Crunchy Shrimp Wantan/Wontan/Wonton/云吞 Rolls

Ingredients:

10 shrimps, peeled by leaving tail-on
10 wantan wrappers
oil for deep-frying

Marinade:

2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
1 tsp sesame oil

Method:

In a bowl, combine together all the marinade ingredients.

Add-in shrimps and set aside to marinade for 30 minutes.

Place a shrimp horizontally 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 side edge over shrimp, follow by the bottom edge, roll-up till end and press to seal.

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

Drop-in shrimp wantan rolls in batches (single layer) and deep fry till golden brown, crispy and crunchy.

Remove shrimp wantan rolls from oil and drain well on absorbent paper towels.

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

Sizzling Tofu

Ingredients:

12 slices of homemade tofu
2 tbsp oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
5 dried chinese mushroom, soaked, drained and chopped/slices
handful of bay scallop, (optional)
handful of minced meat (pork/chicken/beef), (optional)
2 cups shrimps/pork/chicken stock/water

1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 ½ tbsp soy sauce or to taste
1/2 tsp sugar or to taste
1/4 tsp white pepper powder or to taste
cornstarch solution (2 tbsp cornflour in 1/4 cup water)
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp sesame oil

enough chopped green onion for sprinkling

Method:

Heat oil in pan/wok over medium high heat, fry both sides of tofu till golden brown.

Remove tofu from oil and drain-well on absorbent paper towel.

Transfer tofu onto a serving plate; set aside.

Add garlic to hot pan and saute till fragrant.

Add-in mushroom and meat, stir-fry till meat is tender and just right cooked through.

Pour-in stock and bring to boil.

Seasoning with oyster sauce, fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar and pepper.

Pour-in cornstarch solution, bring to boil for 1-2 minutes.

Whisk-in egg to form fine streaks.

Drizzle-on sesame oil.

Remove gravy from heat and pour over tofu.

Sprinkle-on chopped green onion and serve immediately with rice.

Bah Kut Teh (Chinese Meat Herbal Soup)

Ingredients:

1 liter water
1 package (50 g) bah kut teh mixed herbs and spices (any brand of your choice)
200 g pork spareribs/chicken/beef, cut to bite size
Some lean meat
5 dried chinese mushroom, soaked and drained
3 hard boiled eggs, peeled
1 bulb garlic, peeled and crushed

2 slices dong kwai
1 tbsp chinese wolfberry fruits

2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar or to taste
1 ½ tsp salt or to taste

Optional Garnish:

needle mushroom
pork internal organ
chinese lettuce leaf (place on the surface of hot soup just right before serving)
chinese cabbage (place on the surface of hot soup just right before serving)
deep fried bean curd (add into hot soup just right before serving)
deep fried tofu (add into hot soup just right before serving)
chinese cruller (add into hot soup just right before serving)

Method:

In a pot, bring water to boil over high heat.

Add-in meat, 1 sachet of bah kut teh mixed herbs and spices, mushroom, eggs and garlic; bring to boil covered for at least 1 hour (if boil for longger period, may need additional water).

Remove meat and add-in dong kwai, chinese wolfberry fruits and another small sachet of mixed herbs and spices (if applicable).

Seasoning with light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar and salt.

Cook covered for another 10 minutes.

Return meat into the pot and cook for another shortwhile.

Dish-up and serve hot with rice or as it alone.

(Note: best serve on the next day by keeping it warm covered in slow cooker)

Cuculli (Chickpeas Flour Fritters of Liguria)

Ingredients:

1 ½ tsp dry instant yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
2 cups chickpeas/besan/gram flour
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 tsp oregano or chopped marjoram
2 tsp salt
oil for deep-frying

Method:

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

In a large bowl, dilute flour with water to obtain a thick but smooth batter.

Pour-in yeast solution and set aside to rise for few hours or overnight.

Once the batter has done leavening, add-in oregano and salt.

Heat oil over high heat.

Drop a spoonfuls batter into hot oil and fry till golden yellow.

Remove from hot and drain well on absorbent paper towels.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Yield 38 pieces of cuculli.

New York's Style Cheesecake with Gram Crust

Ingredients:

Gram Crust:

1/2 cup gram/besan/chickpeas flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup butter

Cheesecake Filling:

450 g cream cheese
3/4 cup icing sugar
1 ¼ tbsp cake flour
3 tsp zest of half orange
2 tsp zest of half lemon
2 egg
1 egg yolk

Method:

To prepare the crust or base:

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

In a bowl, mix together gram flour, sugar, salt and water.

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 for at least 2 hours while preparing cheesecake filling.

To prepare the cheesecake filling:

Preheat oven to 250 °C.

In a large bowl, combine cheese, sugar, flour and zests; whisk till smooth batter.

Gradually, add-in eggs and yolk, whisk thoroughly till smooth and fully incorporated; set aside.

Put a tray of shallow hot boiling water into the bottom rack of preheated oven.

Pour batter into the prepared crust and bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 100 °C.

Continue baking for another 1 hour or till cake is mostly firm 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 chill overnight or till ready to serve.

Cinnamon Buns (Sticky Bread)

Ingredients:

Bread:

200 mL lukewarm milk
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 ½ tsp instant yeast
2 tbsp butter (30g) butter
1 ½ tbsp sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp salt
3 cups all-purpose flour

Cinnamon Sugar Filling:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon powder

Surface Brushing:

3 tbsp apricot preserves/jam (I use cherry preserves), melted or softened

Glaze:

1/2 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tbsp milk

Method:

Dissolve sugar and yeast in warm milk, leave for 8 minutes or till foamy.

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

Add-in yolk and salt, mix to homogeneous mixture.

Pour-in yeast solution, stir to incorporate.

Gradually, add-in flour and combine till soft dough.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured working surface, knead dough till 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 2 hours).

Lightly grease a 18 cm springform cake pan; set aside.

With oily hand, punch down the dough and leave to rest for another 5 minutes.

With a well-floured rolling pin and working surface, roll out dough flat into about 36 x 18 cm rectangle with the thickness of 0.5 cm.

Spread-on cinnamon-sugar mixture and leaving a 1 cm border.

Roll up dough sheet tightly (like assembly sushi or swiss roll).

Press roll firmly to eliminate internal air trap.

Pinch seams and ends to seal.

Cut dough roll into 8 pieces, transfer to the prepared pan with cut side up and set aside covered to rise till double in volume for about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180 °C.

Bake cinnamon rolls for 35 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

Remove buns from oven, and leave to cool in pan for 10 minutes.

Remove from pan onto wire rack, brush-on apricot preserves and leave to cool completely.

Spread-on glaze mixture.

Torta Salata Pasqualina (Liguria Easter Pie)

Ingredients:

Pastry:

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp salt
2 ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2/3 cup water

Filling:

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
500 g chard, sliced into slim silvers
1 onion, sliced into slim silvers
250 g ricotta cheese
1 cup Parmesan or Grana cheese
2 tsp salt or to taste
1/2 tsp black pepper powder or to taste
1 tsp oregano flakes
3 eggs

Egg Wash:

1 egg yolk
1 tbsp milk

Method:

To prepare the pastry:

In a large bowl, combine flour, salt and oil.

Gradually, pour-in water and mix to homogeneous dough.

Knead dough into smooth and elastic dough (about 10 minutes).

Divide dough into 6 portions and set aside to rest for 30 minutes covered.

To prepare the filling:

Heat oil in a wok or pan over medium high heat, saute chard and onion for 15 minutes or till wilt.

Remove from heat and set aside to cool completely.

Add-in ricotta, Parmesan, salt, pepper, oregano and stir-well to homogeneous mixture.

To assembly:

Line the bottom of 18 cm baking pan with parchment paper; set aside.

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

Over a smooth working surface, roll out a portion of dough into very thin sheet and almost transparent.

Transfer it into the prepared pan and brush the exposing surface all over with oil.

Roll out second portion of dough to very thin, transfer onto the first pastry and brush-on oil.

Again roll out another portion of dough till very thin, transfer onto the previous pastry as third layer but without oil brushing for this time.

Pour-in the prepared filling and spread out evenly.

Make 3 holes in the firm filling and fill-in a whole raw egg into each holes.

Gently cover the filling with another 3 layers of pastries in the same procedures as of the pie basement assembly.

Close the pie by folding-in the wall-sides pastries.

Poke surfaces with fork or knife.

Brush surface with egg wash and bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes or until golden.

Best serve hot or at room temperature.