Steamed Banana Bread

 

After buying 2 big bunches of pisang berangan from the farmers' market, my neighbour gifted me with a big bunch of pisang raja. My daily ritual after waking up is to drink a cup of water and after 30 minutes eat 2 pisang berangan. So I kept the pisang berangan for eating them raw and use the pisang raja to make banana bread. Instead of the usual method of baking, I steamed the banana batter instead, thus, steamed banana bread.

Ingredients:

• 275 g banana  (4 big bananas)
• 2 grade A eggs
• 100 g milk
• 95 g melted butter or corn oil
• 75 g sugar
• 185 g all-purpose flour or cake flour
• 3 g baking soda
• 2 g salt

Method:

• Mash the banana and leave it aside.

• Break and whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl.

• Add milk and continue to whisk.

• Add melted butter and whisk till it is incorporated into the eggs and milk.

• Add sugar and whisk till it dissolves.

• Add flour and use a spatula to mix it with the liquids.

• Add baking soda and salt. Mix till all ingredients are well incorporated.

• Get the steamer ready by starting to boil water in it.

• Scoop the batter into small metal bowls. If you do not have them then pour the batter into 9 inch x 4 inch x 4 inch loaf pan. Do not fill the batter to the top edge of the pan. Instead leave about 1 inch. If there is too much batter, then scoop them into muffin cups.

• Steam the batter over medium heat. If you are using metal cups or muffin cups, then you need to steam the batter for 20 minutes. However, if you are using a loaf pan, then steam the batter for 45 minutes.

• Test for doneness with a wooden skewer.

• Remove the bread from the steamer when done.

Tip: If you cannot finish the steamed banana bread, slice it up and keep the slices in the freezer. When you want to eat them, let them return to room temperature. You can toast the slices so they are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. It is very delicious eating the banana bread this way.

Kuih Lepat Pisang

 

Kuih Lepat Pisang, a traditional kuih, brings back my childhood memories. I used to eat this kuih when I was very small as it was easily available in the market. However, it is not available in the cities. But thank goodness this kuih is very easy to make; we need to just mix the ingredients and steam. The only problem is finding the banana leaves unless you grow banana trees in your compound. I had difficulty to find the banana leaves even in the pasar tani or farmers' market. I was told they were reserved by business owners selling kuih and banana leaf rice. When I went round the market asking for banana leaves, one seller was kind enough to take out one stack from those reserved by one of his customers.

Ingredients:

• 400 g mashed bananas (I use pisang awak.)
• 75 g all-purpose flour
• 10 g rice flour
• 25 g sugar
• 6 g salt
• 60 g coconut flakes
• 7 pieces of banana leave (6inch x 8inch)

Method:

• Prepare the banana leaves. After cutting them into the desired size, wash them and boil them to soften them. Or, you may run each piece over a small fire to soften it.

• Add mashed bananas, all-purpose flour, rice flour, sugar and salt to a mixing bowl.

• Mix the ingredients till they are well incorporated.

• Take a piece of banana leaf, scoop a spoonful of banana mixture and place it onto the centre of the banana leaf.

• Use the spoon to space it evenly on the leaf.

• Use a teaspoon to place the coconut flakes onto the banana mixture.

• Roll up the banana leaf from one end to the other. Then flatten it slightly.

• Fold the ends neatly under the wrapped mixture.

• Prepare a steamer and boil the water in the steamer.

• Once the water has boiled, place the wrapped banana mixture onto the steamer tray and the tray into the steamer.

• Steam for 20 minutes.

• When done, remove the kuih from the steamer and let them cool down.

• Serve.

Note: If your bananas are not too ripe, then reduce the flour. The above amount is for bananas which are very ripe.

Pulut Pisang

 

     

Pulut Pisang can be easily found in the northern part of West Malaysia. It comes in 2 types - one in white glutinous rice and the other in a mix of black and white glutinous rice. They are both rich, delicious and savoury. The unique feature of this kuih is that it is made and sold in pairs.

Ingredients:

• 500 g white glutinous rice or 400 g white glutinous rice + 100 g black glutinous rice
• 300 g thick coconut milk
• 60 g sugar (May add more for a sweeter kuih)
• 7 g salt
• 3 pandan leaves, optional
• 5-6 bananas, sliced into halves
• 10-12 pcs of banana leaves measuring 6 inches x 8 inches
• Butcher's string

Method:

• Soak the glutinous rice for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight.

• Prepare the banana leaves. After cutting them into the desired size, wash them and boil them to soften them. Or, you may run each piece over a small fire to soften it.

• Steam the glutinous rice till it is cooked or half cooked. If it is fully cooked then the final steaming will take only 25-30 minutes. But if it is half cooked then the final steaming will take about an hour.

• Add santan, sugar, salt and pandan leaves (optional) to kuali. Heat up the santan till it just boil. Do not keep on boiling santan as the oil will separate from it.

• Add the glutinous rice and stir to ensure it is coated with the santan.

• Once the pulut is ready, let it cool down.

• Take each piece of banana leave. Place some pulut onto it and spread it out. (I used 88g of pulut for each piece of kuih.)

• Place a piece of banana onto the centre.

• Fold the banana leave over the pulut and keep on rolling over till the pulut is secured.

• Fold the 2 edges of banana leave under it.

• Take another piece of banana leave and do the same.

• Once you have made a pair, tie both pieces together (the bottom facing each other) with, preferably a butcher's string or rice dumpling string.

• Repeat till all the glutinous rice has been wrapped.

•  Heat up water in the steamer.

• Once the water has boiled, place all the wrapped kuih onto the metal rack in the steamer.

• Steam the kuih for 30 minutes or 1 hour.

• Remove the kuih from the steamer and let it cool down.

• Serve.

Napa Cabbage in Eggs with Shiitake Mushroom

 

I cooked a new dish which is made up of ingredients which are readily available in my kitchen - napa cabbage, carrot, Shiitake mushroom, red chili and eggs. It turned out to be delicious when served with rice. Perhaps you would like to give it a try.

Ingredients:

• 250 g napa cabbage 
• 20 g carrot
• 1 pc Shiitake mushroom
• 1 pc red chili
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped

Method:

• Wash and cut the Napa cabbage cross-wise about 2 cm width.

• Wash and julienne the carrot.

• Wash, soak and slice the Shiitake mushroom thinly.

• Wash and slice the red chili thinly.

• Heat up wok with 2 tbsp cooking oil.

• Fry the mushroom slices till they are fragrant.

• Add the chopped garlic and fry them they are fragrant.

• Fry the carrot till they are soft.

• Add the cabbage and chilli and fry them till the cabbage is half-cooked.

• Break the egg and pour it over the napa cabbage.

• Let the egg cook without moving it.

• Add the light soy sauce and salt.

• Transfer to a serving plate and serve.

Garlic and Rosemary Bread

 

      

Making the same bread over and over again can be quite boring. Thus, with so much herbs around, I experimented and came up with Garlic and Rosemary Bread. If you like rosemary, then this would be a good try for you. The bread is soft, fluffy and fragrant. It tastes fantastic with a spread of salted butter.

Ingredients:

• 220 g warm water
• 10 g sugar
• 3 g yeast
• 30 g chopped garlic
• 30 g olive oil
• 335 g bread flour
• 3 g dried rosemary
• 3 g black pepper powder
• 7 g salt

Method:

• Bloom the yeast by adding warm water, sugar and yeast to a bowl. Stir and leave it for 5-10 minutes.

• Add olive oil and chopped garlic to a saucepan. Let the garlic infuse with the olive oil over very low heat till it is fragrant.

• Add bread flour, dried rosemary, black pepper powder and salt to the bowl of a mixer.

• Add the yeast mixture, infused garlic and olive oil to it.

• Knead the ingredients into a smooth dough. This will take about 20 minutes or slightly more.

• Grease a bowl with oil. (I greased the bowl with olive oil.)

• Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and put it into the greased bowl. 

• Cover the bowl with a cling wrap.

• Leave the dough to proof until it doubles in size.

• Once it has doubled in size, remove the dough from the bowl onto a slightly floured table-top.

• Punch down the dough to remove the gas trapped inside.

• Then shape it into a ball and place it into a 7-inch round pan which is lined and greased with olive oil.

• Cover the loaf pan with a wet towel.

• Let the dough double in size.

• Pre-heat oven to 175 degree Celsius.

• Once the dough has doubled in size, sprinkle the top of the dough with dried rosemary.

• Bake it in the oven for about 35 - 40 minutes.

• Remove the pan from the oven.

• Remove the bread immediately from the pan and let it cool down on a metal rack.

• Slice the boule once it has completely cool down.

Whole Wheat Flaxseed Bread

 

     

According to Medical News Today, flaxseed is a plant-based food that provides healthful fat, antioxidants, and fiber. Some people call it a “functional food,” which means that a person can eat it to boost their health. Some of the health benefits include reducing risk of cancer, improving cholesterol and heart health, easing symptoms of arthritis, reducing hot flashes, improving blood sugar, preventing constipation and others. My husband likes to add flaxseed to his overnight oats. However, I experimented with it by adding it to my bread. The bread turned out to be very soft without any strong taste of the flaxseed.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup brown flaxseed meal
• 1 1/2 cup bread flour
• 2 tsp yeast
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup warm milk
• 1/2 tsp salt

Method:

• Grease and line a loaf pan 8 inch x 4 inch x 4 inch. Set aside.

• Put the flours, flaxseed meal, sugar, salt and yeast into the mixer.

• Pour the warm milk and break the egg into the mixer.

• Add the oil into the mixing bowl. (Sometimes I use melted butter instead of oil.)

• Knead the ingredients into a smooth dough. This will take about 20 minutes or slightly more.

• Grease a bowl with oil.

• Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and put it into the greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a cling wrap.

• Leave the dough to proof until it double in size.

• Once it has doubled in size, remove the dough from the bowl onto a slightly floured table-top.

• Punch down the dough to remove the gas trapped inside.

• Then roll it into a rectangle and roll it up to fit the loaf pan.

• Cover the loaf pan with a wet towel.

• Let the dough double in size.

• Pre-heat oven to 175 degree Celsius.

• Once the dough has doubled in size, sprinkle the top of the dough with flaxseed.

• Bake it in the oven for about 35 - 40 minutes.

• Remove the pan from the oven.

• Remove the bread immediately from the pan and let it cool down on a metal rack.

• Slice the loaf once it has completely cool down.

Hup To Soh

Hup To Soh is a very delicious biscuit. It was a very popular biscuit in my younger days. We always buy it from shops specialised in selling biscuits. Some were very crunchy while others melted in the mouth. Nowadays we can seldom find it. So we have to make it ourselves to enjoy it. It is very easy to make this biscuit. We just need flour, sugar, sesame seeds walnut, baking powder, baking soda, salt, butter, peanut oil and eggs to make it. However, those sold in the shop do not contain walnuts and sesame seeds.

Ingredients:

• 300 g all-purpose flour
• 50 g toasted sesame seeds
• 100 g toasted walnut and crushed
• 75 g sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 egg yolks
• 50 g butter, softened
• 125 g peanut oil
• 1 egg (for egg wash)

Method:

• Add flour, sesame seeds, walnut, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda to a mixing bowl. Stir to mix them up.

• Beat egg yolks and add to the flour mixture. Stir to mix them up.

• Add butter to the bowl. Stir to incorporate the butter into the flour mixture.

• Add peanut oil to the bowl. Stir.

• Mix up all the ingredients till you achieve a smooth dough.

• Line your baking tray with parchment paper.

• Take a dollop of the dough.

• Weigh it to get 25 g. (You can make it either smaller or bigger. Those sold in the shops are much bigger.)

• Roll it into a ball.

• Place the dough ball onto the baking tray.

• Press dough ball down to flatten it and to have some nice cracks along the sides.

• Repeat till all the dough has been used up. I manage to get 30 pieces out of the above ingredients.

• Immediately heat up your oven to 170 deg C for 10 minutes.

• Egg wash your flattened dough.

• Bake them in the oven for 30 minutes to get a nice golden colour for your biscuits. Shorten your baking time if you would like a lighter colour.

• Wait for your biscuits to completely cool down before you store them in a bottle.

Bitter Gourd Bihun with Fish Fillet

 

 

I experimented with this new dish - Bitter Gourd Bihun with Fish Fillet - which was described to me by my better half. He had seen it on Tik Tok. The final result met his approval. If you like bitter gourd, then this dish is for you. I ate it and it was really delicious. I will definitely be cooking it again and again.

Ingredients:

• 100 g bihun (before soaking)
• 6-inch long bitter gourd
• 2-inch long carrot
• 1 small onion
• 1 egg
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp white pepper powder
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• Cooking oil
• 1/2 cup water

Method:

• Soak bihun till it is soft.

• Half the bitter gourd lengthwise, remove the seeds and slice thinly across.

• Julienne the carrot.

• Slice the onions in rings.

• Slice the fish fillet into small pieces. Fish - either garoupa, red snapper or white snapper.

• Heat up kuali with some oil.

• Fry the egg, break it up, dish up and set aside.

• Add some oil and saute the garlic till fragrant.

• Add the carrot, onion and bitter gourd.

• Fry till they have softened.

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

• Add water.

• Then add the seasonings.

• Once the sauce has boiled, add the bihun.

• Fry till the bihun is cooked.

• Add the fried egg to the bihun. Stir.

• Dish up and sprinkle some coriander on top. (Can use spring onion too.)

Braised Chicken with Capsicum Sprinkled with Sesame Seeds

When we run out of ideas on what to cook, just see what meats, seafood and vegetables are in the refrigerator and try to mix and match them to create a new dish. Or, just surf the World Wide Web to look for ideas. We need not copy ingredient for ingredient nor method for method when we do that as cooking is an art. We can add our ideas to whatever recipes that we have seen and create another new dish. For this dish - Braised Chicken with Capsicum Sprinkled with Sesame Seeds, I have seen a video (just the method without the weight of ingredients) on the World Wide Web. I have just estimated the ingredients and went ahead with cooking it.

Ingredients:

• 300 g chicken meat
• 1 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6-8 g white sesame seeds
• 100 g capsicum, various colours
• 1 tbsp + 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 cup water

Method:

• Wash and cut the chicken into bite sizes.

• Marinate them with dark and light soy sauces, pepper, salt and sesame oil for at least an hour.

• Toast the white sesame seeds till golden brown and fragrant. Set aside.

• Wash and cut the capsicum into little squares.

• Heat up wok or pan with sesame oil.

• Saute the garlic till fragrant.

• Add the marinated chicken and fry them.

• Add some water to braise the chicken till they are cooked.

• Add the capsicum and give them a quick stir (as I like to maintain their crunchiness).

• Scoop them onto a serving plate.

• Sprinkle the sesame seeds onto the chicken.

• Serve

Kuih Tepung Bungkus

 

Kuih tepung bungkus is my all-time favourite traditional kuih. It is good for breakfast or tea time.  It is not easy to find them in the area where I am staying. Thus, I have to make them myself. There are many processes involved in making them - from preparing the banana leaves, the fillings, the batter to finally, steaming the. But the delicious kuih makes the whole process worth it.

Ingredients:

• 12-15 pcs banana leaves 
• Batter:
• 400 g water
• 500 g coconut milk
• 250 g rice flour
• 10 g all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• Fillings:
• 150 g fresh coconut flakes
• 100 g gula Melaka
• 50 g dark brown
• 2 - 3 pandan leaves
• 80 g water
• 10 g corn flour + 2 tbsp water to form a solution

Method:

• Preparing the banana leaves:

• Cut the banana leaves into 6 inches x 10 inches size.
• Wash them.
• Run each piece over the fire to soften them or you may blanch them in hot water
  
  

• For the fillings:

• Add the gula Melaka, dark brown sugar, pandan leaves and water into a saucepan.
• Boil the water till the gula Melaka and dark brown sugar melt and the syrup is aromatic.
• Sieve the syrup into a non-stick pan.
• Let it cool down a bit before adding the corn flour solution to it. Stir so that they are mixed together.
• Add the fresh coconut flakes to the syrup.
• Stir the coconut flakes till they absorb the syrup and slowly cook them till they are dry and can be formed into balls.
• Let the coconut flakes cool down.
• Then form them into balls or cylinders, depending on how you want to shape your kuih; some shape it into cone while others shape it into a long rectangle. (Each may weigh 16 - 20 g.)

• For the batter:

• Add water, coconut milk, rice flour, all-purpose flour and salt to a sauce pan. Stir till all are well combined.
• Turn on the fire and keep on stirring the mixture till it thickens and of dropping consistency.

• Assembly:

• Take one piece of banana leaf and place it on a weighing scale.
• Spoon some of the batter onto the leaf.
• Place a piece of coconut ball or cylinder on the batter.
• Cover it with some batter. (The total weight of my batter and coconut flakes is 100 g.)
• Fold the banana leaf from bottom to cover the batter and from the top to cover it. Fold the ends under the body.

• Prepare the steamer:
• When the water in the steamer is boiling, transfer the uncooked kuih to the steamer.
• Steam them for about 15 minutes. (Remember the battar and coconut flakes are already cooked.
• Remove the kuih from the steamer once they are done.

• Serve.