Bingka Beras Improved

This kuih has been one of my favorites and i have to tweak for an improvement to the previous recipe Kuih Bengka Beras.  The tinge of fragrance from the pandan leaves obtained by squishing and crushing the pandan leaves with your fingers into the flour mixture is great, learned by watching how the Thai Chefs do their magic.  Do not reduce the sugar as all nyonya kuih has to be sweet enough.  I would prefer to enjoy a single piece of goodness than a whole tray of tasteless kuih.  The coconut milk played a very important part to this kuih, that is why a can of coconut milk with the highest saturated fat is recommended.

Orange and Lemon Chiffon Cake

I am sharing this more diabetic friendly recipe as it calls for less flour and sugar.  Baking too is different as this recipe is steamed baked with a lower oven temperature too.  To obtain a very fine texture, this cake has to rise above the cake pan and then for the last 20 minutes, it will fall back to the height of the cake pan.  The cake will only start rising at about 15 to 20 minutes and continue to rise.  This recipe will enable you to hand press to dislodge the cake.

Kuih Talam Revisited

Although my previous recipe Kuih Talam is ok but my need to tweak more for a better texture has been on my mind for the longest ever.  I think i have found what i tweaked is to my satisfaction and i have to post it, not for my own reference but for everyone or anyone who will be interested to make a perfect kuih talam. Sweetness is just nice, just as what kuih should be, sweet enough to please the palate and the tinge of saltiness is there, complementing the sweetness.  Oh yes, the richness of the coconut milk is just right from the whole can of CHAOKOH coconut milk which has 50% of saturated fat.

Orange Chiffon Cake Revisited

I would like to share this new method of heating up the liquid and mixing it to the dry ingredients while it is hot.  Also the sugar is sieved with the flour, salt and baking powder. It does give a finer crumb and improved the texture.  i too find that there is no need to add the sugar slowly while whisking the egg whites.  It makes no difference, so just add egg whites, cream of tartar and sugar all at once and whisk at a constant slow speed.(speed 4 in kitchenaid mixer)

Kaya Rich Egg Custard Improved

Kaya is a food spread/curd  or custard made from coconut milk,eggs,and sugar. It is wildly popular in Malaysia and in the malay language the word kaya means rich, hence represents the texture. To acquire perfect texture, requires patience and slow cooking under low heat is the way to go.  Knowing me, the most impatient side of me, must find ways and means to achieve with the least amount of effort.  I have found that making this Kaya - Rich Egg Custard  is possible in the microwave and with an addition of one more ingredient, the custard now is no fail if you should follow the instruction of cooking it low and slow

I have added a little STARCH to the recipe and it helps to prevent the eggs from overcooking and gives more lead way to the success of the egg rich mixture.  The starch molecules slow protein coagulation, making the egg proteins more resistant to curdling..

Cream Cheese Pineapple Tarts For The Chinese New Year

Is it coincidence or what?  When my daughter, Sharon asked me to have a look at the pineapple tarts she just made, i could not believe my eyes, the both of us used the same pineapple tart mold!!!!  We had a good laugh.

When i was asked what i am grateful for, i will not hesitate and mentioned that the internet is what i am most grateful for.  It has given me a chance to posts my tested recipes on this blog and share with friends and strangers(who will and have become friends) to try out these recipes.  I  do not have to carry hard copies of recipes whenever i wish to bake or cook - google is my best friend.  The next grateful aspect is skype, i am now able to teach or discuss on video chat with friends and family , especially with Sharon who is into baking and i am most proud of her.  Keep up the good work, dear Sharon.

  I have been baking pineapple tarts with all these 3 pastries that i have posted -
Pineapple Tarts , Pineapple "Open" Tarts and Pineapple Roll and it is about time to post another pineapple tart pastry for all of you to try.  This pastry is very light because i did not use any liquid.  I hope that sour cream is not hard to come by in Malaysia or other parts of the world, if so, Sour Cream substitute link is HERE

Nasi Lemak with Apricot Sambal Ikan Bilis

The weather is much cooler nowadays especially in the mornings, I don't have to go out for my walks at 6.00 am , could do it at 7.30 am and still feel comfortable.  Then you know that summer is over and autumn is upon us soon.  This summer has been a busy and fruitful -'fruit full' it was, my neighbor's apricot tree was groaning with lush and the lush was on my side of the fence.  As i scamper back to my kitchen with my apricot loot, i was a-brimmed with plans.  There will be apricot jam, There will be pastries - made so many pastries and still have many more apricots sitting on the counter-top.  What i would like to share with you all, was so delicious and it amazed me too that it turned out so well.  I added the pitted apricots to the sambal and  The Sambal Ikan Bilis made with this apricot sambal was the most delicious tasting sambal ever, it tasted fruity.  

Mini Shanghai Mooncakes

The Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar,  and it falls on September 30th this year (2012).  Although it is still about 1 1/2 months away, preparation for the making the mooncakes has to begin now especially if you are to make the Traditional Mooncakes - the syrup has to be cooked and kept until needed, in fact the longer it is allowed to settle, the better it is.  Most mooncakes bakers will cook the syrup last year for this year's baking.  If this syrup cooking is too tedious and intimidating, i am sharing this recipe which s full of the fragrance of butter and pure lotus paste/red bean paste and the best part, you don't need any mooncake molds.

I make mooncakes every year and somehow could never find time to post it in time for my readers who would like to try and have a hand in making some for the festival.  This year, i make sure that i will post first before i start getting into the actual baking and forget to post.  Sorry.................

Seaweed Crispies

GONG XI FA CAI

This is a spin-off from Nori Crisps.  These seaweed /nori crispies are so addictive and flavorful that they have to be fried and served for The Chinese New Year.  They are so easy, just 3 ingredients and oil for deep frying.  This year, instead of rolling them up or plain flat, i have twisted them into ribbons following Sesame Ribbon Crisp but do not double up the prepared pastry.  For this recipe i have tweaked and used egg whites instead of the whole egg and found that the crispies remained crispier.

Kuih Bangkit Gula Melaka Flavored

Gula melaka a.k.a. Palm Sugar or 'Malacca Sugar'.  Why Melaka/Malacca,?  I have no idea and hope that you readers can enlighten me.  Gula melaka is made by first extracting the sap from the flower bud of a coconut tree. Several slits are cut into the bud and a pot is tied underneath the bud to collect the sap. Then, the sap is boiled until it thickens after which, in the traditional way, it is poured into bamboo tubes between 3-5 inches in length, and left to solidify to form cylindrical cake blocks.

 Coconut palm sugar is being advertised as a healthy sugar; low in the glycemic index and full of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. It apparently tastes great with amazing caramel and butterscotch taste and it's gaining popularity rapidly until most coconut farmers are cashing in to this new high demand of palm sugar as  "healthier sugar", by converting their coconut trees into coconut sugar production.  No wonder, the price for a can of coconut milk/cream has triple the price lately.


I do not use gula melaka/palm sugar for any other reasons except to flavor these few desserts like
Onde Onde,
Kuih Dadar,
Kuih Koci,
Kuih Koci Pulut Hitam,
Kuih Talam Ubi Kayu,
Lepat Ubi Kayu/Casava Wrap,
Kuih Kosui


and now am using it to flavor my Kuih Bangkit, and can you tell me the characters of these cookies?  They are pressed from the same mould.

Sambal Belacan

What type of sambal do you like best? But before you can answer, you would have to know what Sambal is.  Sambal is a chili based sauce which is popular in South East Asia and normally used as a condiment.  

 What do you think is the key ingredient for this fiery-kick tasty sambal?  There will be no sambal belacan without belacan aka shrimp paste  and it will not work with no fresh red chillies, they are both partners in crime. 

A Malay style sambal is what i am about to share with you.   Fresh red chilies are pounded together with toasted belacan(shrimp paste) in a stone mortar to which sugar and lime juice are added. Originally, limau kesturi or calamansi lime is used but since this is scarce outside of Southeast Asia,  green lime is used as a substitute.  My greatest find in the asian stores here in Denver is this calamansi juice in their freezer and now my homemade Sambal Belacan is no more adulterated with lime juice.  To make it more authentic, my wish fairy, Peng, bought me a stone mortar enabling me to pound away in rhythm and perfume the house with so much comfort(my comfort) but it can unpleasant and stinky to those who are not familiar.  Another good find is that roasted belacan is available and if i have a choice, i would prefer this to raw belacan. 

Thank you Peng for striking off this stone mortar from my wish list.  Before, the appearance of the stone mortar, i have been using the chopper or food processor and they made good acceptable sambal belacan but for textured sambal belacan, the stone mortar is the way to go.