Banana Fritters Cecodok Pisang 炸香蕉丸

This is a typical Malaysian comfort food and the dish itself brings back many childhood memories. 

Although lacking in appearance, it more than made up for it with its taste. These humble banana fritters are crispy on outside and soft inside. I especially like it with lots of banana flavour, just perfect with a cup of of good-old teh tarik.

The Malay word for this dish is also jemput-jemput pisang. This is because the batter is pinched (jemput) into the oil with your fingers and thumb. I have to admit these banana fritters are sinfully oily. My only advice is to put on the highest heat when you are about to take it out from the oil and use lots of kitchen towels afterwards. 

Pandan Swiss Roll (Cooked Dough Method) 班兰瑞士卷

If you have ever tried an original Pandan Swiss Roll, you will not be contented with just pandan essence. Nothing beats the natural taste and flavour of the pandan (also known as screwpine leaves). Primarily found in the South East Asia, the Pandan Swiss Roll is insanely popular with variations like Ondeh Ondeh Roll, and Pandan Kaya Roll. Today, I'm just introducing a simple Pandan Swiss Roll with fresh cream. Once you have the basic sponge mastered, you can easily adapt your filling.

Almond Biscotti 杏仁 脆饼

Biscotti, which basically means twice baked, had put me off for the longest time. I don't want to put in twice the effort to make a same recipe. The process involves first baking it whole and then slicing it thinly to be toasted in the oven. Whatever is initially daunting, however, became advantageous. I can now precook the batter and leave it in the freezer. I can slice the amount that is needed and toast it crispy whenever I want. I, therefore, have a fresh supply of biscotti whenever there is guest coming over or when the occasion arises. It is perfect dunked in your favourite cuppa or as a leisure afternoon snack. This is one snack that I do not have to hold myself out because it has more nutritional values and practically oil-less. So you can munch all you want. You might also want to double the recipe. It gets pretty addictive once the nibbling starts.

Almond Nestum Cookies/Nestum杏仁曲奇饼

Making cookies is one of the easiest in baking. And making these Almond Nestum Cookies is even easier. You don't even need a mixer or a food processor. The whole process is forgiving whereby you could shape the cookies into any shapes that you fancy and it does not burn easily. When I was making this cookie, immediately I thought of my Muslim counterparts who are fasting in this Ramadhan month. This is an ideal snack since it is so effortless to make. It also makes perfect gift.

Pumpkin Kaya Wholemeal Milk Bun 金瓜加椰全麦面包

Guess what I did to my yummy pumpkin kaya that I made yesterday? Yes, I paired it together with my Japanese milk bread recipe to make this Pumpkin Kaya Wholemeal Milk Bun. In line with the healthy nature of the pumpkin kaya, I braved myself to adapt my Japanese milk bread recipe to include wholemeal flour for a wholesome recipe. The experiment paid off handsomely. It was super delicious! A perfect combination. The bread remains soft and fluffy for two days because of the use of tangzhong method. Don't know about Day 3 though because we have already finished all the bread!

Curry Chicken Tart 咖喱鸡挞

I was flipping some old recipe books for inspiration when I came across this recipe on curry chicken tart. What I really liked about the recipe was the flaky pastry that involves combining a water dough and oil dough. Unlike western pastries, that is short and crumbly, this type of crust is flaky with many layers. This type of crust is used in many Chinese pastries like egg tarts and ham tan sou.

To make this flaky tart, an oil dough is first wrapped with the water dough. It is then worked like a puff pastry to get the nice layers. I didn't really get very distinct layers. Maybe I worked the dough too thin. I was, however, very satisfied with the taste and crunch.

Canned Tuna Fish Cakes 罐头金枪鱼肉饼

Today I was looking for a quickie, a shortcut for my dinner dish. Suddenly, I had an aha moment to use canned tuna. I know the thought of canned food is not appealing at all. Therefore, least I could do was to repackage it and give those poor tuna a facelift. And this facelift took just minutes.

Yam Cake/Taro Cake 芋头糕

Taro cake or yam cake? Well, in this part of the world, it is called yam cake. Don't be deceived by the name. It is not a cake per se. This cake is savoury with lots of yam and other ingredients such as mushroom, dried shrimp and five-spice powder. I guess most of my Asian peers would have known that already. There is a slight difference between the Hong Kong version and our Southeast Asian version though. Ours is normally eaten steamed while the former is pan-fried after steaming. The Hong Kong version also have Chinese sausage and dried scallops added to the dish.

Banana Flambe

About twenty odd years ago, I went for a short holiday in Germany. I stayed with my auntie who owned a quaint Chinese restaurant there. It was winter and the restaurant served this fried banana with ice-cream as dessert. To add on to that, the banana would be presented with liquor and set aflame in front to the customer. This banana flambe has etched itself in my mind ever since. I just love the theater, the drama that comes with the dish. It is really not a big deal but I think it serves up an excellent conversation point. It is really a genius way to elevate an otherwise common dish, both taste wise and presentation wise.

Gua Bao with Braised Pork Belly 割包

Gua Bao is a humble Taiwanese street food that has its origins from Fuzhou. It comprises a U-shaped bun sandwiching a piece of luscious pork belly. Traditionally it is topped with pickled vegetables, crushed peanuts and a sprinkle of greens. It is really just another convenient snack in Taiwan that sees lesser light than its other more popular peers like Shilin Fried Chicken, Pineapple Tart or Taiwanese Sausage. On the other hand, it is rather popular in America when chef David Chang adopted it and gave it a new lift in his famed restaurant, Momofuku. The fascination of a "Chinese hamburger" really caught on.

Crispy Fried Banana/Pisang Goreng 炸香蕉

Everybody knows how to fry a banana. But the ultimate test is to have your bananas crispy and the crispiness to last for hours. I have been experimenting quite a bit with different batter recipes but each time I was left wanting. The problem was always the durability of the crunch. Somehow it does not last as long as those I bought by the roadside. There are many batter recipes out there. Even fried bananas sellers have differing recipes. I personally love the Indonesian method whereby the pisang goreng is coated with another layer of "kremes" or crispy bits. After learning the traits from an actual fried banana seller, I finally managed to come out with a most crispy fried banana.

Lotus Leaf Bun 荷叶包

It has been a while since I last posted a recipe on bao or Chinese bun. Recently, my interest was pique with this Taiwanese Gua Bao which is basically a U-shaped bao whereby you put your filling in the middle just like Western sandwiches. In fact, is was also known as the Chinese sandwich/hamburger. Well, let's not excite you further with this delicious Chinese hamburger today (don't worry, I promise I will comeback to this in coming posts). We are just going to talk about a bun that has that U-shape and functions to sandwich decadent pork bellies and other wonderful fillings - the Lotus Leaf Bun.

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.

Braised Peanuts 卤花生

I have dinner gatherings in Chinese restaurants pretty often. Often, these restaurants would serve a meager plate of braised peanuts as a snack before dinner is served. And often, it gets polished off in no time. Maybe it is the hunger before dinner, maybe it is just plain delicious, but it seemed braised peanuts are one very well received snack.

Easy Shortbread Cookies 英式奶油酥

It is that time of the year again. Christmas and New Year is just approximately one and a half months away. Time flies and it flies pretty quickly, doesn't it? If you are making your own edible gifts, you ought to get busy already. Today we will kick off the festive season with an easy bake - Easy Shortbread Cookies. This traditional Scottish cookie is so simple to make yet the taste is utterly delish. I would strongly suggest shortbread cookies if you want an easy to make recipe but at the same time, adding a personal touch to your gift.

Traditionally, this cookie follows the 1 to 2 to 3 ratio, that is, one part of sugar to two parts of butter to three parts of flour. Because of its simplicity, you would get the original taste of its buttery salty sweetness. For a little bit of variation, you could replace 1/5 part of the flour with rice flour or cornstarch to give it a different texture. Besides that, you could also alternate between icing sugar or castor sugar. When you have such basic ingredients, it is essential that you get good quality ingredients so that the flavours come out authentic and strong. Yes, invest in a good (and expensive!) butter and try your best to get your hands on that pure vanilla extract if you could. You wouldn't regret the effort.

This is the basic recipe for shortbread cookies. Not my best work, but I have to concur it tastes bloody good. This easy shortbread cookies that could be transformed into multiple variations. It is akin to a white canvas waiting to be painted with colours and textures. Therefore, I suggest you make a big batch of this cookie to be divided into a few different recipes, saving you tons of work. The best thing is, you could pre-make these various cookie doughs and keep it frozen until the very last minute when you are about to give this away. Bake it then and you would get fresh mouth-watering buttery shortbreads immediately. Very handy if you have guests over. And if you are all too lazy to even warm the oven, just wrap it nicely to be given away as cookie dough present!

Shortbread Cookies 奶英式奶油酥

Adapted from Joy of Baking

Ingredients

260 g flour
225 g salted butter, room temperature
60 g castor sugar (original recipe uses icing sugar)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt


Cooking Instruction

1. Combine flour and salt and mix. Preheat oven to 150C.

2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and add in sugar. Whisk until butter turns pale and creamy in about two minutes, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl.

3. Beat in vanilla extract.

4. Using a spatula, stir in flour until well combined.

5. Pour mixture into a lined baking pan. Level with spatula, score lines for the rectangles and make indents using a fork. Bake at 150C for 20 to 25 minutes or until cookies are slightly browned at the edges.

6. Remove from oven and cut along the lines into rectangles while it is still warm. Serve plain or dipped in chocolate.





Also check out my previous year's Christmas Butter Cookies here:

Or my Fudgy Chocolate Crinkles here:

Crispy crepe 香脆薄饼

I was a bit hesitant whether to post this or not. I was trying to reciprocate my mother's favourite crispy crepe snack. Have you ever heard of Hot and Roll? I am not surprised if you have not because it is a locally grown franchise selling wraps using crepes, paratha, pita etc. The crispy crepe with savoury filling is my mom's favourite.