FOOCHOW FISH HEAD SOUP

魚頭湯

'Yu Tau Loong' in Foochow

is

hot and sour Fish Head Soup

In Sitiawan

you can order this soup in many of the restaurants

that serve local Foochow dishes

It has to be taken hot 

so that you do not get that fishy smell

6 pieces chopped fish head (depend on size) 

1/2 plant salted vegetable (kiam chai)

2 Tbsp cooking oil

2 chilli, cut

3 spring onions, cut

1 large piece ginger, sliced thinly

1 tomato, quartered
1 bowl fish stock

salt & pepper to taste
1/2 Tbsp chili sauce (optional)

Method:

1) heat oil in kuali & fry ginger until fragrant

2) sear fish head in the hot oil

3) add tomato, pour in hot fish stock & let cook until fish is cooked

4) add seasoning & dish out

5) sprinkle cut chilli & spring onions on top before serving

6) serve hot!

This bowl has big onions 
and 
1/2 Tbsp chili sauce added

HOKKAIDO MILK LOAF

If you like milk

and 
you love soft and fluffy bun,

try biting into one of these

you will like it

 Hokkaido Milk Loaf

160g milk

100g whipping cream

1 large egg

1 tsp salt

3.5 tsp sugar

2 tsp milk powder

360g bread flour

40g cake flour

2 tsp yeast

Method:

1) all ingredients into the bread machine, dough cycle

2) let rise 1 hour

3) punch down & divide into 8 portions 

4) roll into balls and rest in bread paper cups to rise 20min or until double

5) brush top of bun with milk

6) bake in preheated oven 180'C for 20min

MIKU STRAIGHT DOUGH METHOD

MIKU

is nice to look at, soft to the touch

and definitely wanting to bite into it 

I have tried many times making these mi koo

most of them come out wrinkled face

This is the first time 

with smooth and puffy face

Guess why?

I did not use my steamer

instead I steamed in my kuali

300g plain flour - sifted with baking powder

2 tsp double action baking powder
1/2 Tbsp shortening
125g warm water
75g castor sugar
1/8 tsp salt
2 Tbsp coconut milk/milk
2 tsp instant yeast
1/16 tsp alkali water

Method:
1) all ingredients in bread machine, dough cycle
2) let rest 30min
3) shape into 6 balls & place on parchment paper
     inside the steamer
4) let to rise 20-30min or until double in size
5) steam on high until water boils, turn to medium
6) total steaming time 15min
7) leave buns in steamer for 3-5min before opening 

Notes:
1) brush top of bun with slightly diluted red colour to give red colour

With special thanks to kimmy for the recipe

RUSTIC LOAF

Guess it is time to switch

 from baking soft buns

to rustic loaf

A) Sponge dough
      knead together 300g bread flour, 170g water, 10g brown sugar, 1/2 tsp salt,
      4g instant yeast & 1/2 tsp lemon juice, and let rest 3 hours

B) Dough
      Add 40g raw oats, 60g bread flour, 10g brown sugar, 60g water, 15g  olive oil         to A and knead until smooth, divide into 2 balls & leave to rest in 2 bowls for       50min          

C) Topping
       Flour/oat flakes

Method:
1) remove dough from bowls, wet top of loaf & sprinkle toppings 
2) let to proof another40min on baking tray
3) slit loaf and let rest 20min, preheat oven to 200'C
4) before sending into the oven, mist loaf
5) bake for 30min, until brown

This recipe is enough to make 2 loaves

An oblong one

 and a round loaf

     
       

RICE HUAT KUIH

Another Nonya Kuih

HUAT KUIH

with simple ingredients but needs lots of patience

It takes 3 days to prepare

A) 75g cooked rice                     )
      1/2 pc ragi yeast,crushed )
      1/2 Tbsp sugar                      )combine all in a bowl, cover with cling wrap & 
      1/2 Tbsp water                      )prick holes on surface, leave aside for 2 days

B) 75g sugar            )
      150g rice flour  ) after 2 days, blend A until smooth
      250g water         ) add B & mix well, leave aside for 8 hours

C) 1 tsp double action baking powder
      3/4 tsp Eno fruit salt
    
Method:
1) after 8 hours, mix C to mixture
2) leave aside until half of the bubble disappear
3) pour into separate cups & steam at high heat for 15min

Note:
1) if prefer coffee flavour, add coffee granules and more sugar

A Hot Day in the Garden

Little Ethan's Project:

It is a hot day in the park

I enjoy running on the green green grass

Who cares if there is any shade under the tree

I just love to cycle round the flower beds

Watching the 2 lovely birds

they too are flying freely 

under the sun on this very hot day  

O I just love outdoors

Mom worries about me sweating too much

Daddy worries about me falling off the bicycle

Hayley loves competing with me

We only go home when our water bottles run dry

and we are exhausted

SPIDERMAN'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

This is another story 

SPIDERMAN'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

written by our little 

6 year old grandson, Ethan Lim

The story is short but full of action

I am really impressed

how he is able to put his imagination aptly into words 

Ethan wrote it,

his mom typed it and added the illustrations

WAFFLE

My new toy

A Waffle Stick Maker

and this is the product:

Waffle

105g plain flour
30g corn flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
6 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup milk
1 large egg
1 Tbsp sugar
vanilla extract (optional)

1) sift together dry ingredients & leave aside
2) whisk egg and sugar until pale, beat in cooking oil
3) add milk & vanilla
4) combine wet & dry ingredients
5) pour waffle batter into preheated waffle iron

MAN TOU

Some like it plain

Many like it sweet

and yet many like it deep fried

But everyone likes it soft and fine

Man Tou

120g water

3/4 tsp instant yeast

250g plain flour or pau flour

30g castor sugar

10g vegetable oil

Method:

1) combine water and yeast and leave aside

2) combine sugar and flour in another bowl

3) pour oil into yeast water

4) pour the liquid into flour and knead well

5) cover dough and leave aside for 15min

6) roll dough into 13"x6" rectangle

7) brush top with water & roll up like a swiss roll

8) cut into 8-10 pieces & put on pieces of wax paper

9) leave man tou in steamer for 20min 

10) turn fire to HIGH to bring water to the boil

11) reduce fire to medium (steam total 15min)

12) off fire, and let sit in steamer for 5min before opening cover to remove the man tou

DEEP FRIED CRISPY PRAWNS

To make the prawn straight when fried,

cut a few slashes on the inside of the prawns

Who doesn't like these crispy prawns?

If not for health reasons

who can resist?

10 Large prawns

2 Tbsp (heap) Self raising flour (+some for dipping)

1/2 Tbsp (heap) corn flour

pinch of baking soda (optional)

water

oil for deep frying

1/2 tsp sugar

salt & pepper to taste

Method:

1) remove shell from prawns but keep the tail, cleaned & deveined

2) marinate prawns with sugar, salt & pepper for 30min

3) combine dry ingredients 

4) slowly add water  to make a batter - slightly thicker than pancake batter

5) heat oil in kuali

6) lightly dust prawns in flour

7) dip into batter one at a time, then into the hot oil

8) deep fry until golden, drain

9) serve hot with chili sauce

Note: serve hot 

STEAMED FISH HEAD

Fish is my favourite

and I do not bother much about the fishy smell

My favourite way of cooking fish

is steaming

4-5 pieces fish head

1/2" ginger, sliced & shredded

1/2 chilli, shredded

2 stalks spring onion

1/4 tsp salt

Sauce: 

(mix together all ingredients & leave aside)

1 Tbsp soya sauce

2 Tbsp hot water

1 tsp garlic oil

1 tsp fried garlic

1/2 tsp sugar

salt & pepper to taste

rice wine (optional)

1) marinate fish head with salt

2) place spring onion stalks at bottom of steaming plate

3) add pieces of fish head

4) arrange ginger & chilli slices on the fish

5) steam while cooking rice

6) when cooked, pour away the water from the fish

7) season with the prepared sauce 

Notes:

1) Can replace fish head pieces with sliced fish or whole fish. In this case, care must taken not to overcook the fish. So, better to steam it separately rather than cooking together with the rice in the rice pot.

2) must pour away the water from the dish after steaming to get rid of the fishy smell.

HOMEMADE YOGHURT

If you seem to run out of yoghurt

everytime you need it

why not make your own

& replenish it every 4 or 5 days

To start with

just buy a small tub of plain Greek Yoghurt

feeding it whenver the supply runs low

You need:

120g warm water

30g milk powder
1 heap Tbsp plain Greek Yoghurt

Method:
1) pour 120g warm water to a thick ceramic container with cover
2) dissolve 30g milk powder in the warm water
3) stir in 1 heap Tbsp yoghurt
4) cover & leave aside @ room temperature overnight
5) next day, the yoghurt is formed, keep refrigerated

Notes:
If the weather is cool, rest the ceramic bowl
in a small pot of warm water over night

FOO CHOW YAM CAKE

When we were little boys and girls

our grandmother

would come visit us from Sitiawan
with a big bag of 

deep fried yam cakes

All of us were so excited
   Each one of us would grab a piece
and soon our little fingers were covered with oil

I tried to make some
to bring back the sweet memory

First I need to bring the ingredients together
and steam 1/2 an hour until cooked
Let it cool down before
cutting into 1/2" thick rectangles
and finally deep fried

Ingredients:
6 oz rice flour
2.5 oz green pea flour
44 oz water 
1 tsp salt
5 oz yam, diced
2 Tbsp dried shrimps, soaked & chopped
2 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp shallots
1 tsp 5 spice powder
1/2 chicken cube
salt & pepper to taste

1) soak flours in water & salt for 1-2 hours
2) heat oil and fry shallots until fragrant
3) add dried shrimp & yam, continue frying
4) add the rest of the ingredients & flavouring
5) pour in the soaked flours with liquid
6) continue stirring while cooking
7) when batter thickens, pour into a steaming tray
8) steam for 1/2 hour, let cool
9) cut into 1/2" thick 2"x3"rectangles
10) deep fried
11) serve with chilli sauce

STEAMED CHICKEN

Another steaming dish

to cook together with the rice

6-8 pieces of chopped chicken

2 mushroom, soaked & sliced (optional)

1/2" ginger, sliced

2 green onion, cut 1/2

1 Tbsp wolfberry, rinsed

soya sauce

some water

salt, pepper & sugar to taste

1) put green onions & ginger slices @ base of steaming plate

2) arrange chicken pieces on top

3) put the rest of the ingredients on the chicken

4) flavour with sauce, pepper, sugar and salt

5) steaming together while cooking rice 

CHEESE SQUARES

Recently I came across http://my123favourites.blogspot.com/2013/10/mini-cheese-bread.html

85g milk

1 egg AA

30g castor sugar

1/8 tsp salt

200g bread flour

1/3 tsp instant yeast

1 slice cheese, cut up

30g butter

Method:

1) everything goes into the bread machine, 

     bread dough cycle

2) let rise until double, roll flat into a square tray

3) cut into squares & leave to rise until double

4) spray with water before putting into oven

5) bake in preheated oven 180'C for 20 min, cool

     

Note:

1) Next time, I will arrange  the squares on the baking tray so that I can get all the 4 sides brown

2) Mini cheese squares should attract little boys and girls, so I will try again

Mini Cheese Squares

baked 30 Oct 2015

FUZHOU BUDDHA JUMP OVER THE WALL

Buddha Jump over the wall
better known as
'Foh Tiaw Chiang' 

This is a Signature Dish
of 

Foo Chow

who 

takes pride in its expensive ingredients

and 

long hours of preparation

Many Restaurants in Fu Zhou, China

 offer this dish 

The price varies

and

it depends on what is inside the soup

These are the basic ingredients:

And the herbs, optional

After days of hard work

and long hours of double boiling

this is what you get
(with herbs)

Besides preparing the dried ingredients, 
the next thing to do is to prepare a clear broth or base soup

Once you have all these
it is just a matter of putting them together to double boil 2 hours

CHOCOLATE SWISS ROLL

Heard that it is not easy to roll up

A Swiss Roll

I confirm so

 especially when I am handling it

for the first time

See the end result?

I need to roll it upside down

The top is spoilt

Thanks to kitchentigress for the recipe

15g cake flour

10g cocoa powder
pinch of salt

15g corn oil

10g water

30g egg yolk

15g castor sugar

70g egg white

30g castor sugar

75g whipping cream, whipped

Method:

1) sift together cake flour & cocoa powder, add salt

2) beat together oil, water, sugar & egg yolk 

3) when sugar dissolved, fold in sifted flour

4) whisk egg white & sugar until stiff

5) fold egg white into egg yolk in 2 batches

6) pour mixture into 10X14" lined pan, level

7) bake in preheated oven @200'C for 10min

8) remove from oven & tap pan on table top

9) peel off parchment & cool on wire rack

10) when cooled, spread a layer of cream 

11) roll up & chill before serving