Honey Rose Tea
Tuesday, February 24, 2009The tea has a natural rosy taste and aroma, as I infuse the Earl-Grey with real dried rose buds, which makes the tea very refreshing and enjoyable. According to the TCM, rosebuds help aiding circulation and reducing tension.
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- Place tea bag and rose petals in a tea pot. Pour in some boiled water and let steep for 3-5 minutes. Sweeten the tea with some honey.
Grissini-Rosemary Pepper Breadsticks
Sunday, February 22, 2009Those pencil-sized breadsticks, known as "Grissini" in Italy, are dried, crispy and easy to make!
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- Combine milk, chives, rosemary, salt, pepper and baking powder in large bowl. Mix well. Stir in flours, mix until blended. Turn onto floured surface and knead dough about 5 minutes or until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if dough is sticky. Cover and let stand 30 minutes at room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 190C/375F. Grease baking sheet. Divide dough into 12 balls, about 31 grams each. Roll each ball into long thin rope. place on prepared baking sheet. Lightly brush bread-sticks with salad oil. Bake about 12 minutes or until bottoms are golden brown. Turn bread-sticks over and bake about 10 minutes more or until golden brown.
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).
Ingredients | Marinade | Sauce |
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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, 2009The 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.
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- In a bowl, stir the instant sesame powder with the peanut butter and some water to make a thick paste. Combine two kinds of rice flour together in a bowl. Make a well in the centre, add water gradually and mix until you have a soft dough. Divide dough into 4 equal portions, each about 110 grams.
- Add matcha tea powder to one portion and cacao powder to another. Leave two portions uncoloured. Roll each portion out into a long strip to the same length. Place one white strip on the top of the green tea one, and the other atop the cacao strip. Slice each into two.
- Stack layers, alternating white, green and cacao colours. Slice the stack into the small even portions, each about 16-18 grams. Lightly flatten each piece and place 8-10 grams of filling in the center. Seal and roll it into the ball.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Gently drop the glutinous rice balls into the pot of boiling water and remove once they float to the top. Tangyuan can be served in either a very simple sugar wateror a bowl of red bean soup.
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.
Amaretti Cookies
Wednesday, January 21, 2009This is the classic Italian almond macaroon. Crunchy and chewy Amaretti cookies are made from either ground almonds or almond paste, along with sugar and egg whites and optionally flavored with Italian almond liqueur Amaretto.
- 300 g Almonds, ground
- 30 ml Amaretto liqueurangiesrecipes
- 300 g Sugar
- 100 g / 3 Egg whites, large
- Confectioners’ sugar fur dusting
- Preheat oven to 150C/300F. Place parchment paper on baking trays lightly brushed with oil. Combine ground almond and sugar together in a bowl. Beat the egg whites until firm and gradually fold into the almond mixture until combined. Add the amaretto liquor and fold in gently until you have a smooth paste.
- Fill the pastry bag with the almond mixture. Pipe even mounds onto the parchment paper, spacing mounds 2 cm apart as they will expand during the baking process. Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven until golden. Remove from the oven and dust with confectioners’ sugar while still warm. Allow them to cool a bit and then remove from the tray.