Yao Mak with Fermented Bean Curd

Yao Mak or Romanien Lettuce is one of my favourite vegetables. One of the way to cook this vegetable was to stir-fry it with fermented bean curd. This dish is very appetising and goes well with rice.

Ingredients

2 tbsp oil

1/2 tbsp chopped garlic

3 pieces of fermented bean curd

1 tsp chopped chilli padi (optional)

500g Yao Mak

Seasoning

1 tsp oyster sauce

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tbsp light soya sauce

Methods

1. Heat up oil, saute chopped garlic until fragrant. Add in fermented bean curds, chilli padi and stir well.
2. Add in Yao Mak, seasoning and stir-fry at high heat until cooked. Dish up and serve hot.

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Honey Sauce Chicken and Potatoes

Its been quite some time since I had last cooked due to some reason that I shall not disclosed here. Hmm, been looking at my kitchen and I found this pre-mix sauce that I had bought for a long time. So, I had bought some chicken thigh to make this dish. Since I had a few potatoes lying around in the kitchen as well, I decided to use it as well. Two words to describe this dish, SIMPLE and DELICIOUS!

Ingredients

700g chicken thigh

3 potato, sliced

1 pack of pre-mix honey sauce

Methods

1. Deep fry the chicken thighs till brown. Set aside.
2. Deep fry potatoes slices. Set aside.
3. Pour in the honey sauce and 100ml of water into the wok. Stir till the sauce its well mixed and add in the chicken and potatoes. Let it simmer for 2 minutes. Dish up and serve hot.

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Fresh Mushrooms and Chicken Pau

Today, I am trying a recipe of Pau from a cookbook on Dim Sum that I had bought from a bookstore recently. The filling are easy to prepare but the real challenge comes in when I am wrapping the filling to form the shape of Pau. It is not an easy task for me at all. Guess, I am not those ones who are gifted with a pair of skillful hands. Since my time are kinda limited, I had opted for the Quick Dough for making the skin for the Pau which I felt that is kinda hard after the Pau had been steamed. Therefore, I'll be using other recipe for the skin during my next round of making Pau.

Ingredients

Skin

500g self-raising flour, sifted

1/2 tsp salt

100g castor sugar

3 egg whites

1 tsp white vinegar

3 tbsp shortening

100ml fresh milk/ water

Filling

300g chicken meat, sliced

100g fresh mushrooms, sliced and blanched

1 pair of chinese sausages, steamed and sliced

2 tbsp diced spring onion (I didnt used since I don't fancy it)

Seasoning

1 tsp salt

3 tsp castor sugar

1/2 tbsp oyster sauce

t tsp chicken stock granules

1 tsp sesame oil

1/4 tsp pepper

2 tbsp corn flour

1 tbsp oil

Methods

For the skin

1. Mix all the ingredients together and knead into a smooth and pliable dough.
2. Cover with a wet cloth and allow dough to rest for 30 minutes before shaping.
3. Divide dough into 24 portions and shape into balls.

For the filling

1. Mix chicken meat with the seasoning, add all the rest of the ingredients in and mix well.
2. Lastly add corn flour and oil. Divide into 24 portions.
3. Flatten the skin and wrap filling in the shape of a Pau. Steam over high heat for 15 minutes until cooked. Remove and serve hot.

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Chinese Meat Dumpling Soup (Sui Kow)

I had been thinking of making Sui Kow for quite some time. Since I had already finished my pre-wedding shoots, therefore I've got the time to prepare this dish to pamper myself and Hubby after a long whole day of photo shooting last two days. The ingredients and process to make these dumplings are pretty simply. We had so much of it for lunch today and it tastes so delicious. Nothing beats the feeling of having a hot bowl of soup with yummylicious Sui Kow for lunch. Yum yum!!

Ingredients

Sui Kow wrappers

300g of minced pork

200g of medium size prawn

10 water chestnuts, diced

1 carrot, diced

500ml of chicken broth

vegetables of your choice

Marinade for pork and water chestnuts

1 tbsp of sesame oil

pinch of salt and pepper

3 tsp of soy sauce

dash of hua tiao wine

1 tsp of cornflour

Marinade for prawns

pinch of sugar

1 tsp sesame oil

Methods

1. Mixed minced pork and water chestnuts in a big bowl. Marinade with the seasonings for 1/2 hour.
2. Scoop 1 tbsp of minced pork with water chestnuts onto a piece of Sui Kow wrapper and top with a piece of prawn. Seal the Sui Kow wrapper.
3. Boiled the chicken broth, add in Sui Kow and the your choice of vegetables until cooked.
4. Serve hot.

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Coconut Corn Pudding

I decided to try my hands on this appetising yet simple dessert - Coconut Corn Pudding. It is very easy to prepare and this pudding taste good. I love the smooth texture and the coconut fragrant in this pudding. Hubby had the same comment too. For this recipe, we can basically substitute the corn with ingredients like red beans or even chick peas.

Ingredients

100g sweet corn

100g evaporated milk

300g caster sugar

400g coconut milk

170g corn flour

5 cups of water

Methods

1. Wash and boil the corns to soften it. Discard the water and set aside.
2. Mix corn flour with coconut milk and evaporated milk. Blend well.
3. Bring 5 cups of water to a boil and add in the sugar. When the sugar has dissolved, stir in the corn solution gradually .
4. Keep stirring the mixture until the mixture comes to a rolling boil. Stir in the softened corns and mix well.
5. Pour into a mould which has been rinsed in icy cold water. Let it cool before putting in the fridge.

Comments: When substituting with red beans, use the red beans water to replace part of the water in the recipe. Must add sugar to red beans.

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White Chocolate Mud Cake

9th June 2008, its been a year since we had ROM-ed. Its been exactly a year ago since I had signed the paper. Wow! Time really flies fast. Therefore, I had baked this cake yesterday to commemorate our first ROM anniversary. So, today we had a mini celebration for our first anniversary with this white chocolate cake and red wine.

Ingredients

250g unsalted butter, chopped

150g white chocolate, chopped

2 cups caster sugar

1 cup milk

1 1/2 cups plain flour, sifted

1/2 cup self-raising flour, sifted

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs, beaten lightly

pieces of chocolate - decoration

Ganache

300g white chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup thickened cream

Methods

1. Preheat oven at 160 degrees. Meanwhile, grease a deep 22 cm round cake pan; line base with baking paper.
2. Combine butter, chocolate, sugar and milk in a pan; stir over low fire until chocolate melted and sugar is dissolved. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; cool for 15 minutes.
3. Stir in flours, vanilla extract and eggs. Pour mixture into prepared pan.
4. Bake, covering with foil halfway through cooking for 1 1/2 hours. Stand cake in pan for 3o minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.
5. To prepare ganache, combine white chocolate and cream in a pan. Stir over low fire until chocolate is melted and mixture smooth. Pour into a bowl then refrigerate until thick and of spreadable consistency.
6. Spread ganache over top and sides of mud cake. Decorate with pieces of chocolate.

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Rice Dumpling (Bak Chang)

As the fifth day of the fifth lunar month is approaching, my craving for Rice Dumpling (Bak Chang) is getting stronger. Since nowadays I am in the cooking mood, I decided to try my hands on making Rice Dumpling myself. I started by getting all the ingredients needed, prepared some of the ingredients the night before I cooked the glutinous rice and the filling for the dumplings today. I struggled a lot while in the process of wrapping the dumplings. The wrapping process is not as easy as shown in the diagrams in the cookbook. Hubby helps me a lot in the process of wrapping the dumplings. He is basically are better and faster in wrapping the dumplings. So, thanks alot Hubby, without you, I'll need to use more time in it.

Ingredients

A) Rice

1 kg glutinous rice, soaked overnight and drained

250g peanuts, soaked overnight

5 tbsp cooking oil

Seasoning 1

1 1/2 tbsp dark soya sauce

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp five spice powder

dash of MSG (optional)

B) Filling

500g pork belly, cut into small pieces

150g dried mushroom, soaked and cut

100g dried shrimps, soaked to soften

100g bird eye peas, soaked overnight

100g dried chestnuts, soaked overnight, cleaned

6 shallots, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

6 shallots, chopped

4 tbsp oil

Seasoning 2

2 tbsp dark soya sauce

1 tsp five spice powder

2 tsp salt

dash of pepper powder

dash of MSG (optional)

C) Wraps

bamboo leaves, boiled till soft

hemp string, boiled till soft

Methods

1. To prepare rice: Heat oil, fry glutinous rice and peanuts, add seasoning (1), stir fry for 5 minutes and dish out.
2. To prepare filling: Heat oil, fry chopped shallots, garlic and dried shrimps till fragrant. Add in belly pork pieces and seasoning (2), fry till dry.
3. To make dumpling: Overlap 2 pieces of bamboo leaves, place 2 tbsp rice in center, spoon over pork filling, mushroom, chestnuts, bird eye peas and cover with 2 tbsp rice. Wrap and secure with hemp string.
4. Boil in boiling water over high heat for 1 hour, reduce heat and continue to boil for 1 1/4 hour.

Comments: I didnt put in MSG for the dumplings. Therefore, I felt it still lack of "Ommph" in it. Will put some MSG for the next round of rice dumpling making.

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Oreo Truffles Candy

Oreo again. Since I had bought an extra packet of Oreos last few weeks for my cheesecake, I had decided to surf the Internet for recipes related to Oreo. And this particular recipe caught my eyes. Initially I thought that it will be kinda easy to make but once I placed my hand on it, I realised that it doesn't really seems easy at all. Patience, patience and patience, that is one of the extra ingredient that we need when it comes to make this truffles. I had a hard time dipping the Oreos into the melted chocolate and hence, my end product is not those 'good looking' truffles. Nevertheless, the taste of the Oreo Truffles are simply heavenly and sinful. I will try definately try this recipe again and hopefully for the second time, I'll managed to get some 'handsome' and 'beautiful' truffles on my plate.

Ingredients

300g Oreo cookies
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
8 oz. white chocolate, melted

Methods

1. Finely crushed the Oreo cookies in a food processor or a ziploc bag.
2. Stir the finely crushed Oreo with softened cream cheese until the candy is well mixed.
3. Use cookie cutter to form your desired shaped truffles or roll in between your hands until they are round.
4. Place the truffles in the refrigerator to firm up for about 1 hour.
5. Melt chocolate and dipped the formed truffles, tap off extra and set aside on wax paper covered cookie sheet to dry.
6. Add sprinkles on the tops. Repeat with remaining truffles, and refrigerate for 1 hour or until chocolate has hardened.

Comments: U have to constantly stirred the melted chocolate and dipped the truffles fast in order to avoid the chocolate to become hard. I had mine to slow, hence it end up kinda messy.

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