Homemade Glutinous Rice Lor Mai Kai 糯米鸡

This was made on 29 September 2016 as breakfast for the next day or so. It was very well-received by all. So yummy and tasty than store bought😊.

Main Ingredients (for Rice)
500g    Glutinous Rice (wash,rinse,soak a few hours)
Some  Dried shrimps + dried small scallops (wash, soak a while, drained, chop into small pieces, separately)
4 pcs   Shallots, slice
2 pcs    garlic ( smash and chop)，optional

Rice seasonings: (go slow on salt)
2T       Dark cooking caramel
1.5t      Pink salt
1T        Oyster sauce
2T        Light soy sauce 
1t         Sesame oil
Dash   White Pepper
Dash    5-spiced powder
Dash    好吃 Seasoning
Drizzle Fish sauce 
2 cups  water ( using rice cup to measure)

Directions:
1)  Heat up wok with some oil. Sauté the sliced shallots till fragrant. Remove/discard the shallots. Retain the oil.

2)  Using the same wok with shallot oil, saute dried shrimps and scallops till fragrant. Remove from wok. Set aside.

3)  Sauté chop garlic till fragrant. Add in glutinous rice and give it a good stir to coat with oil.

4) Add in all the rice seasonings. Stir and coat the sauce thoroughly with the rice. Add in the saute dried shrimps & scallops. Mix well with the rice.

5) Add in water. Stir well. Cook till water has been absorbed by the rice. Remove from heat.

Main Ingredients for Toppings:
2 pcs  Big chicken thigh (rub with salt, rinse with water, pat dry, chop into deired size)
6 pcs  Meaty Chinese mushrooms ( wash, soak till softened,cut into desired size)
2 pcs  chinese sausage (腊肠), optional

Marinade for chicken:
Thumb size   Ginger (wash, peel, mash and chop/mince)
2        pcs garlic (smash, chop/mince)
1t       sugar
1t       Sesame oil
1t       cooking wine
1T     Oyster sauce
1t      light soy sauce 
0.5t  Pink salt
Dash 好吃 Seasonings
Dash White Pepper
1T      Potato Starch

Direction
~ Mix chicken pieces and mushrooms pieces with all the above marinades for at least 30 minutes. (I marinaded for a few hours inthe fridge.)

Method of assembly:
1)  Place each steaming tin with chinese sausage, mushrooms slices and chicken pieces.
2) Top it with glutinous rice till the brim. Follow by a chinese soup spoon of water onto each tin.
3) Steam in a wok of boiling water on high heat for 30 minutes or till the rice is cooked.
4) Serve warm or once cooled, wrap each tin with an aluminum foil and keep them in the fridge.😊


Recipe reference and modified from here:

http://mykitch3n.blogspot.sg/2007/01/malaysian-style-glutinous-chicken-rice.html

http://nasilemaklover.blogspot.sg/2012/05/ha-mai-lo-mai-kai-steamed-savoury.html

Japanese Curry Chicken Don 日式咖喱鸡肉盖饭

Yesterday night we went Japanese theme ❴Japanese Curry Chicken Don + Shredded Cabbage Salad❵. 假日～餐桌上的美味❴日式咖喱鸡肉盖饭+高丽菜丝沙拉❵😍💖😋
🤗

I used store bought Japanese curry roux. Quick and Easy dish to whip up😉😊☺  Come and join me! 开饭咯！🤗🤗

Mi Goreng Instant Noodles ~ Mamak Style

2 November 2016 (Wednesday)

We had 【Fried Mi Goreng Instant Noodles ~ mamak style】with tomato sauce + homemade chilli sauce and sweet sauce. Yummy yummy! So so good! Eveyone has two servings! 😀Oops! This is the leftover,which has been reserved by someone's breakfast tomorrow!😉

今晚吃“印度式～炒快熟面"。😋😋😉

I'd added some beancurds, cabbage, big red tomato, eggs, prawns, onions, and fried fish paste. 😙😘😋

For seasonings, some tomato sauce, homemade chilli sauce, sweet sauce, cooking caramel/dark soy sauce and light soy sauce were used.

Spicy Minced Meat with Basil 辣炒肉末九层塔

4 November 2016

Our dinner last night. :)

Spicy Minced Meat with Basil

Stir fried Okra/Lady fingers

Stir fried Spinach

Spicy Minced Meat with Basil 辣炒肉末九层塔

Ingredients:
Minced meat
Tomato, chopped into small pieces
Yellow onion, chopped into small pieces
Garlic, chopped
Basil (a handful, more if you like😊)

Seasonings:
Oyster sauce
Light soy sauce
Cooking caramel/Dark soy sauce
Chilli Sauce (I used homemade)
sugar (if soy sauce is more salty, add more)
water, some (if need more gravy, add more wate pls)

Directions:
1)  Heat up a wok with some cooking oil.  Sauté garlic till fragrant. Stir in minced meat and break them out asnyou fry.  Once the minced meat turn white, add in chopped tomato and onion, follow by the seasonings. Adjust taste to your liking. Stir fry till gravy slightly dry, blend in the basil. Give it a quick mix and dish up.😊

note: chopping tomato n onion into small pieces ensure quick cooking. Thus, 更快上桌喔☺。

Sourdough Honey Loaf

23 October 2016 (Sunday)

Ingredients
300g Bread flour
60g Pure Honey 
5g Salt
6g Milk Powder
160g Iced Cold water (our weather here is extremely hot) *
180g Levain (1:1)
12g unsalted butter

Method
1.  Knead dough till window pane stage.**
2.  1st proofing - till double in size.
3.  Punch and divide into 3 equal size. Cover and 1st bench rest: 15 mins
4.  Flatten and roll into swiss roll style. Cover and 2nd bench rest: 15 mins
5.  Flatten and roll into swiss roll style and put into a Pullman's tin.
6.  Cover with a damp cloth and final proofing in a warm place till 90% full.
7.  Bake in a preheated oven between 180/190 deg C for ~40 minutes.

Note:
*You may need more or less water as determine by your bread flour absorption.
* Pls adjust your water temperature accordingly.

** To have softer texture loaf, it is important to knead to window pane stage. 

*** Pls add salt only after the dough has formed.

●● This is quite a sticky loaf, so pls add your water in stages.

Teochew Glutinous Rice Png kuih 潮洲饭粿

This was done in 16 April 2015.  I posted in my Facebook.  I blog here so as to keep a record.

First try. I like the colour very much, just like my Hakka菜粄。Change the way of adding tapioca flour. Hopefully it turns out good. 

Recipe is from Gina Choong/Kitchen Capers.

Recipe link:

 http://forum.kitchencapers.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=9719

Reproduced here with slight adjustment:

Peng Kuih

Makes 12 pcs(using bigger mould)
Makes 24 pcs(using smaller mould)

Ingredients for the dough
300g Rice Flour
100g Tapioca Flour ** 
600ml Boiling Hot water
1 tbsp shallots oil(or cooking oil)
pinch of salt
pinch/drop of pink food colouring(powder or liquid) (I use liquid rose pink 3 drops, if not wrong)

Method for the Dough
1. Add flour, oil, salt and colouring into a mixing bowl.
2. Pour boiling hot water and quickly stir to mix together. 
3. Cover the bowl with a plate. Let it stand for 20 mins (to cool it)
4. Remove and knead to form a dough. (I added about 2T shallot oil during kneading. 后油法)

My Personal notes
**Tapioca flour – I took out about 15g as reserve (or more if you want) and add in a teaspoon at a time during kneading. You may not need all the reserve flour. A bit of sticky after complete kneading is ok. During shaping you can use the reserve flour as 手粉. This way you don’t have the tendency to add more tapioca flour, which will turn your kueh too chewy or hard. Just my thought.

Ingredients for the Fillings
200g White Glutinous Rice(wash, soak for 4 hours)
1 tin of Braised Peanuts 
100g dried shrimps(soak in water, drained)
2 tbsp Fish Sauce
1 tbsp Sesame oil
2 tbsp cooking oil
30 ml water
1 tbsp sugar
2 shallots(sliced thinly)

Method for the Filling
1. Use a claypot to heat up cooking oil.
2. Add shallots and fry till fragrant.
3. Add dried shrimps and stir fry till fragrant.
4. Add peanuts and rice and stir fry with rest of ingredients.
5. Turn off the heat. cover the claypot.
6. Put claypot into the MW oven and cook on HIGH for 10 mins.**
7. Remove and open the cover. fluff up the rice to let it cool completely before use.

** You can steam using wok or pot. Steam for 25 mins. After steaming, remember to fluff up the rice with a pair of chopsticks. Let it cool before using.

Method to Assemble
1. Take a portion of pink dough(about the size of a golf ball).
2. Flatten it and add 1 tbsp of cooked rice on it.
3. Roll up the sides of the dough to roughly seal the rice.
4. Put it on the mould.
5. Press and flatten it to cover all the mould.
6. Turn over, and knock on the side of the mould to release the dough.
7. Brush it with a little shallot oil, steam over rapid water for 10 mins.
8. Serve with sweet sauce or chilli sauce.

Hakka Kueh 河婆客家之元宝菜粄

Before the year end in a few hours, I better record this post as my personal achievement thus far.  At the same time, I'm also proud that this food had been selected by"MySingaporefood" and published here.

Unlike our better known dish, Hakka Thunder Rice 擂茶， selling in some hawker centres, you won't be able to find this pink kueh around easily.

This is a very traditional hakka dish well-liked by everyone in our family.  As the whole process is very tedious, it is considered a big project 大工程 in our family :D

All my siblings (including my 2 brothers) know how to shape the kueh, except the most important thing, the proportion of each flour for the skin...  After my numerous attempts, I'm glad that I've arrived at the skin texture that is very satisfactory and pretty similar to my mum's. This post is specially dedicated to my mum for her 铁沙掌 (iron hand)  in kneading the hot dough. 😊

Ready for steaming

Make  24 pcs (each abt 38g)

Fillings:

Turnips - washed, skinned n grate

carrots - washed, skinned n grate
black fungus (optional) - washed and soaked till expand n soften
Dried shrimps - washed and soaked to soften
Minced meat
Pork lard 猪油渣 ( optional, if you have time to extract the oil. This will definitely further enhance the finished kueh)

Seasonings:
Salt
Sesame oil

* The following is my way of frying. You definitely can fry it your way.

Method
1.  Heat up your wok. Add dried shrimps to remove residue water and prevent splatter.  Push aside. Heat up some cooking oil in the same wok. Return the dried shrimps to the hot oil. Fry till very fragrant (important).  Dish up without the oil.

2.  In the same wok, fry the minced meat till dry and slightly brown.Dish up.

3.  In the same wok, add some oil. Stir fry the black fungus a while. Prepare to take cover!  Dish up.

4. In the same wok, heat up some cooking oil. Add turnips and carrots and stir fry over high heat for abt 5 minutes.  Lower the heat.  Add salt and sesame oil. Mix well. Add black fungus, minced meat and dried shrimps, pork lard if using.  Mix thoroughly. Adjust taste accordingly to your preferred saltiness. Drizzle some more sesame oil if you want.  Remove to a big bowl and let it cool completely before using.

Dough ingredients
300g Rice flour
80g Tapioca flour
1t salt
Pinch of sugar
3 drops of rose pink colouring (optional)

600g boiling water

1T cooking oil (any flavourless cooking oil)

20g Tapioca flour (reserve flour 手粉 - may need more)

Method (by stand mixer)
1.  Add rice flour, tapioca flour, salt and sugar together. Mix well.  If possible, sieve the dry ingredients.
  
2. Pour the dry ingredients in the mixer bowl. Drizzle 3 drops colouring.  Switch on your mixer on low speed.
3. Pour in the hot water along the edges as the dough hook is mixing.   Use a rubber spatula to scrape the side of the mixing bowl to bring the lumpy flour closer to the dough hook. Mix till the flour n water are smooth.

4.  Add in the oil. Mix till incorporated.

5.  Transfer the semi-cooked dough to a floured work top. Give a few knead to smoothen the dough.  If sticky, sprinkle some reserve flour.

6.  Divide dough into equal portion. Cover with a cloth to prevent the dough from drying.

7.  Rolled into oval shape.  Make a well in the centre of the dough like a nest.

8.  Using your thumb n index finger,widen the nest, thinning the edges n sides as you go along.  Leave a thickness of about 0.5 mm at the bottom.

9.  Fill the nest with your fillings. Overlap the left and right flap to close the dough.  Set aside. Continue with the rest of the dough.

10.  Arrange the shaped kueh on a greased tray.  Steam in a wok with rapid boiling water. High heat. 12 mins or till cooked.  Done !

11.  Serve hot or cold over a cup of pipping hot MILO.  

Method (by hand)
1.  In a big mixing bowl, add rice flour, tapioca flour, salt and sugar together. Mix well. If possible, sieve the dry ingredients.

2.  Pour the hot water along the edges of the bowl. Using a spatula, stir quickly to incorporate the flour and hot water.  It will appear lumpy.  Cover the bowl with a plate.  Let it stand for about 10/15 mins.

3.  Remove from bowl and transfer to a floured work top.  Knead in the cooking oil till well incorporated and smooth.

4.  Divide dough into equal portion. Cover with a cloth to prevent the dough from drying.

5.  Rolled into oval shape.  Make a well in the centre of the dough like a nest.

6.  Using your thumb n index finger,widen the nest, thinning the edges n sides as you go along.  Leave a thickness of about 0.5 mm at the bottom.

7.  Fill the nest with your fillings. Overlap the left and right flap to close the dough.  Set aside. Continue with the rest of the dough.

8.  Arrange the shaped kueh on a greased tray.  Steam in a wok with rapid boiling water. High heat. 12 mins or till cooked.  Done !

9.  Serve hot or cold over a cup of pipping hot MILO.  Heavenly!