Simple, Gorgeous (Oven-roasted Pumpkin & Pang Da Hai Tongshui)

Simple, gorgeous oven-roasted pumpkin,

Recipe in "Comments"

and simple, gorgeous Pang Da Hai Tongshui with honey dates and longans.


Simple to make; taste-wise, gorgeous. How could I not love them?

Seeking refuge from the HOT weather (Boiled Sea Coconut Dessert & Pandan Jewels)

It was such a hot day yesterday. Badly needed something to cool down the body. Would be perfect if served along with some desserts as well.

Pandan Jewels (recipe from the most recent edition of Famous Cuisine magazine)

Soft and chewy translucent dumpling skin stuffed with sweetened ground peanuts, toasted sesame seeds and dessicated coconut, wrapped with pandan leaves for the added aroma. Recipe posted in "Comments".

And the much needed remedy for a hot afternoon,

Boiled Sea Coconut with Longans, Red Dates and White Fungus
Recipe link

Now, I can say "Ahh...."

Busy Saturday (various)

I was so free this afternoon. No gym classes to go and no other appointments. Naturally, I did what I like to do best, that is making stuff in the kitchen.

Here's what I churned out:

Cheat Chinese "Lo Bak Kou" aka Steamed Radish Savoury Cake (Chinese Bread Pudding Cake)
Cheat as in the dough is made entirely from day-old white bread soaked in slightly salted water. Tasted quite like it as well except that I think I over-steamed it a bit and the texture was a bit too hard for my liking.


Also boiled some Walnut Cream Sweet Soup (tongshui). Recipe is by Betty Saw in one of her Kitchen Recipes book but it was not similar to those really thick and creamy type found in Hong Kong. But still decent though.

Recipe:
About 1 full cup of whole walnuts (or about 125g)
1/2 can of evaporated milk
400 ml water
1/2 cup sugar (or to taste)
1. Blanch walnuts in boiling water. Strain and let dry. Then roast them in the oven till golden brown.
2. Add walnuts and water into the blender and puree till fine. If you want a smooth mixture, strain it. I prefer mine with un-strained.
3. Put puree and evaporated milk into saucepan. Bring to boil. Then simmer for 1-2 minutes before adding sugar to taste.
4. Stir till sugar dissolve and bring to boil again. You may want to stir it constantly.
5. Simmer for another minute. Serve warm.

The night before, I marinated some guava slices. Original recipe can be found here. (FAVOURITE RECIPE). These are seriously good. I can't stop snacking on them. Highly recommended! Well, at least they are healthy snacks.

Eastern Delights: Marble Greenbean Jelly, Kuih Talam & Redbean Cream Soup

In the mood to make Nyonya-style desserts today:

First on the list, Marble Green Bean Jelly. I didn't do the marbling effect well enough. Otherwise, it is a very cooling and refreshing dessert.


Next, Kuih Talam. Recipe found on Kitchen Capers (see side link) courtesy of Gina. Before this, I have a conception that Nyonya kuihs are very tedious to make. But Gina's recipe is very easy to follow. I would say definitely not bad for a first try although I would definitely use coconut cream for the top layer as suggested instead of coconut milk for a richer and better taste of the coconut layer.


Last but not least, Red Bean Cream Tongshui. I wanted to make a cream style where all the beans were already mashed and blended. It was like how I intended it to be when I put it back into the Thermal Pot to keep warm but when I had it later in the afternoon, it was quite watery. Hmmm... I suspected my mom added water to the mixture as that's how she would normally cooked red beans - the usual watery style (as seen below).

Eastern Delights: Black Sesame Sweet Soup & Red Bean Nian Gao

I am a fan of Chinese Tongshui (sweet soup) too. Black Sesame Paste (Hak Zi Ma Wu) is another classic tongshui, just not so common in KL. I usually have my fix in Hong Kong.
Anyway, I recently found a simple and easy recipe for it so I gave it a try.

Verdict: Passable but no where as good as those found in Hong Kong. Still worth a try though. Recipe below.

Then, I discovered another gem of a recipe. Red Bean Nian Gao (Glutinous Rice Cake). I know Chinese New Year was way over but who says that there must always be an occasion for everything? Definitely not so, in my books.
The uniqueness of this recipe is that it is quick, fast and baked (instead of the usual labourous steaming method).

Verdict: Ultra yummi-licious! Especially when just baked. The outer layer is very crispy (as if it was pan-fried) and fragrant while the inside remains soft and chewy (but not sticky chewy). Would definitely be making this again. Maybe I will substitute with Lotus Paste next time.

Black Sesame Paste Tongshui (Hak Zi Ma Wu) Recipe
(Apx 4 bowls)
- 100g dry-roasted black sesame (I toast it in the oven till fragrant)
- 750ml milk/water
- 1/2 sugar (adjust according to your taste)
- Thickening: Corn Starch/Potato Starch mixed in a little bit of water

1. Put the black sesame and milk/water in a blender. Pulse until paste-like.
2. Transfer to a pot and add sugar.
3. Cook over low/med fire. Stir at all times.
4. When it starts to simmer, add thickening until it reaches the consistency that you prefer.
5. Serve hot.
* Be careful when watching the fire to ensure that the tongsui remains liquidy paste-like at all times.

Desserts Round-Up

Rounding up the stuff that I baked/made for the past week or two.


Sweet Peanut Cream Soup (Fa Sang Wu)


Green Tea Ice-cream (Matcha Ice-cream)


Orange & Poppy Seed Cake


Pandan Chiffon Cake housed in a cute cake server, courtesy of a sweet friend.
ps: Thanks for the present, sweetie.


Buns: "Pai Pau" & Black Sesame Red Bean Bun

Let's Feast on Pumpkins!

Halloween and Thanksgiving may be over but one does not need a particular festival to feast on pumpkins.
I bought a 1kg pumpkin today with the intention to experiment with making Pumpkin Paste tong shui (sweet consomme). Then I realised that I only needed 500g of it so that means I was left with another 500g.
A quick ponder, and I decided to make a Pumpkin Bread with half of the leftover and Chilled Pumpkin Jelly with the other half.
Luckily, I love pumpkins and so do most of the adults at home. Otherwise, the above trio would be an over-kill for us. :)

Pumpkin Paste Tong Shui (Recipe here)

Chilled Pumpkin Jelly


Based on this recipe for Sweet Potato Bread, I improvised and made:

Pumpkin Bread from the bread machine. (Improvised recipe here)

Let's Get Healthy (Tau Suan)

I have been overly indulging in too much rich food lately. To spare myself any further guilt trip, I decided to go healthy this weekend by making not-so-sinful stuff.

So today, it's just plain but good ol' Tau Suan tongshui (Split Mung Beans Sweet Soup). To be honest, I only had my first taste of this tongshui early this year. Although my mom cooks a variety of chinese tongshui, for some reason she had never made this before. Well, I guess I will be the first person to cook this tongshui for my family.

Being a fan of almost all non-coconut milk based tongshui, naturally I love this too. Best served with sliced crispy yau char kwai (chinese crullers) like in the picture below.

I followed Jas' recipe here. The only change I made was to add 2 pieces of dried mandarin peels to the soup. However, I find it slightly too sweet for my liking so I would reduce the rock sugar by about 20g to 30g next time.