Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Chinese Chives Box (韭菜盒)



















Ingredients:

Dough

240 ml all purpose flour
80 ml hot boiling water
40 ml cold water

Filling

2 cup diced Chinese chives (about 1 cm length)
1 ½ cup ground pork (not lean)
1/3 cup dried shrimp, soaked and drained
handful of segmented glass vermicelli noodles
1 tbsp shao xing wine
1 tbsp light soy sauce
3 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp pepper powder
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
1 tbsp of garlic or shallot flavored olive oil

Method:

To prepare dough:

In a large bowl, add-in flour.

Pour-in hot water and stir with chopstick or fork to form crumbs.

Pour-in cold water and knead to form dough (dough will remain sticky).

Set aside covered to rest for at least 30 minutes.

To prepare chives filling:

In another large mixing bowl, add-in pork and seasoning with wine, soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper.

Stir thoroughly to give sticky texture.

Add-in shrimp, noodles and chives, stir to homogeneously incorporate.

Adjust taste with salt and stir-in the remaining oil thoroughly.

To assembly:

Over a lightly floured smooth surface, knead dough into smooth long log (about 5 cm in diameter).

With floured knife, cut dough into 15 pieces.

Sprinkle-on some flour, flatten each small dough and roll out thin into rough sheet.

Place a spoonful filling onto the center of pastry, fold one side of pastry to the another, press edges firmly to seal and pleat accordingly to shape.

Over a non-stick pan, dry-fry or pan-fry dumplings with little oil over low heat to brown both sides and cooked through.

Best serve warm.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Peach Cake



















Ingredients:

2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup butter
1 tsp salt
1 ½ cup sugar
3 eggs
2 tbsp milk
2 cup sliced peaches
1/4 cup oil

Method:

Preheat oven to 190 °C.

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

In a bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and baking powder; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter together with salt and sugar till light and fluffy.

Stir-in eggs one by one and continue beating till pale and fluffy.

Fold-in the dry ingredients.

Add-in milk, oil and then fold in peaches.

Pour batter in 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 at least 10 minutes (allow cake to shrink from cake pan).

Run a thin flexible knife or spatula around the pan to loosen the cake.

Transfer cake onto a serving plate and ready to serve.