Ondeh-Ondeh Purple Sweet Potato

Ondeh-ondeh are glutinous rice balls, filled with gula melaka or palm sugar and coated with coconut flakes. It can be said that ondeh-ondeh is an evergreen traditional kuih which is found in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei. Ondeh-ondeh are usually green as they are made from the mixing of glutinous rice flour with pandan juice. However, over time, many modifications have been made. Creative housewives have used sweet potatoes to mix with the glutinous rice flour and pandan juice to make ondeh-ondeh. Thus, if orange sweet potatoes are used, then the ondeh-ondeh will be orange. Here, I have used the purple sweet potatoes and, thus, my ondeh-ondeh are purple in colour.


Ingredients:

• 1 cylindrical block of gula melaka
• 150 g purple sweet potato
• 160 g glutinous rice flour
• 5 tbsp of pandan juice
• 100 g water
• Flakes from 1 coconut
• 1/2 tsp salt

Method:

• Shave the block of gula melaka and set aside.

• Mix the coconut flakes with the salt in a metal plate. Set aside.

• Put the sweet potato into a metal plate and steam it.

• Once soft, remove the plate of sweet potato from the steamer and put the plate of coconut flakes into the steamer to be steamed (about 5-10 minutes). Remove and set aside.

• Transfer the sweet potato to a large mixing bowl and mash it while it is still hot.

• Add the glutinous rice flour and the pandan juice to the mashed sweet potato. Knead them.

• Add water, a little at a time to the dough. Knead till the dough is soft and smooth and no longer sticks to the hand.

• Divide the dough into small pieces (15 g each). You may make it smaller.

• Roll each dough into a ball.

• Flatten the ball and make a hole in the centre. Put a teaspoon of shaved gula melaka into the hole and seal the edges. Shape the dough into a ball. Repeat this until all the dough balls are completed.

• Boil a pot of water.

• When the water is boiling, drop the balls into the pot.

• When the balls float to the surface, it means that they are cooked. Let the balls stay in the boiling water for another few minutes to ensure that all the gula melaka inside the balls has melted.

• Scoop up the balls and drop them into the plate of coconut flakes. Coat the ball with coconut plate.

• Spoon them up onto a serving plate.

Steamed Prawns on Glass Noodles

 

Steamed Prawns on Glass Noodles is simply delicious. I first had this in a dim sum restaurant when I was on holiday. I came back and cooked it a few times, improving each time so that it is similar to the one I ate.

Ingredients:

• 40 g glass noodles (before soaking), soaked in cold water till it is soft. (Do not over-soak.)
• 6 pcs large white prawns, washed and de-vein
• 1 stalk coriander, cut into 1 to 2 inch length
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp white pepper powder
• 1/3 cup hot water
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• Cooking oil

• Steamer with water
• Small pot of water

Instructions

• Prepare a steamer with boiling water.

• Boil some water in a pot. Blanch the glass noodles in the boiling water. Remove them immediately and place them on a steaming plate.

• Arrange the prawns on top of the glass noodles.

• Spread the coriander on top.

• Add the seasonings - sesame oil, soy sauce, salt and white pepper powder and hot water into a bowl. Stir to mix them up.

• Pour the mixture over the prawns and glass noodles.

• Steam the prawns and glass noodles over high heat for 8 minutes (prawns will be over-cooked if steamed longer than this).

• Meanwhile, saute the garlic till fragrant. Remove and set aside.

• Once the prawns are cooked, remove them from the steamer.

• Sprinkle the sauteed garlic over it.

• Serve immediately.

Sambal Ikan Bilis Buns

The Sambal Ikan Bilis Buns are savoury - a bit salty, a bit sweet and (a bit or can be very) spicy, delicious to the palate. It can be easily bought from the bakeries. However, they will not be generous with the sambal ikan bilis as compared to the ones we make ourselves. Good for breakfast, afternoon tea or supper, these buns will surely be snapped up by family members and will be finished in no time.

Ingredients for the sambal: (to make 150 g of sambal)

• 10 pcs red chilies
• 10 pcs dried chilies
• 5 pcs bird's eye chilies (chili padi) (optional)
• 1 small onion
• 3 pcs shallots
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 inch shrimp paste/belacan

• 75 g ikan bilis
• 5 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tbsp sugar
• Salt, to taste

• Instructions:

• Remove the stems of the red chilies. Wash and dry them. Then, cut them into smaller pieces. Some people may not like the seeds and would like to remove them. However, I do not remove them.


• Remove the stems of the dried chilies. Wash and soak them overnight or soak them for at least 4 hours with hot water. When they have softened, cut them into smaller pieces. You may or may not remove the seeds but I did not.


• The bird's eye chilies are for those who want a very spicy sambal. You may leave them out if you wish. if you are including them, then remove the stems and wash them.


• Remove the skin of the onions and slice them.


• Remove the skin of the shallot and slice them.


• Remove the skin of the garlic and chop them up roughly.


• Toast the shrimp paste.


• Put all the ingredients into the grinder/blender.


• How fine you want your sambal to be depends on you.


• Heat up wok with cooking oil.


• Add the ikan bilis and fry them till they are crispy. Remove and set aside.


• Add your blended chili paste into the wok.


• Saute the chili paste till it is fragrant.


• Add the ikan bilis back to the wok.


• Add sugar and stir till it is melted.


• Add salt to the chili paste (according to taste).


• Fry till the sambal is dry.


• Divide your sambal ikan bilis into 10 portions.

Ingredients for the dough:

• 500 g bread flour
• 100 g castor sugar or you may reduce the amount slightly. (You may use brown sugar.)
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 3 tbsp milk powder
• 2 tsp yeast
• 280 ml lukewarm milk
• 2 eggs at room temperature
• 50 g butter at room temperature

• Egg Wash:
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp milk

• Instructions:

• Activate the yeast - Add a bit of sugar to some of the lukewarm milk, stirring the milk to dissolve the sugar and then sprinkle the yeast onto it.


• Once bubbles have formed (after approximately 10 minutes), the yeast mixture is ready.


• Add flour and milk powder into the bowl of your stand mixer.


• Add in the rest of the sugar.


• Add in the salt.


• Transfer the yeast mixture into the mixing bowl.


• Add the rest of the lukewarm milk into the bowl.


• Break the egg into the mixing bowl.


• Start kneading until a dough ball is formed. Once that is achieved, add in the butter.


• Continue to knead until the butter is incorporated into the dough.


• Continue to knead until the dough passes the window pane test.


• Grease a bowl.


• Transfer the dough into the greased bowl, cover the bowl with a cling wrap and put a wet towel over the cling wrap. Let the dough proof until it is double in size.


• Slightly flour the table top. (I like to slightly oil the table top.)


• Transfer the dough onto the table top.


• Roll the dough out into a long rectangular shape (horizontally).


• Fold the dough into 3 by bringing the right part onto the centre part followed by the left.


• Then roll the dough out again into a long rectangular shape (vertically) and fold into 3 again.


• Do this process at least 6 times (alternating between vertical and horizontal roll-outs).


• Once this is done, cut the dough into 10 pieces of about 95 g each.


• Roll these pieces into little balls and cover them with cling wrap.




Assembling:

• Take a dough ball and roll it flat into a 5-inch circle.


• Put one portion of the sambal ikan bilis in the centre of the circle.

• Gather the sides to close the dough and pinch to seal.


• Turn the dough ball so that the seam side is below.


• Cup the dough ball with both palms and move it in a circular motion till it is round and smooth.


• Place it onto an greased cupcake liner and place the liner onto a baking tray.


• Repeat these steps until all the sambal ikan bilis have been embedded in the dough ball.

• Cover the tray with cling wrap and let the dough balls proof for 1 hour or until they are double in size.


• Break the egg into a bowl and add the milk to it. Beat the egg and brush the dough balls with the egg-milk mixture.


• Bake the dough balls in a pre-heated oven at 175 deg C for 20-25 minutes.


• Remove the buns from the tray immediately after baking and let them cool down on a wire rack.

Yam Abacus Seeds

I first learnt about this Hakka dish - Yam Abacus Seeds in the mid-1990s when I was working in the hospitality industry. A housekeeper with a hotel was kind enough to make it and bring it to our workplace for us to savour her Yam Abacus Seeds dish. Since then I have not eaten it again although I had thought about it often as I love eating yam. It was only recently that I thought of making it. I bought the yam many times and each time I put off making the dish as I thought that it would be difficult to make it. I read many recipes and watched many videos on how it is made. Then only I seriously got down to making it using my own judgement in the measurements, feeling the yam dough and tasting while cooking.

Ingredients:

For the abacus seeds:

• 400 g yam
• 140 g tapioca flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tbsp cooking oil
• 100 g boiling water

• 1 pot of boiling water
• 1 large bowl of iced water

For the seasonings:

• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 3 gloves garlic, chopped
• 3 pieces shallots, sliced
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped (optional)
• 3 pieces Shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 50 g dried prawns, chopped up roughly
• 100 g minced pork/chicken
• 1 large piece of wood ear/black fungus, sliced thinly 
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 - 1 cup of water
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce (or more if you want a darker dish)

• 1 stalk green onion, chopped
• 1 sprig coriander, chopped
• 1 red chili, sliced thinly

Method:

• Peel the yam, wash it and slice it into approximately 1 cm thickness.

• Put the yam slices into a metal plate and put the plate into a steamer of boiling water. Steam the yam for 25-30 minutes or until it is soft enough to be mashed.

• Remove the yam from the steamer and transfer them into a big mixing bowl.

• Mash the yam with a fork.

• Add salt and cooking oil to the mashed yam.

• Add the tapioca flour and boiling water to the yam, both tablespoon by tablespoon, mixing initially with a wooden spatula (as the yam and water are hot) and later kneading by hand until the yam dough does not stick to the side of the bowl nor to your fingers.

• Transfer the dough to the counter top and continue kneading until it is smooth. If you feel that the dough is too dry, add more water, a spoonful at a time. If the dough is too wet, then add the tapioca flour, a little at a time.

• Once the dough is ready, roll it into a long cylindrical shape.

• Cut the dough into small pieces. (I weigh mine as I cut and each weighs exactly 8 g.)

• Roll each piece into a ball.

• Use your index finger to make an indent in the ball forming an abacus seed. Repeat till all the dough balls have been completed.

• Drop the yam abacus seeds into the pot of boiling water. They are cooked when they float to the top.

• Remove the floating ones into the bowl of iced water. This is to stop the cooking process and to firm up the abacus seeds. (I just let them remain in the iced water as I will be frying them immediately. If you scoop them up into a bowl for frying at a later time, then you have to drizzle some cooking oil onto them to prevent them from sticking to each other.)

• Heat up wok with cooking and sesame oils.

• Saute the garlic and shallots till fragrant. Saute onions till they are soft.

• Add the Shiitake mushroom and the dried prawns. Fry till they are fragrant.

• Add the minced pork/chicken and fry them till they are cooked.

• Add the wood ear and fry till it is cooked.

• Add the seasonings - salt and pepper (according to taste).

• Add some water.

• Add the dark soy sauce. 

• Let the sauce boil. Once it has boiled, add the abacus seeds into the wok and stir them to mix them up with all the ingredients. 

• Dish them up and sprinkle some chopped green onion, coriander and sliced red chilies on them. Serve them hot.

Claypot Tofu

Tofu is high in protein and contains all of the essential amino acids our body needs. It also provides fats, carbs, and a wide variety of vitamins and minerals. (For more information, please visit healthline.com.) Also known as bean curd, tofu is made by coagulating soy milk (which is obtained from blending soaked soy beans with water) by adding gypsum (calcium sulphate) or lemon juice or Epsom salt to the soy milk. The mixture is then heated over low fire until curds are formed. These curds are then transferred to a muslin cloth and pressed into white solid blocks. The resulting softness - either silken, soft, firm or extra firm - depends on how hard and long the blocks are pressed.

Tofu can be eaten as it is with a drizzle of light soy sauce or it can be cooked with seafood, meats, eggs and vegetables. Claypot tofu is traditionally cooked in a claypot. However, if you do not have one, any pot will do. It is a very versatile dish. You may add any seafood, meat or vegetables to make up the dish.

Ingredients:

• 1 tube of cylindrical tofu
• 4 tbsp all-purpose flour
• Cooking oil
• 50 g lean pork/chicken (leave out if it is Seafood Claypot Tofu), slice thinly
• 50 g red snapper/grouper
• 5 leaves of Napa cabbage
• 1/2 of a carrot, slice thickly
• 5 pieces young corn, cut into 2 diagonally
• 3 pieces Shiitake mushroom, slice 
• 1 packet of enoki mushroom, remove the roots and wash
• 5 pieces medium-size prawns, de-shell, de-vein and wash
• 2 pieces squids, remove skin, black ink and slice
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• Light soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups of hot water, more if necessary

Method:

• Cut the tofu into 1-cm thickness horizontally.
• Coat them with all-purpose flour.
• Heat wok with cooking oil.
• Deep-fry the tofu till golden brown.
• Remove them from the wok and set aside

• Slice the red snapper/grouper.
• Coat them with all-purpose flour.
• Deep-fry them till golden brown.
• Remove them from wok and set aside.

• Heat up sesame oil and cooking oil in the claypot.

• Add garlic and saute them till fragrant.

• Add the Shiitake mushroom and saute them till fragrant.

• Add the meat and fry them till they are half-cooked.

• Add the hot water. Note: Water must be hot to prevent the claypot from cracking.

• Add the Napa cabbage, carrots, young corns and enoki mushrooms.

• Let the soup boil.

• Add seasonings - light soy sauce, salt and pepper. (To taste.)

• Add the deep-fried tofu, deep-fried fish, prawns and squids.

• Let the soup boil again. Turn off the fire. Cover the claypot. The soup will continue to simmer and cook the prawns and squids.

• Serve with rice.