Mini Pumpkin With Red Bean Paste

Saw this cute little Pumpkin Delight in one of the Chinese Forum.... Although the recipe was very incomplete but I still managed to give it a try by using the skill of making Oneh Oneh.

As you can see, this recipe is mainly using Pumpkin, Glutinous Rice Flour and Red Bean Paste... I was attracted to this because of it's finally products which look sort of like a mini pumpkin.

I was very luck to get the portion of the ingredients correct by mixing the dough with 3 batches with glutinous flour. As for the red bean paste, I used those ready-made bought from baking shop. But as suggestion, you can also used Mung Bean Paste , Lotus Paste or Green Tea Paste.... it's all depend on what you prefer.

Ingredients:
300g Pumpkin, cut into small pieces
250g Glutinous Rice Flour
2 Tablespoons Sugar
250g - 300g Red Bean Paste
20-25 pieces of small pumpkin skin

Methods:
1. Peel pumpkin , cut into pieces and steam until tender.
2. Mash it with a fork while it's still hot then add in sugar and stir till well combine.
3. Next mix in glutinous rice flour in 3 batches and knead into a smooth dough.(you might need some extra glutinous rice flour when kneading)
4. Flatten a piece of 30g dough to a round thin disc.
5. Put a ball of 20g Red Bean filling at the centre and wrap skin over the filling to seal it completely.
6. Roll into a round shape then slight flatten the top a bit and use the back of the knife to carve pattern that resemble the pumpkin.
7. Place a tiny pumpkin skin on top and arrange on a foil greased plate.
8. Steam over medium heat for 8-10 minutes and set aside.



Mung Bean Filling:
300g Spilt Mung Bean
2 Pandan Leaves(knotted)
200g Sugar
3 Tablespoons Shallot Oil/Peanut Oil

Methods:
1. Wash and soak mung beans overnight. Drain, steam mung beans on pandan leaves for 30 minutes or until soft and mushy.
2. Discard pandan leaves, mash the beans until fine.
3. Combine beans, sugar and oil in a wok. Stir continuously over medium heat until mixture turns thick or almost dry.
4. Set aside and let the mixture cool before used.

Notes: Shallot Oil is by saute 5-6 Shallots(cut into thin slices) in a few tables of oil until golden brown. Remove the dried shallot for noodles and use the oil.

Braised Yam & Chestnut With Chicken

I love cooking One-Pot Dish... which means I only need to wash one POT after meal...... Today's Dinner will be "Braised Yam & Chestnut With Chicken". It's a very simple dish which consists both meat and vegetables.


Most of all, it had some soup base or sauce that can be drizzle on top of hot rice. You can add, exchange or remove any ingredients that is not in favour to you, because cooking is actually a great way to experiment with whatever ingredients that you prefer. For eg: You may prefer chicken wings instead of drumsticks then just used chicken wings for this dish......

Ingredients:
2 Chicken Drumstick, cut into pieces
8-10 Fresh Chestnuts
1/2 Portion Of Yam
4-6 Fresh Mushroom
3 Stalks Of Spring Onion, cut into sections
2 Slices Of Ginger
4 Red Dates
1 Teaspoon Gou Qizi
1- 1.5 Cup Water

Seasoning:
1 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1/2 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Dark Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
1/2 Teaspoon Cooking Wine
Some Cornflour Water

Methods:
1. Wash the chicken drumstick, trim and cut into bite pieces.
2. Marinate the chicken with some soy sauce, cornflour, sesame oil and cooking wine, set aside in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or more.
3. Bring the fresh chestnut to boil in a small saucepan with some water for about 5-8 minutes, drained then remove the outer skin and set aside.
4. Peel the Yam, and use a melon scoop to dig up some Yam balls or you can just cut it into 2" cubes.
5. Deep-fry the Yam in hot oil for about 2 minutes, drained and set aside.
6. Preheat a claypot of pan with some oil, statue the ginger and spring onion until fragrant then add in the chicken pieces, red dates and gou qizi.
7. Stir-fry until chicken is slightly brown then add in Mushroom and chestnut. Stir for a while then pour in the water and all the seasoning, except cornflour mixture.
8. Bring to boil then simmer under low heat for 10 minutes then add in the fried yam pieces and continue to simmer for another 5 minutes or until the chestnut is soft.
9. Add in the cornflour mixture to thicken the sauce then add in some extra spring onion and serve.

Nasi Lemak

Nasi Lemak is not only the name for rice steamed in coconut milk, but is also the name for a whole range of dishes. Though Malay in origin, the Nonyas added more dishes to the menu. Besides the rice, the meal would include Sambal Ikan Bilis, Fried Chicken Wing, Kuning Fish, Otah, sliced cucumber and omelette triangles and etc.

If you are a Nasi Lemak lover, you should have heard or eaten the famous Changi Nasi Lemak call the International Food Stall. They had a great varieties of side dishes to go with the fragrant coconut rice. In Singapore it's very easy to get hold of Nasi Lemak at anytime of the day and from either the China or Malay stalk. So it's a very common dish like Chicken Rice that most Singaporean loves to eat.


This version of Homemade Nasi Lemak that I tried is using the ideas from one of the TCS drama called "Holland V". Since I am those people who loves to experiment with my food. I decided to follow the show to cok the Coconut Rice with Cream Soda and Fresh Coconut Milk and see how it taste like. To our surprised, it really taste good and it's any kind of experience from eating the usual Nasi Lemak rice. So if you are a food explore like me, maybe you will want to give this dish a try........

Ingredients: (serves 2)
1 Cup Rice (200g)
125ml Pandan Water
100ml F & N Ice-Cream Soda
150ml Fresh Coconut Milk
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Stalk Lemon Grass, cut into 2 section & lightly pound
6-8 Pandan Leaves, wash & cut into small pieces
3 Pandan Leaves(extra), wash & knotted together

Methods:
1. Place the small pieces of pandan leaves and 125ml of water in a blender and blend it into pandan juice.
2. Sift it and collect 125ml of pandan water.
3. Wash and rinse the rice then soak it in the pandan water for about 2 hours.
4. Add coconut milk, cream soda, panda leaves, lemon grass and some extra 1/4 Teaspoon of pandan paste to the rice if you want a more jade colour on the cooked rice.
5. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer until cooked about 12 minutes(or you can cook in the rice cooker).
6. After the rice is cooked, let it stand for about 20 minutes or more so that the rice will be much fragrant and tastier.
7. Serve it with any dish dishes that you prefer like: Whitebaits, Fried Egg, Fried Chicken or etc.

Fresh Coconut Milk:
1/2 Fresh Grated Coconut
150ml of Water

Methods:
1. Add water to the grated coconut then mix well, squeeze out the coconut juice over a sieve and collect about 150ml of Fresh Coconut Milk.


Fried Curry Chicken Wings
5-6 Medium Chicken Wings
1/2 Packet of Fried Curry Chicken Spices
Some Water

Methods:
1. Mix the Curry Chicken Spices with some water to form a paste then add in the washed and clean chicken wings and let it marinate in the fridge for at least 3 hours or more.
2. Next coat the marinated chicken wings with some extra cornflour and set aside for about a about 2-3 minutes then deep-fry in medium hot oil and crisp and golden brown.
3. Drain and serve with coconut rice.

Crispy Whitebaits
1 Cup Whitebaits
1 1/2 Tablespoons Oil
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar

Methods:
1. Rinse 1 cup of whitebaits and pat dry with paper towel.
2. Preheat the pan with oil then add in the whitebaits and stir-fry until slightly brown then add in the salt and sugar and continue to fry until golden and crisp.
3. Remember to stir on and off or else it will get burnt easily.

Pumpkin, Cranberry Bean & Cordyceps Soup

Sick of eating and drinking of peanut soup? Why not give a try to this "Pumpkin, Cranberry Bean & Cordyceps Soup". Cranberry Beans(珍珠豆) have a nutty flavor and creamy texture. It's rounded with red specks, which disappear on cooking. These beans are a favorite in northern Italy and Spain. In Singapore, cranberry beans are known as "Pearl Beans", which is a literal translation from its Chinese name and they are sold fresh in their pods in most vegetable stalls.

For Today's soup, we will be using this special bean to stew soup with pumpkin, dried cordyceps stems and pork ribs. This soup will taste sweet and nutty because of the cranberry beans and pumpkin. Do give it a try, if you happen to see some of these beautiful beans laying around at the vegetable stall near your area.


Ingredients:
300g Pork Ribs,排骨
300 - 350g Pumpkin,南瓜
20-25 Pods Of Cranberry Beans,珍珠豆
20g Dried Cordyceps Stems.干冬虫草
4-5 Red Dates,红枣
1 Tablespoon Gou Qizi,枸杞子

Methods:
1. Wash, trim and blanch pork ribs in boiling water, rinse and set aside.
2. Wash, peel pumpkin and cut into thick slices.
3. Remove the Cranberry Beans from the Pods, wash and drain.
4. Wash dried cordyceps stems, red dates and gou qizi, drained and set aside.
5. Bring a pot of water(about 1.5 liters) to boil, add in all the ingredients except the beans, bring to boil and simmer on low heat for 1.5 hours then add in the beans and continue to simmer for another 30 minutes.(You can cook on slow cooker using low heat for 2 hours then add in the beans and continue to simmer for another 30-45 mins)
6. Season with salt and serve.