Dry Mee Siam

Sedap! This is another recipe from Sunday Times. However, as I read the recipe, I felt that the taste could be improved with the addition of a few more ingredients. So buah keras, lemongrass and assam were added to the recipe. The end result is very good!! My spice loving dad and hubby gave their stamp of approval to this mee siam.

Ingredients

Spice Paste:
20 dried chillies, deseeded, soaked in water till soft then drain
6 fresh red chillies, deseeded
8 cloves garlic
1 rice bowl of shallots (about 15 small ones)
2 stalks lemongrass, cut off lower bulb and outer tough leaves and use only pale yellow part. sliced thinly
4 pieces buah keras (candlenut)

Method: Pound or blend the above until coarse paste forms. May need to add some oil or water if using blender

Garnishing:
6 hard boiled eggs
350 gms fresh prawns
2 pieces firm soya beancurd (tau kuah), cubed
fresh limes
Chinese parsley

Method:
1) Boil prawns with shells intact until cooked. Reserve prawn stock for later use. (Can also steam prawns with shells still intact.)
2) Fry tau kuah till golden brown and set aside. Make sure wok and oil are hot before adding tau kuah

Other ingredients:
3/4 rice bowl of dried shrimps, rinsed, soaked in water till soft, drained and coarsely pounded
6 tbsp fermented soya beans (tau cheo)
2 tbsp assam soaked in 1 cup warm water, squeeze seeds and reserve assam water for later use
400 gm dried rice vermicelli, soaked in water till soft then drained.
350 gm bean sprouts
100 gm Chinese chives, cut into 2 cm strips (optional)
Soya sauce, to taste

Method:
1) To a hot wok, add oil and fry spice paste for about 5 mins or more until fragrant
2) Add dry shrimps and tau cheo and stir fry until incorporated
3) Add bean sprouts and Chinese chives, mix well
4) Add assam water, and appropriate amount of prawn stock
5) Add vermicelli, mix well and stir fry until cooked.
6) Add soya sauce to taste.
7) Top mee siam with prawns, tau kuah, egg and Chinese parsley. Squeeze fresh limes over noodles and toss well before eating.

Serves about 6-8

Tangy Valentine Lemon Butter Cake

The Straits Times ran a series of DIY projects recently in response to the current 'cheap is chic' media climate. One of the DIY projects featured was a recipe for Orange Butter Cake provided by Judy Koh of Creative Culinaire . I had saved a cut out of the recipe as I wanted to try it out. Before I had the time to do so, my colleague TT tried out the recipe and provided feedback that it was difficult to incorporate the egg yolk butter mixture with the egg whites. Bearing in mind TT's experience with the batter, I made a slight adjustment to the recipe to make the butter mixture less thick. I also substituted the orange juice and zest with lemon.

This cake was done with the help of my older daughter as a Valentine's Day gift for hubby. She was my bowl holder, manual whisker, flour sifter and lemon juice extractor. :) We presented the cake to him when he returned home in the evening. But hubby gave me a bigger surprise with a bouquet of flowers *wide grin*


Lemon Butter Cake

160 gm butter (Golden Churn)
10 gm sugar
5 egg yolks
1/2 tsp lemon essence
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp lemon zest
100 gm cake flour (Phoon Huat)
1/2 tsp baking powder
35 - 40 ml lemon juice
4 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
80 gm sugar

1) Cream softened butter and 10gm sugar (The recipe called for the use of electric mixture, but I used a manual balloon whisk)
2) When the butter and sugar are well combined and the mixture is a whittish shade, add egg yolks one at a time, beating till just incorporated
3) Add lemon essence, vanilla essence and lemon zest
4) Sift together flour and baking powder
5) Add the flour and lemon juice in 3 alternative batches to the butter mixture
6) In a clean and dry bowl, add cream of tartar to 4 egg whites and beat
7) Once egg whites have turned white, gradually add the sugar. Continue beating until soft peaks are formed
8) Fold egg whites into butter mixture in 3 batches (be careful not to deflate the egg whites as the butter mixture is rather thick)
9) Pour mixture into a greased and lined 18cm cake tin.
10) Bake in 160C oven for 35 min. Check doneness with clean skewer test (Note: Original recipe calls for 180C oven and baking time of 45min

If Icing is preferred;
Cream 120gm cream cheese and 40gm icing until smooth. Add colouring if desired and spread onto cooled cake

Fruit Salad Wonton Cups

One last gathering before the end of 15 days of Lunar New Year. I needed something quick and easy to fix up for our potluck contribution to the gathering as we only returned home the night before. So decided do a simple appetizer - fruit salad in wonton cups. First saw such wonton cups at rojakrendevous and later saw a how to video by Rachel Ray.

The cups were really easy to do. Just brush the wonton skins with olive oil, position the skins into mini muffin cups, sprinkle with a bit of salt and bake the skins in 170C oven for about 9mins or until the skins turn brown and crisp. Take out the baked cups to cool before using. Now the cups are ready to hold whatever you want to put in it!

I did a simple fruit salad as the filling for the wonton cups. Japanese zuchinni were chosen for its crunchy texture, strawberries and mango were added for sweetness, grapefruit was included to brighten the mixture and lastly raisins to raise the overall sweetness and to add another texture to the salad.

Happy Lunar New Year!!

May you be blessed with happiness, prosperity and good luck in the Year of the Ox!

年年有余!

Kueh Bangkit

Kueh Bangkit is one of my favourite Chinese New Year goodies. Kueh Bangkit that melt in the mouth are the best! Recently bought a new book by Y3K on Chinese New Year goodies, and had flagged out a few recipes that I would like to try for this Chinese New Year. One of the recipes is for Kueh Bangkit and one of the forum member, Peng, had tried out this recipe with good results. So decided try this recipe. The resulting cookie is the type that I like - slightly crispy on the outside but melts in the mouth.

Here's a step by step (well almost, heh) guide to making kueh bangkit.

1. Heat wok, the add sago flour with cut pandan leaves . The sago flour is slighty damp as seen from the photo below. Stir fry sago flour with pandan leaves. I stir fried 500 gm with about 10 pandan leaves.

2. Stir fry the flour until the flour density lightens. The flour will be very fluffy and may 'fly'. This may take about 20 mins or so. Note the difference between the flour density in the 2 pics.

3. Remove pandan leaves and allow the flour to cool before storing. Keep the flour for at least 2 days or longer. My mum-in-law explained that if the flour is used immediately, it will be too dry and may soak up excessive coconut milk.

4. Ingredients for Kueh Bangkit
- 100 g icing sugur
- 1 egg yolk (i use the yolk of a 62 gm egg)
- 100 concentrated coconut milk (Ayam brand, but i believe fresh coconut will taste better)
- 300 sago flour (sieved)

Mix egg, sugar and coconut milk until sugar dissolved. Strain mixture. Add the coconut mixture to the sago flour. Knead dough until everything comes together. It may seem that the liquid is not sufficient but continue kneading until the dough can stand on its own without toppling over and has a non-shiny look. Rest dough for 1 hour or longer. This allows the coconut milk flavour to develop. Keep the dough covered with a damp cloth . 5. Roll out the dough until about 1/2 cm thick and cut out cookies. If the dough sticks, stain the cookie cutter with some flour before cutting. Bake at 140C for 15 mins (note: my oven is hotter than usual, the recipe stated 160C for 20-25 min or until the cookie is baked through but not golden)

6. I 'inherited' my hubby's beloved grandma's kueh bangkit cutters. Things from the old days can really last. the cutters feel very solid and heavy, unlike our metal cutters nowadays. Cookies using her cutters:

7. I was also given a few traditional moulds from another relative so i tried to make a few trays of kueh bangkit using the moulds. It is more tedious than using a cutter, but it was quite fun and the cookies look nicer.
8. How to use such moulds? Just dust the moulds with fried flour, pinch a bit of dough and squish the dough into the mould. Cut the excess away with a knife. Tap on the table to release the dough. Feels a bit like playing with playdough. :) 8. End result to welcome the Year of the Ox!

Xmas Gift

Had a lot of rum left over after macerating dried fruits for future fruitcakes. So decided to put together a simple xmas gift for BoozeQueen. The idea did come from her anyway :) Mixed raisins and sultanas and place them in these dainty glass bottles. Add rum. Then, designed a few labels and stuck them on. Add a ribbon and tadah!

Rediscovering beach holidays

Time is such a precious commodity with 2 young kids. We are always constantly doing many things at the same time and after a while, this becomes a habit. One that affects even our holiday plans. No longer wishing to go on beach holidays as I feel that precious time is wasted by not doing anything during the few days at the beach. Ideally, holidays should be spent checking out other interesting cities that offer different ways to spend the time.

However, my mind is changed after spending the last few days in Bintan. Not doing anything and letting the mind & body take a break from the hustle and bustle of city life is a good thing! I now feel refreshed and have more energy to take on the challenges of daily life.

Looking forward to the next beach holiday!