Mediterranean Couscous

Ingredients:

1/2 cup couscous
1/2 cup water/stock
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 cup broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes and/or garbanzo beans or any other preference garnishes
1/4 tsp salt or to taste
1 shallot, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil

Method:

In a pot or saucepan, heat oil over medium high heat and saute garlic-shallot till aroma.

Add-in garnishes such as broccoli and/or tomatoes, stir-fry for another short while.

Pour-in water and orange juice, bring to boil and seasoning accordingly with salt.

Add-in couscous, cover and remove from heat, set aside to stand for 5 minutes or till all liquid is fully absorbed.

Gently fluff with fork to separate the couscous grains and serve.

Yield 2 servings.

Pandan-Coconut Flavored Fortune Cookies

Ingredients:

1 egg white
1/4 tsp pandan essence
1 ½ tbsp vegetable oil
4 tbsp all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp cornstarch
4 tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 ½ tsp coconut milk

Method:

Preheat oven to 150 °C.

Beat egg white, pandan essence and oil till foamy but not stiff.

Add-in flour, cornstarch, sugar and salt, stir till smooth.

Gradually stir-in coconut milk just till blended.

Generously grease a baking tray and drop a teaspoonful batter for each cookies.

Swirl the tray to spread out batter round evenly.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes or till 1/2 inch of outer edges become brown.

Remove one cookie from oven with spatula or metal spoon.

Quickly fold cookie into half, crease the center of cookie over edge of cup and hold the shape by placing the cookies inside a cup as it cools.

Yields about 25 cookies.

Sambal Chili Gravy Prawns

Ingredients:

800 g prawns

4 onion
1 lemongrass
10 dried chili, soaked and drained or to taste
3 cloves garlic

5 tbsp oil
1 tbsp tamarind bulb with 1/2 cup water
1 tsp belacan (toasted dried shrimp paste)
2 ½ tsp salt or to taste
1 tsp sugar or to taste

Method:

Blend together onion, lemongrass, chili and garlic to fine paste.

In a wok or deep saute pan, heat oil over medium high heat and saute blended mixture for 5 minutes or till fragrant.

Add-in prawns and stir-fry for 2 minutes or till turn into pink color.

Pour-in tamarind water and bring to simmer.

Seasoning with the remaining ingredients and let simmer for another short while till cooked thoroughly.

Dish up and ready to serve with steamed rice, bread or cooked noodles.

Steamed Minced Pork with Toy Choi (Chinese Preserved Vegetable)

Ingredients:

250 g minced pork (not lean)
1 tbsp tong choi (Chinese Preserved Vegetable)
1 tbsp shallot crisps
1/2 tsp light soy sauce
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp pepper
1 ½ tbsp water
1 tsp cornflour
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Method:

Combine minced pork with tong choi and all the remaining ingredients, set aside for at least 15 minutes.

Transfer mixture into a lightly greased heat-proof bowl.

Steam over high heat for 15 minutes and cooked thoroughly.

Dish up and best serve with steamed rice.

Glass Vermicelli with Minced Pork (蚂蚁上树)

Ingredients:

100 g glass vermicelli
100-150 g minced pork

3 tbsp oil
2 slices ginger, cut into silvers
2 clove garlic, finely chopped
3 chinese dried mushroom, soaked, thinly sliced and reserved the soaking water
1 tbsp preserved soy bean paste
1 fresh red chili, removed seeds and thinly sliced (optional)
1 tsp chili sauce
1/4 cup water/stock/reserved soaking water
1/2 cup bean sprouts (optional)
1 stalk spring onion, sliced long

Marinade for pork:

1 tbsp rice wine
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp pepper
pinch of cornstarch

Method:

Combine minced pork first with the liquid marinade ingredients and last with cornstarch; set aside for at least 15 minutes.

Soak noodles till soften and drain well; set aside.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok over medium high heat, stir-fry pork till browned and cooked thoroughly.

Remove pork from wok and set aside.

Add another tbsp of oil to the wok, saute ginger, garlic and fresh chili till fragrant.

Add-in mushrooms, stir-fry briefly.

Add-in soy bean paste and chili sauce, stir for short while.

Add-in noodles, stir for another short while and pour-in water.

Return the cooked pork into wok and add-in bean sprouts, stir briefly till blended.

Add spring onions and stir till most of the liquid has been absorbed.

Garnish with some fresh spring onion and serve.

Homemade Fish Balls and Soup

Ingredients:

Fish Balls Ingredients

600 g white fish
1 tbsp water
1 tsp salt

100 ml water
1 tsp salt
dash of pepper
3 tbsp cornflour

bowl of water
1 tsp salt

Soup Ingredients

reserved bone & skin of fish
1000 ml water
1 stalk spring onion, chopped
1 tbsp tong choi (Chinese preserved radish)
1 tsp salt or to taste
2 tsp light soy sauce

Method:

To prepare the fish balls:

Fillet fish with sharp knife by removing fresh meat from bone and skin.

Further scrape out the remaining fish meat from skin and bone with metal spoon, reserve the bone and skin.

Blend fish meat with 1 tbsp water and half tsp salt till very fine or alternatively pound it with the back of chopper and gradually add-in the salt solution.

Transfer fish paste into big bowl and stir rigorously till sticky.

Gradually, stir-in the 100 ml water, 1 tsp salt, pepper and corn flour.

Lift up handful of fish paste and throw against bowl till springy on whole.

Grease hands with oil and form fish paste portion by portion into balls via gently squeezing the paste out between thumb and index fingers.

Drop fish balls into a bowl of water added with 1 tsp salt and leave to soak for at least 30 minutes.

To prepare the soup:

Pan-fry the reserved bone and skin till fragrant and golden brown, remove from heat and set aside.

Bring water to boil in a pot or wok.

Return the fragrant bone and skin into the boiling water and let simmer over low heat for about 1 hour.

Drain the stock into another pot and bring to boil.

Drop-in fish balls and simmer over low heat till fish balls floated.

seasoning with salt, soy sauce and tong choi.

Sprinkle-on chopped spring onion on hot soup right before serving.

Asian/Tropical Tiramisu

Ingredients:

Cream Cheese Filling

150 g cream cheese
250 g whipping cream
80 g icing sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp kahlua or any coffee flavored liqueur or instant coffee powder

Chocolate Sponge (Each Layer)

40 mL cake flour
1/2 tbsp corn flour
1/4 tsp baking powder (optional)

1 egg white
pinch of cream of tartar (optional)
3 tbsp sugar

40 mL milk/water with 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ½ tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt

1 egg yolk
20 mL vegetable oil

Coffee Syrup

1/2 cup coffee
2 tbsp brandy or coffee flavored liqueur

Topping Option

unsweetened cocoa powder
shaved chocolate
dessicated coconut

Method:

To prepare the cheese filling

In a large bowl, whisk thoroughly cheese with sugar, salt and liqueur until homogeneous cream resulted; set aside.

In another large bowl, whisk cream till stiff.

Gradually, fold-in stiffed cream into cheese mixture and chill in fridge till use.

To prepare the chocolate sponge

Preheat oven to 170 °C.

In a bowl, combine together flours and baking powder; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk egg white and cream of tartar till frothy; gradually add-in sugar and continue whisking till stiff peaks form (I always whisk egg white first because I use the same whisk for egg yolk mixture later without washing); set aside.

In a cup of warm milk, dissolve-in cocoa powder, sugar and salt; set aside.

In another large bowl, whisk egg yolk till pale and glossy.

Stir-in oil and chocolate solution, continue whisking till batter is fully incorporated.

Fold-in flours mixtures, stir-well to form homogeneous batter.

Gradually and gently, fold the egg white mixture into the egg yolk batter.

Pour batter into a baking paper layered cake pan (18 cm) and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool completely before assembly.

With a flexible thin knife or spatula, loose cake from pan and invert onto a serving plate for cake assembly.

Repeat the recipe for another layer or double up the recipe volume and slice into 2 layers.

To Assembly

Brush each sponge with the mixture of coffee and brandy syrup till the mixture is used up.

Lay one layer of sponge into same size springform cake pan.

Top the base sponge with two third of the filling or fill to about 1/2 inch thick.

Lay-on another layer of sponge.

Spread on the rest of the filling or to the desired thickness.

Sprinkle-on shaved chocolate and chill in fridge overnight till serve.

Right before serving, sift-on a thin layer of cocoa powder.