Homemade Gummy

I've seen this recipe in Kitchen Capers, by Gina back in 2006.  I didn't get a chance to make it as I don't have any proper molds.  With a new Daiso around my neighbourhood, I finally bought some chocolate molds.  DD1 specially asked for a gummy bear cake.  We recently bought a big pack of Yummy Earth Organic Gummy but I thought it is a good opportunity for me to DIY instead of using store-bought.

Look how cute these bears are.  But they are slightly too big for gummies.

The mold comes in 6-in-1.  I bought 2 moulds and there were some extras.

So the balance went into my egg mold and some flower mold.

The final product went onto DD1's birthday cake which I'll blog about another day.

If you were to ask me, they don't taste anything like the commercial gummies.  But it is a quick and easy treat that you can whip up anytime at home without running to the stores.

Homemade Gummy

Ingredients

85g flavoured Gelatin powder
2 tbsp unflavoured/plain Gelatin powder
125ml water

Method

1. Pour water into a small pot.  Sprinkle both gelatin over the water and let it sit for 10 mins.
2. Place pot over medium low heat and cook till all gelatin dissolve.  Do not boil.
3. Remove from heat and leave to cool slightly.
4. Lightly oiled plastic molds with vegetable oil
5. Pour melted gelatin into it.
6. Leave it in the freezer for 5 mins only
7. Remove from freezer and pull out the gummy bear from the mold.

Notes

• I use a packet of Tortally brand which comes in 90g, Gina uses Jello brand
• I use fish based gelatin from Phoon Huat
• Boiled cool water was used instead of tap water
• I didn't oil the molds but after the gummy has set, I kept them in the fridge overnight.

Sea Coconut with White Fungus Dessert

This is very much like the papaya dessert I've prepared here and here. But this time round, instead of using papaya, I replaced it with fresh sea coconut.  It is believed that sea coconut eliminates phlegm and relieves cough.

Fresh sea coconut from local supermarket.

After removing the endocarp (light brown skin), this is how it looks like.

This dessert may be served hot or cold but my kids prefer it cold.

Sea Coconut with White Fungus Dessert

Ingredients

1.5 litres water
10 fresh sea coconuts
20 - 30g white fungus
1/2 - 3/4 cup dried longans
20 - 25 red dates (I used pitted ones)
rock sugar to taste

Method

1. Wash and soak white fungus till soft. Remove the stalk and separate into petals.
2. Wash and remove the endocarp (light brown skin) off the sea coconut and sliced.
3. Bring water to a boil.  Add sea coconut and cook for about 15 minutes.
4. Add white fungus and red dates, bring to boil again.  Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
5. Add dried longans and rock sugar to taste.  Cook till rock sugar dissolves.
6. Serve hot or cold.

Ginger Milk Curd/Custard/Pudding (姜汁撞奶)

The first time I had Ginger Milk Curd/Custard/Pudding (姜汁撞奶) was like 16 years ago when I visited Hong Kong.  I fell in love with it instantly as I love ginger and what's more, having it on a cold winter night.  That really warmed both my body and soul ;-)

Florence posted a recipe in Kitchen Capers back in 1995 and I've had that recipe for the longest time, making no attempt to try it until I saw Wendy's entry here.  She made it 8 times but failed and finally saw success in her 9th attempt.  Deep in my heart I heard a voice saying, "how difficult can it be?"

I used to give my kids fresh milk but being a lazy mom, I feed them UHT milk now.  It is in smaller packets and they just need to get a pack of it from the cupboard/fridge and drink it, no pouring/washing up cups :P 

 Attempt #1 - failed

Next, I made it with low-fat UHT milk.

Attempt #2 - failed again

Wendy mentioned it has to be made with fresh/raw milk so I bought a pack of fresh milk from the supermarket today. 

Oops.. abit blur but I was too lazy to snap another pic :P  Will do so when I have more time.

And since I've grated quite a bit of ginger juice in my 2 earlier attempts, I froze the balance 1 tbsp and used it today.  I wasn't sure if frozen juice will hinder the process but since I've already failed twice, so why worry if this attempt fails?  Anyway, it tasted great in liquid too ;-)

Attempt #3 - successful!!! ^-^

I wasn't expecting any success but it set!

Soft and silky!

And guess what?  DD3 enjoyed eating this too!

Ginger Milk Curd/Custard/Pudding (姜汁撞奶)

Ingredients
115ml - 125ml fresh milk
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp - 3 tsp ginger juice

Method

1. Put ginger juice into a bowl.
2. Heat up the milk and sugar in a saucepan over low heat until tiny bubbles appear around the edge of the pan.
3. Remove from heat and stir about 15 times with a spoon.
4. Pour mixture into prepared ginger juice and stir it once. Leave it to set for 10 mins.
5. Enjoy.

Mango Panna Cotta

Mango season is here and I've got abundance of them sitting in my fridge so I used them to make Mango Panna Cotta.

I had wanted to add some mango puree on top but the kids couldn't wait so we just ate it on it's own.

The texture is soft and literally melts in your mouth.  Most importantly, my kids love this ;-)

Mango Panna Cotta

Ingredients

(A)

2 tsp gelatin

3 tbsp of water

* mix together and set aside

(B)
480ml full cream milk
35g sugar (reduced from 50g)

(C)
1 ripe mango – cut into small cubes or puree

Method

1. Pour the milk in a pot and add  sugar.  Cook over medium low heat until bubbles form around the edges of the pot.
2. Remove from heat and add in gelatin.  Stir till gelatin dissolves.
3. Pour the mixture into six ramekins or cups. Add some cut mango and refrigerate until set or you can serve it with some mango puree.

Nian Gao (年糕) Puffs

What do you do with your leftover 年糕 (pronounced as nian gao which literally means Year Cake)?  I believe the norm is to sandwich with sliced yam and sweet potato, coated in a thin layer of flour and egg batter and fry them.

During the Chinese New Year period, I saw this Taiwanese program (女人我最大) on cable and they prepared this with puff pastry.  Sonia made them too and I thought they looked yummy.  I made mine with instant roti prata instead and they turned out well too.

Nian Gao Puffs

Ingredients

Nian Gao, cut lengthwise

Instant Roti Prata, slightly thawed
Black and White sesame seeds

Method

1. Remove instant roti prata from freezer, thaw for 2 - 3 mins and cut into half.
2. Place 年糕 on roti prata and roll it up, seal the edges.
3. Sprinkle some sesame seeds on top and bake at preheated oven of 200C for 25 - 30 mins or till golden brown.

Papaya Tong Shui Encore

I cooked papaya soup again but added dried figs and chinese almonds.  I prefer this version as I love chinese almonds but DH grimaced at the taste of it.  On the other hand, my kids love to chew on the chinese almonds.  It is so difficult to please all.

**Papaya with compliments from Aunty A **

Papaya Tong Shui
Ingredients
2 litres water
1 medium size half ripe papaya/paw paw (木瓜)
25g white fungus (白木耳)
10 dried figs (无花果)
20 - 25 red dates (红枣)
1 - 2 tbsp apricot kernels/chinese almonds ((南北杏)
rock sugar to taste

Method

1. Wash and soak white fungus till soft. Remove the stalk and separate into petals.
2. Cook white fungus, red dates, chinese almonds and dried figs, bring to boil and simmer for 30 mins.
3. In the mean time, remove papaya skin and remove the seeds. Cut into small cubes/bite sizes.
4. Bring the soup to boil again.  Add the papaya and rock sugar, cook until rock sugar dissolve.  Turn off the stove and let it sit for 10 mins (covered) before serving.

Sweet Potato Tong Shui

This is one of my favourite dessert, something light and refreshing :-) 

Sweet Potato Tong Shui
Ingredients
1 - 1.5 litre water
1 (approx 300g) sweet potato
20 - 25 red dates
1/2 cup dried longans
1- 2 tbsp rock sugar
some sliced ginger
some pandan leaves

Method

1. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into cubes.
2. Boil water with some pandan leaves.  When water boils, remove pandan leaves. Add red dates, sweet potato and ginger.  Let it boil again, then reduce heat and simmer for around 30 mins.
3. Add in dried logan and rock sugar, cook for another 5 mins or till rock sugar dissolves.
4. Serve hot or cold.

Papaya Soup - Dessert

This is my first time cooking a sweet papaya soup (papaya courtesy of Auntie A).  I do not know if there is a correct method but I cooked mine this way.  I think this soup goes well with lotus seeds too.

Papaya Soup - Dessert
Ingredients
3 litres water
½ half ripe papaya/paw paw
40g white fungus
30 - 35 red dates
8 - 10 pandan leaves
rock sugar to taste

Method

1. Wash and soak white fungus till soft.  Remove the stalk and separate into petals.
2. Cook white fungus and pandan leaves in a pot with 3 litres of water.  When boil, remove pandan leaves.  Add red dates and let it boil again, then reduce heat and simmer for around 30 mins.
3. In the mean time, remove papaya skin and remove the seeds.  Cut into small cubes/bite sizes.
4. Add the papaya and rock sugar and cook until rock sugar dissolves.
5. Serve hot or cold.

Matcha Milk Agar Agar

I can't quite recall where I've seen this recipe and didn't add the link to my favourites then.  When I tried to google for it, I can't find it now.  Anyway, I didn't want to spend too much time searching for it so I came out with my own version.

Matcha Milk Agar Agar
Ingredients
1 packet (12g) agar agar powder
1000ml water
180g caster sugar
200ml evaporated milk
1 tbsp matcha/green tea powder

Method

1. Dissolve one packet of agar agar powder in 1 litre of water.
2. Add 180g of sugar, stir and bring to boil over medium heat.
3. Add matcha and stir till all sugar has melted.
4. Sieve mixture and let it cool down slightly.
5. Add in evaporated milk and sieve again.
6. Pour mixture into moulds/tray. Chill well before serving.

Tang Yuan (湯圓) for Winter Solstice

Oops, I've been lagging again...  this was made so long ago but I clearly forgot about it until I saw Sonia's post here.

I kneaded some glutinous rice flour with water and sugar and added colourings to 2 portions.

DD1 helped to roll out the pink dough, DS2 the green ones and I did the white lot.  The kids enjoyed the rolling process and enjoyed eating it too :)

I didn't measure out the ingredients as my mom only vaguely explained through the phone to knead some glutinous rice flour with water and knead into a dough.  I prefer to add gula melaka to the soup as it enhanced the taste and fragrant of it.  However, I'm posting Sonia's recipe here for those who are interested.

Tang Yuan (湯圓)
Ingredients
200g Glutinous Rice Flour
1 tbsp Sugar
150ml Water (add more if the dough is too dry)
Colourings, optional

Syrup Soup
Ingredients
Water
Gula Melaka (or you can use brown sugar/rock sugar)
Some pandan leaves
1 thumbsize ginger (I like mine with extra spice so go easy on this one)

Method

1. Mix glutinous rice flour and sugar in a bowl.  Add in water gradually until the mixture becomes the texture of dough.
2. Divide the dough into 3 portions, add desired colours to each portion.
3. Pinch off pieces from the dough and roll into small balls.
4. Drop the balls into boiling water and cook them until they float.
5. Bring a pot of water to boil.  Drop balls into the boiling water and cook them until they float.
6. While the balls are cooking, prepare the syrup soup by putting all ingredients into a pot and brings it to boil.
7. Put the cooked balls into the soup and serve.

Double Boil Pear with Fritillaria

Of late, it seems that I've been cooking/baking more that I could blog. I always wonder, how do other bloggers keep up with their blog or are they facing the same problem as me?

For my next few entries, it will be on some TCM cough remedies which I've prepared for my children last week.

Despite being on antibiotics, the 2 younger ones were still coughing away and they're moving into week 4 now. We have seen the doctor twice and I was resistant to bring them for another visit. IC has many soup recipes so I asked if she had one for cough. The next day, she emailed me a few recipes and I shortlisted the easiest one to try out.


When I went to one of our local chinese medical store, I was advised not to give fritillaria to a young toddler. Instead, he recommended another product which I kindly decline. I visited a 2nd store and was given the green light to go ahead. With 2 different messages, I was in a dilemma if I should go ahead with this recipe. Nevertheless, I bought the fritillaria (better quality ones) thinking I could still give my 2 elder children.

This recipe originally calls for 1 large pear but I cooked 3 small ones instead. With the uncertainty of fritillaria's usage for my 20 months old toddler, I used 1 recipe for 3 pears instead. Of course, the effectiveness will be compromised but I just couldn't think of a reason not to make this.

No water needed for this recipe and despite reducing sugar, it was way too sweet. I cut a small chuck for DD3 and she grimaced at first bite. Sigh... With the pathetic "soup" base, I added some warm water to dilute the sweetness and offered her a drink. Again, she spitted it out and wouldn't go for a 2nd sip. Instead, the 2 older ones enjoyed themselves and kept asking for more.

Double Boil Pear with Fritillaria (川贝蜜梨)
(Original recipe in Chinese, thanks to IC for the translation)

Ingredients
3 Ya Pears (鸭梨)
3g Fritillaria, crushed (川贝母)
10g rock sugar

Method

1. Wash Ya Pear and measuring 3cm from the top, make a horizontal cut into half.
2. Dig a small hole in the centre of the bottom half of the pear and decore.
3. Place rock sugar and crushed fritillaria into the hole.
4. Cover with the top half of the pear and seal with toothpick around.
5. Double boil for 2 hrs and serve warm.

* 有清热解毒、润肺润喉、消痰止咳的功效。
Effect of clearing internal heat, detoxify, moist lunch/throat, subside phlegm & suppress cough.

* 适用于声音嘶哑，干咳无痰、或常需说话或唱歌者、或吃过多燥热食物以至咽喉干燥者
Suitable in use for:
1) hoarse voice
2) dry cough without phlegm
3) frequent speaker or singer
4) eating too much heaty food which caused dry throat

Matcha Mochi (Daifuku)

I love Mochi especially those with fillings, also known as Daifuku. It is a traditional Japanese sweet made out of glutinous rice flour and covered with a layer of corn starch/flour to prevent them from sticking together.

I adapted this recipe from Lee Lee and changed it to include matcha (green tea powder).

The big ones were filled with red bean paste and the bite-sizes were just plain mochi (my kids prefer the plain ones). My shaping sucks big time but the kids don't mind, not at all. Practise makes perfect and I'm sure I can do a better job next time ;-)

When straight out from the microwave, the dough was hot and sticky, thus it was difficult to wrap and shape. The first few I made have very thick skin (see picture below) and I thanked my lucky stars when the kids requested for plain ones :P

The matcha flavour was not strong and I could hardly taste it. Will have to increase the matcha to 1 1/2 tsp next time.

I kept some in the fridge to see if they will remain soft the next day. This was taken on the 2nd day, straight from the fridge without thawing and to my pleasant surprise, it was still soft when I bite into it :)

Mochi (aka Daifuku)
Ingredients
100 g glutinous rice flour
1 tsp matcha powder
180ml water
50g sugar
Red bean paste
Corn flour for dust

Method

1. In a microwavable safe bowl, put glutinous rice flour + matcha + water and mix well to paste. Add sugar and mix till dissolved.
2. Cover with clingwrap (leaving a small gap for hot air to escape) and microwave on High for 2 minutes. Remove from microwave and stir well with a wooden spoon.
3. Cover and return to microwave for 1 minute on Medium. Stir well and check for doneness. If not, return it to microwave for another 1 minute on Medium. Be careful not to overcook/burn it.
4. Sprinkle some corn flour on work area and use a spoon to drop a ball of dough on top. Coat dough with corn flour all over. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
5. Lightly flour your hands, wrap red bean paste with dough and seal the opening with a tight pinch. Roll into a ball and cover with more corn flour to prevent them from sticking.
6. Serve and enjoy!
   

Red Bean Paste

With the intention to make Matcha (green tea) mochi, I made some red bean paste. The last time I cook this, I over-cooked the paste and it was too dry. I like buns with red bean paste but commercially bought ones are so SWEET... For homemade paste, you can control the amount of sugar used :)

After soaking the red beans overnight, I cooked it in my AMC pot and the beans were softened in an hour's time :)

This is how it looks like after blending it with some water.

The best part of homecooked paste is adding JUST ENOUGH sugar to suit my family.

I used my AMC pot and cook on low, stirring occassionally to prevent the base from burning/sticking to the base.

I managed to get the right consistency this time round ^-^

Red Bean Paste

Ingredients

500g Red beans

200g Sugar

Method

1. Wash the beans, cover the cold water, and soak overnight. Drain beans and discard water. Place beans in a saucepan, add cold water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 1 hour, or until very soft. Monitor the pan to make sure water doesn't dry up.
2. Place the beans in a food processor and process until smooth. In a medium saucepan/pot, add the bean paste and sugar. Cook, stirring until the mixture is dry.

Banana Bread Pudding

There were some Banana Quick Bread left overs and I'm unsure if they freeze well so I made bread pudding with them.

I'm not a fan of bread pudding, in fact, I don't like bread pudding. However, I don't want to dump my banana bread into the bin so I came up with this.

The kids had this for tea break today and I'm glad they enjoyed themselves.

Ingredients

2 banana quick bread, muffin size (break into small pieces)

1 TBSP butter, melted

1/3 cup (50g) raisins

2 eggs

250ml milk

70g caster sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170C.
2. Lay bread pieces in 8" round pan. Drizzle melted butter over bread and add raisins
3. Using a big mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar and cinnamon, mix well till sugar dissolved.
4. Pour egg mixture over bread. Use a fork to press down the bread so that they are fully soaked in the egg mixture.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 35 - 40 minutes or until centre is set.

Bubor Cha Cha

I've not made Bubor Chacha for the longest time as I find it very time consuming to do the tapioca flour jelly. Kids were asking for it last week and since DH was at home nursing his flu, I bought all the ingredients from the supermarket and made this.

As I don't follow recipes to a T, I cook this based on estimation.

Bubor Cha Cha
Ingredients
(A)
200ml Boiling water
200g tapioca flour
Food Colourings (optional)
Extra tapioca flour for dusting

(B)
500g sweet potato, cubed
500g yam, cubed
6 - 8 pandan leaves
2 litre water
200ml coconut milk (I use packet coconut milk)

Method
1. Put tapioca flour in a mixing bowl, add in boiling water until it becomes a dough.

2. Divide into 2 parts and add food colourings to each part. Roll it out and cut into desired shape. Coat the cut out dough with more tapioca flour to prevent them from sticking together.

3. Bring a pot of water to boil and stir in the cut dough. Stir continuously to prevent them from sticking to one another. Boil until all jellies are translucent and float to the surface.

4. Remove from heat and put tapioca flour jelly in a large container/mixing bowl filled with ice water to prevent them sticking together. Set aside till further use.

5. Steam yam and sweet potato till cooked. Set aside

6. Boil 2 litre of water with pandan leaves and coconut milk.

7. Add steamed yam, sweet potato, sugar and tapioca flour jelly. Bring to boil and turn off fire.