Deep-Fried Shrimp Wantan/Wontan/Wonton/云吞

Ingredients:

Shrimps Filling:

1 cup (200 g) shrimps, shelled and diced
1 tbsp finely chopped carrot
1 tbsp finely chopped spring onion
1 tbsp chopped beansprout

Seasoning:

1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
1/4 tbsp oyster sauce
1/4 tsp salt or to taste
1/4 tsp sugar or to taste
1/4 tsp white pepper or to taste
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp corn flour

enough wantan wrappers
water to brushing (to seal)
oil for deep-frying/shallow-frying

Method:

In a bowl, combine together all the filling ingredients.

Add-in seasoning ingredient, stir well to incorporate; set aside.

Place about 1 teaspoon of the filling mixture in the middle of wantan wrapper (cover the unused wantan wrapper with damp kitchen towel to prevent dry out and become hard sheet).

Brush a bit water on all edges.

Fold-up edges and pick to seal.

Heat enough oil in pot/wok/deep pan over medium high heat.

Drop-in filled wantan in batches (single layer) and deep fry till golden brown and crispy.

Remove crispy wantan from oil and drain well on paper towels.

Best serve with Thai chili sauce, sweet and sour sauce, ketchup or mayonnaise.

Bean Curd/Tofu/Tauhu/Tokwa//Tahu/豆腐

Ingredients:

25o mL homemade soy milk (unsweetened) or from 1/2 cup soy bean and 380 mL water
3 egg whites
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
1 tbsp dried prawn, soaked and finely chopped

Method:

Grease 12 muffin tins; set aside.

In a bowl, combine soy milk, egg whites and salt, gently whisk to mix (minimize as much froth as possible).

Spoon/divide the batter into the prepared muffin tins, spread-in enough dried prawn and steam over high heat for about 12 minutes or till set and cook thoroughly.

Egg Whites Butter Cake

Ingredients:

3 egg whites
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup cake flour
1/2 tbsp corn flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
50 g butter, melted

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

Lightly grease a 11 x 25 cm loaf tin, dust bottom and side of pan with bread crumbs and tapping out excess; set aside.

In a deep bowl, whisk egg whites with 2 tbsp of sugar till pale, thick and foamy; set aside.

In another bowl, combine flour, corn flour, baking powder and the remaining sugar.

Fold flour mixture into egg whites mixture, gently stir to incorporate.

Gradually, pour-in butter and stir to homogeneous batter.

Pour batter into the prepared tin.

Bake in the preheated for 40 minutes or till a toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean.

Remove cake from oven, let cake cool in tin for 10 minutes.

Run a thin flexible knife or spatula around the tin to loosen the cake, transfer cake onto a plate to cool completely.

Lemon Cream Strippers

Ingredients:

Lemon Cream Filling:

250 mL milk
1 ½ tsp lemon zest (from half lemon)
5 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup cake flour

Dough:

1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup granulated/caster sugar
5 tbsp butter
1 large egg white

Chocolate Glaze:

30 g bittersweet/dark chocolate
1 ½ tbsp milk

Method:

To prepare the filling:

In a saucepan or small pot, bring milk together with lemon zest to boil over medium heat.

Meanwhile in a bowl, whisk egg yolks with sugar till pale and glossy, stir-in flour.

Pour-in hot boiling milk mixture, and stir to incorporate.

Return mixture to heat, simmer with consistent stirring for another 15 minutes or till thicken.

Remove from heat and set aside to cool completely.

To prepare the dough:

Preheat oven to 190 °C.

Line a big baking tray with parchment paper; set aside.

In a bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter with sugar till pale and glossy.

Add-in egg white and whisk well.

Add-in flours mixture, knead to smooth and stiff dough.

Over lightly floured surface, divide dough into 2 portions.

Roll each portions to long log.

Transfer logs onto the prepared tray.

Create about 1/2 inch deep indentation lengthwise over the center of each logs with finger or spoon.

Fill-in enough lemon cream and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or till lightly browned.

Meanwhile, melt chocolate over double boiler, pour-in milk and stir to homogeneous paste; set aside (keep warm).

Remove strippers from oven, immediately drizzle-on chocolate glaze, slice logs diagonally and leave on tray to stand for 10 minutes.

Transfer strippers to wire rack and let cool completely.

Yield 18 strippers.

Chicken Rendang (Chicken in Thick Coconut Milk Curry)

Ingredients:

500 g - 1 kg chicken, cut to bite sizes

10 shallots/ 3 onions, peeled and chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 stalk lemongrass, chopped (white part only)
1 knob ginger, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp chili paste

1/2 tsp turmeric powder
few curry leaves
1 cup coconut milk
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 tsp sugar or to taste
1 tsp white pepper or taste
4 tbsp cooking oil
1/2 cup toasted dessicated coconut/fresh shredded coconut

Method:

With blender, blend together onion, garlic, lemongrass, ginger and chili paste to smooth paste; set aside.

Heat oil in wok or pot over medium high heat, saute the blended paste till fragrant (about 5 minutes).

Add-in chicken and stir fry for another 5 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium. add-in turmeric powder, curry leaves and coconut milk, leave to simmer for about 35 minutes or till chicken is almost tender (add more coconut milk if necessary to remain the juicy of gravy).

Seasons with salt, sugar and pepper.

Stir-in dessicated coconut and continue simmer for another 10 minutes or till chicken is tender.

Dish-up and serve hot with steamed rice.

Kerabu Mangga (Nyonya's Style Mango Salad)

Ingredients:

1 large green mango, peeled and sliced into slim slivers
1 green apple, sliced into slim silvers
5 shallots, thinly sliced
2 bird's eye chili, thinly sliced
2 tbsp dried prawn, toasted

Dressing:

3 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp plum sugar/white sugar (omit it if mango and apple are sweet)

Sprinkle:

3 tbsp toasted peanut, coarsely pounded

Method:

In a large bowl, mix together all the salad ingredients; set aside.

In a small bowl, mix well all the dressing ingredients; set aside.

Right before serving, pour the prepared dressing sauce over the salad mix, stir well to incorporate.

Sprinkle-on coarse peanut powder and serve cold or at room temperature.

Char Siew (Chinese BBQ Pork)

Ingredients:

300 - 500 g skinless pork belly or marbled pork, cut into about 1 ½ inches wide strips.

Marinade:

2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1 ½ tsp light soy sauce
4 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp Shen Yuan Hua Diao wine or any cooking wine
1/2 tsp Chinese five spice powder
1/2 tsp black pepper powder
1/4 tsp salt

Glaze:

1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp oil

Method:

In a bowl, mix together all the marinade ingredients.

Marinate pork for at least 2 hours or overnight in refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 220 °C.

Wrap pork together with marinade gravy with aluminium foil, transfer onto a baking tray and bake for about 15 minutes.

Remove pork from oven, uncover the pork and broil pork till gravy thicken (turn pork from time to time for even coating).

Alternately, pan-fry pork over medium heat by continuous stirring till gravy thicken and well-coated (pan-fry approach is easier!).

In a bowl, mix together glaze ingredients.

Pour glaze mixture onto pork and return pork to oven or continue pan-frying for short while till just well polished with glaze.

Roti Maryam

Ingredients:

1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp salt
2 cups bread flour (I used 1 cup all purpose flour mixed with 1 cup bread flour)
1 tbsp (15 g) butter
1/2 cup lukewarm water
butter for brushing (about 3 g or more for each roti)
vegetable oil for pan-frying

Method:

In a bowl, beat egg and egg yolk together with salt; set aside.

In a separate bowl, add-in flour and make a hole in center of the flour pile.

Pour-in eggs mixture, gradually covered with side flour and stir to incorporate.

Add-in butter and knead to mix fully.

Gradually, pour-in water, knead to smooth and non-sticky dough.

Lightly coat dough with oil and set aside covered to rest for about 3 hours.

Divide dough into 8 portions.

Over a lightly oiled flat surface, via rolling pin roll out each portions covered with lightly greased plastic to very thin and transparent oval sheets.

Brush-on butter all over on the exposing surface.

Gently, pick-up two ends, twist ends in co-current(opposite) direction into a thin log and form to spiral shape on greased working surface (overlap a bit while spiraling to prevent holey roti).

Covered with lightly greased plastic again and flatted spiral doughs with rolling pin to about 0.2 cm thick.

Carefully, transfer sheeted doughs onto a preheated flat pan (over medium flame)/griddle, pan-fry/grill till both surfaces are golden brown (flip occasionally for even browning).

Remove from griddle/heat, brush-on some butter and best serve with curries.

Peanut Filled Tang Yuan (Kuih Ee) in Pengat (Penang Style Bubur Cha Cha)

Ingredients:

Tang Yuan Filling:

1/2 cup skinless peanut, toasted and coarsely grounded
1 ½ tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp icing sugar

Tang Yuan Dough:

1 ½ cup glutinous rice flour
1 tbsp rice flour
1/2 tbsp wheat starch
small dust of pink food coloring
3/4 cup hot boiling water

Pengat Dessert Soup:

1 small yam/taro (prefer purple color yam), cut to bite size
1 small sweet potato (prefer orange color sweet potato), cut to bite size
1 (400 mL) canned thick coconut milk diluted in 1 cup water or dilute coconut milk, freshly pressed from fresh coconut for the second time
1/2 cup thick coconut milk/cream (canned or freshly pressed from fresh coconut for the first time)
2 ripe banana, cut to 2 cm lengthwise
1 ½ tbsp sugar or to taste
1/2 tsp salt or to taste

Note: Pre-cooked black eye beans and tapioca starch jelly can be added.

Method:

To prepare the filled tang yuan:

In a bowl, mix together all the filling ingredients till clump together, divide into 13 portions and shape into small balls; set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix together 1 cup of glutinous flour, rice flour, wheat starch and food coloring.

Gradually, stir-in hot boiling water till sticky dough form.

Slowly, knead-in the remaining glutinous flour till smooth and elastic dough, divide into 13 portions and roll up to dough balls; set aside covered with wet kitchen towel.

Well flour hands with glutinous flour, flatten dough balls, place-in a portion of peanut filling, wrap up nicely and roll back to round shape, set filled rice balls aside covered.

Bring a pot of water to boil over high heat, drop in filled rice balls and cook till float (within a minute).

Drain well and immerse into ice cold water for about 3 minutes.

Drain well and set aside covered still serve.

Note: Traditionally tang yuan is serve in ginger syrup.

To prepare pengat:

Bring dilute coconut milk to boil over medium heat.

Add-in yam and sweet potato, and cook till just begin to soft (about 10 minutes).

Reduce heat to low, add-in thick coconut milk, banana, sugar and salt, cook till banana just begin to soft (about 5 minutes or less).

Remove from heat set aside to cool to room temperature.

Drop-in the prepared tang yuan and serve warm or cold.

Polish Cheesecake (Sernik) with Peanut Crust

Ingredients:

Peanut Crust:

1 cup skinless peanut, toasted and coarsely grounded
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 tsp salt
90 g butter

Cheesecake Filling:

125 g butter, soften
1 cup icing sugar
450 g ricotta or cream cheese
4 eggs, separated
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp lemon zest

Method:

To prepare the crust or base:

Base a 18 cm springform cake pan with parchment paper, set aside.

In a bowl, mix together peanut, flour, sugar and salt.

Gradually, add-in butter and mix until the mixture begin to clump together.

Pat crumbs into the bottom of the prepared cake pan.

Keep covered in refrigerator while preparing cheesecake filling.

To prepare the cheesecake filling:

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

In a large bowl, whisk egg white till soft peak form, set aside.

In a separate bowl, cream together butter with half of the sugar till pale, light and fluffy.

Add-in half of the cheese, mix well to fully incorporate; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine egg yolks with the remaining half of sugar and cheese, mix till well blended.

Add-in butter mixture into the yolks mixture and whisk thoroughly till smooth.

Add-in the remaining dry ingredients and stir well till incorporated.

Gently, fold-in stiff egg whites and mix to homogeneous batter.

Pour batter into the prepared crust.

Put a tray of shallow hot boiling water into the bottom rack of preheated oven, follow by the filled pan and bake for 1 hour or till puffy, golden brown on surface and center is just slightly jiggly/wobbly.

Turn-off oven and leave the cake cool completely inside the oven for at least 3 hours.

Remove from oven and refrigerate overnight or till ready to serve.

Yeast Taralli (Italian Pretzels)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup lukewarm water
2 tsp instant yeast

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp ajwain/carom seeds
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup warm dry white wine (about 38 °C)

Method:

Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water, leave for 8 minutes or till foamy.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, oil, salt, seeds, pepper and garlic powder.

Pour-in yeast solution into the flour mixture, stir to mix.

Gradually pour-in wine and knead until dough becomes smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes).

Transfer dough into a lightly oiled container and turn the dough to coat lightly with oil; set aside covered to rise until doubled in volume (about 1 ½ hours).

With oiled hands, punch down the dough and divide dough into small portions.

Shape each portions into long and slim pencil, cut to 3 inches length and bring two ends together to join, give to a ring shape.

Preheat oven to 200 °C and bring a pot of water to boil.

Line a big baking tray with parchment paper; set aside.

Drop taralli into boiling water, scoop-up once floated (within few seconds).

Drain well on kitchen towel and set aside to dry.

Arrange boiled taralli onto the prepared tray.

Bake in the preheated oven 40 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

Yield 92 pieces of taralli.

Vegetables and Camembert Tart

Ingredients:

Shortcrust Pastry:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup butter, creamed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp coarsely grounded black pepper
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Tart Filling:

3 carrot, boiled and sliced
1 cup string beans, boiled
125 g Camembert cheese, sliced (can be substitute with Brie or Parmesan Cheese)
1 large tomato, sliced
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup butter
3 eggs
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp black pepper powder
2 ½ tsp salt
zest of 1 lemon (yield about 3 tsp)

Sprinkles:

1/2 tsp chili flakes
1/2 tsp oregano

Method:

To prepare the pastry:

In a large bowl, mix together flour, butter, salt, pepper, water and oil.

Knead into smooth dough (add more oil if necessary till mixture begins to cling together).

Shape dough into ball, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.

To prepare the tart:

Preheat oven to 190 °C.

Roll out the chilled dough into rectangular sheet and transfer it into a medium size baking tray.

Spread-in a layer of carrot slices over the base of tart, follows by another layer of string beans.

Arrange-on third layer with Camembert slices and top-on tomato slices as last layer; set aide.

In a large bowl, melt butter in warm milk; set aside to cool.

Add-in eggs, garlic, pepper, salt and lemon zest, whisk well into homogeneous batter.

Pour batter over the filling.

Sprinkle-on chili flakes and oregano.

Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour or until just set.

Crispy Skin Fish in Spicy Soy Bean Paste Gravy

Ingredients:

1 fish, (I used trout with the weight of about 200 g)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp cornstarch
oil for deep-frying

Gravy:

3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp chili powder
5 tbsp preserved soy bean paste (tau cheo) or to taste
1 cup water dissolves with 1 tsp cornstarch

Sprinkles:

1 stalk spring onion, cut into slivers
1 fresh red chili, seeded and cut into slivers
1 tsp sesame oil

Method:

Clean fish, score both sides of the fish deeply (each about 3 cm apart), pat dry on kitchen towel; set aside.

In a bowl, mix together salt, pepper powder and garlic powder; set this seasoning mixture aside.

Rub fish well with the prepared seasoning mixture (externally, internally and inside the scores too), set aside to marinade for at least 30 minutes.

In a large plate, spread-on cornstarch, smear-on fish gently to coat both sides with flour.

Heat oil in wok or pan over medium high heat, deep-fry or shallow fry fish (about 3 minutes for each sides) till golden brown and crispy on outer skin.

Drained fish on paper towel.

Transfer fish onto a serving plate; set aside.

To prepare the gravy, heat oil in a pan over medium high heat, saute garlic till fragrant and starting to be golden brown.

Add-in chili powder and preserved soy bean paste, stir-fry for another 1 minutes or till aroma.

Pour-in water and bring to boil.

Reduce heat to low and let simmer to thicken the gravy.

Remove from heat and pour the gravy onto the fish.

Sprinkle-on spring onion, red chili and sesame oil.

Serve hot with rice.

Eggless Chocolate Cake with White Chocolate Yogurt Mousse Topping

Ingredients:

White Chocolate Yogurt Mousses:

500 g plain yogurt, drained on cheesecloth for at least 12 hours
50 g white chocolate
3 egg whites
3 tbsp sugar

Cake:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp cornflour
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup vegetable oil
125 g plain yogurt
juice of 1 large lemon

Method:

To prepare the white chocolate yogurt mousse:

In a heat resistance deep bowl, whisk 3 egg whites together with sugar over double boiler till soft peak form; set aside.

In another heat resistance bowl, melt chocolate over double boiler.

Add-in drained yogurt residue, stir to incorporate fully.

Fold-in egg whites mixture till homogeneous mixture and chill in refrigerator for at least 3 hours or till use.

To prepare the cake:

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

Lightly grease a springform cake pan (18 cm in diameter) or 11 x 25 cm loaf tin, dust bottom and side of pan with bread crumbs and tapping out excess; set aside.

In a large bowl, mix-well all cake ingredients.

Pour cake batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean.

Remove cake from oven, let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes.

Run a thin flexible knife or spatula around the pan to loosen the cake, transfer cake onto a plate to cool completely.

Frost-on the prepared yogurt mousse all over cooled cake.

Decorate accordingly and chill in refrigerator till serve.

Cheese Filled Naans

Ingredients:

1/4 cup lukewarm water/milk
1 ½ tsp sugar
1 ½ tsp instant yeast

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp plain yogurt
1 tbsp vegetable oil/butter
1/3 cup lukewarm water

1/4 cup butter/ghee for surface brushing

Filling:

50 g cream cheese, softened
1/4 tsp salt

Method:

Dissolve sugar and yeast in 1/4 cup warm water, leave for 8 minutes or till foamy.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt and baking powder.

Pour-in yeast solution into flour mixture, stir to mix.

Add-in yogurt, oil and gradually pour-in water while kneading until dough becomes smooth and soft (about 10 minutes).

Transfer dough into a lightly oiled container and turn the dough to coat lightly with oil; set aside covered to rise until doubled in volume (about 1 ½ hours).

Preheat oven to 250 °C.

In a bowl, mix together cheese and salt, divide into 4 portions; set aside.

With oily hand, punch down the dough.

Divide dough into 4 balls (I divided it into 2 portions, yield to very heavy naans, sure cure empty stomachs for quite sometime, hahaha!).

Flatten each dough balls, fill-in 1 portion of cheese mixture into the center, twist together edges to seal and shape up nicely into balls again.

Dust work surface with flour.

With a well-floured rolling pin, roll out dough balls flat into 1/4" thick

Wet both hands with water, transfer filled naans onto a lightly greased baking tray.

Bake naans for 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

Remove naans from oven and brush each naans with butter/ghee.

Mee Goreng Mamak (Mamak's Style Fried Noodles)

Ingredients:

Fritters:

1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
65 mL water
1/2 tsp finely chopped green chili
1 onion, finely chopped
oil for deep-frying

Sauce:

1 onion, peeled
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tbsp chili paste (blend from fresh red chili or commercial chili paste)
1/2 tsp toasted belacan powder (dried shrimp paste)
1 boiled sweet potato, peeled and mashed (yield 2/3 cup)
1 tbsp dark brown sugar
3 tbsp light soy sauce
3 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/3 cup lime juice/lemon juice/tamarind juice (juice of 2 tbsp tamarind paste in 50 mL water)
1 cup roasted peanut, pounded
2 tsp salt or to taste
1 ½ cups water
4 tbsp oil

Noodles Stir-Fry:

350 g yellow noodles
3 potatoes, peeled, boiled and coarsely sliced
homemade fritters' slices
1 egg
3 tbsp oil
1 lime, cut into wedges

Other Garnish Option:

bean sprouts
shrimps with tail's shell on
lean chicken/meat slices
deep fried firm beancurd, cut into small squares
fresh red chili's slices for sprinkling
crisp deep fried shallot for sprinkling

Method:

To Prepare Fritters:

In a large bowl, mix-in flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.

Gradually, pour-in water and knead till smooth dough forms; set aside to rest for at least 1 hour.

Add-in chili and onion.

With floured hands, knead well to mix, shape dough into smooth log (about 3 cm in diameter).

Heat enough oil in wok or pot, deep-fry fritters till golden brown and fragrant.

Drain well on paper towels, set aside to cool and cut into slices with 1 cm thick; set aside till use.

To Prepare Seasoning Sauce:

With a blender, blend-together onion, garlic, chili paste and belacan; set aside.

Heat 4 tbsp oil in wok or pan over medium high heat, saute blended mixture till aroma.

Add-in the remaining ingredients and bring to boil.

Reduce heat and simmer to thicken the sauce.

Remove from heat and set aside.

To Stir-Fry Noodles:

Heat 3 tbsp oil in a wok or pot over high heat.

Add-in meat slices and/or shrimps (if applicable), stir-fry for 1 minute or till almost cooked.

Add-in noodles and seasoning sauce, stir-fry to well-mix the ingredients and spread out the sauce evenly (meantime, adjust the taste accordingly with lime juice, chili paste and salt if desired).

Add-in potatoes, fritters or any other garnish, stir fry for another 2 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium.

Scrape noodles to side, pour egg into middle, stir quickly to scramble the egg, cover egg with noodles and leave for short while (about 1 minute).

Stir-fry for another short while to incorporate all ingredients and dish-up.

Sprinkle-on chili's slices and deep fried shallot if desired.

Best serve immediately with additional juice of lime's wedges.