Showing posts with label Festive Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Festive Food. Show all posts

Monday 24 December 2012

Christmas Lunch At Parkroyal Beach Road, Plaza Brasserie

Last week of the year is always full of feasting, gathering and exchanging of gifts due to Christmas and New Year seasons.This year our family Christmas lunch is at Plaza Brasserie which is located at Beach Road near Golden Mile Food Centre and Golden Mile Complex.

We decided to have festive lunch instead of dinner so that we could take the time to enjoy the food and family bonding/chatting plus after which we could still go for last minute Christmas shopping or enjoy the beautiful Christmas lighting.

Friday 3 February 2012

Teochew Style Steamed White-spotted Rabbitfish

Pin It
Every year before and during Chinese New Year (CNY) period you would definitely be able to see this auspicious "White-spotted Rabbitfish(白肚鱼/拜年鱼)" available at all wet market fish stalls as well as the seafood sections at major supermarkets. These fish taste especially delicious during this season and they are also big in size and comes with roes that are particularly relished too.

Last year I have shared with you a similar Teochew style recipe known as "Pan-fried White Spotted Rabbitfish With Leeks"(recipe HERE) whereas for this year it would be the steamed version which consists similar ingredients.


TEOCHEW STYLE STEAMED WHITE-SPOTTED RABBITFISH


My dad used to cook this dish and according to my mum who taught me this recipe over our phone conservation, she mentioned that in order to maintain the texture and taste of the fish it would be good if I blanched it in boiling water before steaming. (in this case the fish is half cooked and it would not release so much water during steaming which will affect the texture of the meat)

So since I wanted to achieve what my dad used to cook for us, I follow my mum's suggestion and steps to dot and surprising it works well. My steamed white-spotted rabbitfish taste almost 90% like my childhood food. Now at least I have master another traditional food in our household which might comes in handy one of these days.


(serves: 2 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 10 minutes)

Ingredients:
2 Large White-spotted Rabbitfish(白肚鱼/拜年鱼)
2 Stalks Chinese Leek, cut into diagonally sections
2 Slices of Ginger
3 Garlic Cloves, finely minced
1 Tablespoon of Oil
1/2 Tablespoon of Oyster Sauce
50ml Water


Method:-
1. Clean and rinse the fish, cut a diagonal slit on the fish(refer to the photo stated no. 1 above) to shorten cooking time.

2. Add water to about 1/4 level of the pan and bring it to boil before blanched the fish for about 20 seconds on each side. Remove, rinse, pat dry using kitchen paper towel. Stuff the ginger slice into the stomach area(to get ride of the fishy smell) of each individual fish and set aside on steaming plate.

3. Next saute minced garlic with oil till fragrant, add in leeks and continue to fry for another 20 seconds, before adding in the oyster sauce and water.

4. Simmer the mixture over low heat for another 1 minute or so, remove and drizzle it evenly on top of the prepared fish.

5. Prepare a steamer with boiling water and steam the fish for about 7 minutes or till fish is cooked through. (can take reference from the eyes which would turn white and puffed out) Serve immediately with steamed rice or porridge.


Chinese New Year is almost coming to the end on 06 February 2012(the fifteen day) and I would be submitting my last CNY dish Teochew Style Steamed White-spotted Rabbitfish to this month Aspiring Baker #15 - Auspicious Dishes for CNY (January 2012) that is hosted by Wen of Wen's Delight.

Have a great weekend everyone! Cheers! Can't wait for our Chinese New Year Steamboat Gathering with all my foodie friends tomorrow!!!!

Wednesday 25 January 2012

Stir-fry Fu Gui Cai and Stuffed Mushrooms with Black Moss, Glutinous Rice Wine Chicken

Pin It
Time flies, today is the 3rd day of Chinese Lunar New Year and I am sure most of you have being busying with the house to house visiting plus feasting on the delicious New Year goodies and food. Even though nowadays we could easily ordered or enjoy a hassle free reunion dinner in restaurants but I believe there are still many housewives, mothers, grandparents and etc busying with the preparation of their signature dishes for reunion dinner.

I remember when I was a kid, I always look forward to Chinese New Year to feast on those "special" dishes that my dad would only cook during New Year. And although I am not a very good cook like my dad, every Chinese New Year I would still try to cook up one or two of my self concoct dishes for my family.


STIR-FRY FU GUI CAI AND STUFFED MUSHROOM WITH BLACK MOSS
富贵花开


For this year reunion dinner, I have prepared this quick and easy stuffed mushrooms with minced meat and black moss dish to serve together the auspicious greens known as Fu Gui Cai(富贵菜). To make it more colourful and appetising, I have also added gingko nuts and wolfberries to enhance the presentation.

I would be submitting this Stir-fry Fu Gui Cai and Stuffed Mushrooms with Black Moss dish to this month Aspiring Baker #15 - Auspicious Dishes for CNY (January 2012) that is hosted by Wen of Wen's Delight.


(serves: 3-4 | Preparation: 15 minutes | Cooking: 10 minutes)

Ingredients:
6 - 8 Dried Medium Chinese Mushrooms, soaked in hot water till soften
150g Minced Meat
10g Black Moss(发菜), pre-soaked in water
10 Gingko Nuts
1 Floret of Fu Gui Cai(富贵菜)
Some Wolfberries
1 Red Chilli, sliced
3 Slices Ginger
3 Cloves Garlic
1 Teaspoon Cooking Wine
1 Teaspoon Cornflour + 1 Tablespoon Water, mixed well

Seasoning:
1 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1 Teaspoon Cornflour
1/2 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
1/2 Cooking Wine
Dash of Pepper

Sauce:
100ml Water
3 tablespoons Oyster Sauce
1 Teaspoon Sugar


Method:-
1. Mix minced meat, black moss and seasonings together and set aside to marinate for at least 10 minutes if time permit.

2. Stuff about 1 tablespoon of the minced meat mixture into the pre-soaked mushrooms.

3. Preheat Happy Call pan with about 1 tablespoon of oil and fry the stuffed mushrooms for about 1 minutes each side or until cooked. (HCP close but don't lock) Remove and set aside.

4. Add in another 1 tablespoon of oil to saute ginger and garlic till fragrant before adding in the Fu Gui Cai (remove the leaves from the floret, reserved 1/4 of the last portion to act as flower), chilli and gingko nuts. Close the pan and let it cook for another 1 minute before giving it a quick stir and close the pan for another 30 seconds.

5. Next add in the cooked stuffed mushrooms together with the sauce mixture and give the mixture a quick sit-fry and simmer on low heat for another 30 seconds before removing the vegetables.(arrange the vegetables in the middle of the plate)

6. Lastly with the mushrooms and gingko nuts still remains in the pan, add in corn star mixture and cooking wine and wolfberries, mix well with all the ingredients.

7. Remove and arrange mushrooms on serving plate around the fu gui cai. You can also decorate the mushroom with the wolfberries shown above.


Note:-
~ If you prefer you could replaced the dried mushroom with fresh shiitake mushrooms.

~ Pick up other greens such as broccoli, xiao ba cai or etc according to your preference if fu gui cai is not available.

~ For more varieties you could also add in fish or prawn paste to the minced meat mixture.



GLUTINOUS RICE WINE CHICKEN
黄酒鸡


This Glutinous Rice Wine Chicken(黄酒鸡) is one of the traditional Hakka dish eaten during confinement or Chinese New Year. To cook this dish usually they would buy kampong chicken instead of the normal chicken and simmer it together with their homemade Glutinous Rice Wine. According to the Hakka this dish is good to replenish lack of blood due to fatigue, malnutrition, cold chills, irregular menstruation, anemia, postpartum weakness and etc.


(serves: 2-3 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 15 minutes)

Ingredients:
1/2 Chicken(about 600g), cut into bite sizes
1 Tablespoons of Sesame Oil
6 Slices of Ginger, cut into thin strips
200ml - 250ml of Glutinous Rice Wine
6 Red Dates, cut into thick slices
1/4 Teaspoon Salt

Marinade:
1 Teaspoon Cornflour
1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
1 Teaspoon Light Soy sauce
1 Teaspoon Cooking Wine

Method:-
1. Marinate the chicken with cornflour, sesame oil, light soya sauce and cooking wine for at least 10 minutes.

2. Preheat Happy Call Pan on low heat with sesame oil and saute gingers till fragrance(close but don't lock).

3. Add in marinated chicken and cook on low heat for 1 minute (closed and locked), flip the pan over and cook for another 1 minute.

4. Next flip the pan back, add in rice wine and red dates, locked the pan and simmer over low heat for about 8 - 10 minutes till the chicken is tender and cooked through.

5. Lastly add in salt to taste and serve hot.


Emmm perhaps you could also share with us which is your favourite Chinese New Year dish too :)

Friday 20 January 2012

Sweet and Savoury Longevity Noodles ~ 长寿面

Pin It
3 More days to Chinese Lunar New Year and everyone is busying with some last minutes shopping on clothing or groceries. Here in order to usher in wealth and good luck for the year of the dragon, I have prepared two auspicious "Longevity" noodles recipes to share with you.

And with these two noodle dishes I wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year that comes with many folds of blessing, health and wealth.


SWEET LONGEVITY NOODLES


Pin It
Longevity Noodles(长寿面) is often eaten during Birthday or festive season such as Chinese New Year. And it is eaten to symbolise longevity together with a pair of hard-boiled eggs which representing fertility or life. There are many ways on preparing longevity noodles based on individual dialect groups and culture. Some might also use "Mee Suah/Mian Xian" ( 面线), Ee-Fu(伊面) noodles together with meat and etc to cook a sweet or savoury version.


(serves: 2 | Preparation: 5 minutes | Cooking: 20 minutes)

Ingredients: 
Half Packet (150g) of Handmade Red Noodle
4 Eggs
1 Knot of Pandan Leave
3 Slices of Ginger
Red/Brown Sugar to Taste


Method:-
1. To make hard-boiled eggs, bring fresh eggs and water to boil then simmer over medium low heat for about 8 - 10 minutes depending on your preference.

2. Using another pot, bring 1.2 litres of water to boil, add in ginger slices and pandan leave then let it simmer for about 5 minutes.

3. Meantime spread out the handmade red noodles and put it in boiling water for 1 minutes, stir occasionally. When soften, remove, rinse with water and drained well and divide into serving bowls.

4 Next add in shelled hard-boiled eggs and sugar to sweeten the soup(you can add in slightly more sugar as the noodles would balance the taste when added).

5. Lastly ladle the soup and eggs over the noodles and served immediately.


This quick and simple "Sweet Longevity Noodles" is something that my dad would prepared for me and my brother's Birthday during our childhood time. We have not eaten this for so long ever since we grown up and my dad passed away.

But today, suddenly I have this urge to replicate this dish which bought back many of my childhood memories. I guess nowadays the younger generation would find it hard to appreciate this traditional dish which might one day become extinct.


BRAISED EE FU NOODLES
(Cantonese-style Longevity Noodles)


Ee-Fu/Yi Mein(伊面) is one of the flat Cantonese egg noodles that is made from wheat flour and I am sure most of you are familiar with this noodle dish as it is a very common noodle dish served in most Chinese restaurant during special occasions such as wedding or birthday dinners. So in a way, this Cantonese-style noodle is also known as "Longevity" noodles too.


(serves: 4 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 15 minutes)

Ingredients:
1 Packet Dried Hong Kong Ee-Fu Noodles, about 350g
250ml Chicken Stock
4 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce
4 Tablespoons Dark Soy Sauce
2 Teaspoon Sugar
2 Tablespoons Cooking Oil
100g Small Dried Chinese Mushrooms, soaked till soften
200g Bean Sprouts, root removed
1 Bundle Yellow Chives, cut into sections
Splash of Cooking Wine(Hua Tiao Wine)
Dash of Pepper


Method:-
1. Bring a big pot of water to the boil and cook the noodles for about 5 minutes or until softened. Drained and set aside.

2. In a wok/frying pan, heat up 2 tablespoons of cooking oil and saute the mushrooms(squeeze dry) over low heat for about 3 minutes till fragrance.

3. Next add in the mixture of chicken stock, oyster sauce, sugar and dark soy sauce into the mushrooms and bring the mixture to boil.

4. Tip in the noodles and toss to coat with the sauce before tossing in the bean sprouts and yellow chives.

5. Give the mixture a good stir and if it dries up, add in another 50ml of chicken stock/hot water and simmer over low heat until most of the liquid has evaporated (about 5 minutes).

6. Lastly adjust the seasoning to taste, add in splash of cooking wine and pepper, serve immediately.

Note:-
~ You can replace dried Chinese mushrooms with fresh shiitake mushrooms.
~ Replace Abalone/Scallop Sauce with Oyster Sauce for better taste.


Lastly I am submitting this Braised Ee Fu Noodles dish to this month Aspiring Baker #15 - Auspicious Dishes for CNY (January 2012) that is hosted by Wen of Wen's Delight.

For more Chinese New Year recipes do hope over to my previous post HERE.

Wednesday 21 December 2011

Roast Chicken with Portuguese Seasoning for Christmas

Christmas is just 5 days down the road and everyone is busying preparing Christmas menu and bakes for the coming festive gatherings. This year Christmas is early for us as I have prepared a hearty Roast Chicken with Portuguese Seasoning together with some roasted vegetables for a hearty family meal.

My mum was excited while preparing this dish together with me in the kitchen as this is her first hands-on roasting dish. And she was surprised that it was actually so easy to get everything done within less than 10 minutes and just pop it into the oven and we could enjoy the yummy roast after 2 hours time.

Last two week my brother has bought back some of my favourite MasterFood Herbs and Spices during his holiday trip to Sydney. And these will come in handy for me to prepare some quick and hearty meal within short time. For this post I would be using Portuguese Chicken Seasoning which brings together the flavours of lemon and chillies to create traditional Portuguese Chicken at home and this sure come perfect during Christmas season.


ROAST CHICKEN WITH PORTUGUESE SEASONING


Nothing beats a Hearty Roast like this during Christmas season while you could enjoy quality time with family and friends and at the same time do away with a fuss free cooking hassle in the kitchen.

These are the 3 types of MasterFoods seasoning and herbs using in this recipe but you could always choice to use your desire brand of similar products.


(serves: 4 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 1 Hour 30 minutes)
Ingredients:
1.2 - 1.4kg Whole Chicken
1 Tablespoon MasterFoods Portuguese Seasoning
1/2 Teaspoon of Sea Salt
1/2 Tablespoon Olive Oil

Side Dish:
2 Medium Potato, peeled and cubes
300g Pumpkin, washed and cubes
1/2 Teaspoon MasterFoods Chilli Flakes
1 Teaspoon MasterFoods Italian Herbs
1/2 Teaspoon Olive Oil
1 Teaspoon of Soft Butter

Method:-
1. Trim the extra fats, emptied and cleaned the cavity, removed the head, neck and feet. Rinse and pat dry using kitchen paper towel.

2. Place chicken in a big bowl, brush olive oil evenly around the chicken before rubbing the Portuguese Seasoning all over the chicken include the cavity of the chicken and under the skin layers.

3. Sprinkle with salt and set aside in the roasting tray while preparing the side dish.

4. Mixed potato cubes and pumpkin together with the remaining ingredients(except butter) in a bowl and toss till well combined.

5. Stuffed some pumpkin cubes into the cavity and tie both kegs together with unwaxed kitchen string(can be found in Daiso outlets) and arrange the remaining vegetable mix at the side of the baking dish and top with dots of butter.(refer to the 6th photo above)

6. Place the chicken in preheated 180°C fan-forced oven and roast for about 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours or until juice run clear when thickest part of chicken is pierced with a skewer.

7. To get an nice even colour for the roast, turn the chicken around after 30 minuets interval during the baking time or basting chicken frequently with pan juice.

8. When done remove chicken from oven, cover it loosely with foil and stand for 10 minutes before serving it with steamed rice, pasta, or salad green.

This is my boy's portion of the roast chicken drumstick together with some roasted vegetables and steamed rice. Although we had added chilli flakes to the roasted vegetable but the taste was still mild as the sweetness of the pumpkin have yet blend in well with the seasonings.

Indeed this is a very simple and hearty meal which you could prepared anytime of the year even if it is not during Christmas. Here is another link of the roast chicken which I have prepared during last year's Christmas, Roasted Chicken With Brown Rice And Chestnut Stuffing.


YULE CHOCOLATE LOG



This year Christmas I have baked a Yule Chocolate Log which is something different from the previous years whereby we only had Gingerbread man, Christmas Cupcake and Fruit Cakes. This Yule Log is made with simple chocolate swiss roll recipe which used only flour, egg and sugar.

Do stay tune for the upcoming recipe soon. Cheers and enjoy the Christmas Roast!!!!

Wednesday 19 October 2011

{Halloween Special} Jack O' Lantern, Black Cat Pumpkin Soup, Eyeballs Fettuccine And Death By Chocolate

Halloween is the celebration typically held on 31st October each year where this date marked the end of the summer and beginning of the cold winter which was often a time of death. As usually this year you could also join in some Halloween event at some of the tourist attraction such as Universality Studios Singapore, Halloween Horror Nights(here), Sentosa Spooktacular (here), FrightFest@Singapore Flyer (here) and etc.

This is the second year (read last year post, here) I cooked Halloween theme dishes despite that we don't actually celebrate this festival. Same as last year I have cooked a creamy pumpkin soup but with fusion of Asian and Western ingredients. And for this year we have a set Dinner Menu that comes with salad, soup, pasta and dessert with Halloween theme decorated.

Saturday 25 December 2010

Roasted Chicken With Brown Rice And Chestnut Stuffing

  Today is Christmas and as a Christian we do value this special and meaning day in December Calender. For the past two years, our church has planned outdoor Christmas Party in the neighbourhood area so that more residents can join us to celebrate this special occasion at the eve of Christmas. So since today is a rest day for family gathering, I decided to try my hand on preparing my very 1st Christmas Lunch.

To be honest, I seldom prepared western dishes because I do not own many of those spices or herbs which we hardly used in our daily Asian cooking. And this Roasted Chicken Lunch that I prepared is also not a fully western dishes too. As when you read the rest of the post, you would notice that I replaced the usual herbs stuffing with brown rice and etc.

Here are some collage photos to show the ingredients and steps on preparing the Brown Rice Stuffing which is quite similar to what I did a few years back on the Baked Pumpkin with Rice Stuffing (link HERE).

Ingredients: (for 1 quantity)
1 Cup of Uncooked Brown Rice Mixture
2 Tablespoons of Frozen Green Peas
6 - 8 Whole Ready to Eat Roasted Chestnuts
1 Tablespoon of Mixed Fried Fruit/Golden Raisin
1 Teaspoon of Minced Garlic
1/2 Teaspoon of Minced Ginger
1/2 Tablespoon of Oil
Seasonings:
Dash of Pepper and Sesame Oil
1/2 Teaspoon Light Soya Sauce

Method:
1. Rinse the rice mixture two to three time then soak in water for about 30 minutes before cooking.(soaking the brown rice prior cooking can decrease the cooking time)
2. Cook the brown rice in rice cooker with the usual method and once it is cooked through stand it rice cooker for another 10 minutes.
3. Next scoop the cooked rice to a place and let it cool off to room temperature while preparing the ingredients for the fried rice and get ready the chicken.
4. When done, preheat a non-stick pan with 1/2 tablespoon of cooking oil, saute the minced garlic and ginger till fragrant then drop in green peas and give it a quick stir before adding the cooked brown rice.
5. Use the back of the spatula, loosen all the lumps of the cooked rice till grains are formed.
6. Stir-fry the rest of the ingredients such as chestnut and mixed dried fruits then follow by the seasoning till well mixed.
7. Transfer the rice mixture to a plate while handling the chicken.

Note:-
~ Mix 1/2 cup each of Brown Rice with normal Long Grain Jasmin Rice. (I do encourage you to try brown rice as it will give this dish a very nutty fragrant and taste)

This is the final Brown Rice Stuffing with Chestnut, green peas and dried mixed fruit mixture which is ready to be used. Since this is used as a Christmas theme stuffing you could realise that the colour that I used seems t be circling with green, red, golden and etc. I am sure this would be something new to you as to add dried mixed fruits into rice stuffing.

Here is another set of collage photos showing the ingredients of the roasted vegetables and steps on stuffing the chicken.

Ingredients For Roasted Vegetables: (Serves 4)
1 Medium Carrot, cut into 2cm thick chunks
2 Medium Potato, removed skin and cut into 6 chunks each
300g of Pumpkin, removed skin and cut into chunks
1 Fresh Sweetcorn, cut into 2cm thick ring, halves
Seasonings:
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1/2 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Peppercorns
1/2 Teaspoon of Dried Chilli Flakes
1/2 Tablespoon roughly chopped Coriander

Method:
1. Mixed all the vegetables together with the seasonings in a bowl and set aside while preparing the chicken.


Since I still have some Seah's Spices available from their complimentary gift (link HERE) set, I decided to use one of this "Seah's Salt-Roasted Chicken Spices" for our Christmas Roast Chicken Lunch. There are two small 20g sachets of spices in each packet where you can roast up to 2 chicken of 600g each.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)
1 20g Sachet of Spices(Seah's Salt-Roasted Chicken Spices)
1 Sakura Chicken, around 1kg size
1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil
1 Quantity of Prepared Brown Rice Stuffing
Prepared Vegetables Chunks for roasting

Method:
1. Before stuffing the chicken, trim the extra fats, emptied and cleaned the cavity, removed the head, neck and feet. Rinse and pat dry using kitchen paper towel.
2.Next brush the olive oil evenly around the chicken before rubbing the powder spices all over the chicken include the cavity of the chicken and under the skin layers.
3. Scoop the rice stuffing into the cavity and pressed tightly using the back of the spoon until all all or most of the stuffing are used up.
4. Place the stuffed chicken in a baking dish, secure the chicken thighs and wings to its body by using some kitchen string.
5. Arrange the prepared vegetables chunks around the sides of the baking dish and roast in a pre-heat 220 degree roast for about 20 minutes.
6. Remove the baking dish from the oven, quickly brush over another layer of olive oil all around the chicken and also give the veggies a quick toss before putting back to the oven to roast for another 20 minutes.
7. To get that nice and crispy outer skin, you can switch the oven function to fan-force mode on the last 7 - 10 minutes of cooking time.



In about 1 hour time, we could enjoy a hearty Christmas Roasted Chicken Lunch with rice stuffing and mixed veggies at our comfort home without need to eat in rush and wait for the festive season queues in the eateries. You can also re-heat some ready served chicken gravy pack or festive cranberry sauce from the supermarket to go with the roasted chicken.

This photo shows the inner cut of the roasted chicken where you can see the colourful brown rice stuffing in the cavity. The rice is so yummy and fragrant by the spices and juice from the roasted chicken too.

Roasted Chicken will be great to serve with Caesar Salad that consists of the crispy romaine lettuce and croutons which dressed with Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, olive oil and etc.You can easily prepared this by getting some fresh romaine lettuce and ready salad dressing pack from local supermarket such as Cold Storage.

This is the 1 person serving portion of our Christmas Lunch. Everyone enjoys this simple and wonderful meal with accompany of white wine and sparking drinks.

Although this year Christmas has almost come to an end in another few hours time but I would still like to wish everyone of my blog readers a wonder and blessed Christmas. Hope you have enjoy this festive season with your loved to ones and Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

And also I am submitting this post to "Aspiring Bakers #2: Christmas! (Dec 2010)", hosted by Passionate About Baking at this link HERE.


Friday 29 October 2010

Spooky Halloween Trick or Treat

What are you planning on this year Halloween which is just two days away on Sunday, 31 October 2010? This year there are a lot of exciting Halloween activities found in most tourist attractions such as Singapore Night Safari, Sentosa (spooky event) or even some restaurants or pubs are having Halloween parties and special dining menu to brings up the spooky atmosphere.

For this coming Halloween, I would like to share with you our quick and easy "not so" spooky Halloween treat which is the "Pumpkin Soup" and "Spooky Pizza".

Monday 29 May 2006

Making Nyonya Rice Dumpling

Every year during the "Five-month, Five-day" of Lunar calendar is known as the "Dumpling Festival". In Singapore, this traditional Chinese festival is celebrated by the eating of a variety of steamed glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves call "Zong Zi". Dumpling Festival (Duan Wu Jie) is also known as Dragon Boat Festival. It is celebrated in rememberance of Chinese poet Qu Yuan, who was a loyal official in the court of the Chu Kingdom in old China.

Fishermen who heard that Qu Yuan drowned himself in the river set sail on boats to look for his body When they could not find it, they threw rice wrapped in bamboo leaves into the river so that the fish in the river would eat the rice instead of his body. Thus began the tradition of dragon boat races (creating a din to scare away the preying fish?) and eating rice dumplings on Duan Wu Jie.

The usual local favourites of rice dumpling in Singapore are - Bak Chang(with salted egg), Nyonya, Mung Bean Rice Dumpling, Red Bean Rice Dumpling, etc. So for today we are making the Nyonya version which is towards the sweet side of Rice Dumpling.

The process of making Rice Dumpling can be consisted as tedious preparation. Because from the boiling,washing and soaking of bamboo leaves and strings to prepare all the necessary ingredients. It could take up to a few days to prepare ahead and after the wrapping up the dumpling, you still need to boil it in water for about at least 1.5 hrs to 2 hrs in order to get it cooked. But it's always good to make your own dumpling because you can add in whatever ingredients you prefer. I had include a short video clip for those who is interested in wrapping the dumpling, hope it helps.



Ingredients: (make about 35, depending on the size)
2Kg Glutinous Rice
1 Tablespoons Salt
3 Tablespoons Oil
3-4 Cloves Garlic
2 Tablespoons Bunga Telang Juice/Blue Food Colouring
12-15 Pandan Leaves,cut into 1.5" length

Methods:
1. Soak Glutinous rice for at least 3 hrs or overnight, drain and set aside.
2. Preheat pan with oils and stir-fry garlic till frangrant then add in the drained rice and stir for a few minutes then add in salt, stir till combined.
3. Divide the rice into 2 portions, mix 1 portion of rice with colouring then set all aside to cool.

Bamboo Leaves
50-60 Pieces Bamboo Leaves
3-4 Bunch of Hemp Stings

Methods:
1. Bamboo leaves and hemp strings have to be pre-treated in advance too.
2. Heat a large pot of water, when water starts to boil, place bamboo leaves and hemp strings in. Make sure bamboo leaves and strings are fully immersed in water.
3. Continue boiling for 5 minutes, turn fire off remove the leaves and strings.
4. Roughly wash them in water then soak it in a pail of water overnight.
5. Remove leaves and strings from water before you need to use them.

Fillings:
800g Pork Belly/Chicken
300g Candided Winter Melon
30g Dried Mushrooms,
150g Dried Shrimps
150g Dried Chestnut, optional
50g Chopped Garlic
200g Chopped Shallot

Seasoning:
2 Tablespoons Black Pepper
6 Tablespoons Coriander Seeds
2 Tablespoons Dark Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Sugar
Pinch Of Salt
8 Tablespoons Cooking Oil

Methods:
1. Soak the dried chestnut overnight and drained.
2. Soak dried mushroom and shrimps separately until soft.
3. Dice the mushroom finley then chopped the shrimp.
4. Cut pork or chicken into small cubes/thick strips.
5. Heat 8 tablespoons of oil in a wok, fry shallots and garlic until fragrant then add dried shrimps, chestnut and mushroom.
6. Fry further till fragrant, stir in pork and seasoning and fry till pork is cooked.
7. Turn off heat and add in candied winter melon and mix well and set aside to cool.

Notes: If you are making Bak Chang, then you can omit the candied winter melon and add in 1 /2 Tablespoons of 5 spices powder when frying the filling.

You can either cooked all the ingredients together or you can separate the chestnut, dried shrimp and meat & mushroom in 3 different sections.

Wrapping the Dumplings:
1. Overlap two bamboo leaves and fold into a cone.(wipe the leave if it's too wet)
2. Put 1 tablespoon colour glutinous rice, 1 tablespoon plain glutinous rice, 1.5 tablespoons of filling and another 1 tablespoon plain glutinous rice on top.
3. Press gently with a spoon and top with a small pices of pandan leaves and wrap dumpling into a pyramid shape.
4. Tie with a string.
5. Boil some water in a pot, add 2 tablespoons of salt to the water, put in the tied dumpling and cook over high heat for 1.5 - 2 hours until rice is cooked through.
6. Remove the dumpling and hang it up to drip away any excess water and you can leave it at room temperature over night or keep unfinished dumpling in the freezer for a few weeks.

Notes: The ingredients and taste of the fillings are depend on individual, you can add in different kinds of meats(eg: chicken instead of pork) or beans(black-eyed bean, mung bean or red bean) and even salted egg) according to your taste.

There is no bean, chestnut or salted egg for traditional Nyonya Rice Dumpling, but you can create any favour when you get the hand on how to prepare the filling and wrapping. Posted by Picasa


ShareThis