Cookbooks: Dim Sum
While out shopping this morning, took a detour and went browsing through a bookshop, and guess what – yep, brought these two babies home!
The ‘Chinese Dim Sum in Pictures’ (left) cost me a whopping A$48 and the ‘Cantonese Dim Sum’ (right) is much cheaper at A$12. Oh, well, can’t help myself, they just look too good and the step-by-step pictures are just too tempting. There are another two books in the same series as the ‘Chinese Dim Sum in Pictures’ on the shelf, Complete Book of Roasted & Spiced Food (燒烤滷燻食品大全) and another called Chef's Manual (廚師及燒臘師手冊), I was also very very tempted to buy them but stopped myself in time as that would set me back another A$90, ouch! So I quickly paid for the two books and left the shop.
‘中國點心製作圖解 Chinese Dim Sum in Pictures’ looks very comprehensive and contains 309 pages. It is divided into 10 sections: Doughs and Buns (發麵與包子), boiled and steamed dumplings (餃子類), wontons (餛飩類), shaomai dumplings (燒賣類), special pastry dim sums (特別外皮餃類及角類), puff pastry dim sums (酥皮點心), Chinese pancakes and ricecakes (餅糕類), glutinous rice dim sums (糯米點心), fun dim sums (趣味小吃), imperial dim sums (宮廷點心). Can’t wait to sit down and slowly read through it, yipee……
‘廣式飲茶小點 Cantonese Dim Sum’ is a much smaller book with only 72 pages. This book is almost a pictorial guide to making the common Cantonese dim sums, 22 of them. So if I disappear for a while, you will know that I’m spending all my free time happily burying my face in these two books……Labels: Cookbooks
Continue Reading......
Snowskin Strawberry Mooncakes 冰皮草莓月餅
During the week, a request came through for this recipe which I first made about 2 years ago. I know it is rather early to post a recipe
for mooncakes in March! But then you do realize that it is now autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, don’t you? So what the heck, here it is.
Mooncakes are served during the Mid-Autumn Festival. In the past ten years or so, the snowskin mooncakes have become very popular in South East Asia as they are served chilled, I guess because that would be especially good in the tropical climate. I have combined the ‘Chilled (Ping Pei) Carrot Mooncakes’ recipe from Jo’s Deli Bakery with a Japanese wagashi (Japanese sweets, see example) called ‘Ichigo Daifuku’ (苺大福 or Strawberry Mochi Cakes, see examples #1, #2, #3) and come up with this, well, east meets east, recipe. It was a great success with all who tried them. These mooncakes tasted surprisingly good, soft and also chewy at the same time. They also looked so festive draped in their red jackets with a juicy strawberry inside each of them.
Adapted from the recipe ‘Chilled (Ping Pei) Carrot Mooncakes’ at Jo’s Deli Bakery, Malaysia.
Makes approx. 8 - 10 large mooncakes, depending on size of moulds.
[Ingredients]
Snowskin Pastry:
160g icing sugar, sifted
25g ghee or shortening
1 teaspoon (approx.) strawberry paste essence, dissolved in
175ml hot water
1/2 teaspoon salt
110g cooked glutinous rice flour (gaofen 糕粉), sifted
50g cornstarch
extra cooked glutinous rice flour for dusting
Filling:
1 kg (approx.) Red Bean Paste, store-bought or see recipe below
about 10 - 15 fresh strawberries, rinsed then patted very dry
http://cafeoftheeast.blogspot.com/
[Preparation]
Snowskin Pastry:
1. Line the inside of a microwaveable container with paper towel (kitchen paper), spread cornstarch evenly on top of the paper, microwave on HIGH for 1 minute to remove its raw tart taste. Remove, sift into a mixing bowl and cool. Mix with cooked glutinous rice flour and salt. If necessary sift the flour mixture again.
2. Rub ghee into icing sugar then stir in the flour mixture. Slowly pour in the cooled strawberry water to mix into a soft dough. Cover and stand for 10 minutes before using.
3. As a rough guide, divide snowskin dough into approximately 50g-portion for large mooncake mould or 15g-portion for small mooncake mould. Lightly dust your hands with extra cooked glutinous rice flour. Knead each portion until smooth and not sticky. Roll each into a ball for used as pastry for the mooncakes.
Strawberry & Paste Filling:
4. Divide red bean paste into approximately 120g-portion (includes a strawberry) or 30g-portion (include half or quarter of a strawberry) – these are just rough guide, you need to adjust them for the size of your mould. Wrap a strawberry into each bean paste portion and form into a ball.
Wrapping and shaping the mooncakes:
5. Lightly dust your hands with extra cooked glutinous rice flour. Flatten a snowskin pastry ball into a 5cm-diameter disc. Press to make the edges thinner than the centre. Place a ball of filling in the middle and press the pastry against the filling. Hold the pastry part with the palm of your right hand. With your left hand, start pushing the filling against the pastry. As you push the paste, use your right hand to rotate the ball, at the same time pressing the pastry up, enlarging it to enclose and seal the filling. You may find this hard to do in the beginning but with a bit of practice you will soon get the hang of it. When you finish you should get a completely enclosed mooncake ball with an even thin layer of snowskin pastry.
6. Dust the mooncake mould with extra cooked glutinous rice flour. Place the finished mooncake ball, seal side up, into the mould. Press the mooncake in to shape, then bang upper, lower, left and right sides of the mould against the bench to dislodge the mooncake. Repeat with the remaining mooncake pastry and filling balls.
8. Chill the snowskin mooncakes in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving.
[Tips]
1. If you cannot get strawberry essence or do not want to use essence, you can substitute the strawberry water with 180ml strawberry juice.
2. If you find it hard to wrap the filling using the amount of snowskin pastry suggested, you may want to increase the amount of dough slightly so it is easier to wrap.
Red Bean Paste 烏豆沙
Makes about 500g bean paste.
[Ingredients]
300g (approx. 1 1/3 cups) dried adzuki beans 紅豆
800-1000ml (3-4 cups) water
150g-200g sugar, adjust to taste
50-100g lard or ghee, adjust to taste
[Preparation]
1. Soak adzuki beans in enough water to cover for at least 3-5 hours or overnight. Drain.
2. Rapidly boil water in a saucepan, add drained beans and cook over low heat for about 1 1/2 hours until the beans split and are soft.
3. Drain and press through a sieve to remove the skins, this process will produce a very fine paste.
4. Melt lard or ghee in a wok until hot, stir-fry 1/4 to 1/3 of the sugar until melted, then add the paste and stir fry, adding the remaining sugar little by little, continue to stir-fry until thick and the bean paste can stand in peaks. Cool.
[Variation]
Use skinless mung beans to make Mung Bean Paste. Need less boiling time, or can be steamed until soft.
[Note]
Please note this recipe uses 1 standard cup of 250ml, 1 tablespoon of 20ml and 1 teaspoon of 5ml.Labels: Asian Fillings, Asian Pastries, Mooncakes
Continue Reading......
Mango Chiffon Cake
I love to read cooking, especially baking, articles from different countries. The Indonesian website,
Sedap Sekejap is one that I visit quite regularly. They always have interesting recipes
using local produce like tropical fruits. I have been eyeing this recipe for Chempedak Chiffon Cake for quite a while, but not being able to get chempedak here easily, I have not been able to try it out.
Over the weekend, I was thinking of baking a chiffon cake since I haven’t baked one for quite a while. I was also itching to bake something new other than the same old favourites like pandan or lemon flavoured chiffons. I looked into my cupboard pantry and saw 2 tins of mango sitting prettily there, just waiting to be used. So I finally went and dug out this Chempedak Chiffon Cake recipe and adapted it to use mango instead.
Mango, however, is not one ingredient that has a pronounced fragrance, especially if you bake it. Now because chiffon cake is very light, I am not able to add chunky bits of mango flesh to provide texture, they would all sink to the bottom after baking. Believe me, I have done it before with raspberry and had a disastrous result! So in order to give the cake that special lift, I added mango essence and lime juice! The result is quite good, I must say – the fragrance from the essence is superb and the lime juice give it a tangy flavour!
Adapted from the recipe ‘Chiffon Cempedak’ at Sedap Sekejap, Indonesia.
Makes a 25cm cake
[Ingredients]
A – sift together 3 times, set aside:
120g plain flour
30g cornflour
2 tablespoons (about 20g) coconut milk powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
B:
7 egg yolks
90g caster sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
100g mango puree
1 teaspoon mango essence
40ml mango juice
40ml lime juice
100ml corn oil
C – meringue:
7 egg whites
90g caster sugar
pinch cream of tartar
http://cafeoftheeast.blogspot.com/
[Preparation]
1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Sift ingredients (A) together 3 times, set aside.
2. Put egg yolks, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl and whisk to dissolve sugar. Add the rest of ingredients (B) and whisk to combine well.
3. Whisk egg whites and cream of tartar in another mixing bowl until soft peaks formed. Add sugar gradually, spoonful by spoonful, whisking until glossy but not quite stiff peaks stage.
4. Sift the flour mixture in 4-5 batches onto the mango mixture, whisking the flour mixture lightly into the batter after each addition. Fold 1/3 of the meringue into the mango batter lightly and gently. Repeat twice more with the rest of the meringue.
5. Pour batter into an ungreased 25cm angel food cake tube pan. Run a knife in the batter around a few times, then tap the pan lightly on the bench a couple of times to rid any large air bubbles in the batter.
6. Bake for about 1 hour. Remove from oven and turn the tube pan upside down immediately and elevate the overturned pan on 3 glasses to cool. When completely cold, run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cake. Take out the tube part of the pan, run the knife around the bottom of the cake to loosen it and turn out onto a cake platter.
[Note]
1. Please note this recipe uses 1 standard cup of 250ml, 1 tablespoon of 20ml and 1 teaspoon of 5ml.
2. The size of egg used is about 60g (includes shell) unless otherwise stated.Labels: Asian Cakes, Cakes and Cupcakes
Continue Reading......
Steamed Banana Muffins
Huh? You asked, what’s that, steamed muffins? Yes, nothing wrong with your eyes or my typing skill for that matter – that’s correct, I steamed my muffins!
Well, actually the wacky part of my mind sprung that idea and took me by surprise too – I was craving for a Chinese-styled steamed sponge cake, but could not be bothered to do all the egg-whisking. So was thinking of a simple and fast way to steam something that would at least resemble the sponge cake. So what’s the simplest and faster way to whisk, pardon the pun, up something delicious – muffins of course! I thought, why-ever not – I took a Banana Muffins recipe and adapted it. Voila, it actually worked and they were so soft and spongy that I was quite taken aback! Well, well, well, how come nobody has thought of this before! I kept asking myself…… Next up, might even try to steam my favourite blueberry muffins, what do you think?
Makes 6 Chinese teacups.
[Ingredients]
150g self-raising flour
80g caster sugar
1/2 cup (approx. 125g) mashed banana, from 1 large over-ripe banana
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 egg, lightly beaten
50ml corn oil
50ml milk
http://cafeoftheeast.blogspot.com/
[Preparation]
1. Prepare the steamer and boil the water. Put 6 empty Chinese teacups in the steamer and heat them up, at least 10 minutes.
2. Sift flour and sugar into a mixing bowl.
3. Mash the banana, add lemon juice to it.
4. Mix together lightly beaten egg, corn oil, milk and vanilla essence.
5. Add the mashed banana and liquid mixture into the flour mixture. Quickly and lightly fold in as you would muffin batter. Do not over-mix.
6. Divide the batter evenly into the six hot teacups.
7. Steam over rapidly boiling water for about 25 minutes. Serve hot or cold.
[Note]
1. Please note this recipe uses 1 standard cup of 250ml, 1 tablespoon of 20ml and 1 teaspoon of 5ml.
2. The size of egg used is about 60g (includes shell) unless otherwise stated.Labels: Asian Cakes, Quick Breads
Continue Reading......
Pavlova
This meringue-based dessert is probably the most-loved and also most-argued dessert between Australia and New Zealand. Why? Because both countries laid claim to its invention!
However the one thing that is certain is that it was named in honour of the great Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova (1881-1931), who toured both countries, first in 1926 and again in 1929, and thus provided the inspiration for the naming of this dessert. Pavlova, or as Australians like to call ‘pav’, is a soft-centred meringue filled with whipped cream and topped with fruits (traditionally either just passionfruit pulps, or strawberries and kiwis), and it is considered to be the national dessert for both countries.
There are a few different versions of its origin – I won’t go into that here as there are already tons of debates on this topic. However I will just attempt to list a chronological event of this dessert as it evolved. This is by no means a definite accurate list, they are only information I have managed to gather from different sources on the net – any additions or corrections to this information are, however, welcome. So here we go:
1926 – a recipe for a single meringue cut in half and filled like a sponge cake appeared in New Zealand.
1927 – in the second edition of ‘Terrace Tested Recipes’, recipes collected and published in Wellington, NZ by the ladies of Terrace Congregational Church, there was a recipe submitted by a Mrs McRae for a Meringue Cake. This was three whipped egg-whites, eight ounces of sugar and a dessertspoon of cornflour (the pavlova ingredients less vinegar), put into two well-greased sandwich tins ‘in a fairly hot oven on a low shelf and leave until the fire is almost out.’ The two halves were filled with whipped cream and cherries or strawberries, or served as two cakes.
1927 – the first appearance in print of the word ‘Pavlova’ (meaning the dessert) from New Zealand, in a 1927 booklet put out by Davis Gelatine NZ called ‘Davis Dainty Dishes (6th ed.)’. However, since the pavlova as we now cook it includes no gelatine, this gelatine sweet may referred to a totally different dessert.
1929 – a recipe from ‘Practical Home Cookery: Chats and Recipes’ by Mrs Katrine McKay for ‘Pavlova Cakes’ published in Christchurch, NZ. The recipe was contributed by Rose H. Rutherford of Dunedin and the cakes were cooked like meringues, with the addition of cornflour, coffee essence and chopped walnuts. Although the ingredients used were roughly those of a pavlova, it was not the pavlova as we know it today, because the mixture was then baked into three dozen little meringues.
1929 – a cookbook published by E. Futter titled ‘Home Cookery for New Zealand’ contained a recipe for ‘Meringue with Fruit Filling’ although the name Pavlova is not used.
early 1930s – a number of similar recipes for the Meringue Cake or Meringue Sponge Sandwich were published in New Zealand. Its form varied, but it was to all intents and purposes what we know as a ‘Pavlova’, sometimes even complete with passionfruit on top.
1934 – Mrs Elizabeth (Elsie) Paxton succeeded her husband as licensee of Hotel Esplanade in Perth, Western Australia, and under her invigorated guidance the afternoon teas became very desirable occasions.
1935 – there was a prize-winning recipe for a Meringue Cake in the Australian magazine, ‘Women's Mirror’ on April 2, 1935. It contained vinegar, but no cornflour and was of two parts filled with whipped cream. The recipe was contributed by ‘Rewa’ of Rongotai, NZ.
1935 – Mrs Paxton of Hotel Esplanade and her manager, Harry Nairn, approached their chef, Herbert (Bert) Sachse, to devise something different and unique for a sweet. Bert Sachse experimented on meringue cake recipes for a month and after many failures, finally lit upon one that survives as what we know it today. “I had always regretted that meringue cake (referring to the 1935 Women’s Mirror recipe?) was invariably too hard and crusty, so I set out to make something which would have a crunchy top and would cut like a marshmallow,” Sachse said in an interview with Woman’s Day magazine in 1973. According to Paxton family tradition, the pavlova was named at a meeting at which Sachse presented the now familiar cake (according to ABC Archives and Library Services, that day was December 31, 1935). The family say that either the licensee or the manager (as Sachse also recalled) remarked, “It is as light as Pavlova”. Thus the name ‘Pavlova’ was officially coined for this well-loved meringue cake!
And here is the original recipe from Sachse (extracted from ‘Woman’s Day Just Desserts’):
‘The whites of 6 eggs;
6 oz of sugar (a heaped cup);
1 oz of cornflour;
Just under a dessertspoonful of vinegar;
A few drops of vanilla essence;
1 good pinch of cream of tartar;
1/3 of a pint of cream;
3 or 4 passionfruit’
This Chef Sachse’s meringue was baked in a deep cake tin, cooled then turned out upside down and topped with whipped cream and fruit. Today however, you will find that it is more than likely to be baked in thousands of homes across the country as a free form meringue without using cake tin. The meringue base should be crisp on the outside but with a soft, marshmallowy centre. It is then usually just simply filled and topped with whipped cream and fresh fruits. There can be many variations to this simple dessert, it is really only limited by your imagination and creativity! For different presentations, try baking the meringue base in a large baking tray to serve as square Pavlova Slices, or making individual-sized meringue for Pavlova Nests. There are even recipes for making Pavlova Roll! Although pavlova is one of the most heavenly delicious desserts, it is however not the type of dessert that looks perfect. After the meringue base is baked and cooled, it is inevitable that the crust will crack and the marshmallow centre will sink back slightly creating a hollow space (from my own experience, the higher you pile the meringue, the bigger the hollow! – I still can’t figure out the reason for this, or maybe it is just I haven’t mastered the technique!?). But the good thing about the sunken centre is that it is just the perfect place to heap on the filling. So there you are, the ballerina angel of all the meringue-based desserts – Pavlova!
[Ingredients]
Meringue:
4 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon (pinch) salt
200g caster sugar
2 teaspoons cornflour
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
Filling and Topping:
300ml thickened cream
2-3 passionfruit, and/or 1 punnet strawberries and some kiwifruit
http://cafeoftheeast.blogspot.com/
[Preparation]
1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Take a large piece of greaseproof paper and trace a 20cm (can be up to 25cm) circle on the paper. Turn the paper so that the traced side is underneath and line on top of a large baking sheet (the meringue will expand during baking, so the baking sheet should be slightly larger than the traced circle to accommodate).
2. Put egg whites and salt in a large dry, clean mixing bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, spoonful by spoonful, beating continuously after each addition, until all sugar is dissolved and meringue mixture is glossy (about 5-10 minutes).
3. Mix cornflour with vinegar and gently fold into the mixture with the essence.
4. Stick the four corners of the lining paper to the baking sheet with a tiny dot of the meringue mixture.
5. Spread the meringue inside the circle. Shape evenly, running a flat-bladed knife or spatula around edge and over top of meringue. Run knife up edge of meringue mixture, all the way around, making furrows if desired. Alternatively, spread about 5mm layer of meringue over the circle, then pipe or spoon swirls of remaining mixture round edge to form shell.
6. Put the meringue in the middle of oven and immediately turn the oven temperature down to 120°C. Bake for about 1 1/4 hours or until meringue feels firm and dry to the touch. Turn off oven, open oven door and leave ajar to cool meringue slowly in the oven, at least 4 hours or overnight.
7. Once completely cool, turn meringue very carefully onto serving plate (some people like to turn it upside down so the flat base is on top). If desired, run the tip of a small knife around inside edge of the crust surface to allow centre to sink forming a nest for filling.
8. Whip thickened cream to soft peaks and pile on top of the meringue. Top simply with passionfruit pulp or arrange cut strawberries and kiwifruit on top of the whipped cream then drizzle on passionfruit pulp.
[Tips]
1. It is best to bake the meringue at night and leave to cool in the oven overnight.
2. Once baked and cooled, the meringue can be kept for a few days in an airtight container.
3. Only fill and top the meringue close to serving time.
[Note]
1. Please note this recipe uses 1 standard cup of 250ml, 1 tablespoon of 20ml and 1 teaspoon of 5ml.
2. The size of egg used is about 60g (includes shell) unless otherwise stated.
[Info]
Historical Information Sources:
1. Article by Glen Ralph of the Wilmar Library, South Australia
2. Information about New Zealand food
3. Saveur
4. Lacey, J. (ed.), 1983, ‘Woman’s Day Just Desserts’, Magazine Promotions, Sydney.Labels: Coffee Desserts, Meringues
Continue Reading......
Kuih Dadar
Kuih Dadar, also known as Kuih Ketayap or Kuih Gulung (also variably called Dadar Gulung) in Malay, is basically a Coconut Crepe Roll. The crepe is made with coconut milk
and flavoured with pandan. It is then filled with palm sugar coated coconut, rolled up and served with coconut sauce.
Traditionally of course these crepes are made using pandan juice to make them light green in colour. But since I have a number of different paste essences just waiting to be used, I thought they would colour up these crepes and now looking at those finished rolls, they do indeed look like rolls of colourfully dyed fabrics. I have included the recipe for the sauce to serve with Kuih Dadar, but I have not made it, so it is not tested.
A word about making these crepes – they must be cooked in a crepe pan (frying pan of 15 - 20cm diameter) to get the right-sized crepe. If not, the roll will end up too big with too many layers, which is not what you want! The crepe should ideally be thin, this will come down to experience as to how the right batter consistency should be to make that. For the first-timers, it might be better to make a slightly thicker crepe as it is easier to handle, but with experience, you should be able to judge for the right batter consistency to make thinner crepe. So happy kuih dadaring!
Adapted from the recipe ‘Kueh Dadar’ in ‘The Best of Singapore Cooking’ by Mrs Leong Yee Soo, published by Times Books International, 1988 (2003 reprint edition).
Makes approx. 10-12 rolls
[Ingredients]
Coconut Crepes:
110g plain flour, sifted
10g (1 tbsp) tapioca flour, sifted
pinch salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
125ml (1/2 cup) thick coconut milk
125ml (or more if necessary) thin coconut milk, adjust accordingly
1 - 2 tsp canola or corn oil
1 tsp pandan paste essence *
* Replace pandan paste essence with other essences for different flavours/colours if desired
Coconut Filling:
20g (1 tbsp) granulated sugar
100g palm sugar, grated
40ml (2 tbsp) water
3 pandan leaves
250g freshly grated coconut, or frozen is fine
1 tsp tapioca flour + 1 tbsp water to make slurry
Sauce for dipping or to serve with (optional):
1/2 cup thick coconut milk
1 1/2 cups thin coconut milk
1 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp rice flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
3 pandan leaves
http://cafeoftheeast.blogspot.com/
[Preparation]
Coconut Crepes:
1. Put sifted flours and salt in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in beaten eggs. Add thick coconut milk and part of thin coconut milk, mix with a wooden spoon or balloon-whisk until smooth.
2. Gradually add in enough of the remaining thin coconut milk, whisking all the time, until you get the right pouring consistency. Strain the batter. Whisk in pandan essence (or divide batter into a few portions and whisk in different essences separately). Leave for 1/2 hour before using.
3. Heat oil in a crepe pan (20cm or smaller frying pan). Swirl to coat then pour the oil into the batter and mix in. Wipe the pan with a paper towel to coat the surface evenly.
4. Pour in enough of the batter to cover surface of the pan with a thin layer. Swirl pan around quickly so the batter spreads as thinly and evenly as possible. Pour off any excess batter back into remaining batter.
5. Cook until the edges curl slightly upwards then remove to cool.
Coconut Filling:
Bring both sugars, water and pandan leaves to the boil until sugar dissolved. Add grated coconut, lower heat, stirring until almost dry. Add flour slurry and cook 5 more minutes. Remove and cool.
Sauce for dipping or to serve with (optional):
1. Pour 1/2 cup thin coconut milk gradually into both types of flour and mix well, set aside.
2. Bring the remaining 1 cup thin coconut milk together with salt, sugar and pandan leaves to near boiling point. Remove from heat and mix in flour mixture gradually, whisking all the time. Add in thick coconut milk.
3. Return to stove and allow to come to a simmer over very low heat, whisking until sauce consistency. Remove pandan leaves and let cool.
To make Kuih Dadar:
Fill each crepe with about 2 tablespoonfuls of Coconut Filling. Fold to enclose filling, then roll up like a spring roll. Serve with sauce if desired.
[Note]
1. Please note this recipe uses 1 standard cup of 250ml, 1 tablespoon of 20ml and 1 teaspoon of 5ml.
2. The size of egg used is about 60g (includes shell) unless otherwise stated.Labels: Kuih-Muih, Teatime Treats
Continue Reading......
