Kueh dadar (Pandan pancake with coconut filling)

I had some leftover coconut from the last recipe and no idea what to do with it. Decided to try out these recipes:

1. https://www.curiouscuisiniere.com/mini-kueh-dadar-rolled-coconut-crepes/ : for the proportions and use of tapioca starch in the batter
2. https://www.asianfoodchannel.com/en/recipes/nyonya-kuih-dadar  : how to extract pandan juice
https://www.shiokmanrecipes.com/2016/11/25/kueh-dadar-kuih-ketayap/ : video and tips

Ingredients (makes 8)
Inti (coconut filling)
200g dried coconut shreds, unsweetened
100g palm sugar or gula melaka
2 pandan leaves
1 tbsp water
pinch of salt

Crepe
200g flour (1 cup + 5 tbsp)
10 pandan leaves
250 ml coconut milk
150 ml water
1 egg
1 tsp tapioca starch
1 tsp oil
pinch salt

Method
Filling
1. Shave up the gula. Add the water into the pan and dissolve the sugar over low heat.
2. Add the knotted pandan leaves and stir. Remove the pandan leaves.
3. Add the coconut and stir until all the sugar syrup has been absorbed.

Crepe
1. To prepare the pandan juice, blend the pandan leaves in 150ml of water. Line a sieve with a cheese cloth and pour in the blended pulp. Squeeze out 150ml of juice. Set aside.
2. Sift the flour into a bowl add the salt. Stir and create a well in the centre.
3. Pour in the santan and mix until no lumps remain. Pour in the pandan juice and mix. Add the oil and mix.
4. Pour on 100 ml of batter and pour in the centre of the pan from a height of about 10cm above the pan. Rotate to swirl the batter as thinly as you can. Keep the heat low so as not to brown the crepe. Cook until edges start to curl. Remove (there is no need to cook the other side but it should be dry). Repeat until all the filling has been used up.
5. Depending on the size of your crepe, use about 2 tbsp of filling per crepe. Fold

Coconut candy

Have saved this recipe in my bookmarks for at least 2 years now but never got down to making it. After positive endorsement of the RotiNRice recipe by my cousin, I decided to try it.

Sources: Recipe ingredients based on https://www.rotinrice.com/coconut-candy/ but method modified from http://lilyng2000.blogspot.com/2010/01/malaysian-coconut-candy.html

Ingredients
3 tbsp butter
2 ⅔ C (227g) coconut dried coconut shreds (not dessicated coconut)
½C sugar (can reduce by ½ C cos too sweet)
½C condensed milk
½C milk
8 - 10 drops of red food coloring
2 tsp vanilla essence

Method
1. Grease a baking tray (mine is 11 by 13 inches). Line with waxed baking paper. Set aside.
2. Melt the butter in a non-stick pan.
3. Mix all the ingredients together. It will be very watery.
4. Bring to a gentle simmer and maintain a simmer. Stir continually. It will take about 25 minutes.

After 25 mins

5. The coconut mixture will turn matt instead of glossy. It will leave the side the pan and leave it clean. To test, roll a ball of the mixture and drop into a bowl of water. If it doesn't disintegrate, it's ready.

Sadly my Cusiena measuring cup fell on the floor and broke! :(

6. Pack into a pan (mine is 11 by 13 inches). Cover with a wax paper and press down to flatten using your hand.

7.  Leave to cool for 10 minutes. Score into pieces with a well-greased pizza cutter. Once completely cool, lift out of pan only a chopping board and and cut completely.

Sago pudding

As a child, I'd often help my mother to make this recipe. However, I've forgotten the recipe, which made it very traumatic for me because I so desperately wanted to recreate that taste and thus those feelings of home, mother, and a secure childhood.

I did try it once in recent times and it turned out to be a stodgey mess. Until I came across these tips, that is: https://www.theburningkitchen.com/how-not-to-cook-sago-3-common-mistakes-people-make/

So here's my redo of this childhood favourite adapted for my pots and requirements.

Ingredients
250g small sago pearls
large pot of boiling water
300g (1 block) of gula melaka, shaved and and made into a syrup
1 can of coconut milk (use fresh if you have it!)
7 to 10 pandan leaves.
Pinch of salt

Method
1. Following the tips from Burning Kitchen, bring a pot of water to a boil. Knot the pandan leaves and boil for 10 minutes until the fragrance emerges.
2. Pour in the sago pearls (do not soak nor wash beforehand!). Stir and keep stirring. Turn down the heat to medium and leave to simmer for 12 minutes, with lid slightly ajar.
3. The centre will still have a tiny dot of white. Turn off the flame and cover. Leave to steep for 18 minutes. The residual heat will continue to cook until the tiny dot of white turns clear.
4. Strain in a strainer and rinse in tap water until the sago is no longer hot.
5. Spoon into a mould where it coagulates into a pudding. Leave to cool until no longer hot and chill in the fridge.
6. Serve with gula mela syrup (cooked with pandan leaf) and coconut milk which has a pinch of salt added.

Cake-like matcha madeleines

I first used this recipe and while the taste was ok, the texture wasn't as enjoyable as another method that I used for earl grey madeleines. Therefore I am now combining both recipes: the ingredients of the first and the method of the second.

Ingredients (makes 20)
113g butter, melted and brought to room temp + 2 tbsp melted butter for coating (28g)
⅔ C sugar (133g; can be reduced to 130g)
1 C flour (120g)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp matcha powder
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp milk, at room temp
2 large eggs, at room temp


Method
1) Bring out the eggs and milk and let them come to room temp. Melt the butter and allow to cool down to room temp. 
2) Combine the sugar and egg and whisk until pale and fluffy.
3) Sieve the flour, baking powder, and salt. Sift into the egg mixture and fold carefully to avoid knocking out the air. I used the whisk to fold the flour in.
4) Add the milk and carefully blend.
5) Add in half of the melted butter and blend, and continue adding slowly and blending carefully.
6) Cover with cling film and put in the fridge to rest for between 30 to 60 minutes. No longer than 60 minutes otherwise the melted butter will harden.
7) While waiting for it to chill, preheat the oven to 180 deg C. Brush the moulds with plenty of melted butter. Dusting with a sifting of flour is not necessary as it can get claggy.
8) Fill each mould about ⅔ full, with 1 level tbsp of batter (using the measuring spoon). No need to smoothen out the top as it will spread out and flatten.
9) Bake at 177 deg C (no higher as it can burn on the outside but leave the inside raw). Baking time is 13 minutes, although watch carefully in the last 2 minutes or it can burn.
10) Use a fork to release each and leave to cool on a cooking rack. Alternatively, invert the entire madeleine tin over the cooling rack.
11) Leave to cool slightly for 3 minutes and eat immediately while the edges are still crispy. It looses its crispiness after 10 minutes (!). Best eaten with 24 hours. Store the cooled remainder in an airtight box at room temp for up to 4 days.

Recipe feedback
This has more of a hump compared to the first matcha madeleine recipe. The beating of the eggs and sugar gave the madeleines a more cake-like texture so it was spongey. However it was not moist like the first receipe. I underbaked at 12 minutes because I didn't want to burn matcha which burns easily. However, each maddy was only very slightly crispy straight out of the oven, so I might try the full 13 minutes next time.

Brownie cheesecake slice

Whether you call it brownie cheesecake or cheesecake brownie, it's the same thing. I felt like baking cheesecake but also like brownies and decided why not do both together? Surprisingly, I couldn't find many recipes that use only 1 box (8oz) of cream cheese and an 8" square pan (or equivalent 7 by 9"). I found quite a few that used a 9" square pan or 9 by 13" rectangular pan but I certainly wasn't about to run out to buy one!

Recipe from: https://www.creationsbykara.com/cheesecake-brownies/

Ingredients (makes 16)
Brownie
½ C butter, melted and cooled
1 C sugar (can reduce to ¾ C)
½ C cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
¾ C flour
¼ tsp salt
½ C chocolate chips

Cheesecake
One 8 Oz cream cheese packet, softened at room temp
¼ C sugar
1 egg
¼ tsp vanilla

Method
1. Line a 8 inch square pan with parchment. Set aside. Preheat oven to 175 deg C.
Brownie
2. Pour the melted butter into a big bowl. Add the sugar and cocoa and whisk until combined.
3. Whisk in eggs and vanilla until well combined.
4. Sift in the flour. Fold in the flour with the chocolate chips.
5. Reserve ⅓ C of batter and pour the rest into the lined tin. Use an offset spatula and flatten out, ensuring to reach into the corners.
Cheesecake
6. Beat the cream cheese with the sugar until no more lumps remain. You can use a beater but I simply use a spatula.
7. Add in the egg and vanilla. It will look like it split, but be patient and it will become smooth.
8. Pour the cheesecake batter on top of the brownie. Be careful not to mix the two batters but just flatten out.
9. Dollop on the reserved brownie and swirl in using a butter knife or handle of a spoon.
10. Bake at 175 deg C fo 37 minutes (any time before 35 to 40 minutes according to the recipe. At 37 minutes, my cheesecake topping had just set and the brownie was just starting to crackle.
11. Place the entire cake tin on a rack to cool for 10 minutes in order to stabilise. Then, remove the cake by the parchment and onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing up.
12. Serve fridge cold or microwave for 20 seconds till just warm.

Fresh out of the oven

13. Store in an airtight container outside for 2 days, then the remainder in the fridge for a few more days. Wrap tightly and freezes well for up to 2 months.

Recipe feedback
The cake was baked for 37 minutes which means that everything was just set. The cheesecake was still squidy. However, the brownie didn't have the signature crispy top that I like with freshly baked brownies. I still prefer brownies with peanut butter which make it very moorish but still has the crispy top when it first emerges from the oven.

Red fermented beancurd chicken (slow cooker method)

I bought red fermented beancurd some time ago and have no idea what to do with it. I used it for roast pork once and it was great but then what do I do with the rest of the bottle? Here's a recipe that looks interesting and not too far removed from the tastes that I'm used to.

Original source: http://thedomesticgoddesswannabe.com/2014/02/chicken-with-fermented-red-bean-紅腐乳-curd-and-black-fungus-姜丝云耳鸡/

I ran out of black fungus so substituted for shitake mushroom but in future, I will use both black fungus and shitake. I also added tau kee and tau pok because I like it!

Ingredients
1.5kg drumsticks
1 thumb sized ginger, sliced
1 tbsp garlic, minced
8 dried shitake, rehydrated (reserve the water)
2 tbsp sesame oil
2.5 cubes of fermented beancurd, mashed plus juice from the jar
4 tbsp oyster sauce
3 tbsp light soya sauce
2 tbsp dark soya sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp Chinese cooking wine
2 dashes of white pepper
Corn flour slurry if using
½ packet tau pok
½ packet tau kee (soaked)
1-2 cups water

Method
1. Marinade chicken with the soya sauces, wine, pepper, and sesame seed oil.
2. Briefly fry the chicken until browned. Remove and set aside to fry the aromatics.
3. Return the chicken to the pan, add the oyster sauce and shitake. Cover and bring to a boil. Remove the scum and slow cook 1 to 2 hours.
4. In the last half hour, add the tau kee and tau pok.

Red bean porridge with gula melaka glutinous rice balls

This is an adaptation of the Korean red bean porridge, 팥죽. I've read some versions that use salt but I'm not a fan of something salty.

Ingredients
300g red bean paste (I used canned)
10 knotted pandan leaves
10 cups water
¼ cup lotus seeds
100g glutinous rice
5 to 6 tbsp water (use more if necessary)
300g gula melaka

Method
1. Knot the pandan leaves and add to the water. Bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the lotus sees by soaking in boiling water for 5 to 10 minutes until softened. Remove the internal bud of the lotus seed which is bitter. Add to the boiling water.
3. Add the red bean paste to the water and stir until combined. Continue to simmer on low.
4. In a separate bowl, add the flour and put in a tbsp spoon of water at a time until the flour barely comes together. You may need more than 6 tbsp if the flour is really too dry (depending on how you've stored the flour and ambient humidity too). Once you are able to gather most of the dry flour, stop and start to knead. It should all come together, if not, wet your hands and continue to knead. Knead for approximately 5 minutes. Cover with a damp cloth and set aside.
5. Pinch off little bits of dough to make balls.
6. Cut the gula melaka into cubes. Make a hole in the middle of each dumpling and insert the cubes. Close up the ball and ensure that each seam is well sealed otherwise they will burst during cooking.
7. The balls can be cooked in the soup (makes the soup more starchy) or in a separate pot of boiling water, depending on personal preference. To cook the balls, ensure that the liquid is at a rolling boil. Add the balls. They will sink. Use a spatula to stir so that they don't get stuck to the bottom. When they float, give them another 2 to 3 minutes and they're ready. If they were cooked in water, ladle them out with a sieve and add to the red bean soup.

Real pandan juice chiffon

For this recipe, I relied on my usual favourite, DMG. She has two recipes - one that uses pandan paste which I find hard to procure, and the natural method using pandan juice. I decided to use the latter recipe. She uses coconut oil and it gives the cake a lovely fragrance.
http://thedomesticgoddesswannabe.com/2017/08/pandan-chiffon-cake-pandan-juice-method/

This is another recipe by one of my favourite bloggers and very carefully explains his method. It's also for a 25cm chiffon
http://ieatishootipost.sg/how-to-make-a-pandan-chiffon-cake/
The difference is that he uses baking powder and also paste but not real pandan juice, and there is a lot more liquid in his recipe. In terms of baking tips, I didn't follow all his advice as I find that it doesn't really all work in my experience. Interestingly, he only bakes for 55 minutes at the same temp even though there's more liquid, whereas DMG bakes for 65 minutes. I have found that her cakes tended to be a bit burnt on the top and I've always needed to tent it in the last 15 minutes. I might try his recipe next time.

Ingredients
6 eggs, separated
138g sugar
70ml of pandan juice
90ml coconut milk
50ml coconut oil (or replace with a neutral tasting oil)
145g cake flour
½ tsp vanilla
pinch salt
⅛ tsp vinegar

Quite flat

Method
1. To make the juice, snip the leaves into a blender. Add just enough water to blend. Sieve into an airtight container to store overnight. The denser juice will settle at the bottom. The next day, carefully pour off the top watery layer.
2. Separate the eggs straight from the fridge.
3. In the yolks, add 30g of sugar and beat until pale. Add the coconut oil and beat until pale.
4. Add the coconut milk and salt, and combine with a whisk.
5. Sift in the flour and fold in. Set aside.
6. In a very clean bowl, beat the egg whites until opaque on low speed. Add the sugar in 3 batches and beat in between. Once all the sugar has been added, add the vinegar. Turn up the speed and beat until stiff peaks.
7. Add ⅓ of the meringue to the batter and gently combine with a whisk. Add the second third and even more gently combine to avoid knocking out the air.
8. Finally, pour all the batter into the remaining third of meringue and this time with a spatula, very carefully fold in by rotating the bowl in 1 direction only.
9. Drop the bowl on the table top to knock out the bigger bubbles. Pour into the pan from one side. the batter should spread.
10. Using the spatula, spread the batter evenly away from centre funnel. Run the spatula in a zigzag manner around the batter and especially around the sides of the pan and funnel. This breaks up the smaller bubbles. Drop the tin from a height several times to knock out more air bubbles.
11. Bake at 170 deg C for 65 minutes. Tent with foil in the last 15 minutes if the cake gets too brown.
12. Invert the tin over a pan so that it hangs upside down so that the cake doesn't deflate.
13. Once totally cooled, cut out the cake from the tin. Store in an airtight box.

No green color, no pandan smell or taste

Recipe feedback
- This has no taste or smell of pandan at all. I was pretty disappointed because it tasted like vanilla chiffon cake. Thank goodness I had added the coconut oil and vanilla, otherwise there would be no taste whatsoever! It also has no green colour. I think the use of pandan paste or essence is inevitable.
- This cake was a tad denser than the normal chiffon I am used to. I wonder if this had to do with the coconut oil and coconut milk. But still very very moist.

Update 11 July 20: Because the first pandan juice chiffon was so anemic, I decided to try making the pandan juice again. Snipped up 10 pandan leaves, put them in the food processor with 70ml of water, then poured it into muslin and squeezed it. I did drop in 3 drops of pandan essence just to give it a better colour.

Updated 20 Sep 20: Updated recipe here: https://simmetra.blogspot.com/2021/09/pandan-juice-and-paste-chiffon.html

Slight crack

Prettier!

 

BBQ Sio bak (Siu yuk)

Because it's CNY! I have never made this because of my fear of messy, splattered ovens, but why not start trying now for the Year of the Pig.

Explanation: https://www.chinasichuanfood.com/crispy-pork-belly-siu-yuk/
: pricking of skin with fork, use of white vinegar to soften skin, cooking over water to avoid too much smoke, cutting from meat first

Method and ingredients: This recipe uses the BBQ which avoids messing up the oven, and also uses red fermented beancurd. I adapted this from their CNY recipe which uses mandarins.
http://themeatmen.sg/sio-bak-mandarin-orange-mustard/?fbclid=IwAR0o5sHrLamzWfHJdrT6T8KJ9MlHXkezHDqITVZircipkTCdUxZXVzen_RI

Method: https://www.recipetineats.com/chinese-crispy-pork-belly/
: Different ways of making the skin crispy: with pricking and without

Ingredients
1.2kg pork belly
2 mashed nam yu (red fermented beancurd)
1 tbsp five spice powder
½ tbsp rock salt (for marinade) + 1 tbsp salt (for skin)
1 tbsp ground white pepper
1 tbsp rice cooking wine

Topping
1 tbsp rock salt
1 tbsp rice vinegar

Method
1. Prepare the meat. Make slits at the bottom of the meat. On top, wipe dry with kitchen towels. Either prick with a meat pricker, slash squares with a knife, or use several skewers tied together with a rubber band. Whichever method you use, ensure that you do not pierce the fat layer underneath otherwise the fat will bubble to the surface during cooking and make the skin soggy.
2. Mix the marinade ingredients in a flat pan. Rub the marinade into the meat but be careful that the marinade doesn't touch the skin. Carefully place the meat into the pan and ensure that it is well coated all over, except on the skin side. Blot the skin and sprinkle on 1 tbsp of salt. Rub into the skin.
3. Leave in the fridge to marinade for 12 to 24 hours, uncovered. It has to be uncovered so that the skin is allowed to dry out.
4. The next day, bring the pan out of the fridge and allow the meat to come to room temperature.
5. Using a foil, carefully encase the meat in the foil. Leave a 1 to 1.5cm tall border around the top of the skin, but ensure that it is tightly fitting against the meat. Pour on the 1 tbsp of rock salt to make a salt layer topping. If you encased the meat properly, the border should prevent the rock salt from falling off the sides and touching the meat. If it does, it will be very salty. Another way is to leave a 0.5cm border around the edge clear of salt so that when the meat cooks and shrinks, the salt will not fall down the sides.
6. Cook at 180 deg C for 1 hour.
7. Next, remove the meat and turn up to 230 deg C. I used the BBQ for this portion to avoid a messy splatted oven. Remove the meat from the foil casing and carefully list onto a baking rack (as pictured). Cook for 20 to 25 minutes so that the skin puffs up and becomes shatteringly crispy. Check after 15 minutes. I went for 20 minutes and it burnt. If it does, simply scrape off the burnt bits.

Opps burnt!

8. Let the meat rest for 15 minutes, uncovered. To chop up, turn it on its side and cut the meat portion first, before chopping down on the skin with a cleaver. This way, you get one entire piece and the skin doesn't break off.

After scraping away the burnt parts and chopping. So juicy!

9. Serve with mustard, or I prefer sweet sauce.

Potato and celery soup

Adapted from here. https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2998693/creamy-celery-and-potato-soup
Instead of a pure vegetarian soup or the use of chicken stock, I finished up my leftover beef stock and it was splendid!

Ingredients
3 rashes of bacon, finely chopped
6 to 7 celery sticks, chopped
1 sweet potato, cubed
4 potatoes (or carrots as preferred)
½ onion, chopped
750ml beef stock
2 - 3 bay leafs
2 tbsp barley
½ cup milk, full cream (don't use skim or it may split)
1 tbsp olive oil (or butter)

Method
1) Saute the bacon in about 1 tbsp of olive oil until slightly brown and fat has rendered. Add the onions and continue to saute until transparent.
2) Add the chopped celery and saute until slightly softened, followed by the potatoes and briefly fry.
3) Pour in the beef stock, and add the bay leafs and barley.
4) Set to slow cook for anything between ½ hour (until the potatoes are soft) to 2 hours (potatoes disintegrate) according to your liking.
5) Turn off the slow cooker and pour in the milk. Stir to combine.
6) If desired, remove a portion of the soup and veg, and blend the rest with a stick blender. Add back the removed ved. (I didn't do this as I like chunky soups)
6) Serve hot with crusty bread, but I like it cold (after a night in the fridge) in summer.