Chocolate Crinkles Cookies (巧克力皱纹曲奇）

Posted on November 19, 2015 by Kenneth Goh

INTRODUCTION

Members of Facebook Group is asking me for Christmas cookies recipe. I do have some recipes in the previous year and i thought I might also share some new recipes this year.

The recipe that i have chosen is chocolate crinkle cookies. Hmmm, I do not know when this cookie become popular and it seems that in the recent months, i have seen a few posts of this cookies.

The cookies look rather different from other cookies. It has a unique outlook resemble a mushroom . This was resulted from the dough expansion during cooking. As it expands, a unique design is created.

It is a dark chocolate cookies that are very chocolaty , soft and chewy in the inside and firm on the exterior. Personally, I think it is a rather presentable trendy gift to be given to friends..

Preparation is very easy. The rule of soft chewy cookies is not to over bake the cookies. If you prefer crispy cookies, you will need to extend the baking timing.

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings : About 25-30 cookies

50 grams of butter, at room temperature
200 grams of dark cooking chocolate
80 grams of white sugar
2 eggs
200 grams of self raising flour
1/8 teaspoon of baking soda
100 grams of icing sugar (for dusting)

STEPS OF OPERATION

Microwave the cooking chocolate for 1 minute. Set aside for cooling. You can also melt the chocolate using ban marie method.

In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the melted chocolate follow by the eggs. Beat until well combined.

Sift in the flour and baking powder, use the machine lowest speed and stir until well combined. Chill the dough in the fridge until the dough is firm enough and does not stick to your hand .

Pre-heat the oven to 165 degree Celsius.

Take about 1/2 tablespoon of the dough, use hand to shape round and put it in the bowl of icing sugar. Roll it and let the dough coat as much icing sugar as possible. Transfer to the baking tray and leave adequate space for expansion. (at least 5-6 cm apart) Bake in the pre-heated oven of 165 degree Celsius for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are slightly firm.

CONCLUSION

This cookie is addictive and definitely suitable for a chocolate lover. I have already cut the sugar by 20% in this recipe and I will not recommend any further reduction. I hope this will benefit those readers who are looking for some Christmas cookies. You can easily modified this recipe by adding some red colouring and become a red velvet crinkle cookie.

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

For more recipes, you can refer to my RECIPE INDEX (updated as at 13 March 2015) here and you can follow me at PINTEREST or visit the blog’s FACEBOOK PAGE to keep abreast of my future posts. Also follow me at INSTAGRAM or TSU, a new social network for some more personal sharing other than recipes.

You can also join the FOOD BLOGGERS AND FOODIES UNITED FACEBOOK GROUP and FOOD PARADISE 美食天堂 to see more recipes. I am posting my daily home cooked food in the above Facebook Group daily. I would be more than happy if you can post in the Group for the recipes that you tried from my blog.

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 2600 recipes worldwide and pinned by various bloggers: FOOD BLOGGERS AND FOODIES UNITED PINTEREST BOARD.

Hakka Savoury Tangyuan （客家咸汤圆）

Posted on November 18, 2015 by Kenneth Goh

INTRODUCTION

There is no need to ask me when is Winter Solstice festival, it is always 3 days before Christmas , on 22nd December each year. I am sharing this post earlier because I just want to fulfil my blogging agenda of sharing one tang yuan recipe per year.

In the first year, I have shared the basic tangyuan recipe in this post: Time To Celebrate Winter Solstice–Chinese Tangyuan or Glutinous Rice Balls . In this post, i have also shared about the background of tangyuan.

Last year in 2015, i have shared the an alternative to normal tangyuan , sweet pumpkin tangyuan in this post: Pumpkin Glutinous Rice Balls aka Pumpkin Tangyuan (南瓜汤圆）

This year, I have decided to share a savoury tangyuan recipe which my late parents used to cook though the childhood version do not have any meat fillings.

This is not my creative recipe, if you Google from the internet, this dish shall be classified under Hakka cuisines. Apparently, most hakka members in my Facebook Group do cook tangyuan in this manner. As per Chinese baike it was written clearly that:

“客家咸汤圆是一道美味可口的汉族小吃。将材料1揉成糯米团，并分为15等份。将材料2及调味1搅拌均匀作成馅，再一一将糯米团捏成圆薄形，包入肉馅并捏合即可。用少许油加热将材料4爆香再倒入调味2料煮沸後放入咸汤圆，煮至咸汤圆熟为止。接著再放小汤圆，煮熟至浮出汤面就算完成了。吃的时候可以另外加入茼莴叶或菠菜等青菜等，吃起来味道更好。” (Source: http://baike.baidu.com/view/244157.htm)

If you are unsure how it tastes like, just imagine that the tangyuan is a substitute of noodles in kway tiao or bee hoon or noodle soups. It is just like Fuzhou fish balls except that it is not as springy and fishy as the fish balls .

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: About 15 big tangyuan and some small tangyuan

Tangyuan

200 grams of glutinous rice flour
About 80-100 grams of plain water
100 grams of minced meat
1 teaspoon of dark or light soya sauce
1 teaspoon of Chinese cooking wine
pinches of salt
sugar to taste
2 teaspoons of sesame oil
2 sprigs of spring onion, chopped

Soup Ingredients

1 stalk of vegetable greens (lettuce, caixin, tangO, some napa cabbage)
1 teaspoon of dried shrimps
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
5-6 dried scallops
2 shitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced into small pieces
1 tomato, cut into wedges (optional)
Pinches of salt
Dashes of white pepper
Sugar to taste

STEPS OF PREPARATION

Put the minced meat, chopped spring onion and the seasonings (salt, white pepper, sugar, dark or light soya sauce, sesame oil, Chinese cooking wine) in a bowl, use a chopstick to stir in one direction until well mixed. If preferred, you can add in 1/2 tablespoon of corn starch to enhance the binding . Marinate the meat for at least 1/2 hour.

Take out about 2 tablespoons of glutinous rice flour, put 1 –1.5 tablespoons of water, stir and knead until it form a soft dough. Flatten the dough and put in a pot of hot boiling water. Once it floats up , drained.

While it is hot, transfer the cooked dough to the remaining flour in the mixing bowl. Gradually add in the remaining cold water and use hand to knead until it forms a pliable dough. Shape the dough into a long stripes and cut the dough into 1.5 cm cube size.

Take a dough, shape round, flatten it and put a teaspoon of minced meat in the centre, seal the edges, shape round and put in a tray lightly dusted with some glutinous rice flour. Perform the same for the other 14 portions.

This step is optional. If there are left over dough, you can add some red colouring, knead until the colour is consistent and shape into smaller round balls.

Note:

Please ensure that the tangyuans do not touch each other and if there is a lot, you may want to cover both the dough and the completed tangyuan with a piece of wet cloth .

In a pot, put 1 tablespoon of oil and sauté the garlic, dried shrimps and shitake mushroom until fragrant. Add about 1 litre of water or meat broth add the minced meat and scallops. Bring to boil and once it boils, lower the heat to medium and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add the tangyuan and once the tangyuan floats up, add the seasonings (salt, white pepper and sugar), tomato and your preferred greens. Simmer for o1-2 minutes and off the heat.

The tangyuan is best served hot immediately after it was prepared.

CONCLUSION

If you have never eaten this type of tangyuan before, do give it a try. It is tasty and there are many options in the soup. Feel free to add the ingredients that suits your taste buds.

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

Stewed Halibut With Fermented Soya Beans (豆瓣酱半煎煮比目鱼）

Posted on November 16, 2015 by Kenneth Goh

INTRODUCTION

I have to be frank when I was young, there are not many cooking methods for fishes in my house. Beside pan frying, braised fish with soya sauce, assam fish, fish steaming and another one is this old classic of braising fish with fermented soya beans.

Well, I do not know how to properly translate the term for this cooking and in Chawan dialect and Mandarin, it was called “半煎煮“ or “pua jian zhu”. Basically it means that the fish is pan fried first until the exterior is hardened. It is then braised in a gravy of ginger and fermented soya beans.

It is a comfort dish that goes well with rice or porridge and most Chinese granny should be able to prepare this dish.. The gravy is especially nice to eat with the rice and like my wife, she likes the shredded ginger very much ..

For today’s illustration, i have used halibut fillet. i bought a piece from the supermarket and the first thing that come to my mind is to cook it this way. I am unsure if halibut is the same as the sole fish that I ate when I was young. i know that they both came from the same flatfish family but the one i knew is a whole fish and apparently is much smaller and unable to get such a big piece of fillet. This fish has a fishy smell, and one of the best ways of cooking the fish is braising in this strong aromatic soup to get rid of the fishy smell.

Unsure what are the reasons behind, we always used this type of cooking for fish fillets and not really whole fish. Better fishes such as threadfin can also be used but we never used in smaller fish with lots of bones like ikan selar or ikan kembong..

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings : 3-4 adult

One piece of fish fillet (about 500 grams)
1 tablespoon of fermented soya beans (tau cheo)
5 cm long ginger , shredded
2 cloves of garlic, small slices (optional)
1 teaspoon of sugar
Dashes of white pepper (optional)

STEPS OF PREPARATION

Shred the ginger and cut the garlic into small pieces.

Pat dry the fish and coat the fish with some corn flour . However, the coating is optional.

In a pan, put 1-2 tablespoons of oil, pan fried the fish until both sides are golden brown. Push the fish to one side of the pan, sauté the ginger and garlic using the cooking oil until aromatic, add the fermented soya beans. Stir fry for additional 1-2 minutes. Add adequate water to cover the fish and reduce the heat to medium. Let it simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Before off the heat, add the sugar and dashes of white pepper . If preferred, starches can be added by mixing 1 tablespoon of corn starch with 3 tablespoons of plain water.

Note:

When pan frying fishes, do not turn the fish for the first 3-4 minutes, otherwise, the skin will break.

No salt shall be added to dishes cooked with fermented soya beans as it is already very salty . In the event if it is too salty, add more sugar to neutralize the saltiness.

CONCLUSION

I have been sharing this type of simple home cooked dishes as I was rather shocked that a lot of new house chefs do not know how to cook this type of simple dishes. They knew the dish, they missed it, they did not have a chance to learn from their mother and I hope my sharing will benefit this group of readers. Having said that, if you still have people to refer to , I would encourage reader to learn from them these simple dishes from them as you know it definitely will suit your taste bud.

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

Shredded Ginger Sesame Oil Chicken (姜丝麻油鸡）

Posted on November 15, 2015 by Kenneth Goh

INTRODUCTION

My kids called this dish Zombie Chicken and I said her late grandmother surely will scold them if she had the chance to hear this .. This is because the Chinese words shredded ginger (姜丝） has the same pronunciation as zombie (僵尸）。

This is another dish that I need no reference to other recipes. it is such a common dish in our household. My late mum always cooked this dish when I was young, at times 2-3 days a week, be it chicken or pork.. So to me this dish is a dish that brought fond memories and I have never get tired of this dish until today ..

I blogged this recipe in honour of my late mum and as a record of my meat recipes. This is a common household dish that need no further elaboration and I believed every granny will have her very own recipe for the comfort dish. Of course what I am sharing is my mum’s version and it is a quick and fast recipe.

Cooking this dish is not difficult. The only point to highlight is there must be adequate ginger and the shredded ginger should be sautéed until aromatic. All the procedures that follow are as simple as ABC and nothing much to shout about.

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: 4-5 adults

10 drumsticks ,de-skinned and cut into big chunks
5 cm long ginger, de-skinned
2 tablespoons of dark soya sauce
2 tablespoons of Chinese cooking wine
1 tablespoons of sesame oil
Sugar to taste
Pinches of salt

STEPS OF PREPARATION

De-skinned the chicken if preferred. Keep the skin.

In a hot pan, pan fry the skin until all the chicken fats are excreted, throw away the skin and use the chicken fats and the sesame oil to sauté the ginger under medium heat until aromatic. If you do not like to reuse the chicken skin or you do not have the habit of de-skinned the chicken , use a tablespoon of cooking oil and sesame oil to sauté the ginger.

Add the chicken chunks, pan fried until the chickens exterior turn beige. Add the dark soya sauce and stir fry until well combined. Add some water adequate to cover 1/2 the height of the chicken and bring to boil. Once it boils, lower the heat to medium and let it simmer until the chickens are soft. If the water dries up too fast, add more water. Once the chickens are soft, add the seasonings (sugar to taste and pinches of salt) and the cooking wine. Stir until well combined, off the heat and best served with some steaming white rice.

CONCLUSION

This recipe will be captured under simple household dishes series. If you do not have a chance to learn from your family elders , you may want to give this recipe a try.. Lastly, if you are looking for those mixed vegetable style of ginger chicken, they have added starches to thicken the sauce. You can easily preparing that by mixing 1 tablespoon of corn starch mixed with 3 tablespoon of water.

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

Classic Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting (红萝卜蛋糕）

Posted on November 12, 2015 by Kenneth Goh

INTRODUCTION

I have prepared this carrot cake twice using two different recipes..

The first recipe is from the net and it has the shape but i did not like the texture and I do not think my readers will like this type of dense texture.. It was very dense possibly because golden syrup was used and it took very long hours to bake and hence the crust is rather thick. Having said that, my family members still finished all possibly because of the delicious cream cheese frosting.

Two days later that is today, i have decided to design a recipe of my own based on my carrot muffin recipe. In my humble opinion, it tastes much better and is very suitable for the cake. The only thing that can be further be improve is the doom shape of the cake. That possibly is due to my smaller pan used and I have to cut off the doom to level it. The cake is fluffier and overall, it just suits my taste buds,

Therefore in this post, there are two sets of images but what I am sharing is my newer and better recipe. For traditional cake, I have opt to use traditional rugged style of decoration and I never believed that it must be decorated with carrots made from fondant icing or butter cream.. By the same logic, is it not a sponge cake needs to be decorated using eggs or chocolate cake must be decorated with pieces of chocolate? Well, it is up to reader to decide but I have used some chopped pecan nuts for the topping which in my humble opinion is elegant and goes well with the cake.

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: Prepare an 8” diameter cake

150 grams of melted butter or cooking cooking oil
150 grams of carrots (shredded)
150 grams of brown sugar
100 grams of self raising flour
100 grams of plain flour
100 grams of chopped walnuts or pecan nuts
50 grams of fresh milk
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of mixed spice or cinnamon powder (optional)
3 eggs

250 grams of cream cheese, at room temperature
50 grams of butter, at room temperature
250 grams of icing sugar
2 teaspoons of milk
1/2 teaspoons of lemon juice

Additional 1/2 cups of chopped pecan nuts or walnuts for decoration
Some additional mixed spices for decoration

STEPS OF PREPARATION

Pre-heat the oven to 170 degree Celsius and lightly grease a 8” diameter round baking tin.

Shred the carrots until fine and blend the pecan/walnuts until coarsely. Set aside.

In the bowl with shredded carrots, add the milk and lightly beaten eggs. Stir until well mixed. Add the brown sugar , stir until well combined.

Sift in the dry ingredients (self raising flour, plain flour, cinnamon powder or mixed spices) into the wet ingredients bowl in three stages. Use a fork to swiftly and quickly fold it until well mixed. Transfer the batter to the lightly greased tin, level and bake in the pre-heat oven of 170 degree Celsius for about 45 minutes or when a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool the cake completely before proceeding to the next step.

Beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add softened butter, beat until well combined. Add icing sugar follow by the milk and lemon juice. Beat for 2-3 minutes until well mixed.

Take out the cake and cut into two equal halves. If there is a doom on the cake, slice it off if preferred. Apply generously the cream cheese frosting on top and the side of the cake. Sprinkle some additional mixed spices and chopped pecans/walnuts before serving. If the frosting is too soft, chill in the fridge for 15 minutes before application.

CONCLUSION

This is a much simpler recipe that yields better taste and texture than the first recipe that I try. If you are looking for a carrot cake recipe, you may want to consider this simple recipe.

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

Assam Fish (阿叁鱼）

Posted on November 11, 2015 by Kenneth Goh

INTRODUCTION

This is a recipe that I need no reference from other website. It is a common household dish that was cooked by my late mum since we are very young.

When I started blogging, I have rejected sharing this type of simple home cooked dishes for fear that readers will not accept such recipes. Apparently, lots of blogger are blogging the dish and since i am cooking today, I will also share this recipe too.

This is a recipe that can be as elaborate as you want in terms of herbs used. It can also be as simple liked what is cooked by my late mum. Being hailed from Sarawak where practically there are very few Peranakan community, most Chinese households also knew how to cook this dish . What is different from the West Malaysian version is the use of herbs that are not common in Sarawak such as Bunga kentan or daun kesom etc.. Whether these herbs add to the deliciousness of the dish in my humble opinion is a personal reference. I have a hard time to get use to these two herbs when I stayed in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore but are able to accept it now.

Another reasons that I have excluded these herbs in today’s recipe because I found that a recipe that is overloaded with ingredients will deter readers from trying. Buying a pack of bunga kentan or laksa leaves and using only 10% of it obviously is wasting money .. But if readers insist that this is compulsory in the recipe, you can always add it to suit your taste buds.

The picture in this post may not be as attractive as it should be . The main reasons is the fish used. In this illustration, ikan selar was used and that is what my mum used to cook ..Usually fish selection will based on fish that are fishy in nature after cooking and the concoction of herbs were used to musk such fishiness. Another common fish that we used to cook is ikan bawal hitam or black pomfret.

Better fish such as threadfin, garoupa, batang or tenggiri all can be used but to me it is a waste to use these type of fishes to cook this dish. These better fishes can be steamed or grilled or pan fried to enjoy its freshness and sweetness without the need to use lots of herbs. Well, in my opinion, any fishes can be used and I will leave it for readers to decide.

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: About 3-4 adult servings

4 ikan kembong or ikan selar
2 tablespoons of tamarind paste or assam mixed with 6 tablespoons of water and extract juices
2 tablespoons of sugar
Pinches of salt

Rempah or spice mix ingredients

2 small onions
5 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon of chilli powder (or 3-4 fresh chilli)
1 tablespoon of belachan or shrimp paste
1 stalk of lemon grass
2 small turmeric roots (or 1 tablespoon of turmeric powder)
2 small tomatoes (optional)

Optional ingredients – blended to rempah above

1/2 bunga ketan or laksa flower
Some laksa leaves or daum kesom

STEPS OF PREPARATION

Put all the rempah or spice mix ingredients in a blender (except powder form), add adequate water just to cover 1/2 the height of the ingredients, blend until as fine as possible. Alternatively, you can pound these ingredients using traditional mortal and pastel.

In a wok, put about 2-3 tablespoons of cooking oil, sauté the rempah or spice mix under medium heat until fragrant and until oil starts to separate out from the ingredients. In this process, you will witness the colour of the rempah darkens and getting drier and drier. It took me about 15 minutes to get what I wanted.

Mix 2 tablespoons of tamarind paste with 6 tablespoons of water and extract juices. Pour the assam juices into the rempah, stir until well combined. Add the fish and follow by the sugar, bring to boil and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Off the heat and let the fish rest in the assam gravy for at least 1/2 hour before serving. Timing will depend on type and size of fish, in general 5-10 minutes of simmering should be adequate. It is advisable to prepare this dish in the early afternoon and served for dinner to let the flavour develops for a few hours.

CONCLUSION

I am unsure if this assam fish of mine do appeal to you but I have to clarify that this type of thick gravy assam fish will not have any vegetables. There is another type of assam fish which is more soupy and with lots of vegetable. That is very sour but this recipe is supposed to be sour and sweet and it is an enjoyment to have white rice served with this delicious gravy.

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

Red Vegetable Soup? -Russian Borscht Soup, Chinese Luo Song Tang (罗宋汤）

Posted on November 10, 2015 by Kenneth Goh

INTRODUCTION

All Singaporean and Malaysian Chinese family will likely know a common household soup – “ABC soup” and the basic ingredients are potatoes, onions, carrots and pork rib though at times, other vegetables are added such as celery, sweet corns and capsicum etc.. Obviously , what I am sharing today may has some connection with this popular ABC soup though there is no direct conclusive evidence that it was linked.

The original soup should be a beet root soup which is very common in Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Europe. The name is borscht and it was served in most Russian restaurant. Yes, this is a very common soup and whenever i dined at Russian restaurant be it in Khabarovsk in Eastern Russia or Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk in central Siberia, it was always one the soups served. Sad to say that I always did not order because it was prepared using beef broth. However, seeing my Chinese companion enjoying the soup, I knew that it is a delicious soup.

Initially, I planned to blog borscht recipe only but after due consideration, I do not think I have confidence to convince my readers to try this bright red coloured vegetable soup and it reminds me of another soup that is very representative of Western soup served in Hong Kong, Taiwan and China western restaurants. This soup is called Lo Song Tang (罗宋汤）。 In these Asian countries, most of the older Western restaurants will serve this soup together with other popular soups such as mushroom soup and corn soup. There is no direct English translation for this soup and it is also called borscht.. I also did not have a chance to try because it was usually prepared using beef broth.

Both these soups were actually linked and most Chinese literature will tell you that the originality of luo song tang is borscht and it was called as such because the name “Soviet Union” ..

Well the preparation are rather similar except that no beet roots was used in the soup in the Eastern version. Instead, tomato sauce or puree to colour the soup. That possibly is because beet root was not available in China then so tomato was used instead. In fact, I do not recall beet root being used for any Chinese traditional recipes..

Since I can’t take beef, I have prepared these soup using pork. If you want the original taste, of course beef is preferred. If you are curious about the taste of the soup, it a bit tangy and slightly like more watery pasta sauce. To me, it is definitely delicious and it is second time that I have prepared the soup within a period of 1 month.

“Borscht is a soup of Ukrainian origin that is common in Eastern and Central Europe, especially in Ashkenazi Jewish,Belarusian, Lithuanian, Moldovan, Romanian, Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian cuisine. In most of traditional recipes, it is made with beetroot as the main ingredient. In some regions, tomato is used as the main ingredient, while beetroot may act as a secondary ingredient. Other varieties that do not use beetroot also exist, such as green borscht and white borscht. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borscht)’

“罗宋汤（俄语、乌克兰语：Борщ，波兰语：Barszcz）是发源于乌克兰的一种浓菜汤。成汤以后冷热兼可享用，在东欧或中欧很受欢迎。在这些地区，罗宋汤大多以甜菜为主料，常加入马铃薯、红萝卜、菠菜和牛肉块、奶油等熬煮，因此呈紫红色。有些地方以番茄为主料，甜菜为辅料。也有不加甜菜加番茄酱的橙色罗宋汤和绿色罗宋汤。罗宋汤传到上海后，上海人按自己口味改良了罗宋汤，是海派西餐中著名的一道美食。

“罗宋”这一名称据说是来自Russian soup的中文音译（罗宋即Russian，源自早年上海的洋泾滨英语，发音：[lùsóŋ]），Russian Borscht（Borshch）是另一常用的名称。罗宋汤在中国东北的一些地区也被称为“苏波汤”。在十月革命时候，有大批俄国人辗转流落到了上海，他们带来了伏特加，也带来了俄式的西菜，上海第一家西菜社就是俄国人开的。这道汤，就是从俄式红菜汤演变而来，俄式红菜汤辣中带酸，酸甚于甜，上海人并不习惯。后来受原料采办以及本地口味的影响，渐渐地形成了独具海派特色的酸中带甜、甜中飘香、肥而不腻、鲜滑爽口的罗宋汤。这海派罗宋汤并非只是吃西餐时食用，就是学校、单位、家庭以及中式菜馆，也是屡见不鲜。久而久之，这汤又在上海形成了各种流派和分支，其中最具代表性的有“饭店派”、“食堂派”和“家庭派”等。其中“饭店派”以淮海西菜社为代表，在当年推出罗宋汤后，经过数次改良，更新工艺，终于成为海派罗宋汤的领路人，而后，各家西菜馆乃至个别中菜馆，都纷纷仿效。“食堂派”又称“弄堂派”，汤往往用大面盆或是保暖茶桶盛装，不用蕃茄酱或是只放极少用以着色，那汤常常是“清汤晃水”的，飘着几丝红肠而已，蕃茄多不剥皮，反正与那西菜馆里的罗宋汤是大相径庭，奇怪的是，即使这样的“蕃茄煮水”，吃着也很爽口，至今还有许多中学生不愿意吃学校的饭菜，跑到校门口买一两元钱一碗的这种汤，加片面包以做午饭。“家庭派”的人，既无缘学到西菜馆的烧法，也不想如“食堂派”那样堕落，于是只能自行琢磨，研究出各式烧法，其中主要以牛肉代替红肠，并且欠芡为主。（Source： http://baike.baidu.com/view/7499.htm）

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: 5-6 adult servings

500 grams of beef and other meats, cut into big chunks
1 cup of potatoes , diced
1 cup of carrots, diced
1 cup of capsicum, diced
1 cup of tomatoes, diced
1 cup of onion, diced
1 cup of cabbage, shredded
1 small can of tomato puree
1 small beetroot, shredded
1/4 lemon, juice extracted
50 grams of butter
3 tablespoons of tomato sauce
2 tablespoons of plain flour mix with 3 tablespoons of water (optional)
About 6-8 cups of beef broth or plain water
1-2 tablespoons of vinegar (as required)
Pinches of salt
Dashes of black pepper
Sugar to taste
1/2 cup of sour cream

STEPS OF PRPARATION

If you are preparing borscht , you will need to start with the beet root preparation and followed by the other steps. If you are preparing the Asian version of borscht, you can by pass the beet root preparation.

Shred your beet root, squeeze 1/4 a lemon juice, mixed well . Transfer the beet root to a pot, add about 2 cups of beef broth or plain water and start boiling until the beet beef broth is soft.

In a frying pan, put the butter, sauté the onion until fragrant, add the meat cubes followed by diced tomatoes, capsicum, potatoes and carrots. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes until the flavour are incorporated.

Either transfer these meat to the pot of beet root soup or a new pot. Add the remaining beef broth or plain water.

Add the tomato puree, bring to boil and let it simmer until all the vegetables are soft. Add the shredded cabbage and let it continue to simmer for another 15 minutes. Before off the heat, add the tomato sauce, vinegar (if desired for a more tangy taste), sugar to taste, black pepper and pinches of salt. If prefer a thicker soup, you can add the plain flour roux. Stir until well mixed, bring to boil and off the heat.

For serving, topped generously with preferred herbs such as parsley or Chinese celery. Best served as a standard soup in a Western set meal. For borscht, place a scope of the sour cream on top of the soup.

CONCLUSION

Promoting a well known recipe but not popular here can be tougher that one can think. But I am very confident that you will like it, otherwise this soup will not be so popular for no reasons. What is shocking is most local Singaporean and Malaysian Chinese never heard of “luo song tang” but I have known this soup since i am very young because I am Chinese educated and it was always mentioned in Chinese literature and Hong Kong TV drama series. If you are running out of soup ideas, why not try this thick vegetable soup?

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

Sisig Chicken? Philippines Mayonnaise Chicken (菲律宾美乃滋鸡）

Posted on November 8, 2015 by Kenneth Goh

INTRODUCTION

My neighbour gave us some capsicum and I am grumbling that I do not really know how to cook capsicum.. My wife immediately thought of this mayonnaise chicken that we have eaten in one of the Filipino restaurants in Singapore..

Well, I do not think the original recipe of this Filipino dish have capsicum but what we have tried did have these capsicums. The name of the dish is Sisig chicken but I do not called it as such as my recipe is not very authentic and I do not want to be bombarded by the Filipinos for providing wrong recipe of their well liked dish..Therefore, I have decided to call it mayonnaise chicken.

Both my wife and my kids all remembered this dish is because it is a sinful yet delicious dish… It is tasty and one looked at the ingredients will know that this dish will be delicious. It has mayonnaise and butter and eggs that smoothen the meat dish.. It is very addictive and once you start, it is hard for you to stop eating this dish and it goes well with hot steaming rice.

Traditional;y, Philippine’s Sisig dish is pork based. It was prepared using pig head meat, pig ear, pig liver and instead of mayonnaise, pig brain was used to smoothen the dish. Chicken sisig is a sub category and I was told that chicken liver is one of the most critical ingredients in the chicken version. However, due to current consumption style, all these exotic cuts were left out and what is used is just chicken meat and mayonnaise which is easier to be accepted by current foodies.

This dish was supposed to be served using a sizzling hot plate and as my home does not have one which I believed most family does not have, I have use a pan for the picture taking. If you have one, this is one of the dish that you can use your sizzling hot plate.

As per Wikipedia:

“Sisig also refers to Sizzling sisig, a Filipino dish made from parts of pig’s head and liver, usually seasoned with calamansi and chili peppers. Lucia Cunanan of Angeles City has been credited with inventing sisig The Philippine Department of Tourism has acknowledged that her “Aling Lucing’s” restaurant had established Angeles City as the “Sisig Capital of the Philippines” in 1974. Cunanan’s trademark sisig was developed in mid-1974 when she served a concoction of boiled and chopped pig ears and cheeks seasoned with vinegar,calamansi juice, chopped onions and chicken liver and served in hot plates. Today, varieties include sisig ala pizzailo, pork combination, green mussels or tahong, mixed seafood, ostrich sisig, crocodile sisig(URBAN CAFE), spicy python, frog sisig and tokwa’t baboy, among others” (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisig)

As mentioned above, this is not an authentic recipe but a recipe that is tailored to suit Singaporean and Malaysian taste buds. I have prepared twice, once is one week after my first try and the second time is for today’s dinner. The difference between the two is one I have cooked with raw meat using chicken cubes whereas for today, I have pre-cook the meat, use a blender to blend until fine before stir frying. Another difference is adding mayonnaise in the cooking whereas the first version is just served with mayonnaise. Both version uses capsicum and in my humble opinion is delicious.

WHAT IS REQURIED

Servings: 3-4 adults

2 chicken drumsticks or breast, deboned
1 green capsicum, diced
1 red capsicum, diced
1 onion , diced
2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
Pinches of salt
1 tablespoon of dark soya sauce
Sugar to taste
1/2 teaspoon of white or black pepper
Some butter for greasing hot plate
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of cooking oil

STEPS OF PREPARATION

In a pot, put the diced onions, sauté until fragrant. Add the dice chicken cubes, stir fry until the chicken exterior turn beige. add the diced capsicums. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes, add about 1/4 cup of water to the chicken and simmer until the chicken is soft.

Add the seasons (black or white pepper, pinches of salt, sugar to taste, black soya sauce) and stir fry until well mixed. Push the chicken aside, crack the eggs and cook until the york is set. Transfer the dish to your serving plate and drizzle sparingly with mayonnaise. Best served hot with white rice and garnish with slice of calamansi plus green chilli .

Method 2

Boil or pan fry the meat until cooked. Use a blender to blend until fine.

In a pot, sauté the onion with some cooking oil until fragrant. Add the capsicum and stir fry until the capsicum is soft. Add the minced meat followed by the seasonings (salt, black pepper, white sugar and black soya sauce).

Before off the heat, put two tablespoons of mayonnaise, Stir fry until well mix.

Heat up your hot seasoning plate, melt some butter and transfer to stir fry meat earlier to sizzling plate. Crack 2 eggs on top and let it simmer until the eggs are cooked to your desired consistency. Best served hot with white rice and garnish with slice of calamansi plus green chilli .

CONCLUSION

Whether this is Sisig chicken or not is not important. What I can tell readers is that this is a delicious dish that family members are looking forward. I hope my picture will be able to convince you that this is a yummy dish.

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

Pumpkin Huat Kuih (金瓜发糕）

Posted on November 7, 2015 by Kenneth Goh

INTRODUCTION

This should be one of my very last recipe of Huat Kuih as I have at least more than 10 of them..

The original recipe is called pumpkin steamed muffins and is from a very experienced blogger – Aunty Yochana.

I did grumble with my Facebook Group that in English speaking group, huat kuih recipe is always not a welcoming recipe as it is viewed as superstition .. However, if the recipe is called a steamed muffins, more English Educated readers will try the recipe.. Is it not a funny phenomenon?

Well, putting aside these grumbling, this is a nice huat kuih and I loved the yellow vibrant colour of the steamed cake. It can be as tasty as you want it to be and I do not have much thing to write about this recipe.

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Recipe adapted from: Yochana’s Cake Delight! : Steamed Pumpkin Muffin

Servings: About 6 huat kuih

100 grams of steamed pumpkin and mashed
200 grams of self raising flour
130 grams of white sugar
150 grams of hot water or coconut milk or milk
30 grams of cooking oil or melted butter
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

STEPS OF PRARATION

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

Steam the pumpkin and mash into puree form. In another bowl, put hot water and add castor sugar, stir until sugar dissolved. Mix the syrup with the pumpkin puree and stir until well combined. If preferred, you can put into the blender and blend until fine.

Sift the baking powder and self raising flour into a bowl. Make a well and add the pumpkin solution in 3 stages, stir until well mixed. Transfer it to some cupcake cups and fill the cups with the batter until at least 95% full.

Prior to steaming, lightly grease a scissor or a knife and cut a criss-cross on top of the batter. Steam in the steamer 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.

CONCLUSION

Not a difficult recipe but taste is delicious. Do give it a try and see if it suits your taste bud.

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

Steamed Fruit Cake or Kek Kukus Buah (杂果蒸糕）

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Kenneth Goh

INTRODUCTION

Being hailed from Sarawak, I have a chance to taste many Malay steamed cakes that are sinfully rich. These cake are delicious, slightly chewy and dense.

If you have a chance to taste these cakes, you will definitely opt for it if there is a choice between baked and steamed cakes. These cakes are usually sold at a very high premium.. The reasons are simple, they are using very rich expensive ingredients and these cake usually take a long hours to steam to get that texture and well incorporated taste.. How long is long? It can range from 1-2 hours to 3-4 hours of continuous steaming depending on the size of the cake.

That is also the reason partially deter me from trying many delicious Malay traditional cake recipes.. Mind you, 4 hours of steaming is not a joke.. It takes lots of supervision and gas bills. But for this fruit cake, I have purposely looked for a steamed cake recipe since I already have a lot of baked recipe. The first thing that came into my mind is the Malay version or Kek Kukus buah buahan or fruit cake.

Looking at the picture, one will be able to tell that the cake is very moist, almost crust less. It is dense and slightly chewy. It can be cut into very nice pieces and with a distinctive dark colour. These dark colour is specially made. Unlike western fruit cake that uses brown sugar or molasses to colour the fruit cake, the sugars are caramelized first to get the colour.

Since this is a Malay recipe, very logically there is no alcohol being used. If you want , you can soak your fruit with rum or cherry wine or add a few tablespoons of rum to the the cake batter. After it is baked, spray alcohol on the cake.

I must say this recipe is a keeper but the only thing that I am unsure is that it is not sweet to the my taste bud. I have reanalyse the recipe twice and I may have wrongly measure the sugar. Therefore, I will provide the original recipe and let reader try out. I especially loved the chewy texture and once you try this fruit cake, I am sure you will continue to prepare this.

As discussed above, this fruit cake need 4 hours of continuous steaming for a 8”-10” tray. I do not have the patience or the kitchen gadget for the steaming. I can’t find any kitchen utensil in my house that can house an 8”-10” square pan and I will need to buy again. So what I did is to steam in a 6 inches diameter round pan. All the remaining , I put in a rectangular baking tin or 4” x 4” x 8” and i steamed bake it. Overall, it took me about 2 hours to steam this much smaller cake. and 1 hour to steam bake the other cake. Can you differentiate by look? Not really but texture wise, you will be able to tell that steamed version is much better than steamed bake. Steamed is still better than steamed baked.

The round cake looked flatter and the rectangle cake seems to be fluffier. It is not true, it is my own mistake of the batter distribution. After first distribution, i found that my rectangle cake batter seems to be too little, I scoped some batter from the centre of the round tin and forget to to level it before steaming. However, for readers, you should not have this problem at all. Lastly I want to say thanks to the blogger who provided this recipe.

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Recipe adapted from: masam manis: KEK BUAH KUKUS

Servings: Prepare an 8” x 8” cake

500 grams of mixed fruits
350 grams of plain flour
300 grams of white sugar
250 grams of butter
50 grams or ml of hot water
3 eggs
2 teaspoons of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar
1 teaspoon of mixed spice or nutmeg powder
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

STEPS OF PREPARATION

Lightly grease the your preferred baking tray. If you are steaming, get hold a steamer with boiling water and if steamed bake, pre-heat the oven to 160 degree Celsius.

In a pot, put the sugar and on to medium heat. Melt the sugar until it become sugar syrup and start to turn golden brown. Add the 50 grams of hot water and stir until the sugar dissolves.

Note:

The colour changes from transparent sugar syrup to golden syrup can be rather fast. So, always used medium to low heat. Too brownish or golden will make you cake bitter.

When you add the hot water, be careful as steams will rush out and some spilling may happen. So do it carefully at low heat.

The main purpose of this step is to get the colour, if you prefer lighter coloured fruit cake, you can add the water faster. If you prefer darker colour, add slightly later but make sure it did not become too dark and it will become bitter.

Melt the butter in the hot sugar syrup follow by adding the mixed fruit. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes before off the heat. Let it cool until body temperature before proceeding the next step.

When cooled, sift in the nutmeg powder, baking soda and plain flour, fold until it become a sticky mass. Add in the beaten eggs, stir until a smooth batter is formed.

Transfer the cake to your preferred greased or lined baking pan. Cover the baking tin with a piece of aluminium foil.

For baking, place a tray of water at the lower rack of the oven, bake in the oven for about 1 hour until the cake is set and a skewer test inserts at the centre of the cake comes out clean. Timing is for your reference and very much depends on the size and height of the cake. . At 45 minutes juncture, you can open the aluminium foil and do the skewer test.

For steaming, steam the cake at high heat for at least 2 hours and that depends on the size and height of the cake. For a 6 inches round baking tray, it took me about 2 hours. For an 8 inches baking tray, it is expected to be at least 3-4 hours. After 2 hour juncture, you can open the aluminium foil and do the skewer test. Watch out for the water level and you may need to refill the hot water. Set aside a kettle of hot boiling water for this purpose.

The cake will further develop its taste after resting 1-2 days.

Note:

If you want to incorporate alcohol to the cake, you can either add a small quantities of fruit based alcohol to the batter before steaming and subsequently SPRAY the alcohol to the cake when it is out of the steamer.

For keeping, it is recommended that once cooled completely, wrapped the cake tightly with an aluminium foil to prevent water loss, put in an air tight container in a freezer.

CONCLUSION

I am unsure how long the fruit cake can be kept but experience shows that alcohol cake and long steaming fruit cake can keep very well in the freezer possibly up to year if not contaminated. Passion pays off and if you have never try a steamed cake, you should give it a go.. Lastly, remember that over caramelized sugar will give you a bitter cake. On the other hand, the right colour caramelized sugar with give you a special aroma that other fruit cakes will not be able to provide you.

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

GUAI SHU SHU

Guai Shu Shu is a "shu shu" that is "guai"….

Chocolate Crinkles Cookies (巧克力皱纹曲奇）

Hakka Savoury Tangyuan （客家咸汤圆）

Stewed Halibut With Fermented Soya Beans (豆瓣酱半煎煮比目鱼）

Shredded Ginger Sesame Oil Chicken (姜丝麻油鸡）

Classic Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting (红萝卜蛋糕）

Assam Fish (阿叁鱼）

Red Vegetable Soup? -Russian Borscht Soup, Chinese Luo Song Tang (罗宋汤）

Sisig Chicken? Philippines Mayonnaise Chicken (菲律宾美乃滋鸡）

Pumpkin Huat Kuih (金瓜发糕）

Steamed Fruit Cake or Kek Kukus Buah (杂果蒸糕）

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: