Colourful Minature Tang Yuan

Wow! When you look at these I am sure you will be wondering what is these? Can these be eaten? This is actually our traditional no filling Tang Yuan which came in White and Pink in colour. But then my dear friend Tracy was telling that to make it more colourful for kids. So I also decided to make some colourful dough and do it with my dear reyon.


The dough is pretty easy to prepare as you only need to add colour water to the glutinous rice flour and stir well to become a dough. I made very little tang yuan which sort of like the size of a marble or slightly bigger so that you will feel like eating more of the wonderful colours.

I also pre-boiled a pot of Red Date Longan Water with extra Ginkgo Nuts to go with the boiled tang yuan. These are really an easy to made dessert with kids and I am sure they will enjoy both making and eating it.....

Ingredients:
50g Glutinous Rice Flour, 糯米粉
1 Teaspoon Potato Starch, 生粉
45-50ml Water + Food Colouring

Methods:
1. Place the flour and potato starch in a mixing bowl, slowly add in colouring water.
2. Stir with a chopstick and knead into a smooth dough.
3. Pinch a bit of the dough and roll it into round shape according to the size that you prefer.

Note:
a) You just repeat with the above steps with different colour or favour water to make the colour dough.

Assorted Favour Jellies

First of all I would like to thank one of my good blogger friend Tracy for contributing two of her new creations to this blog. She is someone who loves all kinds of dessert and she is very innovative in creating her very own dessert using whatever ingredients she can find in her kitchen pantry. Like from those Assorted Agar Agar you can see she actually takes the time to boil the Dried Longan with Peng Da Hai to make the Ching Teng Favour. I can said, when comes to dessert Tracy really gives me a lot of wonderful ideas. Thank Pal for all the ideas and support.

The word agar comes from the Malay word agar-agar (meaning jelly). Agar is usually sold as packaged strips of washed and dried seaweed, or in powdered form. Raw agar is white and semi-translucent. For making jelly, it is boiled in water at until the solids dissolve, after which sweeteners, flavoring, coloring, and pieces of fruit may be added. The agar-agar may then be poured into molds or incorporated into other desserts, such as a jelly layer on a cake.



Japanese konnyaku jelly is made by mixing konnyaku flour with water and limewater. Without additives for color, konnyaku is pale white. It is then boiled and cooled to solidify. Konnyaku has almost no calories but is very high in fiber. Thus, it is often used as a diet food.

This Dried Fruits Konnyaku Jelly is something that is interesting from her. Because usually we add can mixed fruits or fresh fruit in it, I had never eaten this type of jellies with dried fruits added. So I am actually very keen on trying out the Sour Plum Favour type. So I am going to look for a suitable Sour Plum from Umeya to test this out. According to her, you just need to cut the dried fruits into smaller pieces then put into the jelly mould and cook the konnyaku according to packet instruction and pour into the mould set it in the fridge when cool over night or for a few hours to let the favour developed.

Ginger Milk Custard

Those who like to have a bowl of dessert after meal might had already known this simple homemade dessert. It's a very famous HK sytle dessert which is pretty easy to make. You only require simple ingredients like Fresh Milk, Ginger Juice & Sugar.


Since today I had an early dinner, I decided to whip up a one person share portion for this dessert. You can make it into small tea cup size or small soup bowl that suits your own liking.

Ingredients:(serve 1 or 2)
140ml Full/Low Fat Fresh Milk
1/2 Tablespoon Fresh Grated Ginger Juice
1/2 Tablespoon Sugar

Methods:
1. Bring the milk to the boil, reduce to low heat, add in sugar and continue to cook for another 2 minutes.
2. Set aside for a while(about 2-3 minutes).
3. Pour the milk between 2 cups for about 10 times.
4. Put ginger juice into bowl or tea cups then pour in the milk from about 8" height over the bowl.
5. Do not jiggle the content until it set(about 5 to 10 minutes, depend on it's size).

Notes:
a) Bring the milk to the boil first before reducing to low heat. This makes it more thickened and easier to set.

Pandan Butter Cake

Saw this interesting cake from one of my blogger's friend Angie's "My Kitchen:My Laboratory" blog. I was captured by that lovely jade green of her Pandan Butter Cake.


This cake is so different from our usual Asian Pandan Cake which require Coconut Milk/Cream as one of the Main Ingredients. In her recipe, she replace the coconut milk with plain unsweetened yogurts which make it much healthier. So I suggest for those who likes pandan cake but afraid of the coconut milk content, you should give this recipe a try.

It's really something different from an afternoon tea-break. The colour of my cake is slightly darker than her because it add in a bit more pandan essence colouring to make it more greener. :)

Yam Paste With Pumpkin & Ginkgo Nuts

Or Nee(Yam Paste With Gingko Nuts) is a must dessert for Teochew People during the Chinese New Year. So this year I decided to make some of this to share with my friends who came over for New Year gathering.


I cook and mashed the yam then stir-fry it with oil and top with Mashed Pumpkin, grated water chestnut, sugar ginkgo nuts and drizzle with some coconut cream.

Ingredients:
500g Skinned Yam, cubed
50-60g Caster Sugar
30ml Vegetable/Fried Shallot Oil

Methods:
1. Steam yam for 30 minutes or until soften before mashing.
2. Heat oil in a wok, then add mashed yam and sugar.
3. Stir well and cook over low heat until not sticky.

Topping:
20-25 Vacuum Pack Gingko Nuts
1 Tablespoon Caster Sugar
2 Water Chestnuts, grated
100g - 150g Skinned Pumpkin, cubes
1 1/2 Tablespoons Coconut Cream

Methods:
1. Wash and pat dry the gingko nuts then marinate it with 1 tablespoon of caster sugar for about 10 minutes.
2. Steam the pumpkin cubes over medium heat for about 15 - 20 minutes until soft then mash it using a fork and set aside.
3. Scoop cooked yam paste into a bowl or plate with depth then arrange the sugar gingko nut around it and place the mashed pumpkin in the middle and top with grated water chestnut.
4. Steam it for 15 minutes then drizzle the coconut cream on top and steam for another 5 minutes on medium heat.
5. Serve either hot or warm.

Notes:
a) If you prefer sweet taste then add more sugar or else you can reduce the sugar amount.
b) You can either used those vacuum pack gingko nuts found in leading supermarket or you can used those dried type one.
c) You can omit the pumpkin and water chestnut if you don't prefer them.

Ikan Bilis Yong Dao Fu

Have you ever tried the "Xiu Ji Ikan Bilis Yong Tau Fu( 秀记江鱼仔酿豆腐)" which located at #02-220/1 Chinatown Complex, Blk 335 Smith Street? The food is served in two bowls , one bowl containing six pieces of niang tou fu consisting 3 pcs of fishball , 1 pc tou fu , 1 pc tow pok and a mini ngoh hiang , all freshly steamed at the stall daily except for the ngoh hiang (fried ) in a ikan billis based soup . The other bowl will be your choice of noodle , kway-teow or bee hoon served dry with deep fried ikan billis topping with minimal oil . The chilli is grinded in heavy garlic served in a dish . All these for a mere S$ 2.00 . Give it a TRY .

Pitted Cherries Cheese Slice

Since some of my relatives and Mum's friends love to eat cheesecake. I decided to make this Pitted Cherries Cheese Slice for New Year Dessert.


It pretty easy to make as it only required stir and double-boil to melted the ingredients the pour over the base and keep in the fridge for a few hours. For the top layer, I used some Grand Mariner to replace Kirsch Liqueur because I don't have that at home.

Ingredients For Crust:
150g Chocolate Oreo Cookies, crushed
120g Butter, melted
30g Walnuts, toasted and chopped

Methods:
1. Combine all ingredients and press into a 8" loose base square baking tin and chill in the fridge for until firm.(about 20 minutes)

Ingredients For Filling:
250g Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Soften
140g Sugar
150g Sour Cream
200ml Non Dairy Whipped Cream
4 Tablespoons Full Cream Fresh Milk
2 Tablespoons Gelatine Powder
2 Teaspoon Lemon Juice
1/2 - 3/4 Canned Dark Pitted Cherries

Methods:
1. Double boil and whisk the cream cheese, sugar, sour cream and whipped cream together until smooth.(you will see some tiny lumpy cheese in the mixture but it will not affect the texture)
2. Dilute the full cream milk and gelatine powder into a double boiler until it gelatine dissolved.
3. Add diluted gelatine into the cheese mixture then follow by lemon juice and stir well.
4. Remove the chocolate base and arrange the dark pitted cherries onto the crust.
5. Slowly pour over cheese mixture and chill in the fridge for about 3 hours.

Ingredients For Top Layer:
150ml Syrup From Dark Pitted Cherries
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Tablespoon Gelatine Powder
160ml Water
1/2 Tablespoon of Grand Mariner

Methods:
1. Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook(except the liquor) with low heat until gelatine has dissolved.
2. Leave to cool, add in the Grand Mariner, mix well then spoon mixture onto the chilled cake.
3. Put back into the fridge for another 3 hours or over night.

Notes:
a) Removed the cream from the Oreo Cookies before crushing it.
b) You can used a 8" square mousse tin and wrap the base with aluminium foil and place it on a cake board.

Steam Cod Fish & Double Boil Frog Soup

This is another way of eating cod fish which can enhance it's origin favour as well as giving supplement to the body. Because of the grated ginger to expel wind, black fungi to increase the fluidity of the blood and improving circulation while rice wine kept the body warm.


Ingredients:
1 Piece Of Cod Fish(250g - 300g),雪鱼
5g Black Fungi(云耳), soaked till soft
1/2 Tablespoon Gou Qizi(枸杞子), rinse
1 Tablespoon Grated Ginger
3 Tablespoons Glutinous Rice Wine(黄酒,糯米酒)
1/2 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce

Methods:
1. Saute the ginger over a low heat with 2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil in a preheated pan until golden browned. Remove and set aside.
2. Washed and trim the soften black fungi and set aside.
3. Rinse the fish and pat-fry, season with glutinous rice wine and soy sauce then arrange on a heatproof plate.
4. Arrange the black fungi and gou qi on the side of the fish, top with pre-fried ginger and drizzle some ginger sesame oil on the fish.
5. Steam over high heat for 10 - 15 minutes until cooked through depend on the thickness of the fish.
6. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

This soup was abit uncommon, as we usually eat Frog that is Stir-fry with spring onion and ginger(姜葱田鸡), Stir-fry Frog in Gong Bao Sauce(宫保田鸡) or Frog Porridge(田鸡粥). So this Double boil frog with herbs is a rather new combination that using pork ribs or chicken.

Ingredients:
2 - 3 Whole Frog(田鸡)
50g Black Beans(黑豆)
6 - 8 Red Dates(红枣)
4 Slices Of Dang Gui(当归)
1/2 Tablespoon Gou Qizi(枸杞子)
5g Dried Longan(龙眼干)
800ml - 900ml Boiling Water

Methods:
1. Soak the black beans into water for at least 2 hour, remove and drained then set aside.
2. Rinse the frogs and blanch into boiling water for a while, remove and place into a double boiler, add in black beans and the rest of the ingredients(remember to rinse the herbs before using).
3. Pour in boiling water, covered and double-boiled over a low heat for about 2 hours.
4. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

Notes:
a) This soup is abit sweet due to the Dried Longan, so if you don't prefer it to be sweet omit the adding the dried longan.
b) If you don't have a double boiler, you can put all the ingredients into a pot and place it in the slower cooker to double-boil over slow/auto heat for about 3 - 4 hours.

Osmanthus & Water Chestnut Kueh

Osmanthus is a highly perfumed flower, and it is well known that you can smell it nine miles away! It is a deliciously fragrant flowers which carry the scent of ripe peaches or apricots. In Chinese cuisine, the flowers are also used to produce osmanthus-scented jam (桂花酱), sweet cakes (桂花糕), dumplings, soups, and even liquor (桂花酒).


Usually when we went for dim sum during the weekend, my hubby will order the water chestnut kueh which he loves it alot. But then this is slightly different because of the Osmanthus fragrant infused into the kueh. It's rather a refreshing taste and it's up to individual whether you like that peachy or orange fragrant. Thanks Mandy from M4M to share with us this recipe.

Ingredients:
100g Water Chestnut Flour
1/2 Tablespoon Potato Starch
800ml Water
2 Teaspoons Dry Osmanthus
60g Chopped Water Chestnut(about 4)
200g Rock Sugar
1 Teaspoon Oil

Methods:
1. Boil water and add osmanthus flower reduce heat to simmer for 3 minutes, add in the rock sugar and stir till dissolved.
2. Cover and infused for 5 minutes.
3. Transfer about 250ml of flower tea(without the flowers) to a medium bowl and let it cool in a pot of ice water.
4. Before adding in chopped water chestnut to the pot of HOT flower tea, remove 1/2 of the Osmanthus flower in it and set aside.
5. After the bowl of flower tea and cooled down, stir in water chestnut flour and potato starch and sieve it into the HOT flower tea solution.
6. Keep stirring the mixture on low heat until slightly thicken like gluey form.
7. Stir in the oil and turn off the heat.
8. Pour into a 8" greased square tin and steam on HIGH heat for 20 minutes. (remove the cover and wipe off water every 5 minutes)
9. Cool it and put in the fridge to chill and unmould.
10. Serve it chilled.

Notes:
a) You can get the water chestnut flour from most of the supermarket.

Mango Cheesecake

Hello...all my blogger friends who had given me support for coming to and from to visit this Tea-time Delight blog of mine. So sorry that that I had being neglected it for so long. After a long break, I had decided to try out those recipes that I had being piling up for testing.....Hope we can continue to share and exchange our Tea-time experience.


I saw this recipe from one of the library books that I had got hold. Immediately, I had marked out a few interesting and tempting recipes which I would like to try them out. First of all, I choose to try this Mango Cheesecake because I simply loves the taste and fragrant of Mango. This cheesecake is sort of light without those strong cheesy taste, it's also refreshing with the mango fragrant and consists of chewy and Q texture because of the Gelatine.

Ingredients For Biscuit Base:
120g Plain Digestive Biscuit, crushed
120g Salted Butter, melted
Filling:
250g Philadelphia Cream Cheese
250ml Dairy Whipping Cream
2 Egg Yolks
160g Castor Sugar
150ml Full Cream Milk
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
2 1/2 Tablespoons Gelatine Powder
5 Tablespoons Of Water
2 Mangoes, peeled and diced

Methods:
1. Combine the biscuit crumbs and melted butter while it is still hot and mix well.
2. Pour into a 8"(20cm) round spring form baking tin, press till firm and put into the fridge to chill for more than 1/2 hour.
3. Beat the cream cheese at medium speed until soft.
4. In another bowl, lightly beat dairy whipping cream at medium speed for 3 minutes then add it into the cream cheese mixture and beat till well combined.
5. Mixed gelatine powder and 5 tablespoons water and double boiled until dissolved then set aside.
6. Double-boil Egg yolks, caster sugar, milk and lemon juice until sugar dissolve(stir while double-boiling, because not to let it boiled).
7. Add in dissolved gelatine mixture into the egg mixture and stir till combine.
8. Pour the egg mixture into the cream cheese and beat well with a whisk. (don't worry if you see some lumpy cheese in the mixture it will not affect the texture)
9. Arrange the mango cubes onto the biscuit base and pour in cream cheese mixture. Put into the fridge and chill for at least 2 hours or over night.

Notes:
a) I used 100ml Full Cream Milk + 50ml Fresh Mango Juice to enhance the Mango flavour.