Autumn is persimmon season, yet I haven’t tried persimmon before. Last Sunday when my husband and I were shopping in a Chinese supermarket, we found persimmons on the shelf. My husband was also very curious about them. So we bought 1 box of persimmons.
Persimmons taste very sweet but also with a bit astringent. So I was thinking maybe I could use them to make something sweet but at the same time to reduce the astringent taste.
1, Choose soft persimmons. As a Chinese saying goes “挑软柿子捏” which means to pick the soft persimmons as they are rotten and sweeter. But now in Chinese soft persimmon means someone who is a pushover.
2, Put persimmons in a bowl, pour hot water over them. This is to make the peeling process easier.
3, Remove the stem and peel and put persimmons in blender to blend them into paste.
4, In a big bowl, add in persimmon paste. Stir evenly.
5, Add in flour. Keep stirring while adding flour until it can be kneaded into a dough. I actually add in some sticky rice flour, so the ratio is close to sticky rice flour: plain flour= 1:3. No water is needed. I didn’t add in any sugar either, cos the persimmons are sweet enough. As I was going to use red bean paste as the filling, so I didn’t want my pancakes to be too sweet.
6, Let the dough rest for 20 mins. And then divide it into small doughs. My small doughs are about 60-70g, and the red bean paste filling for each one is about 40g.
7, Make dough flat and put the filling in the center. Wrap it up and roll into round shape. Press gentlely.
8, Heat a pan, brush it with oil. Fry the flat dough till both sides turn golden brown.
I’ve made zong zi before. This time, I decided to make some with red bean paste filling.
Main ingredients:
big bamboo leaves
sticky rice
red bean paste
kitchen twine
Bamboo leaves should be soaked in water overnight. Cut off the leaf stalk before wrapping. Sticky rice should also be soaked for hours, I usually soak them overnight.
Use bamboo leaves (1 or 2 ) to make a funnel shape at one end. Add into 1 or 2 tbsp rice, then add in red bean paste as many as you want. 🙂 Top with another 1 tbsp rice. Cover it with the rest bamboo leaf and wrap with twine.
Boil them in pressure cooker for 30mins.
Yum! 🙂
I also tried to use sago instead of sticky rice. If you use sago, better not cook them with pressure cooker, cos sago is much easier to cook.
But I like sticky rice more, sticky rice taste more chewy.
I love Qing Tuan. But I don’t know where to buy them in Singapore. I decided to make them by myself. Yet, another problem is I don’t know where to get 艾草 Ai Cao (Artemisia argyi, commonly known as silvery wormwood or Chinese mugwort). It’s one of the main ingredients to make the dough. So I have to replace it with pandan, which is very common here in Singapore.
But the color is not as green as Ai Cao. I guess spinach would be a better choice.
Ingredients:
glutinous rice flour 180g
rice flour 20g
pandan leaves 20
water 1 cup
oil 10g
red bean paste 200g
1, In a big bowl, mix glutinous rice flour and rice flour.
2, Cut pandan leaves into small pieces. Put them into the blender with water and blend. Drain the water. Only keep 140g of the green water.
3, Heat green water in a pot. Turn off the heat when it’s about to boil.
4, Pour the hot green water into the flour mixture while stirring. Add in oil.
5, Knead it into a big dough ball.
6, Divide dough ball into smaller ones with each about 35g. Divide red bean paste into 10 smaller balls with 20g each.
7, Press the small dough balls into a thin and flat disc. Place the red bean paste into middle. And gently wrap it up.
8, Better put parchment paper under the Qing Tuan. And steam over hot water for 12 mins.
I really really love those green rice balls. Very delicious.
Here comes one of my favorite dishes again. I found a type of Chinese green chili in the supermarket the other day. The specialty of this green chili is the skin is thinner than green pepper. It taste crispier, spicier and also a bit sweet. Good choice to make this dish.
1, Cut eggplant, potato and green chilies into small chunks.
2, Heat oil in the pan. More oil will be used in this dish cos potato and eggplant need to be deep fried.
3, Fry potato first, when they turn a bit golden on the edge, add in eggplant. Fry till eggplant turns brownish color.
4, Pour the extra oil out. Add in green chili and onion (optional).
Add rice and water into a pot. Bring to boil. Rice:water is 1:4.
Skim the porridge and remove the foam.
Transfer all rice and water into pressure cooker. (I really use pressure cooker a lot recently). Cook for 20 mins.
While porridge is being cooked, prepare the pork liver.
Cut liver into slices. Wash in water again and again till no more blood.
Marinate pork liver with 1 tbsp cooking wine, 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp white pepper powder, 1 pinch sugar, ginger slices and 1 tbsp starch. Mix well and marinate for 15-20 mins.
When porridge is down, Keep heating it. Add in pork liver. Keep stirring cos the porridge will be very thickened. Cook for 5-8 mins till pork liver is fully cooked.
Season with salt.
Serve with chopped spring onion.
My husband likes this type of porridge, and he likes my pork liver porridge very much.
Prepare abalones, wash them clean and dry with kitchen towel. Soak Chinese shiitake mushrooms in water (the dry type). Then remove the stem. Keep the mushroom water. Except shiitake mushroom, I also use another kind of mushroom. But only shiitake also works.
Heat a pan. Add in 2 tsp oil. Sear 1 small chunk of pork belly. When the pork belly turns a bit golden brown. Add in 2 chopped garlic cloves. Stir fry till aromatic.
Add in all the mushrooms. Fry a bit.
2 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp dark soy sauce, and 1 tbsp oyster sauce. Mix evenly with mushroom.
Pour in mushroom water, about 1/2 1 cup and 1/2 cup stock. bring to boil with high heat.
Transfer everything into pressure cooker. Also add in abalones.
Cook 20 mins under high pressure.
Cut broccoli into small chunks. Blanch in water for 3 mins.
Arrange broccoli in the plate.
Place abalone and mushrooms in the center.
Pour the sauce into a sauce pan. Add in 1 tbsp sugar. heat it and stir.
Cooking For Fun 