CuisineWorld

CuisineWorld RECIPE GALLERY

2012-01-20T08:40:00.000+08:00

Peanut Cookies 花生饼	Knotted Nori Crisps 酥脆海苔结	Apple-Peach Roasted Chicken 苹果桃烤鸡
Meatballs 肉丸	Panda Bento 熊猫弁当	Steamed Spare Ribs with Black Bean Sauce 豆豉蒸排骨

APPETIZERS
Yaki-Gyoza / Potstickers 焼き餃子 / 锅贴	Bak Kwa (Chinese Pork Jerky) 自制肉干	Stuffed Fried Tofu 炸豆腐
ENTRÉES
Steamed Spare Ribs with Black Bean Sauce 豆豉蒸排骨	Steamed Herbal Chicken 药材鸡	Lemon Chicken 柠檬鸡
Homemade Fish Balls 自制鱼丸	Malay Spiced Fried Chicken 马来香料炸鸡	Steamed Pompano 清蒸鲳参鱼
Crispy Roast Pork 脆皮烧肉	Char Siu (Non Roast) 免烤叉烧	Kung Pao Chicken 宫保鸡丁
Red Fermented Bean Curd Fried Chicken 南乳炸鸡	Cantaloupe Seafood Bowl 哈密瓜海鲜盅	Kam Heong Lala 甘香啦啦
Spicy Assam Fish 亚参鱼
SIDE DISHES
Crispy Fried Anchovies 酥炸江鱼仔	Crispy Fried Shallots 酥炸葱头仔	Napa Cabbage Kimchi 大白菜泡菜
RICE + CONGEE
Nasi Lemak (Fragrant Coconut Rice) 椰浆饭	Century Egg And Meat Congee 皮蛋瘦肉粥	Lamma Island Fried Rice 南丫岛炒饭
NOODLES
Wonton Noodles / Kon Lo Mein 云吞面 / 干捞面	Assam Laksa 亚参叻沙	Bitter Gourd Rice Vermicelli 苦瓜米粉
Char Kway Teow 炒粿条	Chee Cheong Fun 猪肠粉	Anchovy Flat Noodle Soup 面粉粿
SOUPS & STEWS
Lotus Root N Chicken Feet Soup 莲藕凤爪汤	Loofah N Dried Mussels Soup 胜瓜淡菜汤	Daikon Radish Soup 白萝卜汤
Watercress Soup 西洋菜汤	Wonton Soup 云吞汤	Papaya N Pork Ribs Soup 木瓜排骨汤
American Ginseng And Chicken Soup 花旗参炖鸡汤	Bak Kut Teh 肉骨茶
CONDIMENTS
Sambal Nasi Lemak 椰浆饭参峇	Sambal Base 基本参峇酱	How To Prepare Tamarind Paste 如何准备罗望子浓酱
Hainainese Chicken Rice Chili Sauce 海南鸡饭辣椒酱	Homemade Hae Ko 自制虾膏	Homemade Sweet Sauce 自制甜酱
DIM SUM / KUEH
Steamed Yam Cake 芋头糕	Chilled Mooncake 冰皮月饼	Dim Sum - Siu Mai 点心——烧卖
Bak Chang 咸肉粽	Puteri Ayu 香兰公主小蛋糕	Temosa (Fish Puffs) 椰丝鱼角

ENTRÉES
Apple-Peach Roasted Chicken 苹果桃烤鸡	Meatballs 肉丸
SIDE DISHES
Brussels Sprouts Stir Fry 煸炒芽甘蓝	Mashed Potatoes & Gravy 肉汁土豆泥	Potato Mixed Salad 马铃薯混杂沙拉
SOUPS & STEWS
Lentil & Vegetable Soup 小扁豆蔬菜汤	Cream of Broccoli Soup 西兰花浓汤	Homemade Chicken Broth 自制鸡汤
Cream of Mushroom Soup 蘑菇浓汤

USEFUL TIPS
Stages of Stiffness In Beating Egg Whites 蛋白打发
BEVERAGES + ICE CREAM + PUDDINGS
Red Bean Ice Bars 红豆冰棒
CAKES
Purple Yam Swiss Roll 紫薯瑞士卷
CREAMS + FILLINGS
Strawberry Sauce 草莓酱	Lotus Seed Paste 莲蓉馅	Cream Cheese Lotus Seed Paste 芝士莲蓉馅
Black Bean Paste 黑豆沙馅	Sweet Potato Paste 番薯馅

Peanut Cookies
花生饼

Knotted Nori Crisps
酥脆海苔结

Panda Bento
熊猫弁当

Office Guy Bento
办公男弁当

Peanut Cookies

2012-01-20T08:39:00.005+08:00

Recipe: Peanut Cookies花生饼

Yields: 1½ to 2 small jars

Ingredients

300g raw blanched peanuts
180g margarine
130g icing sugar/powdered sugar (sifted)
¼ tsp. + 1/8 tsp. salt
5g milk powder *optional
200g all-purpose flour (sifted)

Egg Wash

1 egg yolk
1 TBSP water

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Place raw peanuts on a baking pan (do not layer) and bake at 300^oF / 155^oC preheated oven for about 20 minutes. Remove roasted peanuts from the oven. Allow peanuts to cool completely before proceed to the next step.	2. Measure 200g roasted peanuts in a ziploc bag and keep the remaining for decoration later.	3. Finely crush the 200g roasted peanuts in ziploc bag with a rolling pin or finely ground using a food processor.
4. Place margarine, sifted icing sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl.	5. Beat margarine, icing sugar, and salt in step 4 until light and creamy, at highest speed, about 5 minutes.	6. Add milk powder and pulse until incorporated.
7. Add ground peanut and mix until incorporated.	8. Gradually stir in sifted all-purpose flour with a spatula until crumbs resembled.	9. Combine everything in the mixing bowl with hand, until you get a smooth and non-sticky dough.
10. Lightly grease baking pans with a bit of margarine. Whisk and combine egg yolk and 1 TBSP water in a small bowl for egg wash. Preheat oven to 325^oF /165^oC .	11. Scoop about 1½ tsp. dough for each cookie and arrange them in a baking pan.	12. Roll each part of the measured dough in step 11 into a ball and put them back on the pan. Space about 0.75 inches between each cookie.
13. Brush each ball with egg wash.	14. Press and top each cookie ball with a halved peanut. Bake cookies at 325^oF / 165^oC preheated oven, for about 20 minutes until golden brown.	15. Allow cookies to cool completely before storing in air tight container.

Note

Leave at least 0.75 inches space in between each cookie for them to rise as they bake.

Knotted Nori Crisps

2012-01-10T07:30:00.005+08:00

Recipe: Knotted Nori Crisps酥脆海苔结

Yields: 330g

Ingredients

10 pcs nori sheets
20 pcs 8-inch x 8-inch spring roll wrappers
1 large egg
enough oil for deep frying

Seasonings (*optional)

¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Whisk egg and seasonings until incorporated.	2. Brush egg wash all over on one side of a piece of spring roll wrapper.	3. Place a piece of nori sheet on top of the brushed wrapper in step 2. Press to adhere.
4. Brush egg wash all over on one side of a new piece of wrapper. Then, press to adhere to the nori sheet in step 3.	5. Store adhered nori sheets in a sealable plastic bag or in a container to avoid drying while working with the rest. Repeat steps 2 to 4 for the remaining wrappers and nori sheets.	6. Cut adhered nori sheets into approximately 4.5cm x 1cm strips with kitchen scissors.
7. Grab one strip and fold it in half cross-wise. Then, make a 0.5cm cut on center of the fold.	8. When open up the fold in step 7, you will get a 1cm hole.	9. Hold one side of the strip on one hand, then pass another end of the strip through the hole.
10. Pull out the strip end from the hole in step 9 from wrong side.	11. One knot is completed.	12. When you are done with the knots, heat up oil in a small pot.
13. When oil is hot enough, deep dry nori knots in batches over medium heat until golden brown.	14. Drain fried knotted nori on paper towels. Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Note

If you do not wish to make knots, you can stop after step 6 and bring nori strips to deep fry right away.

You can store nori knots in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and deep fry them the next day.

Save some oil by using a small pot instead of a big deep fryer, if you do not have a lot to deep fry.

Apple-Peach Roasted Chicken

2012-01-07T08:11:00.003+08:00

Recipe: Apple-Peach Roasted Chicken苹果桃烤鸡

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1 cornish game hen / chicken, 500g
¼ lemon
½ cup apple juice

Ingredients A

1 yellow onion (cut into chunks)
2 garlic heads
1 Gala / Honey Crisp apple (peeled or unpeeled; sliced)
1 can sliced peach in syrup (medium or large; drained)
1 to 2 TBSP olive oil
pinch of salt
pinch of ground black pepper
pinch of dried oregano
pinch of fresh thyme leaves

Ingredients B

3/4 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. to ½ tsp. ground black pepper
½ tsp. dried oregano
1 to 2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves

Ingredients C

2 TBSP butter (thinly sliced)
1 small slice of lemon

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 400^oF. Chop off about 1/2-inch of the bottoms (root end) of garlic heads and discard. Break garlic heads into halves or quarters.	2. Lightly grease a 9"x9"x2" baking pan with olive oil. Mix all ingredients A in greased pan until incorporated.	3. Thinly slice butter and set aside.
4. Clean chicken. Pat dry chicken inside out with paper towel.	5. Put chicken onto the baking pan in step 2. Rub chicken all over with a bit of olive oil. Then, rub ingredients B one by one, from inside out, all over the chicken.	6. Arrange butter slices on top of the chicken. Squeeze lemon juice over chicken and ingredients in the pan. Then, place chicken in pan into preheated oven and roast/bake at 420^oF for 35 minutes.
7. Add apple juice into the baking pan. Discard any excess oil from the pan before adding juice.	8. Turn chicken upside down with a tong. Then continue to roast chicken at 400^oF for another 30 minutes, or until chicken is nicely browned and cooked. Thermometer should register at about 350^oF. Turn off the heat when done.	9. Immediately, pour all gravy into a bowl. Then, return chicken into the pan and pop it back into the hot oven. Season gravy with salt to taste if necessary. Allow chicken to sit in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
10. Place chicken on a serving platter. Garnish with fresh fruits or/and vegetables. Carve chicken before serving or leave to carve while serving. Serve chicken warm with gravy.

Notes

If you have a bigger chicken, gradually reduce heat to 350^oF or 300^oF and continue to roast until chicken is cooked after the first hour of roasting.

Roasting time varies depending on the size of chicken and oven temperature.

To thicken gravy, gradually heat gravy in a pan over medium heat, stir in ½ TBSP to 1 TBSP flour, keep whisking until gravy comes to a boil and no visible powder.

Meatballs

2012-01-07T05:23:00.002+08:00

Recipe: Meatballs肉丸

Yields:16 - 18 balls

Ingredients

250g ground pork / chicken / turkey
1 large egg
¼ cup to ½ cup breadcrumbs
some tapioca / corn starch or all-purpose flour for dusting
enough oil for deep frying

Seasonings

½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried parsley flakes
¼ tsp. dried oregano
1/8 tsp. dried thyme
1/8 tsp. paprika

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Combine all seasoning ingredinets with ground meat in a mixing bowl. Mix until incorporate.	2. Break an egg into the mixture in step 1. Mix well.	3. Add breadcrumbs into meat mixture in step 2.
4. Use hands to mix breadcrumbs and meat mixture until well incorporated. Use this mixture immediately or cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for up to 1 day.	5. Shape meat mixture into balls. About one TBSP size.	6. Roll each meatball on flour. Then, dust off any excess flour.
7. Arrange meatballs on a plate. Heat up oil in deep fryer. When oil is hot enough, deep fry meatballs until golden brown or cooked. Then, drain on paper towels.	8. Serve meatballs with any sauce you like or serve them with spaghetti.

Notes

It is not necessary to deep fry meatballs. You can bake them in pre-heated oven at 400^oF for 20 minutes until cooked through or cook them in suace.

Panda Bento

2012-01-06T07:34:00.003+08:00

Recipe: Panda Bento熊猫弁当

Ingredients

Panda Onigiri

cooked white long grain or short grain rice (warm / hot)
nori sheet
red part of immitation crabstick (blush)
a little bit of honey

In the lunch box

homemade meat balls with ketchup
checkered cucumber
stir-fry lotus root
omelette wrapped cooked white rice (long grain)
hot dog flowers

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Panda Onigiri Preparation
1. Scoop some rice on a piece of cling wrap. Keep twisting the opening of cling wrap to compress rice tightly into a ball. Open up cling wrap and carefully flatten rice to an oblong with the help of another piece of cling wrap to prevent sticking. Then, carefully place the shaped rice onto a piece of nori sheet.	2. Trim off excess nori sheet from step 1.	3. Place used or new piece of cling wrap on the shaped rice to lightly compress any loosen rice.
4. Cut out all the features of your desired panda from nori sheet.	5. Stick the features on panda onigiri while the rice ball is still warm.	6. Cut out a pair of blush from the red part of immitation crabstick with a straw.
7. Glue the blush in position with some honey and your panda onigiri is completed.

Steamed Spare Ribs with Black Bean Sauce

2012-01-05T05:10:00.003+08:00

Recipe: Steamed Spare Ribs with Black Bean Sauce豆豉蒸排骨

Serves: 2

Ingredients

300g pork spare ribs

Ingredients A

1½ tsp. grated garlic
1 tsp. grated ginger
1 stalk spring onion (white part)
1 bird's eye chili (sliced diagonally; reduce or add more chilies to adjust spiciness)

Ingredients B

1 stalk spring onion (green part)
1 bird's eye chili (julienned or slice diagonally)

Marinade

1 tsp. sesame oil
2 tsp. ShaoXing wine
1 tsp. light soy sauce
1½ tsp. black bean sauce
½ tsp. sugar
1 tsp. oyster sauce
½ tsp. tapioca starch / corn starch

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Grate ginger and garlic. Mince or finely chop them if you do not have a grater.	2. Chop spring onion into approximately ½-inch sections or shorter (divided into white part & green part). Slice 1 chili diagonally, and julienne another one.	3. Clean spare ribs. Remove any excess fat. Cut ribs into serving size. Then, put them into a medium mixing bowl.
4. Mix ribs with the marinde until incorporate.	5. Combine all ingredients A into ribs mixture in step 4.	6. Cover ribs and let marinate for at least 30 minutes.
7. Heat up steamer over high heat until steamy hot. Place ribs into steamer and steam over high heat for 12 to 20 minutes, or until ribs are cooked.	8. Transfer cooked ribs into a serving bowl or plate if necessary. Garnish with ingredients B.	9. Serve steamed spare ribs hot with rice.

Notes

Store ribs in refrigerator if marinate more than 30 minutes.

Ribs can be marinated overnight in refrigerator.

Brussels Sprouts Stir Fry

2011-12-08T08:11:00.002+08:00

Recipe: Brussels Sprouts Stir Fry煸炒芽甘蓝

Serves: 2

Ingredients

2 pcs. thinly sliced bacon
2 clove garlic (minced)
olive oil
200g - 300g trimmed brussels sprouts, halved
1½ to 2½ TBSP water
salt and black pepper to taste
½ to 1 TBSP grated parmesan cheese

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Clean and halve brussels sprouts.	2. Cut bacon into serving size.	3. Heat up skillet. Cook bacon over medium high heat until bacon turns golden brown and crisp. Remove the bacon and leave bacon grease in the skillet.
4. Drain bacon on paper towel.	5. Add minced garlic to skillet. Saute for about 1 minute over medium heat until golden brown.	6. Add brussels sprouts and stir fry for 1 to 2 minutes over high heat until lightly browned.
7. Season brussels sprouts with salt and pepper to taste.	8. Drizzle about 1½ TBSP water over the brussels sprouts.	9. Cover skillet with lid. Cook brussels sprouts over high heat for about 1½ minutes or until water vaporized. Turn off the heat. Transfer brussels sprouts to a serving plate.
10. Top brussels sprouts with bacons crisps and grated parmesan cheese before serving.

Mashed Potatoes & Gravy

2011-12-06T16:47:00.002+08:00

Recipe: Mashed Potatoes & Gravy肉汁土豆泥

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1 clove garlic (minced) * optional
1 TBSP butter
450g - 550g / 1 to 2 potatoes
chicken broth or beef broth
salt
pepper
1 to 3 TBSP fresh milk

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Mince garlic. Cut potatoes into small cubes.	2. Melt butter in a small stockpot over medium-low heat.	3. Saute garlic in melted butter until golden brown over medium heat.
4. Add potatoes. Saute for about 1 minute.	5. Add enough chicken broth to cover the potatoes by at least ½cm to 1½cm. Bring to a boil over high heat.	6. Reduce heat to medium. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Cover with lid. Let cook for about 15 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender. Turn off the heat.	8. Spoon potatoes into a bowl, leaving broth in stockpot.	9. Gradually add milk to potatoes in the bowl. Mash potatoes with a metal spoon or fork until smooth.
10. Stir in some mashed potatoes into the broth in stockpot to use as gravy. Re-heat gravy over medium-low heat if necessary. Serve mashed potatoes with gravy.

Lentil & Vegetable Soup

2011-12-01T07:00:00.002+08:00

Recipe: Lentil & Vegetable Soup小扁豆蔬菜汤

Serves: 2 - 3

Ingredients

Ingredients A

½ cup green lentil
½ TBSP olive oil
100g / ¼ yellow onion (finely chopped or diced)
250g tomatoes (diced)
35g / 1 stalk celery (thinly sliced)
100g / 1 carrot (thinly sliced)
1 bay leave
150g / 1 zucchini (thinly sliced)
60g / ½ cup long bean or french beans (cut into 2" sections)

Ingredients B

1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. dried oregano

Ingredients C

2 TBSP tomato paste
2½ cup vegetable stock

Seasonings

salt
pepper

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Soak lentils in cold water for 2 to 4 hours then rinse and drain well.	2. Thinly slice celery, carrot and zucchini. Chop onion, cut beans into 2-inch sections and dice tomatoes.	3. Pour vegetable broth into a large bowl. Stir tomato paste into vegetable broth. Combine well and set aside.
4. Heat the oil in a medium stock pot. Saute onion over medium heat until tender, about 3 minutes.	5. Stir in ingredients B (paprika & oregano) and saute for another minute.	6. Add lentils and broth mixture C. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes, uncovered.
7. Add celery, carrot, and bay leave. Bring to boil again.	8. Then reduce heat to low, and simmer, covered, for 40 minutes until soup has thickened.	9. Add beans, covered, continue simmer for 5 minutes.
10. Add zucchini, covered, continue simmer for 10-12 minutes, until vegetables are tender.	11. Remove bay leave from soup. Season soup with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot with crusty bread.

Yaki-Gyoza / Potstickers

2011-11-17T17:03:00.010+08:00

Recipe: Yaki-Gyoza / Potstickers焼き餃子 / 锅贴

Yields: 20 pcs

Ingredients

Gyoza Wrappers

125g wheat flour & additional for dusting
50ml lukewarm water + 30ml water
pinch of salt

Dipping Sauce

4 TBSP light soy sauce
2 TBSP rice vinegar

Filling

180g ground pork
¼ cup finely chopped sweet onion
¼ cup finely chopped carrot
1 clove garlic; minced
¾ tsp. sesame oil
1 TBSP rice vinegar (sushi rice vinegar)
1½ TBSP light soy sauce
½ TBSP water
1 tsp. corn starch

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Gyoza Wrappers
1. Put flour and salt in a mixing bowl or a deep dish.	2. Stir in 50ml lukewarm water. Then, gradually stir in remaining water. Mix mixture with a metal spoon until mixture resembles coarse meal.	3. Knead dough with hand until you get a smooth. Cover dough with damp tea towel and let rest for 15 minutes.
4. Using a rolling pin, roll dough into about 0.01cm thick sheet.	5. With a 3-inch round cookie cutter, makes about 20 rounds.	6. Combine all the remnants and repeat rolling and cutting into rounds process.
7. Cover gyoza wrappers with cling wrap until ready to use.
Preparation
1. Mix filling in a mixing bowl. Cover bowl with cling wrap and let filling marinate in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.	2. Pour some flour into a large clean baking pan. This pan will be used to put the wrapped gyoza later. Flour on the pan will prevent gyoza from sticking to the baking pan and helps to make the bottom of gyoza to be more crispy when cook later.	3. Place approximately 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of each wrapper.
4. Moisten the edge of a wrapper with a dab of water.	5. Fold wrapper in half over filling. Pinch to seal one end for about ½-inch. Then, start to pleat and fold.	6. Make 4 to 6 pleats at about ½-inch interval. Press and seal any opening.
7. A gyoza is wrapped.	8. Repeat steps 4 to 6 for the rest. Place wrapped gyoza on the floured baking pan.	9. Heat up 1 TBSP oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Arrange as many gyoza as you can in the skillet. Cook gyoza over medium high heat for about 1 minute, until bottoms lightly browned.
10. Add some water to the gyoza in skillet.	11. Water level is about one third of the height of gyoza.	12. Cover with lid and cook gyoza over medium high heat for 5 to 6 minutes, until water start to sizzle.
13. Remove lid when you start to hear the sizzling sound. Let gyoza cook until water vaporized.	14. Immediately drizzle ½ TBSP oil or sesame oil over the gaps and empty edges. Tilt skillet to spread oil to the bottoms of gyoza.	15. Cover and cook for 1 to 2 minutes until bottoms of gyoza turn brown. Turn off the heat. Remove gyoza from the skillet with spatula.
16. Arrange gyoza browned side up on a serving platter. Mix dipping sauce. Serve yaki-gyoza with dipping sauce.

Notes

Wheat flour can be substituted with all-purpose flour.

Gyoza wrappers are slightly thicker than wonton wrappers. However, you can use wonton wrappers as gyoza wrappers.

Get a package of gyoza wrappers or wonton wrappers from Asian store if you are lazy to DIY. Use a cookie cutter to cut wonton wrappers into rounds.

Steamed Herbal Chicken

2011-11-14T10:26:00.003+08:00

Recipe: Steamed Herbal Chicken药材鸡

Serves: 2 - 3

Ingredients

2 pcs chicken leg quarter (600g)
2 TBSP barbary wolfberry / goji berry (枸杞)

Ingedients A

4g dried pilose asiabell root (党参)
15g dried angelica sinensis slice (当归)
15g dried polygonthemum (玉竹)
4 red dates; halve or halve but do not cut through (红枣)
½ cup + ¼ cup water

Marinade

2 slices fresh ginger (thinly sliced)
1½ TBSP ShaoXing cooking wine
1/8 tsp. to ¼ tsp. sesame oil
¼ tsp. + 1/8 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. sugar
½ TBSP oyster sauce
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. tapioca starch or corn starch

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Rinse all herbs of ingredients A. Bring ingredients A to a boil in a small stockpot. Reduce heat to low and continue to simmer for 10 minutes. Heat off. Allow ingredients A to cool completely.	2. Clean chicken. Cut chicken into serving pieces and put them in a mixing bowl.	3. Add the marinade to chicken.
4. Mix the marinade evenly and "massage" the chicken with hand.	5. Add goji berries and the pre-boiled ingredients A to chicken. Mix evenly. Cover mixing bowl with aluminium foil and let chicken marinate in refrigerator for about 30 minutes.	6. Take chicken out from the refrigerator. Roughly toss chicken in mixing bowl. Then, transfer chicken together with its maride to a microwavable deep serving plate.
7. Cover plate with aluminium foil. Alternatively, you can wrap chicken in aluminium foil, then put the wrapped chicken on a microwavable plate.	8. Heat up steamer. Steam chicken over high heat for 30 minutes until chicken is cooked. Serve hot.

Notes

You can leave ingredients A to marinate chicken together with the marinade if you don't want to pre-boil them. Wrap ingredients with aluminium foil and let them marinate for at least 1 hour.

Lemon Chicken

2011-11-03T07:13:00.000+08:00

Recipe: Lemon Chicken柠檬鸡

Serves: 2 - 4

Ingredients

350g boneless chicken
oil for deep-frying

Marinade

1/8 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. ground white pepper
¼ tsp. lemon juice * optional
1 tsp. light soy sauce
1 tsp. rice wine or ShaoXing wine
2 tsp. corn starch or tapioca starch
4 pcs thinly sliced fresh ginger
white part of 1 stalk of spring onion (cut into 1-inch sections)

COATING OPTION 1
Coating Batter (Prepare 2 - 3 hours ahead)

¼ cup + 2 TBSP all purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. white pepper
¼ tsp. onion powder * optional
¼ tsp. garlic powder * optional
¼ cup to ½ cup water
1 tsp. vegetable oil

COATING OPTION 2
Coating Flour Mix

¼ cup all purpose flour
2 TBSP corn starch or tapioca starch
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. white pepper

Gravy

180ml water or chicken stock
3 pcs thinly sliced fresh ginger
¼ tsp. + 1/8 tsp. salt
2 TBSP castor sugar
½ TBSP brown sugar
½ tsp. chicken bouillon granules * Ignore if chicken stock is used
1 tsp. distilled white vinegar
60ml fresh lemon juice

Gravy Thickening

2½ tsp. corn starch or tapioca starch
2½ tsp. water

Garnishes

cucumber slices
lemon slices

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Prepare coating batter 2 to 3 hours ahead, if using. Thick but not too slow moving batter when pour a tablespoonful of batter back into the bowl.	2. Clean chicken. Slide a sharp knife from one of the side edges of a piece of chicken and cut chicken into half if chicken is too thick. Cut the pieces of the chicken breast into smaller cutlets.	3. Marinate chicken with the marinade for at least 30 minutes.
4. Coating option 1 method: Heat up oil for deep frying. Coat a fews pieces of chicken at a time into prepared batter. Then, drop coated chicken into the hot oil.	5. Coating option 2 method: Toss to combine coating flour mix in a large bowl. Coat chicken piece by piece into the coating flour mix. Dust to remove any excess flour. Place coated chicken on a clean and dry plate. When finish coating, heat up oil for deep frying. Drop coated chicken into the hot oil in batches.	6. Reduce heat to medium or medium-low after 1 minute of deep-drying over high heat. Continue to deep-dry until chicken pieces turn golden brown and cooked. Drain fried chicken pieces on paper towels.
7. Cut each piece of chickecn into strips. Arrange chicken and the garnishes on a serving platter.	8. Add all gravy ingredients except vinegar and lemon juice into a small stockpot. Cook mixture over medium heat until sugar dissolved.	9. Reduce heat to low. Stir in vinegar and lemon juice.
10. Discard ginger slices from gravy.	11. Combine gravy thickening ingredients in a small bowl. Gradually stir in gravy thickening into gravy until it reaches your desired consistenvy. You might need to use only half of the gravy thickening. Turn off the heat.	12. Pour gravy over the chicken.
13. Serve hot with rice.

Notes

Cutting chicken breasts into smaller cutlets helps to cook chicken faster.

Avoid overlapping chicken pieces when deep-frying.

Brown sugar adds a little color to the gravy. You can use granulated sugar instead of brown sugar.

Lotus Root N Chicken Feet Soup

2011-11-03T04:16:00.004+08:00

Recipe: Lotus Root N Chicken Feet Soup莲藕凤爪汤

Serves: 2 - 3

Ingredients

1000ml water
150g chicken feet
100g pork bones or chicken bones
200g lotus root (peeled & sliced)
1 to 2 dried red dates (washed & halved)
1 TBSP dried mussels
salt to taste

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Wash and drain all ingredients. Halve red dates. Cut lotus root into about 1cm thick slices, then rinse lotus root slices with water. Chop off the claw tips from chicken feet.	2. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the bones and chicken feet to boiling water and boil for 3 minutes. Drain feet and bones with a strainer then rinse with cold water and set aside.	3. Fill stockpot with 1000ml water and bring to a boil. Add red date and lotus root to boiling water. Reduce heat to low when it comes to a boil again.
4. Loosely cover stockpot with lid, continue to simmer lotus root for 30 minutes over low heat.	5. Add the bones, chicken feet, and dried mussels to stockpot. Cover with lid, and continue to cook for 2 - 3 hours over low heat.	6. Skim off any scum or froth appears on the surface with a spoon. Season soup with salt to taste. Serve hot.

Office Guy Bento

2011-11-01T13:27:00.006+08:00

Recipe: Office Guy Bento办公男弁当

Ingredients

red fermented bean curd fried chicken
tomato slices
blanched broccoli
potato mixed salad
cooked white rice or sushi rice
nori sheet
yellow turmeric rice (long grain rice + water + turmeric powder + pandan leaves)
red part of immitation crabstick (blush)
1/8 tsp. honey

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Sketch the look and features (hair, eyes, mouth etc) of office guy on a piece of paper. Stack a piece of nori sheet below the sketch, then cut out the sketch together with nori sheet. Size of the head on my sketch is the exact size of cookie cutter in step 3.	2. Cook turmeric rice using normal rice cooking method.	3. Place a round cookie cutter on a piece of nori sheet. Nori sheet should be able to cover the side edge of the hair area and also able to cover bottom side of the whole head.
4. Scoope white rice into the cookie cutter and press with a metal spoon while rice is still hot. The depth is about 1-inch.	5. Gently remove cookie cutter. Cover the top of white rice with a piece of cling wrap. Then, shape the top edges into rounded corner. Remove cling wrap and set aside.	6. Place the hair piece on office guy. Press to stick on rice.
7. Next, place eyes, glasses, and mouth in position, then press to stick.	8. Seal the side edges of hair area with nori. Then, cut off any excess nori. Cover head with the cling wrap used in step 5.	9. Move on to the body part. Repeat step 3 and 4 for body part. Then, wrap rice with a piece of cling wrap and shape rice into body shape as shown in the photo. Cut out a neck tie from nori sheet then stick tie to the correct position.
10. Cut out a pair of blush from the red part of immitation crabstick by using a straw.	11. Stick body and head together while rice is still warm. Then, glue the blush to the correct position using honey. Office guy onigiri is ready.	12. Cover half of a square container with some yellow turmeric rice.
13. Transfer office guy onigiri to place on top of turmeric rice very carefully. Then, add blached broccoli and silicone baking cups to cover the empty side, leaving some space for the red fermented bean curd fried chicken.	14. Place tomato slices as divider in the center. Fill the silicone cups with potato mixed salad.	15. Cut red fermented bean curd fried chicken into strips.
16. Finally, place chicken to the reserved space. Office guy bento is completed.

Potato Mixed Salad

2011-11-01T08:28:00.004+08:00

Recipe: Potato Mixed Salad马铃薯混杂沙拉

Serves: 2 - 3

Ingredients

1 russet potato (peeled & cut into cubes, about 2/3 two third cup)
1 to 2 immitation crabstick, shredded
¼ cup red bell pepper chunks (small chunks)
¼ cup penne pasta

Seasonings

salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
1½ TBSP to 3 TBSP mayonaise
lemon juice to taste

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add potato and a pinch of salt to the boiling water. Bring to a boil again. Reduce heat to medium low. Loosely covered with lid, cook until potato is fork tender, about 15 minutes. Fish out potato and place in a bowl. Discard water in the pot.	2. Fill pot in step 1 with water then bring to a boil. Add a pinch of salt and penne pasta to the boiling water. Cook pasta until al dente as instructed on the back of the package. Drain and set aside.	3. Mash one third of the cooked potato together with mayonaise.
4. Add the remaining cooked potato to the mixing bowl in step 3. Add salt, black pepper and lemon juice to taste. Toss to combine.	5. Add red bell pepper chunks, cooked penne pasta, and shredded crabstick into potato salad. Toss to combine. Adjust taste with mayonaise and extra seasonings if needed.	6. Serve potato mixed salad right away or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Loofah N Dried Mussels Soup

2011-10-26T05:33:00.002+08:00

Recipe: Loofah N Dried Mussels Soup胜瓜淡菜汤

Serves: 2

Ingredients

250g pork spare ribs or chicken
280g loofah (peeled)
¼ cup dried mussels
750ml water
salt to taste
1 century egg (sliced)

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Rinse dried mussels. Peel loofah and cut into chunks.	2. Blanch spare ribs in a small pot of boiling water for about 30 seconds. Discard water in the pot. Set aside spare ribs.	3. Bring 750ml water to a boil in a stockpot or claypot. Add spare ribs and dried mussels, let bring to a boil again over high heat. Then, reduce heat to low, cover with lid, simmer for 1 hour.
4. Add loofah and continue to simmer with lid on for another 20 minutes, or until loofah is tender.	5. Season soup with salt to taste.	6. Crack open century egg and slice with a knife.
7. Add century egg to soup, cover with lid and cook for 3 - 5 minutes over medium heat. Soup is ready to serve.

Daikon Radish Soup

2011-10-25T07:30:00.005+08:00

Recipe: Daikon Radish Soup白萝卜汤

Serves: 2 - 3

Fennel seeds and black peppercorns give this simple daikon radish soup a unique flavor. Its aroma reminds me of my grandpa. He used to cook daikon radish soup with beef for us during rainy monsoon in year end, not always but once in a while, a similar taste to this recipe but I don't know if the ingredients he used are just this simple. We never get the chance to taste this soup after he passed away. May be my dad knows what are the ingredients, but I never ask him.

Ingredients

160g chicken bones (chicken, beef, pork, or mixed; I used chicken feet)
100g boneless pork or beef
230g daikon radish (peeled)
50g or ¼ to ½ of a sweet onion
1000ml water
¼ tsp. + 1/8 tsp. salt or to taste

Bouquet Garni

35 whole black peppercorns
¼ tsp. fennel seeds（小茴香）

Garnish

chopped spring onion
8 sprigs fresh cilantro leaves

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Roughly crush peppercorns with the side of a knife. Put crushed peppercorns and fennel seeds into a tea / cofee filter bag. Set aside bouquet garni.	2. Peel daikon radish. Cut daikon radish into big chunks; straigh cut at one side and diagonal cut on the other side. Cut sweet onion into big chunks.	3. Prepare a big chunk of meat. Slice meat when soup is cooked later.
4. Blanch meat in a pot of boiling water for about 30 seconds, until it changes color.	5. Wash and rinse bones. Put bones and 1000ml water in a medium stockpot. Bring to a boil over high heat. Skim off any scum or froth appears on the surface with a spoon.	6. Add blanched meat, bouquet garni, and sweet onion into stockpot. Bring to a boil again over high heat.
7. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes with lid on.	8. Add daikon radish and continue to cook for 2 hours 30 minutes over low heat, with lid on.	9. Season soup with salt to taste. Let simmer for 3 - 5 minutes over low heat. Then, turn off the heat.
10. Remove cilantro leaves from stem, discard stem. Chop spring onion. Fish out meat from soup and slice.	11. Put meat slices into serving bowl. Ladle soup into the bowl and garnish with chopped spring onion and cilantro leaves. Serve hot.

Homemade Fish Balls

2011-10-25T01:25:00.002+08:00

Recipe: Homemade Fish Balls自制鱼丸

Yields: 18 - 20 regular size fish balls (about 1 TBSP each)

Fish balls can be made using different kinds of fish such as spanish mackerel, milk fish, salmon, yellowtail etc. I am using parrot fish in this recipe and the fish balls are super bouncy.

Ingredients

Ingredients A

330g fish flesh (I used parrot fish)
1½ tsp. salt
3 ice cubes (about 45g)
¼ cup + 2 TBSP water

Ingredients B

1½ tsp. pepper
1 tsp. vegetable oil
2 TBSP water (add gradually if fish paste is too sticky)

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
How To Scrape Off Fish Flesh From A Fish
1. Clean fish. Scale and gut fish. Place a sharp knife behind the pectoral fin, make a diagonal downward cut to chop off fish head. Run knife along fish backbone from head end, cut as close to the backbone as possible to fillet fish.	2. Repeat step 1 on the revert side of fish.	3. Using a metal spoon, scrape meat off from fish bone.
4. Then, scrape meat off from the skin. Place a knife horizontally in the center of the skin to avoid from sliding.
Fish Ball Making
1. Blend fish flesh, ice cubes and water (¼ cup + 2 TBSP) into fish paste in a food processor, about 3 minutes.	2. Add salt and blend for another 2 minutes.	3. Put fish paste in a medium bowl. Add pepper and oil. Using a pair of chopsticks, stir mixture in one direction until incorporated. Gradually add some water if fish paste is too sticky, combine well before each addition.
4. Knead fish paste with hand for about 1 minute.	5. With one hand holding the bowl and one hand grabbing the paste, lift paste about 12-inch high and throw it back into the bowl. Repeat throwing for about 80 times.	6. Fish paste should be smooth and a little glossy when ready.
7. Shape two very small fish balls and put them into a big bowl of cold tape water. If the fish balls float on the surface within a minute, that means the fish paste is ready. Else continue throwing fish paste for a few more minutes.	8. Prepare a medium stockpot, fill with water about two third full. You will be using this stockpot and water inside to cook fish balls after shaping. Now, moisten your palm with some water. Grab a handful of fish paste in your palm.	9. Moisten a metal spoon with water. Smooth paste in your palm using the moistened spoon.
10. You can start squeezing as soon as the fish paste in your palm is smooth and glossy.	11. Squeeze fish ball out through the space between your thumb and index finger.	12. A closeup view of how the fish paste look like when I half-way squeezing it in my palm.
13. Spoon fish ball with a moistened spoon and drop it into the prepared stockpot. Continue shaping with the remaining fish paste.	14. As soon as you finish shaping, cook fish balls in the prepared stockpot over medium heat.	15. When the fish balls start floating on the surface, reduce heat to low and continue simmer for another 5 to 8 minutes. Turn off the heat and fish out the fish balls.
16. Fish balls are ready. You can serve fish balls with noodle soup, or cook as a dish with sauce.

Notes

Always choose fresh fish to make fish balls.

Fish head, fish bone, and fish skin can be used to prepare fish stock.

Fish balls can be stored in refrigerator in an air tight container for up to 3 days.

The purpose of throwing fish paste is to enhance its elasticity and bounciness.

Red Bean Ice Bars

2011-10-20T14:31:00.003+08:00

Recipe: Red Bean Ice Bars红豆冰棒

Yields: 18 - 19 bars

Ingredients

1 cup dry red beans
4 cups water
1 - 2 pandan leaves (tie into a knot) *optional
100g to 150g castor sugar
100g coconut milk powder
100ml whipping cream
3 TBSP corn starch

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Wash and drain red beans. Soak red beans in water for 4 hours. Bring 4 cups of water, soaked red beans, and pandan leaves to a boil in a stockpot. Reduce heat to low, cover with lid and continue to simmer until red beans are tender, about 45 minutes.	2. Fish out red beans and put them in a bowl. Leave 400ml red bean soup in stockpot. Add water if soup is not enough.	3. Add coconut milk powder to stockpot. Whisk mixture until there is no visible powder.
4. Add sugar. Cook mixture over medium low heat until sugar dissolves.	5. Add about 420g cooked red beans back to the mixture.	6. Ladle ¼ cup mixture from stockpot into a large measuring cup. Add corn starch to cup, stir until incorporated.
7. Reduce heat to low. Stir in corn starch mixture to the mixture in stockpot. Keep stirring for about 30 seconds. Then, turn off the heat.	8. Let red bean mixture to cool for 10 minutes before adding whipping cream.	9. Allow red bean mixture to cool completely. Pour red bean mixture into ice bar molds then pop into freezer. Ice bars should be ready after 8 hours in freezer.

Notes

Red bean mixture needs to be sweet so that ice bars will not turn out tasteless.

Nasi Lemak

2011-10-19T16:47:00.010+08:00

Recipe: Nasi Lemak (Fragrant Coconut Rice)椰浆饭

Serves: 4 - 5

Ingredients

Coconut Rice

420g rice (about 2 cups)
250ml coconut milk
230ml water
2 pandan leaves (tie in knots or cut into 5-inch length pieces)
2 slices fresh ginger (about 0.5cm thick)
some red onion slices (about the amount of 2 onion rings) * optional
1 stalk lemongrass (crushed) * optional
¼ tsp. to ¾ tsp. salt or to taste

Condiment

1½ to 2 cups sambal nasi lemak

Side Ingredients

2 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
1 cucumber, sliced
½ cup anchovy crisps
½ cup unsalted roasted peanuts
4 - 5 pcs Malay spiced fried chicken * optional

For Wrapping

4 - 5 pcs banana leaves, 9.5-inch x 12-inch
4 - 5 pcs old newspapers or waxed papers, 18-inch x 7-inch

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
Nasi Lemak / Coconut Rice
1. Slice red onion and ginger. Wash pandan leaves and tie into a knot or cut them into smaller pieces.	2. Wash and drain rice. Repeat until water runs clear.	3. Put rice, lemongrass, pandan leaves, ginger, red onion, and salt into rice cooker.
4. Add coconut milk and water. Let rice soak in rice cooker for 30 minutes. Then, turn on the rice cooker.	5. When rice is cooked, break up any clumps and roughly separate the grains using a spatula. Let rice rest in rice cooker for at least 10 minutes, for the flavor to steep. After 10 minutes, discard pandan leaves, ginger, lemongrass, and red onion or leave them in the rice cooker until rice is ready to serve.	6. Slice cucumber. Quarter each hard-boiled eggs.
7. Serve coconut rice with sambal nasi lemak and the side ingredients.
How To Wrap Nasi Lemak
1. Wash banana leave. Pat dry with paper towels. Trim off any hard edges from the banana leaves. Cut banana leaves into appropriate sizes.	2. Fill a rice bowl with rice, about 80% - 90% full. Press rice with back of a spoon.	3. Turn the bowl of rice upside down onto a piece of prepared banana leave. Remove bowl, leaving rice on banana leave.
4. Put a slice of hard-boiled egg, Malay spiced fried chicken (boneless; cut), some anchovy crisps, and roasted peanuts on top of the rice.	5. Add cucumber.	6. Add sambal.
7. If rice is not at the center of banana leave, carefully push rice to the center with a knife.	8. Fold one of the short side edges close to the rice as indicated in the photo. With thumb and index finger pinching point 1 & 3 and point 2 & 4 respectively at edge 1 & 2, form a peak between point 3 & 4 at about two third position from edge 1 & 2 to 3 & 4. Point 1, 2, 3, 4, and the peak should look like a half-cone.	9. Now, make another fold at the other short side edge. Same folding as step 8. You will get a cone like wrap after this fold.
10. Fold paper 1-inch inward on both long side edges. Place the half-wrapped nasi lemak in step 9 on center of paper, short sides in parallel with the long sides of paper. Fold paper to cover about half of the "cone" at one side from the bottom, as shown in photo, start from the opposite side of step 9.	11. Now, fold paper on opposite side, same folding as step 10. Paper will basically cover banana leaf at bottom, leaving top (the peak on banana leaf) uncovered.	12. Lift the wrapped nasi lemak with one hand, fold short sides of paper downward. Turn wrapped nasi lemak bottomside up, tuck in the ends, then revert it to the right side.
13. One wrapping is done!

Notes

Use just waxed papers if you can't get to buy banana leaves at your place. You might need to cut papers into bigger sizes in that case.

For your convenience, prepare sambal nasi lemak ahead and store in refrigerator. Reheat sambal when you need it.

Sambal Nasi Lemak

2011-10-18T08:38:00.008+08:00

Recipe: Sambal Nasi Lemak椰浆饭参峇

Yield: 2 cups

Ingredients

1 TBSP peanut oil or vegetable oil
1 cup / 280g sambal base
½ red onion (sliced)
1 cup water
2 TBSP to 3 TBSP tamarind paste
1 stalk lemongrass, crushed & cut into 2.5-inch sections * optional

Seasonings

½ tsp. salt or to taste
2½ TBSP sugar or to taste
¼ cup anchovy crisps (blended into crumbs)

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Halve lemon grass and crush with a knife. Cut lemongrass into 2.5-inch sections.	2. Slice red onion.	3. Heat up 1 TBSP oil in a skillet. Saute red onion for 1 minutes. Add sambal base.
4. Add lemongrass and continue to saute over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes until you can smell the pungent aroma of sambal.	5. Add tamarind paste followed by water.	6. Add seasonings to taste. Cover with lid and cook sambal over medium-high heat until it comes to a boil. Continue to saute for 10 to 15 minutes or until sambal thicken to your desired consistency.

Notes

Anchovy crumbs helps to enhance the flavor of sambal. You can use whole anchovies instead.

Sambal Base

2011-10-18T07:04:00.009+08:00

Recipe: Sambal Base基本参峇酱

Yield: 3 cups / 780g

This sambal base is an unseasoned sambal tumis which can be used for making assorted finished sambal, stir-fry, curry and etc. I call it "base" because it is versatile. Making 3 cups of this sambal base at a time, it could have save me a lot of time for months.

Ingredients

250ml to 360ml peanut oil or vegetable oil

Spice Paste Ingredients

40g / 2½ cup de-seeded dried chilies
200g / 1¼ cup shallots (peeled and quartered)
50g / ¼ cup red onion
50g / ¼ cup garlic cloves (peeled & halved)
3½ to 4 TBSP toasted belacan powder

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Remove seeds from dried chilies.	2. Put chilies in a pot of water and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for another 15 minutes with lid on. Turn off the heat. Leave chilies to simmer for another 20 to 30 minutes.	3. Put chilies in a colander. Rinse chilies under running tap water. Drain and set aside.
4. Peel garlic cloves and halve in lengthwise. Remove any sprouts.	5. Peel shallots and quarter in lengthwise. Remove any sprouts.	6. Prepare 50g of red onion.
7. Put all the spice paste ingredients into a food processor. Blend or puree into a smooth paste.	8. Spice paste is ready.	9. Heat up oil in a skillet. Saute the spice paste over low heat until oil separates, about 30 minutes.
10. Leave sambal to cool completely. Put them in a clean and dry glass jar, then store in refrigerator. Use sambal base as desired.

Notes

I prefer to add tamarind paste and season with salt and sugar when I cook my dish because some dish like curry doesn't need tamarind. However, you can add tamarind paste to this sambal base and season it with salt and sugar after oil separated from sambal; saute for about 8 more minutes over medium heat.

When making sambal tumis, I usually add 2 to 3 TBSP tamarind paste to each cup of my sambal base.

How To Prepare Tamarind Paste

2011-10-18T06:43:00.002+08:00

Tips: How To Prepare Tamarind Paste如何准备罗望子浓酱

Yield: about ¼ cup

Ingredients

4 TBSP / 60g seedless tamarind
½ cup hot boiling water

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Cut off 4 TBSP of tamarind pulp from tamarind block. Put them in a bowl.	2. Add ½ cup of hot water to the tamarind pulp.	3. Press tamarind pulp with a metal spoon.
4. Leave tamarind pulp to soak in hot water until softened for 30 minutes.	5. Grab a handful of tamarind pulp and keep squeezing and squashing to separate them from seeds and fibers. Repeat process with the remaining pulp.	6. With the back of a metal spoon, press as much smooth pulp through a mesh strainer as possible, leaving behind the stringy fibers and seeds.
7. Tamarind paste is ready to use.

Notes

For tamarind liquid, add additional ½ cup of hot water to the left behind stringy tamarind fibers and seeds, press them with back of a spoon. Then, press them through a mesh strainer into the bowl with tamarind paste.

You can make more tamarind paste and keep them in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Purple Yam Swiss Roll

2011-10-13T06:56:00.002+08:00

Recipe: Purple Yam Swiss Roll紫薯瑞士卷

Yield: 1 roll (8-inch)

Ingredients

Tools needed

1 baking pan 11.5-inch x 8-inch
parchment paper / baking sheet
hand whisk
electric mixer

Batter

4 egg yolks (large eggs)
1½ TBSP castor sugar
3 TBSP vegetable oil
3 TBSP fresh milk
120g mashed purple yam
30g cake flour (non self-raising)

Egg Whites Ingredients

4 egg whites (large eggs)
3 TBSP castor sugar
1 tsp. distilled white vinegar or lemon juice

Filling

Swiss meringue buttercream
1 tsp. blueberry jam *optional

Related post: Stages of Stiffness In Beating Egg Whites
Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Peel purple yam. Cut yam into small cubes. Arrange yam in a plate and steam over hight heat for 30 minutes, or until fork tender.	2. Mash yam with a fork. Leave to cool.	3. Line a 11.5-inch x 8-inch baking pan with parchement paper or baking sheet. Measure the ingredients. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350^oF / 180^oC.
4. Prepare 2 large mixing bowls. Bring eggs out from refrigerator and separate the yolks and whites into the prepared bowls right away.	5. Remove any chalazae (the white stuff attached to the yolks) from yolks.	6. Add sugar to the yolks.
7. Whisk the yolks with a hand whisk.	8. Whisk until yolks turn creamy and color turns light and pale.	9. Add oil to the yolk mixture. Whisk to combine. Mixture should be glossy and creamy.
10. Add mashed yam into the yolk mixture. Whisk to combine until incorporated.	11. Stir in milk.	12. Sift flour to the yolk mixture. Mix to combine until incorporated.
13. Set aside the batter.	14. Let's move to the egg whites part. Whisk whites until foamy, about 10 seconds at highest speed.	15. Add half of the sugar to the foamy whites.
16. Continue to whisk at highest speed for about 1 minute, or until color of the foamy whites mixture turns white. Add the remaining sugar and vinegar / lemon juice.	17. Continue to beat whites mixture at medium speed for abour 1 plus minutes, or until you get soft peaks when beaters are lifted. Beat at low speed for another 20 to 30 seconds.	18. Using a spatula, put one third of the whites into the batter at step 13.
19. Gently cut and fold whites in "O" circular motions (from 1 to 2) as indicated in the photo. Start with cut (move spatula downward to the bottom of the batter), then begin to fold (gradually move spatula upward to the top) as you move half way to each "O". Repeat to cut and fold while turning the mixing bowl in either clock or clockwise direction until mixture is incorporated.	20. Add the remaining whites to the batter. Continue to cut and fold gently until mixture is incorporated.	21. Pour batter into a lined baking pan. Gently leveling batter by using spatula. Bake cake at 350^oF / 180^oC preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes.
22. Doneness Test: Insert a wooden toothpick in the center of the cake.	23. Doneness Test: Cake is done when toothpick comes out clean without any batter sticking on it. Crumbs are fine. Turn cake upside down onto a wire rack and leave cake to cool completely, about 30 minutes.	24. Remove parchment paper from the cake.
25. Combine Swiss meringue buttercream with blueberry jam using a spatula.	26. Spread buttercream over cake, leaving 0.5 to 1-inch border around the edges, leveling with a spatula. Cut a few scores vertically on one of the short sides, beware not to cut through the cake.	27. Cut a piece of baking sheet slightly larger than the size of the cake (with additional 3 to 4-inch on each side). Place cake on the baking sheet. Start rolling up the cake from the scored short side. Hold each side of the baking sheet with your hands, keep rolling the baking sheet gently to roll up the cake. Roll as tight as you can and be gentle not to crack the cake.
28. Twist both end of the baking sheet. You might secure the wrap by using cellophane tape. Keep swiss roll in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.	29. Take out swiss roll from the refrigerator. Unroll it.	30. Cut swiss roll into 0.75-inch thick slices and serve.

Notes

Beating egg whites mixture at low speed for the final stage is to break down the large bubbles into tiny little fine foams. So that texture of the cake will turn out fine and smooth.

When mixing beaten egg whites into batter, always mix one third of the lightweight portions (whites) into the heavy one (batter). Cut and fold until incorporated. Then only add the remaining lightweight portions into the heavy portion.

Swiss roll can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Stages of Stiffness In Beating Egg Whites

2011-10-12T11:07:00.004+08:00

Tips: Stages of Stiffness In Beating Egg Whites蛋白打发

Foamy / Frothy, Soft Peaks, Firm Peaks, Stiff Peaks.

Foamy / Frothy（泡沫状）
Large bubbles, very loose with a cloudy, yellowish liquid developing into bubbles.
Soft Peaks（湿性发泡）
Bubbles have tightened into ribbony peaks that are soft and liquidity. When the beaters are lifted, peaks will fold back into themselves very fast.
Firm Peaks / Medium Stiff Peaks（中性发泡）
Glossy, firm and smooth peaks. When beaters are lifted, peaks will pull straight up and gently fall over or droop a bit, forming a curl. Peaks are still not able to stand still.
Stiff Peaks（干性发泡）
Peaks can hold their shape when the beaters are lifted. They will stand up straight and stiff without drooping or falling over.