Sambal Ikan Bilis for Nasi Lemak

Don't we all Malaysians love a hot plate of nasi lemak (coconut milk rice) with kick ass sambal ikan bilis (dried anchovies in chilies paste) on any given day??? I do! I must confess that nasi lemak is indeed one of my favourite dish and I must have it as often as I can! I used to wallop 2 packets a day during my pregnancies... which is highly dangerous! :lol: The fat content from the coconut milk is pretty high so it could cause a string of problems for preggers.

What make nasi lemak so irresistable is definitely the sambal. The sambal is the STAR... some like it mild but most like it HOT! Personally I like it HOT and SOUR! I am drooling now as I am typing this! :D

A box of nasi lemak here is selling for AUD$5.50 and only for one portion. With that amount... well, maybe around AUD$8, I can feed the entire family for 2 meals. The only thing is, it is pretty labour intensive. So, if I were to crave for nasi lemak but wanted to observe my health, I will cut away the coconut cream rice and just make do with the sambal. Just a dollop of a kick ass sambal is good enough for me to clean an entire bowl of rice!

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Ingredients

• 200 gm Dried anchovies (washed and dried)


• 2 medium Onions (sliced)


• 1 tbsp Tamarind paste


• ¾ - 1 cup Hot water (depending on your preferred thickness)


• Salt to taste


• Oil for frying

Blend

• 10 pcs Red chilies


• 4 pcs Dried chilies - soaked (I used more as I like it HOT!)


• 4 no. Shallots


• 4 pips Garlics


• 1" Roasted belacan (dried shrimp paste)

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Method

1. Heat up 3-4 tbsp of oil in a frying pan and fry the anchovies over medium fire till golden brown and crunchy. Removed from pan and let it soak on a kitchen towel.


2. Blend red chillies, dried chillies, shallots, garlic and belacan in a blender till smooth.


3. Using the same pan add another 2-3 tbsp of oil and saute the blended chilies till fragrant on medium fire.


4. Add in the onion and continue to saute till onion is soft, toss in the fried anchovies and mix well.


5. Use the hot water to soften the tamarind paste. Sieve the tamarind juice over a sieve into the pan little by little till the chilies and anchovies mixture is thicken over low fire.


6. Sprinkle some salt to taste.


7. Squeeze some lemon or lime over it for a tangy taste before serving.

Double Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Whipped Cream

I hardly do much cupcake baking these days as the kids don't take a lot of butter cakes or chocolate cake for that matter. They prefer the simple Swissrolls which is certainly more moist as easier to swallow.

Decided to bake some for Darrius's friend and his family when he went over for a playdate a while back.

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Ingredients (yields about 12 cupcakes)

• 125 gm Butter


• 100 gm Sugar


• 2 Eggs


• 1 ¼ cup Flour


• 1 tsp Baking powder


• 2 tbsp Cocoa powder


• ¼ cup Milk


•  100g Dark chocolate

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Methods

1. Mix butter and sugar and beat until light and creamy (use a mixer)


2. Gradually add the eggs and mix well


3. Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave for 1 minute or over a double boil.


4. Sift over the flour, baking powder and cocoa and beat until combined


5. Fold through the milk, stir in the dark chocolate and spoon the mixture into muffin pan.


6. Bake at 320F or 160C for 12-15 minutes or till tooth pick comes out clean.

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Whipped Cream

• 1 cup Thick cream


• 2-4 tbsp Icing sugar


• 1 tsp Vanilla essence


• Choice of coloring (optional)


• Some strawberries halves for topping

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Whip all ingredients together in high speed with mixer till stiff peak.

Braised Pork on Rice (Lu Rou Fan)

It has been a while since I have any Taiwanese food and believe it or not, I am actually craving for some of them! One of them is the braised pork on rice which I used to have each time I dine in Fong Lye in KL (Gardens) or Xian Ding Wei (Queensbay Mall) in Penang. This fatty looking braised chopped meat that tasted so damn nice (though sinful!) kept popping in my head after someone shared the Youtube video on Facebook and I just got to give it a go!

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Adapted the recipe from here which showed the step-by-step via Youtube. I added slightly more dark soy sauce as I like it in a darker tone.

I can attest that this is a rice killer! I can wallop 2 or more bowls of rice with this fragrant pork in no time! :D

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Ingredients

• 1kg Pork (I used a mix of pork belly and pork shoulder)


• ½ cup Soy sauce


• ¼ cup Dark soy sauce


• 1 Large piece rock sugar


• ½ cup Fried shallots


• 2 Star anise


• 2 tbsp Fried garlic


• 2 tbsp Dried shrimps (soaked and chopped up)


• ½ tsp Five spice powder


• ½ Cup Shao Xing wine


• Hot water


• Pepper to taste

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Methods

1. Cut pork into 5 mm square chunks


2. Heat up the wok and dry fry the pork chunks (use a little oil or lard if the meat is not too fatty)


3. When the juices from the meat has dried up and turned brown, add the dried shrimps, stir and add in rock sugar and star anise, stir


4. Add in the 5 spice powder, continue to stir


5. Add the rest of the ingredients and half of the wine


6. Cover and simmer for about 5 minutes then turn the heat to low heat and continue to simmer.


7. Add in some hot water until just cover the meat, cover and continue to simmer for another 30 minutes or so or until your meat is soft and tender.


8. Add the other half of the wine, cover and cook for 2 more minutes

Home made Chee Cheong Funn Sauce

Today is Hari Raya back in Malaysia and Singapore. While everyone is tucking in to yummy ketupat and rendang, here in Melbourne is just another weekday. Normally, festivities like these will make me miss home a little more than usual.

Well, no point dwelling in sadness, so I heated up some store bought Chee Cheong Funn or rice rolls with the home made jeong to chase the blues away! Hah! Yes, food will always be the merry maker in our home. :)

Previously, before I found out the recipe for the 'jeong' used mainly in the KL/Penang version of  Chee Cheong Funn, I will normally cook a pot of curry to go with them. However, the kids will not get to eat as they can't take spicy food. I will then cook some meat sauce for them but the taste is entirely different.

My kids grew up in Penang and they are pretty accustomed to those Penang's style of Chee Cheong Funn sauce (where shrimp paste is used) and hence I decided to make my own. It tasted so close to home that my boy said he wanted to have Chee Cheong Funn everyday! :lol:

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Here in Melbourne, we can find rice rolls in most Asian grocers. They comes in many types too... those regular rolls one, flat as well as wrapped with minced meat. At least we don't feel so home sick now! :)

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Ingredients

• 200 ml Water


• 3 tbsp Bean paste (smooth)


• 4 tbsp Hoi sin sauce


• 1 tbsp Charsiew sauce


• 1 tbsp Sesame seed oil


• 1 tbsp Soy sauce


• 2 tbsp Dark soy sauce


• 2 tbsp Kicap manis


• 4 tbsp Sugar (I used raw sugar)


• 4 tbsp Palm sugar


• 3 tbsp Peanut butter (smooth)


• 2 tbsp Shrimp paste (for the Penang's version)


• some corn flour solution - optional

• 1 kg Chee cheong funn or Rice rolls


• Toasted sesame

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Methods

1. Heat up water in a medium sauce pan and slowly add in the rest of the ingredients, stirring continuously under low flame with a whisk till it thicken.


2. If you feel it is thin, continue to boil and stir till it thicken or add in corn flour solution (corn flour + cold water) to thicken slightly.


3. Steam the rice rolls and pour the sauce over and garnish with toasted sesame seeds.

Black Glutinous Rice & Red Beans with Glutinous Rice Balls Dessert

What really nice during this cold wintery weather is having a big bowl of hot black glutinous rice and red bean dessert. Both the hubby and kids loved it especially added with some salty coconut milk!

Since it is cold here I try not to cook too much (lazy to visit the loo too often!) but just enough for a meal or two. Unlike when in Malaysia, I would normally cook a bigger pot as it can be eaten cold. As such, I would normally use my thermal pot to do the job as it really lessen the cooking time and everything will turn out so smooth and yummy! :)

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I have a 2.5L thermal pot and I usually fill it almost to the brim and that can last me 2 meals for 4 pax. It is on the thicker consistency as the hubby prefers it that way!

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Ingredients

• 150 gm Black glutinous rice


• 150 gm Red beans


• 1.8L Water


• 1-2 Pandan leaves (screwpine)


• 3 tbsp Plam sugar


• Raw/rock sugar to taste


• 50-60 gm Dried longan


• 1 pkt Frozen Glutinous rice balls (peanut filling)


• 100 ml Coconut cream added with some salt

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Methods

1. Wash the glutinous rice, red beans and pandan leaves and fill up the thermal pot with water and boil on high heat till it comes to a boil (do not cover) and turn to low heat and continue to boil for 5 minutes. Remove from stove and keep in the vacuum pot.


2. If you cook with regular stock pot, you'll have to pre-soak the black glutinous rice for at least 30 minutes before cooking. Boil in high heat till boiling point and turn to low heat and boil for 1 hour (till red beans are soften).


3. After an hour, take the pot out and add in the dried longan. Then add in the palm sugar and raw sugar to taste before boiling it again for another minute or two. Put the pot back into the vacuum pot and let it sit for 30 mins before serving.


4. In a sauce pan, fill half with water and boil the frozen glutinous rice balls till soft before putting them in to the thermal pot.


5. Serve with some coconut cream.

Rose Tuna Buns

Each week I have to think of something for Darrius's lunch box as he likes varieties  now compared to previously. He told me he don't like having the same food for 2 days consecutively. *sigh* Kids these days are so darn fortunate! He did not know his poor mommy gets the same peanut butter or butter and jam sandwiches the entire week last time!

Schools here are pretty strict when it comes to food as there are students who has a host of allergies! Students are not allowed to bring anything that has nuts due to some students in his school has Anaphylaxis where it could be potentially life threatening. It is so serious that the sufferers could have an acute reaction when in contact with common allergen food such nuts.

As he has a recess and a lunch break, I will normally pack him something that is filling as well as nutritionally balanced. For recess he will normally have his fruits and some 'treats'. :)

He likes tuna so decided to make him some rose shaped tuna buns which some Munch Ministry's forummers shared previously.

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It is pretty easy to make and they are yummy! You can either bake them as a stand alone or squeeze them together in a round baking pan which has the above effect.

I used the same bread dough recipe as the Pork Floss Buns.

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Ingredients

Dough

• 250 gm Bread flour


• 25 gm Cake flour


• 5 gm Instant dry yeast


• 15 gm Milk powder


• 40 gm Caster sugar


• ½ tsp Salt


• 100 ml Water - luke warm


• 80 ml Milk - luke warm


• 40 gm Butter, cubed and softened at room temperature


• 1 Egg - whisked, for egg wash

Filling

• 1 can Tuna in brine (185 gm)


• 2 tbsp Mayonaise


• 1 tbsp Wholegrain mustard


• 1 tsp Lemon juice


• Salt and coarse black pepper to taste

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Methods

1. Prepare bread dough (refer to here) and let it proof for 1 to 1.5 hours or to double in size.


2. Remove dough from bowl onto a floured surface and punch out all the air and let it rest for 15 minutes covered with clingy wrap.


3. Cut dough equally into 7 balls, flatten with a rolling pin and place a scoop of the filling in the centre. Use a knife or a pizza cutter to cut 4 slits like the image above.


4. Once you are done wrapping the dough over the tuna, arrange them in a lightly greased round pan and let it go for second proofing for about an hour like the image below.


5. Egg wash and sprinkle some dried parsley flakes (optional) over the tuna before sending into a preheated to 160º C oven (fan forced) and bake for 20 minutes.


6. Removed from oven and cool on wire rack.

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Nyonya Fried Yam Beans with Dried Cuttlefish - Jiu Hu Char

Before we moved to Melbourne, I've never know that they do sell yam beans (sengkuang) here. I was pretty happy to spot some when I visited the Asian Grocer and has been buying when they are on special. Well, they don't come cheap of course! On good days, they go for $7.99/kg but I normally get 50% off from the Asian Grocer near my place when they are about to close for the day.

The shape is a little odd at times compared to those sold in Malaysia but surprisingly they are sweet and juicy! Beside using them to make rojak the other family favorite is the fried yam beans with dried cuttlefish or famously known as a Nyonya dish, Jiu Hu Char.

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Actually I liked my mom's version opposed to my MIL's but my mom's not the authentic ones since she is not a Peranakan whereas my MIL is married to a Baba so she cooked the authentic version which uses cabbage. My mom only use yam beans and carrots. However, I am adding the dried prawns which is part of my mom's recipe as I really like the taste and texture of both dried prawns and dried cuttlefish together.These are good to eat together with Chinese lettuce and sambal belacan :)

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Ingredients

• 1 Yam Bean (large around 600g) - skin peeled and shredded


• 1 Carrot - shredded


• ¼ Cabbage - shredded


• 250 gm Pork belly - cut into 5x5mm strips


• 60 gm Dried Prawns - soaked and coarsely chopped


• 5 Dried Shitake mushrooms (pre-soaked and sliced thinly)


• 15 gm Shredded dried cuttlefish (pre-soaked)


• 4 Shallots - sliced thinly


• 6 cloves Garlic - minced


• 200-300 ml Water (or chicken stock)


• Dark soy sauce (depending of preference, I like mid to dark tone)


• 2 tbsp Osyter sauce


• Light soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste


• Sugar (optional as the yam beans are quite sweet by nature)


• Oil for frying


• 1 stalk spring onion (optional)

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Methods

1. Heat up frying pan/wok with some oil and sauté the chopped dried prawns and shredded dried cuttlefish till fragrant, removed and put aside.


2. Add more oil to the same frying pan (around 2 tablespoon if using a non stick pan) and sauté the garlic and shallot till light brown then add in the pork belly strips and cook till 70% cooked.


3. Toss in the shredded cabbage and fry for 5 minutes (or until soften), then add in the shredded yam beans and carrot and continue to fry till well mixed. Add in the sliced mushrooms.


4. Add in dark soy sauce and stir for another minute, toss in the sautéed dried prawns and cuttlefish. Fry for 2 minutes then add in water/stock, stir to mix and cover for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.


5. When about to be ready, add in sugar, oyster sauce, light soy sauce and pepper to taste.


6. Sprinkle the chopped spring onion in before dishing up.

 

Pork Floss Buns

I used to live in Singapore for most of my adult life. Singapore is really a little food heaven which is a melting pot for all sort of cuisines. In fact, I missed a lot of the food sold there more than those in Penang, Ipoh or KL.

It was during the late 90's or the early millennium that a new style of bread shop popping up around the island. If you are a Singaporean or happened to stay in Singapore during that period, you would have known about the first Bread Talk opened in Bugis Junction. Their signature pork floss bread was a mega hit! Selling at $1.40 for a bun that tasted so yummilicious got many people hooked! I used to buy like 3 or 4 pieces and can eat at least 2 in a go! :)

However, due to their rapid expansion, I personally felt the quality of their floss buns had deteriorated over the years. Somehow the taste and texture is not the same as those I used to buy in their maiden store. Also, the floss used in different country seems to differ so much that it changes the original texture. Also, there were so many copycats around and everyone has their own version...

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Anyway, I have wanted to make my own and did not get around it until  recently after purchasing a packet of pork floss. I have used this bread recipe shared by Christine and concoct my own mayonnaise spread.

Though I have the bread maker but I decided to use my Kitchen Aid to knead the dough as I wanted to achieve the ultra soft and fluffy texture since I am not using the water roux method. I kneaded longer too... almost an hour compared to the usual 35-40 minutes.

The dough is ready once you achieved the very stretchy state when doing the window pane test... like the picture below...

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Ingredients:

• 250 gm Bread flour


• 25 gm Cake flour


• 5 gm Instant dry yeast


• 15 gm Milk powder


• 40 gm Caster sugar


• ½ tsp Salt


• 100 ml Water - luke warm


• 80 ml Milk - luke warm


• 40 gm Butter, cubed and softened at room temperature


• 1 Egg - whisked, for egg wash


• Pork/Chicken floss

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Mayonnaise Spread

• 3 tbsp Mayonnaise


• 1 tbsp Condensed milk


• 1 tsp Sugar


• Salt to taste


• A squeeze of lemon juice (optional)

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Methods

1. Pour in warm milk and warm water into mixer then gently pour in the flours, milk powder, sugar and sprinkle the dry yeast around. Set mixer to speed 2 to get all the above ingredients combined. Sprinkle in the salt.


2. Continue to knead for about 5 minutes then slowly add in the butter cubes and let it knead till dough is smooth. Knead for at least 50 minutes (I alternate between speed 2 and 4) or when you do the window pane test your dough is stretchy like the above picture.


3. Roll your kneaded dough into a big round ball before putting into a greased bowl (I read from a site that it is best to proof your bread dough in a plastic or glass container and not metal or aluminium as the later will affect the rising/texture of the bread) and proof in a warm place for at least an hour or when it has doubled in size.


4. Floured your surface before transfring your your dough and then give it a good punch/deflate to release the air inside. Let it rest for 15 minutes covered with clingy wrap.


5. Divide dough into 8 or 9 portions and roll into round shape or any shape you desired and place them on greased/lined baking tray. Cover, and let it proof the second time until it is doubled... about an hour.


6. Pre-heat oven to 170ºC or 160ºC for fan forced oven. Egg wash the surface.


7. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes then removed buns from oven and let them sit on the tray for a few minutes before transferring to cool on wire rack.


8. After buns are completely cooled, cut a slit in the middle.


9. Mix all the ingredients for the spread and spread the slit and surface of the bun.


10. Pour floss onto a plate and gently press the top of the bun onto the floss so they will stick onto the mayo spread.

Nyonya Steamed Yam Cake (Or-Kuih)

A couple of weeks back, a friend gave me some home made steamed yam cakes and that actually sparked the interest of making some myself! I can't really say I am a fan of yam (taro) but anything savoury I'll go for it. I love the toppings! :)

Seeing that yam is not expensive, gave me a very good reason to test some recipes out. I checked online as well as some recipe books but the ingredients used differed very much from what I used to, so I called my mom up and ask for her recipe and it took me 3 attempts to perfect the flour mix as mom can't remember the actual amount of water she used.

The first two attempts, the batter was too hard as I did not have the wheaten flour so I used the potato starch which really harden the mixture and also, the recipe did not required the yam cubed to be steamed prior adding to the flour mix which gave me a very hard yam cubed. On the second attempt, I used wheaten flour but cut down on the liquid and again I got a very hard batter. I finally managed to get a perfect consistency on the third attempt and was  really happy with it!

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These tasted so good with chili sauce and a bowl of black glutinous rice porridge! The hubby said the thought of having these brought him back to Penang! :)

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Ingredients

• 300 gm Yam (taro) - cut into small small dice


• 300 gm Minced pork


• 1 slice Preserved turnip (about 80-100 gm) - chopped finely


• 130 gm Dried shrimps - chopped


• 250 gm Rice flour


• 1 tbsp Wheaten flour


• 800 ml Warm water


• 3 cloves Garlic - smashed and minced


• 1 tsp Five spice powder


• Salt and pepper to taste


• Oil for frying

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Garnishing

• Sauted dried shrimps (half from the basic ingredient)


• Sauted mince meat


• Sauted preserved turnip


• Toasted peanuts - lightly pounded/chopped


• 1 stalk Spring onion - finely cut


• 2 tbps Fried shallot


• 1 Red chili - optional

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Methods

1. Steam the diced yam for about 30 minutes or until soft but still firm.


2. Heat up wok/frying pan with some oil and fry the chopped dried shrimps till fragrant. Lift up and keep aside.


3. Using the same frying pan, add a little oil and dry fry the chopped preserved turnip till fragrant. Lift up and keep aside.


4. In the same frying pan, heat up some more oil and saute the minced garlic till light golden and add in the minced meat. Fry till cook.


5. Lift up half the fried minced pork and keep aside.


6. Stir the remaining minced pork in the frying pan, add in half the dried shrimps, half of the preserved turnip and the steamed diced yam with the five spice powder, salt and pepper until well mixed.


7. Mean while, in a big mixing bowl, add in the rice flour and wheaten flour and stir in the warm water until you get a good and smooth batter.


8. Add in the yam mix and stir till well mixed.


9. Pour batter into a greased pan (I used a 8" springform pan lined with banana leaf) and steam for 40-50 minutes or until firm.


10. Remove the pan from steamer (you might get a little wet top but not to worry) and let it cool on the table for 5 minutes.


11. Sprinkle all the garnishing in this order - mince pork, dried shrimps, preserved turnip, spring onion, peanuts and fried shallot.


12. Serve when it has cooled down to room temperature.

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Peppered Pig Stomach with Chicken Feet Soup

I am not a fan of inwards of any kinds to be honest as I find them pretty disgusting. When I was younger, my mom always makes me take pig's liver or chicken livers as according to her could help me replenish my blood. Each time she served me those, I'll sit in front of the bowl as long as I could and has to force myself to finish them.

However, it is entirely different when it comes to pig stomach! A part which my mom said is one of the hardest to clean as if it is not cleansed properly it will have a stinky smell. I've never cleaned one before since I've never cook any when I was in Malaysia. Either my mom or my MIL will do the job and I am the lucky soul who will savour the end product.

My favourite is the black pepper corn pig stomach soup which is one of the best soup I've ever drank. My MIL often boil a big pot with lots of goodies during Chinese New Year. This is also a must have during my confinements.

When I had my #3 in Melbourne, my mom boiled this for me as well and from there I knew the butchers here actually cleansed it real well that we don't even need to do much cleaning after that! For that, I boiled a few times after my confinement since I really dig this soup! :D

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What I really like is by adding some chicken feet and the soup will go all gooey from the collagen. It is supposed to be really good for health!

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Ingredients

• 1 Pig stomach (pre-boil and cut into strips of 1"x3")


• 500 gm Chicken feet


• 2 Skinless Chicken Maryland (chop into 4 sections)


• 100 gm Lotus seeds (soaked)


• 80 gm Gingko nuts


• 2 sticks Carrots (cut into chunks)


• 1½ tsp Black/White peppercorns


• 3 L Water


• Salt to taste

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Methods

1. In a medium saucepan, boil some water and pre-boil pig stomach, chicken feet and Chicken Maryland, strained and keep aside.


2. In a large stockpot (I used a 10 L pressure cooker) fill with water and let it come to a boil. Add in all the pre-boiled items, carrots, lotus seeds and gingko nuts.


3. Gently cracked the peppercorns and dump into the pot and let it boil on high heat. Then turn to low heat and slowly simmer for at least an hour.


4. Served with warm rice.

Bacon Fried Rice

Every now and then I will cook fried rice as I always have left over rice from hubby's lunch box. I tend to cook a little extra just in case he has enough to bring to work the next morning. When ever he can't fit them into his lunch box, I will fried them for lunch so I can cook a new batch for dinner.

What I have been cooking the past week when I have the extra rice is bacon fried rice since I bought a huge pack of bacon and I am trying to finish them as fast as I could. Can't be eating everyday so maybe every 3 days or so depending if I have the other ingredients with me. These fried rice is so nice to go with a cup of herbal tea :)

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Fried rice is one of the best one pot meals around and kids just love them! Mine do! Especially my girl who can be very fussy with food at times but she will eat fried rice. Probably I add in loads of ingredients! :D


Ingredients

• 1 bowl Cooked rice (from ¾ to 1 cup of rice)


• 6-7 rasher Bacon (cut into small strips)


• 1 stalk Spring onion (chop)


• 2 Eggs


• ½ Onion (chop coarsely)


• 1tbsp Garlic (minced)


• Salt and pepper to taste

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Methods

1. Heat up a non stick wok (or HCP if you have one!) and fry the bacon strips till fragrant (best when they are a little brownish on the sides). Lift up and set aside.


2. Using the oil from the bacon, saute the minced garlic then the onion till brown and fragrant, add in the eggs and slowly break them and mix them around. When the eggs are about 70% cooked (with some wet portions to coat the rice) toss in the cooked rice and stir till well mixed with the eggs.


3. Add in the chopped spring onion, stir till well mixed before adding in the bacon strips. Fry till the rice is loose and not clumped together. A good fried rice should have each grain on its own unless coated with egg. :)


4. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Notes

It is best to use freshly cooked rice than over night rice. Make sure the rice are dry if you decided to cook just before frying them.

Almond Cookies with a Crunch

Apart from baking pineapple tarts, I will definitely bake some almond cookies for Chinese New Year. Previously when I was still in Penang, I will normally get the premix from the local baking supplies shop which tasted very good. Now that I am in Melbourne, everything will have to be from scratch.

I checked the net and found a recipe but I tweaked it as I already have some raw almonds with me so I did not want to buy the almond meal separately. I just ground the almond myself. Also, I added some roasted sesame seeds for the extra flavor and crunch.

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These cookies are so addictive that I can't stop snacking on them! Since it used corn or sunflower oil, I guess it is has less guilt compared to those made of butter! Okie... I am just trying to console myself :P

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Ingredients

• 400 gm Plain flour


• 250 gm Icing sugar


• 2½ tsp Baking powder


• 1½ tsp Baking soda


• ½ tsp Salt

(sieve the above 3 times)

• 175 gm Chopped almonds (almond nibs)


• 180 gm Ground almond (I have mind with the skin on)


• 300 ml Corn/Sunflower oil


• ¼ tsp Almond extract (mix into the oil)


• Toasted sesame seeds


• 1 Egg (for egg wash)

Methods

1. Toast almonds on a frying pan on small fire till lightly brown, cooled and chop/ground accordingly.


2. In a large mixing bowl mix the sifted ingredients and mix with the ground almond and chopped almonds.


3. Add about ½ of the oil into the flour mix and rub into it to resembles bread crumbs. Then add in the remaining oil and knead until the dough is well incorporated.


4. Take about 12gm of the dough (I used a digital scale) and roll it into a ball, dip one end into the sesame seeds and let it coat half the cookie dough, gently roll to get the sesame seeds to stick onto dough. Flatten the cookies to about 1cm thickness.


5. Place rolled/flatten cookies onto lined baking tray with a 1.5 cm gap. Brush the first coat of egg wash onto surface and let it dry for 15 mins before brushing the 2nd coat.


6. Bake cookies in preheated oven of 160°C for about 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack and before storing in air tight container.

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Note

I've tried another batch using just 280ml of oil and it is a lot more easy to shape.

Pork Jerky / Bak Kwa / Long Yuk

Among all the Chinese New Year food that I like most is definitely the pork jerky or bak kwa (Hokkien) or long yuk (Cantonese). It is also a must have for the festive season especially when it comes to gift giving. For that, it command a high price when we purchase from the shops. The last time I bought, I paid RM26 for just 300 grams! Very expensive meat indeed!

I remembered that people actually queued for hours just to buy a few kilos in Singapore! It is insane but these bak kwa guys are reaping big money during CNY just like those mooncake guys during Mooncake festival! Well, I was never that crazy to queue for a few slices of fragrant meat :P Probably they are hard to make thus the high price?

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Actually, I can get them in the Asian grocers here in Melbourne but I decided not to since it is just as expensive as back home. Thought I can live without a few slices of meat :) Then, one fine day, a friend shared a link on how to make these fragrant meat slices and it has been home made since! Yeah! At least I know now what are being mixed into the meat that made them so addictive!

Believe me, it is not difficult to make these at all and imagine the amount of $$ you can save! Best of all, you can add or reduce the ingredients to suit your taste. The recipe I shared here is from another friend which I modified to suit my taste. You are free to adjust it yourself. Try not to press it too thin else it will not be nice... lack the chewy effects. :)

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Ingredients

• 1kg Minced meat


• 200 gm Sugar (sweeter taste nicer)


• 2 tbsp Black soy sauce


• 1 tbsp Light soy sauce


• 4 tbsp Chinese rice wine (glutinous rice wine or rose wine)


• 2 tbsp Fish sauce


• 1 tbsp Oyster sauce


• 4 tbsp Honey (more for glazing while baking/grilling)


• ¼ tsp Five spice powder


• ½ tsp Salt


• Pinch of white pepper


• Sprinkles of garlic powder


• Red food coloring (optional)

Marinade over night

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Methods

1. Spread a sheet of baking paper in the size of the baking tray/cookie sheet onto table and take a         chunk of the marinated meat and spread onto it, slowly pressing the meat around.

             

2. Using another piece of baking paper/clingy wrap to cover the meat, then use a rolling pin to slowly flatten the meat till about 2 to 2.5 mm in thickness. Keep adding more meat and flatten them with the rolling pin until you have filled most of the baking tray.

3. Try leaving a 1 cm gap from the sides of the tray as juices from the meat will ooze out during baking. You can also use the back of the knife to cut/mark some lines on the meat so you can easily fold or cut the meat later.

4. When you are done flattening the meat, remove the top baking paper/clingy wrap and transfer to greased baking tray (I greased with some oil) and remove the other baking paper as well.

5. Bake in preheated oven of 130ºC and bake for 15-20 minutes for both sides.

6. Take the meat out from the oven again, this time glaze them with some honey with a pastry brush as this will help to caramelise the surface to give it a nice charred effect and a beautiful shiny surface.

7. Then increase the temperature to 150ºC and bake/grill till brownish for about 10-15 minutes.

Notes:
You can add chilli flakes or chilli powder too if you like the spicy version.
If you are making beef, best to add some star anise powder to give it an extra kick.

Fruity, Nutty Chocolate Chips Cookies

Now that I am in the mood to bake cookies, I have made another batch of really yummy chocolate chips cookies which I have been wanting to do a long time ago but did not (trying not to snack on sugar!) until a friend baked me some over Christmas. From then on, I can't stop thinking of making these addictive cookies!!!

Trolled the net and discovered some recipes and decided to gave one of it a try. I modified the recipe to our taste buds as I cut down on the sugar a little.

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While making these, I discovered I can achieve 2 different types of results by modifying the amount of flour used. I did one batch with less flour and it turn out soft and chewy!

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Ingredients

• 227 gm Butter (room temperature)


• 1tsp Salt


• 200 gm Brown sugar


• 100 gm Castor sugar


• 2 Eggs


• 1tsp Vanilla extract


• 500g Bread flour


• 1tsp Baking soda


• 2 cups mixed of Walnut+Raisin+Chocolate Chips

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Methods

1. Using the paddle of your stand mixer and beat the butter, salt and sugars till creamy.


2. Add in egg, one at a time and mix till incorporated before adding the next one.


3. Add in the vanilla extract.


4. Switch to low speed and slowly add in the flour and baking soda.


5. Break up the walnut into nibs and mix with the raisin and chocolate chips and add into the butter and flour mix. Mix well.


6. Scoop a teaspoon (heap) onto lined baking tray with at least 2cm apart.


7. Baked in pre-heated oven at 160°C for about 12-15 minutes in middle rack one tray at a time. Remove when sides of the cookie starting to turn brown but the top is still light in tone.


8. Remove from oven and cool on tray for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack. Store in a dry air-tight container.

Crumbly Floral Pineapple Tarts

Happy New Year everyone!

Can't believe we will be celebrating the Lunar New Year in approximately a  month time! This will be our second year celebrating the Lunar New Year in Melbourne and that means we have live here for a year already! How time flies!

Since I was pregger and  busy with our move last year, I did not make any cookies/goodies for CNY so decided I should make some this year. Not sure if any of my friends will come 'pai-nien' at our place since we do not get any public holidays here in Melbourne! Good thing is, this year, the first day of CNY falls on a Sunday which make it very convenient if we have friends visiting or we go for visiting. :)

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Normally I will bake pineapple tarts for this occasion as the Hokkiens associate pineapple as 'ONG' meaning prosperity. Therefore, most of them like to have pineapple tarts for CNY. I made some of these floral pineapple tarts the previous year and thought I should make them again as I really like their dainty look but this time improvised on their texture.

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This round, I adapted another recipe using cornflour for the pastry which gave a better texture and has a more crumbly feel so it sort of melt in the mouth. :D

I prefer the open face type as I like having my pineapple jam caramelised during the baking process as it gave a really yummy aroma to the tarts.

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Pineapple Jam

Ingredients

• 2 medium Pineapple (try to get those which are not too ripe)


• Sugar to taste (I used a mix of raw sugar and caster sugar)


• 1-2 sticks Cinnamon bark


• 3-5 Cloves


• ½ Lemon (juice only)


• Yellow food coloring (optional)

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Methods

1. Chopped the flesh finely with a clever (sieve away the extra juice with a colander but do not squeeze) and use a blender to chop the core or you can use a grater to do the job but from experience, grated pineapple will be less juicy as the grating process tends to extract the juice out more.


2. When you are done chopping, transfers the chopped pineapple to a big non stick stock pot or frying pan and fry with the cinnamon and cloves on medium fire stirring occasionally. This process will take about 1 hour +/-


3. Add in the sugar and taste (I prefer mine to be not too sweet so I add a table spoon at a time) till you achieve your ideal sweetness. Some pineapples are sweeter than others so you use your taste buds to judge.


4. Once it starts to caramelise, you squeeze in the lemon juice and fry till it is really dry and sticky. Leave it to cool and you can store in the fridge or freezer for future use. The lemon juice actually acts as a preservative so your jam would not get mouldy after baking.

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The Pastry

Ingredients

• 400 gm Plain flour


•  50 gm Corn flour


• ½ tsp Salt


• 280 gm Butter (cold and cubed - do not let it get soften)


• 3 Egg yolks


• 3 tbsp Icy cold water


• 6 tbsp Icing sugar


• ½ tsp Vanilla extract


• 1 Egg yolk + 1/2 tsp Milk for glazing

Methods

1. Sift the flours, icing sugar and salt in a big mixing bowl.


2. Using the end of a fork, rub in butter cubes into the flour mixture until it becomes fine bread crumbs. For this process you need to be very patient as any heat will warm the butter. Should you need to, use your finger tips only to help coat the butter with flour to make them into fine crumbs. Never ever use your palm as our palms will transfer the heat and melt the butter.


3. In another bowl, beat the egg yolks with the cold water and vanilla extract. Pour into the crumbs mixture and mix them with your finger tips only. Slowly until it forms a dough. Do not knead. Stop when it formed into a dough.


4. Wrap it up with a clingy wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 10 mins before use.


5. On a floured surface, roll out a small chunk (keep the rest chilled in the fridge so it won't melt while you work) to desired thickness (around 5mm) and press with a flower cookie cutter. I placed a mini cupcake liner into the tablespoon measuring spoon to get the nice curved up flower shape.
   


6. Arrange all the cupped pastry neatly on a baking tray, placed the pre-rolled pineapple jam and placed onto the pastry before glazing with egg yolk mixture on the entire surface (including the jam).


7. Baked in a pre-heated oven of 160°C for 18-20 minutes or till surface turned golden brown (turn the tray around a few minute before you take them out to ensure even browning).


8. Cool on the tray before removing to cool on the rack. Store in an air tight container when it is completely cooled. It is best to consume within 2 weeks if you are living in a tropical country. I normally keep them in the fridge if not consumed after a week but weather in Melbourne is dry so it should be fine to be kept in room temperature longer. Anyway, how often can these crumbly tarts stay more than a few days on the counter????!!! :P

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This is the cutter I used to cut the pastry...

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