Steamed Raddish Cake

Been away for so long finally another blog after a year. Well today going to be something that I loved to eat since young which is what we usually call cai tou kueh. I missed it so much that I decided to make it myself. Usually those we can find from the hawker centre is call carrot cake but is actually raddish cake. With the steamed cake we can turn it to savory or sweet. For savory is to fried with it "cai po" preserved raddish and will end it with an egg. So as for the sweet one, is to add sweet sauce and also end it with an egg. A bit of hard job when stirring the mixture as there is a need to do it constantly to have it even. Need to get it to the right texture and etc but at the end of it will be very satisfactory. With just the plain steamed raddish cake, you can also just pan fried it.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups          Shredded raddish
• 4 2/3 cups   Rice flour (sifted)
• 1/3 cup cup  Tapioca flour
• 9 cups          Water
• 4-6 cloves    Chopped garlic
• 2tsp             Salt
• 4tsp             Sugar
• 4tsp             Chicken powder
• 4tsp             Grounded pepper
• 2tsp             Oil

Methods:

Steamed raddish:-

1. After shredding the radish leave it aside for 5 mins, water will come out of the raddish.
2. Squeeze away more of the water and pour it away.
3. Heat up the pan with oil.
4. Add in the garlic, fried till fragrant then add in the raddish.
5. Add in the salt, sugar, chicken powder and pepper.
6. Cook it till start to boil then turn it off
7. Mix the rice and tapioca flour with water in a pot.
8. Heat up the pot of mixture and add in the raddish mixture.
9. Stir constantly till it slightly thicken.
10. Pour it into greased tray and steam it from about 30mins or till set. ( Use  a stick or fork to poke into the middle to check.)

Fried raddish cake (Sweet):-

1. Cut up into smaller pieces from above product.
2. Heat up the pan and add 2 tsp oil.
3. Add chopped garlic and fried it till fragrant.
4. Add in the pieces and toss it around.
5. Add in sweet sauce (kecap manis) & fried it around.
6. Pour 1 beaten egg over it, flip it over when one side is ready.
7. Ready to serve when the other side is ready.

Garlic Clives box (韭菜盒子)

Me a person who does not really like to eat greens but guess what, me beginning to eat more of it. Especially garlic chive something that I would not even touch when I saw it in my mee siam but now me actually buying it from the market to make thing with it. Staying with house mates from China are really very good, get to try different kinds of dishes especially staying with a chef. People from Northern China usually eat noodle or chinese pancake（烙饼）unlike people from the Southern, rice is almost a must in our meal. So now got more dishes to make, making of dough is a skill too as different pancakes uses different method. To learn about making of different doughs, I actually went to ask Vicky to show me how. She was very kind enough to make different kinds of pancake for that night dinner in order to show me. She taught me 2 methods, one is for making pau which needed to add yeast for it to rise and the other is for garlic chives box (韭菜盒子) and potstickers (锅贴).As for dumpling (饺子) is a different method too. So check it out the different methods.

Ingredients:
Dough:

• Plain flour
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup water

Filling:

• Garlic chives 韭菜 
• Dry shrimp (Soaked 30mins)
• Fresh prawn (Diced)
• 2 eggs (Beaten)
• Glass Vermicelli (Tang hoon soaked for 10mins)
• 1tbsp Chicken powder
• 1tsp Salt

Method:

Dough:

1. Pour the plain flour into a bigger bowl so that can mix easier.
2. Add in warm water and use a pair of chopstick to mix it as it might be too hot to use hand.
3. Till it is well mixed then add in the remaining water. Add more flour if needed to make it into a dough.
4. Slowly add more flour till the dough do not stick the hand anymore.
5. Leave it aside for 20-30mins for it to rise.

Filling:

1. Washed and cut the garlic clives about 2cm long.
2. Soaked in some oil.
3. Fry the egg like omelette.
4. Put it aside then fry the dried shrimp till nice fragrant.
5. Then add the fresh prawns in. 
6. Fry till cooked then add in back the omelette.
7. Mix it all well and put aside.
8. When cool add in the vermicelli and garlic clives.
9. Add salt and chicken powder.
10. Mix it up and ready to use.

Making the whole:

1. Pinch the dough about the size of a 3cm diameter ball.
2. Flatten it and roll it out flat.
3. Rub some oil onto it and then add the filling.
4. Fold it into half. 
5. Pinched it into shape if not use a fork to save the job.
6. Heat up a flat pan with 1tsp of oil each time to pan fried it.
7. Turn it over when one side is cooked. Each about 5mins on low heat.

Well there are a few tips to making this. When doing pan fried dumpling, u got to add warm water to the dough and the dough will feel very soft. Why do we need to soak the garlic clives? Cos the clives will give out water once in contact with salt which we do not want it to happen, if not will be wet inside.

Fruit Cake

I never like fruit cake but this time round I actually tried it when Deborah made it for the family.  The taste was just nice and I really love it. So of course I found out how to make it of course. I made this for the Spring gathering at my place, I gave 2 to the Norwegian house mates to try. It was right out from the oven but they just pop it into their mouth and love it.When I came down the second time for the second tray, I gave them again since they love it so much. I had my go after it was cool then realised that the cake was too sweet for me but I guessed they loved sweet stuffs. I guess I need to cut back on the sugar as I added more raisin which is why the cake was so sweet but is really up to individual. I cut from 1/2 cup sugar to 1/3cup sugar.

Ingredient:

• 1/2 Cup       Shredded coconut
• 1 1/2 Cup    Self-Raising Flour
• 1/2 Cup       Raisin
• 1/3 Cup       Sugar
• 125gm          Butter
• 2 tbsp          Golden syrup
• 1                  Egg ( Beaten)

Methods:

1. Melt the butter with sugar and the syrup.
2. When it cool add in the beaten egg. Mix it well.
3. Add in the Self-raising flour.
4. Then add in the remaining dry ingredients.
5. Scope 1 tpsn of the mixture in the cupcake
6. Bake at 175deg for 15mins or till top golden brown.

           

                 

Fruit cake

Wishing all a Happy New Year. A better year ahead. Be all in great health and wealth.Huat ah.

Scone

Had this the first time at my Aunt place when I first visited Brissy in 1996. Never knew that this is so easy and so nice to eat it warm with butter or strawberry jam. Ever since I came back to do my studies, did not get a chance to eat Aunt's scone.Then when I went over to the house for lunch and i saw the recipe file which my aunt kept all her recipes. Jot it down and learnt to make it. Since never seen my Aunt making it before so not very sure what is it like. When I mixed everything , it seem very moist not sure if that is right so added more flour into it and knead it a little only later Aunt told me not to knead as the scone will out to be hard like a rock. So from experience, I learnt my mistake and now back on the track.

Ingredients:

• 250gm          Butter
• 5Cups          Self-raising Flour
• 2 1/2 Cups   Milk
• 1/4Tsp         Salt

Methods:

1. In a mixing bowl put in the flour then the butter, using rubbing in method.
2. Run in the butter into the flour with the finger tip, till it mixed even with no lumps.
3. Make a hole in the middle of the mixture then pour in the milk.
4. Stir it slowly till well mixed, if too wet sprinkle some flour. It has got to be moist.
5. Flour the board and cut it into shape.
6. Preheat the oven at 200 deg.
7. Bake it for 12-15mins or till slightly brown.

The tip for this is DO NOT KNEAD the dough.After mixing all the ingredients, just scope it out and place it on the floured board. Pat both hand with some flour and spread out the dough.

Xuan pan zi - Abacus beads

One day as usual calling my Mom to find how about her well being. Then she told me she saw this cooking programme teaching how to make Hakka dish 'Xuan pan zi' abacus. She did tried making it for Granny and the rest to try and they all loved it. I first tried this dish was when I was in Sec school when I went to Jessica place at Tanjong Rhu to play maijong. Those days whenever free after school we will be finding people to play maijong, so carefree life man. Then there was this once when we were there, I think her family members just finished praying to the ancestor. So we were offered this delicious Hakka food, to my surprise I was impressed by the outlook of it and decided to have a go for it. It was so nice and wonder where in Singapore can I find this dish. Been searching for this for a while and finally found it at Bugis street. So every time when I went to Bugis, I will get a box of it but its so expensive and oily.

Been here for a while , really missed it a lot so when Mom mention that she knew how to make it I was really overjoyed.

Ingredients:

• 400gm    Taro (Peeled)
• 150gm     Tapioca Flour
• 200gm    Mince pork
• 50gm       Dried Shrimp (Soaked for 45mins)
• 30gm       Black Fungus (Soaked for 10-15mins)
• 6-8         Shiitake mushroom (Soaked for 45mins)
• 1Tbsp      Garlic (Chopped finely)
• 2Tbsp     Oil
• 1Tsp        Dark Soy Sauce
• 3Tsp       White pepper

Methods:

1. Sliced up all the soaked ingredients.
2. Steamed the taro for 30-40mins.
3. Mashed it whilst still hot till a smooth paste.
4. Slowly add the tapioca flour and knead it into a dough.
5. Rolled it into a long dough, cut it up into even small size.
6. Roll each into a small ball and depress in the middle.
7. Bring a pot of water to boil and drop each beads into it.
8. Beads are ready once it float to the surface.
9. Get ready a bowl of cold water
10. Scoped it up and drain well. 
11. Pour into the bowl of cold water for 3-5mins so that will get the chewy texture.
12. Heat up the pan with oil and fry the garlic.
13. Add in the mince pork and mushroom.
14. Fry for 5mins or till the mince are cooked
15. Then add in the dark sauce and pepper.
16. Mixture well and add in the beads.
17. Fry for another 5mins and serve when hot.

Banana Cake

This recipe was taken off Mrs Leong's cookbook. As my house mate Cindy was asking me about banana cake so I decided to try this out. The problem with this is, in the book it did not mention how long or when do I stop whisking the eggs. So I worked it myself and still baked a delicious banana cake..

Ingredients:

• 8-10 Small       Bananas
• 440gms           Butter
• 4Tbsp             Condensed Milk
• 440gms           Castor Sugar
• 1/2 Tsp           Salt
• 1 Tsp               Vanilla Essence
• 9                      Eggs
• 340gms           Self-raising flour ( Sifted)

Methods:

1. Mash the banana with a fork
2. Cream the butter, condensed milk and 220gms sugar for 5 mins
3. Add Salt and vanilla essence.
4. In a clean mixing bowl, whisk eggs with 220gms sugar till thick and creamy that is when all the bubbles are gone.
5. Fold in 1 cup of the egg mixture to the creamed butter till well mixed.
6. Add the rest of the egg mixture, mashed bananas and lastly the sifted flour.
7. Stir as lightly as possible so as not to input more air into it.
8. Preheat the oven at 165deg.
9. Pour into a greased cake tin and bake it in oven for 1-1 1/4 hours.

Salmon & mushroom Baked rice

I missed the salmon baked rice from Swenson so much that I seriously cannot take it anymore till i went online to search for the recipe but very disappointed not much information on it.Came across one that was close but still not the one so I did some experiment on it. First try failed as the taste  of the rice is too plain and Jing jing enlighten me saying maybe the rice can be like those you find from Indian shop maybe yellow rice, and butter rice came to my mind straight. So on my second attempt, with a cup of cooked rice I stirred fried again with garlic and butter, it tasted so much better. Also i did not add much tomato paste on my first attempt therefore it seem dry. So on the second attempt , I add more paste and added it to the mushroom over the heat for 5 mins.This really make the mushroom much tastier.and with the top I had the egg mixed with the cheese. Overall on my second attempt the taste was there but still not like what I wanted.

So third attempt was a must, this time round I fried the rice grain with garlic, butter and salt then cooked the rice like normal.. When the rice was cooked, the smell of the rice was heaven but when tasted kind of disappointed a little as it was not tasty enough lack of butter. With the cooked rice, I stirred it with more salt, butter and garlic to get the right taste.With the top, this time round I did a change by adding the egg to the salmon.Close to perfection except for the rice. Never say die so finally i got the rice right so here you go

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup             Rice
• 20-25gm       Butter
• 3/4 Tsp        Salt
• 2 Tsp            Garlic (Chopped)
• 6-8               Mushroom (Sliced)
• 1 Tbsp           Oil
• 4-6 Tbsp       Tomato paste
• 1 1/4 Cup       Water
• 150 gm           Salmon slices
• 1                     Egg (Beaten)
• 1/2 Cup           Shredded Cheese
• 1/4 Tsp            Pepepr

Methods:

1. For the rice, wash it clean.
2. Then heat up the pan and add in the butter then garlic.
3. Till the butter fully melted add in the washed rice grain.
4. Stir fried it for a min or two then add salt and pepper.
5. Once ready pour it into the rice cooker.
6. Add in 1 Cup of water like cooking normal rice.
7. Place the cooked rice in a baking dish.
8. Then for the mushroom, add the oil to a pan then stirred fried it till cook.
9. Then add in the tomato paste and the remaining water.
10. Till the mixture not too watery or dry.
11. Pour it over the rice.
12. Then mix the salmon and the egg together.
13. Pour it over the mushroom, then add the cheese on top.
14. Preheat the oven to 200deg
15. Then put into the oven for 20-25mins or till the top turn golden brown.

Looks like many steps but once u do it, its no problem already. Really very easy and simple.The most important thing is very nice.