BUBUR CHACHA

To many

this is definitely not their cup of tea

because it is sweet and 

also, with the amount coconut milk used

but

it is mine

I usually get my share of this sweet dessert

when Ah Cheng,

my good helper in the office

and 

like a daughter near me

will come with a pot of home-cooked Bubur Chacha

to share in the office

If you have a sweet tooth like me

you can try out this recipe

It is a matter of preparing all ingredients ready 

&

putting them together.

Simple?

Bubur Chacha

150g sweet potato, cut into cubes or wedges, steamed

150g yam, cut into cubes or wedges, steamed

60g black eye beans, soaked overnight & boiled in pressure cooker

1 Tbsp small sago

4 cups water

3 pandan leaves, knotted

1/3 cup coconut milk

sugar to taste

1) bring to a boil, previously boiled black eye beans including the water.
    Reduce the amount of water added, accordingly.

2) add pandan leaves & sago

4) when sago turns clear, stir in cooked yam & sweet potato 

5) add sugar to taste

6) lastly, add coconut milk & switch off fire when it starts to boil

7) can serve hot or cold

Notes (to add colour to the dessert)
1. I have steamed some purple sweet potato, mashed & mixed with some
    glutinous rice flour to make into balls. Pre-cooked in water & added
    to the bubur chacha. 
2.  A mixture of different types of sweet potatoes makes the dessert 
     colourful.
3. If you are in the mood of adding more colours, try making balls or shapes
    using tapioca flour kneaded with juice from pandan leaves or blue pea 
    flowers.

JIAZI CHINESE DUMPLINGS

Jiazi

Are dumplings that are loved by many Chinese

There are more than 20 varieties 

sold in a Beijing Jiazi shop

They are named

according to the fillings 

wrapped inside these little floured pastry

As such there is no fixed filling.

You can add anything and everything to it

and call it your very own creation

Like it?

Jiazi skin or pastry 

113g plain flour

113g high protein flour

113g water

1) Stir water into the flour mixture

2) use fingers to bring the dough together

3) knead to form a soft dough, should be soft & elastic

4) leave aside for 10min to relax, or leave in fridge for up to 24 hours

Filling:

180g ground pork

220g finely chopped cabbage

4cm length carrots, chopped finely

2cm length old ginger, chopped finely

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

2 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp corn starch

1/2 egg white

Method:

1) stir together all ingredients until combined, leave in fridge
2) roll out dough & cut into required size

3) can pinch dough into small pieces before rolling flat, if prefer

4) wrap filling & seal edge by pinching

5) make folds, 2 on each side
6) leave on floured tray
7) if not cooking same day, can freeze the jiazi.


There are various ways of cooking these Jiazi:

Pan fried
better known as 'pot sticker' in Cantonese

Method:
1) heat  some oil in a non-stick pan
2) arrange jiazi base down on the heated pan
3) when base of these jiazi turn brown as shown in the picture below
4) pour 1/2 cup water into the pan, cover & let cook until water dries up
5) overturn the pan onto a serving plate
6) serve hot
7) dipping sauce: thinly sliced young ginger in Chinese vinegar
     

Boiled

the easiest method

1) heat up a pot of water, add some oil, to give some gloss to jiazi

2) put in the jiazi, one by one

3) they are cooked when they float to the surface

4) remove & serve with garlic oil & diluted soya sauce

Cook in Soup

commonly known as 'koon tong kou'

in Dim sum restaurants:
If this is what you like,

1) make a soup base e.g. chicken broth

2) cook jiazi in boiling water with a little oil until float

3) remove & put into the hot soup
4) serve hot

MATCHA PANNA COTTA

90ml milk
150g cream
40g sugar
1.5 tsp gelatin sprinkle in 30ml water, let stand 5min
1.5 tsp matcha powder dissolve in 30ml milk

1) In a saucepan, bring milk, cream & sugar to a light boil
2) stir in gelatine mixture & matcha milk mixture, stir until dissolve
3) strain mixture & divide into moulds, let cool
4) chill for 4 hours until set

FOOCHOW TOFU SOUP (khor ta au)

If you come to Sitiawan
A Foochow dominant town
You will surely come across this famous 

FOOCHOW TA WU THOONG 
豆腐湯 This is just
a simple tofu soup
cook in Sitiawan Foochow way

 If you order tofu soup in Sitiawan Restaurant

you will most probably be asked:

which one?

Ta wu thoong or khor ta au?

Although they have the same ingredients

like oyster, shrimps, pork & vegetables

the difference is

The soup of Ta Wu thoong is watery

while

The soup of khor ta au is thick

If you have tasted both

you will surely like the khor ta au 

shown here

Ta wu thoong 

with its clear and watery soup

Do you like to try cooking the khor ta au?

1 box soft tafu, cut into small pieces

some shrimps

cut slices of lean pork

vegetables & spring onions

soup base (either from ikan bilis, chicken soup)

some cut shallots

1 Tbsp cooking oil

1.5 Tbsp. corn flour mixed with 2 Tbsp water

1) heat oil in a small pot

2) add shallots & fry till fragrant

3) add sliced pork, shrimp and fry together

4) add soup & tofu, let boil
5) add vegetables, pepper & salt to taste
6) slowly pour in the corn flour mixture, adjusting the thickness of soup
7) serve hot

FOOCHOW MEAT SOUP or huat nuke thoon

I never like to eat meat
especially those pieces in the soup

The Foochow people 
found a special way to cook their meat
to make it tender and nice

發肉湯
Huat Nuke Thoong in Foochow dialect

comes from

thoon = soup

nuke = meat

huat = tender

When combined:

is a soup dish with

pieces of glossy & tender meat with vegetables

Glossy because the meat pieces 

are covered with a layer of starch which make it so tender and nice

My grandmother from Sitiawan

likes to cook this dish herself because according to her it needs skill

(the secret is: she rubbed the starch into the marinated meat before cooking)

Look at this juicy, shinny piece of meat

which I have lifted up for you to see

My grandmother, a Foochow from China

liked to cook this soup with chinese cabbage (long type)

but I prefer choy sim

it depends on your liking

To prepare this soup, you will need:

vegetable of your choice

lean meat, cut into thin slices, marinate with pepper & salt

soup base (either chicken, pork or even ikan bilis)

tapioca flour or corn flour

1) rub flour into the marinated meat, make sure it really goes into the meat 

2) heat up soup base & cook the vegetables

    (if using chinese cabbage, you will need to cook the veg. until soft)

3) bring the soup to a rolling boil

4) put the meat pieces, one by one into the boiling soup

5) when the meat floats, it is cooked. So you can safely turn off the heat

6) serve hot

SESAME PANCAKES

I am sure Jin Doi is known among the Chinese Community

Jin Doi are deep fried sesame balls

wrapped in red bean paste

or groundnuts

As sesame glutinous balls are deep fried

 I have found a good way of presenting it,

PAN FRIED & no oil at all!

It is indeed a healthy version!

Interested?

Just follow the simple steps below

which I adapted the recipe from rumblingtummy23

You will need: (for 8pcs)

100g sweet potato, steamed

1 tsp oil

1 Tbsp sugar

90g glutinous rice flour

2 Tbsp rice flour

50g water (to adjust accordingly)

Filling:

red bean paste (15g each)

1) mash sweet potato while hot

2) add oil, sugar & mix well

3) add rice flour & half of glutinous rice flour & blend together

4) add remaining glutinous rice flour & adjust with water 

5) knead to form a dough

6) divide dough into 8 portions

7) wrap filling & form into a ball and then flatten

8) heat up a non-stick frying pan

9) fry pancakes until golden brown

10) serve hot

DURIAN MINI MUFFIN

Looking at these little muffins

you can very well say that there is nothing special by the look

but

you will soon realize

the durian fragrant emerging from these little muffins!

This is a durian season

and moreover, this time durian is in abundance.

When things are in abundance

they tend to be cheap

I have adapted this recipe from Ann's Mini Durian Muffins

250g durian flesh (blended with 1 Tbsp sugar)

160g self raising flour, sifted

1 large egg

70g castor sugar

80g vegetable oil

100g milk

1) preheat oven to 190'C 

2) whisk egg, add sugar & continue beating

3) add oil & milk, stir to combine

4) pour liquid into sifted flour and briefly mix (batter should be lumpy)

5) scoop batter to fill 1/2 muffin cup

6) add 1 tsp durian puree on top of the batter

7)  cover durian puree with 2 tsp batter

8) bake in preheated oven for 25min

BRAISED FISH BELLY WITH YAM

Yam is well loved by many, especially the

Foochow people

I remember when I was in Fuzhou 

I saw the yam there as big as my head, some even bigger!

They said,

yam takes one whole year to grow to that size!

So,

yam can be expensive at times.

The various dishes prepared by the Foochow people in China 
with yam includes;

1) sweet yam paste dessert

2) yam paste stuffed in sweet glutinous rice bowls

3) fried yam rings/flowers

4) braised yam

5) yam noodles

To prepare braised fish belly yam you will need the following ingredients:

200g fish belly (from big fish), sliced into big pieces

200g yam, cut into thick pieces

1/2" ginger, smashed

salt, pepper, oyster sauce & soya sauce to taste

1) deep fry fish & yam pieces (half cooked)

2) fry ginger in some oil until fragrant

3) add fish pieces & yam

4) add water and cook until boiling

5) add seasoning according to own liking

6) it is ready when gravy becomes slightly thicken

7) garnish with some cut spring onions & serve

FOOCHOW RED WINE PIG'S TROTTER

Red Wine is found in every Foochow home
It is used in daily cooking
as well as
in Celebration and Festive Dishes

紅酒豬腳
Red wine Pig's Trotter

are large pieces of Pig's Trotter

in thick Red Wine Gravy

I could remember during my childhood years

this was a favourite Dish served during Weddings and Birthday feasts

cooked by the Foochow people

in many of the villages in Sitiawan,
like Simpang Tiga, 
Simpang Dua, 
Ayer Tawar 
and Kampong Koh, Perak

It was served in such a big portion that

guests would usually come with their own tiffin carriers

to take home the left over

pig's trotter

Ingredients:

1/2 pig's trotter
1 Tbsp red rice wine residue
1 pc ginger, smashed
2 pc dried cuttle fish
salt and sugar to taste

Method:
1) wash the chopped pig's trotter
2) add ginger and dried cuttle fish
3) cook over medium heat until meat pieces shrink
4) add red wine residue and fry until fragrant
5) add water and cook in medium heat until soft
6) add salt and sugar to taste


Note:
Very often, radish is added to this dish

Do you know that if you have any left overs

you can present it this way?

Just cook this mee sua in boiling water

and add the hot Pig's Trotter soup!

SOYA SAUCE PORK

Ethan: Mama, remember you cooked for me the black pork?
Mama: Yes?
Ethan: Can you please cook again?
Mama: Why? Mummy knows how to cook already.
Ethan: No, she cooked not fat one! I like the fat fat one!
              

How many of us adults also like the fat meat?

I remember my father-in-law liked, 

my dad liked,

my husband likes, 

and now

my grandson likes too!

This dish is simple and easy to cook

but you need patience to simmer the meat to perfection.

Believe me, 

it is worth the trouble.

In Foochow, this dish is called 'Lu Nuke'

In Hokkien, 'Dau Yu Bak'
And 
In Penang, it is called Hong Bak

Basically
It is stew pork in dark soya sauce

Sometimes,
Hard boiled eggs are added during cooking
As such
You will have flavourful dark eggs

300gm pork belly
1 tsp dark soya sauce (more if you like darker)
3 tsp soya sauce
1 piece ginger 
1 tsp sugar
1 large bulb garlic
Salt & pepper to taste

1) cut pork belly into bite size chunks
2) marinate with the rest of the ingredients for an hour
3) cook over stove until pork pieces shrink
4) add water to cover 1/2 the level of meat
5) simmer until soft, add water if necessary
      (time taken, an hour or so)

Pork cut in chunks