Pan-fry Golden (Pumpkin) Dumplings 黄金窝贴

Today is Malaysia's 58th National Day...happy National Day!!!

To celebrate our National Day, I've planned to cook something that I never cook before for dinner tonight. Well, hopefully my family will enjoy it and I wish to share with you as soon as possible....if successful la...;p

Here, I'll like to share with you the recipe I've tried few weeks ago. Pan-fry Dumplings. I'm sure most of you guys have tried this before but this was my 1st attempt. Love this recipe and I love the color to bits!

Pan-fry Golden Dumplings

Ingredients for the pastry:
500g plain flour
130g mashed pumpkin
150-200cc water (note that you don't have to use all of it)
4g fine salt

~ Mix all ingredients together by adding the water slowly to form a dough
~ Using your hands, knead the dough for about 3 minutes
~ Wrap the dough with a cling wrap and rest for 10 minutes
~ After 10 minutes, roll out dough and divide into desire sizes.

Ingredients that you need

Ingredients for the fillings:
300g minced meat (i used pork)
100g carrot (fine strips) optional
200g chinese cabbage (finely chopped)
1 stalk spring onion (finely chopped) optional

Seasoning:
2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tbsp corn flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp shao Xin wine
salt and pepper to taste

~ Mix all ingredients above together

Ingredients for pan-frying:
1/2 bowl water
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil

Ingredients for serving:
50g shredded young ginger
some black vinegar and sesame oil

~ Wrap up the dumplings and set aside
~ Heat up 2 tbsps oil in a non-stick pan.
~ Put in dumplings and pan fry at medium heat for about 2-3 minutes
~ Pour in Ingredients for pan frying (above) and cover the pan with a lid.
~ Continue frying at medium heat until golden brown at the bottom of the dumplings.
~ Dish up and serve hot.

Enjoy!!!

Chinese Style Fried Prawn Pancakes 炸虾饼

This is one of my favourite when I was a kid. I still remember, at that time there was a lady riding her bicycle selling different kinds of kueh. She will stopped by my house for few minutes to sell her delicious kueh. And then, we (my sisters and I) will asked my mom to buy some for us, and this Fried Prawn Pancake was always my order..;p

Now, I still get to buy some when I used to go "Pasar Malam" or the night market.

Well, at last I did try it myself and YES!! They are GOOD, TASTY...YUMMY!!!

Alright...I'm not so sure what's the proper name for this yumilicious kueh. In Mandarin, we used to call it 炸虾饼, where it was so called Fried Prawn Cake/Biscuits (direct translate) Somehow, I find it weird to name it "biscuits" or "cake"...so I just named it "Fried Prawn Pancakes"! 

Anyway, no matter what's the name is, the most important point is...they are DELICIOUS!

Fried Prawn Pancakes

Here's my own version of the pancakes, maybe you can share with me if you have a better one...(^_^)

Ingredients:
250g plain flour
1 tbsp blended rice flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp five spice powder (五香粉)
a little white pepper to taste
1 tbsp cooking
350ml water
a little spring onions (cut into 1" long)
some shredded Jicama (optinal)
15 medium prawns (remove the scales or leave it to whole depends to individual)

Cooking oil for deep fry.

Method:
* Mix all ingredients together except the prawns, to form a runny batter (shown above)
* Heat up the oil, preheat a ladle (any size as you desire) in the hot oil.
* When the ladle is hot enough, spoon some batter (filled up half of the ladle) into the ladle and place a prawn on it.
* Soak the ladle into the hot oil where the oil must cover the surface of the kueh.
* After a minute or two, use a small knife or cutter gently scrape the side of the ladle to remove the pancake.
* Let the pancake continue to fry till golden on both sides. Repeat the steps until all the batter has used up.

** Thickness depends to individual. If you like a thinner and crispy one, spoon to fill up 3/4 of the ladle will do.

Love the texture to bits. Crispy outside and soft in the inside. Serve with your favourite chili sauce or just have it plain like that. 

The portion of the ingredients makes 15 (slightly thick ones) I will make this again very soon because I just can't get enough of it...hehe!
Hope you like this too!!!

Cheers!

Vegetable Dumplings （菜粿）

It has been quite a long time since I made this kueh. It is one of my favourite since I'm a little girl. There is not difficult o make this but we have to get the pasrty (skin) correctly done. I believe many of us have tried few recipes and couldn't get the right texture of this kueh skin. I personally like those with a little elastic tender soft texture (QQ texture)...haha! I'm not sure how to describe it..;p

Well, here I'll like to share with you the best recipe I have (after so many trying). 

*Recipe adapted from the book ~ hot favourite kueh ~ unknown)

Vegetable Dumplings

Ingredients for the pastry (skin):
150g tapioca starch
150g wheat starch
450ml water
3 tbsps vegetable oil

* mix all ingredients (except vegetable oil) with water. Mix well
* add in oil, mix well over a pot of simmering water till dough is formed
* remove and let cool slightly
* knead till dough is smooth on a work table
* cover with a piece of wet cloth for 30 minutes then it's ready to use.

Ingredients for the fillings:
400g jicama / sengkuang / bang kuang (peeled & shredded)
1/2 carrot (shredded)
50g dried shrimps (soaked & diced)
10 shallots (diced)

1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp water

* Saute the shallots and dried shrimps till fragrant
* Add in turnip and carrot and seasoning and stir well.
* add in water and fry well, side aside and let cool before using

** knead dough into long strip and divide into 45 equal portions. Roll out each portion into circle.
** Fill each piece of dough with 1 tbsp of fillings (or more) fold up into semi-circle or any patterns you desire. Remember to seal the edges nicely
** Lay banana leaves or any oil paper (suitable for steaming) on a steaming plate. Place dumplings on it and steam for 10 minutes at medium heat.
** Turn of heat and brush some oil on the surface of each dumplings to prevent from sticking to each other.

Add it's all ready to serve!!
I just couldn't get enough of this dumplings, and most of all my family loves them as much as I do.
Well, I guess I have to make another batch to fulfill our stomach now..^^

Happy Steaming ^^"

Sweetcorn Fritters 玉米黄金脆饼

Chinese New Year is around the corner, what are you baking this lunar year? I didn't bake much as those are the old recipes that I've done years ago. Maybe there'll be a new one but it's still under my testing list. Will be posting soon if it's successful ya..^^

For now I'll like to share this simple yet yummy recipe that I've googled. It's really simple and it takes only 20 minutes to cook this. 

 
As you see the picture above is quite tempting right! This recipe came to my mind as I have a big pack of sweetcorn given by a friend in my freezer. These are the organic sweetcorn and they are super sweet!! Last night I've just steamed some of them with added butter and salt..and you know what?! They are so sweet and I just can't wait to mix these sweeties with other ingredients.

I've got this recipe somewhere from the web, not sure which website already because I've been searching lots of them and I didn't even bother to jot down. At the end, I just remember some of it here and there..haha!
So here it goes with my own version of sweetcorn fritters. (Yes, I did remember the name..LOL)

Ingredients:
100g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp fine salt
1 egg
alittle black pepper and white pepper to taste
150ml fresh milk
200g frozen sweetcorn

 **serve with anything you desire. I just like to eat it as its own.

Method:
~ Mix all ingredients together into a batter
~ Heat up some oil and spoon a full tablespoon into the hot oil and pan fry both sides until golden brown and crisp.

That's it! Super easy right!!

The texture is soft and fluffy inside and crispy on the outside. This was my 1st try and I never thought that my hubby likes it so much as he is quite picky. He asked for more!!! (happy me!!)

Cheers!

Fried Pumpkin Kueh 南瓜饼

I love pumpkin, its a cultivar of the squash plant, love the deep yellow to orange color. 

I've tried to make some kueh with this beautiful squash long time ago, the colors turned out so beautifully and the sweetness of the squash is so tasteful. 

Here a simple recipe that I'll like to share....Fried Pumpkin Kueh (南瓜饼) which is very famous

Recipe adapted from the web and I've made some changes to suit our own taste. 

I've tried this natural kueh at one of the Chinese restaurant near Kuala Lumpur but when I went back last 2 weeks, the restaurant has closed down. The food were really nice and tasty there, I'm wondering why they closed down without any notice. Anyhow, I've tried out some of their recipes myself and this was one of them.

I'm very satisfied with the outcome and of course when my family love them as much as I do.
Crispy at the outside and chewy inside, very tasty!
Here's the recipe....

Ingredients:
200g pumpkin (cut into small cubes)
200g Glutinous flour
50g castor sugar
alittle salt
alittle water (not neccesary)

Method:
~ Steamed the pumpkin till soft then mashed.
~ Mix all ingredients in a large bowl except water until well mixed.
~ Add alittle water if the dough doesn't form.
~ Round up dough into a small ball (about 20g) and flatten.
~ Heat up alittle cooking oil (about 2-3 tbsps ), panfry the kueh at medium heat until both sides are golden brown.
~ Place cooked kueh on greasing paper to remove some extra oil and serve hot.

Cheers!

Yam & Sweet Potatoes Sweet Dessert 炸年糕

Hi all, how are you guys? I've been missing from here since last year December, and I hope I'll get to blog more this coming days to share my recipes. 

Here's a sweet dessert that I made last month, and it tastes really good. I'm not so sure what this sticky sweet kueh called in English, in mandarin we call it "nian gao" (年糕.) Which this kueh we only eat it during Chinese New Year.

I've fried it with a different way this time with mashed sweet potatoes and yam. Have a look at the bottom, it was very easy.

Very crispy outside and soft & sticky inside. Really yummy!!

Recipe:
100g plain flour
alittle salt to taste
1 egg
about 50-60g water

** mixed all the ingredients above with the water addedslowly until you get a sticky starchy flour paste. set aside.

"nian gao" 年糕 - cut into stripes
*60g yam, steamed and mashed
*60g sweet potatoes, steamed and mashed

**the amount of the yam and sweet potatoes depends to individual.
* wrap the 年糕 with the mashed yam and sweet potatoes like shown below.

* deep fried in some hot oil at medium heat.

I will definitely stick to this recipe next year when I get this kueh. I was really surprise it turned out so nice and it was well received by my family.

Have a look at the inside....you can never resist this.

Cheers!!

Ma Geok & Ham Jin Beng (马脚油条，五香咸金饼)

Got myself a new recipe book "Popular Kuih Muih" by One Publisher, last week. The first 2 recipes were these popular kuih that we used to eat during childhood. I'm not so sure how the taste it would be from the ingredients stated in this book, whether they are really tested or taste really the "childhood taste" (早古味) that we hardly find nowadays. So without any hesitation..I tried it out right after buying this book. 

Bravo!!That's the expression in my face once I tasted them!!! Really soft and they tasted really good...^^

My husband gave me a thumbs up for it...:)

Not too complicated but it does abit time consuming here. Almost the same like making breads. 
But eating them just took a few minutes then they are all gone...hahaha!

Ingredients:
Starter dough:
80g plain flour
1 tsp instant yeast
100ml warm water

~ Mix all ingredients together and leave for 90 minutes.

Ingredients:
350ml water (please add slowly and may not need all)
1/4 tsp alkaline water
250g sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
1&1/2 tsp double baking powder
* above starter dough
50 ml peanut oil
700g high protein flour / bread flour

Method:
~ Combine all ingredients above together except oil & flour in a large bowl. Stir and mix well.
~ Add in oil & flour, mix and knead lightly into a soft dough. Cover dough with a cling wrap and leave to prove for 30 minutes.
~ Lightly knead dough for 2 minutes, cover and prove for another 2 hours.
~ Divide dough into small portions.

**For the "Ma Geok" ~ 马脚油条 ( Horse Shoe Yu Cha Kuih)
30g plain flour
30g tapioca flour
50g sugar
Approx 4 tbsps water
white sesame seeds
~ Mix the pain flour, tapioca flour and sugar in a bowl and keep aside.
~ Roll out divided dough above into rectangle shape.
~ Spread filling (the flour mixture) over lower part of sheet.
~ Cut into strips with filling side together and pinch to stick well.
~ Spray alittle water on surface and sprinkle some white sesame seeds over.
~ Deep fry till golden brown, drain and serve.

**For the "Ham Jin Beng" ( Five spice Chinese doughnuts) ~ 五香咸金饼
 3 tsp five spice powder
 1 & 1/4 tsp salt
~ Mix the above ingredients together and keep aside.
~ Roll out the divided small dough above into square.
~ Brush surface with water and sprinkle filling all over. Roll up and seal tight.
~ Slice into 1/2 pieces then flatten it with your palm.
~ Deep fry till golden brown, drain and serve.

Both tested by me and equally good result. Hope you'll try them out and let me know your result too...:)

Cheers!!

Glutinous Rice Rolls

Hi my dear readers and friends..I'm back!...LOL!! I've been missing for such a long time, and yeah..I've left my kitchen to dust!!!....;p

I'm very lazy...really lazy for doing anything. I'm still in the mood of holidaying...GOSH!! Got to wake up huh!

School has starts, back to my daily routine and yet not much cooking and baking except a simple kuih I've done last week. Well, I'm just craving for some coconut last week, and I don't want to do anything complicated so this simple kuih just pop out from my mind. It was simple but delicious...^^

 It took less than and hour to complete this kuih, and it goes really well with a cup of hot green tea or black coffee. This kuih almost looks like the Pulut Inti, a kind of nyonya kuih. 

Ingredients for rice:
500g glutinous rice (soak for 1-2 hours)
1cup thick coconut juice
2 tsp salt
2 large banana leaves (washed and dried)

~ Lined up the 9" round pan with banana leaves.
~ Mix all ingredients together and pour onto the lined pan. Even the rice with a spoon.
~ Steamed at high heat for 30-35 minutes or until well cooked.

Ingredients for coconut:

150g grated coconut

20g castor sugar

60g gula melaka 

2 pcs pandan leaves

50-60ml water

~ In a wok add in water, sugar, gula melaka, pandan leaves and bring it to boil by stirringit all the time till sugar has dissolved.

~ Add in grated coconut and stir till the mixture has thickened. Leave to cool before use.

 Method of wrapping:
~ Place a pc of cleaned banana leaf on the table.
~ Spread cooked rice (about 5mm think) on the banana leaf.
~ Next spread the coconut onto the rice then roll up like a swissroll.
(make sure it's tight enough or else the rice and coconut may fell apart while cutting)
~ After rolling, leave the rolls to rest for about 5 minutes before cutting. (this to make the rolls stands to its shape)

Hope you like this! I'll be back for more post soon. 

Cheers!!

Cutie Angku Kueh

I'm so into baking and cooking lately! Mostly because my daughter's school exam was finally over and I'm free of stress now. What is in my mind now is just all kinds of recipes...haha!

Okay, I've done this angku kueh this afternoon for my friends for supper actually, but before our dinner starts, the kuehs were half gone! That means it's delicious...aren't they?!...LOL!!
Oh...and my daughter, she's not a fan of angku kueh, but she loves this. Why?....I think mostly because of the cute shape and her favourite peanuts inside...:) Then my husband, he keep telling me that he preferred coconut fillings but he took 5 of these...haha!

Anyhow, I'm not quite satisfied with the colours here. It was suppose to be real RED for the red dough, which I used only the beetroot juice. I should have blend some of the root into it ..:( I did used beetroot for my angku kuehs last time, which you can view here. Very nice RED right?....Haiya, I just miss that part!! So after steamed, it was blur orange instead!

Nevermind, the texture was still good....and most of all, my friends love it. Oh about the mould....I used those DAISO egg moulds this time, and those kueh just came out easily. Nice one, I must go shop for more shapes at Daiso.

Right, the recipe....you can get it here.

Mostly the same, but instead of pumpkins or orange sweet potatoes, I used the white sweet potatoes (same as the one I did for the black sesame angku), and some beetroot juice.

I just did 1/2 portion of the recipe here, so it makes 16 small angku kuehs from the tiny cute moulds. The difference of the recipe here was only the water used, I added 50ml water from the cooked white sweet potatoes and another 50ml water from the cooked beetroot. If you like the real RED, then you should follow my ingredients here. (total 100ml water because its only half portion of the recipe)

In case you are wondering how I cooked the beetroot or the sweet potatoes, I just sliced the roots thinly and added water just to cover the roots and bring to boil until the roots were softened.

And the fillings, this time was peanuts fillings which my friends requested. I still prefer the beans fillings...LOL!!

I personally like the fish shape...don't they just look cute and lovely?! I think we can do alot of things from this egg moulds....just think of something, it may attract someone before they try to eat...haha!

Once again, I must thank my mum for teaching me this kueh and it becomes my famous kuehs among the rest...haha!

I'm submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #12: Traditional Kueh (October 2011), hosted by SSB of Small Small Baker.

Cheers!!

Peanut Santan Layer Kuih

I've been quite busy these few weeks and another 2 weeks to go then I can relax and enjoy my time slowly. You could probably wondering why...huh? Well, it's because I have to spend more time at the office now and back home, I got to do revisions with my daughter for her coming week examinations. Yes, it's very tiring rushing everything in a day, but this does not keep me from baking something nice and delicious..:)

Here's something I'll like to share today. Infect I've done 2 different recipes today!! One for dinner and this lovely kuih for dessert..:D I'll like to share this kuih recipe first then will find another time to share my "dinner" recipe with you!

A fragnant and sweet kuih, that you'll probably love it...Peanut Santan Layer Kuih (Peanut with Coconut milk layer Kueh)


A recipe adapted from "famous cuisine no.70" with alittle modifications.

Ingredients (A):
200g grounded peanuts (as shown as picture below)
60g rice flour
80g tapioca flour
10g green bean starch
200ml thick coconut milk
115g sugar
400ml water

Ingredients (B):
60g rice flour
80g tapioca flour
10g green bean starch
200ml thick coconut milk
115g sugar
200ml water
1/2 tsp salt

Method:
~ Combine ingredients (A) and (B) separately, strain well.
~ Prepare 8" round tray with lined banana leaf or just brush with alittle peanut oil.
~ Spoon batters in tray on sequence by different colour at about 150ml each layer. Covered and steam each layer for 3 minutes over high heat.
~ For the final layer, steam over high heat for further 20 minutes, remove from heat. Leave to cool completely before cutting.

This kuih (almost the same as the layered kuih, 九层糕 ) was so good, chewy and not sweet at all. Love the peanuts and it really goes well with the coconut milk! It was well recieved by my hubby and my daughter..:) My daughter likes to eat it by peeling it layer by layer, she said that's more delicious that way...haha!

I'll like to submit this post to Aspiring Bakers #12: Traditional Kueh (October 2011), hosted by SSB of Small Small Baker.

Cheers!!

Black Sesame Angku with Coconut Fillings

It's almost the end of the week again, and school will starts on Monday. Well, before I get into my daily routine next week, I better do something that I longed for. I miss this angku kuih that my mum taught me. I love the chewy texture when biting and I like the bean paste fillings but this round I'll make it with coconut fillings which my husband loves.
My mum gave me some black sesame powder which she made herself weeks ago. It smells so nice and I dare to say that those black sesame powder my mum made is much much much better than those selling outside. Love it, thanks MAMA!!
Without any hesitation, I tried it on the angku recipe she taught me with some changes in it.


Ingredients for Black Sesame Pastry:

200g Local White Sweet Potatoes (steamed and mashed)
290g glutinous rice flour
10g black sesame powder
1 tbsp rice flour
2 tbsps sugar
3 tbsps cornoil
210-220ml water

** May need more water depends on the quality of the sweet potatoes used.

Method:
~ Mix all ingredients together and mix by hand. (add water slowly)
~ Knead lightly until a soft dough forms and leave for 20-30 minutes before using.
~ Wrapped in fillings and sealed tight.
~ Dust alittle rice flour
on the mould and press the angku onto the mould and knock out gently.
~ Brush alittle cornoil on the prepared banana leaves and place the angku on it.
~ Steamed at high heat for 5-8 minutes (smallest size of the mould) / 8-10 minutes (for medium sizes)
~ Brush alittle cornoil on top of the kuih right after steaming to prevent from sticking to each other.

For the details of the fillings you can refer to my older post. (Bean paste or coconut)

If you ask me, I prefer the beans paste fillings than the others, I can eat at least 5-6 pieces in one go...haha! Crazy me!!

This new pastry recipe was a good one. And it was actually my mum's idea too. The taste of the black sesame does not overlap the fillings and it has a nice aroma of the black sesame...:) So far, I've tried this pastry with orange sweet potatoes, pumpkin, taro, beetroot and now black sesame. I wonder what else can I use...;p

Cheers!!