Seaweed Soda Crackers
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
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- Preheat the oven to 175C/350F. Mix the flour, baking soda, icing sugar and salt together in a mixing bowl. Rub shortening into dry ingredients until mixture looks like loose crumbs. Add in egg white and combine briefly. Add in the dried seaweed and blend all the ingredients together with your hand.
- Place the dough between two sheets of plastic film, and roll it out into a rectangle, about 2mm thick. Divide it into 24 equal rectangles and prick the tops with a fork. Then use the back of a knife to make two vertical marks on the surface. Lightly brush them with egg white and then bake in the center of hot oven for 25 minutes.
Herb Cheese Cookie Balls
Sunday, February 15, 2009This is a wonderful mix of herbs, garlic and grating cheese formed into a ball (and pressed down with a fork if desired). You can't go wrong with this recipe.
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- Line a baking tray with paper. Preheat the oven to 175C/350F. Sift the flour into a medium bowl. Cut in the chilled butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Shape dough into balls using 1 teaspoonful for each. Makes approximately 27 balls. Alternatively use a fork to press the cheese balls create a pretty cross-hatching pattern on the cookies. Place them in the lined baking tray and bake in the hot oven for 15 minutes until lightly golden. Remove and cool on a rack.
Honey Cookies
Saturday, February 14, 2009
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- Preheat the oven to 175C/350F. Line the baking tray with parchment paper. Stir the egg and egg yolk together in a bowl. Soften the butter at the room temperature. Beat butter, sugar and honey in the mixing bowl on medium speed, scraping bowl constantly, until smooth. Add in egg mixture in 2 additions, beating well after each addition.
- Sift in the flour and baking soda. Mix until just combined. Spoon the mixture into the piping bag fitted with a plain round nozzle and pipe 3cm onto lined tray. Bake on the upper shelf of the hot oven for 18 minutes, until golden. Transfer the cookies on a rack to cool. Store in an airtight container for a week or so.
Tangyuan Yuanxiao Glutinous Rice Balls
Tuesday, February 10, 2009We call these balls tangyuan or yuanxiao, which made of glutinous rice flour and can be either filled or unfilled with sweet, or savoury stuffing. Sweet fillings are basically made of sugar, nuts, seeds, or beans while minced meat and vegetables are often used the savoury filling. As a symbol of family unity and harmony in Chinese culture, tang yuan is traditionally served around Dong Zhi /winter solstice, about the time when families get together for the holidays.
The way to make tangyuan varies between northern and southern China. The usual method followed in the south is to shape the dough first into small portions, fill each with the preferred filling, and then roll into rounds. In North China, the fillings are pressed into rounds, and roll in a bowl of dry glutinous rice flour.
Chicken Sweetcorn Soup
Saturday, February 07, 2009A very healthy, popular Chinese soup. Easy to prepare and tastes fantastic!
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- Rinse the chicken breast well with cold water and pat it dry with paper towel. Finely chop chicken breast and place them in a bowl. Add in the marinade and mix well. Roughly chop the sweetcorns and lightly beat the egg.
- Place 3 cups of water and chicken bouillon in a deep pot. Bring it to a boil. Add in minced ginger root and chopped sweetcorns. Cook over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add in the marinated chicken and stir until cooked, about 2 minutes. Season the soup with salt and pepper. Blend the cornstarch and water until smooth. Slowly pour into the soup, stirring constantly until thickened。 Add in the beaten egg and stir until egg swirl through the soup. Remove from heat.
Snowflake Fish Curd Soup
Sunday, February 01, 2009
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- Chop the fish fillet until it reaches the puree consistency and dissolve it with some water. The quantity of water depends on the texture of fish, at about 150-200 ml.
- Season with the salt and stir constantly until thick and smooth. Then add in ginger juice, starchy solution, egg whites and chicken oil. Mix until the mixture is well combined and smooth.
- Place a wok or skillet over the low-middle heat and add in enough salad oil. Using a tablespoon to scoop the fish mixture into the heated oil. Take out as soon as the fish has shaped. Rinse them with a bowl of boiled water to get rid of extra oil.
- Add the broth in a skillet together with rice wine and salt. Bring it to a boil. Thicken with a little starchy solution. Add in mushrooms, carrot slices and lettuce. Return the fish and stir briefly. Serve immediately.
Butter Cookies
Friday, January 30, 2009Marbled Butter Cookies
There are thick and thin types of butter cookies. To keep the shape of piped butter cookies, you will need relatively higher amount of flour or little amount of butter. The structure of cookies comes from flour, to bake thinner butter cookies, that spread out during baking, you need to use more butter. Use quality butter to make those cookies, because they do make a difference.
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Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. Line the baking tray with parchment paper and sift the flour. Cut the unsalted butter into the smaller pieces and let soften to room temperature in a mixing bowl. Beat together the egg and milk in a small bowl.
- Beat the butter until soft and smooth. Add in confectioners’ sugar and continue beating until fluffy and light. Whip in egg milk mixture in 3 additions, beating well between each addition, and the vanilla extract until well combined. Gradually fold in the sifted flour and mix until just moistened. Excessive mixing and stirring could cause the batter difficult to pipe out and the cookies would turn out hard.
- Spoon the batter into a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe into the moulds onto the prepared tray, leaving 2cm between cookies. Bake on the top shelf in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes until the edges of the cookies starts turning golden. Remove and cool them on a rack. Store the cookies in a airtight container they have cooled completely.
Coconut Peanut Squares
Tuesday, January 27, 2009A creamy, flavourful and rich treat. The addition of coconut flakes simply enhances the taste of these peanut butter cookie squares.
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- Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. Soften the butter at the room temperature. Beat in caster sugar and vanilla sugar until smooth. Add in egg yolk and whip on high speed until thick and smooth. Sift in flour, ground hazelnut and coconut shreds. Mix all the ingredients with your hand until a dough forms.
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Place on the cookie dough, top with the plastic film and roll it out to a 28x25cm rectangle. Prick the entire surface with a fork and bake on the top shelf in the preheated oven for about 18 minutes.
- Mix together the peanut butter and egg whites until combined. Sift in the confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Once the crust is done, remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 160C/320F. Spread the peanut butter mixture on the top of the baked crust. Return it to the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Remove and cut into squares.
Taro Balls / 芋丸
Saturday, January 24, 2009Taro balls can be reheated by frying in fairly hot oil for 1 minute or 175C/350F hot oven for 15 minutes.
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- Steam the taro till soft, about 15 minutes. Mash with a fork until smooth while hot. Add in potato starch, sugar, salt and oil. Mix well.
- Using 1 tablespoon of mashed taro to make a oval-shaped balls. Pat the balls with cornstarch. Heat the oil until it reaches 160C/320F. Lower the taro balls in the hot oil and fry until golden brown. Remove, drain and serve.
Boneless Lemon Chicken
Friday, January 23, 2009Many cuisines have their own lemon chicken, this one carries a sweet and sour tang and perfect for a family gathering.
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- Cut the chicken breast in half. Combine marinade ingredients in a bowl. Mix the chicken breast with marinade and set aside for 15 minutes.
- Heat some oil in a large skillet to 190C/375F. Coat the chicken breast halves with cornstarch and fry until golden, about 5 minutes. Drain and then cut into serving size pieces and arrange on a serving platter.
- Combine all sauce ingredients in a medium saucepan and mix well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sauce boils and thickens, about 5 minutes. Take out the lemon slices to put on the chicken first, then pour the sauce over. Garnish with shredded spring onions if desired.