Skip to main content

Posts

Nyonya Sticky Rice Dumplings

This is my version of Nyonya Zongzi. The taste is very different from salty meat Zongzi. When the first time I taste it, it is incredibly tasty, it’s slightly spicy but not too sweet. It has a strong spice flavor due to the fact that of using whole coriander and white peppercorns which were toasted and grinded into powder form. The biggest difference between the regular Zongzi and Nyonya Zongzi is in the filling -- one’s savory while the other's sweet. The regular salty Zongzi normally includes pork belly in a big piece, mushrooms, dried shrimp, chestnuts and salted duck eggs. And include a lit bit of five spice powder for some fragrance. The Nyonya Zongzi includes braised minced pork, dried shrimps, candied winter melon, and the strong spice from the whole grinded coriander seeds and white peppercorns is the key to the greatest flavor. And it comes with a blend of sweet and savory, with aromatic spice notes and a hint of sweetness. The blue and off-white appearance with a ...

Fried Turnip Cake ( Chinese Lo Bak Gou)

These crispy crust with inside QQ chewy but not sticky. When you break it apart, it's  full of white radish stripes within, salty flavor of shrimp, it’s so delicious. Traditional savory turnip cakes or Lo Bak Gao slightly from place to region, radish and rice flour are the two main components. When making turnip cake in the old days, folks would typically grind rice pulp in a stone mill. But now it is very convenient to use store-bought rice flour to prepare it.   It is frequently steamed along with Chinese sausages (Lap Cheong), dried shrimp, mushrooms, scallops, and other ingredients. However, some people might say that turnip cake cannot be considered exquisite because the ingredients are so common, some people believe that turnip cake cannot be regarded as exquisite.   Although the recipe is straightforward. Making a delicious carrot cake, meanwhile, is not always simple if you do not grasp it properly. It will either be too soft or too hard or perhaps sticky to e...

Mango Pomelo Sago Dessert (杨枝甘露)

The weather is getting hot, there is nothing that can’t be solved with a glass or a bowl of this Yang Zhi Gan Lu ( 杨枝甘露 ) 。 It’s a kind of mango pomelo sago dessert. It has a strong mango aroma, chewy sago peals and coconut milk. It’s unique with its sweet taste and great to beat the heat. The name itself seems complicated; it is actually easy to make at home. The recipe, the ingredients are straight forward. There is no fixed method of making this dessert. You can add other fruits you like to increase the flavor.   If you don’t have coconut milk, you can replace it with milk, evaporated milk, or fresh cream to make the dessert with rich flavor. I think the key point of making this dessert is the method of cooking sago. There are a few tips that I would like to share about cooking sago. First, the sago cannot be soaked or washed in advance, because sago is made of powder, soaking or washing in advance will make sago completely dissolved in water. Second, sago is not coo...

Fried Fish With Sweet And Sour Tamarind Sauce

  I would like to share with you today an alternative method for making fish with a sweet and sour flavour.  The flavour is both acidic and sweet. However, the components and the process of making the sauce are completely different. The traditional components of the sweet-and-sour fish dish include vinegar, sugar, and tomato sauce. The main ingredients in this dish are tamarind juice and fresh chilies. The fresh chilies not only give the sauce a beautiful and vibrant colour but also a spicy flavour to the dish. Apart from that, I am also using cilantro roots, white peppercorn and garlic. The combination of these three ingredients is always a foundation flavor base to this sauce. A lot of you might be familiar with coriander leaves (also known as cilantro) which normally use for garnishing or add extra flavour to the dish. Have you ever used the root part? It’s just actually withstood cooking as close to the leaves, but you can’t cook the leaves as it will turn bl...

Steamed Chicken With Cordyceps Flowers and Shitake Mushrooms (虫草花香菇蒸鸡)

Steam chicken is the easiest way of cooking with health benefits, and delicious flavor. Just simply marinate the bite sized pieces of chicken for minutes to obtain a basic flavor then steam for 20 to 25 minutes. That’s so simple. My husband loves steam food. This is due to the fact that steaming food is nutrient preservation, calorie and fat reduction. Additionally, it keeps the natural flavor to the maximum. Normally, I will add mushrooms, lily blossoms and black fungus for additional texture. For this recipe, I replace the lily blossoms with cordyceps flowers. It is a type of orange-yellow grass and it’s good for nourishing the lungs and kidneys, protecting the liver, nourishing skin and beauty, and improving immunity. It is extremely delicious when used to make soup or steam dishes! You don’t have to add water to the chicken, the marinade, chicken, and mushrooms release a broth-like mix of fluids that tastes amazing over rice. Are you drooling? This is an easy and delicious ...

Indulgence Cake With Chocolate Glaze

  Recently, I learned to bake another cake. This cake is baked especially for my mother-in-law – birthday cake. She loves chocolate cake, so I decided to bake this cake to indulge her. I once ate at a restaurant Secret Recipe. I tried to choose a cake for dessert after dinner.  It surprised me to discover that, out of all the cake varieties displayed in the cake display fridge, only this indulgence cake had three slices left. The remaining cake was either left untouched or only one or two slices were consumed. So, I thought this cake must be the signature cake of this restaurant. I decided to give it a go. Indulgence cake is an impressive looking cake. Four layers of moist chocolate cake that are stacked, one on top of another, with good quality dark chocolate and white chocolate mousse. The mousse ingredients are straightforward, egg-and gelatin-free that is significantly more convenient. When the cake is sliced, the layered pattern of Secret Recipe's cake is revealed, with c...

Super Easy Fish Soup with Pickled Mustard (简易酸菜鱼)

  If you are a fan of hot and sour soup, please give this Szechuan fish soup (酸菜鱼) a try. It is a classic Sichuan dish where the fish is thinly sliced and poached in a rich broth made from stock flavored with fish bone, peppers, ginger, garlic, and pickles. The first time I’m have it is from a Sichuan restaurant, and the first bite…goodness, it’s mega spicy with fire. The actual way of making this dish is to stir fry the fish bone to make the broth with the pickles, this way you may see that the pickles are attached with some fish fresh which took off from the bone during the stir fry process. For pickles mustard, there are two types of pickled in the market. One is the salty type, and this is the sour type. In case, the sour type is not available, you might need to adjust the sour taste with vinegar. Pickled pepper is used in the original recipe to add spice.   However, it isn't accessible where I live.   I therefore substitute dried chilies for it. Generally, p...