Recipe - Making Jin Dui

Jin Dui

Jin dui (Sesame Balls filled with Peanut filling)

Jin dui is a type of Chinese pastry made from glutinous rice flour. The pastry is coated with sesame seeds on the outside. The hollow of the pastry is filled with a filling usually consisting of lotus paste, black bean paste, red bean paste or peanut filling.

 

Ingredients

300 gm glutinous rice flour

100 gm sweet potatoes
1 cup water
3 tbsp sugar

Peanut Filling

250 gm roasted unsalted peanuts (without shells)

3 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp water
1 tbsp oil

(Mix all the peanut filling)

Coating

Sesame seeds (white or white and black)

 

Procedure

Firstly steam or bake sweet potatoes until soft. Then mash them. Sift the flour, mix with the mashed potatoes and sugar. Knead the mixture well with water and knead into dough.

Divide the dough into pieces. Weigh each dough about 25 gm and filling approximately 10 gm (¾ tsp).

Knead each dough into small balls and roll into a round, flat shape. Place the peanut filling and knead back into balls.

Prepare a bowl of cold water. Deep each ball with cold water and coat thoroughly with sesame seeds.

Heat plenty of oil (enough to cover the ball(s)) in a wok or pot for frying. Deep fry over low heat till it puff up and golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels.

Recipe - Making "Ham Chim Peng"

Ham Chim Peng

After making You Char Kuey, I crave for Ham Chim Peng. In Malaysia, when you see a vendor making and selling You Char Kuey, definitely Ham Chim Peng will be sold as well.

Recipe for You Char Kuey  (http://5foodway.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/recipe-making-you-char-kuey-chinese.html )

Red fermented bean curd ("Nam Yee")

Red bean paste

 Ingredients

300 gm all purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp unsalted butter

1 piece of red fermented bean curd (nam yee)

120ml water

½ tsp yeast with 100 ml warm water

Filling

300 gm red bean paste

White sesame seeds

   

Procedure

Mix sugar, yeast and with warm water (A). Set it aside to let it proof.

Sieve all purpose flour into a bowl. Add in (A), baking powder, unsalted butter, "nam yee" and lastly water. Knead into a dough. Cover with cling wrap or a piece of damp cloth and let it rest until the dough rises double its size. 

 Roll out the dough and on a lightly floured worktop and knead the dough till smooth. Divide the dough into 13 portions. Shape it into a ball. Flatten each dough into a circle. Add one tsp of red bean paste in the centre and wrap the dough. (If you are living in Sydney, you may buy ready made red bean paste from the Asian grocery store).

Shape into a ball again and flatten it. This time let it rest for 15 minutes.

Brush or wet some water on the centre of the dough and sprinkle with some sesame seeds.

Heat plenty of oil (enough to cover the dough(s)) in a wok or pot for frying. Slightly stretch the dough before putting into the hot oil. When the dough rises up to the top, flips it over. Fry until golden brown.

Dish and drain on paper towel and serve hot.

Recipe - Making "You Char Kuey" (Chinese Cruller)

  

“You Tiao” / “You Char Kuey” (Chinese Cruller)

In Malaysia, it is known as “You Char Kuey”. “You Char Kueys” are usually sold in morning street markets or night markets (pasar malam). They are commonly eaten on its own or soaking them inside a hot bowl of porridge or by dipping them into a bowl of sweet kaya (coconut jam) or by dipping them into a cup of black coffee (kopi-o).

I tried a number of recipes and found Kakwan’s recipe (citarasawan) is the best. Her “You Char Kuey” turns out really nice.

Ingredients

Main Dough (A)

400 gm all purpose flour

1 tbsp sweetened condensed milk

Others (B)

1 tsp ammonia baking powder

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp soda bicarbonate

1 ½  tsp salt

Water

300 ml

Procedure

Mix ‘B’ with water until dissolve. Add ‘B’ into ‘A’ until a dough is form. The dough must be sticky and stick to fingers. If not, add more water. Cover with cling wrap and let it rest for 1 hour.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured worktop and knead the dough till smooth.

 Slightly stretch the four angle sides of the dough and fold towards the middle. Overturn the dough and repeat it 3 times.

Divide the dough into two. Wrap it with cling wrap and let it rest for 5 hours or you can also leave it overnight in the refrigerator.

Dust some flour on the dough surface and roll the dough out into a long rectangle. Cut them into about 1” X 4” strips. Place 2 strips on top of each other and press down with a sate skewer in the middle.

Heat oil in a wok or frying pan. Stretch the dough by pulling 2 ends before dropping into hot oil. Deep fry, turning constantly until each cruller turns puffy and golden brown.

Drain on paper towel and serve hot.

Recipe - Making "Pie Tee" (Top Hat)

"Pie Tee" (Top Hat)

Pie Tee (Top Hat)

Pie Tee is a thin and crispy pastry tart shell kueh filled with sweet mixture of thinly sliced vegetables and prawns. Similar to popiah, the main filling is shredded yam beans/bangkuang, round beans and carrots. It is a popular peranakan dish.

Ingredients

Pie Tee Cup

200 gm self raising flour

50 gm rice flour

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 egg beaten

½ tsp salt

½ tsp oil

Cooking oil for deep-frying

Filling

1 kg yam bean/bangkuang (peel and cut into thin strips)

8 shallots (slice thinly)

2 cloves garlic (chop finely)

50 gm dried prawns (wash and pound)

2 carrots (peel and cut into thin strips)

200 gm round beans (slice thinly and diagonally)

2 firm bean curd (tau kwa); cut into strips then fry it

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp salt

Pepper

Water

Procedure

Pie Tee Cup

Sift all flour. Place beaten egg into a mixing bowl. Whisk egg, flour, unsalted butter, oil and salt together. Add water gradually and whisk until well mixed and smooth. Let the batter rest for an hour and strain into a smaller jug. Heat oil. Make sure the oil temperature is reasonably hot. Immerse the mould into the hot oil till the mould is heated through. Shake off excess oil. Dip the mould into the batter and then into the oil and quickly lift up the mould slightly above the oil. Jiggle the mould lightly until the cup is separated from the mould. At times, you may have to ease it off the mould with a sate stick when the cup is hardens. Let it fry till golden brown, remove and drain on paper towel. 

Filling

Heat oil into a wok/pan. Fry shallots. Remove the fried shallots and set aside. In the same wok or pan with shallots oil, fry garlic till lightly brown, add dried prawns and fry till fragrant. Add yam bean/bangkuang and stir well. Add soy sauce, pepper and water. Bring to boil, lower the heat. Simmer for about an hour until yam bean/bangkuang is soft. Add carrots and round beans. Taste it and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Once the filling is almost done, add tau kwa and simmer for another 10 minutes.

To serve, put the filling and top it with omelette, fried crispy shallots, (refer recipe :  http://5foodway.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/jennifers-secret-ingredient-in-her.html) fine ground peanuts and coriander leaves. Serve with some blended chilli. (refer recipe hainanese chilli sauce; http://5foodway.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/recipe-ah-mais-special-hainanese-chilli.html ). Eat it immediately.

 

Sashimi and Sushi at Izakaya Arigato, Chatswood

The "Sashimi and Sushi Dinner Bento Set"

In Chatswood, you can find a Japanese restaurant or a Sushi Bar on every nook and corner of this delightful City. I have tried a number of places for sushi and sashimi in Chatswood but for some reason, none of them satisfied my sensitive palate until now. My family and I discovered Izakaya Arigato located at Shop P7, 1-5 Railway Street, Chatswood by chance. After attending our children’s music recital, we were hungry and lzakaya Arigato happened to be the first restaurant that we encountered en route home. Scheming through the menu, I decided to order their “dinner bento set” which consisted of sushi and sashimi. The “dinner bento set” costs AUD23.00 which is very reasonable by Sydney standard. With such a price, I did not expect anything great. However, I was pleasantly surprised to be served with what I would considered as one of the best plate of Sashimi and Sushi in Chatswood . The Sashimi was fresh, succulent and literally melts in my mouth. By dipping the Sashimi into the wasabe (Japanese green mustard), and “Shouyu” (Japanese soy sauce), I was in heaven. The Sushi was equally good. The salad was also refreshing and complement the meal really well. Based on my dining experience, my rating are as follows:- Izakaya Arigato is 9/10 for its “Sushi and Sashimi Dinner Bento Set”, 7/10 for ambience and 7/10 for service.

Recipe for making "Sambal"

“Sambal” is a sauce and usually served as hot and spicy condiments for dishes such as noodles, meat and seafood dishes or coconut rice (nasi lemak), etc.

“Sambal”

200 gm dried chillies (finger length)
1 brown onion
6 shallots
3 cloves garlic
20 gm dried anchovies (remove heads, tiny bones and intestines)
20 gm dried prawns (de shelled and wash)
2 tsp Shrimp paste (“belacan”)
8 candle nuts
3 pieces of tamarind peel (“assam keping”)
2 anchovies seasoning cubes
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp white or brown sugar
Water
Vegetable oil

Note :  Dried ‘chilli padi’ (bird’s eye) will be too spicy.

Procedure

Remove seeds from the dried chillies. Wash with tap water. Prepare a pot of water. Bring it to boil. Add chillies and boil it for a few minutes. Drain it and set it aside.

(A)

Blend the softened chillies to fine paste. Remove it and place it into a bowl. (A)

Blend the brown onion, shallots and garlic with 1 tbsp of oil. Remove it and place it into a bowl. (B)

Place anchovies, dried prawns, shrimp paste and candle nuts into the blender. Add 50ml of water. Blend it until fine. Set it aside. (C)

(B) + (C)

(A + B + C)

Heat up wok or pan. Add three tbsp vegetable oil. With low flame, put ingredient (B), stir fry, follow up with ingredient (C). Stir fry until fragrant, then add ingredient (A) and tamarind peel. Continue to stir fry for another 10 minutes. Add some water so that the mixture is light and easy to stir. Lastly add in the seasoning, soy sauce and sugar. You may adjust the seasoning to suit your taste.

Normally when I cook fish curry, seafood curry or chicken curry, I will add 2 tsp of the “sambal” into the gravy to enhance the flavour of the dish.
You may also use dried anchovies and cook with the “sambal” to eat with coconut rice (nasi lemak).

Store in jar bottles and freeze them for longer use.

Recipe for "Pongteh"

 

"Pongteh"



“Pongteh” recipe

“Pongteh” dish is an unique cuisine originated from the Baba and Nyonya heritage in Malacca. It is a kind of meat (chicken or pork) stew, cooked with “taucu” (mince bean paste). It is an easy dish to cook. My prefer meat is pork. “Pongteh” taste better when you refrigerate it overnight and warm it up the next day.

Ingredients

1 kg pork (cut in pieces)
8 shallots (pounded)
4 cloves garlic (pounded)
2 tbsp of  “taucu”
1 tsp white or brown sugar
4 potatoes (cut)
2 tbsp of shallot oil (refer recipe) or vegetable oil
½ litre of water
half tsp dark caramel sauce

"taucu'
 

Procedure

Prepare a pot of water. Bring it to boil. Boil the pork for one minute.
Sift it and set it aside. I do this step is because I find pork being sold here has a gamey smell.

Heat up wok. Add oil. Using small flame fire, saute both the pounded shallots and garlic to slightly brownish (Do not burn it), add in “taucu” and saute it until fragrant. Put in pork, stir fry for a minute. Add water. With high heat, bring it to boil. Once the gravy start to boil, adjust it to the lowest heat to simmer the pork. When it is half cooked, add the potatoes. Cook till pork becomes tender and potatoes become soft.

Lastly, add sugar and dark caramel sauce. Taste it. You may add more sugar or some soy sauce as to your taste.