Prepare ginger, red dates, 2 luo han guo (crushed) and 50g rock sugar cubes.
Put everything including the pear paste into a pot. Bring to boil with high heat. Then turn to low heat and simmer for 30 mins.
Sieve everything and only keep the liquid. To save more liquid, you can place all the residue into a cotton cloth. wrap it and squeeze all the juice out.
Pour the juice into the pot again. Bring to boil with high heat and simmer with low heat for about 1hr 30 mins. Or until it becomes as thick as honey.
This is a Malaysian Nonya Kueh, which contains sticky rice as bottom layer and pandan egg custard on top. I love this dessert very much. I found this recipe on Youtube and followed it:
Soak 300g glutinous rice in water for 4 hrs. Drain them and place them in a plate. Add in 100ml coconut milk, 1 tsp salt and 100 ml water. and put a pandan knot over it. Steam for 25 mins.
Put 5 pandan leaves (cut into small pieces) and 200 ml water into blender. Blend till very smooth. Sieve the liquid and keep the juice only.
In a bowl, beat in 3 eggs. Combine with 100g sugar (original recipe requires 120g sugar, but I cut it. 100g sugar is still sweet enough for me.), 25g flour, 20g corn starch. Mix well.
Add pandan juice and 150ml coconut milk into the egg mixture. Also add in 1/4 tsp salt.
Put cooked sticky rice into a 20cm greased steam pan . Press them firmly.
Pour egg & pandan mixture into sauce pan. turn to low heat and simmer to let it thicken. I accidentally overheated it, that’s why my kueh looks ugly. 😦
Pour the egg mixture over sticky rice. Cover it with aluminium foil and steam for 30 mins.
Remove the foil and steam for another 5 mins.
Cool down and cut into small pieces.
It’s very sticky and hard to cut clean. My ones look ugly but taste nice.
During our trip in Taipei, my husband and I had 豆酥鳕鱼 (Steamed cod fish with crispy granulated coy beans). It’s the first time for we to try this dish and we love it very much. Its’ my husband’s favourite dish in our whole trip. I did a little research online about the dou su (crispy granulated soy bean) and found it’s possible to make at home. And not that complicated as I thought.
Soak the soy beans overnight. Put them into the blender. and blender slightly into granulates.
Heat a pan, add in 2-3 tbsp oil. Add in granulated soy beans. Stir fry with low heat till golden brown and crispy.
Sprinkle salt and cooking wine over fish. Steam fish fillet in boiling water for 8-10 mins.
Pour the water out of the plate after steaming. Drizzle 1 tbsp light soy sauce over fish.
Heat a pan, add in 2 tsp oil. Add in chopped 1 clove of garlic, 2 chopped shallot till aromatic. Add in granulated soy beans and 1 tsp sugar. Stir fry evenly.
Spread soy bean over the fish.
My husband said it taste quite similar to the one we had in Taipei, except I didn’t use cod fish. Dou su part is really like that one.
I finally tried this recipe. I still remember there is a scene in the movie Julie & Julia. Julie went to buy beef for this dish. She said ” Beef Bourguignon. Julia Child’s beef bourguignon.”
Cut beef into chunks and set aside.
Cut 3 strips bacon. Boil them and drain. Saute in the pan with 1 tbsp oil till a bit brownish. Set bacon aside.
Same pan. Use the bacon fat to saute beef. Wipe beef with kitchen towel and make sure they are very dry before putting into the pan. Saute each side nicely golden brown. Then set beef aside.
Prepare 1 white onion, and 2 carrots. Saute in the same pan till brownish on the edge.
Preheat oven to 220 Degree C. If you have casserole, place beef in it. Season fried beef with salt and black pepper. Sprinkle in 1 tbsp flour. Give it a good mix.
Beef into the oven for 5 mins. Then toss a bit and into the oven for another 5 mins.
Heat the pan used to fry beef. Pour in 2 cups red wine. Stir a bit and bring to boil.
Transfer everything into the casserole, including beef, bacon, sauteed vegetables, and 2 cups beef stock. Also add in 1 tbsp tomato paste, 2 bayleaves, 1 tbs thyme, 2 clove garlic paste.
If you have a casserole, just put everything in it. And into the 160 Degree C oven for 2.5-3 hrs. But I don’t have one. I use my pressure cooker and slow cook in low temperate.
Prepare sauteed mushroom. Cut mushroom into quarters. Heat a pan. Cut in 2 tbsp butter. When butter in hot, add mushroom in. Toss and stir fry for 3 mins. Season with salt and pepper. Also sprinkle a little thyme. Juice will come out. Simmer in low heat for 5 mins. Julia Child used pearl white onion too, which I could’t find in the supermarket. So I neglected that step.
When beef is done, sieve it to separate the sauce and rest ingredients. Simmer sauce in sauce pan to thicken it.
Serve the beef with hot mashed potato. Don’t forget to add in sauteed mushroom and drizzle the sauce.
It’s a famous dish in Indian cuisine. For the chicken, I used a half chicken. I removed the skin and bones before cutting it. Of course you can choose chicken thighs or chicken breast.
Place chicken pieces in a bowl. Add in 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp paprika powder, 1 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp turmeric powder, 2 tsp garlic paste and 1 tsp chopped ginger. If you want it to be a little spicy, you can also add in spicy chili powder. Marinate for 15 mins.
Saute marinate chicken in pan. Heat a pan. add in 1 tbsp oil. Put the chicken pieces in. Saute till chicken turn golden brown. Take the chicken out.
Same pan. Add in 2 tsp extra oil. Add in 1/2 cup chopped onion. stir fry a bit.
Cut in 1 tbsp butter. Sautee onion till aromatic.
Add in 2 cups chopped tomato. Stir fry evenly with onion.
Pour in 1 cup water. Season with salt, garam masala, paprika powder and sugar.
Simmer with low heat for 15 mins.
Transfer everything in pan into the blender. Blend till it becomes smooth paste.
Pour the paste back into the pan. If the gravy is not thickened enough, turn to low heat and reduce it.
Add the chicken in. Cut in 1 tbsp butter and add in 1 tbsp cream. Stir well. Simmer for another 10 mins.
Cooking For Fun 