Chinese New Year Greetings ~ 2014

Happy New Year to all my readers and friends.  

Hope this year of the Horse will bring forth peace,  
good health, wealth and prosperity to all of you.

Gong Xi Fa Cai  ~ Nian Nian You Yu!

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Pistachio Ice Cream

This  nutty  Pistachio Ice Cream should be most welcome to round off a sumptuous reunion dinner on 30th January as the lunar Chinese New Year falls on 31st January this year.  This pale green and fragrant icy dessert is not too sweet and not overly rich as I've reduced the amount of cream in the recipe... so feel free to enjoy!

Recipe for Pistachio Ice Cream (adapted from 'Here' with modification)

Ingredients

• 125 gm Pistachios
• 60 gm caster sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 250 ml cream
• 250 ml milk
• Pinch of salt
Method
1. Blend half the Pistachios till fine.  Roughly chop up the balance.
2. Lightly boil the cream, milk, salt and finely ground Pistachios.  Remove from heat.
3. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar till thick and creamy.
4. Pour the milk mixture onto the egg mixture, keep stirring to prevent the milk from cooking the egg mixture.
5. Pour this mixture back to the saucepan and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon.  When the custard is done, it can coat the back of the wooden spoon.
6. Pour this mixture into a bowl, cover with cling wrap and let cool.  Once cooled, keep refrigerated overnight.
7. Churn the mixture according to the instructions of your Ice cream maker, about 30 mins. 
8. Add in the roughly chopped Pistachios just before you switch off the Ice cream maker.





This will be my last post before the Chinese New Year and I'll be taking a short break from blogging.
Last but not least, I wish all my readers and friends 


 Happy Chinese New Year and Gong Xi Fa Cai!

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Pumpkin Sunflower Crisps ~ CNY 2014

These Pumpkin Sunflower crisps are very easy to make but they can be very addictive.  Crunchy and crispy, these festive cookies will be very popular during the forthcoming Chinese Lunar New Year.

Recipe for Pumpkin Sunflower crisps

Ingredients


• 2 egg whites about 60 gm, lightly beaten
• 80 gm caster sugar
• 2 Tbsp/1 oz melted butter
• 50 gm plain flour
• 75 gm pumpkin kernels
• 75 gm sunflower seeds
• 1/4  tsp vanilla
Method
1. Sift flour into a mixing bowl, add in sugar, mix well.
2. Make a well in the centre, add in the melted butter, lightly beaten egg whites and vanilla.  Mix till well combined.
3. Let dough rest for 30 mins.
4. Drop 1 level tsp of batter onto a parchment lined baking tray.  Using the back of the spoon spread thinly to any shape taking care not to overlap the seeds.
5. Bake in a preheated oven @ 180 deg.C for 8 to 10 mins. taking care not to overbake.
6. Let cool in tray for a while before transferring onto a wire rack to cool completely.
7. Store crisps in an air-tight cookie jar.
8. Yield :  50 crisps

I'm submitting this post to the Bake Along event hosted by

 Zoe of  Bake for Happy Kids, Joyce of Kitchen Flavours and Lena of Frozen Wings and the theme is 'Chinese New Year Cookies'.

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Cream Caramel ~ Updated

Cream Caramel is another favourite dessert in my family, especially my children.  The price of this egg custard has hiked tremendously recently, from RM 2 to RM2.80 for a takeaway which can be finished off in three gulps.  As always, homemade is the most economical  and you can rest assured that there are no unnecessary 'add-ons'.   I've made them before using soymilk but this time around, I'm using full-cream milk and the result ..... according to my girl, it's 'Yummy, Mum, keep this recipe!'

Recipe for Cream Caramel

Ingredients for Caramel


• 100 gm caster sugar
• 50 ml water
Ingredients for Custard
• 3 eggs
• 60 gm caster sugar
• 500 ml full-cream milk
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract  OR  seeds from 1/2 a Vanilla pod


Method for Caramel
1. In a saucepan, add the caster sugar and water, stir with a wooden spoon on medium heat.
2. Once the sugar has dissolved,  STOP stirring and remove the wooden spoon.
3. Swirl the pan from side to side and once the colour reaches light brown, turn off heat and remove.
4. Quickly pour the caramel into the 4 ramekins.


Method for Custard


1. In another saucepan, pour in the milk, add the vanilla seeds (slice up a vanilla pod and remove the seeds with the back of the knife) and just lightly bring to the boil.  Let cool.
2. Break in the eggs, add salt and sugar, beat with a handheld whisk till yellowish white in colour.
3. Add the milk into the egg mixture.  Mix well with a hand whisk.
4. Place the ramekins onto a dish, strain the mixture and then pour into the ramekins.
5. Pour boiling water into the dish, just halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
6. Bake in a preheated oven @ 170 deg.C for about 30 to 35 mins., cover with a sheet of foil.
7. Bake till just set and wobbly in the centre.  Remove from oven and let cool.
8. Chill custard in the fridge, covered.
9. Run knife around the edge of the ramekin, place a dish on top of the ramekin and turn it upside down, shake it a bit to dislodge.
10. Yield :  4 ramekins of cream caramel.

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Three Tastes Steamed Fish

Are you curious by the name of this dish?  It's literally translated from Cantonese 'Sam Mei Yu', with the incorporation of three tastes which are sourish, sweetish and spicy, all these three words beginning with the letter 'S'!  What a coincidence.  I had this dish not too long ago in one of the restaurants and I'm trying to replicate it here.

Recipe for Three Tastes Steamed Fish

Ingredients

300 gm fish tail  (I used Siakap)

2 lemon grass -sliced

1 onion - sliced

2 pcs kaffir leaves - sliced

1 tomato cut into wedges

3 chilli padi/bird eye chillies

2 tsp sugar or to taste

1/2 cup assam juice from 8 seeds of assam

1 tsp fish sauce or to taste

Method

Make 2 cuts on both sides of the fish, season with seasalt.  Place on a plate with the tomatoes.

Cook the assam juice with the lemon grass and sliced bird eye chillies.

Add in sugar, fish sauce, fine tune to taste, add in the kaffir leaves.

Steam fish under rapidly boiling water for 8 to 10 mins.  Reduce  heat.

Pour the assam sauce over the fish.  Garnish with the sliced onions.

Serve immediately with hot rice.

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Macau Almond Cookies ~ CNY 2014

I've been hunting for this recipe for a long time and was delighted when I finally chanced upon  the recipe from  Florence of  Do What I Like.  Upon scrutinising the recipe I noticed that there wasn't any mention of the amount of sugar required.  She must have inadvertantly left it out, so I just made an assumption and added in 50 gm of icing sugar which wasn't too sweet and was just nice.  The mould that I had was quite shallow resulting in very delicate and easily breakable cookies, so they had to be handled 'gently'!   Perhaps you may like to give this a try and make them for the coming CNY!

Recipe for Macau Almond Cookies (adapted from 'here')

Ingredients

• 125 gm mung bean flour
• 60 gm shortening
• 30 gm lightly toasted whole almonds with skin, chopped
• 30 gm almond meal
• 50 gm icing sugar, sifted
• 3 to 5 tsp drinking water

Method

1. Lightly fry the mung bean flour till fragrant and turned a slight tinge of yellow.  Leave to cool.
2. In a mixing bowl, mix the cooled mung bean flour, almond meal and sifted icing sugar thoroughly.
3. Rub in shortening till it resembles breadcrumbs, add in the chopped almonds.  Mix well.
4. Add in water gradually to combine the rather crumbly mixture.  Press the mixture with the spatula to compact it, now and then.  Take some dough, give it a squeeze and if it can come together, then the dough is of the right consistency.
5. Put the crumbly sand like mixture into the mould, press to compact.  Knock out the cookie onto a parchment lined baking tray.
6. Bake in a preheated oven @ 140 deg.C for 20 mins. till light brown with the oven door slightly ajar.
7. Let cool in tray, transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely.
8. Store cookies in an air-tight cookie jar.
9. Yield :  19 cookies.

I'm submitting this post to the Bake Along event hosted by

Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, Joyce of Kitchen Flavours and Lena of  Frozen Wings 

and the theme is  'Chinese New Year Cookies'

and also to
 Asian Food Fest :  Hongkong and Macau hosted by
Annie of  Annielicious Food

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Danish Butter Cookies ~ CNY 2014

I've always wanted to make these Danish Butter cookies and was delighted when I saw the post in Anncoo Journal.  These cookies are buttery, not too sweet, delicious, certainly a crowd pleaser.  I bet that you are not going to stop just at one.  These home made cookies will be good as a gift to your relatives and friends for this coming festive season.

Recipe for Butter Cookies
(adapted from Anncoo's Danish Butter Cookies with modification to the method)

Ingredients


• 1 egg lightly  beaten
• 200 gm SCS butter
• 320 gm plain flour
• 120 gm icing sugar (original 130 gm)
• 2 tsp vanilla (original 2 Tbsp)
Method
1. Cream the butter with the icing sugar till light and fluffy.  Add in the egg, mix well.
2. Fold in the sifted flour, mix well.
3. Pipe out using tip 195.
4. Bake in a preheated oven @ 200 deg.C for  9 mins.
5. Let cool.
6. Store cookies in a cookie jar.
7. Yield :  95 cookies

I'm submitting this post to the Bake Along event hosted by

 Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, Joyce of Kitchen Flavours and Lena of Frozen Wings

and the theme is 'Chinese New Year Cookies'

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Bak Kwa/Pork Jerky and welcome 2014

I  hope that all of you have had a wonderful X'mas and New Year and before we can settle snugly into 2014,  the Chinese Lunar New Year is just less than a month away which will mean baking and more baking.
Bak Kwa is a popular gift during the Chinese Lunar New Year and this is the first time that I'm baking and grilling them in the oven  instead of grilling them over a charcoal fire.
I've made Bak Kwa before, a very long time ago.  I remember that I had to dry the trays of marinated minced pork under the sun and had to keep a look out for uninvited guests such as stray cats and birds from feasting on the meat.  Then later had to sweat it out  grilling the dried meat over the erratic charcoal fire.   Baking and grilling them in the oven is definitely not so tedious and these bak kwa tastes just as good as the chargrilled ones.  In inflationary times like this, homemade ones are naturally much more economical more so if you intend to make this as a gift.

          

Recipe for Bak Kwa/Pork Jerky

Ingredients





• 500 gm double minced pork
• 100 gm sugar
• 1 Tbsp light soya sauce
• 1/2 Tbsp Chinese cooking wine
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 3/4  Tbsp oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
Method
1. In a large mixing bowl, mix all the ingredients, except the minced pork, stir till creamy.
2. Add in the minced pork, stir with a wooden spoon till gluey.
3. Cover with cling wrap and keep refrigerated overnight.
4. Spread the marinated meat on a parchment lined baking tray with a spatula, about 1/4 inch thick.
5. Bake in a preheated oven @ 130 deg.C for 15 to 20 mins., increase to 180 deg.C for another 12 mins.
6. Remove from the oven, let cool, cut into desired size, flip over.
7. Grill.  Check and flip the meat every 2 mins. till the desired colour is attained.

I'm submitting this post to  'Aspiring Bakers #39'  CNY Rock & Roll  hosted by Foodplayground

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