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.

Potato Fritters

 

Fritters are ingredients like vegetables, fruits, seafood and meats which have been battered and deep fried. There are 2 types of fritters - sweet and savoury. The sweet ones are mostly made with fruits and the savoury ones with vegetables, seafood and meats. Banana fritters, corn fritters, cempedak fritters and sweet potato fritters are some of the sweet fritters that we eat for breakfast and tea breaks. Vegetable fritters are savoury and good as snacks. Prawn fritters and minced pork fritters are also savoury ones and usually eaten during lunch or dinner.

While a bit of salt added into the batter for sweet fritters will enhance their tastes, ingredients like paprika, coriander, parsley, onions, chilies and seasonings of salt, pepper and light soya sauce make the savoury fritters delicious and us wanting for more. 

Ingredients:

• 3 medium sized potatoes
• 2 tbsp flour
• 3 tbsp rice flour
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp chili flakes
• 1 tsp chili padi, chopped
• 1 big stalk coriander, chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 pepper
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• cooking oil

Method:

• Peel and grate the potatoes. You may wash the grated potatoes to remove some of the starch. However, I did not wash them.

• Add flour, rice flour, egg, chili flakes, chili padi, coriander, salt, pepper, light soy sauce and water to a mixing bowl.

• Mix these ingredients well.

• Add the grated potatoes to the bowl and mix them up with the ingredients in the bowl.

• If the batter is too thick, add more water, spoon by spoon. The batter should not be watery.

• Heat up a wok or pan with cooking oil.

• Once the oil is hot, scoop the batter into the wok or pan.

• Fry them till they are golden brown on one side.

• Flip the fritter to the other side to be fried till golden brown.

• Once done, ladle them onto a plate lined with kitchen towel to absorb additional oil from the fritter.

• Serve while they are hot.

Pineapple Jam (For Spreading)

 

There are so many types of jam in the market, some with natural sweetness from the fruits used in making the jam while others with added sugar. I usually make my own jam as it is easy to do and I do not put any sugar into it. Pineapple jam is one of my favourite jam & I make it often for our consumption. As I do not add sugar into my jam, I will usually try to buy pineapples which are ripe to ensure they are sweet.

Ingredients:

• 725 g pineapple flesh
• 40 g lemon juice
• 20 g sugar (optional)

Method:

• Add the pineapple flesh, 1 third at a time, into a blender.

• Blend the flesh till they are fine..

• Transfer the pineapple p)uree to a sieve with a bowl beneath it.

• Let some of the pineapple juice runs off into the bowl. (I was left with 560 g puree and 165 g juice.)

• Pour the puree into a non-stick pan or pot.

• Add sugar (optional) and lemon juice to the pan or pot.

• Turn on the stove to medium heat.

• Keep on stirring the puree till it is of spreadable consistency. (I was left with 285 g of pineapple jam.)

• Let the jam cool down completely before storing it in a clean and dry glass bottle.

• Refrigerate the jam immediately. (It can last about 10 days in the refrigerator.)

Coconut Buns

 

I ate coconut buns when I was very young. Since then I have never eaten them again as I prefer butter buns or cheese buns. However, recently I made koo kuih with coconut fillings. As they turned out aromatic and delicious, I told myself that I have to make the buns and fill them with the aromatic gula Melaka coconut flakes. They turned out ar delicious.

Ingredients:

For the fillings:

• 175 g fresh coconut flakes
• 100 g gula Melaka
• 50 g dark brown
• 2 - 3 pandan leaves
• 100 g water
• 10 g corn flour + 2 tbsp water to form a solution

For the dough:

• 350 g bread flour
• 3 g yeast
• 30 g sugar
• 6 g salt
• 1 egg
• 150 g warm milk
• 50 g butter
• Egg wash - 1 egg +1 tbsp milk

Method:

• 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. (My coconut balls weigh 20g each.)
  • Arrange them on a plate and set the plate aside.

  
  
• For the dough:
• Add 150 g warm milk into the bowl of a stand mixer.
• Add sugar to the bowl and stir till it dissolves into the milk.
• Let the milk cool a bit before adding the yeast. Stir.
• Wait for about 5 - 10 minutes till you see bubbles are formed.
• Add bread flour and salt to the bowl.
• Start the machine to knead till a dough ball is formed.
• Add butter and continue to window pane is achieved.
• Grease a clean bowl and transfer the dough to it. Cover the bowl with a cling wrap.
• Once the dough has doubled in size, transfer it to your counter top.
• Punch down the dough to degas.
• Form the dough into a ball.
• Using your bench knife cut it into 40 g pieces. Roll each piece into balls.
• Taking a dough ball, roll it into a flat circle.
• Place a piece of coconut ball in the centre. 
• Bring up the edges to seal the dough ball. 
• Roll the dough into smooth ball and place it into a greased pan.
• Repeat till all the dough balls have been filled with the coconut balls.
• Cover the pan with cling wrap or damp towel and let the dough balls rise till they double in size.
• Meanwhile pre-heat your oven to 175 deg C.
• Once the dough balls have double in size, egg wash them.
• Bake them for 20 minutes. (Tent your pan with aluminium foil if your oven is too hot and the top of the buns are turning dark too soon.)
• When done, remove the buns from the pan onto a metal rack to let them cool down.

Orange Sweet Potato Angkoo Kuih with Coconut Fillings

We love angkoo kuih so much that I have made it ever so often. I did not buy them from the market as I did not like the colouring that went into the dough. The bought ones were also too sweet for our palate. The kuih were also priced too exorbitantly. When I made them I use only natural ingredients like purple or orange sweet potato or beetroot for the colour. I also filled the dough with generous amount of fillings while controlling the sweetness. I can also decide on the sizes and patterns of the kuih. Lastly, I am able to make them at half the cost of those sold. Thus, my family was able to enjoy the kuih to their hearts' content as I was able to make many pieces at low costs. 

I have been making angkoo kuih filled with mung bean paste. So I decided to make them with coconut fillings instead. Both are delicious in their own ways.

Ingredients:

For the base:

• banana leaves
• some cooking oil

For the fillings:

• 150 g fresh coconut flakes
• 100 g gula Melaka
• 50 g dark brown sugar
• 2 - 3 pandan leaves
• 80 g water
• 10 g corn flour + 2 tbsp water to form a solution

For the dough:

• 240 g orange sweet potatoes
• 200 g glutinous rice flour
• 10 g rice flour
• 25 g corn oil
• 80 g hot water

Method:

For the base:

• Cut the banana leaves according to the size of your mould. 
• Wash the cut banana leaves and wipe them dry.
• Grease the banana leaves with cooking oil so that the dough doesn't stick onto the leaves.

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. (According to my mould, the balls should weigh 16 g to fit into the dough for the mould.)
• Arrange them on a plate and set the plate aside.

For the dough:

• Wash and cut the sweet potatoes.
• Place them into a metal plate.
• Bring water to boil in a steamer.
• Once the water has boiled, place the metal plate of sweet potatoes into the steamer.
• Steam until the sweet potatoes are soft.
• Remove the sweet potatoes from the steamer and mash them while they are hot.
• Put the glutinous rice flour and the rice flour into a mixing bowl.
• Put the mashed sweet potatoes into the mixing bowl. Use a spoon and mix the sweet potatoes and the flours until well combined.
• Add in the oil. Mix well.
• Add in hot water, bit by bit, until they can be shaped into balls. To fit my mould, the weight of my dough ball should be 32 g. So, you have to experiment to get the weight which can fit into (with the filling wrapped inside) the mould nicely.

Assembly:

• Take a piece of dough ball, flatten it and put the filling onto it. Slowly bring the flattened dough to cover the filling and roll it back into a ball.
• Dust the mould with glutinous flour.
• Place the ball into the mould and press it down to cover the mould nicely. If there is any dough higher than the mould, it means that the dough is too big. So, you have to adjust accordingly.
• Knock the wooden block of the mould on a table. The dough will easily drop off if you have dusted the mould well.
• Place the moulded dough on the greased banana leave.
• Repeat this until all the dough balls and filling balls are finished.
• Bring the water in the steamer to boil.
• Once it has boiled, place all the moulded dough onto the steamer rack.
• Steam the moulded dough over high heat for 4 minutes. Open the steamer cover, quickly brush the dough with some cooking oil. Once completed, cover the steamer and continue to steam the dough at high heat for another 4 minutes. This process will help to maintain the design of the kuih.
• Remove the kuih from steamer and let them cool down completely.
• Remove the kuih from the banana leaves and place them onto fresh ones.
• The angkoo kuih are ready to be served.

Ondeh-Ondeh Purple Sweet Potato (2)

 

     

Ondeh-Ondeh, glutinous rice balls filled with palm sugar and coated with fresh coconut flakes can be found in most stalls selling traditional kuih. However, what we usually find in these stalls are green ones, made with pandan juice. Seldom can we find those made with sweet potatoes. Comparatively, the pandan ones are more aromatic. However, both taste the same and are pleasing to the eyes. 

Ingredients:

• 265 g glutinous rice flour
• 220 g steamed purple sweet potato, mashed
• 250 g water
• 150 g gula Melaka (1 cylindrical block)
• 200 g fresh grated coconut
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 pandan leaves, washed and cut into 3-inch length

Method:

• Add half of the pandan leaves and salt to grated coconut and steam them for a few minutes. Set aside.

• Mix glutinous rice flour and mashed steamed purple potato in a mixing bowl.

• Add 90 percent of the water to the bowl and knead the glutinous rice flour and sweet potato till they are smooth. If the dough is too dry, add more water tablespoon by tablespon till you have a soft dough.

• Divide and weigh the dough into 15g-piece. Roll the dough into balls. (You may weigh to make smaller or bigger dough balls).

• Pound the cylindrical block of gula Melaka to break it up into smaller pieces.

• Take a dough ball. Flatten it and scoop 1/2 a teaspoon or more of gula Melaka onto it. Bring up the edges of the dough to seal it. Place in into a floured plate.

• Repeat this till all the dough balls have been filled.

• Boil a pot of water with the balance of the pandan leaves.

• Drop the dough balls into the boiling water.

• Once the dough balls float to the surface, it means that they are cooked. Let them roll in the boiling water for about 5 minutes more to ensure that the gula Melaka is fully melted.

• Remove the cooked balls onto the plate of grated coconut. Roll them in the grated coconuts. (I managed to get 48 pieces of Ondeh-Ondeh from my recipe.)

• Plate them and serve.