{Guest Post} Fruity Jelly by Anncoo Journal

For the month of October I am so excited to line-up a few wonder Guest Posts from different culinary aspect to share with you people. First let's us welcome Ann from "Anncoo Journal" with her gorgeous "Fruity Jelly" which would come in perfectly as a after meal dessert to delight your family or guests.

I get to know more about Ann's blog through Aspiring Bakers since 2010 where everyone of us get together to share (blog about) what we made through a monthly assigned theme. To me, Ann possess a great passion in both her culinary and photographing skill which reflect through her posts. Example:- just recently, she has created some lovely baked "piglets"(read more HERE) for this Mid-Autumn festival which you would definitely be amazed by her crafty fingers.

Now let's us take a look at her new creation for this guest post.

FRUITY JELLY

I've been a silent reader of Cuisine Paradise by Ellena before I started my own blog and I was thrilled when she approached me to do a dessert guest post on her blog. Thank you very much Ellena for giving me an opportunity to be a guest over at Cuisine Paradise.

Fruits have many benefits to our health and Singaporeans are very fortunate to get to taste various types of fresh fruits imported from all over the world at an affordable price. So today, I'm using blueberry from USA, golden kiwi from New Zealand and strawberry from Australia to make a simple Fruity Jelly with agar agar powder as dessert.

Here is the recipe....

Ingredients (A):

1 packet (13g) Agar agar powder
600ml Water
400ml Fresh milk
170g Sugar
2-3 pcs Pandan leaves, rinse and clean well, tie leaves into knots

Ingredients (B):
1 packet (13g) Agar agar powder
1000ml water 170g Sugar
2-3 pcs Pandan leaves, rinse and clean well,tie leaves into knots
Cut some fresh fruits(blueberries, golden kiwi and strawberries)

Method:-
Ingredients (A) 
1. Boil water, sugar and pandan leaves together for 5 minutes, keep stirring constantly at medium heat.

2.Off heat and pour in fresh milk and continue to stir the liquid for another 2 minutes.

3. Discard pandan leaves and pour liquid into serving glass until half full. Leave to set in fridge for about 10 minutes.

Ingredients (B) 
4. Rinse and set aside the cut fruits. (blueberries, diced golden kiwi and strawberries)

5. Boil water, sugar and pandan leaves together for 5 minutes, keep stirring constantly at medium heat.

6. Off heat and continue to stir the liquid for another 2 minutes. Discard pandan leaves.

7. Place fresh fruits into prepared glasses and pour (B) liquid into it.

8. Chill fruity jelly in fridge for few hours before serve.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks Ann for this wonderful Fruity Jelly post. If you want to read more about Ann's other recipes on making Jelly. You can refer to the link HERE.

Chocolate and Milk Pudding

This week I have invited Gertrude from My Kitchen Snippets to do a Guest Post for us on a delicious dessert which I am sure everyone would love it. I have follow her blog silently for about 2 years even though I seldom leave a note or two. From a glance at those labels you will be amazed with all the different kinds of her delicious homecook dishes/bakes which makes you drool. As for me I am always very excited whenever she post something related to "Asian Snacks" where I get to learn and see different food along the way. And if you are a dessert lover, don't forget to take a look at her "Dessert" recipes which you might find something interesting to whip up too.

So now let's welcome Gertrude and her homemade dessert which already makes me drool while drafting this post.

CHOCOLATE AND MILK PUDDING

I would like to thank Ellena for inviting me to do a guest post at her wonderful blog. Of course I was elated but at the same time, a little worried because so far I’ve only done one guest post for another blogger. Her blog is one of the very first Singaporean blog I visited when I first embarked into my blogging journey. I admired her skills in cooking, baking, creating Bento boxes and photography skills. Her blog is very popular and recently being nominated for Singapore Blog Award and has been features in Newspaper and magazines.

Since it is summer here and we are going through some heat waves she suggested that maybe I could prepared a cooling dessert or a quick and easy snack. I love the idea of making dessert using agar agar. Making this dessert is a bit time consuming but the end results is just beautiful. I hope you will try it out. Once again thank you Ellena for your kind invites.

Ingredients for the Chocolate Layers

7gram Agar Agar Powder
500ml Milk
150ml Water
170gram Sugar
25gram Dark Cocoa Powder
2 Egg Yolks

Method:-

1. Combined the agar agar powder and water and mix well. Cook it over low heat until agar agar powder completely dissolved.

2. Add in the milk, sugar and cocoa powder. Cook it over medium low heat until it boils and cocoa powder dissolved.

3. Beat egg yolks and slowly add in a few tablespoon of the agar agar mixture into it (tempering) Continue to stir and add in a few more tablespoon of mixture to it. Once it is mix pour the egg mixture back into the agar agar mixture.

4. Bring it up to a boil and turn off the heat. Check the sweetness if it is to your liking. Pour it into small moulds and let it set.

5. Once it is set, take out the pudding, cut out a few segments according to the mould design. Put alternate segments of the pudding back into the mould and leave some of it empty.

Ingredients for White Layers

7gram Agar Agar Powder
500ml Milk
150ml Water
80gram Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla

Method:-

1. Combined the agar agar and water and mix well. Cook over low heat until the agar agar powder completely dissolved.

2. Add in the milk, sugar and vanilla. Cook over medium heat until it boils. Remove from heat. Spoon the agar agar mixture into the empty sections of the moulds.

3. Let it cool completely in the fridge before serving.


~~~~~~~~~~~

Once again, thanks Gertrude for her wonderful guest post on this Chocolate and Milk Pudding dessert to cool us down on warm evenings. For more recipes on Gertrude's blog, you could refer to the link HERE.

[Durian Feast] Durian Pancake vs Durian Steamed Cake vs Steamed Durian Egg Custard

Despite of the hot and terrible humid weather going on for the past weeks I am still craving for these "Durian Treats" instead of some cooling stuffs like herbal jelly, ice kacang or cheng teng. Durian is one of my favourite fruit since childhood and I have use it to create many different recipes in this blog such as Durian Fried Rice, Double-boiled Durian Chicken Soup, Durian Chocolate Chiffon Cake and etc.

And in this post I will be sharing 3 quick and easy recipes on snack and dessert using Durian as one of the key ingredients. Do let me know which your favourite Durian Dessert!!!!

I am sure most of you love the Durian Pancake from either Four Seasons, Emicakes, Teng Yu (鼎优) or etc. To be honest I am also one of the fans from Four Seasons who loves their Durian Pancake and Durian Puffs. Here I would like to share a simple recipe where you can either make a thin and crispy or thick and fluffy pancake wrapper for your durian pancake.

Ingredients: (makes 6, 12cm diameter pancakes)
100g Plain Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Double Acting Baking Powder
200ml Thick Coconut Milk/Fresh Milk
1 Egg, 60g
70g Caster Sugar
Pinch of Salt

Filling:
200g Fresh Durian Pulp, seeds removed

Method:-

1. Sift plain flour and double acting baking powder together.

2. Beat egg and sugar until creamy and fluffy (about 3 - 4 minutes) before stirring in the flour mixture.

3. Next add in remaining ingredients, mix well to form a smooth batter.

4. Set batter aside in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

5. Heat up a non-stick pan, lightly grease it with cooking oil and add in 1 1/2 tablespoon of batter, swirl pan and cook the pancake skin over medium low heat. (for thin and crispy wrapper reduce to 3/4 tablespoon and swirl it as thin as possible)

6. Turn the pancake over when you see large air holes appearing on it(refer to the photo above) and cook for another 1 minutes or less depend on its thickness.

7. To serve, scoop some mashed Durian pulp onto pancake skin and fold into half to form semi-circle. Serve immediately or keep in the fridge for cold version.

*Note:-

~ If using Fresh Milk, reduce the amount to 150 - 180ml and stir in slowly to achieve pancake batter consistency.

~ You can prepare the batter the night before and use it for breakfast with other fillings such as jam, honey, peanut butter and etc.

Durian Pancake

On the other hand if you want something more filling for tea-time or morning breakfast perhaps you could consider making some of these Durian Steamed Cake using a packet of instant pancake flour mixture to whip up these soft and fluffy steamed cake in 15 minutes.

A few weeks back while looking around the food section at Daiso, I happened to see one of it's Japanese Recipe Books featured a similar steamed cake that I would to try using Japanese Pancake flour. So with my limited knowledge on Japanese words and the help of some photos illustration I managed try out the recipe translated before with this pancake flour shown above.

Ingredients: (makes 4)
100g Pancake Flour
1 Large Egg
3 Tablespoon Caster Sugar
2 Tablespoon Corn Oil
50ml Fresh Milk
Fresh Durian Pulp, toppings

The end result of these steamed cake are very close to FourLeaves, Japanese Steamed Cake texture which is light, soft and fluffy. And you can always mix and match with different ingredients such as Matcha, Cocoa Powder, Orange and etc.

Method:-

1. Using a balloon whisk, beat egg and sugar till foamy and pale (about 3 minutes).

2. Stir in Oil and Fresh Milk in sequence then follow by the pancake flour till well combined.

3. Lastly toss in 1 tablespoon of durian pulp, mix well. Spoon mixture into prepared foil/ramekins cups that are lined with paper liners.

4. Top each cup batter with some durian pulp and place the cups in steamer/wok(with boiling water in it), cover and steam over high heat for about 10 - 12 minutes(depending on the size) or until a skewer inserted into one of the cake and comes out clean.

5. Alternatively, you can add some corn kernels together with durian pulp as topping too.

Finally for something smooth and creamy, if remember a few months ago I have shared a recipe on the "Steamed Milk With Egg Whites"(recipe HERE) with toppings such as Purple Sweet Potatoes and Pumpkin. For this post I will be using a similar recipe to make a Durian version for all the Durian fans.

Ingredients: (serves 2)
200ml Fresh Milk
2 Large Egg White, (60g egg)
2 Tablespoons Sugar
100g Fresh Durian pulp
Extra Durian Pulp, for topping

Method:-

1. Add milk in a microwave safe bowl, heat on HIGH powder for 60 - 90 seconds (depend on microwave voltage) till milk is warm. Add in sugar and stir till dissolved. Set aside

2. Gently beat the egg whites till a bit frosty. Sieved it over a fine sieve into the milk mixture.

3. Give it a few stir using a fork or chopstick to mix well.

4. Place 1 to 1.5 tablespoon of fresh durian pulp into each rice bowl (size about 250 - 300ml) and use the back of a spoon gently press and spread out the durian pulp evenly in the bowl.

5. Next slowly sift in the milk mixture into each bowl. Wrapped it with microwave safe cling-wrap.

6. Steam over medium heat for 8 minutes, open the clear wrap, add extra durian pulp as topping then continue to steam on medium heat for another 1 - 1 1/2 minutes till slightly firm.

7. Remove from heat and serve warm or cold.

Above photo shows are my collection of recipes using Durian as one of the Main Ingredients. If you are interested to read more about it, you can click on the related link HERE. Lastly I hope you would like the 3 NEW Durian recipes above and do share with me your feedback if you try.

[Dessert] Sweet Potato Soup

I am sure you can easily find this common sweet soup available at most dessert stalls in Singapore. But are you willing to pay for the price ranging from  S$1.20 - S$2.50 just for a bowl of Sweet Potato Soup - 番薯汤 similar to this?

In fact you can cook this quick and easy sweet soup anytime of the day at your own comfort zone with just minimum ingredients required. But before you starts you have to take note of some tips to make it taste just as good as what you had from those dessert stalls.

The key point of this dessert is to control the sweetness of the soup and texture of the sweet potatoes. The soup base cannot be too bland or too sweet and as for the sweet potato it must not be overcooked or else it will be too soft and affect the overall taste of this dessert. And to enhance the taste of the soup, you can also add in a few slices of ginger and some dried longan for that extra spicy taste and fragrant.

Ingredients: (serves 4)
2 Orange Sweet Potatoes(番薯), peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 Japanese Potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
Cane Sugar To Taste
2 - 3 Slices of Ginger, optional
1.8 Litres of Water
5 Pieces Pandan Leaves, tie to knot

Method:-

1. Bring 1.8 litres of water to boil together with pandan leaves and ginger slices for about 3 minutes.

2. Add in all the potatoes and simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes or until soft.

3. Lastly add cane sugar and stir till dissolved.

4. Remove from heat, ladle into serving bowl and serve warm.


I simply adore this sweet potato dessert which brings back a lot of my wonderful childhood memories where my mum and I used to patron a dessert stall outside the cinema area where we used to visit after our show for late night supper.

[Dessert] Cheng Teng - 八宝清汤

Cheng Teng(清汤) is a common sweet dessert that can be made at home or purchased at any local dessert stalls. And depending on individual’s preference you can either have this dessert hot or cold. The ingredients of this dessert various from different stalls but the common ones are dried longan, barley, gingko nuts, lotus seeds and Pang Da Hai(胖大海) which is believed to be able to get rid of humidity and “heat” of the body.

Actually there is no specify ingredients to cook Cheng Teng, you can add or minus ingredients that you like/dislike depending on your preference. Here I have missed out some Agar Agar strips and Pearl Sago which I do not have in my pantry.

Ingredients: (serves 4)

50g Pearl Barley (薏米)
50g White Fungus (白木耳)
20g Lotus Seeds (莲子)
50g Dried Longan (桂圆肉)
80g Vacuum Packet Gingko Nuts (白果)
6 Red Dates (红枣)
4 - 5 Seeds of Pang Da Hai(胖大海)
2 Pieces Dried Persimmon (柿饼), cut into thin slices
Cane Sugar To Taste
2 Knots of Pandan Leaves(香兰叶)
1.8 Litres of Water

Method:-

1. Soak white fungus and dried lotus seeds separately in warm water for about 10 minutes till soften, trim into small clusters and discard the stem portion. Set aside.

2. Remove the green pith from the center of the lotus seeds to prevent bitter taste when cook.

3. Rinse the pearl barley for 2 to 3 rounds, set aside and bring 1.8 litres of water to boil in a medium pot.

4. When the water comes to boil, add in pearl barley and white fungus and continue to simmer over medium low heat for about 15 minutes.

5. While waiting for the barley mixture, soak pang da hai in warm water until the seeds split open, remove the outer shells and discard the water. Set aside.

6. Next add in lotus seeds, dried longan, red dates and gingko nuts together with pandan leaves and cooked for another 20 minutes or till ingredients soften.

7. Lastly add in cane sugar to taste, turn off the heat discard pandan leaves and add in prepared pang da hai and dried persimmon.

8. Serve either warm or cold.


Have you tried cooking Cheng Teng at home before? If you do perhaps you can share with us what's your method and the must have ingredients to make this sweet dessert.

[Dessert]Orr Nee With Gingko Nut And Pumpkin

Orr Nee(芋泥) is one of the traditional Teochew(朝洲) dessert which often eaten at a Chinese Wedding banquet that symbolises unity and happiness for the newly weds. Traditionally this dessert is made using Lard oil to stir-fry the paste till it appears smooth and glossy. I still remember vividly how my dad and granny used to cook this dessert only during occasions such as Lunar Chinese New Year or praying ancestors'  anniversaries.

Since from a child till now I always have special feeling and crave over this traditional dessert with it's smooth texture, sweet taste and shallot oil fragrant. But no matter how close I replicate this dessert towards my dad standard, I can never find back that special taste that my late father used to make.

If you remember in one of my previous post I mentioned that a few months long ago, I came across a food blog known as "Maameemoomoo(a 1/2 food blog) where the author self concoct a very unique cheesecake  known as "Orh Nee Cheesecake(recipe)" that makes me felt in love at first sight. So if you love this traditional Orr Nee dessert I bet you would love her Orh Nee Cheesecake too, furthermore it is not difficult to get your hands on those ingredients too.

But now, let's take a look on how to prepare this traditional Orr Nee dessert.

Ingredients: (serves 4)
400g Yam, skinned and cut into 1" cubes
50g Caster Sugar
2 Tablespoons Shallot Oil(recipe)

Toppings:
100g Mashed Pumpkin (refer to note below)
12 Gingko Nuts
60ml Coconut Milk

Method:-

1. In a prepared steamer, steam the yam for about 20 minutes or till soften before mashing it through a metal sieve.

2. As for the pumpkin, add about 1.5 Tablespoons of water to 120g of pumpkin cubes and steamed it over medium heat till soften. Mashed and set aside.

3. Next in a large frying pan/wok heat up shallot oil before adding in mashed yam and sugar, mix well and cook  over low heat till paste is not sticky.

4. Scoop the cooked yam paste into serving bowls, top with gingko nuts and steamed it over medium heat for about 15 minutes.

5. Remove the cover of the steamer, drizzle 1 teaspoon of coconut milk into each serving bowls, continue to steam for another 3 minutes.

6. To serve, top each bowl with mashed pumpkin and drizzle of shallot oil(optional).

Note:-

~ For this recipe, I use prepacked gingko nuts which I rinse, remove the bitter pith in the seeds then marinated it with 1 teaspoon of sugar before used.

~ If you don't wish to steam the coconut together with the yam paste, you can microwave it on HIGH, 40 - 50 seconds till lukewarm and serve it as a condiment with the yam paste.

Although from the ingredients shown above this dessert might look too sinful or unhealthy due to  its fats content but I guess having a small portion of it once in a while is still quite acceptable. And I think eventually some of these traditional food or dessert will vanished in near future as most of the younger generation nowadays don't really fancy all these traditional food compared to their trend on bubble tea, donuts, fast food and etc. 

[Healthy Version] Bubur Terigu - 大麦

Bubur Terigu/Bubor Terrigu also known as White Wheat Sweet Porridge is a common dessert that can be found in most dessert stalls in Singapore. Depending on individual stalls and personal preference you can use either palm sugar(gula malaka)/brown sugar/cane sugar to cook this wheat porridge together with some coconut milk/cream.

This is one of my mum's favourite hawker desserts which she always order when we are having our usual dessert break. Normally this is quite a heavy dessert due to the amount of coconut cream/milk used which some of us might not prefer even thought white wheat is good for our health. Here I have prepared a lighter version without stirring in the coconut milk/cream like most of the traditional method and it still taste as good as the usual one.

Ingredients: (serves 4)
100g White Wheat (Terigu), soaked at least 2 hour
1.2 Litres of Water
1 Bundle of Pandan Leaves, washed and tie into knot
Pinch of Salt
Cane Sugar to Taste

Toppings:
* Palm Sugar Syrup
Coconut Cream/Milk

Tips:-

To make the palm sugar syrup:-
1. Bring 2 cubes(about 200g) of Palm Sugar(Gula Melaka) together with a knot of pandan leaves and 80ml of water to boil.

2. Lower the heat and simmer till the palm sugar cubes melt and syrup slight thickened.

3. Remove pan from heat and sieve the syrup into a sterilised glass jar and cool completely before storing in the fridge.

Method:-

1. Bring 1.2 litres of water to boil in a saucepan(used my small Endo, thermal magic cooker), then add in the drain white wheat and let it simmer for about 7 - 10 minutes.

2. Remove the pot from stove and place it into the magic cooker, cover and let the wheat continue to cook through using the heat from the pot.

3. After 30 minutes, remove the pot and simmer it on low heat again for another 5 minutes together with pandan leaves.

4. When done, place the pot back into the magic cooker, cover and let it cook for another 15 - 20 minutes till the wheat became soften.

5. Remove the pandan leave and add in cane sugar/caster sugar to taste while simmer the pot on stove over low heat.

6. Turn off the heat, stir in pinch of salt and ladle into serving bowl and serving with coconut cream/milk and gula maleka syrup according to personal preference.

*7. If you are normal pot, simmer the white wheat with 1.3 litres of water over low heat for at least 40 - 50 minutes(add pandan leave 30 minutes later) till wheat soften. Stir in sugar to taste and serve with coconut cream/milk.


The inner pot of this magic cooker can be used on any stoves as well as on induction cookers which then helps to save time, gas or electricity and at the same time achieve perfect cooking too.

[Dessert] Bo Bo Cha Cha(摩摩查查)

Bobo (Bubur in Malay) Cha Cha is a popular Nyonya dessert make of coconut milk together with sweet potatoes, yam(taro) and colourful tapioca cubes.You can eat this dessert either warm or cold with shaved ice and they taste wonderful with a mixture of texture from the sweet potatoes and chewy tapioca cubes with luxury coconut milk base.

There are a few methods on cooking this Bobo Cha Cha dessert where you can put all the mixture together and simmer till cooked or steamed the sweet potato mixture separately while preparing the coconut soup base.

Ingredients: (serves 4)
1 Packet of Bobo Cha Cha Premix from Top Gourmet
1 Packet of Colourful Tapioca Flour Cubes
200ml Coconut Milk
Pinch of Salt
Cane Sugar to Taste
A Bundle of Pandan Leave, tied into knot
1 Litre of Water

Method:-

1. Prepare a pot of water and bring it to boil, add in the colourful tapioca flour cube, simmer over medium heat(stir on and off to prevent them from sticking to each other) till they float to the surface.

2. When they became translucent and cooked, drain well and transfer them into a bowl of cold water. Set aside.

3. Bring 1 litre of water to boil over medium heat, add in pandan leaves and simmer for about 5 - 7 minutes.

*4. At the meantime, rinse the sweet potato and taro cubes in two rounds before adding it into the prepared pandan water.

5. Simmer the sweet potato mixture till soften then add in cane sugar to taste.

6. Lastly, stir in coconut milk, salt and cooked tapioca flour cubes, keep stirring to prevent mixture from curdling. Remove from heat after it boils.

OR Alternative Way:
(Steaming Method)

*4. Rinse the sweet potato and taro cubes then steamed it over medium heat for about 8 - 10 minutes until cooked.

*5. Sweeten the pandan leave water with cane sugar then stir in coconut milk and salt, keep stirring to prevent mixture from curdling. Remove from heat after it boils.

*6. Place cooked sweet potato and taro in a bowl together with some cooked tapioca flour cubes.

*7. Ladle some hot/cold coconut milk mixture over it and serve.

[30 Minutes]Tau Suan With You Tiao(豆爽油条)

Whenever you walk into a local hawker center or foodcourt in Singapore, you can easier spot a stall or two selling variety of desserts such as Red Bean Soup, Green Bean Soup, Black Sticky Rice, Ginkgo Barley with Beancurd Sheet, Ice Kachang and etc. Tau suan(豆爽) is also one of the popular item on the list which is a sweet Chinese dessert made of split mung beans which are steamed till soften before being stirred into a pandan infused water then thickened with either potato or water chestnut flour.

Last two weeks so coincidentally I have received about 4 request on this Tau Suan recipe which I thought perhaps I could prepare with some step-by-step photos to share this all time favourite hawker dessert with more readers who is interested in preparing this at home.

This dessert is served warm with crispy sliced fried fritter (you tiao - 油条) and the texture is kind of like porridge consistency where the bean appears in clear thick liquid. Whereas mine was a bit overcooked because I left it in the thermal pot while running some errands before having it a few hours later.

[STEAMING METHOD]
Ingredients: (serves 2 - 4)
100g Spilt Green Bean (hulled mung bean, 去壳绿豆)
2 Knots of Pandan Leaves
1 Litre of Water
Cane Sugar To Taste
1 Pair of Fried Fritter (You Tiao, 油条)

For Thickening:
1/2 - 3/4 Tablespoon Potato/Water Chestnut Flour
100ml Drinking Water

Method:-

1. Soak mung beans for at least 30 minutes in lukewarm water till the bean slightly expand.

2. Drain well, steam mung beans with a knot or small pieces of pandan leaves for about 20 - 30 minutes on medium heat till soft.

3. While waiting for the mung beans to be cooked, in another pot bring about 1 litres of water to boil, add in a knot of pandan leaves together with cane sugar to taste.

3. When the bean is cooked and soften, add it into the prepared syrup water and slowly stir in the flour mixture (mix potato/water chestnut flour with water and give it a stir before adding to the soup) to thicken the water.

4. Turn off the heat and ladle into serving bowls and top with fried fritter/you tiao.

Other than the common way of steaming the mung beans I have learnt another new way from a video on YouTube by Mr KF Seetoh from Makansutra Cooking. He actually fried the mung bean(soaked and drained) with some caster sugar till caramelised before adding it into the pre-cooked pandan water. Then he sweeten the mixture with sugar and thickened it with water chestnut flour mixture before serving.  According to his method the whole process of cooking takes less than 30 minutes so if you are interested you can take a look at the video HERE with cooking instructions and recipe too.

[STIR-FRIED METHOD]
Ingredients: (serves 2 - 4)
100g Spilt Green Bean (hulled mung bean, 去壳绿豆)
2 Knots of Pandan Leaves
1 Litre of Water
1 Tablespoon Caster Sugar
Cane Sugar To Taste
1 Pair of Fried Fritter (You Tiao, 油条)

For Thickening:
1/2 - 3/4 Tablespoon Potato/Water Chestnut Flour
100ml Drinking Water

Method:-

1. Soak mung beans for 10 minutes in lukewarm water till the bean slightly expand. Drain well and set aside.

2. While soaking the mung bean, in another pot bring about 1 litres of water to boil, add in pandan leaves together and simmer for about 5 - 7 minutes till the water change colour. (refer to the photo above)

3. In a non-stick pan or pot, add in drained mung bean together with about 1 tablespoon of caster sugar and fry over medium low heat till the beans are fragrance and caramelised. (according to Mr Seetoh this process will held to firm up the beans while cooking) Turn off the heat and set aside.

4. Remove the pandan leaves from the water, add in the cooked beans and simmer on medium low for about 5 minutes then season it with cane sugar/caster sugar to taste.

5. Lastly lower the heat and quickly stir in the potato/water chestnut flour mixture to thickened it.

6. Turn off the heat and ladle tau suan into serving bowls, top with fried fritter/you tiao and serve.


Overall I preferred the second method where you stir-fried the mung beans with caster sugar to caramelise it for that extra fragrance and colour. And it also speed up the cooking process without the need to pre-soak and steam the beans for at least an hour or so. And in this way, you can easily cook your favourite Tau Suan at anytime of the day in just less than 30 minutes time. If you can't find fried fritter/you tiao in the middle of the night you can always replace it with some ready to eat frozen prata sheet which can be reheat in a couple of minutes. So which method do you prefer, Steaming or Stir-fry?

Once again, thanks for all your "BUZZ(s)" and support friends. Tau Suan With You Tiao(豆爽油条) post has make it to FoodBuzz Today's Top 9, 20th April 2011.(Here)

Featured On: FoodBuzz Today's Top 9, 20th April 2011.(Here)