Chinese Food Culture

September 29th, 2010 | Announcements | 12 Comments

(Pictures shot on the 7th day and 10th day)

My bundle of joy, baby G.

Name: Gareth Eason Goh
Chinese Name: 吳宇軒 “Eason�€
Date of Birth: September 19, 2010, 1ᚪ pm
Weight: 8 lbs. 06 oz.
Length: 20 inches

He is an angel.

Love the recipe? Share it with your community!

September 27th, 2010 | Eating Light, | 1 Comment

I have said it many times. I am constantly amazed by the many talented Malaysian bloggers living overseas. Thanks to Almost Bourdain, I recently discovered yet another beautiful blog authored by Steph, a Malaysian currently living in Sydney—Raspberri Cupcakes. As the name suggests, Raspberri Cupcakes is mostly about baking, cupcakes, and desserts, a department which I am pretty much useless. Please welcome Raspberri Cupcakes to Rasa Malaysia with the decadent Malaysian Banana Pancakes with Lemon Coconut Curd recipe.

After spending several years growing up in Malaysia, there are so many fabulous Malaysian dishes that I associate with happy childhood memories. These days as I am living in Sydney, and am always excited to go back to Malaysia on holiday, or have my Mum visit and cook to me my favourite Malaysian treats. As I am a complete sweet tooth, I thought I would share a Recipe of my Mum’s that I am incredibly fond of – Malaysian Banana Pancakes. Whenever we had overripe bananas in the house my Mum would mash them up and make these deliciously fragrant pancakes for breakfast. I would wait by the frying pan impatiently and eat them too quickly, burning my tongue. Theyâ��re very different to regular pancakes, small, a bit denser and a little oily thanks to the banana and coconut milk. They taste pretty great on their own, but my Mum used to serve them with fresh lemon slices and golden syrup. It was definitely one of my favourite breakfasts. The leftover pancakes were always warmed up in the microwave for a delicious afternoon snackâ��

Since I always like to put a fun twist in all of my recipes, I decided to replace the fresh lemon slices with an indulgent sauce – Lemon & Coconut Curd. This sauce is amazing; it’s smooth and creamy and the flavour matches the banana pancakes so perfectly. The tangy flavour of lemon is the first thing to hit your tongue, but you’re left with the beautiful, creamy aftertaste of coconut. I couldn’t resist serving it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream as well. As soon as I tasted these banana pancakes, I was transported right back to my Mum’s kitchen in KL. It’s packed full of rich banana flavour, with lovely crisp brown edges. If you wish you can serve the pancakes traditionally without the lemon coconut curd, but I think the sauce adds a little something special. Any leftover curd can be stored in the fridge for a few days and served with vanilla ice cream, or spread on toast.

A huge thanks to Bee for letting me share this recipe with all of you, I hope you get the chance to try these pancakes and enjoy them!

I do eat vegetables as well as other foods. I really do. I just don’t post them that considerably on this blog (which I intend to change soon) due to the fact seafood dishes are a great deal more photogenic than, say, tofu, beans, turnip, chicken with skin and bones. I am partial to seafood, but I also adore my greens, poultry/pork, eggs, soy products, and other foodstuff. 1 vegetable dish that I merely cannot do with out in my cooking repertoire is really a signature Malaysian dish referred to as kangkung belacan or stir-fried water spinach/morning glory with shrimp paste, even though it means that I have a stinky house! The key ingredient is none other than belacan, the Malaysian variety of shrimp paste. (Shrimp paste is an important flavoring medium in Southeast Asian cooking.) Strong, pungent, yet aromatic at the same time, the pairing of belacan with vegetables is probably one particular of your most fascinating stir-frying strategies for greens. The taste is bold, exquisite, and never boring…

For today’s creation, I employed yam leaf/sweet potato leaf (蕃薯叶), which functions as well as drinking water spinach. While it might seem or appear simple, ideal execution is not simple. Wok hei (the breath with the wok) and timing are exceedingly critical; a tiny too much wok hei or a tad as well long in the wok can render the dish a complete failure, for instance: burned belacan that tastes bitter or overcooked vegetables that appear purple-ish in color.

Whilst I appreciate this recipe, I must warn you that it’s an acquired taste, specifically for an American palate. Even so, it’s well worth a try because you most likely cannot locate an additional vegetable dish as intriguing or delicious as this one particular! Other signature Malaysian recipes may be discovered here.

Recipe: STIR-FRIED YAM LEAF (SWEET POTATO LEAF) WITH BELACAN (SHRIMP PASTE)

INGREDIENTS:

one box of yam leaf (approximately .8 lb)

1 tablespoon of belacan/shrimp paste

2 red bird’s eye chilies or one normal red chili (remove seeds and thinly cut)

three tablespoons cooking oil

three cloves garlic (finely chopped)

1 tablespoon roasted chili paste

one tablespoon dried shrimp

A few dashes fish sauce

ROASTED CHILI PASTE:

A handful of dried chilies

2 tablespoon of cooking oil

Drinking water

Technique:

Grind the dried chilies and cooking oil in a blender. Create a tiny drinking water whilst blending.

Heat the wok, pour some cooking oil and stir-fry the chili paste for about 3 minutes. Put aside.

Soak the dried shrimp in warm water forಊ minutes, then coarsely pound them utilizing mortar and pestle. Put aside.

Cut the stems in the yam leaf. Maintain only the tender part with the stems. Rinse with cold h2o and then set aside.

Fire up the wok to HIGH heat and increase the cooking oil. Wait till smoke comes out from the wok then create inside the chopped garlic. Do a quick stir, add inside the belacan, dried shrimp, and roasted chili paste and continue stirring. As quickly as you smell the pungent aroma of belacan, toss in the yam leaf. Stir continuously until the leaves started to wilt. Include in a couple of dashes of fish sauce, proceed stirring (make certain the colour of the vegetable remains green)!! Dish up and serve hot.

COOK’S NOTES:

In the US, sweet potato leaf (蕃薯叶) is marketed as yam leaf.

In the event you use water spinach, the recipe functions the same.

Dried shrimps need to complement the belacan as opposed to competing with it, so you don’t need to use too significantly of them.

Please meet Piggy at Piggy’s Cooking Journal–a stunning meals blog that I completely adore and continuously drool more than. A fellow Malaysian–from my hometown Penang–Piggy cooks, bakes, and writes about Asian food and other great eats. Please welcome her as a guest writer on Rasa Malaysia with the following serving of sweet and sour fish. Yum!

Sweet and Sour Fish

Guest Writer: Piggy’s Cooking Journal

Most of my friends don’t cook as they locate that cooking is really a chore rather than an activity they’d appreciate. They are constantly bewildered that I am willing to put in a great deal of effort to cook, even when I’m dining alone at household.

Contrary to what these pals may believe, I normally do not spend extended tedious hours in the kitchen. I do, occasionally, whip up some complicated dishes but that may not be something I’d like to do everyday. Just like the others, I do have those moments when I just don’t feel like doing anything at all.

But no matter how unwilling I am to cook, I still have to eat, especially following eating comparable dishes for various days. That’s when I turn to my piles of cookbooks and look for the straightforward yet satisfying recipes to try out. Over time, I have gathered very a extended list of recipes that I would take out from time to time when I need to have a yummy property cooked meal inside the shortest time…(get the sweet and sour fish recipe right after the jump)

Over the weekend, I’ve just added one far more such Recipe to my list of “simple and satisfying” dishes. The sweet and sour fish only took me less than 45 minutes, from wok to tummy, including cleaning up the dishes and oh, that also included the various minutes of photo taking at leisurely pace. This sweet and sour fish dish is that easy and yet it left me gastronomically satisfied. Uncover it difficult to believe? Well, give the following sweet and sour fish recipe a try then!

1 of my preferred locations to consume is Taipei. Taipei jogs my memory of my hometown Penang, mostly because of a comparable spoken dialect and also the fiercely celebrated road foods culture. Stroll down the many little alleys and bustling night time markets in Taipei, you are sure to find many excellent eats inside a city that is obsessed with foods.

Salt and pepper hen is usually a Taiwanese dish that I appreciate. (Another one is three-cup hen.) Known as 盐酥鸡 in Chinese, salt and pepper rooster are generally fried chicken marinated with five-spice powder and served with fried basil leaves. If you’ve been to Taipei and its several colorful night markets, you cannot miss salt and pepper chicken. They are sometimes sold by cellular vendors selling different fried meals and snacks. I don’t have the luxurious to travel to Taipei all of the time, so I rely on my salt and pepper rooster recipe every time I sense like having a fast bite within the afternoon…(get Taiwanese salt and pepper rooster Recipe immediately after the jump)

The essence of salt and pepper hen lies inside the generous use of five-spice powder. Please take be aware that the five-spice powder utilized in Taiwanese salt and pepper rooster is various from the standard five-spice powder you might be accustomed to. In truth, it is labeled as “炸盐酥鸡粉” or “fried salt and pepper rooster powder” and it’s produced in Taiwan. You will get it at Asian stores, but not all of them carry it however.

I adore soups of all kinds, especially Chinese soups. On the Chinese, soups are hugely nourishing as every single ingredient from the soup delivers a particular health (and attractiveness) benefit and promotes total strengths to the entire body. Drinking soup is an enormous part of the Chinese meals culture, soup is typically thought to be as “tonic” (補品)!!!

You will find limitless variations of soups in Chinese cuisine as a great number of elements could possibly be used—Chinese herbal (medicinal), meat-based (chicken, pork, beef, duck, bones, and so forth.), vegetables (refreshing and dried), dried seafood (dried scallops, abalone, oysters, and so on.), clean seafood, the exotics (bird’s nest, shark’s fin, and many others.), along with the combination of all the elements above. The prospects are endless, and most importantly, delicious, wholesome, nutritious, and undoubtedly significantly more than the standard egg drop soup and hot and sour soup…

Among the simplest soups that I constantly make in your own home is ginger and clam soup, or 姜丝蛤蜊汤. This soup is particularly well-liked for that Taiwanese, and served at Taiwanese restaurants. It requires only a couple of ingredients and virtually 15 minutes to prepare, however the finish outcome is definitely pleasing. In accordance with my Chinese language soups cookbook, ginger and clam soup is good for that liver and stimulates a nutritious appetite.

September 13th, 2010 | 30-Minute Meals recipes, Chinese, Chinese Recipes | 4 Comments

I love soups of all sorts, especially Chinese soups. To the Chinese, soups are highly nourishing as each ingredient in the soup delivers a certain health (and beauty) benefit and promotes overall strengths to the body. Drinking soup is a huge part of the Chinese food culture, soup is often considered as “tonic” (補品).

There are endless variations of soups in Chinese cuisine as so many ingredients could be used—Chinese herbal (medicinal), meat-based (chicken, pork, beef, duck, bones, etc.), vegetables (fresh and dried), dried seafood (dried scallops, abalone, oysters, etc.), fresh seafood, the exotics (bird’s nest, shark’s fin, etc.), and the combination of all the ingredients above. The possibilities are endless, and most importantly, delicious, wholesome, healthy, and certainly much more than the regular egg drop soup and hot and sour soupâ€�

One of the easiest soups that I always make at home is ginger and clam soup, or ��丝蛤蜊汤. This soup is especially popular for the Taiwanese, and served at Taiwanese restaurants. It takes only a few ingredients and practically 15 minutes to prepare, but the end result is absolutely pleasing. According to my Chinese soups cookbook, ginger and clam soup is great for the liver and stimulates a healthy appetite.

Contributor: Ho Siew Loon

I would like to thank my mother-in-law, a refined Nyonya cook for sharing this recipe with me. It truly is a quite traditional way of generating spiral curry puffs. As a standard cook, her cooking is usually based on estimation and final weekend, I have managed to have the Recipe and the measurement down. The crispiness from the skin blended together with all the spicy chicken curry and potatoes is just ideal for a relaxing afternoon tea…(get curry puff recipe after the jump)

Curry puff can be a extremely well-liked Asian snack specially in Malaysia and Singapore. It really is really comparable for the western puff or pies except that for this curry puff, it is deep fried to give the crispiness. The skill in this popular snack lies inside creating of your pores and skin. But once you may have mastered it, this well-known snack will undoubtedly be a hit at your parties.

SPIRAL CURRY PUFF RECIPE

Ingredients:

FILLING Components

1kg hen meat, diced

1kg potatoes, diced

500g onions, diced

4-5 curry leaves

2-3 Tbsp curry powder

15 dried chillies

eight shallots

125ml h2o

Salt to style

Sugar to style

5 Tbsp oil

PASTRY Ingredients:

H2o DOUGH

900g flour

1.5tsp salt

335g h2o

OIL DOUGH

340g butter

20g Ghee (optional)

730g flour

System:

FILLING

Soak dried chillies in hot water for 5 minute. Rinse and blend collectively with shallots till fine. Mix in curry powder.

Warmth oil in wok and saute chilly paste and curry leaves till fragrant.

Include in diced rooster, potatoes. Fry for three mins on medium fire. Add in onions and normal water. Simmer forŅ mins or until eventually pretty much dry.

Eliminate to cool.

DOUGH

Normal water DOUGH

Mixed salt to water to produce salt drinking water.

Include salt standard water to flour gradually and slowly knead to kind a good white dough.

Divide into portions of 85 gram each. Roll right into a ball.

Leave aside.

OIL DOUGH

Include butter and ghee to flour and knead to style a dough.

Divide into 70 grams portion every single.

To generate SPIRAL Pores and skin

Flatten the drinking water dough and wrap the oil dough inside. Pinch the edges to seal it nicely.

Let dough rest for ten mins.

Utilizing a rolling pin, roll out dough to form a rectangle of 20 x 11 cm. Working on the shorter finish, slowly and gradually roll up tightly right into a swiss roll.

Roll from the shorter finish of your swiss roll to flatten dough. Little by little roll up from the shorter aspect to kind a swiss roll.

Let dough rest for 10 to 15 minutes.

Repeat the process right up until you completed aided by the relaxation of your dough.

Cut dough into four pieces.

TO FILL AND Shape PUFF

Roll a piece of your cut dough into a circle with rolling pin.

Put 1 Tbsp of filling from the centre.

Brush the edge with normal water and fold into 50 percent. Press the sting together and seal it. This may give you a half moon form.

Pinch the sting with the puff together with your thumb. Bring the back aspect forward and seal it together with the front. Repeat the method. You ought to be in a position to get about 8-9 pleats.

Warmth oil in wok or deep fryer. Oil ought to be quite sizzling prior to putting from the puff and sufficient to cover on the puff.

Deep fry the puff on medium heat till golden brown.

Contributor: Ho Siew Loon

Welcome back to our Bao series! We shall commence the sequence with our ever green Kaya Bao. Bao or steamed buns are common among the Chinese communities and is normally eaten throughout breakfast or as a snack at any time of the day and it goes really well having a cup of coffee…

Bao looks easy to make but in actual fact it is just not an effortless job to obtain the soft texture. I’ve tried quite a few recipes and have finally settled down to this recipe and has remained a favourite. It’s a lovely snack where you are able to wrap it up with your favored filling like kaya, red bean pasted, meat numerous a lot of a lot more.

KAYA BAO

Ingredients

500g low protein flour or Bao flour

9g Instant yeast

2tsp double action baking powder

ጤg fine sugar

230 ml water / Pandan juice (Blend 6 pandan leaves with water) plus 1 tsp vinegar

50g shortening

Strategy

For making DOUGH:

Mix all elements together and knead till it truly is smooth and elastic. Cover using a damp cloth and leave dough aside to rest for 15-20 minutes.

TO WRAP BAO:

Scoop Kaya filling with a small ice cream scoop or 1/2 Tbsp to produce balls.

Divide dough into 50g every.

Flatten dough and wrap the filling.

Let it relaxation for 40 minutes or till Bao is double in size.

Steam Bao for 15 minutes.

Waterless Cookware may possibly be one of your best-kept secrets for cooks. It really is also known as “water-less” or “vapor” cooking. The concept is to prepare dinner meals using their own moisture and not add additional normal water or fat when cooking. Waterless cookware is specially produced with several layers of steel to evenly distribute warmth and retain a lot more moisture. Simply because there is no added normal water, food retain additional of their vitamins and minerals which are cooked out of foods during cooking with normal water. Foods also tastes and looks much better because it retains a lot more from the natural flavor and color.

Waterless cookware is made from a stainless steel outer shell. Inside this shell are numerous layers of metals bonded together with the main metal being aluminum. Stainless metal is resistant to erosion from chemicals, elements, and normal wear and tear. Even though aluminum heats rapidly, it breaks down quickly and can leach into foods. Placing the aluminum between the stainless steel layers prevents leaching although allowing the warmth to transfer for fast and even cooking. The stainless metal does not heat as rapidly, however it does retain warmth for a longer period once it does get hot. The aluminum encased inside stainless steel means the aluminum will heat easily, though the stainless steel will retain the heat. This gives you the benefits of both with out the negative aspects of either metal.

The design of waterless cookware also assists it cook dinner foods better than regular pots and pans. When the pan starts heating up, moisture rises to the lid and drips down towards the top lip in the pan. This creates a seal to keep moisture trapped within the pan. Waterless kitchenware lids are a lot heavier than traditional kitchenware lids, which offers the vital weight to develop and maintain a excellent seal. Some lids have a valve to generate a whistle when the temperature has reached a certain point. This valve isn’t on all lids, and isn’t needed to effectively cook with waterless kitchenware.

Waterless kitchenware is much more costly than classic cooking equipment, even so the top quality justifies the price. Waterless kitchenware inside United States need to adhere to strict rules and regulations for high top quality and safety. This sort of pan will allow meals to prepare dinner a lot faster at a lower temperature which reduces the quantity of power needed to prepare dinner. It cooks food in their very own juices, so foods tastes better. Since you do not add any drinking water, all vitamins and minerals are retained so meals are healthier than when making use of other cookware. The higher cost is offset by a lower quantity of power, less time to cook dinner, and healthier meals.

Not only do you not need extra drinking water to prepare dinner, but you also don’t require excess oil, fat, or butter. This helps you cook much healthier, due to the fact cooking in fats adds a lot of calories and cholesterol. Vegetables contain a lot of water, so cooking them in normal water makes the nutritional vitamins and minerals to seep out. The nutrients then stay within the h2o when you dump it in the sink. With cookware, you food is more healthy and tastes superior with out added fats.

Waterless kitchenware is an investment, but it can be an investment inside your health. You will preserve more nutrients in your foods while reducing unnecessary fats and oils. Meals will look greater and taste superior with waterless kitchenware. Stainless metal and aluminum cookware both have advantages and disadvantages, but combing them in this distinctive way provides you the benefits of both without any of the disadvantages.