Kuih Dadar

Coconut and pandan leaves are the main ingredients for making nyonya kuih. That's the reason most of those kuih are green but have a really nice fragrant of pandan leaves.

Last weekend I came across one of the nyonya kuih recipe when I was surfing the net. Firstly I was attracted by the mouth watering kuih in the photo. Then when I went through the steps, the simplicity of the recipe was tempting. So, I decided to make it for our Saturday afternoon tea. Here is the link I found the related recipe.

The whole process ran smoothly and was very relaxing. The crepes were perfectly done. There was no leaking when I wrapped up the crepes with the coconut filling. When they were ready to be served, excitedly I asked my hubby to try it. (He is always being my "Guinea pig" whenever I learn a new recipe.) He liked it but he commented the filling was too sweet. I took a bite and unfortunately I had to agree. So I had to take out some of the filling form the rest of the kuih. Overall the result was not too bad but I have jot down a few notes for myself as the following:

1. Always Always Follow The Instruction!! This was because I had added more palm sugar when cooking the filling. I thought I would taste better. Of course, I was wrong it ended up too sweet.

2. Use pandan juice to make the crepe instead of using the green food colouring as recommended in the recipe. This would make the kuih tastier.

However, it was a good try and we had an enjoyable afternoon tea.

I have sweet tooth and love all kind of dessert. Instead of being away from my home country for 10 years, I am still missing the "Kuih Muih" in Malaysia. Unfortunately, not all kuih muih are available in NZ. To satisfy my craving on those delicious food, I have to look for the recipe and make by myself. In fact, this is a good opportunity to sharpen my cooking skills.

I made "Onde Onde" last weekend. This was my 3rd time to made this "Kuih". As I remembered, they were not sweet enough when I made them in the first time. Obviously, I had not inserted enough palm sugar into the glutinous balls. For second time, I made them when mum and dad came to visit. However, they were still not tasted good. Finally, I found that I forgot to mix the desiccated coconut with some salt. After learning all the lessons, I tried to made the "Onde Onde" as perfect as I could this time.

I had read a few "Onde Onde" recipes in the internet. I have realised that fresh grated coconut is recommended in order to achieve the best result. Unfortunately, it is hard to find the fresh coconut in NZ. So I replaced the ready packed desiccated coconut from supermarket. Apart from that,t I could get all the other ingredients easily from Chinese Grocery. In fact, the steps were also easy to be followed. Here's the link where I got the recipe.

Overall, I was happy with the result this time. The taste was improved. I was enjoyed every bite especially when they exploded the sweet syrup from the centre.

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BBQ Pork Bun

One of my favourite Dim Sums is steam bun. The most popular one is BBQ Pork bun. We normally won't miss out when we go to Yum Cha.

One night, my hubby kept telling me how he missed the mini Pork bun "Xiao Long Bao" in Malaysia. We spent most of that night talking about how nice was the mini pork bun tasted in Malaysia, how to make it blahh blahh.... Finally, I ended up go to bed with rumbling stomach. So, I decided to make my own "Sioa Long Boa" on the next morning.


Searching the recipe in internet but the version of Malaysia's "Xiao Long Bao" was very different from what had shown in the recipe in internet. Eventually, I went for the recipe of BBQ Pork Bun instead of Xioa Long Bao. Here the link for the recipe.

Going through my pantry and fridge and luckily I had all the ingredients that I needed. So, I started making BBQ Pork bun after lunch.

The whole process took about 3 hours. Although, they did not look professionally made, the taste was acceptable. I felt contented as my hubby and my baby Michelle loved the buns. They finished all the buns on that night.

Another way to cook pumpkin

I always prefer quick and easy recipe for my dinner during weeknigths, as on workingdays, spending an hour or longer in the kitchen is not so appealing.

Tonight I found a pumpkin in my fridge which reminded me that we had bought it since last weekend and it was still kept and wrapped nicely in the fridge. So, I tended to used it as one of my dinner dishes.

I opened my cupboard and had a quick browse of all the sauces or ingredients, tried to get some inspirations on how to cook the pumkin. An idea struck me when I saw a bottle of Korean sauce which we hardly use. After checking the expiry date, I started my own version of pumpkin.

The following is the recipes:

Ingredients: 1 teaspoon of cooking oil, Pumpkin (cut into pieces), 1 medium onion (sliced) 1.5 tablesppons of Korean Sauce, spring onion (simply chop it), sugar and salt to taste.

Method:

• Sautee the oil and onion when the wok has been heated
• When the onion is soft, place in Pumpkin pieces and a little bit of water and simmer until the pumpkin is thouroughly cooked.
• Add in Korean sauce, sugar and salt, then spring onion.
• Stir fry a few minutes and served.

This is quick and easy but delicious! So, anyone could try it especially during busy weekdays!

"Ah Ma" Dark Soy Sauce Pork

Once I had a craving for "Ah Ma" (grandma) Dark Soy Sauce Pork when I was pregnant. This is one of the dishes that "Ah Ma" used to cook when I was a child. So, I phoned her to ask for the recipe.

Surprisingly, the recipe is very simple to make and just requires some basic ingredients.

Firstly, wash and cut the pork fingers into small pieces. Then marinate them with light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, white pepper and sugar for about 20 mins. Finally, heat sesame oil or normal cooking oil, and stir fry them. Very simple but delicious.

So, now and then, this becomes one of my favourite dishes for dinner.

Soy Bean drink

I used to buy soy bean drink from supermarket or flee market during weekend. However, I hardly find a nice freshly made soybean drink. Sometimes, it tastes like burnt or too creamy.

When my Mum-In Law came to visit, she made her own soy bean drink. Very nice. The taste was just right. We kept enjoying the drink and never paid attention on how she made it. When she went home, she had left half pack of soy beans in our cupboard and none of us know how to use it.

So, one night, I called her and asked for the steps of making it. It was not that difficult as I thought. Firstly the soy beans need to be washed and soaked overnigth. Then on the next morning I blended them and squeezed blended soy beans by using the cloth bag. I kept repeating the process until all beans are used up. Then, I boiled the soy milk under low heat and stirred it occasionally to ensure the milk did not burnt. Pandan leave was also added into the boiling soy milk to make the taste and smell nicer. Finally, I added sugar to taste. And "Da...da" here was my very first time made soy bean drink. I could say that it was a quite sucessful one.

I enjoy soy bean drink with weetbix or cereal for breakfast. My hubby loves soy bean with crushing ice. My baby Michelle seems not very interested in my freshly made soy bean drink yet. Hopefully, she will like her mama soy bean drink when she is older.