Pak Thong Koh (Steamed White Cake)

I made this Pak Thong Koh (Steamed Rice Cake) a few days ago. I always like the yeasty smell and the unique springy texture of this kueh (cake). I google for the recipe and many of the recipes out there need 6-8 hours of fermentation but not this recipe. From start to finish it took me about 3 hours. The process took a bit longer because the weather here is still very cold so the batter need a bit more time to ferment. In warm weather all it need is about 2 hours.

Ingredients:
Recipe adapted from Rose Kitchen

280 grms rice flour
280 grm sugar ( I used only 200 grm)
600 ml water
1 tsp dried yeast + 3 tbsp of lukewarm water
3 pandan leaves – knotted
½ tsp salt
½ tbsp cooking oil

1. In a mixing bowl add in rice flour and 300 ml water. Mix well and set it aside.
2. In a small saucepan, boil the balance 300 ml water, sugar, salt, and pandan leaves. Once boil remove the pandan leaves. Pour the syrup right away inside the rice flour mixture and leave it aside to cool.
3. Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water and pour it into the cool rice flour mixture. Stir well and cover and let it ferment for 1 ½ or 2 hours or until small and tiny bubbles appears on top of the batter.
4. Prepare the steamer; bring the water to rapid boil. Grease and pre-heat an 8” baking round or square tray.
5. Add in ½ tbsp of vegetable oil to the mixture, stir well and pour into the heated tray and steam for 20 minutes or until skewer comes out clean when tested.
6. Cut and serve once it is cool.

Honey BBQ Chicken Wings

Carlos Company gave me a deep fryer a few years ago but I never thought of using it until now. I finally put it to good used and fried these chicken wings with it. I know this is not the healthiest dish to serve but hey life it short. We need to indulge ourselves once a while. Put aside the health implications of fried food, there is nothing much that beats crispy deep fried wings.

Ingredients:

20 chicken wings- clean, cut and tips removed
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
½ garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
1 cup flour

Sauce:

1 cup of barbecue sauce of your choice
2 tbsp Sriracha chili sauce or any kind of chili sauce (optional)
3 tbsp honey (more if you like it sweater)

1. Marinate the wings with salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika for an hour.
2. Heat up the oil to about 350 degree F in a deep fryer, or you can use a deep heavy skillet with enough oil to fry the wings.
3. Lightly coat it with the flour. Fry the wings in batches until they’re golden brown and crispy.
4. In a small saucepan, heat up the BBQ sauce, chili sauce and honey. Once the wings is done toss it with some BBQ sauce. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Note: I over-fried the wings a bit that is why the color was a bit dark to my liking.

Mango Panna Cotta

Spring is here and we are enjoying some very nice warm weather here. So it is time to make some refreshing dessert. Mango is abundance at our produce market and it cost only $1.00 each. Being one of my favorite fruits I like eating it as it is or make it into dessert. This dessert is easy to make and has a light, velvety texture. Mango adds a stunning color and exotic flavor to it.

Ingredient:

7 grm gelatin (1 packet) + 3 tbsp of water
2 ½ cups full cream milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 ripe mango – cut into small cubes or puree

1. Mix the gelatin and water together and set it aside to bloom.
2. Put the milk and sugar in a saucepan, cook over low medium heat until bubbles form around the edges of the saucepan.
3. Remove from heat and add in the vanilla and stir in the gelatin. Stir until the gelatin dissolved.
4. Pour the mixture into six ramekins or cups. At this stage you can add in some cut mango and refrigerate until set or you can serve it with some mango puree.

Chinese Mustard Vegetable Stew/Chai Buey

I have no plan to post this but my good friend in NZ request for it. So this is for you, sis. I know this is not the best looking dish but they taste really good. So is this dish a vegetable soup or a stew?? I have no clue but when Carlos asked what was I cooking I told him it's a vegetable stew. My mom used to make this from our leftovers roasted meat especially during the 2nd day of CNY. I believe this is a Hokkien dish and it is commonly made when leftover roast meat That's why it's called Chai Buey which means 'leftover dish" in Hokkien. The recipe is simple. You only need 4 key ingredients, which is dried chilies (to give the spiciness), tamarind paste (to give the sourness), Chinese mustard vegetable (kai choy) and some leftover roast meat. Of course, you may always add some garlic, ginger and tomatoes to spice it up a little and salt and sugar to taste.

Some people like using pickle mustard but I prefer using the fresh ones. This is how mustard vegetable looks like. You can get it at any Asian supermarket.

How to cook this dish? There is no exact recipe for it. Just have a big pot ready, add in some oil and heat it up. Add in some sliced ginger and garlic, sauté them. Then, add in some tamarind paste (amount depend on how sour you like) and dried chilies, stir fry them for a few seconds. Once it is fragrant, you may add the meat you have and some water. Once boiled just add in the tomatoes, Chinese mustard and let it stew until the vegetables are soft and tender. Add salt and sugar to taste.

This was how the pot looks like after I put in the vegetables.

After simmering for 2 hours this was what left in the pot.


The end product, spicy, sour and slight sweetness. A great comfort food for me.