Arrowroot Chips

Ben dropped by the house and quickly zoomed in on these. Before he popped them into his mouth I warned him that these might not be what he expect. I knew he had mistaken them for potato chips. These are arrowroot chips. Meant to post this before CNY but forgotten in the midst of all the festive activities, last minute shopping and cooking. 

Arrowroots, clad

These only come by once a year during CNY. So even when I swear that i won't touch veggies from China, I couldn't resist these. I love them braised with chinese sausage and chicken. The children like them fried as chips (don't think they know what these chips are made of when they pop them into their mouth).

Arrowroots, unclad

Use a slicer and slice arrowroots directly into hot oil. Rewind---see the previous foto--- have a good reason to leave the tips intact when peeling. I needed something to grab on to when slicing. Do not overcrowd when frying as they will stick together, so just do one arrowroot at one time unless your wok is big and fill with tons of oil. Be ready to lift up the chips fast as they cook and brown very quickly.

 
These were the first few batches and as usual, forgotten that they will continue cooking after lifted from oil. Overly brown and they get too bitter (they are a little bitter to begin with).  If you like, sprinkle on fine salt but sparingly. When cooled, store in airtight container. Make excellent gift for CNY as they resemble gold coins (I know, I know this is a little too late for this CNY but there is always next year, right?). 

I want to wish everyone a very happy and 'full filling' Chap Goh Mei.

Fish Maw Soup

When we were growing up, only during CNY festive season (or on wedding dinners) that this dish was served. So whenever the aroma of this fishy delicacy is detected, it triggers my brain cells to kicked into an overdrive of celebration gear. As I wasn't quite in a festive mood even a week before the CNY, I felt I had to self induce some. So I cooked the fish miaw soup and that did the trick because that same day I began to bring out the CNY deco for the house :-D.

 

Fish maw is the gas bladder of a fish that helps it to change depth without swimming.
I have always bought them ready to cook. Usually they come in the dried form and you would have to deep fry them first before they can be added to a dish.
This batch of fish maw we bought this year was from Hong Kong and was processed a little differently. They were not deep fried in oil but deep fried in a wok of tiny rock salt pebbles, I was told.
I prefer this method becouse I have always had doubts about the freshness of the deep frying oil used commercially. Also, when the maws are deep fried in oil they have to be consumed within a short time or the oil would turn rancid and rendered the maw inedible.

Two fish maws when soaked yield about 2 cups.

All you need for the soup are:

1 kampong chicken, cut into small pieces
2 carrots, peeled and sliced or diced
10 red dates, washed and stoned (flatten them with the side of a chopper and the stones can be easily remove)
some dried mushrooms, soaked until soft
a bowl of soaked fish maw
2-3 L water

salt and pepper 

~Bring water to boil.
~Add the chicken and when the water begins to boil again, lower heat and simmer for 1/2 hour.
~Add carrots, dates and mushroom and simmer for another 1/2 hour.
~Add fish maw, bring to boil and let it cook for about 3 - 5 minutes.

~Season to taste.
~Serve hot.

Beside making soup, fish maw can be cooked stuffed with minced meat like yong tau foo or braised with chicken and mushroom, all delicious.

Mooncakes, mooncakes and more mooncakes

Beside the conventional mooncakes, these are what we are having this year for the Mid-Autumn festival which falls on the 14 th September and that is tomorrow.

These jelly mooncakes are from Betty's mooncake collection. 

She is truly a master of mooncakes (see her ping pei mooncake here)

The red is made with dragon fruit which I didn't get to taste at all, the yellow is kiwi fruit while the green one is made with real durian!

I thought they were too just too beautiful to be eaten but K didn't thinks so and he cut this one late last night. I was force to take these picture under low light condition (K tried to help by holding up a torch light but the shots appeared too harsh so I had to use the highest ISO and that accounted for the grainy outcome which I found out is called 'noise' in photographic terms. Why? I haven't the faintest idea as I couldn't hear any noise...) 

Can you made out the durian flesh surrounded by the jelly? Yummy...

These cookies that don't look or taste anything like mooncake at all are from Sibu. Pit Fung was in Kuching last month and brought some for us to try. 

They are quite good as cookies but if the label didn't read "Kek Bulan" none of us would have guessed. They are sweet but with a slight savoury twist flavored either with five spice powder or the red fermented bean curd. 

Here I proudly present the Teo Chew mooncakes. So happy with myself after accomplishing these as they were such a success compared to the last few times I tried two years ago when the pastry turned out like shortcrust. That was the biggest challenge for me, the skin, that is to achieve the flaky layering that we find in lou po ping (wife's cookies)...

I was beaming from ear to ear when I cut open one and got these. It was light, flaky and crisp. Just perfect.

This recipe was from A, a fantastic cook and dancer who has since migrated to Canada. I like the filling of this mooncake, it is very much like the ham and nuts mooncakes (my dad's favorite) but without the ham. It is said that this ham yoke mooncake is an acquired taste, I agreed as I remember when I was young I would watched my dad eat and turned my nose up and wouldn't touch any myself as I then preferred those with lotus paste and egg yolk. I don't remember when I started liking them.

Here is the original recipe (the lotus paste I got from Pelangi was super sweet so I had to adjust the filling by adding more nuts/seeds and moi choy - reserved veg. and also reduced the sweet candied fruits).

Filling:

300g white lotus paste

60 g candied manderin orange (kit pian), chopped finely (40g - adjusted)

70 g candied winter melon, chopped finely (40g)

30 g sesame seeds (60g)

10 g melon seeds (50g)

30 g salty moi choy, washed, chopped and fried dry (60g)

1/4 t salt

Mix all ingredients together well.

Divide into 10 - 12 portions and shape them each into a dics about 5 cm in diameter.

 

A (water dough - outer skin)

100 g plain flour

40 g shortening (I used lard)

~ 50 g water

1/2 t lemon juice

Rub the lard into the flour. Add the water bit by bit and get to a rather soft consistency but make sure the dough does not stick to the finger. 

Combine together well but lightly and leave for 15 - 20 minutes.

B (oil dough - inner skin)

100 g superfine flour

60 g shortening (or pork lard)

Mix well lightly and leave for 15 - 20 minutes.

1. Roll A (water dough) into a thin flat sheet.

2. Spread B (oil dough) onto A.

3. Fold the flat sheet into 1/2 then 1/2 again.

4. Roll out into a thin sheet (make sure the oil dough stays within the water dough).

5. Fold 1/2 and 1/2 again and roll out into about 1/4 cm thick.

6. Cut into 10 - 12 portion.

7.  Roll dough to fit the filling. Wrap a piece of filling each with the skin. Press down to flatten. 

8. Eggwash each cake and sprinkle black sesame seed on top.

9. Bake at 170 C for 30 minutes. 

After all been said and done about mooncakes, I favorite is still my first love, lotus paste with salted egg yolk. A must have for me every year or it won't feel like Mid-Autumn.

Happy 中秋節.

Banh Chung From Hanoi

When Starr sms from Hanoi to wish us a happy Chinese new year, I sms back to wish her the same. I jokingly (was I?) asked for a banh chung, Vietnamese sticky rice cake that is a must during the Vietnamese new year.

I have heard so much about the banh chung and most recently the 'Flavours' magazine did a feature on it in its new year's issue. I was so ready to try this famous traditional feast.

So you can imagine my surprise as I came face to face with this dark green parcel in the fridge when I returned home from the recent trip to China.

Starr did a special delivery. Thank you so much, Starr.

It also come with a very detail description as to how to prepare and serve the bundle.

After steaming it for 2 hours...and unwrapping the numerous (about 5 layers!) of dong or banana leaves.

Must not throw away the bamboo strings used to tie the chung, she reminded. These are essential to cut through the thick and sticky goodness. A knife would ruin the chung as it would be glued by the stickiness.

Placed the bamboo strings on top of the chung.

Turn the chung onto a plate with the bamboo strings now on the underside.

Lift the strings and cut across the chung.

This was suppose to be served with some pickles but I just wanted to taste the original. The texture was unbelievably smooth (Vietnam's glutinous rice is so different from ours). A very delicate taste with the mung beans and pork blending harmoniously. The seasoning done very lightly with salt and a hint of pepper.

This banh chung was prepared by Starr's grandmother who lives in Hanoi. She prepares this delicacy every year for the Vietnamese new year, Tet, which falls around the same time as our Chinese new year. The whole family would rallied around to help with this activity. It is served in every household during the festive season.

Jo

Braised Chicken With Arrowroots

One of my many favorite cny dishes. This is one dish that doesn't need much seasoning or extras to make it good.

Very simple but delicious, with each ingredient complimenting one another to make this dish special, especially as arrowroots are usually found only during the cny season in this part of the world.

I would make this dish as soon as I could find the arrowroots in the market, buy enough and then ration to last until chap goh mei.

Braised Chicken With Arrowroots
1 chicken or 4 thighs, cut into small pieces
500g arrowroots, peeled and half or quartered

2 Chinese sausage, cut into pieces
3 - 4 leek, rinsed off grits and cut into same size as sausage

3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped

~Season chicken pieces with some light soy sauce.

~Add 2 tablespoon of cornflour and mix well.

~Heat 3-4 tablespoon oil in the wok and brown chicken pieces. Drain.

~Leave about a tbsp of oil in the wok, add the sausage and garlic and fry till fragrant.

~Put the arrowroots and browned chicken in and add about a cup or two (depends on how much gravy you like) of stock or water.

~Bring to boil and lower heat to simmer.

~Simmer for 30 minutes or until chicken and arrowroots are soft.

~Add the leek and cook for 2 -3 minutes.

~Add salt or soy sauce to taste.

~Dish out and serve hot with steaming white rice.

These are the last of the veggie and will have to wait another year for the next dish/date with these tubers!

Leaving for Macau, Hong Kong and Shenzhen later today for a few days of eating and shopping binge. Hopefully be back with many good chows!!

Happy Chap Goh Mei to all ! (which is tomorrow and we'll be in HK :D)

Jo

Tang Yuan 湯 圓

I made these over the weekend. Love doing these leisurely.
After they are done put the whole tray into the freezer and let freeze for an hour or so.
Once frozen, pack them in plastic containers. They can be kept for a month or so.
To cook, just pop into boiling soup and wait for them to float to the surface, don't have to defrost .

Dough:
300g glutenious rice flour
1 tablespoon undiluted pandan extract (I used fresh screwpine leaves)
a dash red food coloring
water

Mix the rice flour with water until it forms a soft pliable slightly sticky dough (easier to mould around filling when dough is slightly wet. If too dry, it tends to crack ).
Knead for 5 minutes to get a chewier texture.
Divide into 3 portions.
Add a tiny drop of red food coloring in one, pandan extract in the other and mix well.
Leave for about 30 minutes.

Filling:

200g roasted peanuts

50 g toasted sesame seeds (black and white)

icing sugar to taste

Put peanuts, sesame seeds and sugar in a blender and blizt until almost the texture of peanut butter (more like crunchy peanut butter).

Test and see if the filling can be moulded to a small ball the size of a chickpea.

If it crumbles add some butter to bind.

I like to leave some sesame seeds whole for a slight gritty texture.

Mould into small balls.

To assemble:

Take a small ball of rice dough (about the same size as the filling).

Flatten it and place the small ball of peanut butter in the center.

Wrap dough round the filling and roll into a round ball (as round as possible please.

The rounder the tang yuan the more unity and harmony in the family :D)

Soup:

2L water

red dates

dried longan meat

2-3 slices ginger

rock sugar to taste

Boil water with red dates and ginger, simmer for about half an hour until fragrant.
Add rock sugar to taste.
When ready to have the dessert, put fire to high, add the tang yuan.
When tang yuan rise to the top of boiling water add longan meat, cook for another minute and off the fire.
Dish out and enjoy with family.

Note: Tang yuan can be filled with tau sau (red bean paste), sesame seed paste or no filling at all. Soup can also be savoury with chicken stock.

Jo

CNY favourites

'Kam' in Chinese sounds like gold and what can be more auspicious than that. So, you'll see these at homes, offices, shops and just about everywhere during this festival. We love these miniature 'kam' about the size of ping pong balls. They are super sweet, very fragrant and less fibrous than their bigger cousins. Yummy.

These were my mum's cny favourite and we always have it during the festival. When young, this, to me was a special candy we could only get during cny and didn't realised it actually was a fruit. It was only much later in my life that I finally got to taste persimmon in its fresh state and by then I was already fiercely loyal to its dried version.

Dried figs. Not a very traditionally cny fare but I found this rather fresh dried fig recently and fell in love with it. This sundry shop keeper said they only have them during the cny period. Normally, the dried fig we get are very much drier and harder and can only be used in cooking soups but this, when washed, can be eaten as is or serve in salad thinly sliced.

Another must-have for the coming lunar new year.

What would we do without these sausages? Can you imagine clay pot rice without these?

Am I just being biased when I think that these Chinese sausages know no peers where taste and texture are concerned?

The simple act of steaming these on top of cooking rice would filled the whole kitchen with its wonderful distinct aroma. I could just eat these with boiled rice.

And to me, they meant more than just another new year's food.

They bring memories of the time we were in Seattle many, many years ago in summer, so it was long after the Chinese new year festival.

K, myself and two of our children - a six-years-old and a baby were there for about 3 weeks when K did his training.

After a few days of steaks, potatoes, pizza and pasta, I just got so homesick for rice and anything Chinese!

Mentioned over a phone conversation with Mee Fung who was in LA and she immediately sent through the post a small rice-cooker packed with a bag of rice and guess what?... yes, two packets of these gorgeous sausages and what could have been more Chinese than these.
I carefully rationed these precious commodities to last our entire stay in Seattle. To me, that was the ultimate comfort food then.

And I thank God for sisters!

This was not the family favourite until recent years when I started making it into chips. Now they couldn't get enough of arrowroot chips (I deep-fried more than 6 kg of these for the last cny). I still prefer arrowroot stew with chicken, Chinese sausage and leek but not many share my sentiment.

Here are but a few of our cny favourites and the list can go on and on. They are the little things that help make the festive season so special and colorful.

Jo

Nian Gao 年糕

Let us kick start the Chinese new year season with this traditional sticky cake.

When we start getting this special cake, we know for sure the season of Chinese new year is here. This dessert is synonymous with CNY as fruit cake is to Christmas. It is a must-have in all Chinese households during this festive season.

Chinese love auspicious sounding food during this most important season of the year. Nian Gao has the same connotation of 年高, which literally is 'year high' - means something like getting higher in the year. When this cake is given as a gift, it brings with it the wish that everything in the year will improve and get better (higher).
An old legend related to this dessert is that the Kitchen God is fed with this cake. The stickiness of the cake would glue the Kitchen God's mouth and that, hopefully will prevent him from reporting anything unfavourable about the family in heaven.

This cake is seldom eaten as is but can be prepared in many different ways.
The simplest method and the way my mum liked it best is to pan-fry thin slices of the cake coated in beaten eggs until soft and golden.
My children like it deep-fried, sandwiched between two slices of yam (taro) dipped in a light batter.
The dessert above is my favourite way to eat this cake. Steam the cake till soft. If the cake is freshly made omit the steaming. Cut it into bite-size cubes with a thick thread and roll the cubes in freshly grated coconut. Simpl yet so delicious.
Pit Fung gave us the above cake specially ordered from a lady who makes it every year. The texture is unbelievably smooth and it is also kurang manis (less sugar). It is wrapped in banana leaves which gives it a very alluring aroma.

Traditionally, nian gao is made of only a few basic ingredients - just glutinous rice flour, sugar and water. Mix them together well and knead. Divide the dough, place in lined (with fragrant leaves like banana, lotus, pandan or like those we get in the shops - just cellophane) containers and steam for 3-4 hours. Depending on the sugar content in the cake, some can be safely kept for days without refrigeration or months in fridge.

My grandparents used to make these cakes in the olden days to sell .
They made them from scratch. Started with the grinding of soaked glutinous rice in a hugh stone grinder.
2 hugh cylindrical slabs of stone, one piled on top of the other. The top slab has a hole in the centre and a handle with which to move the stone that required a lot of muscles to turn.
One hand spoon the soaked glutinous rice into the hole and the other hand would turn the stone in a circular path. The grinding takes place between the two slabs of stones and the final produce comes out in a milky solution.
The ground rice would then be tied into a bag and hang to drain out some of the water used to ground the rice.
They also used the same machine for grinding soy beans for tofu making. I am biased I know, but then, everything used to taste so much better - my grandparents made the best tofu I have ever tasted. Silky smooth with the most exquisite smoky aroma.
Cooking with firewood is something we have sacrificed for convenience
I remember the hustle and bustle in the kitchen at the back of the shop house (they lived upstairs in the shop) a month or so before Chinese new year with rows and rows of metal containers lining up to be filled and steamed.
A gigantic triple story bamboo steamer atop a big wok that sat on a hugh furnace fed with fire wood working non-stop and the aroma that filled the kitchen was intoxicating.

If you are still with me, thank you for putting up with my memory lane ramblings . Our grandparents are no more here but the fond memories they left behind are sometimes still so vivid!
Better stop here and leave you with these sweetness before I get started on a novel...

Jo

Dong Zhi (冬至) Dinner

Dong zhi 冬至 is a Chinese festival celebrating the winter solstice -'the Arrival of Winter'. It is usually celebrated on the 21st or 22nd of December, this day sees the shortest day in the year. It is also traditionally a time for the family to get together.
Yesterday we celebrated the Chinese festival with the family in Tet Mui's beautiful new home.
As usual, we had the most sumptuous traditional Chinese fare.

A must-have whole steamed chicken symbolizing completeness.

Kai lan with pacific clams, so yummy.

A delicious stewed pork trotters.

The most traditional Hakka's stuffed tofu...

and khiew yoke.

Tofu in a sweet sauce garnished with bonito flakes, spring onions and fried scallions.

Butter prawns

Egg pockets filled with mince meat.
Sticky Rice Ball 湯 圓 (Tang Yuan).

Tang Yuan is a traditional dessert made of glutinous rice that we must have on this day and also on Chinese new year's eve. Tang yuan symbolizes reunion. For us as a family, sharing tang yuan on these two auspicious days means unity and harmony.

This year, I actually made the tang yuan's filling of peanut butter plus black sesame from scratch and it was so good. We usually have it sweet, boiled in a broth of red dates, dried longans, rock sugar and slices of ginger.

Will let you have the recipe before the Chinese new year comes around, I hope.

Jo

Betty's Homemade Ping Pei Mooncake

This box of moon cakes is from my sister, Betty. As usual, she is the first one to remind us that the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节) is just round the corner. This year it will be celebrated on the 25th September. Time does fly...

Betty not only cooks well, she has been making these awesome ping pei (snow skin) moon cakes for close to 20 years.

She first started making for friends and family but through the years, by word of mouth her moon cake culinary reputation grew by leaps and bounds and orders keep coming in every year.

Every year when the Mid Autumn Festival is near, the orders usually start coming in one month before the festival day itself.

She has to recruit everyone in her family (her daughters, sons-in-laws and sons) to fill the orders.

The ping pei skin and fillings for the moon cakes are all made by Betty herself with the help of Helen, her maid of more than 15 years and the rest of the family would then help with the moulding.

My all time favourite is this 'yin yang' cake with mung beans paste and red bean paste (tuasa) wrapped in pandan flavoured skin.

The savoury taste of the mung bean paste with an aroma of spring onion and slight saltiness compliments the sweet tausa so well.

With most of the commercial sweet fillings of mixed nuts, red bean paste, lotus-seed paste and salted duck egg yolks, the most I can manage is two small slices but this, I can eat the whole cake by myself!

The light purple moon cake is with yam (taro) paste. It is made of 100% real yam! Can actually see some bits and pieces of the yam in this picture.

Heather, this is for you. Yi Yi gave you a box too but since we can't get it over to you before these cakes expire (without preservatives they don't last that long, you know), we took the liberty to cut, took pictures and blog them for you to feast your eyes (also made some pu erh tea for you). Enjoy!!

Jo

Note: These ping pei moon cakes are meant to be eaten cold. By the time I was done with them, they had almost melted as can be seen from the last shot. Had trouble slicing them, thus, the rather messy result.