Tapioca Cake/ Kueh Ubi Kayu

I remember eating this kueh many years ago. There was this lady who walk around the coffee shops at Bukit Bintang area selling it. She sell it 4 for a Ringgit. I used to buy it from her. Beside her I never see anyone sell this type kueh. I am not sure what is the name of it so I just name it Tapioca or Cassava Cake and I don’t know what are the exact ingredients either. So I just came up with my own version of it.

Ingredients :

1 1/2 pound of tapioca/cassava (ubi kayu) - Peel and cut into chunks
2 pandan/screwpine leaves
some salt

Topping :

1 1/2 cup of fresh grated coconuts
1/4 cup of palm sugar or brown sugar (more if you want it sweeter)
1/4 of water
1 tbsp of cornstarch + 1 tbsp of water.

1) Boil the tapioca/casava/ubi kayu with pandan leaves and some salt until soft.
2) Mashed it while it hot and add in 1 tsp of salt. Then flatten it on a baking dish. Set aside to cool.
3) For the topping bring the water and palm sugar to boil. Add in coconut and cornstarch and cook until dry. Set aside to cool.
4) Cut the tapioca into desire shape and top it with some coconut and serve.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

I’m a huge fan of Ina Garten’s of the Food Network . I saw her making this Sour Cream Coffee Cake on TV last week and I just had to make it. The recipe calls for quite a bit of butter but I reduced the amount and also replace the regular sour cream with the low fat one.

While baking this coffee cake the whole kitchen smell like cinnamon, vanilla, and sugar. Oooh, and the longer the cake sits, the better it taste.

Ingredients :

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 extra-large eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sour cream
2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the streusel:

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup chopped walnuts, optional

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a baking pan.
2. Cream the butter and sugar for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and sour cream.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Finish stirring with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.
4. For the streusel, place the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and butter in a bowl and pinch together with your fingers until it forms a crumble. Mix in the walnuts, if desired.
5. Spoon half the batter into the pan and spread it out with a knife. Sprinkle with the streusel. Spoon the rest of the batter in the pan, spread it out.
6. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Note : I reduced the butter to 1 stick ( 1/2 cup) and I used low fat sour cream.

Mango Shrimp Wanton

I had a very ripe mango in my pantry the other day and I just don't know what to do with it as I don't want to make any dessert out of it. Then I remember seeing this wonderful appetizer at Hip Food blog that used mango with wanton wrappers and decided to make some. It turn out really nice and not difficult to make at all.

Ingredients :

25 medium size shrimp - shelled and deveined
a small bunch of cilantro - chopped
1 small red chili - chopped
1/2 tsp of salt
1 tbsp of oyster sauce
dash of white pepper
1 tsp of corn starch
1/2 ripe mango - cut into small pieces
25 pieces of wanton wrappers

1) Marinate shrimps with salt, pepper, oyster sauce, cilantro, chili and corn starch and set aside for 20 minutes.
2) Place a shrimp, a piece of mango at the center of the wanton wrappers. Brush the edges with some water and fold it. Seal it really tight.
3) Heat up some oil and deep fry until golden brown. It will take about 2 minutes. Drain the oil on paper towel.
4) Serve with some chili sauce.

Gifts from TOA

Carlos and I were busy shoveling the snow on our driveway on Friday and suddenly an UPS truck pull up in front of our house. As usual I asked Carlos if he order something online and he said 'No'. Took the box from the UPS guy and wonder who sent me this package. Went inside and open the box and it was from Ray of TOA. I was so excited to see is a box full of our Malaysian paste and also snacks.

ChanHong came up with so many new sauces now. I really can't wait to try them all out. I dig into the Kara dried squid right away and forgot about the shoveling outside. It was really good but Carlos just can't stand the smell. He said it's 'stinky' but to me is the taste of heaven.

I am so glad they sell Teh Tarik Kurang Manis now. I really like Teh Tarik 3 in 1 but I find them too sweet. This is just perfect for me since I am cutting down on sugar in my diet.

For all of you who miss Malaysian food or wanted to try out some Malaysian food do check out their website Mytasteofasia and order some for yourself. You will be amazed with the amount of things they sell online. Thank you Ray, Soo and Baby Ryan for the gifts.

Sago Pearl Pudding

I made this dessert for our CNY gathering last week.

Ingredients :

20 grm of agar agar powder
1000 ml water
300 grm of sugar
3 pandan leaves
100 grm of sago (soaked for 2 hours)
250 ml of thick coconut milk
A few drop of green/red/purple coloring

Method :

1) Cook sago until transparent and rinse under cold water. Divide sago into 6 portions. Add purple, red and green coloring into each portion. The other 3 portions remain white.
2) Boil agar-agar powder with water, pandan leaves and sugar and then add in coconut milk. Bring to boil and turn heat to very low flame.
3) Take 200ml of the agar agar mixture and add in one portion of the white sago. Stir well.
4) Pour into a 8" wet baking pan or mould. Let it coagulate.
5) Scratch the surface with a fork.
6) Take another 200ml of the agar-agar mixture and add in the purple color sago. Stir well and pour on top of the white layer and let it coagulate.
7) Continue the same process - 3rd layer will be white, 4th will be green, 5th will be white and the final layer will be red.
8) Chill in the fridge before slicing. Serve cold.

Note : Cooked sago must be rinsed under cold running water so that it does not stick together.

Seafood Asam Pedas/Seafood in Tamarind Juice

I was at Nonya's blog and saw her delicious Asam Pedas dish and I just had to cook some for myself. Here is her recipe with some minor changes to suit my taste.

Ingredients :-

Fish fillets or any seafood like squid or shrimps
2 tbsp tamarind paste (add more if you like it sour)
some tomatoes - cut into wedges
1 onion - cut into wedges
2 green chillies - sliced
some okra
3 cups water (more if you like extra gravy)
salt and sugar to taste

Spices to be grounded :-

15 dried chillies
1 stalk lemon grass
about 3 cm of fresh tumeric or 1 tbsp of tumeric powder
10 shallots
2 cloves garlic
20g belachan (shrimp paste ) - optional


Method :-

1. Mix the tamarind paste and water and strain.
2. Heat up some oil and stir fry the ground spices until fragrant. Add in tamarind juice and bring to boil.
3. Add in sugar and salt to taste
4. Add the tomatoes, okra, onion, green chillies and seafood and boil until cooked.
5. Dish out and serve hot.

Spanish Churros

One of my blog readers Yatie was asking me for the recipe for Churros and I decided to make some yesterday. This is very popular snack in the Latin American country. The traditional churros is coated with sugar but in Buenos Aires, Argentina you will find the sugary churros dipped into hot melted chocolate and the best of all churros with dulce de leche (the famous traditional Argentinian sweet caramel cream). You can often find churros at bakery, café or from the street vendors.

Ingredients :

260 ml of water
6 tbsp of butter
1/2 tsp of salt
2 tbsp of sugar
1 3/4 cup of flour
1 tsp of baking powder
3 eggs
Some sugar, cinnamon for coating the churros

1. Mix the flour with baking powder and set aside. Bring the water, butter, sugar and salt to a boil in a saucepan. Turn off the heat and add the flour all at once and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until smooth and form a ball.
2. Cool the dough and transfer to dough to a mixer. Add in the egg one at a time and beat on medium speed until well combined.
3.Transfer the dough into a pastry bag equipped with a 3/8-inch star tip or a decorating tool.
4. Heat some oil for deep frying. When the oil is hot squeeze about 4-5" lengths of dough through the pastry bag into the oil.
5. Reduce the heat to medium-hot and fry until the churros puff and turn to golden brown
6. Drain on paper towels and dredge them in sugar or cinnamon sugar while they are still warm.


Note: Please be careful not to burn yourself when you squeeze the pastry into the hot oil. Do not over fried the churros as they should be crunchy outside and still soft within.

Linzer Heart Cookies

Is Valentine's today and I think this heart-shape cookies is just perfect for the occasion. Wishing everyone a Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Ingredients :

1 1/2 stick of butter (3/4 cup)
1/2 cup of sugar
1 egg
1 tsp of vanilla
1 cup of ground almond or walnuts
2 1/2 cups of flour
1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of salt
some strawberry or rasberry jam
Powdered sugar for dusting.

1) Cream sugar and butter until light. Add in egg and continue to beat until incorporated. Add in vanilla and mix well.
2) In a separate bowl combined ground almond, flour, salt and baking powder.
3) Slow down the speed of the mixer and add in the flour mixture into the butter until incorporated and form a dough.
4) Wrap the dough in a plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 min.
5) Roll out the dough to about 1/8" and cut out the hearts and bake in a pre-hearted 325 degree F oven for 15 min or until lightly brown on the edges.
6) When the cookies is cool spread some jam on the bottom cookies and sandwich the cookies. Fill up the holes with extra jam and dust with powdered sugar.

Wat Tan Hor

This is one of my favorite ways of preparing my flat noodle as I really like my noodle laden with starchy eggy gravy. I remember my dad used to bring us to this Tai Wah restaurant in Kajang and I think they served the best Wat Tan Hor or Ying Yong in the world. It was just too bad this restaurant closed down many years ago.

Ingredients :

1 small packet of fresh flat noodles (kueh tiow/hor fun)
1 piece of chicken breast - slice thinly and marinate with some cornstarch and soy sauce
10 medium size shrimp
1 bunch of greens - any kind (I used mustard green/sawi)
2 cloves of garlic
3 cups of chicken stock or water
2 tbsp of oyster sauce
2 tbsp of soy sauce
1 egg - lightly beaten
Salt & pepper to taste
corn starch solution - for thickening the gravy

1) Put about a tbsp of oil in a non stick pan and stir fry the flat noodles with soy sauce until its warm and slightly brown. Remove and set aside.
2) Put some oil to the frying pan and add in the garlic and stir-fry until lightly brown. Add in the marinate chicken. Stir fry of a minute and add in the water or chicken stock. Add in oyster sauce, soy sauce. Bring it to boil.
3) Add in greens and shrimps. Continue to cook for 2 minutes and check seasoning. Add in cornstarch solution to the thickness you want. Bring it to boil.
4) Turn off the heat and stir in beaten egg. Gently stir to cook the egg.
5) Dish the gravy over the fried noodle and serve warm with pickle green chillies.

Note : The flat noodles will become really hard once you put in the fridge or freezer. To soften it up again just cut it and cover it with microwave safe bowl and microwave for 2 minutes and will be soft again.

Gong Xi Fatt Cai

Carlos and I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very prosperous, healthy and happy year ahead. May all of you have a safe journey back to your hometown and the reunion dinner with your families, meeting up with friends and not forgetting receiving and giving ang pows.

Gong Xi Fatt Cai, Gong Hei Fatt Choi, Keong Hee Huat Chai!!!

Mee Siam

I really like this tangy spicy Nonya rice vermicelli dish. Is a blend between Malay flavors like belachan (shrimp paste) and Chinese tau cheong (salted bean paste). This version is the dry one and I understand that in Singapore there is a version that comes with gravy but I have yet to taste that before.

Ingredients :

2 pieces of vermicelli (soak until soft)
a handful of beansprouts
1 tbsp of tau cheong (salted bean paste)
2 pieces of fried bean curd (cut small)
1/2 pound of shrimp
1/2 tsp of sugar
salt and pepper to taste
some lemon/lime wedges - for garnish
2 hard boiled egg - for garnish

Blended ingredients :

5 dried chilli - soaked in hot water
2 red chilli
3 tbsp of dried shrimp - soak in hot water
1 lemon grass - white part only
2 cloves of garlic
2 shallots
2 tsp of belachan powder

1) Blend all the ingredients with a bit of water and set aside.
2) Heat up the wok with some oil and stir fry the blended paste with tau cheong until fragrant.
3) Add in shrimps and bean curd and stir fry until shrimps changes color. Add in sugar and sesoning.
4) Toss in rice vermicelli and continue to stir-fry. Add in a bit of water to help with the stir-frying.
5) Lastly add in the bean sprouts and toss it lightly into the vermicelli.
6) Garnish with hard boiled egg and lemon wedges.