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.

Lemongrass Chicken - Airfried and Fried

I have done a very simple Turmeric and Lemongrass Chicken earlier which involved marinating the chicken and baking it. It is a very straight forward and easy method of cooking the chicken. This current version involves more processes as we have to pound the lemongrass and blend the chili before we can marinate, airfry and finally fry the chicken in the pan. However, the final dish is more fragrant as the finely pounded lemongrass is fried together with the chili paste. 


Ingredients:

• Half a chicken
• 2 tbsp turmeric powder
• 2 tbsp chili powder or chili flakes
• 4 stalks of lemongrass
• 1 tsp black pepper powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• All of chili paste
• 10 pcs red chilies
• 4 pcs dried chilies
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 small red onion
• Cooking oil to saute chili paste

Method:

• Prepare the lemongrass. Wash and cut them into 1-inch length. Pound them to break up them into fine strands.

• Prepare the chili paste by blending/pounding the red chilies, dried chilies, garlic and red onion.

• Wash and pat dry the chicken with kitchen towel. Put the chicken into a mixing bowl.

• Mix the turmeric powder, chili powder/chili flakes, a bit of the pounded lemongrass, black pepper powder, salt and cooking oil to form a paste.

• Rub the paste on the chicken completely.

• Let the marinated chicken stand for a minimum of 30 minutes.

• Airfry the chicken at 240 degree Centigrade for 30 minutes, turning them half way to ensure all pieces are cooked.

• Remove the chicken from the airfryer when done.

• Heat up a pan or wok with cooking oil.

• Saute the chili paste and the remaining lemongrass till fragrant.

• Add the airfried chicken pieces to the pan or wok. Stir till all the pieces are covered with the chili paste and lemongrass.
  

• Transfer the chicken to a serving plate.

 

Ondeh-Ondeh Pandan

 

Recently, I requested my daughter to ask her friend who was going back to Melaka to buy me a kilogram of pure gula Melaka as it had been a long time since I made Ondeh-Ondeh. This kuih is a favourite of my family members. I need pure gula Melaka which is soft and will melt in the dough during boiling. When we eat it, the melted gula Melaka will squirt out in our mouth. Unpure gula Melaka will be hard and will not melt as easily when cooked.

Ingredients:

• 210 g glutinous rice flour
• 60 g all-purpose flour
• 8-10 pandan leaves
• 300 g water
• 150 g gula Melaka (1 cylindrical block)
• 150 g fresh grated coconut
• 1/2 tsp salt

Method:

• Add salt to grated coconut and steam them for a few minutes.

• Mix glutinous rice flour and all-purpose flour in a bowl. Set aside.

• Grind pandan leaves and water to obtain 200g of pandan juice.

• Add 90 percent of the pandan juice to the bowl of flours and knead till they are smooth. If the dough is too dry, add more pandan juice 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.

• 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 melted.

• Remove the cooked balls onto the plate of grated coconut. Roll them in the grated coconuts. (I managed to get 32 pieces of Ondeh-Ondeh from my recipe.)

• Plate them and serve.

Cheesey & Spicy Paratha

  

     

 

I learnt to make plain Paratha by watching lots of videos on YouTube.  Although you can eat these Indian flatbread as they are, they go best with curry. As I was not going to make curry so early in the morning, I decided to add fillings to them, thus, my Cheesey and Spicy Paratha. I have added Mozzarella cheese, onions, coriander and chilies as my fillings. However, you may add garlic, green onions and what have you as yours. Making Paratha is easy and it took less time than baking bread. Thus, when you have nothing in the kitchen for breakfast, you can make them provided you have an important ingredient in your pantry - whole wheat flour (atta flour).

Ingredients:

• 125 g whole wheat Atta flour
• 125 g all-purpose flour
• 5 g salt
• 25 g corn oil
• 150 g water (+ / - 10 g)
• Filling:
• 100 g Mozzarella
• 15 g coriander
• 75 g red onion
• 5 pieces bird's eyes chilies
• 3 cloves garlic, optional
• 1 g salt

Method:

• Add whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, salt and corn oil to a mixing bowl.

• Add water to the bowl.

• Knead the flours in the bowl to form a soft dough ball. (If the dough is too dry, add more water, a tablespoon at a time till you achieve a soft dough bowl.)

• Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for about 30 minutes to let the gluten form.

• Meanwhile, prepare the fillings.
• Grate the Mozzarella cheese into a bowl.
• Chop the coriander and add them to the bowl with the grated Mozzarella cheese.
• Chop the red onion and add them to the bowl.
• Cut the chilies into tiny pieces and add them to the bowl.
• Mince the garlic and add them to the bowl.
• Mix up all these ingredients and set the bowl aside.

• Flour your counter-top well and transfer the dough onto it.

• Divide the dough into the number of pieces of Paratha that you want; if you prefer a large Paratha, then divide it into 6 pieces. And 8 pieces if you prefer smaller pieces.

• Roll each piece into smaller dough balls. Cover the dough balls to prevent them from drying out.

• Flour your rolling pin and counter-top.

• Take a dough ball and use the rolling pin to flatten it as thin as possible.

• Repeat this until all the dough balls have been flattened. Cover the flattened dough to prevent them from drying out.

• Take a piece of flattened dough. Spoon the cheese mixture onto the centre of the dough.

• Bring the edges together and seal them into a ball.

• Repeat these last 2 steps till all the dough have been filled.

• Again flour your rolling pin and counter-top.

• Use your rolling pin to gently flatten the dough ball with fillings (seamside down). You have to be gentle as you would not want to puncture the dough.

• Repeat this step until you have flattened all the dough with fillings.

• Heat up a non-stick pan and fry each piece till it is cooked on both sides.

• Serve.

Pork Chop in Brown Sauce

 

Pork Chop accompanied by soup and/or salad is a good option if you are thinking of a Western meal for lunch or dinner. However, the meat cut is important for a good meal; I usually choose fillet to make my Pork Chop. Just season it and coat with flour before frying it. After that top it with brown mushroom sauce and you have a delicious dish to satisfy your palate.

Ingredients:

• 250 g pork (I used fillet), sliced into 3 pieces
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 tbsp rice flour
• 1 tbsp all purpose flour
• Cooking oil

• 1 dollop of butter
• 6 big pieces of white button mushrooms, sliced 
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small onion, minced
• 75 ml double cream
• 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• 1/2 tsp pepper powder, white or black

Method:

• Marinade pork with salt and pepper for at least half an hour.

• Mix rice flour and all purpose flour in a plate.

• Heat up a pan with some cooking oil.

• Coat the pork slices with the flours. Shake off any excess flours.

• Pan fry them in the pan till they are brown and cooked.

• Remove and set them aside.

• Add a dollop of butter into the same pan (there should be no more oil left).

• Saute minced garlic and onions till they are cooked and brown.

• Add the button mushroom slices to the pan. Fry them till they are cooked (browned and reduced in volume.

• Add the double cream to the pan.

• Add dark soy sauce, salt and pepper.

• The sauce is ready once it has boiled.

• Pour it over the cooked pork slices.

• Serve with bread, soup and salad.