Steamed Chinese Sponge Cake with Palm Sugar-Coconut Filling

Ingredients:

Sponge

160 ml (3) eggs
80 ml sugar
drop of green food coloring
drop of pandan essence
enough flour

Filling

1/4 cup palm or molasses sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup dessicated coconut

Method:

To prepare filling:

In a small pot, bring water to boil.

Add-in sugar and stir to dissolve.

Add-in dessicated coconut, stir continuously till water almost dried out.

Remove from heat and set aside.

To prepare sponge:

Lightly grease enough muffin tins (about 6); set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs with sugar-coloring-essence till pale, light and fluffy.

Gently fold-in flour one spoon at a time till batter level sinks to 80% of total height.

Spoon enough batter (about 1 ½ tbsp) into the prepared tins and steam over high heat covered for about 5 minutes.

Remove cover and spread on a layer of prepared filling in the middle of cake.

Spoon-on another layer of batter all over on top of filling surface and steam covered again for another 10-15 minutes.

Remove from heat and run a thin flexible knife or spatula around the tins to loosen the cakes.

Remove cakes from tins by inverting on palm and transfer onto serving plate.

Spread the remaining filling on top of each cakes and ready to serve.

Pan-Fried Stuffed Buns (水煎包)

Ingredients:

Dough

150 g all purpose flour
80 ml water
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp yeast
1/2 tbsp oil

Filling (in excess)

300-400 g minced meat
10 shrimps, shell removed, cleaned & chopped
1 ½ tbsp grated ginger
1 tbsp white pepper powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 ½ tbsp cooking wine
1/2 tbsp cornstach
1/2 cup chopped cabbage
1 stalk scallion, chopped

Method:

To prepare dough:

In a large bowl, combine all dough ingredients, knead till soft and smooth.

Lightly greased a container, place-in the dough, cover and let proof till doubled in size (about 1.5 hours).

To prepare filling:

In another large mixing bowl, combine all the filling ingredients except cabbage and scallion.

Stir thoroughly to give sticky texture.

Lastly add-in cabbage and scallion, stir to homogeneously incorporate.

Adjust taste accordingly with salt.

To assembly:

Over a lightly floured surface, punch down the dough and knead again for another 3 minutes.

With floured knife, cut dough into small pieces according to preference sizes.

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

Place a spoonful filling onto the center of pastry, twist to seal the top and flatten lightly.

Place the filled buns on heavy floured plate with seal side down, cover with kitchen towel and leave to rise for about 20-30 minutes.

Lightly grease a non-stick pan, pan-fry buns to brown one side for about 1-2 minutes.

Flip over buns, sprinkles-on about 1 tbsp water around each bun, cover and steam for about 3-4 minutes to brown the another side and cooked thoroughly.

Once water just dried out, flip over buns, and cook the previous side for about 1 minutes covered again.

Remove buns from heat and best serve warm.

Cantonese Sweet & Sour Ribs (京都骨)

Ingredients:

600 g pork spareribs, cut to bite sizes
enough oil for deep-frying

Marinate

1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 ½ tsp Chinese five spices powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground pepper powder
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1 tbsp cooking wine

Sauce

1/2 cup ketchup
3 tbsp black rice vinegar
2 tbsp cooking wine
4 tbsp sugar
3 tsp light soy sauce
1 cup water
1/2 tsp salt or to taste

1 cup sliced bell pepper
1 onion, wedged
2 clove garlic, chopped
1 knob ginger, sliced
1 tbsp oil


Method:

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

In another bowl, combine all sauce ingredients; set aside.

In a wok, deep pan or pot, heat enough oil over medium high heat and deep fry marinated ribs for 15 minutes or till brown.

Remove from oil and set aside on paper towels to absorb excess oil.

Remove excess oil from wok or pan.

Reheat 1-2 tbsp oil in the wok or pan, sautes garlic and ginger till fragrant.

Add-in onion and bell-pepper, stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, remove from heat and set aside.

Pour sauce mixture into saucepan, bring to boil and let simmer for 10 minutes (add water if appear dried out).

Return the ribs and precooked garnish into saucepan, stir to mix and thicken.

Dish-out and best serve hot with steamed rice.

Shanghainese Crispy Noodle-Pancake (兩面黃)

Ingredients:

120 g (4 small coils) dried egg noodles
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 cup finely stripped pork
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp light soy sauce
drops of sesame oil
1/4 tsp pepper powder

2 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 carrot, cut to thin strips
2 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked and thinly sliced
2 spring onion, chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp cooking oil

Method:

Bring a pot of water to boil, branch noodle till soft and cooked.

Drain well and seasoning with oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce and sesame oil; set aside.

In a bowl, marinade pork with its following 4 ingredients; set aside.

In a flat non-stick saute pan, heat oil and saute garlic till fragrant.

Add-in marinated pork, stir-fry for few minutes or till almost cooked through.

Add-in carrot and mushroom, stir-fry to soften carrot and cooked thoroughly.

Remove from heat and stir-in spring onion; set aside.

Over medium heat with lightly greased saute pan, spread-on half of the cooked noodle evenly onto the pan as base layer.

Spread-on half of the precooked filling at center as another layer and top with the remaining noodles as final layer.

Pan-fry noodle pancake till bottom side turn brown and crispy.

Carefully inverse the noodle pancake and continue brown the other side till crispy (add some oil to avoid burning).

Pour egg all over the edge of noodle pancake and leave to stand till cooked through.

Transfer noodle pancake onto a flat plate and spread-on the remaining filling to serve.

Lemon Gateau

Ingredients:

Crust

1 ½ cup biscuit crumbs
1/4 cup cornflakes crumbs
1/2 cup peanut crumbs
3 tbsp sugar
90 g butter

Sponge

3 egg whites
3 egg yolks
80 ml sugar
2 tbsp zest of 1 lemon
7 tbsp sugar
30 ml ground almond
45 ml fine semolina flour
45ml cake flour
25 ml lemon juice

Lemon Custard

Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 eggs, lightly beaten
110 g sugar
60 g butter
1 tsp cornstarch

Method:

To prepare the crust:

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

In a bowl, mix together all dry crust ingredients.

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 while preparing cake filling.

To prepare the sponge:

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

In a large bowl, whisk egg whites till stiff peaks form; set aside.

In another large bowl, whisk egg yolk with sugar and lemon zest till pale and glossy.

Stir-in lemon juice till batter is fully incorporated.

Fold-in all the remaining dry ingredients, stir to form homogeneous batter.

Gradually and gently, fold the egg whites mixture into the egg yolks batter.

Pour batter onto the prepared crust base and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean and golden.

Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

To prepare the lemon custard:

Mix all the custard ingredients into a small pot and heat over medium heat with stirring for 10 minutes or till sugar dissolved.

Reduce heat and let simmer to thicken the custard into a spreadable consistency.

Pour the custard all over the surface of the prepared cake and chill to set or till serve.

To serve:

With a flexible thin knife or spatula, loose gateau from side pan and release springform side.

Carefully transfer it onto a serving plate.

Stir-Fry Brussels Sprout

Ingredients:

1 medium bowl Brussels sprout, halved
1 handful sliced meat/chicken
2 inch carrot, skin removed & stripped
1 tbsp oil
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp fish sauce or to taste
1 tsp sesame oil
pinch white pepper powder
pinch sugar

Method:

In a wok, deep pan or pot, heat oil over medium high heat.

Sautes garlic till fragrant.

Add-in carrot and meat, stir-fry till almost cooked.

Add-in Brussels sprout, stir-fry for short while.

Pour-in oyster sauce and fish sauce, stir-fry for another short while.

Pour-in water and simmer covered over reduced heat for few minutes (3-5 minutes).

Sprinkle with sesame oil, pepper and sugar, stir to incorporate (adjust taste accordingly).

Dish-up for serving.

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.