Soon Kueh/Bangkwan Kueh/Jicama Dumplings

Soon Kueh/bangkwan kueh is a very popular snack in Malaysian and Singapore. Tradionally the filling is made out of bamboo shoots but nowadays you can usually get the make from Jicama/bangkwan which I prefer. Added to is mushrooms, carrots or dried shrimps.

I grew up eating this savory kueh as my grandma, aunt and mom will made it over the weekend to feed our big family. My family made a lot of yummy kueh when we were growing up but I don’t think anyone ever write down any recipes. Everything ingredients are just an estimation or agak agak so this is not our family recipe. I try out this recipe from Rose Kitchen and it turn out pretty good.

Pork and Shrimp Shumai

Non - halal

Shumai is a type of Chinese dumpling, often associated with Cantonese cuisine. The half wrapped dumpling is filled with pork and shrimp and then steamed. You can find it serve at all dim sum restaurants.

I miss the Shumai from Malaysia which if full flavor and juicy when you bite into it. The shumai here is not very good. They were way too huge and don’t taste very good. I find some of it was too dry which I suspect they were being steam over and over again before serving it to the customers. That is why I hardly order it when I have dim sum. I’ve eaten a very good one though but it was in New York. So the best thing to do is make it myself. It was pretty good and the taste of this will do for me until my next trip home.

Quinoa Patties with Broccoli

I made these patties to share it with one of my Zumba buddies. She was telling me that she is not a fan of quinoa and she finds them too bland and boring. I don’t blame her as I find them tasteless and boring too. So I invited her over to try these patties out. Guess what, she loves it. She had a few and I packed some for her to take home too.

I’ve made this before but this time I added some steamed broccoli to it. You can actually add other type of veggies like carrot, grated zucchini, chopped spinach and other cheeses to it. Get creative! I pan-fried these as I prefer them this way but you can always bake them in the oven until golden brown. You can serve this with salad or have it as it is.