jessiefoodinthekitchen

Among Nyonya pastries, red tortoise cake is a very common and popular Nyonya pastry. The red tortoise cake also names as Ang Ku Kueh. Because red tortoise cake represents blessing, honor and longevity, it is a must-have offering during worship services by the Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore, especially during the birthday of the Jade Emperor on the ninth day of the first lunar month and the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. This year is my mother-in-law’s 73rd birthday. The kitchen is where I get creative. Since some people make longevity peaches into birthday buns, I can also make birthday buns into a longevity Ang Ku Kueh peach for her birthday. For this recipe, I am making my own mung bean paste, it really paired well with this longevity peach Ang Ku Kueh. You may use other fillings like red beans paste, peanuts, custard or even salty filling with black-eyed peas or turnip This longevity Ang Ku Kueh does not need a mould. All you need is a littl...

Cassava or tapioca cake can be prepared in several methods, including baking, steaming and wrapping in banana leaves. It can be made with or without eggs and with or without butter. Today, I am going to share how to bake cassava or tapioca cake. Tapioca cake is very easy to make, whether to steam or to bake. The only tedious part is grating. I used to grate them into fine silk manually. But now I blend them with Thermomix to paste form. If you are using a regular blender, add a little water to the blender to blend it together. This cassava cake has a beautiful burnt skin on top and dense golden color inside. My daughter thought it was burnt cheesecake. The texture is soft but firm and not too sticky compared to the steam type. Every bite taste of cassava, coconut milk and the burnt aroma. Not overly sweet and greasy. If using a blender, cut the tapioca into smaller chunks, then carefully cut out the tough, fibrous core from the middle of each piece using a knife.   Once the t...

How would you do  with the leftover pork belly with preserved vegetables （梅菜扣肉） ? Have you ever tried rice noodles with braised pork with preserved veggies? Rice Noodles with braised pork preserved veggies  （扣肉米粉） is a mouth-watering home-cooked recipe. Every bite is an unforgettable enjoyment. The rice noodles completely absorb the essence of the sauce – is simply too fragrant and delicious. I add fresh vegetables like carrots, baby corn and bok choy in addition to the leftover preserved vegetables from the braised pork. Additionally, I add yuba or bean curd skin, which absorbs the excess oil from the braised pork and makes it less greasy while also sort of balancing the flavor of each bite. You don't need to add much seasoning because the leftover braised pork has enough flavor. Because rice noodles, bean curd skin, and fresh veggies were added. Seasoning  still need to be adjusted according to your preference. One thing about rice noodles is not soaking with ho...

Ma Lai Gou is a Cantonese dessert. It sounds very fancy, but the method is very simple. If you master the skills, you can make it successfully in one go. Last time, I shared the method of making brown sugar Ma Lai Gou, which is quite overwhelming. This pumpkin Ma Lai Gou is also relatively simple to make. There is no need to knead the dough throughout the process. It only requires a few steps of mixing and steaming. This pumpkin Ma Lai Gou is fragrant, soft, chewy, and nutritious, and it is so delicious that you can’t stop eating it. What distinguishes Pumpkin Ma Lai Gou (MLG) from traditional Fat Gou or Huat Kueh ( 发糕 )then?   This pumpkin MLG is like pumpkin steamed cake( 发糕 ), except that part of the flour is replaced with tapioca starch. Add tapioca starch to the ingredients will make the cake more elastic and chewier. The texture of the pumpkin MLG is as soft as a sponge and chewier than that of the traditional Fat Gou. I am using a 28cm x 20cm x 5cm rectangular gratin dis...

Steamed layer cake is popular snack in Southeast Asian dessert. When I was a little girl, I really enjoyed seeing this cake in different colour layers. Most of them are made in three colours which are green, red, and white with coloring. Today I am sharing with you how to make this pandan and mung bean steamed layered cake. This dessert is soft and has a glutinous texture if you are using an accurate ratio formula. They are made with natural green that comes from the fresh pandan leaves and mung bean puree. This layered cake will have 9 layers in total with green and yellow in colour. It’s a very eye-catching dessert but also a very time-consuming recipe since it takes time to cook each layer. One of the confusing parts of this recipe is how much batter to add for each layer and what type of pan to use to make the layer evenly. I am using a 28cm x 20cm x 5cm rectangular gratin dish which the four corners are not in 90° angle. You can use an 8” square pan as well. You might need t...

Wontons are a kind of Chinese dumpling that are usually fried or boiled in soup after being filled with meat or vegetables. It has a rich filling and a thin exterior shell. It is juicy, fragrant, and tastes especially nice when you bite into it. I'll be sharing a recipe for steamed wontons with you today. When eaten, the chewy, steaming wontons are crystal transparent. When served with dipping sauce, it's a tasty dish. Anyway, the key to a good wonton is the sauce that brings out the many tastes of the wontons, whether they are boiled, fried, or steam cooked. This steamed wonton with my own made dipping sauce, so good!! The recipe is very simple. Put the wrapped and blanched wontons into the steamer, boil the water and steam over medium heat for 8 minutes. Finally, add Mix the steamed wontons with the sauce and serve. If you steam it too much and can't finish it, pour some scallion oil on it and put it in the refrigerator to keep it from sticking. You can take it out ...

  Today I will share with you how to make Malay kuih also known as “Ma Lai Gao”.   A steamed sponge cake from Malaysia, drew inspiration from British cakes. Later, Cantonese chefs modified it to become what we now know as dim sum. Traditionally, Ma Lai Gao's starter dough takes 24 hours to prepare. I'll show you how to make Ma Lai Gao quickly and easily today without losing out on texture or flavour. In fact, the appearance of “Ma Lai Kou” is very ordinary, not much different from ordinary cakes on the market, but its preparation method and texture are worth learning from. Because it is a fermented flour product, it has a soft and smooth texture. This recipe doesn't require baking, and the preparation of “Ma Lai Gao” is very simple, and the ingredients are divided into dry and wet. The wet ones are milk and eggs, while the dry ones are powdered ingredients. To put it simply, stir the wet ingredients evenly first, then slowly add the dry ingredients, ferment and then s...

This flavourful and tender Char Siu chicken, covered in a mouthwatering Char Siu sauce, is perfectly paired with these fluffy and soft bao bun.  This is great for easy weekend cooking because you can rest the chicken overnight and even make the buns ahead of time to help with the cooking. These fluffy treats are now possible to create at home if you're always ordering them from food trucks or restaurants! So delicious, you'll want more and more! Char Siu, or Chinese BBQ pork is adored the world over. Unfortunately, because Char Siu is always cooked with pork, many people cannot enjoy it. Thus, I'd like to share with you today this oven-roasted chicken that has been marinated in my own Char Siu sauce. Imagine the meat—juicy, sweet, and savory—with that charred skin from the exterior. It's a perfect ten and tastes great! And making it at home is not difficult! Chicken thighs have the best flavours and texture, so i am using skinned, boneless thighs. You will want to kee...

Let’s make traditional steamed rice cake “Pak Tong Gou 白糖糕 ”. That we always eat since young. It is thick and smooth, with a hint of sweetness and sourness and a fragrant hint of pandan. The main ingredients used are rice flour fermented with yeast and white sugar. Adding yeast to ferment the batter will produce many small bubbles, which makes the steamed white sugar cake taste softer and more delicious. The traditional method is complicated to make, but now experienced foodies have simplified the steps. Like steamed Malay Cake （马来糕） , needs to be fermented with yeast. The difference is that the fermented pores of this cakes are elastic and non-sticky when eaten and are tough and not easy to break when folded. The taste has the sweet aroma of rice, and it will not become sour if it is fermented for the right time. On the other hand, if you like a sour taste, you can extend the fermentation time. To prevent the batter from layering or precipitating during steaming, the hot boil pand...