Chinese Cabbage Stir-fry

A simple dish that can be consumed by everyone is Chinese Cabbage Stir-fried with carrots, Shiitake mushroom, fungus, tofu and tofu puffs. Cooking this dish is easy and fast. And most of the ingredients can be found in most homes. 

 

 Ingredients:

• 150 g Chinese cabbage
• 15 g carrots
• 1 pc square tofu
• 5 pcs tofu puffs
• 3 pc Shiitake Mushroom
• 15 g fungus
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp pepper powder
• 3 cloves garlic 
• Cooking oil

Instructions:

• Wash and cut Chinese cabbage into 1-inch length.

• Peel and cut/slice carrots into preferred shape.

• Wash and cut the tofu into 9 pieces. (You may use the cylindrical ones.)

• Soak tofu puffs and then slice each puff into 3 pieces. (It is better to use Bentong tofu puffs which are softer and tastier than others.)

• Soak Shiitake mushrooms. Slice them when they have softened.

• Soak fungus and remove any barks attached to them.

• Add 4 tbsp cooking oil to the wok.

• When oil is hot, add the tofu. Fry till the tofu pieces are slightly brown. Then dish them out and set them aside.

• Pour away the oil which would have been watery after frying the tofu.

• Add 2 tbsp cooking oil to the wok.

• When the oil is hot, add the sliced mushrooms. Saute till they are fragrant.

• Add the garlic and saute them till they are fragrant.

• Add the Chinese cabbage and carrot, fungus and tofu puffs and fry them for a couple of minutes.

• Add water and let it simmer to soften the ingredients.

• Add seasonings of salt, light soy sauce and pepper. Stir to mix.

• Finally, add the fried tofu. Stir gently to mix up all ingredients without mashing up the tofu.

• Dish up and serve.

Kuih Seri Muka Gula Melaka

 

Kuih Seri Muka (aka Kuih Pulut Kaya) is made up of a lower glutinous rice layer and a top egg custard layer made from a combination of pandan juice, santan, sugar, wheat flour and corn flour. I have made this so often that it is high time to do something different. So, I tried with making the kuih with a brown top made from gula Melaka, thus, Kuih Seri Muka Gula Melaka. It turned out equally delicious.

Ingredients:

(a) The Top Layer

• 140 g gula Melaka
• 100 g hot water
• 215 g thick coconut milk
• 2 eggs
• 15 g all-purpose flour
• 25 g corn flour
• 1/4 tsp salt

(b) The Bottom Layer

• 300 g glutinous rice
• 250 ml thin coconut milk
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 pandan leaves cut into 6-inch length

Method:

Bottom layer:

• Soak the glutinous rice for at least 4 hours.

• Drain the water after 4 hours.

• Mix the rice with thin coconut milk.

• Add salt and stir.

• Grease an 8 inch square or round pan. You may line the base with a piece banana leave.

• Pour the rice with thin coconut milk into the pan. Place the pandan leaves in between the rice.

• Steam for about 30 minutes in total over low to medium heat. After the first 15 minutes, open the cover of the steamer, remove the pandan leaves and press down the rice to compress it. Close back the cover and steam for the remaining 15 minutes.

• While waiting for the rice to cook, prepare the top layer.

Top layer:

• Add hot water and gula Melaka into a pot.

• Turn on the fire and boil the gula Melaka till it dissolves.

• Remove the pot from the fire and let the gula Melaka syrup cool down.

• Add the syrup, coconut milk and eggs to a mixing bowl.

• Whisk till all the ingredients are well combined.

• Add flours to the mixing bowl. Stir with a whisk to ensure that all are well incorporated and a smooth batter is formed.

• Sieve the batter to get rid of any remaining lumps.

• Optional. You may pour the batter into a saucepan to heat it up slightly (over very low heat) before pouring onto the glutinous rice layer. Stir it continuously to prevent any lumps from forming.

• Open the steamer cover and pour the heated batter on top of the glutinous rice layer.

• Close  the cover and steam over very low heat (to obtain a smooth surface) for 35 minutes.

• Once cooked, remove the kuih from the steamer.

• Let it cool down completely before cutting it up with a plastic knife.

Poppy Seeds Buns/Bread (1)

Poppy Seeds Buns have a nice crispy skin with soft crumb. When we bite into them, we can feel the crunch of the poppy seeds. I usually make many of them and yet they finish in no time. They are good for breakfast and teatime. They remain soft till the next day. I used the double proofing method of making them. 

 Ingredients:

• 600 g bread flour (makes 12 buns)
• 8 g yeast
• 80 g sugar (can be slightly less or more)
• 20 g poppy seeds
• 400 ml warm milk
• 1 egg
• 35 g butter
• 1/2 tsp salt (if butter is unsalted)

Method:

• Activate the yeast - add sugar to some of the warm milk, stir to dissolve the sugar and sprinkle the yeast on top. Set aside for 5-10 minutes.

• Once the yeast has been activated (there are bubbles in the yeast mixture), pour it into the bowl of the stand mixer.

• Add the bread flour, poppy seeds and salt into the yeast mixture. Then add the remaining warm milk to the bowl.

• Start the mixture on a low speed until all the ingredients are incorporated. Then increase the speed to medium high.

• When the dough has formed into a ball, add the butter to the bowl.

• Continue to knead the dough till it is smooth and elastic. Then transfer it to an oiled bowl.

• Cover the bowl with cling wrap and put a damp towel over it.

• Let the dough proof in a warm place till it has doubled in size.

• Lightly flour or grease your table top.

• Remove the dough from the bowl onto the floured / oiled surface.

• Punch out the air from the dough and knead it for about 5 minutes.

• Roll the dough into a rectangle (approximately 20 inch x 12 inch).

• Spread some butter thinly on the dough.

• Fold the dough from the upper end (long side) to a third of the dough.

• Spread some butter thinly on the folded dough.

• Take the bottom side to cover the folded dough. Now you will have a long dough (approximately 20 inch x 4 inch).

• Slice the dough into 12 pieces (approximately 1.6 inch x 4 inch).

• Take a piece of dough. Roll it into a long dough, maintaining the width at approximately 1.6 inch.

• Take the dough and twist it and bring the 2 ends to meet. Tuck 1 end under the other so that it does not open up when proofing and baking.

• Place the twisted circle onto a greased baking tray.

• Let the dough proof until it has doubled in size.

• Pre-heat the oven at 175 degrees C.

• Eggwash (just egg yolk with some water) the dough before baking.

• Bake the dough for 28 - 30 minutes until the buns are golden brown.

• Let them cool down on a metal rack.

• Enjoy.

Longan Soy Bean Agar-Agar

A good dessert to have during a hot day; Longan Soy Bean Agar-Agar or Longan Soy Bean Pudding is easy and fast to make. You can make a lot in little cups and serve them to your guests during any celebrations - birthdays, get-togethers or festivities.

Ingredients:

• 10 g agar-agar powder
• 750 ml pure soy bean milk
• 250 ml longan syrup (from the tin of longan below)
• 1 tin longan (565 g)
• 50 g sugar (more or less according to your taste buds)
• 2-3 pandan leaves
• 6 plastic cups

Method:

• Add soy bean milk to a pot.

• Add 250 ml of longan syrup to the pot.

• Add agar-agar powder and sugar to the pot.

• Wash and knot the pandan leaves and add to the pot.

• Stir the ingredients in the pot till the agar-agar powder dissolve.

• Turn on the heat and boil the ingredients at medium high heat.

• Once they have boiled, turn off the fire and take the pot off the stove.

• Discard the pandan leaves and let the solution cool down slightly.

• Scoop them into the plastic cups.

• Take a spoon and remove any bubbles from the surface.

• Let the pudding harden slightly before putting some longan on top.

• Chill them in the refrigerator before serving.

Apple Cake

Apples are readily available anywhere. So, we can use them in our baking easily. The apple cake is very light and is good for breakfast and teatime. And it is also very easy to make. A beautifully decorated apple cake with the apple slices make it a good gift too.

Ingredients:

• 180 g self-raising flour
• 200 g butter
• 115 g sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 medium-size Granny Smith apples

Method:

• Line and grease a 7 inch x 7 inch baking pan.

• Skin, core and chop up 1 of the apples.

• Skin, core and slice thinly the other apple.

• Pre-heat oven to 170 deg C.

• Cream butter and sugar till they are light and fluffy.

• Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat them well.

• Add a third of the flour alternating with the chopped apple. Mix them well at each addition. Repeat till all the flour and chopped apple have been used up.

• Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan.

• Smoothen the batter with a spatula.

• Arrange the sliced apple on top, whichever way you like.

• Bake the batter for 35 minutes or when a skewer inserted into it comes out clean.

• Let the cake sits in the pan in the oven for 5 minutes before removing the pan from the oven.

• Remove the cake from the pan to cool down completely on a metal rack.

• Slice it and enjoy.

Talam Ubi Kayu

Once in while when I crave to have some nyonya kuih this is one of the kuih that I will make to satisfy my craving. Besides being tasty this kuih is easy to make and the ingredients for making it are easy to find. Some like the bottom layer to be smooth. In this case the tapioca has to be grated. However, I like to be able to bite into some bits and pieces of tapioca. Instead of grating the tapioca, I will use my grinder to grind the tapioca (not finely but leaving some rough pieces behind). I hate to put any colourings in my baking and cooking (except for natural ones) so it is important to buy the yellow specie to make this kuih so that the top and bottom layers are distinct.

Ingredients:

• For the bottom layer:
• 800 g grated or ground tapioca (yellow specie)
• 300 ml thin coconut milk (I used 150 ml of coconut extract in the box and mix it with 150 ml of water)
• 20 g tapioca flour
• 180 g sugar (slightly more if you have a sweet tooth)

• For the top layer:
• 75 g rice flour
• 90 g tapioca flour
• 400 ml thick coconut milk
• 3 g salt

• 7 inch x 7 inch pan bottom lined with banana leaf. Grease the pan with corn oil on all sides and banana leaf

Method:

• Bottom Layer:

• Prepare a steamer with boiling water.

• Add all ingredients for the bottom layer to a bowl.

• Mix them up very well.

• Pour the mixture into the pan and level it with a spatula.

• Steam the tapioca mixture for 30 minutes.

• Top Layer:

• Add all ingredients for the top layer to a bowl.

• Stir the ingredients to obtain a smooth santan batter.

• After steaming the bottom layer for 30 minutes, open the steamer and gently pour the santan batter on top of the cooked tapioca kuih.

• Cover the steamer and cook for another 30 minutes or until the santan layer is cooked.

• Remove the pan from the steamer to the counter top.

• Let the kuih cool down completely.

• Slice the kuih. Enjoy.

• Note: Keep the kuih in a tightly covered container and keep the container in the fridge if you cannot finish it on the same day.

Tang Yuan

Winter Solstice occurs between 21st to 23rd December in the Northern Hemisphere when one of the earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. The longest night and shortest day are experienced here. At the same time the opposite happens in the Southern Hemisphere which is experiencing Summer Solstice with longest day and shortest night.

In Chinese, "dong" means winter and "zhi" means arrival. So dongzhi means arrival of winter. The winter solstice traditions were created to celebrate the "birth of the sun" and is marked by rituals like eating winter solstice foods, for example, the glutinous rice balls or tang yuan.

Generally, the tang yuan are cooked in syrup. However, there are some people who cook them in savoury soup with pork balls or sliced pork and vegetables. Tang yuan comes in different sizes but for ease of eating, I usually make them with about 1 cm diameter or 5 gm each small ball. They also come in different colours; for health reason, nowadays natural ingredients are used to colour them, for example, blue pea flowers for blue tang yuan, pandan leaves for green, orange sweet potatoes for orange, purple sweet potatoes for purple, beetroot for red, pumpkin for yellow, carrots for orange, red dragon fruit for red and so on. Some tang yuan are filled with crushed peanuts or red or black bean paste to name a few.

I have experimented to come up with tang yuan which are of a good texture, neither too softy nor too hard. And I willl be using these measurements to ensure this texture in future years to come. I usually make 5-6 different colours of tang yuan.

Ingredients:

• White tang yuan:
• 75 g glutinous rice flour
• 60 g water

• Green tang yuan
• 75 g glutinous rice flour
• 8 - 10 pandan leaves grind with 70 g water to obtain 60 g pandan juice

• Orange tang yuan
• 75 g glutinous rice flour
• 55 g orange sweet potato
• 40g water

• Red tang yuan
• 75 g glutinous rice flour
• 60 g dragon fruit
• 5 g water (little water is used as the dragon fruit is very juicy)

• Purple tang yuan
• 75 g glutinous rice flour
• 100 g purple sweet potato
• 35 g water

• Blue tang yuan:
• 75 g glutinous rice flour
• 10 fresh blue pea flowers
• 60 g water

• 1.5 litre of water
• 150 g sugar (or less or more depending on the level of sweetness you desire)
• 4-5 pandan leaves

Method:

Step 1: Preparing the dough

• For white tang yuan:
• Add glutinous rice to a bowl.
• Add water to the bowl.
• Mix and knead them till a smooth dough is formed.
• Weigh them into 5 g dough.
• Roll them into balls.
• Arrange them on a tray and cover them to prevent them from hardening.

• For green colour tang yuan
• Add glutinous rice flour and pandan juice to a bowl.
• Mix and knead them till a smooth dough is formed.
• Weigh them into 5 g dough.
• Roll them into balls.
• Arrange them on a tray and cover them to prevent them from hardening.

• For orange colour tang yuan
• Steam orange sweet potato till soft.
• Add them to the glutinous rice flour while they are hot.
• Add water.
• Mix and knead them till a smooth dough is formed.
• Weigh them into 5 g dough.
• Roll them into balls.
• Arrange them on a tray and cover them to prevent them from hardening. 

• For red colour tang yuan:
• Skin and mash the dragon fruit.
• Add them to the glutinous rice flour.
• Add water.
• Mix and knead them till a smooth dough is formed.
• Weigh them into 5 g dough.
• Roll them into balls.
• Arrange them on a tray and cover them to prevent them from hardening.

• For purple colour tang yuan:
• Steam purple sweet potato till soft.
• Add them to the glutinous rice flour while they are hot.
• Add water.
• Mix and knead them till a smooth dough is formed.
• Weigh them into 5 g dough.
• Roll them into balls.
• Arrange them on a tray and cover them to prevent them from hardening. 

• For blue tang yuan:
• Steep or soak the blue pea (take only the petals) in hot water for half an hour.
• Sieve the soaked flowers to obtain the blue water.
•  Add the glutinous rice to a bowl.
• Add the blue water to the bowl.
• Mix and knead them till a smooth dough is formed.
• Weigh them into 5 g dough.
• Roll them into balls.
• Arrange them on a tray and cover them to prevent them from hardening.

Step 2: Making the syrup.

• Boil a pot of water.
• Add the pandan leaves and sugar to the pot.
• Stir to ensure that the sugar is dissolved.
• Turn off the fire and remove the pandan leaves.
• Let the syrup cool down completely.

Step 3

• Prepare a pot of cold boiled water.

Step 4: Boiling the dough

• Boil a pot of water.
• When the water is boiling add the white tang yuan to them.
• When the tang yuan is cooked (they float in the water when cooked), scoop them up into a pot of cold boiled water.
• Transfer the tang yuan to the pot of syrup.
• Do not stir the tang yuan.

Step 5: Repeat steps 3 and 4 till all the dough balls have been cooked. Always change the water in Step 4 when you are cooking a different colour dough to ensure that there is no contamination of the various colours.

Step 6: Leave the pot of tang yuan on your counter top till the next day. (I always make my tang yuan on the eve of the Winter Solstice Festival.