Char Siew Crisp/Char Siew Sou

Thanks to one of my readers for reminding me about these Crisps/Sou. This pastry is a sweet dough and very delicate, so the least handling the better. It is not difficult to make if you have leftover Char Siew.

Ingredients:

10 ozs all purpose flour
3 ozs butter
2 1/2 oz lard/shortening
2 oz sugar
1 oz water
1 beaten egg yolk plus 1 tsp water for glazing



Filling:

6 oz Char Siew - diced
3 oz onion (1/2 a medium size)- diced
3 chinese shitake mushrooms - soaked and diced
1 tbsp of diced carrots
1 tbsp chopped spring onions

1 tbsp oil

Seasonings:

1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp shao xing/hua tiau wine
dash of pepper
1/2 tsp cornstarch plus 1 tbsp water


Method:

Put flour and sugar into food processor. Pulse twice to mix.

Add in butter and lard/shortening and pulse until butter is pea sized. Then add in water.

Pulse until the dough comes together. Remove and let dough rest in the refridgerator for at least 30 minutes.

Heat oil and fry onions. Saute onions until soft, then add in the carrots and mushrooms. Stir fry to combine and then add in the Char Siew. Sprinkle wine and seasonings, mix well. Dissolve the cornstarch and add in to form gravy. Let this cool before using.

Preheat oven at 200 c/400 f.

Knead dough into a long roll and divide into 24 equal portions.

Knead each portion into a thin round, wrap in filling with sealed edge facing down. Flatten with palm and brush beaten egg yolk on top. This dough is very delicate and i prefer to just use the offset spatula and fold into half circle or rectangle, seal the edges.

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Renee's 6th Birthday Cake

RENEE is 6 years old today and she had a party for her classmates yesterday. This year, the theme was Ariel, The little Mermaid. Everything on the cake was edible except Ariel's head which is plastic. Flounder and Sebastian were made of sugar. To get Flounder to look cherry and smiling was difficult, it kept looking like an old bald man and i had to make Sebastian look fat to keep the head in place. The children were more excited with the aqua gummies than my effort. The party was a huge success and the birthday girl was the happiest, as all her presents were what she wanted most. Her friends greeted her with the loudest and a new version of the birthday song - Happy Birthday Cha Cha Cha.

The cake and icing recipe is here http://lilyng2000.blogspot.com/2006/03/renees-birthday-cakes.html and the sugar recipe is here. The rock is cake covered with melted chocolate mixed with popcorns.

Christmas Stollen

Last Christmas, i decided not be make dessert but made a Stollen which is more meaningful. This recipe is from from Peter Reinhart's Bread Baker's Apprentice.


Ingredients:

Makes 1 large or 2 small loaves

Sponge

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

4-5 teaspoons (or 2 packets) instant or active dry yeast
Fruit - 2 cups dried fruit (raisins, golden raisins, dried cherries, dried apricots, etc.)

1/2 cup Grand Marnier, brandy, rum, or schnapps

1 tablespoon orange or lemon extract and/or grated lemon or orange rind

Dough

2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 egg

4 tablespoons (1/2 a stick) butter, softened

1/4 to 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup almond slivers or marzipan

Topping

Butter or oil

powdered sugar

Method:

Warm the milk to approximately 100 degrees. Mix the yeast into the milk and stir into the flour. Cover with plastic wrap and ferment for 1 hour until the sponge is very foamy.

While the sponge is fermenting, combine the dried fruit and the liqueur.

When the sponge is ready, combine the remaining flour, salt, sugar, and cinnamon in a large bowl.

Stir in the sponge, egg, softened butter, and enough water to form a soft but not sticky dough.

Stir in the dried fruit and knead in a mixer or by hand for 5 to 10 minutes.

Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic or a damp towel, and set aside to rise for 45 minutes to an hour.

On a floured surface, shape the dough into something like a rectangle, either by rolling it out or pressing it with your hands.

Place the marzipan or slivered almonds in the center of the loaf. Fold the dough closed and shape the loaf into something resembling a crescent.

Cover the loaf loosely with plastic and set it aside to rise for approximately an hour to an hour and a half.

While it is rising, preheat the oven (and baking stone, if you use one) to 350 degrees.

When fully risen, bake the stollen for approximately 20 minutes. Rotate it and bake it until the internal temperature is approximately 190 degrees. Might have to go an additional 30 minutes depending on your oven.

Remove the stollen from the oven. While still hot, brush the top of the loaf with butter or vegetable oil and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Serves

Kampong Johnson's Rendang

In 1966, October, President Johnson visited Malaysia and he visited this Kampong in Negeri Sembilan which changed it's name to Kampong Johnson in honor of his visit. A feast was cooked by the Kampong Folks and the most memorable dish was the Rendang with Jackfruit. Negeri Sembilan's rendang differs from the other states of Malaysia as it is cooked with Green Thai bird chillies instead of red dried chillies and aromatics like ginger, galangal, fresh tumeric, fresh tumeric leaves, lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves . It has no spices.

As the hot topic these days is the President, it makes me think of this dish which was so delectable and although i do not have all the aromatics but do have a packet of instant rendang mix which was not quite the same but did bring back fond memories of President Johnson's visit that day.

Ingredients:

500 - 600 gm beef - cut into 1/2 inch slices

1 can Jackfruit - drained

1 packet ChanHong Instant Rendang Mix(available online here http://mytasteofasia.com/)

1 400 ml can of coconut milk (70% saturated fat)

1 stalk lemon grass - crushed (optional)

4 - 5 kaffir lime leaves(optional)

2 tbsp kerisik

3 tbsp cooking oil

Method:

Using the pressure cooker, heat cooking oil and add in the contents of the packet of ChanHong Instant Rendang Mix and saute until fragrant.

Add in beef slices, lemon grass and coconut milk.

Add enough water to cover the beef.

Close the pressure cooker and cook on high for 10 - 15 minutes depending on the type and quality of beef used.

Release pressure and open the lid, add in kaffir lime leaves and kerisik and cook until sauce is thickened.

Add in the jackfruit and cook until it is cooked through.

Add salt to adjust taste.

Rendang is ready to be eaten.

Enjoy

Serves

Stir Fry Prawns Delimas

As suggested in the cooking instructions at the back of the packet of 'Stir Fry Sauce Delimas' to cook this sauce with prawns and so i did. I added 100 ml of thick coconut milk and this is fantastically delicious with hot white rice. This dish was ready to serve in less than 10 minutes.



Ingredients:

1 lb of prawns

1 packet 'Delimas Stir Fry Sauce' (available online here http://mytasteofasia.com/)

1/2 cup of sliced red pepper

1/4 cup of sliced carrot

100 ml thick coconut milk

2 tbsp cooking oil

salt to taste

Lime wedges

Thai basil (optional)

Method:

Heat 2 tbsp cooking oil and add in the packet of Delimas Stir Fry Sauce, stir to heat through.

Add in the carrots and prawns. Saute until prawns are cooked.

Add in the red peppers and lastly the coconut milk.

Add salt to taste.

Garnish with thai basil.

Squeeze lime over prawns and serve with hot white rice.

Serves

Assam Fish Delimas

Last summer, our neighbor's peach tree had so many fruits that after giving me a huge basket full of peaches, there were still more left for the birds. The firmer peaches were sour as they are not ready for the table, so i added some to the assam fish and they were so good, giving this dish a new twist.


Ingredients:

1 lb Spanish mackeral steaks

4 unripe peaches

2 tomatoes

4 ozs okra(i use the frozen ones)

1 packet DELIMAS - Assam Seafood (This is available online from http://mytasteofasia.com/)

Method:

In a microwave-safe bowl, stir the packet of DELIMAS - Assam Seafood with a cup of water.

Put in the fish steaks, cover and cook on high for 4 - 5 minutes.

Add in the peaches - cook for 1 minute (the peaches should be fork tender - if not continue to cook further).

Add in the frozen okra and tomatoes. Cook for 1 minute to warm up the vegetables.

Enjoy with white rice

Serves

Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

What a Merry Christmas and New Year we had, enjoying these crisp, buttery, cut-out cookies which brought out the kid in anyone who tasted them. These creative extravaganza was an inspiration from Renee who consider the cookies a blank canvas for her sweetest artistic skills - with my help of course.

This recipe is for HIGH ALITITIDE and made with all-purpose flour which is moderately strong although cake flour is softer and contains less protein, and makes a more tender cookie, but at high elevations, cake flour made this recipe too soft, so that it needed extra flour or chilling to get to the right consistency or it will  spread too much when baked. The cookies are perfectly tender using all-purpose flour when you roll them thin.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla or almond extract

2 3/4 cups all-purpose, plus extra for rolling out

3/4 tsp baking powder(for friends who reside at sea-level - use 1 tsp)

1 tsp salt

Glaze:

1 egg white or whole egg, beaten

1 tsp water

Icing:

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract or fresh lemon juice

2 - 3 tbsp milk or water as needed

Food colorings

Method:

Divide the oven into thirds and position the racks. Preheat the oven at 350 f .

Line Cookie sheets with baking parchment or nonstick baking mats or light coat with butter.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, preferably with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until well blended. Beat in eggs, one at a time and vanilla, then scrape down the bowl and beater. Remove the bowl from the mixer stand.

Place a sifter over the bowl and measure the flour, baking powder and salt into it. Stir/sift the dry ingredients onto the egg mixture, then beat with a sturdy spoon or the electric mixer on the lowest speed until well incorporated. Form the dough into a ball. If it feels too sticky, add 1 or 2 tbsps flour, until it is easier to handle (in very hot weather, if dough still feels too soft, divide it into four pieces, shape into flat disks and refrigerate in a plastic bag until firm).

Work with about one-third to one-half of the dough at a time and keep the rest in the refrigerator. For ease in handling, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out each portion of the dough about 1/8 inch thick on a piece of baking parchment or on a Silpat or other baking mat fitted to a coookie sheet. Dip the cookie cutters in flour to prevent sticking, and thhen cut out shapes. Use the tip of a knife to help lift and peel away the between-cookie bits, leaving the cookies in place. Slide the parchment or other liner with the cut-out cookies onto a cookie sheet.

Gather the dough scraps together, reroll, and cut out more cookies.

Alternatively, roll out the dough on a lightly floured counter, cut out the cookies, and use a broad spatula to transfer them to a prepared cookie sheet.

If desired, brush each cookie with a little egg glaze(egg white makes a clear glaze, whole egg gives a golden color) and sprinkle with finely chopped nuts, cinnamon, or sugar. Or you can decorate the cookies with icing after baking and cooling.

Bake the cookies for 8 - 12 minutes or until they look slightly golden around the edges. If baking seems uneven, rotate the pans back to front in the oven halfway through the baking time.

Cool cookies on a wire rack. If cookies were baked on parchment or baking mat, simply slide it off the cookie sheet onto the wire rack to cool.

If using the icing, mix it while the cookies cool. When the cookies are completely cooled, spread on the icing with a butter knife. Or put some of each color in a plastic bag, seal the top(s) and cut a tiny hole in one corner of each bag with scissors. If you want a carefully controlled fine line, drop a metal decorating tip into the corner of the bag before adding the icing. Squeese the icing out of the bag to make designs. Leave the decorated cookies on the wire racks to air-dry the icing. At sea-level, this can take an hour or more, at higher altitudes, the icing will dry more quickly. When the icing is hard, store the cookies in an airtight container, separated by layers of wax paper or plastic wrap.

Method of icing:

Combine the butter, sifted sugar and vanilla or lemon juice in a medium bown and beat with an electric mixer until smooth.

Add enough milk or water a drop at a time to make the icing smooth enough to spread. If desired, put a couple of tablespoons of plain icing in each of several cups and stir a scat drop of color into each, then add more color a tiny bit at a time if necesarry. Cover unused icing (especially at high altitudes) with plastic wrap, to prevent it from drying out.

Serves