Nice Ices

Good for a hot afternoon!

 

Especially for Croissant Lovers

This old recipe is still useful. 

 

 
 

Butter Cookies

This recipe was given to me by a special friend, a 'spritely' 70 plus old woman of Persian descent, having a beautiful name of Sharifah.  The cookies she made were the best I ever tasted, and every Hari Raya I would look forward to her open house.  Unfortunately she left this world in 2008 and since then , I would miss her alot especailly on Hari Raya . 


The method is the same as for making all cookies, generally.  Therefore, I shall just share the ingredients and a brief note on what to do, just as what she had written on a small piece of paper she tore from a thick book where she had recorded in her own handwriting all the recipes she had collected, tested and improved over the years.


Ingredients:


1 bar of butter
2 cups flour
1  1/2 cups sago flour
1 teasp baking powder
2 heaped tablespoon custard powder
3 cups castor sugar(to be made a bit finer) by pounding with a pestle or grinding
1 egg
Slightly beat butter and sugar.  Add scrambled egg, then add flour.


These were the instructions written by her.  She said the ingredients are important to achieve the goodness of her cookies.  Happy trying!

Steamed Butter Raisin Cake (Amy Beh's)

Ingredients:


225g butter
185g soft brown sugar
half tsp vanilla essence
4 eggs
275g self raising flour, sifted
3 tbsp evaporated milk
50g raisins


Method:


Grease and line a 20cm round cake pan.
Beat butter, sugar and essence until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add shifted flour and stir in milk to mix.  Stir in raisins lightly to combine.  Transfer batter to prepared cake pan.
Steam for 45 minutes or until cooked through when a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Transfer cake to a wire rack to cool it for 10 - 15 minutes before removing it out from the tin.

Parn Mee Noodles(Amy Beh's)

Ingredients  :


600g plain flour
1 small egg
half tsp salt
240 ml hot water


Method:


Sift flour into a large mixing bowl.  Add egg, salt and water to mix.  Knead into a smooth dough.  Divide the
dough into small equal portions and shape each into a round ball.
Flatten it with the palm of your hand and wrap each piece with cling film.  Leave aside to rest for 4-8 hours.


To use the dough:
Press out each piece of dough with the palm of your hands.  Tear off a small piece of dough and pull it like a torn piece of paper-thin dough.  Drop the torn piece of paper thin dough into boiling water. Cook until they start to float and are cooked through.  Remove with a slotted spoon and drop them into a basin of iced water for a short while until cool.  Drain and use in your soup base.

Five Spice Twisty Crackers

100g soft beancurd
1 cube preserved fermented red beancurd(nam yee)
1  and 1/2 tsp five spice powder (ng heong fun)
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 and 1/4 tsp water
350g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
100g castor sugar
1 egg
2 and 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds


Mash soft  beancurd through a metal sieve until it turns a fine paste.
Combine this paste with the preserved fermented red beancurd, five spice powder , salt and water.
Add flour, baking powder, sugar, egg and sesame seeds.  Mix and knead into a smooth dough.  Cover the dough and leave to rest for an hour.
Roll out the dough thinly.  Use a sharp knife to cut the dough into 1 cm x 4 cm strips.  Place 2 peices together , then make a small slit in the centre with a pair of sharp scissors.  Take one end and slip it through the slit.  Pull out lightly to make a twist.
Deep fry the pieces of twisted pastry dough in hot oil over medium heat until they turn golden.
Remove immediately from the oil and drain on several layers of kitchen paper.  Store them in airtight containers when cooled.

Sambal Belachan

Ingredients:


10 red chillies
4 cm-piece belachan, roast till fragrant
Pinch of salt
1 limau kasturi


Method:


Pound chillies until rather coarse in texture.  Break up roasted belachan and add into chilli mixture gradually.
Continue to pound until texture is neither too smooth nor too coarse.  Add pinch of salt.  Remove sambal into a bowl.  Squeeze lime juice in and mix well.  Serve sambal as an accompanying side dish.

Ah Ngoh's Food Ideas: 4) Black Dates Tea (Amy Beh's)

Ah Ngoh's Food Ideas: 4) Black Dates Tea (Amy Beh's): After giving birth, the new mother is believed to have a lot of 'wind' in the stomach.  To avoid getting more wind, and to help to get rid ...

4) Black Dates Tea (Amy Beh's)

After giving birth, the new mother is believed to have a lot of 'wind' in the stomach.  To avoid getting more wind, and to help to get rid of this, a special drink can be made for her to drink instead of always drinking plain hot water.  It is not advisable to drink anything cold during this time.


Black Dates Tea:


Ingredients-


12 red dates , pitted
15 black dates
15g dried longan flesh
20g tong sam
1.5g litres water


Method


Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker and boil on slow heat, preferably overnight.  Serve the tea warm as a drink to the new mother.

3) Stir-fried Kale and Snow Peas(Amy Beh's)

Ingredients:


150 g kale (Hong Kong kai lan)
100g sweet snow peas
100g carrot, cut into desired shapes
200g deboned chicken meat, cubed
2 thin slices old ginger
1 tbsp sesame oil
half tbsp oil


Seasoning (A)


half tsp salt
half tsp sugar
1/8 tsp pepper
half tsp sesame oil


Seasoning (B)
half tsp salt
half tsp sugar
half tsp light soy sauce


Method:


Marinate chicken with seasoning (A).
Slice off fibrous parts of the kale stem and cut slantwise into thick slices.
Blanch snow peas and carrots in hot boiling water.
Add a pinch of salt and sugar.  Remove, put into cold running tap water.  Drain dry.
Heat oil and sesame oil in a wok .  Fry ginger till fragrant.
Put in marinated chicken meat and stir fry for two minutes.  Add kale , snow peas, carrots and seasoning (B).  Fry briskly for 1 to 2 minutes.  Dish out and serve hot.

2) Black Bean Herbal Soup(Amy Beh's)

Ingredients :


1 black chicken (600g)
50g black beans, pan-fried without oil


Herbs:


15g wai san
15g kei chee
15g tong sum
15g pak kay


10g dried longan flesh
6 red dates, pitted
600ml hot water


Seasoning
1 tsp salt (optional)




Method:


Rinse all the herbs , longans and dates, and then drain them dry.  Gut chicken and wash thoroughly. Cut into four pieces.
Rinse and drain away the water.  Put all the ingredients into a double-boiler pot.  Add the hot water.
Cover and double-boil for  two and a half to three hours.  Add salt , if preferred, and serve the soup hot.

Stewed Ginger Chicken(Amy Beh's)

Today I am going to post 4 kinds of recipes cooked for new mothers during the confinement period.
For Chinese mothers who had just given birth to babies, the confinement period is an important affair and they will be cooked food that will help to get rid of the 'wind' from their bodies.  If they do not take care during this period, it is believed that they will suffer all kinds of aches and pains later on in their lives.  Some will experience aches and pains long before they even get into old  age!

1)  STEWED GINGER CHICKEN

Ingredients

500g or half a chicken
10g cloud ear fungus (wan yee) , soaked and cut into bite-size pieces
25g dried lily buds (kam cham) , soaked and knotted
16g tong sum
8 red dates, pitted
7g (two thick slices ) old ginger
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 cups hot water

Seasoning (A)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp ginger juice
1 tbsp rice wine
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tsp sesame oil

Seasoning (B)
half tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/4  tsp pepper

Method:

Gut the chicken and wash thoroughly.  Scald in hot water for 1 to 2 minutes.  Rinse , then drain.  Marinate chicken with seasoning (A).
Heat sesame oil in a deep saucepan and fry ginger slices till fragrant.  Add tong sum, cloud ear fungus and rede dates.  Stir fry briskly.
Add marinated chicken and fry well.  Add hot water and seasoning (B).  Bring to a simmering boil-covered-for 10 minutes.  Lower the heat and cook over a gentle heat for 20 minutes.
Add the lily buds during the last five minutes of cooking.  Dish out and serve hot.

Ah Ngoh's Food Ideas: Steamed Pumpkin-Yam Kuih (Amy Beh's)

Ah Ngoh's Food Ideas: Steamed Pumpkin-Yam Kuih (Amy Beh's): 300g rice flour 25g sago flour/tapioca flour/corn flour 950ml water 4-5 tbsp sesame oil 2 tbsp dried shrimps, soaked and chopped 50g be...

Steamed Pumpkin-Yam Kuih (Amy Beh's)

300g rice flour
25g sago flour/tapioca flour/corn flour
950ml water
4-5 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp dried shrimps, soaked and chopped
50g belly pork, diced
50g diced Chinese sausage
2 dried Chinese mushroom, soaked and diced
250g yam, diced
250g pumpkin, diced


Seasoning :  half tsp salt/ half tsp pepper/ half tsp chicken stock granules


Garnish:  1 tbsp chopped spring onions
               and red chiilies
               Some fried shallot crisps
                1 tbsp fried dried shrimps


Combine rice flour, sago flour(or tapioca or corn)  and water in a mixing bowl.  Stir well then leave aside
to soak for 20 minutes. 
Heat sesame oil and fry dried shrimps, belly pork, mushrooms and sausage until aromatic.  Add yam and continue to fry well.
Mix in rice batter and seasoning.  Lastly, put in the pumpkin and fry vigorously until mixture starts to thicken.
Transfer semi-cooked mixture to a 23cm greased container.  Steam for 40-45 minutes or until kuih is cooked through. 
Sprinkle with garnishing and cut into serving sizes.

Tapioca and Sweet Potato Kuih (Amy Beh's)

A good treat for tea.  Sweetness to be adjusted according to preference.


335g grated tapioca
75g grated sweet potato, rinsed
and well drained.
100g sago
150ml thick coconut milk
165g castor sugar
10g custard powder


Topping :    125g grated coconut/ a quarter teaspoon salt


Prepare the topping first.  Mix grated coconut with salt and steam for 10 minutes.  Leave aside to cool.


Soak sago for 10 minutes , then drain well.  Combine sago, tapioca and sweet potato in a large mixing bowl.
Add sugar, custard powder and coconut milk and stir well to mix.


Transfer the combined mixture to a 15cm square tray.  Level the surface evenly.


Steam over high heat for 30-35 minutes or until cooked through.


Leave the kuih to cool then cut into slices and coat with the prepared grated coconut.

Bak Chang (Continued)...getting ready the bamboo leaves

Before using the bamboo leaves, they have to be boiled in water to soften them.  This will make it easier to bend them when wrapping and they will not tear easily.  It will also prevent leakage of the rice and other ingredients into the water when we cook the wrapped dumplings later.

After the leaves are softened by boiling, pour away the hot water and immersed them in cold tap water.
Briskly wash the leaves(they are mostly prewashed), and put them in a colander to drain away some of the water.  They need not be dry to be used for wrapping, because once dry, they will become hard and easily torn.

The next step is to wrap the dumplings into diamond shapes , tie them in strings prepared earlier and put into a pot of boiling hot water.  The water is put to boil before you start to wrap the dumplings.  Put enough water , about half the pot so that all the dumplings are fully immersed when boiling.  It takes about 2 - 3 hours to cook the rice.  To ensure the heat is enough to completely cook every grain of rice, I put a heavy mortar on top of the pot cover to weigh it down.  The steam is prevented from escaping too much and therefore the rice will be cooked easily.

The bunch of dumplings need to be lifted up from boiling water to change the positions of each so as to ensure even cooking.

After 2 hours or so, remove one to test if the rice is completely cooked.  In the inner grains of rice has not been cooked yet, we will have to wait a few minutes longer but usually 2 - 3 hours is sufficient.

 

Alas, my dumplings are done today!  Everyone in the family is enjoying them.  Usual comments...good enough to start a business....better than the ones sold outside.
 

Bak Chang (continued)

Making Dumplings

Cooking the Contents:

Heat up a wok.
Pour in 2 tablespoonful of oil and when it is hot, fry the sliced shallots and
garlic until fragrant.
Put in the glutinous rice which has been washed and then soaked for at least 2 hours.
Fry thoroughly for a while and then put in the black eye beans which has been washed
and half cooked(before the coat of the bean breaks). Put in 1-2 tablespoonfuls of the thick soya sauce. Add in salt to taste and fry until the whole mixture has been mixed with the fragrant oil and salt.
Turn off the fire and take the rice out into a large basin. Leave it aside.

Cooking the diced meat:

Fry some sliced shallots and garlic in oil. When fragrant and brown, put in the diced meat,
which has been seasoned with salt, some sugar, a teaspoon of thick soya sauce and 5 spices powder.
 Ensure that the meat is a little more salty and spicier than usual because after it has been boiled while wrapped in the dumpling, it tends to lose some of its flavour.

The above procedure can be done to cook the mushroom, except no spices are needed for them. The mushrooms have to be presoaked for at least 2 hours to soften them. A little sugar is added in the water to speed up the process of softening them.


　
　

Bak Chang (Glutinous Rice Dumplings)

Making Chinese Dumpling

('Bak Chang' in Hokkien)

It is a tradition that my family keeps every year, no matter how busy or how lazy one(the mother, of course) feels.

However, the sole purpose in making them is for eating and not for sacrificing or for throwing into any stream or river.

The Dumpling Festival Day falls on the 5th day of the 5th Chinese Lunar Month, when Chinese families commemorate an ancient hero who sacrificed his life in defiance of a tyrant ruling China at that time. He jumped into a river and drowned. To prevent his body from being eaten by fishes in the river, the ancient Chinese believed that the dumplings they threw into the river would feed the hungry fishes instead.

So much for some historical background. The important thing about any kind of cooking is the preparation of the ingredients and the things needed .  It cannot be denied this will involve quite a substantial amount of work because it is not like cooking a pot of rice to which you can just throw in the ingredients that make it delicious and enjoyable.  Making dumplings involves the wrapping of the rice into  diamond shapes using bamboo leaves, not any other kind of leaves, for their flavour will be  enhanced by these special leaves.

Ingredients :

(Makes about 22 )

1 kg of glutinous rice

300g black eye beans

20 - 22 pcs medium sized mushrooms

500g meat (pork or boneless chicken), cut into 20 -22 cubes

shallots (200g) cut finely

garlic ( 5 pips)

grounded pepper(2 teaspoonful)

 

thick soya sauce(1 -2 tablespoonful)

salt, sugar

When cutting the meat, always make a few peices extra(say 3) because sometimes we tend to make one or two dumplings a little smaller, and towards the end we find we have some more rice to make another one or two. The same for the mushroom pieces.

Prior preparations:

A roll of rafia string, cut into 6 lengths of about a metre

which are then folded in two. Make two bunches, each with 3 'folded in twos', tie at the top so that

a loop is form for hanging the bunch of dumplings(looks like a stringy octopus). Split each string into two and now you have 12 free strings in each bunch for tying.

Bamboo leaves: these can bought in plastic bags sold in supermarkets serving the Chinese community of which is usually indicated on the packet, the quantity. As long as there are about 50 pcs of leaves( 2x 22), it will be sufficient for use. Each dumpling needs at least 2 leaves, to ensure no leakage or breakage.

Fish Head Curry by Amy Beh

Ingredients


1 Fish head (Garoupa, Red Snapper etc, clean and cut into halves  and seasoned with salt)
1 Litre water
3 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds(biji sawi)
1 onion, sliced thinly
1 stalk curry leaves, use leaves only
1-2 stalk lemon grass(serai), bruise slightly
2 half ripe tomatoes, cut into quarters
200g lady's fingers
1 red chilli, with seeds removed and cut into halves
1 green chilli, with seeds removed and cut into halves
1/2  a fistful of tamarind(mixed with 1 1/2 cups of water, squeeze for juice)
1/2 grated coconut(squeeze with 1 cup of water for santan/coconut milk)


Method  :


Step A :


With a little of water, mix
2 tbsp fish curry powder
1/ tbsp chilli paste
1/2 tsp belacan granules




Seasoning:


1 tsp salt or to taste
1 tsp chicken stock granules
1/2 tsp sugar




Garnishing:


1 stalk spring onion
2 stalks coriander leaves, cut into 3 cm to 4 cm lengths




Steps In Cooking  :


1)  Bring water to boil.  Put in the fish head.  Half cook them.  Dish them out and drain.
Reserve the stock to be used later.


2)  Heat oil in wok.  Saute mustard seeds until they pop.  Add ingredients from
step A.  Fry until fragrant and until the oil rises up.


3)  Add onions, curry leaves and lemon grass.  Continue to stir fry.


4)  Pour in the tamarind juice and some of the stock. Bring it to boil.  Stir in the santan, tomatoes, lady's fingers,and red and green chillies .  Simmer until gravy comes to a low boil.


5)  Add in the fish head and seasoning.  Bring to a quick rolling boil over a medium high heat.


6)  Dish out and serve with garnishing.

Prawns, Vietnamese style

600g medium-size prawns


3 stalks lemon grass(serai) , sliced and chopped finely
3-5 chilli padi, chopped finely
2 dried chillies, chopped finely
1-2 Bombay onions


Seasoning  :


4 tbsp tom yam paste
2  tbsp tamarind paste(asam java)
2 tbsp sugar
Combine the above 3 items with some water , about 12 tbsp


1/2  tsp sesame oil






Method:


1)  Season prawns with a pinch of salt and sugar.


2)  Toss in 1 cup of corn flour


3)  Deep fry marinated prawns in hot oil until crispy. Drain away the oil.


4)  Heat kuali with oil and fry chopped ingredients until fragrant.


5)  Add seasoning and fry well.


6)Toss in the prawns and stir fry well.


Lastly, add sesame oil.