Kung Pao Prawns
Saturday, February 21, 2009A seafood version of traditional "Kung Pao" chicken. Instead of chicken, I used shelled prawns as the primary ingredient. The classic "kung Pao" dish is named after a late Qing Dynasty official(Ding Baozhen), whose title was "Kung Pao/宮保" (palatial guardian in English).
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- Rinse the shelled shrimps and wipe dry. Mix with marinade and set aside for 30 minutes. In a small bowl, place all the ingredients for the sauce and mix well.
- Heat some oil in wok to 205C/400F. Add marinated shrimps and cook until the colour has turned to pink. Pour off all but one tablespoon of the oil and reheat the wok.
- Stir in chillies, peppercorns and spring onion chunks until fragrant. Return the shrimps to the wok. Stir briefly and add in sauce mixture. Cook until the sauce has thickened. Sprinkle the nuts over and toss briefly. Transfer them to a serving dish.
Hokkaido Milky Loaf & Buns
Thursday, February 19, 2009
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- Place all other ingredients, except butter, in the mixing bowl with a dough hook and stir over the low speed until the ingredients incorporate. Adjust speed to medium and continue to beat. When a dough ball starts to form, cut in the butter. Low down the speed to knead until the butter has blended into the dough. Increase the speed to medium again and knead until the dough has become very smooth and elastic.
- Shape the dough into a ball and transfer into a large greased mixing bowl. Roll it around so the dough gets coated with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or damp cloth. Let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Punch down the dough to release the gas produced during the proof and divide it into 3 even portions, each about 240 grams. Round up and let rest for 15 minutes.
- Press out the gas of each dough and roll out into an oval shape. Fold it into thirds, overlapping them in the center, press the dough down firmly. Turn over and roll out into a 30-cm long strip. Turn over and roll up each to a column shape. Or you can divide the dough into 12 portions and shape each into a ball. Place them in a 30x11x8-cm loaf pan. Let the dough rise up to 2/3 full. Lightly brush with egg wash and bake in a preheated 170C/340F oven for 30-35 minutes.
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.