Chinese New Year Peanut Cookies

Gong Xi Fa Chai! Wishing everyone a prosperous and healthy year! Chinese New Year is just around the corner again. 2013 is the year of the Snake, hubby’s Chinese zodiac sign, hmmm…sneaky snakey!!! Anyway, I have been busy busy busy, but decided to bake at least one thing for CNY this year. This recipe is by far the easiest and quickest to achieve, and the bonus is it’s yummy too! I’ve combined a couple of recipes together to make mine.

Ingredients (this will make about 72 little cookies)

600g raw peanuts (skinned)

1 tbsp sesame seed

400g castor sugar

450g plain flour

50g corn flour

450ml vegetable oil

30g softened butter

1 egg

2 tbsp milk

Method

1.          Roast peanut in 180C oven for about 12 minutes, then add the sesame seeds and roast for a further 2-3 minutes.

2.          Keep the oven on to preheat it for baking.

3.          Blend the peanuts and sesame seeds in a food processor as fine as possible.

4.          Add the castor sugar and sifted flour and pulse a few times to mix.

5.          Add in the ¾ of the oil and all of the butter. Mix well. I usually use my hands to knead at this stage.

6.          Slowly add the rest of the oil as required. You need to be able to roll the mixture into a ball in your palm. If it crumbles you need to add more oil.

7.          Roll the mixture into small balls and place them on a baking sheet.

8.          Beat the egg with a bit of milk and use that as egg wash on the cookies prior to putting them in the oven.

9.          Bake in 180C oven for about 10-15 minutes.

10.      Cool completely before storing in airtight containers.

11.      Don’t leave them on the table unattended as wandering dog or children or husband will gobble them all up.

Chicken Congee with Turnip Omelette

Congee is a breakfast staple where I grew up. Actually it’s often baby’s first food. So I really did grow up on this LOL! It is made with rice cooked to a gooey state, one can have plain congee with just rice and water, and have it with various condiments, usually pickles or salty dishes. Or you can add meat and vegetables to  it to make it a one pot meal. This is the version I usually make with leftover roast chicken.

Ingredients for the Congee:

Leftover roast chicken (or 1 chicken breast fillet)

5cm knob of fresh young ginger, julienned

150g pumpkin or sweet potato, diced into 2cm cubes

2 cups of rice (you can use brown rice, or a mixture of jasmine, brown rice, or even barley)

5 cups of water or part chicken stock

Ingredients for the omelette:

3 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tbsp of chopped Chinese preserved turnip

2 tbsp of chopped coriander

1 tbsp of cooking oil

Method:

1.          Place everything in a large pot and boil till the rice is softened and the water a bit gooey. I like to be able to see the rice grains still. Pick the meat off the bones, discard the bones and shred and return the meat to the congee.

2.          Add a bit more water if it dries up. If you’re not having it with other condiments, add salt and pepper for seasoning.

3.          To cook the omelette, heat oil in a flat pan.

4.          Add the eggs; sprinkle the turnip and coriander over.

5.          Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side.

6.          Serve with chopped spring onion and more coriander.

Note:

To make this baby friendly, omit the meat and ginger for really young babies, you can boil the congee with pumpkin and other baby friendly vegetables for a bit longer to soften it. When the baby gets a bit older, you can add mince to the congee.

Belly Pork Braised in Soy Sauce (Tau Yu Bak)

This is another of mum’s specialty. Mine can never get close to hers, I wonder what secret ingredients she left out telling me. I love the tofu braised in this sauce more than the meat. Admittedly mum doesn’t use dark soy sauce in hers, she prefers the lighter colour for the sauce. I use both thin soy sauce and the thick dark soy sauce for its caramel characteristic.

Ingredients

2 strips of belly pork (about 800g), I asked the butcher to pick lean cuts for me

2 cm chunk of ginger

5 cloves of garlic

2 star anise

5 cloves

1 stick of cinnamon

1 tbsp whole peppercorns

¼ cup of light soy sauce

3 tbsp of thick dark soy sauce

2 tsp of five spice powder

2 tsp of cracked pepper

3 cm lump of rock sugar

1 cup of water

1 tbsp cooking oil

6 pieces of hard tofu(I used fried soft tofu in this)

4 shelled hard boiled eggs

Method

1.          Marinate the meat (leave them in full strips) with five spice powder, cracked pepper and dark soy sauce for at least 30minutes.

2.          In a heavy based casserole pan, heat the oil and sear the meat on all sides without colouring them too much.

3.          Add in the garlic (skin on is fine) and the ginger, sauté slightly without colouring them.

4.          Then add all the spices, soy sauce and water.

5.          Bring the water to the boil, skim off any impurities on the top.

6.          Reduce the heat, cover with a lid, and simmer the pork for about 45 minutes.

7.          Add in the tofu and the hard boil eggs and simmer a further 5-10 minutes with the lid off.

8.          Cut the meat into 1cm slice and serve with steaming white rice and the sauce over it.

Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup

I've loved this noodle soup since I was small thanks to a restaurant not far from my school, I have to admit I still haven’t gotten it right. The best Taiwanese beef noodle locally now in Brisbane is from Yang Mama in Sunnybank.

Ingredients

1kg gravy beef/any casserole cut

2 cloves of garlic

3 cm knob of ginger

2 tbsp of bean paste (I used chilli bean paste today, DH complained it was too spicy)

1 star anise

5 cloves

1 cinnamon

2 cups of beef stock

2 carrots cut into large pieces

1 lobak (chinese turnip) cut into large pieces

Yang Chun noodles (flat wheat noodles) 1 bundle per serve

1 bunch of pickled salted mustard greens, finely chopped

Chilli paste (optional)

Salt and pepper

Method

1.          Boil the beef, herbs and spices with the stock in a large pot on low heat until the beef is tender. I used my pressure cooker which only took 10 minutes.

2.          Add in the carrots and turnips and cook till they’re softened. (Another 10 minutes in the pressure cooker). Add salt and pepper to taste.

3.          In a separate pot, cook the noodles in boiling water.

4.          Drain and rinse the starch away with cold water.

5.          Place drained noodles at the bottom of the bowl.

6.          Ladle over the beef stew.

7.          Serve with the pickled mustard greens and chilli paste.

Simple Spring Vegetable Stir Fry

I love spring. You get to eat lots of nice spring vegetables and fruits. I love stone fruits and mangoes. Anyone else sick of the boring apples and oranges? I cooked this to show case the fresh asparagus I bought.

Ingredients

1 bunch of asparagus, chopped into 4 cm lengths

5 leaves of Wombok, cut into 2 cm slices

1 carrot, thinly sliced

½ red capsicum, thinly sliced

A small handful of dried shrimp (optional)

2 tbsp of oyster sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

1 tbsp of cooking oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1.          Heat the cooking oil in the wok/saucepan.

2.          Saute the garlic and the dried shrimp.

3.          Add the vegetables in this sequence, carrots, capsicum, wombok, then the asparagus.

4.          Add in the oyster sauce, sesame oil and ¼ cup of water, it only takes less than 10 minutes to cook.

5.          Add salt and pepper to taste.

Easy One Pot Rice

This meal is dead easy, and only one pot to wash up later on, and it only takes 20-30 minutes especially if you own a rice cooker. I like Chinese mustard green, it does have a bitter taste, my husband said why would anyone want to eat this vege? It is an acquired taste I must admit. You can substitute it with green beans, other greens, diced pumpkin, or omit the vegetables altogether if you’re a bad boy/girl. If you don't have any roast pork on hand, simply substitute it with diced chicken (raw is OK as long as it's cut small or it won't cook completely) or any other leftover meat in the fridge.

Ingredients

2 cups of jasmine rice

2 cups of chicken stock

2 cm of ginger, finely sliced

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 chinese sausages, sliced

200g of readymade roast pork 

4 dried shitake mushrooms, rehydrate in water for 15 minutes, cut into quarters

5 pieces of wood ears (dried black fungus), rehydrate in water, then thinly sliced

50g of dried shrimp, washed

3 bunches of Gai Choy (Chinese mustard greens), roughly chopped

2 tbsp of light soy sauce (substitute with gluten free soy sauce if you need)

1 tsp of sesame oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1.          You’ll need a rice cooker, if you cook it on the stove you run the risk of burning the bottom.

2.          Pretty much dump all the ingredients into the rice cooker, leaving the vegetables last to sit on top of the rice.

3.          Press the cook button and wait for it!

Sesame Oil, Ginger and Chinese Wine Chicken Braise 麻油鸡/姜酒鸡

This is a dish that is usually served to women in the post childbirth period to provide “heat” to the womb for healing. It doesn’t stop me eating this anytime I feel like it though. I used Shao Xing wine for this, but I’ve used sweet sherry, a touch of brandy, or Chinese rose wine as substitute.

Ingredients

5 cm chunk of ginger, skinned, smashed with the back of the knife

5 cloves of garlic, smashed

600g of chicken thigh fillet, cut into 3cm cubes

1 can of button mushrooms

5 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked and cut in half

1 cup of Shao Xing wine

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp of sesame oil

1 tbsp of light soy sauce (substitute with gluten free soy sauce for coeliacs)

2 tbsp cooking oil

1 tbsp tapioca starch, mixed with 1 tbsp of water to make a paste

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1.          Heat cooking oil in a deep saucepan.

2.          Sauté the ginger and garlic.

3.          Add the chicken and sauté.

4.          Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, wine and sesame oil.

5.          Add the mushrooms.

6.          Simmer with the lid on for about 15minutes until the chicken is cooked.

7.          Stir in the tapioca paste, and simmer until the sauce thickens.

8.          Add salt and pepper to taste.

9.          Serve with steamed rice.

Cold Tofu with Sauce and Herbs

This is an extremely simple dish, it is my favourite tofu dish, but I’m a big tofu fan, I can eat a whole tub of this in one go. It is low fat and vegetarian, and so refreshing on a hot day. The sauce came from my Dad’s repertoire.

Ingredients

1 box of silken tofu (alternatively use those round Japanese tofu)

2 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp ginger oil

1 tsp sesame oil

Drizzle of chilli oil

Handful of fried shallots

1 chilli, chopped (optional)

3 sprigs of fresh coriander, roughly chopped

2 stalks of spring onion, roughly chopped

Method

1.          Tip the tofu onto a serving plate, drain off the water.

2.          Make 2 cuts along the long side of the rectangle, and 4 cuts along the short side, but keep tofu in its rectangular shape for presentation.

3.          Mix all the sauces together and pour it over the tofu.

4.          If you prefer to eat this warm, you can steam it for 5 mins or microwave it for 1.5 minutes on high.

5.          Top with the chopped herbs and fried shallots.

Mui Choy Braised Pork Belly 梅菜扣肉

I’ve been craving this dish from home for a while. After sampling the ones in the eateries around here I was still not satisfied as they all tasted different from mum’s. Hence I went on a mission to cook my own. I have to say this dish needs an acquired taste if you're not familiar with Chinese preserved vegetables. Mui Choy is preserved mustard leaves, they can be found in Chinese grocery shops, there are two versions, a sweet type and a salty type. I used both in mine as I’ve previously used only the salty version only and found it too salty. I cooked this in the pressure cooker, you can cook it on the stove or in a slow cooker.

Ingredients

100g sweet Mui Choy, finely chopped

150g salty Mui Choy, finely chopped

3 cm piece of ginger, smashed

5 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed

500g of pork belly, cut into 3 cm wide strips

2 tbs cooking oil

1 cup water

50g rock sugar

Method

1.          Wash and rinse the Mui Choy carefully to make sure you get rid of the excess salt and grits.

2.          Heat the oil in the pan and sear the pork belly strips well.

3.          Then sauté the ginger and garlic.

4.          Get rid of any excess oil.

5.          Put the Mui Choy in and place the pork on top.

6.          Cover with water and break the rock sugar up and sprinkle on top.

7.          There is no need to add salt as the Mui Choy is salty.

8.          Cook for 30 minutes in the pressure cooker on high pressure. You will need at least 1 hour of slow braising on the stove (make sure it doesn’t dry up and burn the bottom). Slice the pork into bite sizes for serving.

Steamed Pumpkin Cake

My mother didn’t like to cook much apart from the usual main meals. This was one of the rare snacky things she used to make. As I said in the last post on Fried Radish Cakes, you can make radish cakes using this recipe; just simply substitute the pumpkin with grated radish.

Ingredients

500g pumpkin mash, I like to leave some in cubes for a bit of texture

300g rice flour

2 tbsp plain flour (optional if you are going gluten free)

750ml water

50g dried shrimps, roughly chopped

1 Chinese sausage, chopped

150g pork mince (traditionally finely chopped belly pork is used)

4 stalks spring onion, chopped

1 fresh chilli, chopped (optional)

Salt and pepper

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

Fried shallots for garnish

Method

1.          Heat oil in fry pan.

2.          Sauté garlic, shrimps, mince and sausages.

3.          Add pumpkin, flour and water, all half the chilli and 1/3 of the spring onion.

4.          Add salt and pepper to taste.

5.          Stir until the batter thickens a bit.

6.          Pour into a greased tray.

7.          Steam at high heat for 45 minutes.

8.          Remove from steamer; sprinkle the top with the chilli, spring onions and fried shallots.

9.          Cut into squares to serve when cooled.

Fried Radish Cakes/ Chai Tau Kueh

This is one of the street foods of Malaysia, and one that is not often sold in restaurants here as it’s considered too “homely”. You can make the steamed radish cake yourself, or in this case, I bought a block from the Asian grocer. I will post a recipe of the homemade radish cake soon, although when do I tend to make the pumpkin version at home, just because that’s how mum used to make it.

Ingredients (serves 2 or one very greedy hungry person)

250g of steamed radish cake, cut into 2cm cubes

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 stalks of spring onion, chopped

2 tbsp of chai poh (preserved daikon)

A handful of fresh bean sprouts

Optional fresh chilli sliced

2 tbsp light soy sauce

1 clove of garlic, chopped finely

½ Chinese sausage, thinly sliced

2 tbsp cooking oil

Method

1.          Heat oil in pan.

2.          Sear the radish cake cubes, turn the cubes around for even browning.

3.          Add garlic, chilli, Chinese sausage and chai poh.

4.          Add soy sauce stir without mushing the radish cake.

5.          Add eggs and stir to scramble.

6.          Lastly add the bean sprouts, put the lid on to cook it for 2 minutes.

7.          Sprinkle on the spring onion and chilli to serve.

Siu Mai /Shao Mai 烧卖

Here in Australia, these are sold as Dim Sims, they come steamed or deep fried. I had my first taste of this shock horror Aussie rendition of this traditional Chinese delicacy from a stall in Victoria Market. It was my second day in Australia, I thought I had eaten some dead rats, it was foul.

Thankfully there are many Chinese restaurants here now serving excellent Yum Cha’s. I still can’t get over people willingly eating the mass produced frozen variety. I had leftover pork mince from the wontons, so I thought I’d illustrate how easy it is to make these little treats.

Ingredients

300g pork mince

150g uncooked fresh prawns, mince

2 tsp grated ginger

1 clove garlic, finely diced

1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine

2 tbsp light soy sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Half a packet of wonton skins

Method

1.          Mix all the ingredients together until the mince sticks well together.

2.          Place a big dollop of mince in the middle of the wonton skin and scrunch the sides up around the mince.

3.          Tap the base lightly on the table a couple of times to flatten it.

4.          You can place a small piece of carrot/green pea/crab roe etc in the middle of the top as a garnish.

5.          Line steamer with non stick paper.

6.          Steam on high heat for 15 minutes.

Wonton Mee (Noodle)云吞面

What are everyone’s childhood food memories? Mine would definitely include this wonton noodle. My mum was a schoolteacher, one of the student’s dad owned a wonton mee stall nearby, and it was the best in town. Dad would buy them for us every weekend when he went to the market. It was delish served with lots of pickled green chillies. I haven’t found one locally that even come close comparatively to the one in my memory. I’d just have to make it myself!

Ingredients (serves 4)

Fresh egg noodles (buy from Asian grocery shop) 4 bundles

A bunch of Chinese greens (I used choi sum)

300g of bought BBQ pork, sliced

For the sauce

4 tbsp oyster sauce

4 tbsp kecap manis

3 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp vegetable oil

For the wontons

A packet of fresh wonton skin

300g pork mince

100g canned water chestnuts (finely diced)

1 clove of garlic, finely diced

3 tbsp finely diced celery

2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine

2 tbsp light soy sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1.          Mix all the ingredients for the pork mince together and marinate for at least 30mins.

2.          Wash and prepare the vegetables. Blanch them in boiling water until cooked, drain.

3.          Blanch the noodles in the boiling water until cooked, rinse in cold water, drain.

4.          Wrap the wontons (see step by step pictures below), then plunge them into a pot of clean boiling water, the wontons will be cooked when they float. Fish them out and set aside.

5.          Mix the sauce up and place a big dollop at the bottom of each serving bowl.

6.          Plunge the noodles back in the boiling water you used to cook the wontons in to reheat them, drain and plop them on top of the sauce.

7.          Mix the sauce through the noodles with tongs or chopsticks.

8.          Carefully place the vegetables, sliced BBQ pork and cooked wontons on top of the noodles to serve.

Place 1 heaped tsp of pork mince mix in the centre of the wonton wrapper.

Wet the edges with water, fold in half into a triangle.

Bring the top two corners together, wet with water and stick them together.

This is how it looks on the flip side.

Chai Kueh (Chives Dumpling)菜粿

This is another of my mother's favourite snacks, it is after all a Teo Chew dish. The quality of the skin depends on the skill of the cook I think, it can be quite tricky to spread it thin enough so it's not chewy, but not too thin that it'll break when you try to wrap it.  My first attempt wasn't too bad I reckon.

Ingredients
For the skins:
200g "Teng" flour (whole wheat flour) 澄粉
150g Tapioca flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
450ml hot water

For the filling:
A big bunch of chives, finely chopped
a handful of dried shrimps, washed, dried and roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1-2 pieces of fried tofu, finely diced
Soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Heat oil in wok.
2. Stir fry the filling, starting with dried shrimps, garlic, chives, tofu and flavourings.
3. Set aside to cool while you make the skins.
4. Mix all the flours and salt in a bowl. 
5. Pour in the hot water. Stir with a wooden spoon and then use your hand to knead when the temperature becomes manageable.
6. Incorporate the oil when kneading.
7. Prepare your steamer and start boiling the water for it.
8. Clean and oil the kitchen bench/a non stick surface.
9. Divide the dough into small balls. This quantity is enough to make about 15. (Cover with wet kitchen towel to prevent it drying out).
10. Flatten the dough as much as possible with a rolling pin (traditionally a large cleaver is used).
11. Spoon the filling onto half of the skin and fold in half, wet the edges to seal.
12. Carefully lift it off the bench onto a square of non stick paper.
13. Steam for 10mins until the skin is translucent.

Singapore Chilli Crabs

This is the ultimate seafood dish. You adjust the the chillies according to how much heat you can handle. I made this for my husband's birthday recently. Have plenty if bread available to mop up the yummy sauce. This is a dish to enjoy with close friends and families as it gets messy.

The recipe below is my adapted easy version for home cooks.

Ingredients:
3 blue swimmers or 1-2 mud crabs
1 red onion or 5 shallots
3 cloves of garlic
2 cm knob of ginger
2 cm knob of fresh tumeric
3-6 long red chillies
2 stalks of lemon grass (use only the white bits and chop first)
2 tbsp curry powder
3 stalks of spring onions, cut into 4 cm batons
2 tomatoes cut into quarters
10 curry leaves
1 egg lightly beaten
3 tbsp of corn flour or plain flour
dash of pepper and salt
2 tbsp of sugar
5 tbsp of tomato ketchup
1/2 cup water
3-4 stalks of coriander, roughly chopped
Juice of 1 lime

Method:

1. Pound or blend onion, garlic, ginger, tumeric, chillies and lemon grass in a food processor.
2. Clean and chop crabs into portions.
3. Dust with flour, pepper and salt.
4. Deep fry until flour coating is crisp but the crabs not entirely cooked through. 
5. Drain oil from wok. (Steps 3-5 can be skipped if you're time poor or prefer not to do any deep frying)
6. Put 2 tbsp of clean oil in wok.
7. Saute the onion paste until it splits. Add  curry powder and saute for another minute.
8. Add the spring onions, curry leaves and tomatoes and stir fry.
9. Add 1/2 cup of water, tomato ketchup, sugar and bring it to boil.
10. Stir in the crabs until all coated in sauce.
11. Add in the egg at the end to thicken the sauce. Watch that you don't overcook the crabs.
12. Squeeze in the lime juice.
13. Sprinkle the coriander over the top.

Glutinous Chicken Rice 糯米鸡

This is my adapted version of the famous Loh Mai Kai. I wanted to try making this in the pressure cooker.

Here's my recipe.

Ingredients:
11/2 cups glutinous rice soaked for at least 2 hours, wash and drain well
1 handful of dried shrimp (washed)
300g of chicken thigh cut into cubes
6 dried Shitake mushrooms soaked and cut in halves
2 dried chinese sausages thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic
2 cm knob of ginger, grated
2 tbsp of cooking oil
1/2-1 cup of water


Marinate:
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp thick dark soy sauce
1 tbsp chinese cooking wine
1 tbsp sesame oil
A pinch of white pepper and salt


Method:

1. Marinate the chicken meat.
2. Heat wok and oil.
3. Sear the chicken meat, then add the shrimp, ginger, garlic and rice.
4. Stir until all the rice is coated with oil.
5. Add the mushrooms, sausages, the remaining marinate and some water.
6. Stir till the soy has evenly coated all the rice.

     

Place in a bowl and steam until the rice is cooked (about 45 minutes) or place bowl in pressure cooker on a trivet with 2 cups of water for about 12 minutes. 

This recipe makes two large bowls, you can use small rice bowls to make individual portions or wrap in lotus leaves for authenticity.