should be rather light and thin, slightly chewy an a good absorbent of meat or sweet sauces..

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Per Wikipedia:

“Yorkshire pudding is an English dish made from batter consisting of eggs, flour, and milk. The dish is usually served with roast meat and gravy and is a staple of the traditional British Sunday roast. It may also be served as a dessert.The exact origin of the Yorkshire pudding is, as yet, unknown. The first ever recorded recipe appears in a book in 1737. Yorkshire pudding is cooked by pouring a batter made from milk (or water), flour and eggs into preheated, oiled, baking pans, ramekins or muffin tins (in the case of miniature puddings). A basic formula uses 1⁄3 cup flour and 1⁄3 cup liquid per egg.” (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorkshire_pudding)

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This recipe was prepared based on the definition of Wikipedia above. As Christmas dinner is yet to come, I have decided to prepare some mushroom soup for the kids to go with Yorkshire pudding as lunch… They love it.. and I do love it as well..

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WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: about 6 medium size Yorkshire Puddings

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  • 1 cup of milk
  • 1 cup of plain flour
  • 3 eggs
  • Pinches of salt
  • Adequate cooking oil for well greasing the tin (Lard can be used but not butter due to different boiling point of the fats)

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STEPS OF PREPARATION

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  • In a whisking bowl of standing mixer, add eggs, flour, milk . Mix until well combined with no lumps noted. Chill the batter in the refrigerator until the oven is ready.

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  • Grease a muffin tray adequately with cooking oil . Grease the connecting part as well Put one tablespoon of oil in each muffin cup.

  • Pre-heat the oven to 220 degree Celsius together with the greased muffin tray. Once the muffin tray is ready (most likely you will see some smoke from the hot oil), take out the batter, use the mixer to beat again for 1 minutes. Take out the muffin tray and pour the batter on the hot muffin cups as full as possible. Transfer carefully to the oven, close the door and reduce the temperature to 200 degree Celsius. Bake for about 15 minutes and reduce the temperature to 180 degree Celsius. Continue baking for about 10 minutes or until the pudding puff up and turn golden brown. Off the heat, keep the oven door ajar by placing a chopstick in between the oven door and the oven. Leave it as such until the Yorkshire Pudding is cooled. The main purpose of the step is to prevent a certain drop in temperature that causes the Yorkshire pudding to deflate. Best serve warm as a side item with meat dishes.

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CONCLUSION

This is a nice pancake to go with meat juices. One thing that I can think off is to eat with curry chicken.. It sure is a delicious treat. Hope this post will benefit those readers who are looking for this recipe. Remember that It can be eaten with ice cream as well..

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

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  • For more recipes, you can refer to my RECIPE INDEX (updated as at 15 October 2014)  here and you can follow me at PINTEREST or visit the blog’s FACEBOOK PAGE to keep abreast of my future posts.  

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Homemade White Rabbit Creamy Candy (自制“大白兔”牛奶糖）

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INTRODUCTION

When Asian Food Channel posted a picture of white rabbit creamy candy in its timeline, it caught my attention because I did not have this sweet for many years. Yes, in fact it brought lots of  childhood memories…I love this candy for its creamy and milk taste….

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I was reading that in a 5 star hotel lobby  while waiting for my guest, I immediately switched  to my Safari looking for a recipe for this candy.. Logically, since this is a Chinese candy, I searched for Chinese recipes.. In fact there are only a handful of recipes in the Chinese website, I only managed to find one that uses only 3 ingredients and  I decided to give it a try 2 days later and I am extremely happy with the outcome… It is made with 3 simple household ingredients but  it is much milkier and softer than the store bought harder candy..Not as sweet as the original version.

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The only imperfection is that  it is not as chewy and become soft rather easily at room temperature and it had to be stored at the refrigerator.. Well, that is totally acceptable to me since all are at home and we will not be bringing these sweets anywhere…I do have a hard time to shape my candy for picture taking since it will become soft when it is in your hand….Possibly some Arabic gum is needed to hold the candy at room temperature, but for me, homemade recipes shall have as little ingredients as possible.

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How popular is this candy? When I posted the photos of these homemade candies in a Facebook Group, within 12 hours, it gathers more than 1000 likes  with over 200 comments and the likes are still growing as at time of writing this report..Not because of my ugly candies but more because it brought fond memories to them and some are requesting for recipes after it was banned years ago (see below).

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Though this candy have accompany most of us to grow up, I found that I knew so little about them until I researched Wikipedia on the status of this candy.. OMG, Wikipedia have such a long write up on them and I have to limit myself to share 5 interesting facts about this candy:

  • White Rabbit Creamy Candy is a brand of candy manufactured by Shanghai Guan Sheng Yuan Food, Ltd. (Chinese: 上海冠生园食品有限公司) pinyin=Shànghǎi Guānshēngyuán Shípǐn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī, in the People’s Republic of China.

  • White Rabbit sweets have been advertised with the slogan, “Seven White Rabbit candies is equivalent to one cup of milk“, and positioned as a nutritional product in addition to being a sweet. The candies hence accompanied the growth of a generation. Former students of the early Deng Xiaoping era in China (1978 to the early 1990s), have been reported to have taken this slogan literally and made ‘hot milk’ in their dormitory cooking rings by dissolving the candies in a pan of hot water

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  • In 1972, Premier Zhou Enlai used White Rabbit candies as a gift to American president Richard Nixon when the latter visited China. Today White Rabbit candies are China’s top brand of sweet. Although the White Rabbit brand already had some history, its popularity worldwide has grown with the economy of China. Cities and agricultural villages’ demands are increasing, especially during the Chinese New Year period, when many families provide White Rabbit sweets among other candies for visitors. In 2004, White Rabbit candy sales hit 600 million Renmibi, with sales increasing rapidly by a double-digit percentage yearly. The candies are now exported to more than forty countries and territories, including the United States,Europe and Singapore.

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  • White Rabbit Creamy Candy is white, with a soft, chewy texture, and is formed into cylinders approximately 3 cm long and 1 cm in diameter, similar to contemporary western nougat or taffy. Each candy is wrapped in a printed waxed paper wrapper, but within this, the sticky candies are again wrapped in a thin edible paper-like wrapping made from sticky rice. Although the rice wrapping layer is meant to be eaten along with the rest of the candy, it does not figure in the list of ingredients, which is limited to corn starch, syrup, cane sugar,butter, and milk.

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  • When White Rabbit candy was returned to export in 2009, it also underwent a name change to Golden Rabbit Creamy Candy. Aside of avoiding the marketing stigma associated with the tarnished White Rabbit name, the Golden Rabbit candy is made using milk from Australia instead of China. Original White Rabbit is also being manufactured, with milk coming from New Zealand. (Note: that in the period 2007 to 2009, there are various allegations of the candies that were contaminated by chemicals such as melamine and formaldehyde. These lead to recall of the candies and banned by certain countries. It subsequently resumed exporting in 2009) (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rabbit_Creamy_Candy)

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WHAT IS REQUIRED

Recipe adapted from: 手工牛奶糖

Servings : a small tray of about 10cm x 8 cm x 1 cm of milk candies

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  • 200 grams of fresh cream for whipping
  • 200 grams of fresh milk
  • 35 grams of castor sugar
  • Some edible rice paper (if you want to wrap the candy)

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STEPS OF PREPARATION

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  • Get ready a container and lined with some aluminium foil or non stick baking paper.

  • In a non stick pan, put the 3 ingredients together. Bring to boil under medium heat. Once it boils, lower to low heat, continue boiling until it thickens, with lots of bubbles and the colour turns light yellowish. During this process, constant stirring is required to prevent burnt in the bottom. The colour will slightly darkens from whitish to beige to light yellow. If you continue to let it boil, it will become brownish meaning the the sugar is burnt and start caramelization. It should be slightly thicker than the consistency of condensed milk. As an estimation, the timing should be about 15-20 minutes.

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  • Transfer to the prepared container and chilled in the freezer after completely cooled for at least 5-6 hours. If time permits, it is best to chill overnight. Cut into your desired sizes and wrapped with edible rice paper if prefer. Best serve directly from the fridge.

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CONCLUSION

Trust me, the sweet is delicious. It is softer and milkier than the store bought version. It will melts in your mouth. I have a hard time of keeping my kids away as they are eyeing on these homemade candies than the store bought version. Reasons are simple, they are eating cream, fresh milk and sugar in a concentrated form. It you are concerned that it is sweet, you can lower the sugar by 10%.. But for me, for a small piece, it is just nice to curb my sugar cravings after a heavy meal.

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

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  • For more recipes, you can refer to my RECIPE INDEX (updated as at 28 July 2014)  here and you can follow me at PINTEREST or visit the blog’s FACEBOOK PAGE to keep abreast of my future posts.  

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Sweet Potatoes Balls (Cucur Badak or 番薯蛋）

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INTRODUCTION

I have prepared these potatoes from one of my recipe books. In my recipe book, these were called “Nonya Sweet Potatoes Balls”. I am very doubtful about whether this is Peranakan cuisines since I have never seen these being sold in Nonya Kuih stalls….

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To double confirm, I have posted the images in my personal timeline and a Peranakan Facebook Group. Friends and members of the Group have concluded that this is not a Peranakan cuisine but belong to our Malay brothers called “cucur badak”.

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In fact, Chinese do have its own version of sweet potatoes balls but the filling are different. For Chinese, the sweet potatoes balls can range from peanuts to mung beans to red beans and etc…It can also be eaten plain as it is and it commonly known as “fanshudan” (“番薯蛋“）。

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Therefore, in this post I am not going to share the sambal filling that I used and feel free to change to any fillings that you like. This is an easy recipe and if you like sweet potatoes, you will like this.

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Singapore do have a stall in Maxwell market that sells these sweet potatoes. But in West Malaysia, I was told that it is commonly available in night markets.

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WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: Prepare about 10 sweet potatoes balls

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  • 200 grams of sweet potatoes (steamed and mashed until puree form)
  • 40 grams of tapioca flour
  • 1 tablespoon of cooking oil
  • 10 grams of castor sugar (not in picture)
  • 100 grams of dry shrimp floss (hae bee hiam or sambal udang kering) or any other type of fillings *
  • Adequate cooking oil for deep frying

*As for the filling, feel free to change to the type of fillings that you like.. I have used ready made shrimp floss, but you can always use sweet fillings such as mung beans, lotus paste, peanuts etc.

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STEPS OF PREPARATION

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  • In a mixing bowl, place the mashed potatoes, plain flour, sugar and cooking oil. Use hand to knead until become a pliable dough. Pat your hand with flour if it is too sticky. Divide the dough into your desired size (I have prepared 10 balls of about 25 grams each). Take one portion. Shape it into a ball, use hand to flatten, put a tablespoon of fillings on top of the dough, seal the edges, shape it round and set aside. Perform the same for the remaining dough.

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  • In a pot, heat up adequate cooking oil. Deep fried the sweet potatoes balls under medium heat until golden brown. Drained and served as a snack or breakfast items.

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CONCLUSION

This snack is simple to prepare and you can use any fillings that you like. Do give it a try and see if this suit your taste buds.

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

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  • For more recipes, you can refer to my RECIPE INDEX (updated as at 8 June 2014)  here and you can follow me at PINTEREST or visit the blog’s FACEBOOK PAGE to keep abreast of my future posts.  

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Noodles Cake? Flour Vermicelli Steamed Cake or Mee Sua Kuih (面线糕）

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INTRODUCTION

I don’t know how many readers have eaten this steamed “noodle” cake before but I have my fair share of this kuih when I was in Sarawak. My mother in laws used to prepare this kuih years back when she bought a set of new utensils. She said the cookbook provided came with this special recipe.

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A week ago, one Facebook friend asked me to help her to translate her recipe (from a newspaper cutting from Sarawak) to English, that reminded that I have not eaten this kuih for a few years. Since my mother in law is with me in Singapore, I have decided to prepare this together with her.  The recipe here is our own version of mee sua kuih .

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Preparation is not difficult and as it is a savoury dish, variations are many.. For most of the ingredients, you can increase or reduce the quantities to suit your taste buds.

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When I posted the picture in some Facebook Groups, some members in Singapore said that they have taste before in Singapore  and surprisingly, in a Central Business District kuih stall at Raffles Place.. Most have totally never seen or heard of the kuih, and this is how I described to them about the taste and texture: “ It is just like a plate of fried mee sua but in different form” or “It taste like steamed yam cake or steamed carrot cake (depending on what you have put) but with a noodle texture”.

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House chefs who cooked flour vermicelli will know that this noodle is very sticky in solid form and  most of time, there were used only in soupy noodle dishes. By the same logic, with adequate but not too much water, flour vermicelli will expand and “adhere” to each other, making it possible to cut into pieces like any other cakes. Adding too much water will reduce the stickiness and unable to form the kuih. That is the basic logic behind the preparation of this kuih.

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For the benefits of the international readers who are not familiar with flour vermicelli. per Wikipedia:

“Misua (also spelled mee sua or miswa) is a very thin variety of salted Chinese noodles made from wheat flour. It originated in Fujian,China. The noodles differ from mifen (rice vermicelli) and cellophane noodles in that the latter two are made from rice and mung beans, respectively, and are typically a lot thinner than those two varieties. Misua is made from wheat flour. Cooking misua usually takes less than 2 minutes in boiling water, and sometimes significantly less. Misua is cooked during important festivities, and eaten in mainland China as well in Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam,Brunei, Thailand, and the Philippines. Misua signifies long life in Chinese culture, and as such is a traditional birthday food. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misua)”

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WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: 5-6 persons ( about 1 tray of 8 “ diameter steamed cake)

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  • 150 grams of rice vermicelli
  • 100 grams of minced meat
  • 5 winter mushrooms, soaked and sliced thinly
  • 2 tablespoons of baby shrimps
  • 1 tablespoon of chopped onion/shallots/white part of spring onion
  • 3 tablespoons of julienned red carrots
  • 2 tablespoons of cooking oil
  • 2-2.5 cups of water

Seasonings

  • 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoons of light soya sauce
  • 1 tablespoon of white pepper
  • 2 tablespoons of chicken stock or any other prefer seasoning

Garnishes

  • Few stalks of Chinese celery, chopped until small
  • 2-3 tablespoons of deep fried shallots
  • Some sesame seeds

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STEPS OF PREPARATION

  • Lightly greased an 8 inches diameter round baking tray.

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  • In a pot of hot water, blanch the rice vermicelli until soft (About 3-4 minutes depend on brand). Drain and set aside. Immediately when cooled, it will become a lump.

  • In a hot pot, put 2 tablespoons of cooking oil, sauté the chopped garlics/shallots and mushrooms until fragrant or golden brown. Add the julienned red carrot, small shrimps and stir fry for 1-2 minutes. Add the minced meat (for the minced meat, to avoid it forming lumps when stir fried, add a few tablespoons of water before stir frying). 

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  • Stir fry until well combined. Add all the seasonings (Chicken stocks, white pepper, sesame oil, light soya sauce) and stir fry until well combine. Salt may be added to enhance the taste but it depends on the type of flour vermicelli that you used. Some flour vermicelli are very salty and salt should be omitted. However, you can still adjust the taste at the later stage.

  • Add the blanched flour vermicelli. Add adequate water just to roughly cover the vermicelli (my experience is about 2-2.5 cups of water). Stir until well combined. If it is difficult to stir, use a pair of chopstick to stir it until well combined. It is advisable that at this stage, you use a spoon to taste whether the seasonings suit your taste bud and do necessary adjustments in this stage.

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  • Add in some chopped Chinese celery, stir well and transfer to a lightly greased baking tin and pressed until compact. Steamed in a steamer under high heat for 15-20 minutes until the kuih dries up. Note that when hot, it may be very soft and still shapeless. When cool, it will set and become a kuih like structure. If it does not set, it will mean that too much water is added.  Add in the garnishes (chopped Chinese celery, sesame seeds, chilli and fried shallots) while it is hot and use spoon to press it. Cooled completely before cutting into small slices.

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CONCLUSION

Pardon me for not being humble that the whole family loved this rather unique kuih.. Once again, if you have never taste it, it is just like eating a plate of fried mee sua in another form. Whether it is nice or not will very much depends on your adding of seasonings to suit your family’s taste buds and how you sauté the ingredients to make it fragrant. Do give it a try..

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

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  • For more recipes, you can refer to my RECIPE INDEX (updated as at 8 June 2014)  here and you can follow me at PINTEREST or visit the blog’s FACEBOOK PAGE to keep abreast of my future posts.  

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Baked Is Healthier… Isn’t It? Mini Baked Donuts (迷你甜甜圈-烘烤版本）

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INTRODUCTION

While I was window shopping in a bakery shop in Singapore, I saw a promotion on these mini donut trays, 2 of which is SGD19.80… I feel the urge to purchase the trays as I have failed once with my baked donuts because the holes had disappeared after my baking. I decided to buy the trays thinking of preparing some baked donuts or possibly used for agar agar or other mini Bundt cakes..

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To be fair with the readers who do not have these mini donut trays, I have prepared some of which is round in shape of the same size and you can always used the same method to decorate your cute small balls. Taste and texture of course are the same..They are just in different shape.

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These are the baked version of the donuts. They are different from the deep fried version.. Frankly speaking, the deep fried version is more aromatic and of course, every readers will know it is unhealthier.

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It is a type of bread but the recipe have much higher sugar, butter and eggs to make them more aromatic and flavourful. It is intended to eat as its own or with some simple glazing. It will definitely be a hit as a party snack due to its mini size.

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Glazing is definitely not my area of strength and in fact, I hate anything to do with glazing of cakes. I just prepared some with simple ganache and some with icing glazing for purpose of picture taking.

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Because of its mini size, baking and proofing were very fast… In fact, they were so fast that I have to bake it by batches as soon as it reached 2/3 height of the baking mould’s height.. It is definitely a fun attempt to do these mini donuts.

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They do look like bagels but this recipe yields a much fluffier and soft bread than the bagels that I have tasted before. In fact, on the second day of preparation, it is still soft and my wife and my mother in law have eaten these mini donuts without any glazing on. … It is a rather healthy snack….

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WHAT IS REQUIRED

Recipe adapted from:  Baked Mini Donuts

Servings : Prepare about 40-50 mini baked donuts of 15 grams each

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  • 50 grams of melted butter
  • 50 grams of castor sugar
  • 375-400 grams (about 3 cups) of plain or all purpose flour
  • 120 grams (1/2 cup) of fresh milk
  • 6 grams of instant dry yeast
  • Pinches of salt
  • 2 eggs

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STEPS OF PREPARATION

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  • Melt the butter and let it cool slightly. Add in eggs and  milk. In a bowl of a standing mixer, sift in all the flour, add sugar and yeasts, stir until well mixed.  Add the liquid mixture. Use  a tablespoon to lightly stir it to make it look like a paste. Transfer the bowl to the standing mixer, use medium speed to knead it until the dough is smooth and leaves the side of the bowl. This will take about 20-25 minutes. If it is too sticky, add some flour tablespoon by tablespoon. If it is too dry, add additional milk teaspoon by teaspoon. Once done, transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Shape it into a round ball, covered with a clingy wrap and let it proof until double in size.

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  • Pre-heat the oven to 200 degree Celsius.

  • Once it doubles in size, divide the dough into 15 grams each. Take one portion of the dough and use the hand to lengthen it until it look like a thick string. Seal the edges and out on the mini donut tins. If you do not have a donut baking tin, just shape it round and put in a greased baking tin. Note that 15 gram is a guideline. The weight should depend on size of your donut tin but it should only cover about 1/3 of the height of the donut tins.

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  • Once the shaping had done, let it proof until double in size. Note that for this step, it is rather fast at it took me about 15 minutes on the day’s weather. Try not to proof until it reach the full height of the donut baking mould as it will rise further when baked. If it rise too high, when baked, the holes will be sealed.

  • After the dough is about 2/3 of the height of the baking mould (or the dough doubles the size), bake in the pre-heated oven at 200 degree Celsius for 5-8 minutes. This bread can get cooked rather fast so keep in an eye on the oven.

  • After baking, if you find that the holes in the donut are very small and some are sealed, take out the donut, invert it and press the small holes into the mould and the holes in the donut will become more obvious.

  • Decorate your mini baked donuts with your favourite icing or chocolate ganache. For simple icing, mixed one tablespoon of cream with 1/4 cups of icing or powdered sugar. Stir until well mixed and drizzle on the mini donuts and sprinkles some beautiful colour sugar of your choice. For chocolate ganache, you can refer here to here for a more professional type of coating. : Chocolate Mirror Glaze Recipe (镜面巧克力蛋糕装饰）

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CONCLUSON

As a down to earth house dad, I would not advise you to specially go and buy this special mould just to bake this. You have justification to buy it if you are going to bake it often for parties or use it to prepare other desserts. Otherwise, small balls shape donuts is equally attractive. I am never good at cake decoration and do use your favourite ganache or other frostings and come out with a version of your own.

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

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  • For more recipes, you can refer to my RECIPE INDEX (updated as at 8 June 2014)  here and you can follow me at PINTEREST or visit the blog’s FACEBOOK PAGE to keep abreast of my future posts.  

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Simple Prawn or Fish Crackers (Keropok, 炸鱼饼，炸虾饼）

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INTRODUCTION

When I saw one one member (Ms. Audrey nlk) posted her homemade prawn crackers  (“Keropok”) in my Facebook Group, I read her recipe with interest and I have decided to try it out yesterday.

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When I was young,  I have seen people preparing keropok and dried the keropok under the sun for days until it is very hard like rock… When I started preparing yesterday, the first thing that my mother in law asked was where am I going to dry the keropok? Since I am living in an apartment, it is not easy to  sun dry my keropok  She asked further: “ in the corridor or void deck of the block?”.. I told her very frankly that I do not know and I will modify my steps along the way……

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Since this is the first trial, I am not willing to spend too much time and money on the “experiment”. Not that I doubt the member’s recipe, but  I was constrained by the traditional method of sun drying the crackers. Everybody will know, in Singapore’s environment where space and time is always a constraint, I am not confidence that I can succeed in my trial.

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To cut short the preparation, instead of using fresh prawn meat or fish meat as suggested by Ms. Audrey (the original recipe provider), I have purchased the ready made fish paste from the supermarket. 400 grams of fish paste only cost me less than SGD4 but it saved me lots of time to mince the fish meat.

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When I reached home, I started my trial, mixed the fish paste with equal amount of tapioca flour as suggested by the original recipe, shape it into a long bar, steamed for 45 minutes or until cooked, freeze it lightly until it is easier to slice, dry in the oven for about 1 hour and proceed to frying.

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It works. The time when the crackers expanded in the hot oil, I was really happy as this short cut method seems to work.. Subsequently, one of the members highlighted that microwave oven can also be used. I tried and it works.

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WHAT IS REQUIRED

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  • 400 grams of ready made minced fish paste (or fresh fish meat or prawn meat)
  • 400 grams of tapioca flour
  • Some salt
  • Some seasonings of choice such as mushroom concentrate, chicken stock or seafood stock of your choice
  • Dashes of white pepper
  • Some permitted food colouring (optional)

Note that most ready made fish paste are very salty and it depends on brands. Therefore, you will need to use your judgement to adjust the sweetness and saltiness to you likings.

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STEPS OF PREPARATION

  • Lightly greased a tray suitable for steaming.

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  • Mix all the ingredients together as well combined as possible (remember to taste a little of the mixture, spit out later). Greased your hand with some cooking oil, shape the paste into a long bar and steamed the bar for about 45 minutes under high heat or until the bars have hardened and looks slightly transparent.

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  • Cooled and lightly coloured the exterior of the bar into red colour with some permitted food colouring (this step is optional and I am doing it to make it resemble traditional look of the keropok). Freeze the bar in the freezer for about 1 hour. The main purpose of freezing is to facilitate slicing. Once slicing can be done, you can proceed to next step.

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  • Slice the bar as thinly as possible with about 2 –3 mm thickness. Put it in a baking tray and oven bake it at 100 degree Celsius for about 1-1.5 hours. For every 20 minutes, stir the cracker slices ensuring it is evenly baked. If time permits, you can bake until your desired harden texture. Alternatively, you can dry under the sun or air dry for days in your house compound until it is almost transparent. The less moisture content you have in the crackers, the crispier it will be.

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  • To taste the readiness, you can either deep fried some prawn crackers in some hot oil or microwave in the microwavable oven for about 30 seconds. If the crackers expands in the hot oil or in the microwavable bowl, become crispy when cool, the crackers is considered as ready.

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CONCLUSION

I am happy with this adventure but not my mother in law. She cannot believe that this will be nice because the entire preparation process is too fast to her belief. Please be our judges, tell me whether you are able to accept this simpler method of crackers preparation. Lastly, thanks again to Ms. Audrey Nlk for sharing this recipe with the members of my Group.

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

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  • For more recipes, you can refer to my RECIPE INDEX (updated as at 8 June 2014)  here and you can follow me at PINTEREST or visit the blog’s FACEBOOK PAGE to keep abreast of my future posts.  

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My Funny Shape Spanish You Tiao?–Churros

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INTRODUCTION

My churros have a rather funny shape as I can’t locate the correct star shape nozzle in my cabinet. What is needed is just simple nozzle as in the picture but since  I can’t locate the correct nozzle, I have used a Wilton tip 1D intended for making big swirl roses to pipe my churros.

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As a result of which, my churros are rather thin and crooked. Therefore, if you want to try the recipe, do use the correct tip as in the picture or as least as close to the picture as possible.

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Churros is a Spanish pastry deep fried snack and as per Wikipedia:

A churro, sometimes referred to as a Spanish doughnut, is a fried-dough pastry—predominantly choux—based snack. Churros are popular in Spain, France, the Philippines, Portugal, Latin America (including Brazil and Spanish-speaking Caribbean islands) and the United States. There are two types of churros in Spain, one which is thin (and sometimes knotted) and the other which is long and thick (porra). They are both normally eaten for breakfast dipped in hot chocolate or café con leche. Churros are typically fried until they become crunchy, and may be sprinkled with sugar. The surface of a churro is ridged due to having been piped from a churrera, a syringe with a star-shaped nozzle. Churros are generally prisms in shape, and may be straight, curled or spirally twisted.

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I did not search for the recipe, I get the recipe from one the members in my Facebook Group, Food blogger and Foodies United. Ms. Sue Wong had kindly share her recipe and posted in the Group’s File : CHURROS with a picture. While communicating with her, she told me that it is a rather easy to do a snack which is actually choux pastry. Looking at her pictures, I have decided to take a plunge and prepared this Spanish this afternoon.

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It is a relatively easy job actually. If you have prepared choux pastry, this is even easier. While for choux or puff pastry, it is baked but this is deep fried until crunchy. Surprising, my family members and my neighbour likes this very much and I have told them this is “Spanish Youtiao”. My neighbour starts to enquire how this is done and have shown keen interest to try preparing it. Ha-ha

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WHAT IS REQUIRED

Recipe adapted from: Sue Wong’s Churros

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  • 1 cup of water
  • 1 cup of plain  flour
  • 50 grams of unsalted butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon of castor sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract/ essence
  • cooking oil for deep frying

For sprinkling on churros (not in picture)

  • 1 tablespoon of cinnamon powder
  • 3 tablespoons of castor sugar

Others

  • A piping bag with a large star tip.

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STEPS OF PREPARATION

  • Heat up a wok of oil of about 8 cm deep.

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  • In a sauce pan, place water and butter. Bring to boil. Take away the sauce pan and add in flour. Stir until well mix. Put it back to the stove and continue stirring until the dough leaves the side of the pan and forms a ball.

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  • Transfer to the whisking bowl of a stand mixer. Beat the dough for about 30 seconds. Add in one egg at a time and continue to whisk until the egg are well mixed. Repeat the same for the other 3 eggs.  Do not add the eggs too quickly, otherwise, your dough will be very runny. If it is too runny, beat for several minutes or until thickened again. The end result of the dough should be glossy but not runny.Transfer the dough to a large piping bag fitted with a star nozzle.

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  • Pipe the batter into the hot oil of your desired length. Deep fried until golden brownish in colour. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture while it is hot.

  • Best served hot as a snack or breakfast item. Besides sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, another suggested way of serving is to drizzled with caramelized condensed milk (dulce de leche) or just condensed milk or chocolate sauce.

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CONCLUSON

Pardon me for these funny shape churros or Spanish you tiao. Do give it a try and I honestly believed that it will suit most Asian’s taste.

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

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For more recipes, you can refer to my RECIPE INDEX (updated as at 21 March 2014)  here and you can follow me at PINTEREST or visit this blog’s FACEBOOK PAGE .  

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If you are a Pinterest user and you are interested to have more recipes, you can join or follow this Pinterest Board set up by me  where there are more than 1800 recipes worldwide and pinned by various bloggers: FOOD BLOGGERS AND FOODIES UNITED PINTEREST BOARD. You can also join the Food Bloggers and Foodies United Group Facebook Group to see more recipes.

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Need To Go To A Party? Try Preparing This Party Snack : Bacon/Tuna Tortilla Cups and Pizza Snack

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UPDATED POST on 13-11-2014

I have some homemade flour tortilla wraps left and I have decided to prepare this snack for kids….

The last attempt shaping in a cups is a hit in my family gathering, however, it is rather time consuming to cut the pizza into round shape as flour tortilla is rather difficult to cut. I have decided to change the shape into a rectangular shape which is much easier.. In addition, for those so called crispy pizza recipe, most have opt to use flour tortilla as well..

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Please scroll down for an updated recipe of how to prepare the crispy tortilla pizza strips.

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INTRODUCTION

New year eve is approaching. I know that there will be many pot luck parties where readers may be required to contribute a dish or two.  I made these tortilla bacon/tuna cups for one the family gatherings during the Chinese Winter Solstice festivals and it was rather well received. Since kids are still on holiday, you can always asked them to join you to prepare this simple snack.

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Honestly, it is a simple recipe of my own adventures starting with 2 leftover tortillas in my fridge. On the day before the gathering, I have used these 2 leftover tortillas to make about 6 tortilla cups with bacon fillings and baked in a mini oven. My  family members loved it.

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The next day on the day of the gathering, I have prepared more than 50 tortilla cups with tuna fillings, using muffin trays and baked in the conventional oven. You can use exactly your prefer pizza toppings for this tortilla cups. In addition, you can use  baking tins of any shape  that you have.

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The recipe is full of flexibilities be in in terms of ingredients used or the quantities.Therefore, just follow some of the simple steps in this recipe and you will come out with some presentable snack that impressed your guest. It is a one bite size snack, be prepared to do a bit more as one is definitely not enough for your guest.

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WHAT IS NEEDED

No detail measurement will be provided in this post as the dish is full of flexibilities.

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  • Some tomato sauce/pasta sauce (not in picture)
  • Some tortillas
  • Some cherry tomatoes/tomatoes cut into slices
  • Some coriander/parsley
  • Some bacons/tuna
  • Some mozzarella/parmesan/cheddar cheeses

Others (not in picture)

  • A round ring cutter
  • Some muffin cups/trays

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STEPS OF PREPARATION

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  • Use the ring cutter (about 1cm bigger than the muffin tin diameter) to cut the tortilla into round shape and press it down either into the tarts tins or muffin tins. Spread the tomato sauce or pasta sauce. Add in shredded/chopped cheeses, tuna/bacons and tomatoes.

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  • Add in more cheeses and chopped herbs and baked in the oven toaster for 3-5 minutes. If using the conventional oven, baked at 160 degree Celsius for about 5 minutes or until all the cheeses have melted. You may want to try baking a cup to get the correct timing as every oven toaster can be different.

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PREPARATION OF CRISPY PIZZA

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  • Have some pieces of flour tortilla, spread some tomato sauce  followed by your desired filling (i have used canned tuna in this illustration). Sprinkle with some chopped tomatoes and grated cheese of your choice (I have used mozzarella cheese). Bake in the pre-heated oven of 160 degree Celsius for about 10 minutes or until your desired crispiness. When cooled, cut into your desired sizes using a sharp knife or pizza cutter.

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CONCLUSION

An extremely short post. Easy and presentable finger snack. It will be well liked by both kids and adults..Remember do prepare a bit more and if you can’t finish it in the dinner, continue having this as your breakfast…It is worth  a try..

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

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  • For more recipes, you can refer to my RECIPE INDEX (updated as at 15 October 2014)  here and you can follow me at PINTEREST or visit the blog’s FACEBOOK PAGE to keep abreast of my future posts.  

 

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