Jalebi

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp rice flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2/3 cup warm water
oil for deep-frying

Sugar Coating Syrup:

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1 tbsp milk

Method:

Batter:

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

Add half of water to yogurt; beat well to incorporate.

Add yogurt solution to the flours mixture, gradually add-in the remaining water, whisk well till smooth batter; leave overnight to ferment.

Sugar Coating Syrup:

Dissolve sugar in boiling water.

Add-in milk, boil for about 15 minutes or till achieves one thread consistency (when single thread is formed and does not break when your forefinger and thumb are pulled apart gently).

Keep the syrup warm.

To Make the Jalebis:

Heat enough oil in wok.

Fill batter into an empty ketchup dispenser (or any plastic bottle with a small hole on lid).

Press batter out from bottle, circularly drop the pouring consistency batter into hot oil.

Fry jalebi till both sides are golden yellow.

Remove jalebi from oil and place on paper napkin to adsorb excess oil for about 1 minute.

Immerse jalebi into warm sugar syrup, set aside to soak for about 5 minutes.

Lift jalebi from the syrup and serve hot.

Sweet Potato-Red Bean Dessert Soup

Ingredients:

1 cup dried red bean, soaked overnight
1.6 L water
1 large sweet potato, cut into bite size
1/2 cup rock sugar or to taste

Method:

Boil red bean for about 2 hours or till softened and cooked thoroughly (I used rice cooker).

Add-in sweet potato and sugar, continue simmering for another 10 minutes (not to over cook the sweet potato).

Serve warm or chill.

Plum Snow Skin Mooncakes

Ingredients:

2 cups glutinous rice flour
1/4 cup wheat starch
1 1/4 cups icing sugar or brown cane sugar
20 g butter, softened
60 mL cold water
1 tbsp plum sauce

Mung Bean Paste Filling:

1 cup mung bean, soaked overnight
2 cups water
20 mL milk
1 tbsp butter, softened
50 g dark chocolate (optional)
1/2 cup brown cane sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup desiccated coconut/freshly shredded coconut
40 mL milk/coconut milk (only if using desiccated coconut)

Method:

Mung Bean Paste Filling:

In a bowl, mix desiccated coconut with milk.

Toast in a preheated oven at 180 °C for 15 - 20 minutes or till fragrant and golden yellow (stir occasionally for homogeneous toasting).

Remove from oven, set aside to cool completely.

Bring water to boil, add mung bean, continue the boiling till mung bean is softened, cooked thorough and became almost dry (not to burn).

With blender, blend together the cooked mung bean with milk.

With double boiler, melt chocolate, add into mung bean paste.

Mix-in butter and sugars, stir till sugars are dissolved and well-incorporated.

Add-in toasted coconut flakes, stir well to evenly mixed.

Keep in refrigerator till uses.

Plum Snow Skin:

Place glutinous rice flour in a heat resistance plate, steam over high heat for 30 minutes.

Remove from steamer.

Dry-fry the flour over moderate heat for about 15 minutes (alternately, toast in a preheated oven at 160 °C for 45 minutes, stir occasionally; or microwave on high for about 6 - 8 minutes, stir well after every 1 minute) or till yellowish in color.

Sift the cooked glutinous rice flour together with wheat starch, set aside.

In a bowl, beat butter with sugar till thoroughly mixed.

Add-in plum sauce, stir to mix thoroughly.

Add-in flours and gradually pour-in water, mix to a soft and smooth dough.

Keep in refrigerator to set for an hour or more.

Mooncakes Assemblies:

Flour snow skin mooncake moulds with cooked glutinous rice flour; set aside.

Divide dough into 4 portions.

Lightly knead each dough and form into a ball.

Flour both hands with cooked glutinous rice flour, flatten dough and shape to cup on palm.

Fill-in enough mung bean paste, wrap to seal and roll to a ball again.

Place the filled dough into the prepared mould (seam side up), press firmly to conform with the shape of mould.

Bang the sides of moulds to dislodge out the mooncakes.

Chill in refrigerator till serve (preferentially for at least few hours or overnight before serving) .

Mung Bean Truffles

Ingredients:

1 cup mung bean, soaked overnight
2 cups water
20 mL milk
1 tbsp butter, softened
50 g dark chocolate (optional)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown cane sugar

Coating:

1/2 cup desiccated coconut/freshly shredded coconut
40 mL milk/coconut milk (only if using desiccated coconut)

Method:

Batter:

With rice cooker, bring water to boil, add mung bean, continue the boiling till mung bean is softened, cooked thorough and became almost dry (not to burn).

With blender, blend together the cooked mung bean with milk.

With double boiler, melt chocolate, add into mung bean paste.

Mix-in butter and sugars, stir till sugars are dissolved and well-incorporated.

Keep in refrigerator to set for few hours or preferentially overnight.

Coating:

In a bowl, mix desiccated coconut with milk.

Toast in a preheated oven at 180 °C for 15 - 20 minutes or till fragrant and golden yellow (stir occasionally for homogeneous toasting).

Remove from oven, set aside to cool completely.

Forming Truffles:

With a teaspoon or two, scoop-up batter, form into even and round balls.

Dip each ball into toasted coconut flakes.

Roll and turn to coat evenly.

Keep covered in refrigerator till serves.

Avocado-Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

1 medium avocado, peeled and diced
1/2 cup left-over cooked chicken, sliced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 carrot, sliced
1/4 lemon juice

Method:

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients.

Sprinkles with lemon juice and fold to mix.

Serve immediately.

Chocolate Scotch Shortbread

Ingredients:

50 g dark or bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups cake flour

Method:

Line a large baking tray with parchment paper, set aside.

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

With a double boiler, melt chocolate; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter till fluffy.

Add-in sugar, continue beating till very light, pale and fluffy.

Pour-in melted chocolate, stir to incorporate fully.

Stir-in flour, gradually knead and roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness.

With cookies cutter, cut into the desired shapes.

Place them onto the prepared baking tray, about 1 inches apart from each others.

Bake the cookies in a preheated oven for 10 - 12 minutes or till aroma.

Remove cookies from oven, let them stand for 1 minute.

Transfer cookies on wire rack, let cool completely before store into air-tight container.

Yield 98 cookies.

Char Kuey Teow (Stir-Fry Flat Rice Noodles)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup boiled dry flat rice noodles (5 mm)
5 prawns, removed shells
1/2 cup bean sprouts
1 egg
1/4 cup chinese chives, cut into 1.5 inches length
5 cockles, washed, boiled and removed shells
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp oil

Chili Paste:

1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 tbsp sambal omelek chili paste
4 tbsp oil

Seasoning:

2 tbsp prawn stock
1/2 tbsp sweet chili sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp white pepper

Method:

In a small pot, mix all the seasoning ingredients, let simmer over low heat to thicken the sauce; set aside.

To make the chili paste, blend onion and garlic to yield paste. Heat 4 tbsp oil in wok over low heat, stir-fry onion-garlic paste still fragrant, add-in omelek chili paste, continue stir-fry till aroma, remove from heat, set aside.

Clean the wok, heat 2 tbsp oil, fry garlic till fragrant and golden.

Add-in prawns, stir-fry over high heat still prawns are seared.

Add-in noodles and enough seasoning sauce, toss over high heat for few minutes.

Add-in bean sprouts and 1 tbsp of the prepared chili paste, continue tossing for another few minutes.

Spread noodles aside, crack 1 egg into the center of wok, sprinkles-on few drops of seasoning sauce on egg, scramble the egg.

Return the noodles onto the egg.

Add-in cockles, stir-fry for short-while.

Add-in chives, stir-fry for another short-while.

Dish-up, serve hot with white pepper and half-cooked egg if desired.