Pumpkin Mee Suah Kueh

Mee Suah or 面线 is a specialty of Xiamen, Fujian. It is a fine dried wheat noodle with a smooth texture & is used mainly in soup. I'm unsure of the origin of this dish but I always loved it whenever my sister cooked this dish. Finally took the chance to take down the recipe so that I can make it on my own.

Ingredients: (Makes 9 inch)

i) Pumpkin Kueh

• 300g mee suah or 面线
• 300g pumpkin flesh, shredded
• 6 shitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced
• 3 chinese sausages or lap cheong, diced
  
• 75g dried shrimps, ground
  
• 5 shallots, sliced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 120g pork, diced
• 700mL water*

ii) Seasoning

• 1 tbsp soya sauce
• 1 tbsp water
• 1 tsp sugar
  
• 1/2 tsp pepper

iii) Garnishing

• 1 sprig spring onion, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 shallots, sliced
• 1 red chili, sliced

Method:

1. Soak mee suah in water until softened and keep aside. Heat oil in a wok and sauté shallots and garlic till golden brown. Reserve for garnishing.
2. Fry minced shallots, garlic till fragrant then add in mushrooms, dried prawns, minced meat, chinese sausages and pumpkin shreds.
3. Add in the softened mee suah, water and seasonings. Stir well and adjust to taste.
4. Keep frying until most water has evaporated and everything becomes very sticky or gooey.
5. Press mee sua firmly into a greased 9 inch tray and steam for 20 minutes.
6. Garnish with red chilies, spring onions and fried shallots.

*Note: Although original recipe calls for 700mL water, use 500mL water first and then adjust accordingly.

Close up.



Sliced kueh.

After garnishing. Yum yum.

Durian durian, KL

Durian is also known as the king of fruits and has this pungent smell that many Caucasians are not able to stomach. To us, it definitely smells good but I've had Caucasian friends who compared the smell to that of a sewage. :s

Maybe it's because I've been deprived from good durian in Australia so lately I've been in this durian phase especially when it's incorporated into pastries. This year's durian harvest was really good and my sister bought me this gorgeous cream puffs from Petaling Street which tasted absolutely divine!

While walking at Pavilion, KL. I came across this shop which sells all durian incorporated pastry! Yummy! I managed to sample some of their products and the durian butter cake tastes good with really strong durian flavour. :D Apparently their durian mochi uses 100% pure durian without the addition of any cream, so it's something I'm eyeing the next time I'm there.

I bought home some durian macarons because I am still too afraid to attempt macaron making just yet. :P A box of 6 costs me RM8 and I was disappointed with how little durian cream they gave me. :( Despite the small box and miserable amount of durian cream, the smell and taste was still very strong. Quadruple the amount of cream would make me a very happy girl. :P

The products sold in this shop definitely has a very distinct and strong durian flavour in their pastries which is something I like. Durian mochi, I'm coming back for you. :)

Durian Durian
Lot P1.11.04, Level 1
Pavilion KL Shopping Mall
Phone: (03) 89949308

Four Angled Beans with Belacan

Four angled beans is a type of vegetable that is rarely seen in Australia so I took this opportunity to ask my mom to buy a few. While people think that belacan (shrimp paste) stinks up the whole house, I actually adore this smell. Weird, I know.

Recipe adapted from Delicious Asian Food.

Ingredients: (Serves 5)

• 300g four angled beans, cut into 3cm slices
• 50g dried prawns
• 3 bulbs shallots
• 1 1/2 bulb garlic
• 4 fresh red chilies, seeds removed
  
• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• 20g belacan/shrimp paste

Method:

1. Pound or blend dried prawns, shallots, garlic, chilies and belacan until a fine paste forms.
2. Heat oil in wok. Add paste above and fry on medium heat till fragrant and slightly brown.
3. Increase heat to high and add four-angled beans and stir fry for about 2 minutes. Whilst stir frying, sprinkle water to keep moist.
4. Add sugar to taste. Serve warm.

Tom Yum Cookies

How exotic does these sound?! Everyone shot me a weird look when I introduced them during a gathering but hey, what's cooking or baking without being adventurous eh? ;) Trust me, I was equally skeptical when I stumbled upon the recipe.

Recipe adapted from Taste of Time

Ingredients: (Makes about 20)

• 325g plain flour, sifted
• 100g brown sugar
• 150mL canola oil
• 3 tbsp Tom Yum paste
• 8 pieces Kaffir lime leaves, shredded finely
  

Method:

1. Mix everything in a bowl until well incorporated.
2. Scoop out portions using a tablespoon and place on a lined or greased baking tray.
   
3. Baked in preheated oven at 180°C for 30 minutes.
   
4. Leave to cool completely before storing.

When I first bit into the cookie, my mind was utterly confused and some of my friends said the same. The flavours and texture are good but I probably need a while to get used to this exotic cookie. A few fell in love with it at first bite which is encouraging.

Can you stomach this? Guess you've got to try it to know it. ;)

Butter Chicken

Every time when my family patronized a particular restaurant, I would insist that we order the 'Butter Chicken'. It happened so often that it reached a point where they got so sick of it. Fine, looks like I had to satisfy my own taste buds by tackling the kitchen then I can have the whole plate to myself.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

• 600g chicken breast, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
• 3 tbsp corn flour (extra for coating)
  
• 125g butter
• 6 sprigs curry leaves
• 5 bird's eye chillies
• 1 375mL can of evaporated milk
• 1 cup dessicated coconut

Method:

1. Marinade the chicken with garlic, soy sauce, pepper, dark soy sauce and corn flour for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
2. Coat the chicken with excess corn flour and fry until it turns golden brown. Set aside.
3. Melt the butter and add in the coconut, curry leaves and bird's eye chillies and fry until fragrant.
4. Add in the chicken and stir for 2-3 minutes. Dish up and serve.

You can also opt to put in salted egg yolk for better flavour.

Sweet potato

This is the 3rd submission for the Merdeka Open House 2009 held by Babe in the City -KL.

I like the simplicity and versatility of sweet potatoes. Especially when it comes to making easy but yummy desserts. To prove my point on sweet potatoes' versatility, I'm posting 2 recipes that uses sweet potatoes. :D

I did not measure the ingredients so I'm writing this based on guess-timation so I apologize if the taste doesn't seem too good but you can always adjust the ingredients to suit your taste buds.

It was my housemate that got me hooked onto the sweet potato sweet drink or 'Farn Shee Tong Sui'. She said that her mom used to make it very often at home and it gave her very fond memories. Now she passed on this liking of this dessert to me. :P I like the strong ginger taste hence I added more ginger for the flavour.

Sweet Potato Sweet Drink (Farn Shee Tong Sui)

Ingredients: (Serves 1)

• 250g sweet potato, diced
• 2 cups of water
• 2 inch knob of ginger, crushed or sliced
• Rock sugar, to taste
  

Method:

1. Bring the water to a boil in a pot and add the ingredients.
2. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender.
3. Serve warm or chilled.

The next one in line is Bubur Cha Cha. I didn't have yam or tapioca on hand so I made my bubur cha cha purely out of sweet potatoes. It still managed to satisfy my craving nonetheless. :)

Bubur Cha Cha

Ingredients: (Serves 1)

• 250g sweet potato, diced
• 2 cups of water
  
• 100mL coconut cream

Method:

1. Bring the water to a boil in a pot and add in the sweet potato.
2. Stir in the coconut cream and simmer for 15 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender.
3. Serve warm.

Feel free to add in some diced yam or tapioca pearls to further enhance the appearance and taste of this dessert. Hmm... Now I'm craving for another bowl. :P

Kuih Bakar

This is the 2nd submission for the Merdeka Open House 2009 held by Babe in the City -KL.

If there's a size that I love, it's got to be anything mini. Mini cheesecakes, mini cupcakes, mini tarts... You get the gist. I'd like to believe the guilt and sin comes in mini size as well. :P So I've decided to whip up my own mini 'Kuih Bakar' otherwise known as 'Kuih Kemboja'

It wasn't very easy but I just made one mini kuih to feed my sweet tooth craving. This tastes just like eating a cripsy kuih with kaya filling minus the egg.

I didn't follow a recipe and just went with my gut feeling for this one. Easy peasy. Here goes:

Ingredients:(Makes 1)

• 50mL coconut milk
• 15mL of water
• 1/8 cup flour
• 1/4 tbsp butter
• 1/8 tsp sugar
• pinch of salt
• a drop of pandan paste
• 15mL of water
• Sesame seeds, to sprinkle
  

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 175°C. Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl until well combined.
2. Pour the batter into a cupcake mould until almost full.
3. Sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.
   
4. Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when poked in the middle.

What it looks like in the centre. It is slightly under baked because I didn't want to poke it for photography purposes and I was too hungry to wait any longer. :P

Ban Jian Kuih / Apam Balik

I've always loved visiting pasar malam or literally translated as night market with my sister to get our hands on all the yummy snacks and delights.

I finally had the opportunity to try making one of the snacks popularly sold.

Recipe obtained from Lily Ng.

Ingredients: (Makes about 6-10 depending on thickness)

• 1 egg
• 225 ml water
• 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp milk powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
  

Method:

1. Whisk the eggs, pour the water and keep stirring until it bubbles.
2. Fold in flour, sugar, milk powder and salt until the ingredients are combined. Then stir in canola oil. Leave to rest for 30 minutes.
   
3. Heat fry pan on medium heat. Add in baking soda and whisk well to combine.
4. Pour batter into fry pan which has already been warmed. Pour less batter if you want it to be thin and crispy. (I made mine soft and chewy)
   
5. Using the base of the ladle to swirl the batter in a circular motion so that the sides of fry pan has a thin coating of batter which will be crispy when it is done.
6. Cover the fry-pan with a fitting lid. Cook it until the surface has pores. Melt some butter on the ban jian kuih and dust it with sugar, crushed peanuts and sesame seeds.
7. Cover the pan again until well done. Fold it into half and serve onto plate.
   

*Alternatively, you can use buttery sweet creamed corn as filling.

The key is to be VERY generous with your filling. From the picture you can tell I was being extremely stingy.

Extra, extra melted butter please! :D Oh, and I can imagine how yummy it would taste with buttery sweet creamed corn too.

Kuih Dadar

What better way to use up leftover dessicated coconut than to spoil yourself with luscious pandan pancakes with coconut filling. I have a fetish for pandan and gula melaka.

Recipe adapted from Lily Ng.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

i) Crepe:

1/2 cup of all purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 cup of pandan juice
1 tbsp of melted butter
1 tsp sugar
pinch of salt

ii) Filling:

A:
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
140g grated palm sugar (Gula Melaka)
1 1/2 tbsp water

B:
140g dessicated coconut
1/2 tbsp cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp water

Method:

i) Filling:

1. Boil A to dissolve sugar. Add coconut, lower heat, stirring till almost dry.
2. Add the cornflour mixture and cook for 5 minutes. Allow to cool.
   

ii) Crepe:

1. Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
2. Add eggs, melted butter and the pandan juice to the flour mixture and stir.
   
3. Strain mixture into a jug to remove any lumps.
   
4. On low heat, pour mixture into a non-stick pan and swirl the batter around until a thin layer of pancake is obtained.
   
5. Flip the pancake when it is cooked. Do not overcook it as you do not want the pancake to be browned.
   
6. Put 2 tbsp of coconut filling and roll like you would the spring roll.

Pardon the horrible wrapping skills as I am still trying to master it. The recipe should provide extra filling but my housemates and I had no problems devouring it. ;)

Onde-onde

This is an event submission for the Merdeka Open House 2009 held by Babe in the City -KL. The theme for this year is 'My Sweet Malaysia' and selecting a dish to make was particularly difficult as there were so many things I wanted to try out.

I eventually settled with making the good ol' onde-onde that could almost never go wrong. The first time I made onde-onde I was racing against time and resulted in sloppy onde-onde with leaked out palm syrup. Argh!

This time was made with ample amount of time and they turned out perfect.

Looked less green because pandan juice was used instead of pandan paste.

The anticipation.



Palm syrup goodness!

I had a good time licking off palm syrup off the plate. Yum!

Ingredients: (Makes 8)

80g Glutinous Rice Flour
15g Tapioca Flour
Pinch of salt
60ml Pandan Juice
1 tsp Oil
35g Gula Melaka
Dessicated coconut, to coat

Method:

1. Mix together glutinous rice flour, tapioca flour and pandan juice until combined.
2. Pinch out a ping pong sized dough, flatten it and place it in boiling water.
3. When it floats, scoop it out and combine with the rest of the dough.*
4. Knead the dough until everything is incorporated and a smooth dough is formed. If dough is too dry, add in more juice and if dough is too sticky, add in more glutinous rice flour.
5. Divide the dough into 8 ping pong sized balls. Flatten each ball and put a teaspoon of gula melaka into the centre.
6. Enclose the filling and roll it up to form the onde-onde balls.
7. Drop the onde-onde balls into boiling water. The onde-onde balls floating is an indication that it is cooked. Cook for a further 2 minutes to ensure that the sugar is all dissolved and syrupy.
8. Remove the ready onde-onde balls and drop them into a bowl of cold water.*
9. Scoop up the onde-onde balls with a perforated ladle and toss in dessicated coconut to serve.

*This mixture of cooked and raw dough is meant to stabilize the dough. This additional processes will also helps the glutinous rice ball to be more chewier.

We did this twice. Once substituting tapioca flour for corn flour. The one with corn flour resulted in a harder texture while the one with tapioca flour produced a softer, fluffier feel. Now we know, no substitution. ;)

Despite everything that's happening in Malaysia, it will always be the place I call home. Happy 52th, Malaysia!