Chinese New Year Dinner: Yam Basket/Fatt Putt 佛钵 （盘满钵满）

Today my family is in for a treat. Because I am doing this post for Chinese New Year dinner, my family gets to enjoy this crispy melt-in-the-mouth yam basket pre-Chinese New Year dinner. Like any other food served during Chinese New Year, it has an auspicious meaning. The yam basket/fatt putt is filled to the brim signify an overflowing of fortune (phoon woon put woon 盘满钵满 in Cantonese).

The yam basket derives its name from the Buddhist alms bowl (fatt putt). It is no wonder the yam basket bears resemblance to this said bowl. This dish is originally created as a vegetarian dish with ingredients such as carrots, mushrooms, bell peppers, bamboo shoots and cashew nuts. Nowadays you could practically fill anything that you fancy inside.

A good yam basket is crispy on the outside at the same time fluffy inside. It must showcase the beautiful fluffy strands that encased the ring. Not an easy feat since fire control is essential here. If you have a thermometer, the temperature should be around 150C. But like most home cooks, we cook by feel. Here's the pointer to see if the oil temperature is right: drop a piece of the yam into the oil. If it disintegrates, the the oil is not hot enough. If it does not spread at all, the oil is too hot. Another challenge is to fry the yam basket whole. While the Chinese restaurants uses bamboo mat to hold the yam ring when putting in, we home cooks have to be creative. I used aluminium foil with cut holes.

I normally create my own recipes but for this scrumptious yam basket, I phoned my faraway hubby. He makes the perfect yam basket. Of course, the recipe comes in large quantity and I have to painstakingly reduce it and omit the msg for home cooking. I was pretty satisfied with the results and proceeded to take photographs. Upon showing my hubby the pictures, he said that the heat was too high when frying resulting in lesser fluffy strands. So I fried another mini yam ring to show all of you it is supposed to look. Gong Xi Fa Chai!

Chinese New Year Dinner: Yam Basket/Fatt Putt 佛钵 （盘满钵满 ）

Makes 2 medium yam basket

Ingredients

360 g yam, diced and steamed
180 g wheat starch (tang mein)
180 g chicken stock (original uses water)
90 g lard (pork oil) (click here to find out how to make your own lard)
90 g shortening
1/8 tsp five spice powder
1/4 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt (or to taste)
pepper

oil to fry
aluminium foil
stir-fry dish of your choice to be put inside the ring
meehoon (rice vermicelli)

Cooking Instruction

1. Steam yam for about 10 minutes until cooked. Meanwhile, boil chicken stock. Add chicken stock to wheat starch and stir with a fork until combined.

2. Mash steamed yam and add into wheat starch mixture while it is still hot. Combine well with fork. Be careful as the mixture is still hot.

3. Add in all the other ingredients and seasoning and work the mixture into a dough with your hands. The dough is ready when it doesn't stick to your hands. Make holes on the dough (apparently for it to cool faster) and put in the chiller for it to cool.

4. Remove dough and use the dough to make your desired ring on a piece of aluminium foil. Make some holes on the aluminium foil so that oil could circulate.

Not enough oil initially. I have to add until the whole ring is submerged

5. Heat oil. Test the oil with a piece of yam dough. If you see beautiful strands forming, the oil is ready. Gently put ring into the oil. The oil should totally immerse the ring. Deep-fry ring until golden and crispy. Increase heat when about to remove. Remove and drain.

6. Add meehoon into the hot oil. The meehoon should expand beautifully. Quickly remove from the hot oil and drain well.

7. Put meehoon on a plate and the fried yam basket on top. Then fill it up with your choice of stir-fry until the brim symbolising an overflowing of goods.


Notes:
1. Oil control is very important when frying this yam basket. Use clean oil for nicer looking yam basket.
2. The oil must totally immerse the yam ring, hence, a lot of oil is necessary. Find your desired pot/wok that is not too wide to save on oil, but at the same time allows you to remove the yam basket easily when cooked.
3. The basket and fried meehoon absorb a lot of liquid. Do prepare more gravy for your stir-fry if it is intended to be put into the basket.   





Would you like a wonderful desert to go with this dish for your Chinese New Year dinner?

Molten Lava Black Sesame Tang yuan

Pumpkin Tang Yuan

Chinese New Year Dinner: Five Spice Meat Roll/Ngoh Hiang/Lobak 五香滷肉

Often, this five spice meat roll would be called ngoh hiang (五香) or lobak (滷肉), the shortened Hokkien dialect for this dish. In the northern states of Malaysia, it is more popularly known as lobak whilst moving southwards, this immensely popular dish is known as ngoh hiang.

You could find this dish sold in many hawker stalls but traditionally, this dish is a staple during Chinese New Year dinner (reunion dinner) for the Hokkiens. Nowadays, it is also a staple for the non-Hokkiens' Chinese New Year dinner.

Stir-Fried Cuttlefish with Yam Beans/Jiu Hu Char 鱿鱼炒

I am not a Hokkien. I never know what jiu hu means until recently. So, for those who, like me, are pretty clueless, jiu hu basically means cuttlefish. And char is pretty explanatory since it is the same char as your char kuey teow (fried flat rice noodle).

Today it is all about stir-fried cuttlefish with yam beans (jicama in US), also known as jiu hu char, a dish common in the north peninsula Malaysia. Jiu hu char is commonly served during major Chinese festivals especially during Chinese New Year. This peranakan or Nyonya dish is surprisingly mild with the absence of the usual heavy use of herbs and spices synonymous with a peranakan dish. However, this simple dish is by no means bland. It draws flavour from the cuttlefish and pork belly adding the necessary depth and aroma to the dish.

Mini Sambal Prawn Roll 虾米卷

Mini Sambal Prawn Roll (or Shrimp Roll) is not difficult to make, just tiring.

This dish needs no introduction since it is a very popular Chinese New Year snack. It is crispy, spicy and pungent, typical of a Malaysian delicacy. The process is pretty easy but time-consuming. The skill here is to get it looking neat and pretty since the rolls are pretty dainty. Believe me, after a few dozens your hands would automatically protest.

As for the filling, the recipe I used was borrowed from my Sambal Udang Kering recipe. Only this time, I made it more dry and finer by reducing the water, oil and blending the dried shrimp finely. If you find it too tedious, you might want to consider getting a jar of the dried shrimp floss from your favourite joint. Exorbitant price as usual, but it saves you the hassle.

Chinese New Year Food: Mini Peanut Puffs/Kok Zai 油角仔

You could call this kok zai (角仔), yau kok (油角), or yau kok zai (油角仔). It all refers to the same thing, that is, a crunchy mini puff filled with sugar and crushed peanuts. This mini peanut puff is a popular Cantonese Chinese New Year snack. Like most CNY snacks, it has an auspicious representation. The crescent look represents the olden days money bag (nowadays wallet) and its puffiness indicates that your money bag is well filled. How great is that? In the olden days, the ladies in the family would sit together to make these mini peanut puffs (and other snacks) while giving them a perfect opportunity to catch up with one another.

Salted Egg Yolk Cookie with Curry Leaves 咖喱叶蛋黄酥饼

Nope. You wouldn't find curry taste in your cookies. But this is one darn good recipe.

Salted Egg Yolk Cookie seems to be the craze now. I am intrigued to say the least. Curiosity prompted me to try this phenomenon of mixing savoury with sweet. Well, I wouldn't be surprised at all with the outcome since the liu sha bao (Salted Egg Yolk Custard Bun) uses similar ingredients and has been a hit for the longest time.

There are many recipes for this salted egg yolk cookie available, each having their own uniqueness. I couldn't decide on which one to use. I did not want cookies that have too much milk powder taste. Neither do I want shortening, which is basically tasteless, in my cookies. In my opinion, salted egg yolk's perfect partner would be butter, just like in the liu sha bao. Therefore, I adapted from my own liu sha bao custard filling recipe. I saw from somewhere that adding curry leaves would add to the taste and I was all the more intrigued. So I divided my little batch of trial cookie and made one with curry leaves and the other without for comparison.

Almond and Seeds Crisps/Brittle

I have just finished baking my pineapple tarts and that left me with lots of egg whites. What should I do with it? There were a couple options but this Almond and Seeds Crisp seems to be the best pairing. Amongst all the wonderful yummy Chinese New Year Chinese snacks, this is the lesser evil. It is made of almond flakes, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds, all heavily loaded with vitamins and minerals. It is baked and not fried. And if that is not enough to convince you, it is awfully scrumptious in its mildly sweetened, aromatic and super crunchy combination. This is one snack that I am happy to be addicted to. And boy, was I addicted! I prided myself in having great self-restraint but when it comes to this snack, all reservations seem to go down the drain. I nibbled, and nibbled and nibbled...still nibbling as we speak.

Chinese New Year Cookie: Cheese Pineapple Tart 芝士黄梨酥

If I say pineapple tart is the best cookie in the world, who would agree with me? I am not trying to spark a controversy here but it really is that good. If you are still not convinced, ask any Malaysian about pineapple tarts (by the way, it doesn't resemble your normal tarts) and you will see that twinkle in their eyes while describing vehemently the deliciousness of this tangy melt-in-your-mouth piece of pastry. It is almost a national pride.

Pineapple tart is a local Chinese New Year cookie. This tart is quite popular in in the Southeast-Asia region and Indonesia, each having its own localised version. The buttery and crumbly pastry is paired with a tangy pineapple jam, a perfect match. Pineapple is called ong lai in Hokkien and this also has the same meaning as wealth arrive. Therefore, it is no surprise that this tart is a very popular item during Chinese New Year.

Almond Cookie Stick 杏仁饼干条

Chinese New Year is just one month away and I belief many of you must have already gotten yourselves busy. To kick start the Chinese New Year baking frenzy, I am introducing something slightly different this time. When you have so many similar recipes like pineapple tarts, love letters, and kuih loyang, you just have the urge to do something different that makes you stand out. I got this almond cookie stick idea from Awayofmind blog and marries this with the almond biscotti concept. The result is an elongated cookie instead of the usual round but without the need to double bake the cookie like an almond biscotti.

Sesame Balls/ Jin Dui 煎堆

For those of you who have not tasted one, you must think it is crispy from its puffy outlook. You are just half right. The outer layer is coated in sesame seeds which are crisped up by frying in hot oil. However, its uniqueness stemmed from its chewiness which is the main criterion for a good piece of sesame ball or jin dui. There should be a big hollow that is filled with fillings, traditionally red bean paste. Making jin dui is a pretty simple process. The technical part is to get the jin dui to be fried to perfection. It must not be oily, it must not lose its shape after it is cooled and it must not be burnt nor too pale.

No Bake Chocolate Corn Flakes Cookies Recipe 免烤巧克力玉米片曲奇

Making this recipe was inevitable. Cornflakes was selling at RM5.95 per jumbo box. That was like more than half the price cut. The cheapskate in me could not resist...and I bought quite a few boxes. Before you chide me for reckless spending, I have already planned to make these long ago. I am now conveniently posting this recipe as a Ramadhan special.

Tangerine Agar-agar 柑橘燕菜

With the Chinese New Year almost over, I am definitely looking at ways to dispose of the 8 odd boxes of tangerine that we have in our household. I experimented with this tangerine agar-agar recipe since it is the easiest.

Chinese New Year Reunion - Braised Mushrooms with Mixed Vegetables and Beans Gluten 东菇豆荕

These few days has been hectic! I apologize for the lack of attention to this blog. Initially, I planned to slot in a few recipes for Chinese New Year reunion dinner. However, it seems that the time is not on my side. Luckily, I am able to slot in at least one recipe before this reunion dinner. I promise I will do better next year.

Reunion dinner is normally associated with gluttony, well at least in my vocabulary. This year alone my mom has plans for braised duck, big prawns, spare ribs and fried dumplings. But no mention of vegetables. The emphasis is on meat. I couldn't fault her as in the olden days, you can only get these kind of feast during Chinese New Year reunion dinner. Nowadays, people are more well to do and these kind of food is, how shall I put it,  almost mundane. Therefore,  I am concentrating on my veggies instead.

Melt In Mouth Pineapple Tart - Valentine Edition

Oh my, I have been so busy cooking for Chinese New Year I have no time to concentrate on this special day we call St. Valentine's Day. I have been scratching my head on what is an appropriate gift to celebrate this day on such a short notice. Fortunately, something just struck me (and it is not the cupid's arrow. I am too old for that). I have the perfect Valentine gift - a special edition Valentine's Day pineapple tart. I am packaging my pineapple tart into lovely heart shaped cookies to represent Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year. How's that for killing two birds with one stone?

There is really no secret recipe here. All you have to do is use the same recipe for the pineapple tart. It is the moulding and packaging that changed. This post will give you a step-by-step guide to making your very own heart shaped pineapple tart. Hope you enjoy the process. Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day Melt In Mouth Pineapple Tart

Makes 42 pineapple tarts (depending on the size of the mould)

Ingredients

1 portion pastry (click here for recipe)
350 g pineapple jam (click here for recipe)
1 heart shaped mould
egg yolk for egg wash

Instruction

1. Get a reasonable sized heart-shaped mould that has a wall of about 1 cm. Fill the mould with dough. Weigh the dough to find out the quantity needed. Mine is about 20 grams, just the perfect size that I need. I allocated 9 grams of filling and 12 grams of pastry for each pineapple tart.

2. Roll the 12 grams of pastry into a ball. Flatten and put pineapple jam in the centre. Wrap dough around the pineapple jam. Make sure all the fillings are nicely wrapped up. Roll into a ball.

3. Gently fill the mould with dough. Press the dough a little to make sure all the sides are filled. Carefully remove the dough from mould.

4. Put moulded dough onto baking tray. Repeat until finish. Brush with eggwash.

5. Preheat oven at 170C. Bake for 20 mins turning the tray once or twice to get even browning.

6. Remove and cool completely before putting into boxes.

Note:
There are many ways you could decorate your heart-shaped pineapple tarts such as sparkles, imprints or even chocolate. I personally prefer my pineapple tarts original, hence, the plain eggwash.

Chinese New Year Cookies - Delicious Melt In Mouth Pineapple Tart 凤梨酥

What is Chinese New Year without pineapple tarts. It is a must have. Maybe it is because of the meaning behind these tarts. Pineapple in hokkien is "ong lai". The same slang also depicts wealth arriving. Yes, we Chinese are a funny lot. We like to use simple things or actions to signify prosperity. Another example would be "fatt gou" which basically means a leavened cake. At the same time, it also means high in prosperity or something of that sort. But please don't laugh. We Chinese take this seriously. It is a lucrative industry just by selling meaning.

Pineapple Jam/Pineapple Tart Filling 凤梨果酱

The day that has finally arrived for me to make pineapple tart. I have been making it for the past two years. Last year, I sold quite a number of jars. The orders kept coming in and I had to keep redoing my jam. I was truly spent. I vowed this year I am not making any. It was meant to be fun baking in the spirit of Chinese New Year.

I just broke my vow today. Somehow, Chinese New Year without pineapple tart is lacking something. It is like the numero uno thing to have during Chinese New Year. What is Chinese New Year without "ong lai"? Well, I know I asked for trouble but homemade ones are way better than those pineapple "flavoured" tarts outside. Homemade jam is flavourful and less sweet (I prefer less sugar) without the artificial pineapple flavouring that is evident in some jams. Your whole house would smell of the fragrance of pineapple when you are cooking the jam. Call it natural perfume. It just smells so good!

Chinese New Year Cookies - Almond Crisps/Almond Brittle 杏仁片脆饼

I always wonder why this is only sold during Chinese New Year. Surely the ingredients used here are available all year long. There is another type of almond crisp that uses florentine powder. Somehow I still prefer this simple recipe. It is more aromatic due to the egg whites used. Besides, florentine powder is not sellling cheap here. At RM22.50 per half kg pack, it sure makes simple egg white more than appealing!

Chinese New Year Snack - Cod Fish Seaweed Bundle 香烤紫菜鳕鱼丝

In the background is a fortune cat/prosperity cat 招财猫, used as a a feng sui ornament to bring fortune and luck to the owner

I am so glad I am moving on to baking. No more standing in front of the stove. Let's just say "free sauna" is not my idea of enjoyment. I am introducing you something very easy today. Yet it tasted marvelous. It is crunchy when bitten onto and it is flavourful. This snack is a relatively new creation that started a few years back. I made some for selling last year and boy, what a hit it was!

This bake is really a no-brainer. Fold, roll, and bake. As easy as 1..2..3. The good thing about this snack is that you do not need any oil at all! Hooray! There are many ways of doing this. Some stick the seaweed and fish snack together, some bundle it at the end, and some bundle it in the middle like I did. I find it more pleasing to the eyes and easier to store. I enjoy making this snack as I could bundle it while watching tv. Then I just chuck it into the oven and mission accomplished!

Cod Fish Seaweed Bundle

Ingredients

1 packet Cod fish strip
1 packet of nori seaweed
cooked starch/egg for gluing

Cooking Instructions

1. Cut nori sheet into 2 x 5 cm strip.

2. Take five pieces of cod fish strip. Fold the top and bottom part towards the middle. Make sure the ends are secured in the middle.

3. Take a piece of cut nori and wrap the middle, securing the ends. Wrap it as loose as possible to allow hot air into the middle when baking. This would give you a nice even crunch. Apply a little glue/egg at the tip to seal the seaweed. Repeat until finish.

4. Preheat oven at 160C and bake for 10-13 mins once oven is preheated.

5. Cool before storing in air tight jar.

Chinese New Year Snack - Arrowhead Chips/Ngaku Chips炸芽菇饼

Whenever you see these little round things sold in the supermarket, you know Chinese New Year is around the corner. Yes, I am talking about arrowheads or more fondly known amongst the Chinese as ngaku 芽菇. I always wonder why is it only available around this time of the year. Does it take a year to grow? These chips are so delicious somebody should commercialise and mass produce it like Pringles or Lay's. I bet these chips would give the famous, or rather infamous, potato chips a run for their money.

Chinese New Year Snacks - Crispy Seaweed Popiah Skin with Toasted Sesame

This is another easy-peasy Chinese New Year snack that you could whip up in no time. All you need is three, well maybe four, ingredients. Come Chinese New Year, there are always so many things to do. If you think that you need to absolutely whip up something homemade, do give this a try.  This Chinese New Year snack is crispy, healthy (compared to others) and most important of all, not time consuming.