Marshmallow Biscuit (雪Q饼 4)

I like Marshmallow biscuits and had done them numerous times as a snack for my kids.  Though it is easy to put together, my challenge was melting down the marshmallow.   Through experience, I realized the smaller the marshmallow the better it is.  

Found PH has these tiny ones and it can save lots of time cooking it down.  

I also discover another method, which is that by coating the marshmallow with melted butter first, it also helps.  

This Chocolate Marshmallow Biscuit 雪Q饼 (4) is using this method and I am documenting it down for my reference.

Shared some with my biking friends and they like it as it is not sweet.

Enjoy!

White Fungus with pear sweet soup

Lately, I have been eating lots of white fungus.  Since I stopped exercising three months ago, I feel that my skin condition was not good.  Read that white fungus is one of the items that women at our age should take in more.  Thus, I have been diligent at it. hahaa

Also ever since I came back from Sapa, my throat was not in good form too.  I reckon the high altitude with the cold strong wind got into my respiratory system.  It feels itchy and dry at times.  Eating cooked pears was what I told that will be good for the throat.  

White Fungus with pear sweet soup will be ideal after a hard day of work.  Hubby and I both like it chilled.  So refreshing.

Learnings:  I follow the steps to the T but I was still unable to achieve that thick texture, so I used a hand blender to give it a quick blitz and it works!

What you need:

yield 6 portions

a medium bulb of white fungus

3 pcs pear

a hand full of Chinese almond

2 honey dates

6 red dates

Rock sugar to taste

Method:

Soak the white fungus until soften and remove the hard "stem".  Cut into small pieces.

Remove skin and pits from the pear, and cut them into chunks.

Place all ingredients together and boil for 30 mins or until the pear is soft and sweet soup starts to thicken.

Add in rock sugar to taste.  I did not as it was sweet enough for us.

Enjoy!

Lily Bulb with white fungus sweet soup (百合银耳糖水)

Sweet soup (tong sui) is popular with the Chinese, especially in Cantonese cuisine.

Hubby complains that he cannot sleep through the night.  Today I shall try this Lily Bulb with white fungus sweet soup (百合银耳糖水) for him.

This is supposed to nourish the lungs and remove built-up heat.  Also can regulate the qi and nourish the blood.  It also can aid sleep.

By the way, the white fungus is also very good for the skin.

What you need:

10g White fungus

5 Red dates

5 pcs dried longan

15g Lotus seed

1 litre water

5g White lily bulb

20g rock sugar

3g Goji

Method:

Soak and white lily bub soak for 3 hours.  

Cut into white fungus into tiny pieces.

Combine white fungus, red dates, lotus seeds, dried logan, and water.

Cook for 50 mins.

Add in the lily bulb and rock sugar and cook for another 15 mins.

Add in Goji before serving.

Serve hot.

For my knowledge: 

White Fungus helps to improve brain, heart, skin, and immune health.

Red dates have Vitamins C and P and it also enhances skin elasticity and radiance.

Dried longan contains a good amount of potassium, which helps control blood pressure.

Dried lotus seeds contain many bioactive compounds like alkaloids, flavonoids etc.  It also has anti‐inflammatory, anti‐cancer, hypoglycemic activity, and others. Such beneficial aspects can decrease the risk of chronic diseases.

Lily bulbs are used to relieve coughs, dry throats and other respiratory conditions, to clear away heat, and to treat insomnia and heart palpitations.

Goji has high amounts of protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, riboflavin, potassium, iron, magnesium, copper, and zinc. It also provides high levels of many antioxidants, especially beta-carotene and zeaxanthin.

Enjoy!

Lotus Seed Sweet Soup 莲子爽

Its been a long while since I last made this Lotus Seed Sweet Soup 莲子爽 .  

Lotus seed is rich in antioxidants and micronutrients and may help slow down signs of aging and support the heart, blood sugar as well as weight loss. In TCM, lotus seeds are used often.

I have yet to find fresh lotus seeds but dried lotus seeds are easily available.

I like this dessert but it hardly seens in dessert stalls.   Anyway, this dessert is not difficult to make, only needed some time management.  I use the steaming method so that the seeds are nicely intact.  

  

What you need:

Yield 2 bowls

150g dried lotus seeds, soak overnight in cold water, inner stem removed

5 tbsp sugar

1 cup water

1.5 tbsp potato starch with 2 tbsp water

Method:

Drain the soaked lotus seeds.

Steam lotus seeds for approx. 30 – 45 mins until soft.

In a pot, add in sugar and melt until dissolved and golden.

Slowly add in the water (be careful of splattering).  Stir until caramelised sugar is melted).

Add in potato starch mixture, and keep stirring.

Immediately add in lotus seed and bring to a boil. Stirring constantly.

Serve hot.

Note:

If using lotus seed with skin, add a tsp of baking powder to the water and bring to a brisk boil.  Drain and replenish with a fresh pot of water and bring to a boil again.  Simmer until the lotus seeds are soft.

Enjoy!

Sago Pudding

Girl's boyfriend prepared this Sago Pudding for my birthday and I really like it.  So I made another round to finish up the sago that they bought extra.

I used to be so intimidated by cooking sago until I found an easy way to cook it.

What you need:

1 packet of sago

Gula Melaka

Water

Salt

Method:

Bring a big pot of water to a brisk boil.

Immediately add in the sago and give it a stir.  Let it cook for 10 mins uncovered.

Switch off fire and cover the pot for another 10 mins.

Drain the sago and wash it with water until it is no longer sticky.

Scoop into a silicone mold and press to compact it.

Chill for 1 hour.

Gula Melaka Sauce

Shave the gula melaka.

Dissolve them with a little water and a pinch of salt.  (Adjust to the thickness you like)

To serve

Remove from mold and pour gula melaka over it.

Serve cold 

Enjoy!

Sweet corn pudding (chè bắp)

Sometime last year, I tried this sweet corn pudding (chè bắp) from a Viet stall in Garden by the bay.  It was nice.  So when I saw this on IG, I knew right away I need to attempt it.  If it is good, it will be saved for my girl to try next time.

The first time I did this, I misread and added too much rice to it.  Luckily it still tasted good.

This time around, I was determined to do it right.

Learning experience:

Make sure you use good quality corn as it makes a difference in taste.

Source

What you need:

300g corn (fresh corn kernel) 

30g glutinous rice

3 cups water

6 pandan leaves

3 tbsp sugar 

Coconut sauce

60g coconut cream

1 tbsp sugar

¼ tsp salt

Method:

In a pot, combine corn cobs, pandan leaves and water.  Simmer for ½ hour.

Remove the cobs and add in the glutinous rice.  Simmer until rice is soft (15 mins)

Add the kernel and simmer another 15 mins until the mixture has thickened.

Stir occasionally to prevent the rice from burning at the bottom of the pot.

Add more water if the soup is too thick.

Add sugar to taste.

Coconut sauce

In a small pot, combine coconut cream, sugar, and salt.  Stir on medium heat until sugar is dissolved and bubbles on the edge.

Do not boil.

To serve, add a little coconut sauce to the corn pudding.

Enjoy!

Water mochi with ginger syrup 姜糖浆水麻薯

I was intrigued by how this Water mochi in ginger soup 姜糖水麻薯 will taste like and so I decided to make some to try.

After all, I had been taking ginger tea for the past one week due to digestion issue and after taking it for 3 days, I already felt a huge improvement.

Adding water mochi will be another alternative rather than boring ginger tea.

Learning experience:

I threw away one batch because it cooked to a dough.  So do remember to cook it at a very low heat and keep stirring constantly.  It should have this stringy effect when you lift the dough with your spatula.

Give it a brisk stir when it reached this stage.

The texture is like eating soft beancurd.  It is soft and melty.  I like it very much.  Will make some for the family next round.

I did only 50g milk to test it out.  Strongly suggest making it with 100g milk.  It is worth the try.

What you need:

Serve 2

100g milk

11g tapioca flour

6g sugar

150g water

14g slab sugar

8 slices ginger (I prefer more heat to the soup)

Method:

In a bowl, combine milk, sugar and tapioca flour.  Mix well.

Add into a wok and on very low heat, stir constantly until the mixture thickens slightly and has this string effect when you lift up the spatula.

Transfer to a bowl, clingwrap tight.  Chill.

In a pot, combine water, ginger and slab sugar.  Boil for 15 mins on med heat.  Chill.

Add in the mochi into the syrup. 

Garnish with peanuts or red beans but I have none at this moment.

Serve.

Enjoy!

Durian Cendol

I  have never know how then you consider it is a good cendol?  Besides the freshly squeezed coconut milk and the fragrant gula Melaka syrup.  The big question is how should the texture of this greenish tadpole lookalike suppose to be?  Mushy, soft and have some texture?

According to my friend who married a Nonya, the texture is supposed to be soft.  So with this in mind, I tried out this recipe.

Since it is durian season, I added in durian to make it Durian Cendol which my family prefers.

Thanks, JH for sharing this recipe.

Learning experience:

The texture is soft and hubby said it is good.  The only thing, I don't have an ice shaver so the blended ice clumped together very easily.

Since I had ready-made pandan paste, I just measure out the water plus the pandan to make up for that 300ml liquid.

So happy that the green turned out nice.

Source

What you need:

Yield : 4 - 5 serving

300ml water

Pandan leaves

30g mung bean flour

20g rice flour

5g tapioca flour

¼ tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

Method:

Use 300ml water to blend with the pandan leaves.  Strain and add another 200ml to the leave and extract juice again.  Transfer juice to a pot.

Combine flours, salt and sugar.

Stir in flour mixture into the pandan juice (300ml) until no lumps.

Cook over on low heat, whisking until mixture thickens and turn glossy.  Remove from heat.

Over a pot of ice-cold water, press dough over a round hole sieve.

Serve with coconut milk and sweeten with gula Melaka syrup.

Enjoy!

Peanut Creme 花生糊

My grandma used to have this stone mortar that can grind almond, sesame, and peanuts and make these into delicious creme.  I was too young to know whether she does go through a filter bag after though.  Unfortunately, I will have no chance to find out.

I had done Sesame Creme and Almond Creme so today, I shall try Peanut Creme.  After all, I have so another big bag of peanuts in the house now.

Actually, Peanut creme is good for those who are pale in look and has cold hands and feet.  

Bearing in mind, this is a "heaty" food and with our hot climate, it is best not to consumed too frequently.

Learning experience: I was afraid that the texture will turn out grainy but surprisingly, it is good.

What you need:

550g water
200g peanut, roasted
20g rice
40g rock sugar

Method:

Combine roasted peanuts and rice.  Blitz 2 min/Sp10.

Add in water and sugar and let it boil for 7 min/100°C/Sp 1.

Blitz for 2 mins/sp 10.

Serve hot or chilled.

Enjoy!

Taiwanese Almond Tofu 台湾杏仁豆腐

Besides Almond Creme which I love so much, I wanted to find more ways to consumed almond as it is very good for health.  So this round, it shall be Taiwanese Almond Tofu 台湾杏仁豆腐.

When I first saw this recipe with tapioca, I was really curious. This might be like those yam balls that I made many times before.  So with almond, I was curious about the flavour.

The author actually called it Almond Tofu but this version is a far cry from what I ate in Singapore where ours is more like agar agar.

I thank my wonderful German helper for being able to churn out such smooth almond juice and making this was pretty easy.

Source

Learning experience: 

This will taste much better if the almond extract is added.  Overall, I don't find the almond taste very evident even though I followed to the T.

It has this chewy texture and definitely goes well with the peaches which I strongly recommend to add more.

It does not have that "smooth" feel like Singapore Almond Tofu though.  If you are expecting something like feel, this is not.

So that is why I named it Taiwanese Almond Tofu instead-but errr.... I have never tasted one in Taiwan though so correct me if I am wrong.

What you need:

130g sweet apricot kernels

20g bitter apricot kernels

600g water

240g tapioca starch

Syrup

300g water

80g rock sugar

Method:

Prepare a steamer.  Line a pan.

Rinsed apricot kernels and soak overnight

Add water and apricot kernels in the blender and blitz under very fine. (I used thermomix so it was very fast).

Pass through a muslin bag and into a non-stick pan.

Add in starch and stir until totally dissolved.

Turn out the heat and stir constantly until dough is formed.

Remove and transfer to a pan and using damp hands pressed the dough evenly into the pan.

Steam for 20 mins.

Prepare a syrup with the rock sugar and water.  Boil until sugar dissolved.  Set aside.

Remove almond tofu from the steamer, Pour cold water onto the surface and cut into the desired shape.

Serve with peaches and syrup.

Enjoy!

Black Fungus with brown sugar Dessert 黑糖黑木耳露

Black fungus is very good for health and we have been eating it regularly.    Black Fungus with brown sugar Dessert 黑糖黑木耳露 as a dessert is new to me and I was curious.

I served this for a recent party and was glad that it was well-received.

Learning experience: 

Sieved through if you wanted a really smooth texture but I prefer some bits to it. 

I added in more ginger as I prefer a stronger ginger taste.

Remember to chill for any leftover.

Adapted

What you need:

40g dried black fungus
500g - 800g water (adjust to your preference, as I prefer thicker)

30g ginger, remove skin and slice
80g brown sugar
4 stalks pandan leaves
500g water

Method:

Soak black fungus until it blooms and soft.  Remove the hard stem.

First cook the ginger syrup, bring to boil ginger, brown sugar, pandan leaves and water.  Lower heat and simmer for 10 mins.  Set aside

Blend the black fungus with water until fine.  (I used Thermomix at 1min/sp10).

Boil for 15 mins/100 deg/Sp 1.

Add in the brown sugar syrup and continue to boil for another 10 mins.

Serve hot or cold.

Enjoy!

Egg drop water chestnut sweet soup 蛋花馬蹄露

Water chestnut is not everyone's cup of tea.  Some like it but some don't.  I remembered when we are exposed to too much dust, my grandma will tell us to eat more water chestnut to cleanse our system.

While I was working, I also recall that fruit stall used to sell this in stick form but I think these days, you can hardly find it.

Anyway, today I prepared Egg drop water chestnut sweet soup 蛋花馬蹄露 for tonight's dessert.

What you need:

140g water chestnut, skinned and diced

100- 120g rock sugar (adjust to your liking)

25g water chestnut flour

2 eggs

1000ml + 100ml water

Method:

Dissolve rock sugar and 1000ml water until med heat.  Add in water chestnut when bubbles starts to appear at the sides and bring to a boil.

Dissolve water chestnut flour with 100ml water.

Pour flour mixture into the boiling water chestnut mixture from heat and pour immediately into the flour mixture.  Stir constantly until thickens.

Whisk eggs and pour into the sweet soup stirring continuously. 

Bring it back to a boil.

Either serve hot, warm or cold.

Enjoy!

Sesame Walnut Paste Sweet Soup 芝麻合桃糊

Some time back, I ate Sesame Walnut Paste Sweet Soup 芝麻合桃糊 using store-bought sesame and it tasted horrible.  It lacks that fragrant taste to this sweet soup.

Then I was told that if I were to use sesame seeds for dessert, I have to buy the ones from Japan.  Since that failed attempt, I have been thinking about it and grabbed a pack during my last visit to a Japanese supermarket.

When roasting black sesame seeds, you need to be very careful because too high heat will result in a bitter taste.  Since it is black, you can't really see the doneness.  One method is to add some white sesame seeds so that when the white sesame seeds turn golden, this will indicate that the black sesame seeds are toasted well enough.

I saw this recipe adding walnut and I thought it is interesting since walnut is good for the brain and both oils from these are beneficial to one's health.

Note: You can simply use any blender you have to do this, just blitz longer.  The higher the power of your blender, the smoother the result.

Learning experience: 

The next round, I will remove the skin from the walnut and see whether it will taste better as I detected some bitterness and I suspected it might be due to the walnut skin.

Overall, the texture is smooth and I love it.  If you want it to be even smoother, go thru it in a muslin bag.

What you need:

50g roasted walnuts

100g roasted black sesame seeds

50g pearl rice, soaked for ½ hour (I don't have jasmine rice)

30g sugar

500g water

Method:

Place walnuts into the TM bowl and blend 10s/sp 7.

Add in black sesame seed, pearl rice, sugar, and water.  Cook for 10 mins/100°C/Sp 1

Blitz for 3 mins/sp 10.

Serve hot

Enjoy!

Durian Pudding

Last year, I did not have any durian as I felt that it was ridiculously expensive but this year, we are getting good harvest and thus the prices were really attractive.  I guess 3 rounds of durian indulge is enough to make up for last year. 😍😍

Anyway, I try a really nice mango pudding at a party and LK pointed me to the recipe that she used.

So I modified that and turned it into a Durian Pudding instead as I like the texture.

Adapted

What you need:

9g (1 tbsp) gelatine powder
40ml water
60g sugar
140ml water

250g durian puree
80ml whipping cream

Method:

In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatine powder over 40ml water.  Let it sit for 10 mins to bloom.

Remove durian from seeds and puree it or you can press it through a sieve.

In a medium saucepan, add in 100ml water and sugar. On low heat stir until sugar dissolved.

Remove from heat and add in bloomed gelatine.  Stir until gelatine dissolved.

Add in durian puree and mix well.

Add in fresh cream and mix well.

Pour the pudding mixture into moulds or ramekins.

Cover with cling wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight for the puddings to completely set.

Serve cold.


Enjoy!

Double boil Gum Tragacanth with papaya 雪燕木瓜盅

Our lovely papaya tree has been providing us with abundant of joy.

So today, we shall have Double boil Gum Tragacanth with papaya.

Gum Tragacanth also is known as 雪燕. It is the excretion from a tree with the same name.  The origin usually from Thailand, China and India.

The benefit of this is that it helps to detox and nourish the lungs.  You can read more benefits in the attached links.

Why it is call 雪燕 is that after hydration and cooking, the end product is like bird nest.  The real one has this hint of sour smell to it.  After cooking, this sourness is gone.

Baring in mind, a tiny block of gum tragacanth can actually "swell" to a fair bit after soaking. 

Source and source

On the other hand, the little "rocks" looks like precious stones.  Don't they?

What you need:

20g gum tragacanth
Papaya
rock sugar
3 bowls water

Method:

Pre-soak the gum tragacanth for 2 hours.  Clean off some impurities.

Combine it with papaya, water and rock sugar.

Double boil for 1/2 hour.

Serve hot.  (we prefer it cold so I will chill it).


Enjoy!

Bird Nest with rock sugar 冰糖燕窩

I have eaten bird nest when I was young but I never know the hassle of preparing it as my mom was the one cleaning it and cooking it.

Perhaps I am OCD but the slightest speck of dirt, I was not comfortable in eating it.  So I spent hours cleaning this delicacy and it took perhaps less than 5 mins to finish a bowl.

I have never introduced  Bird Nest with rock sugar 冰糖燕窩 to my kids and I am not sure how they will receive it as the kids and hub hated another delicacy and that is the abalone.

I also wanted to challenge myself to cook this as I have never done it before.

Learning experience: 

Just like the peach gum, preparing this needed a lot of time as you need to soak and then spot all those impurities.

Cooking is simple though and eating it even faster!

hahaha.... hub said he ate in Thailand and he said it is like agar agar and I have a hard time getting the kids to eat it.

Guess I can save my money now.  First, I need to find another recipe to mask it so that I can cook the balance of it.


Enjoy!

Papaya Peach Gum sweet soup 木瓜桃胶糖水

Am so blessed that my papaya tree has been giving us a regular supply of fruits.

Add this to our regular dose of peach gum and for now, I super liked this Papaya Peach Gum sweet soup 木瓜桃胶糖水.

Learning experience: Do not overcook the papaya if not, it will become too mushy.

I used a slow cooker because I don't have to watch over it.

What you need:

1 small papaya
50g peach gum (please see the previous post on how to prepare this)
Rock sugar (to taste)

Method:

Skin and remove seeds from papaya.  Cut into chunks.

Using a slow crockpot, let the peach gum cook for 2 hours.

Add papaya and continue to cook for another 1/2 hour.

Add rock sugar to taste.

Either eat hot or cold.

Note:  Do not boil with the papaya too long, if not it will become way too soft and mushy.

If using direct heat, steam the peach gum for half-hour and then combine with papaya and boil for 15 mins.

Enjoy!

Sesame Creme 芝麻糊 (2)

Not too long ago, I tried a Sesame Walnut Paste Sweet Soup 芝麻合桃糊 and so today, I shall attempt Sesame Paste Creme 芝麻糊 (2).

Recently, hub went for his body checkup and found that he has high cholesterol.  So I am on a quest for identifying all food that can lower his cholesterol.

One of them is sesame seeds.  It ranks highest in cholesterol-lowering phytosterols of nearly all nuts, seeds, legumes, and grains.

It also helps to balance the hormones which now I am experiencing.

With age comes greying hair and sesame seed oil stimulates hair growth by nourishing, conditioning, and promoting a healthy scalp. Regular massage with warm sesame oil penetrates your scalp, thus increasing blood circulation.

By the way, get the one that is not toasted for this usage.  This oil was introduced to me by a doctor who does massage for my girl when she was experiencing back pain when she was young.

So from now on, sesame will be part of our diet.

Findings: This is a really nice recipe.  The creme turned out really well and tasty.

A friend who tried making it also gave a thumb's up for this.

Definitely a recipe keeper!

Source for full details

What you need:

550g water
10g white sesame seeds, toasted
40g black sesame seeds, toasted
50g cooked rice
30g cashew nuts, toasted
40g sugar

Method:

Rinse black and white sesame seeds, and in an oil-free wok, toasted the sesame seeds until the white sesame turn light brown.  Remove.

Combine sesame seeds, water, cooked rice, cashew nuts, and sugar.  Puree 2 min/Sp10.

Add in water and let it boil for 7 min/100°C/Sp 1.

Blitz for 2 mins/Sp 10.

Serve hot or chilled


Enjoy!

Jiu Fen Taro Ball 九份芋圆 (2)

The weather is crazily hot these day.  Guess we are entering into one of our 3 season, the hottest.  Will be nice to have something cold for dessert later.

Today I tried another Jiu Fen Taro Ball 九份芋圆 (2) recipe and this time round, using a combination of tapioca flour and rice flour.

Findings: The texture is softer and less chewy.  For those who don't fancy too chewy texture, this will be a good recipe.

As for this recipe, the "expansion" is not that great so actually I can afford to cut it bigger.

My girl loves this and luckily I had prepared a big tub for her to dig in. 

What you need:

100g yam, skinned and cubed
10g rice flour
30g tapioca flour
2 tsp sugar
20 - 50g water (increase this slowly)

100g sweet potatoes, skinned and cubed
10g rice flour
30g tapioca flour
1 tsp sugar
20-50g water (increase this slowly)

Method:

Steam yam (sweet potatoes), add sugar and mashed it up.

Mix in rice flour and tapioca flour.

Add in water and knead to form a soft dough.  Start with 20g and slowly increase the water until you achieve the soft consistency.

Flatten into a rectangle and cut into strips and then to cubes.  (Try to do small coz it will grow big after boiling).


Enjoy!

Steam Egg Custard 冰花燉蛋

Somehow, the Steam Egg Custard in Singapore is never the same as those in Hongkong.  Thus, whenever I am there, I will make a trip to my favourite dessert place for it.  Unfortunately, the last trip I made, we did not have time for that, so since I am missing it, I shall make some.

There are two versions, one is with rock sugar syrup and the other is with milk which I had documented it here.

If you prefer less milky or milk intolerance, this Steam Egg Custard 冰花燉蛋 will be the one for you.

What you need:
Serve 1

50g egg
100g water
15g rock Sugar

Method:

Combine water and rock sugar and bring to boil, stir until rock sugar melted.  Set aside to cool.

Bring the water in the steam to a boil.

Beat egg lightly with a chopstick and mix in the syrup water.  Sieve.

Place the sieve over the bowl and pour in the egg mixture gently.  This is to prevent large bubbles forming.  Fill to 80% full.

Wrap a cling wrap over the bowl and make a slit in the centre.

Steam on medium high heat for 12 mins.   (Lift lid every 4 mins intervals)

Remove and either serve hot or chilled.


Note: The ratio of egg to water is 1:2

Enjoy!