Steamed Chicken Wings with Ginger & Sesame Oil

Ingredients:

400-500 g chicken wings, cut into pieces

Marinate

2 dried chilli, soaked to soften & sliced
2 stalks spring onion
2 inch ginger, peeled & strips
1 tsp Chinese cooking wine
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp white pepper powder

1 tsp cornstach + 1 ½ tsp cornstarch-2 tbsp water
1/2 tbsp light soy sauce or to taste
1 tsp sesame oil

Method:

In a container, marinade chicken with all the marinate ingredient for at least 30 minutes or overnight covered in fridge.

Add-in 1 tsp cornstarch and stir to incorporate fully.

Steam over boiling water with high heat for 20 minutes, drain and reserve stock.

Transfer chicken onto a serving plate.

Bring stock to boil and season with the remaining light soy sauce and sesame oil.

Thicken gravy with cornstarch solution.

Pour the hot gravy over chicken right before serving.

Marbled Butter Cake

Ingredients:

1 ⅓ cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/3 tsp baking powder
150 g (3/4 cup) butter
110 g (3/4 cup) sugar
1/3 tsp salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 eggs

3 tbsp milk or (3 tbsp milk powder + 4 tbsp water)
3 tbsp Milo powder + 4 tbsp water or (10 g coco powder + 5 g icing sugar + 2 tbsp milk)

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

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

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

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

Beat-in oil and egg by egg, then continue beating till pale and fluffy.

Fold-in the dry ingredients.

Divide batter into 2 portions.

One mix with fair milk solution and the other with dark chocolate milk solution.

Spoon-in both batters alternately into the prepared loaf pan and run one bamboo screwer across the batter in zig-zag motion.

Bake batter 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 slice to serve.

Polo Buns (菠萝包)

Ingredients:

Bread Dough

240 ml plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
30 ml sugar
1 tbsp beaten egg
1 tsp dried instant yeast
70 ml milk
1 tbsp butter

Polo Pastry

2 tbsp butter
25 ml powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1 tbsp beaten egg
95 ml plain flour

Filling (optional)

2 ½ tbsp butter
1 ¾ tbsp sugar
pinch of salt

Method:

To prepare the bread dough:

In a large mixing bowl, add-in all the dough ingredients and mix with fingertips to combine and detach from side wall of bowl.

Knead generously for about 15-20 minutes or till form smooth and soft skin dough.

Set aside covered with wet kitchen towel to proof for 1 ½ hours or till double in size.

Punch down proofed dough to release entrapped gas, divide dough into 4 portions and set aside to rest for 15 minutes or till use.

To prepare the polo pastry:

In a bowl, beat butter, sugar and salt still pale and fluffy.

Beat-in egg till fully incorporated and grassy.

Fold-in flour and mix well with fingertips.

Divide into 4 portions and set aside till use.

To prepare the filing:

In another bowl, beat butter, sugar and salt till incorporated fully.

Chill in fridge till firm then divide into 4 portions and chill in fridge again till use.

To assembly:

Flatten one portion of bread dough and fill-in a portion of filling.

Wrap up, twist edges firmly to seal and ground the sealing tip onto the dough.

With both hands, shape the dough into proper dough ball, set aside.

Flatten one portion of polo pastry.

Gently lift up the flattened pastry and transfer onto the center of hand palm.

Place-on a filled dough and press the dough toward pastry till all the side walls of the dough being covered by the pastry (filling seal side down).

With both hands, shape the entire bun into ball.

With sharp knife, draw chequer pattern on the pastry surface and set aside to proof for about 1 hour or till double in size.

Brush-on egg wash and bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C for 15 minutes or till golden.

Best serves fresh or reheat it in oven for few minutes on the next day before serving.

Jam/Nutella Crostata (Baked Dessert Tart)

Ingredients:

300 g all purpose flour
150 g butter, chopped
100 - 120 g sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract or lemon zest (optional)
150 - 200 g of fruit Jam or Nutella chocolate

Method:

Preheat oven to 190 °C.

Lightly grease a 22 cm cake pan, dust bottom and side of pan with flour and tapping out excess; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking power, salt and butter pieces.

Mix with fingertip to form crumbs.

Add-in egg yolks and knead lightly into combined dough.

Flatten the dough into disc, cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

With fingertips, press 2/3 of the dough into the prepared pan with slightly height on all edges as wall.

Spread-on enough Jam and fill-in all over the curved surface.

Roll the remaining dough into 1 cm wide strips and arranges them in a crisscross pattern or any of your preference pattern over the Jam.

Bake the crostata for about 40 minutes or until fragrant and golden.

Rich Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients:

300 g dark chocolate, chopped
150 g butter
1 ½ cup brown sugar
1 cup plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

Lightly grease a 20 or 22 cm square pan, dust bottom and side of pan with flour and tapping out excess; set aside.

With double boiler, melt chocolate (I used 200 g of 70% dark chocolate and 100 g of standard dark chocolate) over low heat till smooth (about 10 minutes).

Add-in butter, stir to form smooth batter.

Remove from heat and stir-in sugar till dissolves fully; set aside.

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

Add the dry ingredients into the chocolate batter, stir well to mix thoroughly.

Beat-in eggs solution till the batter become thick and glossy.

Pour batter in the prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25 - 30 minutes (not to over bake, toothpick inserts into the middle of brownies NEVER comes out clean).

Yield 28 squares.

Lamb/Beef Rendang (Dry Malaysian Meat Curry)

Ingredients:

1 kg lamb/beef, cut into inch cubes
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Blend Ingredients

2 lemongrass, sliced (white part only)
10 fresh red chili (add-in some dried chili for better spicy)
1 bulb garlic, chopped
1 knob (1 inch) ginger, sliced
1 knob galangal, sliced
1 knob fresh kunyit/turmeric or 1 tbsp turmeric powder
15 shallots or 4 large red onion, sliced
80 mL water

1/2 cup cooking oil
some turmeric leaf
2 tbsp cumin powder
2 tbsp fennel powder or coriander powder
500 mL thick coconut milk
1 cup water (add more if gravy dried up)
1 cup dry-tossed dessicated coconut
3 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Method:

In a large mixing bowl, marinate lamb with salt and pepper for at least 30 minutes; set aside.

Blend together all the blend ingredients with some water to form paste; set aside.

In a wok or pot, dry fry the blended paste over medium heat for about 5 - 10 minute till almost dry with bubble holes.

Pour-in oil and sauce the paste till aroma and separate from oil.

Add-in turmeric leaves, cumin powder and fennel powder, stir to toss for short while.

Pour-in coconut milk and water, bring to boil over high heat.

Add-in meat and bring to boil again (stir-occasionally to avoid burn at the bottom).

Let it stew over low heat for about 30 minutes to reduce the gravy to half.

Stir-in dessicated coconut and continue simmering (stir-occasionally) till gravy is thicken.

Seasoning curry with salt and pepper.

Best serve hot with steamed rice or bread (taste better to cook a night in advance and reheat right before serving).

Tuna Quiche

Ingredients:

Base

230 g puff pastry (pasta sfoglia)

Filling

6 (80g) canned tuna, drained
1 onion, chopped, boiled and mashed
3 egg, lightly beaten
3 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp garlic powder
salt to taste (canned tuna is salty)

Method:

Preheat oven to 190-200 °C.

Roll out puff pastry together with the provided parchment paper on a lightly grease pie pan ( 28 cm in diameter); keep in refrigerator till use.

In a large mixing bowl, add-in all the filling ingredients and stir well to incorporate fully.

Spoon the filling mixture into the prepared pie case.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until filling is lightly set or till surface is browned as prefer.

Best serve warm or at room temperature for party.