Steamed Prawns In Egg Whites

A simple dish to prepare, yummy and you can enjoy the freshness of the prawns to the max
Great recipe for the coming Chinese New Year :)

Recipe is from GoodyFoodies

What you need:

Large tiger prawns (I used 8), trimmed, head and tail intact, shell on
1 inch old ginger, julienned
1/2 tsp salt
2 egg whites
1/2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
1/2 shallots, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp cooking oil
spring onion to garnish (optional, I didn't use)

Method:

1. Wash prawns, pat dry. Score the back of the prawns to expose the flesh
2. Pour egg whites on the heatproof steaming dish. Arrange prawns over it. Scatter julienned ginger and salt on top. Pour over Shaoxing wine and sesame oil and let marinate for 15mins
3. Sautee garlic and shallot over high heat til fragrant and pour over the prawns (excluding the oil)
4. Steam the prawns over high heat for 5 mins or until cooked. Do not overcook the prawns, the texture will be hard and rubbery. Serve immediately

Yummy crunchy prawns. I like!

 

Kaastengels (Cheese Cookies) - 2nd Recipe & More Cookies & Cake I Baked 4CNY

My fifth cookies was another pineapple tarts, but it's those open tarts and it's cheesy pastry
I made them before but shaped into balls. You may view the recipe HERE

 

And my sixth cookies was chocolate chips cookies which is always loved by my family using THIS RECIPE

 

Now, the last cookies I baked, it's cheese cookies, Dutch influenced cookies which is very popular in Indonesia. I made these cookies before, recipe is HERE which is eggless
This time I used another recipe with eggs which is as satisfying

Recipe source: Natural Cooking Club (NCC)

What you need:

300g butter
100g grated edam cheese
100g grated cheddar cheese
400g plain flour
2 tbsp milk powder
2 egg yolks

Egg wash: 3 egg yolks, mix with 1.5 tbsp fresh milk
more grated cheddar cheese for sprinkle

Method:

1. Mix butter and egg yolks briefly, just til combined. Add in both cheeses, mix well
2. Add in flour and milk powder, stir well
3. On a lightly floured surface, place the dough, cover with a clingwrap and roll til about 1cm thick
4. Using a sharp knife, cut the flattened dough to form small rectangles, about 1x5cm each
5. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle cheddar cheese
6. Transfer to lined baking sheet and bake in preheated oven of 150degC for 20mins (original recipe stated 125degC but my cookies are bigger so I adjusted the temperature accordingly) til golden brown

This marks the last cookies I baked for this year's Chinese New Year. I think I never bake so much cookies for the festive season before haha..

 

 

I had many cakes I wanted to bake too, but in the end I only baked 1 cake, it's the delicious Sicilian Orange Cake which I ever baked before. You may view the recipe HERE

 

 

 

I am submitting this post to Cook & Celebrate: Chinese New Year 2016 hosted by Yen of GoodyFoodies, Diana of The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids

 

 

 

 

Pineapple Balls (Enclosed Pineapple Tarts)

My fourth cookies for Chinese New Year
Of course, pineapple tarts! But this time, I made the enclosed version, pineapple balls, and I had fun making them

I usually always prefer the open tarts, easier and faster to prepare. Tried to make into balls once previously but I got cracked balls. And the process was more tedious. But this year I just wanted to try again, and this time I enjoyed it. The dough was easy to handle and the whole thing was a breeze. Of course, it's still more time consuming than open tarts, but it's a nice feeling when I saw those round balls out from the oven, no cracks :)

UPDATE:
Baked these precious balls again for Chinese New Year 2017, and brushed only beaten egg yolk for glaze and it looked much more beautiful. So happy! :)

I used the most talked about recipe recently, from Sonia of Nasi Lemak Lover
Love it! So melty, milky and yummy combination of the sweet pastry and tangy pineapple filling
Only one downside to me was the appearance, it couldn't give me golden balls. Instead they were whitish and pale. After some thoughts, my guess was I shouldn't have mixed the egg yolk glaze with fresh milk, and also I should have baked without fan. Okay, lesson learnt, must take note of that the next time I bake this recipe again :)

What you need:

350g butter
100g sweetened condensed milk
510g plain flour
2 egg yolks

1 egg yolk + 1 tsp milk, for glaze
(I will omit the milk next time)

700g pineapple jam filling, roll into 8g balls

Method:

1. Cream butter and condensed milk til light. Add in egg yolk one at a time, beat til combined
2. Mix in flour, mix til the dough becomes soft and not sticky
3. Roll the dough into 10g balls
4. Flatten a piece of dough ball, make a dent at the centre and place the pineapple jam ball on it. Bring the edges of the dough together and pinch to seal. Roll it in between palms to make a perfect ball shape
5. Make a pattern on the balls if desired (I didn't do it) and brush with egg wash
6. Bake at 165degC for 23mins (fan forced) (mine was 170degC for 30mins but I still got whitish pale balls, I will off the fan the next time I bake this again)
7. Cool completely before storing them in an airtight compartment

I am submitting this post to Cook & Celebrate: Chinese New Year 2016 hosted by Yen of GoodyFoodies, Diana of The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids

Salted Egg Yolk Cookies

My third cookies I baked this year. The ever popular salted egg yolk cookies. I saw them everywhere. I must try too :)
Happy with the result. A combination of sweet and salty in each bite. Very addictive. Yum!

Recipe is from Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids
Decided to choose this recipe among a few others as I was convinced the dough is easy to handle. This is important for me when doing cut out cookies in order to complete the process in full happiness haha..

What you need:
(below is double recipe)

170g unsalted butter, room temperature
80g caster sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 cooked salted egg yolks, mashed
250g all purpose flour
20g corn flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten, to glaze
chia seeds to sprinkle (original recipe used black sesame seeds)

Method:

1. Beat butter, sugar and salt til light and fluffy
2. Sift in flour, corn flour and baking powder and mix gently with spatula til the flours are absorbed
3. Add in mashed salted egg yolks and stir til evenly incorporated. Gather the crumbly dough to form a soft pliable dough. Wrap using cling wrap and keep refrigerated for at least 30mins
4. Line cookie sheets and preheat oven to 170degC
5. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and roll to about 6mm thickness (original recipe rolled to 3mm thickness) and shape using your preferred cookie cutter
6. Brush the cookies with the beaten egg yolks and sprinkle with chia seeds. Bake for 15mins (mine was about 25mins as the cookies are bigger in size) and let cool in the tray for about 10mins before transferring them to a cooling rack. Cool completely

I am submitting this post to Cook & Celebrate: Chinese New Year 2016 hosted by Yen of GoodyFoodies, Diana of The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids

 

 

Horlicks Cookies

My second cookies for Chinese New Year
This was really popular some years ago, but I didn't get the chance to bake it. Until now :)

Too lazy to make all in dog shape haha.. and my little dogs have flattened heads with big nose, some of them with no nose LOL

 

 

Recipe is from Sonia of Nasi Lemak Lover

What you need:

250g butter
120g Horlicks
40g corn flour
40g milk powder
250g cake flour
30g caster sugar*
1 egg yolk

Method:

1. Beat butter and sugar til creamy. Add in egg yolk, mix til just combined
2. Add in sifted corn flour, milk powder and cake flour, mix til just combined (do not overmix)
3. Shape 1 tsp dough into ball
4. If making the dog shape, decorate each ball with: KokoKrunch (ears), chocolate chips (nose), chocolate rice (eyes). Otherwise, just press in 1 chocolate chip in the centre of the ball
5. Bake in preheated oven of 150degC for 25-30mins depending on your oven

*If not making dog shape, it's advisable to increase the amount of caster sugar used to 45g. Without the Koko Krunch I found it not sweet enough

Nice and crunchy :)

 

I am submitting this post to Cook & Celebrate: Chinese New Year 2016 hosted by Yen of GoodyFoodies, Diana of The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids

 

 

 

Plum Blossom Cookies

The first month of year 2016 was gone - just like that, with me posting zero post! Haha..
And now is going to the second week of February soon! Let's start now! :)


I started baking cookies last week. This was my first cookies I baked for Chinese New Year. They had no chance to celebrate the festive season as all ended up in our tummies haha...

Firstly, pardon my not so pretty flowers here haha..
I guess I should have shaped them smaller. The original recipe stated 10g dough while I used heaped 1/2 tbsp. Too big. When I used the end of a wooden ladle to make a cavity at the centre, I found it's too small and I had to press deep to create cracks around the dough. What I never thought will happen was some of the jam filling leaked during baking haha.. Now I know what to do if I bake these cookies again in the future
Nonetheless, I still love them. Taste yummy with a hint of cream cheese taste, go well with strawberry jam. Texture wise, they are firm yet soft to the bite. Delicious!

Recipe is from Kenneth Goh of Guai Shu Shu

What you need:

450g plain flour
110g cream cheese
200g butter
150g caster sugar
1 hard boiled egg yolk
3 tsp vanilla paste
1/2 cup strawberry jam

Method:

1. Cream butter, cream cheese and sugar til light and fluffy. Sift in hard boiled egg yolk. Stir well
2. Sift in plain flour and beat at the slowest speed. Take the dough out and knead slightly
3. Take 1 levelled tsp of dough and roll into a ball. Using the end of a wooden ladle, make a cavity at the centre of the ball, it will create cracks around the sides of the cookie making it look like flower
4. Spoon strawberry jam into a piping bag. Snip the tip into a very small round hole and pipe into the cavity of the cookies
5. Bake in preheated oven of 175degC for 10-12mins (my cookies were bigger it took about 25mins to bake)

 

 

I am submitting this post to Cook & Celebrate: Chinese New Year 2016 hosted by Yen of GoodyFoodies, Diana of The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids

 

 

Braised Seabass & Other Food I Cooked 4 Chinese New Year

I know Chinese New Year was just over, I just want to share what I have been cooking during the festive season this year :)

This year, there was only 1 new dish I cooked for Chinese New Year
The rest were dishes I did last year, simply because I was craving to eat them again :)

Here is the new dish, braised seabass
Recipe is from Peng's Kitchen, she used red snapper instead

This is a must try dish, really delicious!

 

What you need:

1 whole seabass (or red snapper)
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
50g spring onion, finely sliced
6 large dried shitake mushrooms, soaked til soft and sliced (original recipe only used 3, but I love mushrooms so I added LOL)
300ml water
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp ikan bilis stock powder
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp light soya sauce
1 tsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp shallot oil
dash of pepper
red chilli and spring onion for garnish (I skipped)

Method:

1. Rinse fish and pat dry. Heat some oil in wok, add in fish and pan-fry for 5mins til light brown. Flip over and fry another 5mins. Drain and set aside
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in the same wok. Add in garlic, spring onion and mushrooms and stir quickly for 30secs. Stir in remaining ingredients and slide in fish. Cover wok and bring to boil. Cook over medium heat til sauce reduced by half. Dish up and serve immediately

 

 

Other dishes I did were Cantonese Pan Fried Prawns I also cooked last year, and a simple fried noodle dish with eggs, pork balls and fish cake slices

Recipe for the prawn dish can be viewed HERE

 

 

 

The fried noodles is just a simple one

I made scrambled eggs and set aside. Also I prepared egg noodles as per instruction in the packaging, after draining I mixed in fish sauce and a little canola and sesame oil to the noodles.

Then I sautéed minced garlic, add in sliced fish cakes and pork balls, stir in soya sauce, oyster sauce, salt and pepper then mix everything well

Add in noodles, followed by the scrambled eggs, toss and serve immediately

 

 

 

 

The last dish I cooked also this year was the Fish Maw with Mushroom Stew. This year I added some enoki mushrooms
Too bad I didn't take any pic of the dish this year
Anyway you may view the recipe for the delicious dish HERE

Picture taken last year:

 

So, there you are, all of my cooking aside from the usual steamboat I always have for the eve of Chinese New Year. You should try too, all are really yummy :)

Melt In The Mouth Open Pineapple Tarts - Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Okay, done posting with my Valentine's Day indulgence, I'm back to Chinese New Year goodies LOL

 A must bake every year, this was some postion of my second batch :)

 

I used my mum's recipe I ever did back in 2011
I reckoned that her recipe is more suitable for closed pineapple tart. It turned to be too crumbly for open tart, hence I did a little modification to the ingredients and also the making process and it worked well for open tart :)

What you need:

For the pastry dough:
200g cold butter, cubed (original recipe used room temperature, I used SCS salted)
300g plain flour
25g corn flour (closed tart: 50g)
2 egg yolks
2 tbsp + 25g milk powder (closed tart: 2 tbsp)
50g icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For egg wash:
(whisk with fork)
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp fresh milk

Method:

1. In a bowl, mix in both sifted icing sugar, plain and corn flour. Add in butter cubes and rub in with fingertips til resembles breadcrumbs
2. Add in egg yolk, vanilla extract. Wet you hand (til really wet) and use to knead til forms soft dough (do not over knead). Wrap in cling wrap and keep in the fridge for about 30mins
3. Remove from fridge and roll dough til about 5mm thick. Shape with cookie cutter as preferred and place in lined cookie sheets
4. Egg wash them and place pineapple paste ball on each of the pastry
5. Bake in preheated oven of 175degC for 25-30mins til pastry is slightly browned on the edge
6. Remove from oven and transfer to cooling rack
7. Make sure it's cooled completely before storing into containers

For the pineapple paste, I used the same recipe as what I used last year
I found it was too sweet, so this time I reduced the sugar
I made 4 big Morris pineapples and found 300g of sugar is sufficient

Yummy pineapple tarts. Such a torture, knowing that it's high in calories yet it's so addictive LOL


This post is linked to "My Treasured Recipes #5 - Chinese New Year Goodies (Jan/Feb 2015)" hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders and co-hosted by Charmaine of Mimi Bakery House

This post is also linked to the event, Cook & Celebrate: CNY organised by organised by Yen from Eat your heart out, Diana from Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids

 

Oh btw, jumping to another topic, but still Chinese New Year related, a couple of days ago, I received a surprise from SCS. It's the recipe book so highly on demand now, with a box of delicious pineapple tarts
Thank you SCS, I will definitely will give the recipes in the book a try :)

 

 

Lastly, just want to share my must have Chinese New Year's Eve dinner :)

Just a small portion as it's only for 4 of us - well, the pic below only showed half of it, though LOL

 

 

 

Fried taukee and fried golden ingot wanton :)

 

 

 

Last but not least, Happy Chinese New Year 2015, everybody! Gong Xi Fa Cai! :)

 

 

 

 

Easy Pandan Kueh Bangkit

Every time I read the word 'easy' I will surely be intrigued, hence my try on this recipe by Vivian Pang's Kitchen

It's indeed an easy recipe to prepare, but somehow I couldn't pipe the dough, it's not soft enough
So I just rolled into small balls about 10g each, flattened them slightly with fork, just like when I did German cookies

 

 

What you need:

 

100g butter

80g icing sugar - sifted

a pinch of salt

1 egg

50ml coconut milk

1 tbsp pandan juice (I used 3/4 tsp pandan paste)

2 cups corn flour

1 cup tapioca flour

 

Method:

1. Sift both flours, set aside. In another bowl, mix together egg, coconut milk and pandan juice, set aside
2. Cream butter, sugar and salt til light and creamy. Add in the egg mixture slowly and beat til well mixed
3. Fold in all the sieved flour and mix til well combined (I folded it and give a quick whisk by mixer for about 30 secs)
4. Pipe the dough or shape as preferred on lined baking tray
5. Bake in preheated oven of 170degC for 10-12mins (mine was at 180degC about 15mins - check the bottom of the cookies, it's done when it's lightly browned

 

 

 

The texture is a combination of crunchy and melty at the same time, with a nice pandan aroma. It's lighter than the original kueh bangkit, slightly different.  But we still enjoy eating it. Ian even brought some to school to eat during recess and Abby who usually don't like anything with pandan, ate quite a bit, too :)

 

 

 

 Abby made the fish from hong bao paper and insisted me to take photo of the fish eating the cookies LOL

 

This post is linked to "My Treasured Recipes #5 - Chinese New Year Goodies (Jan/Feb 2015)" hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders and co-hosted by Charmaine of Mimi Bakery House

Also this post is for Best Recipes for Everyone Jan & Feb 2015 Event Theme: My Homemade Cookies by Fion of Fion of XuanHom's Mom and co-host by Victoria Bakes

 

 

And lastly, this post is also linked to the event, Cook & Celebrate: CNY organised by organised by Yen from Eat your heart out, Diana from Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids

 



Crunchy Melty Almond Cookies

I love almond cookies, both the traditional crunchy type and the modernized melt in the mouth
These cookies are more to the latter - melt in the mouth, but with some added crunch in it, thanks to the almond slivers in the dough

 

 

Recipe is from Jess Kitchen

 

What you need:

 

150g self raising flour

70g icing sugar (original recipe 80g)

80g ground almond

80g slivered almonds

100g corn oil (I used rice bran)

1/2 tsp vanilla essence (original recipe used almond essence)

egg yolk for brushing

 

Method:

1. Sift together flour and icing sugar, add in ground almond and slivered almonds, mix well
2. Mix essence into oil, stir well
3. Mix both ingredients together to form a soft dough (the dough will come together when you roll them so don't worry about it being crumbly)
4. Shape into small round balls (I used 1 heaped tsp) and place into small paper casing
5. Brush with egg yolk and bake in a preheated oven at 170°C for 15-20mins or until slightly brown
6. Cool completely on cooling rack and store into airtight containers

 

This post is linked to "My Treasured Recipes #5 - Chinese New Year Goodies (Jan/Feb 2015)" hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders and co-hosted by Charmaine of Mimi Bakery House

 

Also this post is for Best Recipes for Everyone Jan & Feb 2015 Event Theme: My Homemade Cookies by Fion of Fion of XuanHom's Mom and co-host by Victoria Bakes

 

 

 

And lastly, this post is also linked to the event, Cook & Celebrate: CNY organised by organised by Yen from Eat your heart out, Diana from Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids