Osmanthus, Water Chestnut & Sea Coconut Dew

Some weeks ago, one of our church members bought some desserts to my mum and she told me that it is very special as she had not eaten something like that before. From what she mentioned, the ingredients include lotus seeds, chopped water chestnut, wolfberries, egg white and most important Osmanthus flower which gives this dessert it unique fragrant and taste.

So from what she had mentioned to me, I come out with my own version of Osmanthus, Water Chestnut & Sea Coconut Dew. Yup, for my version, I have added some shredded Sea Coconut to it. It had being long since I used fresh sea coconut to make soup or dessert. And I must admit, this is a very refreshing dessert which have a very nice tangerine taste due to the Osmanthus Flowers.

Ingredients: (serves 2)
12 Dried Lotus Seeds
2 Teaspoons of Sugar
4 - 5 Water Chestnut, peeled & finely chopped
2 Teaspoons of Dried Osmanthus Flower
1/2 Tablespoon Wolfberries
800ml Water
1/2 - 1 Egg White, lightly beaten
1 Medium Fresh Sea Coconut, optional
Rock Sugar to taste

Method:
1. Wash and peel off the skin of the fresh sea coconut (try to select the soft to touch type which is more suitable for making dessert) then cut into thin strips.
2. Bring half small saucepan of water to boil then add in the lotus seeds and simmer on medium low heat for about 7 - 10 minutes until the seeds are soft. Dish up, rinse and remove any germ inside the lotus seeds to prevent bitterness then marinate with the sugar and set aside.
3. Next bring the pot of 800ml water to boil, add in rock sugar, sea coconut, wolfberries and osmanthus flower and simmer for about 10 minutes.
4. Use a strainer, remove most of the cooked osmanthus flower away then add in the chopped water chestnut and marinated lotus seeds and simmer till boiled then switch off the heat.
5. Slowly add in the beaten egg white and give it a slow stir to create the swirl effect. (The heat from the content will cook the egg white and you have to add in slowly and stir so that it won't be in a lump)
6. Serve it with some extra osmanthus flower either warm or cold.

Notes:
a) You can replace dried lotus seeds with those vacuum packed fresh lotus seeds instead.
b) You can either soak the dried lotus seeds with boiling water(without washing the seeds) till soft then cooked together with the sea coconut and rock sugar.

Releated Post:
1. Osmanthus & Water Chestnut Kueh
2. Chicken & Sea Coconut Soup
3. Almond, Sea Coconut & Pumpkin Soup

Bento #19 - Bear Bread & Hamroll

My dear son had being down with flu and cough bugs for the past 2 weeks plus and just a few days ago, he was also down with high fever and bad cough. But thank God after the 3rd visit to the doctor and change of medication he is getting better today. So while he was doing his homework I secretly prepared this Bear Bread & Hamroll Bento in our new purchase Tomica Lunchbox. I hope that this artwork of mine will be able to cheer him up and as well to increase his appetite by the look.

This bento is divided into 3 parts. On the left side is a bear and heart shape cutout from two different colour tone of bread to make the contrast. Next I use the Caral Mini Craft Puncher (click here for details) to punch out the features of the bear using nori sheet. On the right side, I use the apple baked ham, lettuce and shredded carrot to make a cheese bear hamroll (click here for cutter use).

In order to make it more eye catching, I also use two tone colour cheese to make the features of the bears and also with some added cherry tomato and strawberries to make it more colourful. Lastly, I decorate it with some added parsley to make it look more like a garden with some greens.

Releated Post:
1. Weekend Breakfast Bento

Bento #18 - Picnic Day

Usually Sunday will be a picnic day for most of the family to laze around in the park and enjoy the morning/evening breeze and warm sunshine in order to have a fun and relax family getaway. Like other families, Reyon and I love to prepare some of our favourite snacks and get relax in the neighbourhood park. Although we do not have those luxury park like those western countries but we do can enjoy a bit of peace and wonderful family bond in the weekend.

Since nowsaday, we have to attend morning Church service, we can't really spent Sunday morning at the park. And since today's weather is kind of Sunny and Warm we decided to have our indoor picnic at home. We prepared some refreshing afternoon snacks for our home picnic. We made two little faces out of Reyon's favourite Mini Chocolate Chips Muffins. Reyon said the one of the left is suppose to be me while the one on the left is him :) Then we cut out some flowers out of the dragon fruits and leaves from kiwi to make it look like a little garden patch. See the way he enjoys his afternoon snack, I guess a little extra dose of Chocolate on Sunday do actually makes you feel happier...... :)

Bento #17 - Spot The Hearts

Today is Valentine's Day and since we are out in the morning for excursion, we will have our Weekend Bento as Snack today on Valentine's Theme. Em.... I have being thinking of what to make for Reyon on this special day and there are so many ideas in our discussion lists. Finally in the end, we agreed on this simple and quick theme because he is so hungry to have his snack before I can snap more pictures on it.

In today's snack bento, I have include a heart shape cheese sponge cake in the middle, following by two little cheesy bear and some extra red and green grapes. Other then grapes, cherry and tangerine, I also introduce a new fruit to Reyon call the Red Rose Apple. It's kind of crunchy and sweet in texture but Reyon doesn't seems to like it and he just had a bite to try on.

While looking at the bento, let's play a QUICK GAME! How many HEARTS can you SPOT in the BENTO SNACK? :p The answer is:...........