Showing posts with label Tea-time Snacks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tea-time Snacks. Show all posts

Monday 27 February 2012

Homemade Muah Chee In 15 Minutes

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Muah Chee which also known as "麻糍" is a very common street food found in local Pasar Malam(night market) which cost about S$1.00 - S$2.00 per box. Since young this has being one of my favourite local snack other than Popiah(spring roll) and Nonya Kueh.

And from what I heard from the older generation they used to make "muah chee" by steaming the glutinous rice flour mixture rather than those shortcut methods that was invested using some modern kitchen gadget such as microwave. So with easy to follow recipe(s) and modern gadget(s) it is not difficult to make our own homemade muah chee as when we like.


MUAH CHEE
(麻糍)


Here with the help of my Happy Call Pressure Pan(HCP) I could easily make my favourite muah chee anytime of the day in less than 15 minutes time. You could control the texture of the muah chee from the amount of water use. For example; to achieve a softer texture the ratio of flour and water will be 1:1 whereas if you prefer more "Q(chewy)" texture you could reduce the water from 1 to 3/4 cup. If you are looking for new flavour you could also add in 1 - 2 tablespoons of black sesame powder into the glutinous rice flour and stir till combine with water.

This is the sample of the peanut powder that I used for making this Muah Chee, you can read more about this HERE.


Chinese version of this post and recipe is available at this link HERE.

(Serves: 2-3 | Preparation: 5 minutes | Cooking: 5-7 minutes)

Ingredients:
1 Cup Glutinous Rice Flour
3/4 - 1 Cup Water
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
1.5 - 2 Tablespoons Shallot Oil/Cooking Oil

Peanut Coating:
1.5 Cup Peanut Powder
1 - 2 Tablespoons Caster Sugar, optional
1 Tablespoon White Sesame Seeds, optional


Method:-
1. Prepare shallot oil either using microwave method(HERE) or directly from the HCP. (saute 4 thinly sliced shallot with 2 tablespoons of oil in HCP over low heat till golden brown, remove the shallot and leave the oil in the pan)

2. Place glutinous rice flour and sugar in a mixing bowl, slowly stir in water with a whisk till well combined.

3. With HCP on medium low heat together with the shallot oil, slowly swirl in the flour mixture and stir it using a wooden spoon/chopstick or spatula till it begins to form a soft dough.

4. Lower the heat and continue to toss and cook the dough for another 3 - 5 minutes (depending on the heat) till the dough is smooth and slightly transparent on its surface. Remove and set aside on a oiled plate/container.

5. Using kitchen paper towel, wipe off the oil from the HCP and add in the sesame seeds. Toss it over low heat for about 2 minutes(stirring in between) before adding the peanut powder and stir till fragrant(another 2 minutes or so). Set aside to cool for about 3 minutes before stirring in the caster sugar and mix well.

6. Transfer the cooked glutinous rice dough to the peanut mixture, toss well and cut it into bite size pieces and serve.

Lastly if you don't have any HCP or non-stick pan but would like to try making this Asian snack, you could either use the Microwave Method from Little Teochew website(HERE) or Steaming Method at Anncoo Journal(HERE). I am sure either one of this would enable you to have some decent homemade Muah Chee for family gathering or party.

Saturday 28 January 2012

Caramel Popcorn

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Popcorn or popping corn is corn (maize) which expands from the kernel and puffs up when heated. There are many techniques for popping corn from either normal kitchen pan/pot, microwave to large scale popcorn machines. Usually Popcorn is eaten in movie theatres that served in choices such as salted or sweetened. But now instead of having it only in the cinema, we could also easily make them at home or purchase in major supermarkets.

About a year ago "Garrett Popcorn" which is a chain of popcorn outlets open it's first outlet in Resort World Sentosa and now they have many other outlets located in Singapore too. (detail HERE). I love their Caramel Flavour with Macadamia Nuts where I could enjoy my favourite nuts and popcorn coated with delicious caramel.


CARAMEL POPCORN


My boy prefers popcorn which is sweeten like those sold in the "cinema" compared to those available in the commercial shops (either nuts, chocolate,  cheese, colouring and etc). And since it is pretty easier to make "popcorn" at home using minimum ingredients and a cooking pot (or home type popcorn machine), we always "pop" some whenever we crave for them.


(serves: 4 | Preparation: 5 minutes | Cooking: 10 minutes)

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
1/2 Cup Corn Kernel

Caramel Sauce:
1/4 Cup Honey
1/4 Cup Golden Syrup
3/4 Cup Caster Sugar
100g Butter Chopped


Method:-
1. Line a big baking tray with baking papers, allowing 2cm overhang at long ends.

2. Heat oil in HCP(or any cooking pan) over medium heat. Add 2 - 3 corn kernels to test the heat. (Oil is hot enough when corn turns slowly in a circle)

3. Add remaining corn, cover and lock the pan(if using HCP). Shake pan gently when corn starts popping.

4. Remove from heat when corn stops popping. Transfer to a bowl and discard un-popped corn.

5. To make Caramel Sauce:- Clean the pan using kitchen paper towel after removing the popcorn. Place honey, golden syrup, sugar and butter in the pan. Stir and cook over very low heat for about 6 minutes or until sugar dissolved.

6. Next bring the mixture to boil without stirring for another 5 minutes or until light golden.

7. Work quickly, pour mixture over popcorn and stir to combine. Rest caramel popcorn in prepared lined baking tray to cool completely.

8. Break into pieces and served or stored in air-tight containers.


Although this recipe is done using Happy Call Pan (HCP) but you still can apply the same method using any heavy duty pan/pot to achieve the similar results. Have a lovely weekend everyone!!! Cheers!

Monday 28 June 2010

PinkyBerry High-Tea

This will be a long post that consists of 3 short recipes that might come in handy for any teatime treat. Since recently there is a lot of fresh and nice strawberry available at the supermarket, I really cannot resist the temptation to get a box too. And moreover, I also wish to do a post of “PINKY” theme whereby I can include a few short and sweet recipes for my guests. So here you go…….. welcome to my “PinkBerry High-Tea”……

For starter, let's have a cup of Berry Smoothie to cool down from the summer heat. Smoothie is a blended beverage made from fresh fruit (fruit smoothie) or vegetables. In addition to fruit, some smoothies might include crushed ice, frozen fruit, honey, yogurt or fresh milk. This "Berry Smoothie" here is pretty easy to whip up, what you require are:- fruit blender, some strawberries, honey(optional) and fresh milk.

Ingredients: (serves 2 - 3)
5 - 6 Medium Size of Strawberries
200ml of Strawberry Milk
50ml of Fresh Milk
1/2 Tablespoon Honey, optional

Method:
1. Rinse and trim the strawberries, cut it into halves then blend it together with fresh milk and honey till smooth and creamy.
2. Transfer it to serving cups and top with extra strawberry slices as garnish.

Note:
~ You can use mixture of strawberry & plain milk or either one type for this smoothie.

Chocolate usually goes pretty well with strawberry as it perfect it with an extraordinary flavour. It is not difficult to make this beautiful treats, but you may take a bit of practice on how to dip and yet not drop the strawberries in the melted chocolate.

After our Berry Smoothies, let's have some Chocoberry to start off this afternoon high-tea. These are some easy to make and yet presentable sweet treats whereby you can impress your guest with different kind of decoration design. I am sure this will help you to score more points no matter your guests are Kids or Adults, they will definitely loves these.

Ingredients: (serves 3 - 4)
8 Medium Strawberry
80g 70% Dark Chocolate
30g White Chocolate
Some toothpicks, optional

Method:
1. Gently rinse the berries with tap water then spread them out on a clean dish towel to dry
2. Dry completely before you start dipping and make sure not a drop of water should be left on the berries.
3. Chop/break the dark chocolate bar into small pieces, put the chocolate pieces in a small microwave safe dish.
4. Melt chocolate in the microwave, for about 1 minute at 20 minutes interval on medium power. (Give a quick stir at each interval to even out the melting process)
5. If it still did not melt, continue melting in 15 second increments in the microwave. Stir the chocolate. It should be smooth and have no lumps.(because sometime it depend on the voltage of your microwave)
6. Once the chocolate is melted, start dipping by cover about 2/3 of the strawberry with chocolate.(this looks prettier than covering the entire strawberry)
7. Put the dipped berries on some greaseproof paper and set them in the freezer for about 5 to 10 minutes before decorating it with the white chocolate.

Note:
~ If you are having difficulty holding the strawberry, skewer it just under the green bit with a toothpick just like what I have done in the photo shown above.
~ If you don't prefer white chocolate, you can used chopped nuts, shredded coconut, colour bits and etc to decorate your chocoberry.
~ These Chocoberry should be stored in the refrigerator and eaten at room temperature within 24 hours.


For snack, we will be having this “Strawberry Cupcake” which is made from Strawberry Milk and freshly diced Strawberry. The texture of the cupcake will be slightly moist due to adding of fresh strawberry and when put it near your mouth; you will be able to smell that sweet and fragrance strawberry milk aroma in it.

This simple recipe can bakes about 8 mini cupcakes within 30 minutes including the preparation and baking time. In this way, you can get everything ready and bake it just a few minutes before the guests arrive. I am sure they will be impressive by your little healthy “Strawberry Cupcake”.

Ingredients: (makes 8 mini cupcakes)
100g Cake Flour/Top Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
60g Caster Sugar
50g Butter, melted
1 Medium Egg
30ml Strawberry Milk
3 Medium Strawberry, diced
Extra Slices of Strawberry for topping, optional

Method:
1. Sieved the flour and baking powder together and set aside.
2. Use the electric beater, beat the egg and sugar till white and creamy.
3. Slowly add in the melted butter and continue to beat the mixture.
4. Next add in strawberry milk while the mixer still still beating, then gradually beat in the sieved flour mixture till well combined.
5. Use a spoon or spatula to stir in the diced strawberry and carefully not to over mixed it. (don't worry the mixture will be kind of gluey)
6. Spoon the mixture into the cupcake case till 3/4 full, top with a thin slice of strawberry and bake in a pre-heated 180 degree oven for about 15 minutes.
7. The surface of the cupcake will not be golden in colour so do not over baked it, test it with a skewer or toothpick check whether the center is cooked through.

Note:
~ You can replace Strawberry Milk with plain milk and 50g of butter with 50ml of corn/olive oil.
~ The texture of the cake will be slightly moist and the surface will be a bit sticky due to the adding of milk and fresh fruit.


Since today’s theme is “PinkyBerry High-Tea”, all the items we have will be based on Pink/Strawberry. So after some light refreshment and snack, we can relax and let go ourself in some heart to heart conversation with a pack or two of "Strawberry Flavour Pocky" to spice up the some discussion topics. Posted by Picasa


Wednesday 17 March 2010

Hot Cross Buns & Roasted Strawberries

Easter Sunday will be coming in about 3 more weeks time and even now you can find all sort of Easter goodies available in local supermarkets such as Easter Bunny/Egg chocolate. Other than Easter Egg, Hot Cross Bun is also another popular snack to be consumed during Good Friday. It is a type of sweet spiced bun made with currants or raisins and leavened with yeast that has has a cross marked on the top.

Sunday 2 November 2008

Bake Choco Banana With Prata Skin

Tata.... My 1st dessert upon the re-opening of Cuisine Paradise Foodblogs after the restructure of blog layouts. Have you ever tried the combination of chocolate and banana before. I guess most of you have tried Banana Chocolate Cake in most of the bakery shop before and the taste it perfectly well match right?


This afternoon I made this Bake Choco Banana with Prata Skin for our tea-break. I spread a thin layer of Nutella on a piece of frozen Prata Skin and wrapped it up with banana. After baking into golden parcel, I served it with some orange wedges and drizzle the banana parcel with some white chocolate and dust with chocolate powder. You can also served it with an extra scoop of ice-cream for a more sinful treats.Posted by Picasa

Ingredients:
1 Piece of Frozen Prata Skin
1 Medium Size Banana, not too ripe
Some Nutella Spread
Melted White Chocolate, optional
Orange Wedges
Some Strawberry Jam, optional
Cocoa Powder for dusting

Methods:
1. Spread a thin layer of Nutella onto a Frozen Prata Skin and place the banana on one end of the skin and roll it up like a sausage roll.
2. You can tuck in both sides of the pastry so that the chocolate will not leak out during baking.
3. You can baked in a pre-heat, 180 degree oven for about 10 minutes, turning about 5 minutes to bake it evenly and let it have a nice and even golden brown.
4. For my case, I baked it in a oven toast so it took a longer time to get the whole parcel evenly brown which is about 15 minutes.
5. When the parcel is slightly cool, arrange it on the place, drizzle it with melted white chocolate and serve with some extra orange wedges and strawberry jam.

Notes:
a) You can get any brand of frozen Prata Skin from any leading supermarket in Singapore.
b) If you don't prefer Orange wedges, you can serve it with any fruit of your choice.
c) If you wan it to cook in a faster way, you can cut the banana into slices and arrange on one side of the prata skin then fold the skin into half like a semi-circle and bake.


Saturday 27 September 2008

PassionMisu

I guess you have either heard or tried making or eating Tiramisu before. It is actually one of the most popular Italian desserts which is made of savoiardi (lady fingers) dipped in coffee and mascarpone cream. But for our this week menu, I am trying something new which I called it PassionMisu. The key ingredient use it Passionfruit as this weekend my blogging is base on cookign with FRESH FRUIT. This PassionMisu is to serve with the main course known as Salmon with Passionfruit Sauce.

For this PassionMisu dessert, I used mini sponge cake (kueh Bolu) instead of the traditional savoiardi (lady fingers). I dipped it in Mango juice and spread it with layers of Passionfruit yogurt cream. This is indeed one of the Quick and Easy way to make an easy and impressive dessert for guest.

If you are not keen with passionfruit, you can always replaced it with the traditional Tiramisu ingredients like coffee and mascarpone cream. Or you can use this method by changing the type of fruits to either strawberries, mango or even durian and you can get a wonderful and easy dessert in no time. Posted by Picasa

Ingredients: (serves 2)
80ml Fresh Mango/Passionfruit Juice
10 - 15 Mini Sponge Cake(kueh bolu)
1/2 or more Tablespoon of Cocoa Powder, dusting

Methods:
1. Cut the passionfruits into halves and remove the pulps and set aside.
2. Cut the sponge cake into halves (side-way) then gently dip the cut side in the juice and arranged it in base of the serving cups or container.
3. Spread a layer of the passionfruit yogurt cream on top and top with another layer of sponge cake dipped with juice.
4. Repeat the top with another layer of the yogurt cream.
5. Wrap the top with clear wrap and put in the freezer for about 10 minutes to get the top almost firm to touch.
6. Dust with generous amount of cocoa powder and decorate with some fruits or extra passionfruit pulp if desire.

Ingredients for Passionfruit Yogurt Cream:
2 Fresh Passionfruits, collect about 3 1/2 tablespoons of pulps
150g Mango/Plain Yogurt
1/2 Teaspoon of Sugar
30ml Mango Juice/Plain Water
1 1/2 Teaspoons of Gelatin Powder

Methods:
1. Dissolve the gelatin powder in the mango juice over simmering water or microwave on medium heat for 30 seconds(stop in between 10 second and stir till dissolve).
2. Next, mix the yogurt and passionfruit pulp together till well combine then stir in sugar and melted gelatin solution.
3. Set aside the mixture for spreading on the sponge cake.

Notes:
a) I arranged mine in a 2 oval baking dish which is 12cm by 8cm in measurement.


Friday 23 March 2007

Bread Fritter Stuffed With Banana & Chocolate

Saw this interesting recipe from one of the Food Magazine which I bought recently. It actually wrapped banana with chocolate with bread then deep-frying it.


To my surprised it doesn't really taste as sweet as I thought maybe because I used dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate. My son and I love the combination of banana with chocolate it's really another new way to serve bread as breakfast or afternoon tea snack. Posted by Picasa

Ingredients:
4 Slices Of White Bread
1 or 2 Banana
40g Chocolate Of Your Choice
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Essence, optional
Cornstarch for Dusting
Oil For Deep-frying

Methods:
1. Trim away sides of each sliced bread and flatten slightly with a rolling pin.
2. Peel and halve banana lengthwise to suit the size of the bread slice.
3. Roughly chop chocolate into fine pieces and set aside.
4. In a bowl, mix eggs with vanilla essence.
5. Dip each bread into egg mixture, ad place a slice of banana on one end then sprinkle some chopped chocolate on the banana.
6. Roll up the bread into a tight roll.
7. Dust with cornstarch and deep-fry till golden.
8. Drain on paper towel and cut it into half before serving.

Notes:
a) You can used any choice of bread that you prefer.
b) I used Dark Chocolate with almond.
c) You can serve the bread fritter with cut fruit or dust with some icing sugar.


Monday 19 March 2007

Sushi Chee Cheong Fun

This Sushi Chee Cheong Fun recipe had being sitting in my list to-make for a very long time. Then only till today I had the chance to grab hold the ingredients to make this light and health snack. But actually I also tried this snack in one of the Food Court vegetarian stall but the ingredients used was different from what mention below.


The main ingredients will be the Fresh Chee Cheong Fun which you can get hold from the supermarket or any bean sprout stall in the wet market. You can wrap it with any ingredients you prefer to suit your preference.Posted by Picasa

Ingredients:
2 Fresh Chee Cheong Fun Roll
2 Nori Sheet(use for sushi)
1 Japanese Cucumber, cut into long strips
1 Medium Carrot, shredded into long strips
2 Hard Boiled Egg, mashed into crumbs
4 - 5 Tablespoons Of Pork Floss
Some Mayonnaise Cream

Methods:
1) Slowly un-wrap the fresh chee cheong fun into a flat sheet.
2) Top it with a Nori Sheet then place the shredded carrot at the end towards you.
3) Add the cucumber strips, scatter the egg crumbs and pork floss evenly then drizzle with mayonnaise cream.(i use the Japanese style mayonnaise cream)
4) Slowly fold up the end that is towards you and hold on it firmly and roll it forward like making swiss roll.
5) Secure it tightly then cut it into serving size like sushi and serve with extra mayonnaise cream if prefer.

Note:
a) You can reheat the chee cheong fun by steaming it for a few minutes then un-wrap to use if you bought it a day before or you prefer to the sushi warm.
b) You can used any ingredients you prefer like: Shredded cooked chicken meat, tuna, prawn, crab meat or etc.


Monday 7 August 2006

Assorted Ricotta Crepes

Crepe is a thin pancake, a meal made of wheat popular throughout Europe and elsewhere. The common ingredients include flour, eggs, milk, butter and a pinch of salt. Crepes are usually of two types: sweet crepe made with wheat flour, and savory galettes made with buckwheat flour.

So for dinner, I decided to make both savory and Sweet Crepe using the Ricotta Cheese that I made. For the savory type, I wrapped honey ham with some ricotta and serve with some cherry tomato and avocado slices over some Caesar Dressing. While for the sweet dessert crepes, I used the filling with the mixture of some lemon juice, lemon rind, icing sugar, blueberries and some ricotta. Then I serve it with some melted dark chocolate and icing sugar.



Ingredients For Crepe: (make 8)
1 Cup Plain Flour
2 Medium Eggs
Pinch Of Salt
1 1/2 Cup Buttermilk/Fresh Milk
1 Tablespoon Cooking Oil/Olive Oil

Methods:
1. Lightly whisk the egg in a mixing bowl, then slowly whisk in the buttermilk till combine.
2. Add the salt and slowly add in the flour and whisk till all the flour had used all and the mixture is smooth without any dry ingredients.
3. Add in the oil and stir well.
4. Or you can blend all the ingredients in a food processor till combined.
5. Chill for at least 1 hour or you can prepare up to 1 day ahead.
6. Preheat and grease the pan, then stir the batter a while and scoop about 1/3 cup each time and swirl to fry into a thin crepe. Posted by Picasa


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