TRADITIONAL STEAMED QI DAN KAU

During the olden days

Traditional 

Qi Dan Kau

is 

made in every household

This is either steamed in one big bamboo tray

or 

in individual cups

The light & soft texture
together with its unique flavour
has brought back many  childhood memories


My hubby said

when he was a kid

he dread to help beating the eggs 

because it was really very tiring
and
every child in the family must take turn to beat

so

when they saw the eldest sister

took out the utensils

he & and the younger ones

would quietly sneak out of the house!

Following the traditional ratio
of 1 : 1 : 1
to steam
Qi Dan Kou
I was never successful 

I have adapted this recipe from
 Melissa Ho Lee Cheen's

Thank you Melissa

Traditional Steamed Qi Dan Kou

2 eggs AA

70g sugar

150g self raising flour

50ml 100PLUS
1/4 tsp vanilla essence

1. beat eggs and sugar until pale & fluffy using mixer

2. add 100PLUS slowly while the mixer is still beating (can add last)

3. fold in carefully the sifted flour in batches, do not over mix

4. pour into lined bamboo tray or lined muffin cups

5. put some coarse sugar on batter to make a cross if you want the cake to crack at the top after steaming

6. steam on HIGH for 20 min (cupcake), 35-40 min (tray) from boiling water

7. check with a skewer if it is cooked

FOOCHOW LONN YEN

Lonn 

is egg in Foochow

Lonn Yen

simply means egg noodles

My mom used to cook very often as meals for the family

whereas

My mother-in-law would cook a big pot

for the whole family during Chinese New Year

Lonn Yen 

is a typical Foochow dish

It is their very own version of noodles

just like other dialects' Ban Miang

Lonn Yen is made with tapioca flour

After kneading, it is diluted and then pan fried,

cut into strips

and then cooked in a soup

If you are interested,

I gladly share with you this recipe

Lonn Yen

200g tapioca flour

40g plain flour

1 large egg, lightly beaten

240ml (1 cup water)

1. combine both flours in a basin

2. add beaten egg and 100ml water SLOWLY to bind the flour

3. continue with kneading the flour until it forms a smooth dough

4. cover & leave aside for 10min

5. after 10min, using a hand whisk SLOWLY mix in 100ml water

6. check for consistency, it should be relatively thin batter for making pancake

7. more water can be added if necessary

8. heat a wok or pan, lightly oil the pan (for 1st pancake only)

9. scoop batter & pour into the heated pan, swirl pan to cover a larger area

10. when the side begins to curl, turn to the other side & fry until slightly browned

11. remove & fry the next pancake without adding oil to pan

12. stack up the pancakes to cool

13. when cooled, roll up pancake individually & use a scissors to cut to the thickness you like

14. open up into strips & air the lonn yen

Lonn Yen Soup

chye sin (any green leafy veg. will do)

shallots 

ikan billies 

minced or sliced pork 

2 slices ginger

prawns

stock or chicken granules

salt & pepper to taste

1. fry shallots in some cooking oil, remove

2. fry ikan bilis until crispy, remove

3. fry ginger, and sliced pork if you are using 

4. add enough stock or water to make soup, bring to a boil

5. add minced pork, prawns, vegetables & chicken granules

6. when ready to serve, add lonn yen, fried ikan bilis & fried shallots

7. enjoy

Notes:

1. more eggs can be added to make lonn yen, but need to adjust water accordingly

2. Lonn yen, after air dried, can be frozen until required

3. lonn yen soup is individual, can be adapted to your own taste buds

4. just like miang siang, the lonn yen must be consumed immediately after cooking in soup to avoid expanding

5. ginger is a must because lonn yen is cooling because of tapioca flour

LEARN FOOCHOW DIALECT

For benefit of English educated:

A BEI - know

KA LIU - play

NEY YANG - children

MOR TAI YEH - nothing matter

KA LAR CHIA or KAI YAH - bicycle

NU SAN JING JONG - you are pretty

MEET CHEW - beer

LAU MAH - wife

DONG MOH - husband

DIANG PAH - crazy

E Mu - old lady

GONG BEI GONG CHIK - talking nonsense

GUAI AI NU - I love you

SEH BAH MUI ? - have you eaten?

SEH BAH LOH - eaten

BANANA CAKE

 I do not fancy much about

 Banana Cake

Recently

I was asked by my youngest daughter

whether I know how to bake a banana cake

Somehow

 it stirs up my interest in baking one

(I like challenges)

my sister-in- law, Pauline

bakes nice & soft Banana Cake

whoever tasted it 

would give a big thumbs up

when asked

she readily gave me her favourite 

Banana Cake recipe

and here I am:

Banana Cake

200g self raising flour

1 tsp bicarbonate soda

180g sugar

180g butter

250g banana, mashed with a fork

3 Tbsp milk

2 eggs AA

1. cream butter & sugar until light & fluffy

2. add eggs & continue creaming

3. add sifted flour & bicarbonate

4. add milk & mashed banana

5. pour batter into a lined square pan or loaf pans

6. bake in preheated oven 160'C for 40-50min

7. when baked, overturn cake on rack to cool

AT MY MAIN DOOR

 Home Sweet Home

is 

not for myself and family alone

This little bird 

has

found a place in the bamboo plant at my main door 

to call it home for its little ones

Hatched!

Look !

so tiny and helpless

yelling for mummy and daddy

with eyes closed and mouths wide open

Finally

the mummy came home with a little worm in the beak

feeding these little ones

When it rains

the mummy will sit on them to keep them away from rain water

If God 

cares for these fragile little birds in the air

how much more

with us

whom He calls us His own?

His abundant love for us

is portrayed 

in giving up His one and only Son to die for us on the Cross

We are bought with a price

so that we can be reconciled back to Him

He loves us

when we were sinners

His sacrifice

has cleansed us all so that we can come face to face with Him

and call Him Abba Father

It is never too late

repent

and return to your creator

He has been waiting for you with outstretch arms

if you are willing

the Heaven will celebrate with you, amen

JELLY CHIFFON CAKE

The tallest cake I ever made

Jelly Chiffon Cake

with special thanks to Michelle Marie Mower

as she freely shares her Jello-O chiffon Cake in the Facebook

This cake is spongy and nice

It gets its flavour from the Jelly 

so

you can have a variety of flavour

like strawberry, rose, black current etc

choosing from the wide range of Jelly packages in the market

Some packaged Jelly are rather sweet

like this brand

you need to reduce the sugar in the egg yolk mixture

Jelly Chiffon Cake

A) 5 egg yolk

     1/2 tsp salt

     80g milk

     60g oil

     45g sugar

B) 100g Jelly (any flavour)

C) sifted together:

     120g cake flour

     1/2 tsp baking powder

D) 6 egg whites

     45g sugar

     1/2 tsp lemon juice or pinch of cream of tartar

1. mix (A) until well combined

2. add in (B), and mix well again, then add (C) till well combined

3. whisk (D) egg white till bubbles start to form, add lemon juice

4. slowly add sugar in 3 portions. Whisk till meringue reaches stiff peak

5. fold 1/3 of the meringue into the egg yolk batter

6. continue folding in slowly the remaining meringue in 2 additions

7. transfer batter into 20cm chiffon cake pan

8. tap pan on counter to release trapped air bubbles

9. bake in preheated oven at 150'C for 50-60min 

10. bake till desired brown, do a cake test to ensure cake is fully baked

11. remove immediately from oven, bang the pan on the counter

12. invert pan to cool down completely before removing from pan.

FOOCHOW MIAN SIANG

Foochow 'Mian Siang'

福州麵線

is 

Mee sua

cooked in Foochow style

It is 

specially prepared for Birthday Celebrations

The birthday boy or girl 

will be served 

a big drumstick like this

plus 

2 hard boiled eggs

whereas

the rest of the family members will be served

with chopped pieces of chicken plus one hard boiled egg

This is also served as the First Dish 

if 

the Birthday Feast is held in

a Restaurant

Special skill

is required to cook this

as

not many people can achieve that 

special taste

and 

aroma from the red rice wine

My mother 

takes special interest in preparing it

as this is her favourite dish

She eats that for 30 days during her confinement month!

According to her

the minced ginger needs to be fried until fragrant

and

the chicken must be free range chicken

to be cooked to perfection

Here is her recipe which she gladly shares with us

1 free range chicken, chop into bite size

1/4 cup minced ginger

1/4 cup red rice wine residue

1/4 cup thick rice wine, obtained while extracting the clear wine 

2 Tbsp cooking oil

1 Tbsp sesame oil

rice wine to taste

seasoning: salt & chicken granules, optional

1. heat up cooking oil in a wok, add ginger & fry until fragrant

2. add chicken pieces & fry

3. add sesame oil & red rice wine residue, continue frying taking care not to burn as rice wine residue burns easily. So better turn down fire at this satge.

4. when the chicken pieces start to shrink, pour in the thick rice wine

5. add enough water to cook soup

6. simmer until the chicken pieces are tender
7. add seasoning if required

8. serve over Foochow mian siang

To prepare mian siang

1. bring to boil 1/2 wok of water

2. put mian siang into the boiling water & stir with a pair of chopsticks

3. when the mian siang floats, it is ready

4. remove & put into a serving bowl

5. pour chicken soup over, and serve with chicken pieces

Note:

1. My mom says no need to add salt because the mian siang is salty
     but chicken granules is a must as it adds taste to the soup

2. rice wine is added at the table so that you can get the ump!

I love to see so many variations in preparing this much loved

FooChow Miang Siang

My Facebook friend Peggy Teo from Johor

is preparing this dish

She likes thick soup like this

Another Facebook friend, Abigail Ngan
from Kampung Jering, Ayer Tawer
likes to have fragrant ginger fried egg instead of hard boiled egg

Chan Shiao Yiing Fion
my Facebook  friend from Taiping
adds black fungus into the soup & serve with Chinese celery

SOYA SAUCE CHICKEN

SOYA SAUCE CHICKEN

A Simple Dish 

but liked by many

The ingredients are common

and

can be found in all kitchen

Look

Soya Sauce Chicken
A) 1 chicken thigh
     salt to taste

B) 1" old ginger, smashed
     4 cloves garlic, peeled & smashed
     few pepper corns, smashed
     3 Tbsp soya sauce
     1 Tbsp dark soy sauce, for colour, can add more
     1/2 tsp sugar
     1 cup water

1. bring to boil all ingredients in (B), continue to simmer
2. add chicken thigh into the simmering liquid
3. periodically bathe the chicken thigh with the sauce
4. simmer for 15-20 min., or until a chopstick can go through when poked into the           chicken thigh
5. add salt if needed
6. remove from heat & allow chicken to rest in sauce
7. chop chicken into bite size, arrange on a serving plate
8. pour sauce over the chicken to serve

OSMANTHUS JELLY

OSMANTHUS JELLY

Osmanthus 

桂花

is a flower that has a distinct aroma 

and

used in desserts & tea

Traditional Chinese medicine

claims that 

osmanthus tea improves

complexion and helps detox the body

Gojiberries 

枸杞

is good for eyesight

and

it is used to boil soup or steep tea

Combining the 2 in a drink is good

better still 

when make into Jelly

Here is a simple recipe

following the instructions at the back of the package

Osmanthus Jelly 

1 packet 10g konnyaku powder
225G sugar

1 tsp dried Osmanthus flower

2 Tbsp goji berries, rinsed

950 ml water

1) follow the instructions at the back of the Konnyaku packet to prepare the jelly

2) bring to boil 950ml water & Osmanthus flowers, simmer for 2-3 min
3) combine sugar & konnyaku powder & mix well 

3) slowly add konnyaku powder mixture to the boiling water, stir until powder has dissolved

4) add gojiberries, & remove from heat, let mixture sit for 5 min

5) distribute mixture to jelly moulds & let cool

6) refrigerate for at least an hour, serve chilled