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Showing posts with the label Chinese festival food

Longevity Peach Ang Ku Kueh (寿桃红龟糕)

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...

Open-Faced Pineapple Tarts

  Making pineapple jam is a yearly tradition in the weeks preceding the Lunar New Year. This is because pineapple tarts, a festive dessert that historically represents prosperity and good fortune, are made with the delectable filling of pineapple jam. Due to the laborious cooking process that requires a lot of elbow grease over the stove, pineapple tarts are traditionally very expensive to purchase. There are two types of pineapple tarts – open and closed. I made an open-faced pineapple tart where the pineapple pulp is exposed, that is the pulp is placed on a butter cookie which I made with a flower cutter. This cookie recipe is relatively stable. It is made using flaky buttery pastry crust as its base, wrapping within is our homemade pineapple jam. With a beautiful shape appearance, they look so cute and filled with Chinese New Year atmosphere. The flavor of pineapple jam has fully combined with flaky pastry crust, sour and sweet. Personally, I more prefer this type of flaky Pinea...

Caramelized Egg Fritters (Sa Chi Ma /萨琪玛)

  Sachima (萨琪玛) takes me back to my early years. When I was younger, I really liked eating this. They taste very good. They are popular snacks for both adults and children, and they are the ideal edible gift for Chinese New Year.   Making sachima dough is like making egg noodles. So, basically, they are egg noodles that have been deep-fried till they are puffed, occasionally topped with additional ingredients for flavor, bonded together with melted sugar, pressed into a square pan, and then sliced into squares. Sachima is distinguished by its beige hue, crisp and delicate flavor, sweetness and delectability, and rich maltose aroma. One of Ipoh, Malaysia's regional specialties!   A few years ago, my husband and I made a trip to Ipoh's "Mistress Lane" ( 二奶巷 ) to try the local Sachima, which has been there for more than 50 years. There are a lot of different kinds of sachima including ones with sesame, pumpkin seed, walnuts, cranberries, and almonds. According to the...

Sweet potatoes Tang Yuan (甜番薯奶黄馅汤圆)

  This is another tangyuan (汤圆) recipe I would like to share for the DongZhi (冬至) festival. It is a sweet dessert. They are made with flavorful sweet potatoes with custard filling. These glutinous rice balls taste like mochi. They  are distinctive from others since they are made with flavorful sweet potatoes. The custard filling is wrapped in a glutinous rice ball, which is not only distinctive in form but also incredibly eye-catching . Glutinous rice balls are made of glutinous rice and have a high viscosity, which makes them difficult to digest for some people. This tangyuan uses more sweet potatoes and less glutinous rice flour. For those who like to eat tang yuan but worry that it will cause stomach bloating. This is the right recipe for you. Making this tangyuan with the kids is a delightful project since you may shape and fill the rice balls with your own paste. I am using two different types of sweet potatoes, which are orange and sweet potatoes. I combined mas...

Savory Glutinous Rice Balls (咸汤圆)

It's customary to have glutinous rice balls (Tangyuan 汤圆 ) on the winter solstice. Tangyuan is a must-have food for the winter solstice. It is a round dessert made of glutinous rice flour. There is a folk saying that “ you will be one year older after eating glutinous rice balls”. Even restaurants also serve glutinous rice balls as a promotional menu on that day.   On the dining table, Cantonese treat sweet glutinous rice balls seem to dominate.   My late parents are Cantonese, yet my mother never makes sweet "tang yuan" on this day; instead, she always makes a pot of salty glutinous rice balls. The filling is not wrapped in glutinous rice balls, but glutinous rice is rolled into balls and boiled into a soup base with other ingredients. Glutinous rice balls, fresh prawns, dried shrimp, vegetables, and a flavorful soup base with distinctively flavored mushrooms are all combined. The soup is tasty and has a distinctive flavor. You will adore it. Typically, it takes arou...

Teochew Preserved Mustard Mooncakes (潮州梅菜月饼 )

If you like to eat mooncake that does not need to wait for 3 days to return oil. You should try this Teo Chew Preserved Mustard Mooncake. These mooncakes are loved by the older generation and have never been tasted by many young Teochew people. You won’t be attracted by its traditional, simple look until you try it. I'm Cantonese but I love it very much. Once you taste it, its unique flavor will be unforgettable for you. This mooncake is having a flaky crispy crust mooncake. It makes with Chinese flaky pastry which require creating two doughs: a 'water' dough and an 'oil' dough.   and tastes sweet with a slight hint of spice. It combines the aroma of preserved vegetables , sesame, lotus paste, candied winter melon, and melon seeds. Chinese flaky pastry also known as Chinese puff pastry, is a form of unleavened flaky pastry used in traditional Chinese pastries that are invariably called subing ( 酥饼 )in Cantonese. After learning this method, you can also use this ...