Conch & Sea Cucumber Soup

This is a very light and clear soup filling with the sea conch and sea cucumber fragrant. The sea conch and carrot give out a sweet and appearling taste to this soup. You can find out more about Sea Conch & Sea Cucumber in Common Ingredients Used link.


Ingredients:
250g Soaked Sea Cucumber
30g Dried Conch slices
300g Pork Ribs
1 Large Carrot, cut into section
2 Honey Dates
2 Slices Ginger
6 Cups Water(ard 1.5 Litre)

Methods:
1. Prepare the sea cucumber, scaled with ginger and spring onion and cut into pieces.(or you can get those ready to eat sea cucumber from supermarket)
2. Rinse and scald pork ribs.
3. Peel carrot and fresh huai shan, rinse and cut into pieces.
4. Bring water to boil, put in pork ribs, dried conch slices, carrots, huai shan, honey dates and ginger slices.
5. Bring to boil over high heat for 10 minutes then remove to low heat and simmer for 1.5 hrs.
6. Add in sea cucumber and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes or then season with salt and serve.
7. Or you can simmer all ingredients except sea cucumber in a slow-cooker over low heat for 2 hrs then add in the sea cucumber and continue on high heat for 30 minutes.

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.

Braised Ee Fu Noodle

Ee Fu Noodle is frequently used in wedding banquets and other important celebrations. It's prepared with the finest ingredients, deep-fried to a golden yellow and served as a royal dish. The most common one is Braised Ee Fu Noodle with Enoki & Yellow Chive.

For today's dinner, we are having Braised Ee Fu Noodle with Prawns, Pork Fillets & Spring Onion. It's a very simple and yet delicious dish that suits everyone in the family..... Especially for those who loves to eat Ee Fu Noodle.......


Ingredients:
1 Piece Of Dried Ee Mee
2 Stalks Spring Onion, cut into section
6-8 Medium Prawns, shelled & devein
150g Lean Pork, cut into strips
1 Teaspoon Grated Ginger
1 Teaspoon Grated Garlic

1. Marinate the pork strips with some pepper, soy sauce, cooking wine and cornflour. Set aside with the shelled prawns while preparing the noodles.
2. Bring half pot of water to boil, add in the dried Ee Mee and stir till soft then drained, rinse with cold water and set aside.
3. Preheat a pan with about 2 Tablespoons of oil and stir-fry spring onion until fragrant, add in prawn, pork strips, garlic and ginger.
4. Continue to fry until almost cook then add in the noodles and seasoning sauce.
5. Cover and let it braised over low heat for about 3 minutes until sauce thicken and serve.
6. You can add in abit more water or stock if you want it to be more wet.

Seasoning Sauce:
1 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce
1/2 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Dark Soy Sauce
3/4 Cup Instant Chicken Stock
1/4 Cup Water

Methods:
1. Mix all the sauce ingredients together and set aside for later use.

Notes:
You can get this Hong Kong Conton Style Ee Mee at local supermarket like NTUC.

You can add in different ingredients such as mushrooms or vegetables to create your own style of Ee Fu Noodle.

Salad With Breaded Fish

Other than having rice, dishes and soup for dinner..... We decided to have a change for tonight's menu. We are having some vegetables and fruit salad together with breaded fish. Although it might look simple but it's a rather filling meal.

In order to make the salad more complete and filling, I added the breaded fish which I come across this idea from eating out.


Ingredients:
2 - 3 Small Butter Lettuces
8-10 Baby Potatoes
6-8 Fresh Chestnut
1 Tomato, or some cherry tomatoes
1 Avocado, cut into slices
1 Medium Japanese Cucumber, peel and cut into 1" thick
1 Apple, peel and cut into cubes
1 Lemon Juice & Rinds
1/2 Red Onion, thinly shredded
2 Tablespoon Extra Light Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Mayonnaise Sauce
Some Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Methods:
1. Cut and wash the lettuces then drain and set aside.
2. Boil the baby potatoes and chestnut in a small pot of water until tender.(around 15 minutes)
3. Drained the water, rinse the potatoes and chestnut then peel off the skin and cut them into half each.
4. In a big mixing bowl, add in cucumber, apple, avocado, onion, lemon rinds, potatoes and chestnut. Then drizzle 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice, 1 1/2 Tablespoons Olive Oil, Mayonnaise Sauce and some black pepper into the bowl and mix well.
5. Place the salad and lettuce in the fridge while preparing the breaded fish.

Breaded Fish Fillet:
8-10 Pieces Of Fish Fillet Strips
2 Tablespoons Cornflour
1 Egg, lightly beaten
1/2 Cup Dried Breadcrumbs

Methods:
1. Marinate the fish fillet strips with some salt and pepper for about 10 minutes then dust with some cornflour.
2. Dip the fish strips in beaten egg then coat with dried breadcrumbs and set aside for a few minutes before deep-frying.
3. Preheat a pot of oil and deep-fry the fish strips until golden brown, drained and set aside.

Assemble The Salad:
1. Toss the lettuce into the vegetables salad and mix well then place it on a plate and top with breaded fish and serve.

Notes: You can used with hard boiled egg or breaded chicken instead of fish for the salad.

Sweet & Sour Chicken Meatballs

Although nowadays there are some people who are having phobia of eating chicken because of the H5N5 Bird flu Virus. Chicken is still an excellent source of protein and a rich source of most B Vitamins. However, chicken skin is high in saturated fat and should be removed before eating. Chicken breast fillet is an ideal meat for any weight loss diet. Chicken meat is also low in carbohydrate, low in fat with a moderate protein content.

So for today's dish, we will be using Chicken Breast fillet to make the meatballs and deep-fry in with breadcrumbs. We also incorporate a few colourful vegetables to make this dish more vibrant and nutrition.

For those who loves to eat sweet and sour pork but scare of it fats contain, maybe you will wish to try on this low-fat version using chicken breast meatball. It taste just as good as well........


Ingredients:(can make 16-20 small meatballs)
1 Chicken Breast Fillet, skin removed
2 - 3 Tablespoons Cornflour
1 Egg, lightly beaten
4 - 5 Tablespoons Dried Breadcrumbs
1 Medium Japanese Cucumber, peel and cut into 1" section
1 Medium Tomato, cut into wedges
1/2 Red Onion, cut into wedges
1/2 Yellow Pepper, cut into wedges
1 Piece Fresh Pineapple, cut into wedges

Methods:
1. Remove the skin from the chicken breast, wash and cut it into small cubes and put it in a food processor.
2. Add in 1 Teaspoon Cornflour, 1/2 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce, 1 Teaspoon Cooking Wine, 1/2 Teaspoon Sesame Oil and some pepper then blend the diced chicken into a paste form.
3. Let the chicken paste rest in the fridge to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
4. Roll the chicken paste into a small meatball (about the size of a normal fishball), coat it with some corn flour, then dip in beaten egg and roll onto some breadcrumbs.
5. Leave all the breadcrumb meatballs aside for 2-3 minutes so that the breadcrumbs won't fall off easily when deep-frying.
6. Prepare a pot of 80% boiling hot oil and slowly add in the meatballs in two batches and deep-fry till golden brown, drain and set aside.
8. Preheat a frying pan with 2 tablespoons of oil, saute the Onion until fragrant then add in the tomato, cucumber, yellow pepper and pineapple and stir till combine.
9. Next add in the sauce ingredients and bring to boil, gradually add in some cornflour mixture(1 tablespoon cornflour + 1 tablespoon water) and stir well.
10. Lastly add in the meatballs and stir fry till all the meatballs are coated with the sauce and remove to serve.

Sweet & Sour Sauce:
6 Tablespoons Water
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Fine Sugar
2 Tablespoon Tomato Sauce
1/2 Tablespoon A1 Sauce
1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
1 Tablespoon Chilli Sauce
1 Tablespoon White Vinegar

Methods:
1. Mix all the above sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside for later use.

Notes: You can also used those pre-mix sweet and sour sauce that is found in most supermarket like Lee Kum Kee Brand.

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.

Fish & Century Egg Soup

The century egg, also known as preserved egg, thousand-year egg, thousand-year-old egg; or in Chinese call 皮蛋 or 松花蛋. It is a Chinese food made by preserving duck or chicken eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, lime and rice straw for several weeks to several months, depending on the method of processing.

For this soup, I add in extra ingredients such as mince meat, doufu and tomatoes to make it more complete dish. Century eggs, coupled with doufu are good for treating chapped lips. A small bowl of the soup a day can help to alleviate the symptoms of ulcers and dry mouth. This soup is also good for clearing up and moistening the body, resolving heatniness, cooling the body and relieving fatigue.


Ingredients:
300g Sheng Yu Fish Slices
1 Tomato
150g Pork Mince
1 Tube Plain Doufu
2 Century Eggs
2 Slices Of Ginger
Some Spring Onion, cut into sections
1.5 Litres Of Water
Some Coriander

Methods:
1. Marinate the pork mince with some pepper, soy sauce, cornflour, cooking wine and set in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.
2. Wash the fish slices and lightly marinate it with some pepper and salt.
3. Add about 1/2 Tablespoons of Oil in a pot, add in ginger and spring onion and stir-fry till fragrant then add in the tomatoes and stir for a while.
4. Pour in the water and bring to boil, add in pork mine balls, doufu and century eggs and let it boil then simmer on low heat for about 10 - 15 minutes.
5. Before you serve, add in the fish slices and bring to boil for a few minutes until cooked through then sprinkler some chopped coriander leaves and season with salt to taste.

Steam Tapioca Kueh

Tapioca prepared from the tuberous root of the cassava plant. Tapioca is commonly used in making Indonesian Kueh. Cassava was introduced into Indonesia during the Dutch reign. Cassava was the main foodstuff of Moluccans and Irians in Western Indonesia Islands. They ate steamed or boiled cassava roots.

This is one of the Nyonya Kueh delight call Steamed Ubi Kayu which mean Steamed Tapioca Kueh. The Tapioca is blended then mixed with sugar and desire colouring and steam until cooked.

Ingredients:
1kg Blended Tapioca
250g Sugar
Pinch Of Salt
A few Drops of Different Food Colouring Each
250g Fresh Grated White Coconut
2 Pandan Leaves

Methods:
1. Steam grated white coconut with salt and pandan leavs over low heat for about 5 minutes, then set aside to cool.
2. Peel the skin of tapioca, wash and cut into small pieces, blend them in a few batches with some water in a blender until smooth.
3. Squeeze the liquid from the blended tapioca under the running tap for a few times.
4. Mix the tapioca with sugar and a pinch of salt.
5. Divide the mixture into 4 portions.
6. Add one food colouring to each portion, place in a microwave plastic container and steam over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes.
7. Remove from heat, cool completely, and roll it in desire shapes and coat in grated coconut and serve.

Bake Pumpkin With Rice Stuffing

A Pumpkin is a squash fruit, most commonly orange in colour when ripe, that grows as a fruit. When ripe, the pumpkin can be boiled, baked and roasted, or made into various kinds of pie, alone or mixed with other fruit; while small and green it may be eaten in the same way as the vegetable marrow. They are a good source of essential fatty acids, potassium and magnesium.

Brown rice = whole grain rice. Many rice varieties come as either brown rice or white rice. Brown rice isn't milled as much as white, so it retains the bran and germ that makes brown rice more fiber-rich, nutritious, and chewy.


Usually stuffing rice in pumpkin is an a very western dish that they usually had during Halloween. But I had come across this dish from a children TV program and after souring for a suitable recipe for this dish. I invented something new which called Bake Pumpkin With Rice Stuffing using Brown Rice Mixture which is more Nutritious for my family.

Ingredients:(serves 2-3)
1 Small Pumpkin, around 1 - 1.2 kg
2 Cups Cooked Brown Rice Mixture/White Rice
2 Tablespoons Frozen Mix Vegetables
3 Tablespoons Finely Dice Taiwan Sausage
6 Fresh Chestnuts
1 Tablespoons Golden Raisin
1 Teaspoon Minced Garlic
1 Teaspoon Minced Ginger

Seasoning:
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Pepper
1 Teaspoon Cooking Wine

Methods:
1. Boil chestnuts in a small saucepan over medium heat for about 15-20 minutes until tender.
2. Drain and remove any shell or skin then chopped in pieces.
3. Cook 1 cup of brown rice mixture or white rice accordingly and let it cool to room temperature to obtain about 2 cups of cooked rice.
4. Wash and cut a lid from the top of the pumpkin, remove seeds and fibers from it then drizzle 1/2 Tablespoon of olive oil in it and coat evenly.(remember to coat the lid as well)
5. Preheat a non-stick pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, saute the diced sausage for a few seconds then add in the mix vegetables, chestnut, raisin, ginger and garlic.
6. Stir-fry the above mixture until fragrant then add in the rice and stir through quickly.
7. At the meantime, add in seasonings(can adjust more or less according to individual taste) and stir till well mixed.
8. Scoop the fried rice into the pumpkin and press it tightly until the rice is firm then cover with the lid.
9. Place the pumpkin in a small baking dish that is slightly grease with olive oil.
10. Bake in a preheat 200 degree oven for about 30 - 45 minutes(depending on the size of the pumpkin) until cooked and tender when tested with a skewer.
11. Turn off the oven, let the pumpkin stand in the oven for another 15 minutes.
12. To serve, remove lid and cut pumpkin into wedges with some salad.(if there is still extra rice left from stuffing the pumpkin, you can also serve it beside the pumpkin wedges.)

Notes:
For the fried rice, you can also used those pre-mix fried rice seasoning.
I suggest to use Brown Rice mixture instead of White Rice for it's fragrant and chewy texture.

Thai-Style Mango Chicken

I love any dish that had mango in it... I always order the Thai Style Crispy Fish Or Chicken whenever we eat out at the coffee shop near our area. I love their mango salad within the dish, as it's so appetizing. Although you need a few ingredients more to prepare this dish, but itÂ’s really worth the time and effect. I got a few recipe versions on this dish so I decided to mix and match some of the ingredients. But overall, thanks Hugbear(Lily) for sharing her recipe in her blog.

For my Salad I add in extra carrot, cucumber, lime juice and rind to give an extra boost to the favour and fragrant. I love the taste of the lime juice and rind, it really enhance the favour of the salad. Below is the recipe of this Thai-Style Mango Chicken for those who is interested.


Ingredients:(serves 3-4)
1 Chicken Breast Fillet, skin removed
1 Chicken Drumstick Fillet, skin removed
1 Teaspoon Of Grated Garlic
1 Teaspoon Of Grated Young Ginger
1 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1 Egg, lightly beaten
Some Potato Flour/Corn Flour

Methods:
1. Wash and remove the skin of the chicken then cut into large pieces.
2. Marinate chicken with garlic, oyster sauce and ginger for at least 2 hours or more in a fridge.
3. Before deep-frying, add in the egg and mix well.
4. Dust chicken with flour and leave it aside for about 10-15 minutes before deep-frying until golden brown and drain well.
5. Chopped chicken pieces into serving size and set aside.

Sauce:
2 Tablespoons Oil
1 Teaspoon Grated Garlic
3 Shallots, thinly sliced
1 Tablespoons Lemon Grass, thinly sliced
2 Tablespoons Lime Juice
5-6 Tablespoons Thai Sweet Chili Sauce

Methods:
1. Mix the chili sauce with lime juice and set aside.
2. Heat up the oil in a pan, saute garlic, lemon grass and onion till fragrant, then add in the chilisaucee mixture.
3. Bring to boil and add in the chicken pieces and stir through high heat until every pieces are well coated.
4. Remove and place ontop of some mango salad in a plate then top with the rest of the mango salad.

Green Mango & Vegetables Salad:
1 Green Mango, shredded
1 Small Red Apple, shredded
1 Japanese Cucumber, shredded
1/2 Carrot, shredded
1/2 Red Onion, shredded
2 Pieces Chili Padi, remove seeds and cut into small pieces
2 Sprigs Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon Lime Juice
1 Lime Rind, finely grated
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar

Methods:
1. Put all the above ingredients in a large mixing bowl then stir thru well using a chopstick and set aside in the fridge until used.

Notes: Buy the slightly green mango which more firm and suitable for making this salad.

Lemon Yoghurt Cake

Lemon is one of the most highly alkalinizing foods that are native to tropical Asia. The best lemons have skin of an oily, fine texture and are heavy for their size. This type is more apt to be full of juice, with a minimum of seeds and waste fibers. Choose lemons of a deep yellow color for ripeness and juice. They should be firm, but not hard, to the touch. Fresh lemon juice is an outstanding source of vitamin C.

So for today's afternoon tea we will be having something that is light and fragrant. How was a mouth watering Lemon Yoghurt Cake. It's very moist and soft to taste especially with it lemon fragrant that make you feel fresh together with a cup of tea.

Ingredients:
150g Butter
1 Cup Caster Sugar
2 Medium Size Eggs
1/2 Cup Fresh Milk
1/2 Cup Thick Plain Yoghurt
4 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 1/2 Tablespoons Grated Lemon Rind
2 1/2 Cup Self-Raising Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda

Lemon Syrup:
1/3 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Water
4 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
Rind Of 1 Lemon Cut into thin strips

Methods:
1. Sift flour and baking soda in a big mixing bowl and set aside for later use.
2. Place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat on medium speed until light and creamy.
3. Add eggs one at a time and beat until well combined.
4. Stir in yoghurt, lemon juice, lemon rind, flour mixture and milk into the butter mixture slowly till combined.
5. Spoon mixture into a greased 9" cake tine and bake in a preheated 180 degree oven for 45 minutes or until cake is cooked when tested with a skewer.
6. To make the lemon syrup, place all the ingredients in a small saucepan, stirring over low heat until sugar dissolved.
7. Allow to simmer for 4-5 minutes, then immediately pour syrup over the cake which is just out from the oven and still in the cake tin.
8. Let the cake stand in the tin for 5 minutes then cut and serve it with extra yoghurt and fresh fruits.

Note: You can replace the yoghurt with fresh milk for a smooth and moist texture of cake. Or you can replace the 1/2 cup of milk with yoghurt instead.