Es Cendol

I was so happy when my mum sent me a cendol maker last year. I have never seen such a thing before. It looked cute and also weird. My cendol looked like green noodles since I put too much dough before pressing it. Well.. something to learn for a better looking cendol next time!

Es cendol is a popular Indonesian drink, served with coconut milk, palm sugar and green jelly (cendol). I added jackfruit in mine to give extra flavor. This drink is easy to prepare and the sweetness of palm sugar is very unique.

 Ingredients (5 serves):

• Coconut milk
• A pinch of salt
• Pandan leaves
• Hunkwe flour cap Boenga
• Rice Starch
• A drop of pandan paste
• A can of jackfruit
• Palm sugar
• Water

Preparations:

Prepare cendol: add 150 ml water and a small drop of pandan paste into a boiling pot. In another bowl, add 37.5 gr hunkwe flour, 12.5 gr rice starch (3:1 ratio) and 150 ml of water. Mix well. Add the flour mixture when the water starts to boil.

Mixed the flour mixture until it thickens. Turn off the heat.

Prepare a big bowl with cold water and ice cubes. Press the green dough using the cendol maker into the cold water. Cendol is now ready!

Prepare coconut milk: Add coconut milk, a pinch of salt and several pandan leaves into a small pot and bring to boil.

Prepare palm sugar: Cut palm sugar into small pieces and add a small amount of water. Keep stirring and bring them to boil. Run the boiled palm sugar through a strainer.

Prepare jackfruit: Open the jackfruit can and get rid off the syrup. Cut the jackfruit into long strips. Serve es cendol with some ice cubes or shaved ice. Here is my cendol station!

Lime Sorbet

We recently made this lime sorbet for our friend's birthday. It was very refreshing and easy to make. You will need lots of limes to yield 1 cup of lime juice. Squeezing limes could be challenging, especially with my little hands.

I got the recipe from Eating Cleveland with a slight adjustment for the sugar quantity. I thought mine turned up well, not too tangy and not too sweet.

 Ingredients:

• 1 tbs lime zest
• 1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1.5 cups sugar
• 2 cups water

Preparations:
Add sugar, water and a pinch of lime zest to a sauce pan.

Heat the sauce pan and keep stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. Turn the heat off and transfer to a big bowl.

Squeeze limes until they yield 1 cup.

Strain the juice into the big bowl (where the syrup is).

Add the remaining zest and chill for 2 hours in the fridge.

Pour the chilled lime syrup to ice cream maker and let it churn for 30-40 mins.

Transfer the sorbet to a container and put in the freezer for another 2-3 hours. Serve with a slice of lime and extra lime zest on top of the ice cream.

Mr. Fig Food Face

This food face was made after I bought some fresh figs for the first time. They are quite pricey ($15.99/kilo) but definitely worth to have some. Fresh figs are so sweet, juicy and the seed texture is  different compared to other fruits. Mr. Fig.... I wish I could plant you in my backyard :)

Tonkatsu (Deep Fried Pork Chop)

This is one of my mum's recipes that I brought along to my home here in Sydney. She often served Tonkatsu for dinner when I was young. I remember my dad put so much sauce on his pork chop while I refused to have any on mine. However, I love Tonkatsu sauce now and wouldn't cook this food without having the sauce sitting in the fridge. I believe that our taste buds could change their minds as we grow. Who knows I will be keen on eating raw oysters or sashimi in the future?!?

Ingredients (6 serves):

• 6 pork chops
• 1 bulb garlic (put into a juicer to make a garlic paste)
• 5 tbs soy sauce
• Korean bread crumbs
• 1/4 cabbage (cut very thinly)
• Tonkatsu sauce (Vegetable & Fruit sauce Bull-Dog brand)
• vegetable oil for deep frying

Preparations:

Tenderize each pork chop piece on chopping board.

Make the marinating sauce (garlic paste and soy sauce).

Apply marinating sauce into each pork chop using a spoon. Leave in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Apply bread crumbs generously to each pork chop.

Deep fry pork chop for approx. 5 mins each side or until it turns golden. Drain on paper towel to get rid off excess oil. Serve with cut cabbage and Tonkatsu sauce.

Agedashi (Deep Fried Tofu in Stock)

Another recipe from Taste of Japan by Masaki Ko that was tried recently. I honestly struggled with the timing of deep-frying tofu and ended up with a few of slightly tanned tofu cubes. It didn't really matter after all as everyone seemed to enjoy this entree. The presentation with red pepper and asparagus really made me feel like Christmas.

Thanks to the lady in Korean grocery shop downstairs for helping me to find an instant dashi stock. I brought my recipe book along to the store and funnily, forgot to bring my wallet. D'oh!! She gave me so many suggestions and choices. I followed what she thought was the best and the easiest way. In my opinion, this is what a high quality grocery store is supposed to be. The price is reasonable and they are willing to help us anytime.

 Ingredients (for 4 entrees):

• 1 pack firm tofu
• 4 asparagus spears (trimmed of tough stalk ends)
• a small piece of red pepper (cut into little cubes)
• cornflour for coating
• oil for deep frying

Sauce:

• 200 ml instant dashi ( I used 5 tbs concentrated dashi diluted in water to 1/3 cup)
• 1/4 cup mirin
• 1/4 soy sauce

Preparations:

Cut the asparagus into 3-4 cm pieces. Heat water in a small pot with a pinch of salt and oil. Boil asparagus for 2 minutes. Drain and wash with cold water.

Wrap tofu in a paper towel on a plate and cook in microwave for 1 minute to remove excess water.

Cut tofu into 12 cubes.

Slowly heat the oil for deep frying. Remove excess water in tofu using a paper towel.
Coat the tofu with cornflour.

Deep fry tofu until golden (7-10 mins) and it should expand once it is cooked. Drain well.

Boil the sauce, then simmer for 3 mins. Place 3 tofu cubes on each small plate and arrange asparagus. Sprinkle the red pepper cubes around tofu. Pour on the hot sauce. Ready to serve.

Wonton Noodle Soup

I made wonton noodle soup to celebrate Chinese New Year last weekend. It was a long process as I tend to make 80-100 wontons in one go and freeze them in small containers (10 wontons/pack). These supplies will be very useful during busy days when I don't have time to cook or not in the mood of cooking. I usually feel so exhausted after wrapping 80-100 wontons but it is worthwhile to do so.

People add different ingredients in their wontons. Mine has minced pork, prawn, shiitake mushroom, garlic, spring onions and coriander. This is my mum's version. Very simple and tasty!

Ingredients (for 80-100 wontons):

• 500 gr minced pork
• 500 gr prawns
• 15 dried shiitake mushrooms (soaked in water overnight)
• 5 cloves of garlic
• half bunch spring onions (cut thinly)
• half bunch coriander (cut thinly)
• 1 tsp salt
• 0.5 tsp white pepper
• 1tbs sesame oil
• 1 tbs tapioca starch
• 2 packs of wonton skins 

 Noodle soup (for 2 people):

• half pack of egg noodle
• 1 tsp hondashi powder
• 2 cups of water
• 5 tbs chicken stock
• salt and pepper (based on taste)

Preparations:
Peel and de-vein prawns. Wash and drain them. Cut into small segments (1 cm long).

 

Put garlic and shiitake mushrooms into food processor. Process until they are cut into small pieces.

Add all ingredients together (except wonton skins). Mix well.

  

Add 1 tsp of wonton filling in the centre of wonton skin. Wet with small amount of water along the edges and fold into a triangle. Wet two triangle corners and meet them together (as shown in the picture).

 

Boil egg noodle based on instructions given on packet. Serve noodle in the bowl and garnish with spring onion and coriander leaves.

 

Boil wonton for 7 mins with a small amount of oil added to it. Drain and wash with cold water quickly to prevent wonton sticking together.

 

Prepare the noodle soup. Add any green veggies once the soup is boiling. Finally, wonton noodle soup is now ready to serve!

Mixed Berry Tart

I am so glad that I finally baked this mixed berry tart. It has been in my 'to bake' list since last December. The recipe is from "Food Cures by Reader's Digest". This book was picked randomly when I was waiting for some friends in Kinokuniya. I love to stay in book stores for hours and go through some recipe books for new ideas. I also found that food photography is very entertaining.

When I saw the ingredients for this mixed berry tart, I was not sure about using wholemeal flour for the tart base. I think it is worth to try so I will know next time. Surprisingly, it is very nice and the 'wholemeal' taste is subtle. I agree with the recipe that it needs to be mixed with plain flour. If you want a healthy dessert, this is a perfect choice as berries are antioxidant-rich fruits that help fight diseases (click here for more information). It is guilt-free and most importantly, it is yummy!

Ingredients (for 8 tarts in 8 cm loose base tart pans):

• 1/4 cup (60 ml) ice-cold water
• 3 tbs low-fat plain yoghurt
• 150 g wholemeal plain flour
• 60g plain flour
• 1 tbs + 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 100 g margarine
• 600 g fresh or frozen mixed berries (such as blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries)
• 2 tbs corn flour
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• icing sugar (optional)

Preparations:

In a measuring cup, whisk together the water and yoghurt. Combine the wholemeal flour, plain flour, 1 tbs sugar and cinnamon in a food processor. Add the margarine and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the yoghurt mixture and process until the ingredients combine. Gather the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Shape the dough into 8 small balls. Roll out each on a lightly floured work surface to a 12 cm circle.  Line each of 8 loose base tart pans. Neaten excess pastry by cutting, as necessary.

Preheat oven to 180 deg C. In a bowl, combine the berries, cornflour, lemon juice and the remaining 1/3 cup sugar and toss gently. Divide the berry mixture evenly among tins.

Bake until the filling bubbles and the crust is brown, about 15-20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from the tins to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar (optional).