Monday, January 31, 2011

Ondeh Ondeh

Heard of Ondeh Ondeh?

It is a Malaysian dessert! 


It is made out of glutinous rice flour, palm sugar, pandan and coconut.

When you take a bite of it, a burst of rich palm sugar spills into your mouth.


So here's a recipe inspired by Poh's - Sticky Marbles from Masterchef. 
I had to make a few adjustments from the original recipe. Below is what I've done.

All you need are:
1 cup of Glutinous Rice Flour
A few drops of Pandan Essence (you can get it from the Asian Mart)
A bowl Desiccated Coconut (to roll the Ondeh Ondeh)
About 1/4 cup of Palm Sugar (Indonesian version)
100ml of Coconut Milk

All you need to do:
1. Mix the flour with the coconut milk. Transfer to a lightly floured surface.
2. Knead it into a smooth soft dough, add the Pandan essence. Knead till incorporated.

3. Cover with glad wrap until you need to use it - otherwise it'll dry out.

4. Shave and roll the palm sugar into small balls.
5. Pinch a little of the soft dough, roll into a ball and flatten it up so that you can put the palm sugar in it.

6. Seal and roll back into a ball. Set aside.

7. Boil hot water in a pot. 

Throw in the balls into the water to cook.

When it floats to the surface of the water, it is ready to be removed.

8. Remove the balls, just drain it for 3-5 seconds, transfer it to the bowl of desiccated coconut. 

9. Roll around to cover the balls.

10. Put on a kitchen towel to absorb the moisture.

11. Eat when it is completely cool. 

Consumed within the same day. If you put it in the fridge, it might harden.

Enjoy! :)

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Chinese New Year Tong Sui

So Chinese New Year is around the corner! It is in 3 days time! Have you thought about what to make for dessert yet? I'm not sure whether this is served on Chinese New Year, but it is definitely one of my favourite.

How about some Tong Sui? If you're wondering what's "Tong Sui", it is a Chinese sweet soup where it is served as a dessert after a Chinese meal.

I used to have this growing up in my home town. And sadly, it isn't easy to find it anywhere, at least not the good ones.

So here, you can make it at home.

Sweet Peanut Tong Sui
  (adapted from Nyonya Food)


All you need are:
12oz peanuts (skinless)
Rock Sugar (to taste) - you can get them from the Asian Mart
8 cups of water (for Option A)

All you need to do:
There are 2 ways you can make this. If you have a pressure cooker, use Option A and if you don't, use Option B (this is what I did, as I don't).


Option A - with Pressure Cooker
1. Soak the peanuts overnight, make sure all is in the water.
2. The next day, rinse thoroughly.
3. Transfer to pressure cooker, add water (depending on your pressure cooker, you might want to add or reduce the amount of water accordingly). Cook for 15 minutes on high heat.
4. Then cook for another 30-40 minutes on low to medium heat.
5. Turn off heat, let it cool till you can remove the lid. 
6. Heat it up again with low to medium heat and add rock sugar to taste. 
7. Boil it until the peanuts are thoroughly soft.
8. Serve it hot/warm.

Option B - with Normal Pot

1. Soak the peanuts overnight, make sure all is in the water.

2. The next day, rinse thoroughly.

3. Transfer to a pot, add water and a ceramic spoon (old saying, to help the peanuts soften).

4. Cook for 6 hours on medium heat, with lid slightly opened. Do make sure to keep an eye on the water level. As you would have to continuously add hot boiling water as the water level goes down. 

5. When your peanuts are thoroughly soft, add rock sugar and boil for another 5-10 minutes until all the sugar are dissolved (break in smaller pieces, makes it easier to dissolve).

6. Serve it hot/warm.

Enjoy! :)

Saturday, January 29, 2011

How to make smooth Icing?

A friend of mine shared this tip with me. And I would like to share it with you.

When you're making a yummy icing top for your delicious cupcakes, do you find that most recipes ask you to beat well till it is smooth?

And find that it is still grainy even after beating for 30 minutes?! 

Don't worry, I've got a solution for you and it's definitely a keeper!



Here's how to solve this. 

Just add a drop or two of hot water into the icing mixture and mix. If you find that it's still a little grainy, just add another drop at a time.

Don't need to do the crazy mix action. Just stir it in.

And you're good to start pipping!

Enjoy! :)

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Chaos Cafe @ Neutral Bay

Are you looking for a new cafe to explore?? 
I've got just the right place for you!
Have you heard of Chaos? They are based in Neutral Bay! Omg, such a cool cafe! Vibrant deco, Friendly staff and Quality Food served in Huge Portions!

I myself frequent this place pretty often. One of my favourite places!

Beware: You might over-eat if you're a small eater! :)
MUST TRY: Iced Chocolate and Iced Mocha served with ice-cream! YUM!

Look no further. Below are some photos for you to drool on! 

 Menu that can be viewed outside of the cafe.

 Hot Chocolate served with Mashy-mallow.

Affogatto.

 Iced Mocha served with Ice Cream!

 Iced Chocolate with Ice Cream!

Chaos Omelette with 3 different fillings served with toast of your choice.

Bacon & Eggs served with toast of your choice.

 Eggs on Toast (I couldn't help but write "Chaos" on my plate with tomato sauce).

Carbonara Pasta (Sorry couldn't remember the name, but just look at their "Specials" board).
 Chaos Chicken Salad (Also served in Wrap style).

 Chaos Nachos (Also served in Burritos style).

Chaos Brekky Wrap (I took Smoked Salmon, YUM!).
 Chaos Breakky Wrap (Bacon).

 Corn Fritters.

Margarita Sandwic.

Some other photos of Chaos!
 

 Look at the cute artsy seats!

Chaos from Outside (It is quite a small place).

 Your bill comes with Jelly Beans! Cool isn't it?!

 If you're wanting to eat breakfast there, go earlier! It usually gets pretty busy around 11am and the place is usually packed! If you don't mind having a late brunch, go around 2pm, it's definitely less busy!

I hope you've enjoyed this post of Chaos, definitely a MUST TRY place if you haven't!

(Opposite Woolworths)
194 Military Road
Neutral Bay 2089
(02) 9953 8625
Opens: 8am - 5pm 

Enjoy! :)


Monday, January 17, 2011

Know where to get the best prices for your Kitchenware!

Do you usually compare prices online for your kitchenware items?

I do and I would love to share with you a few sites that I use all the time.

Ships only within Australia. 



Peter's of Kensington 
Online & Retail
Based in Kensington, Sydney.
2 options: Online (Delivery / Pick up) or Go to the store directly to purchase.
There is a delivery fee, please check Shipping Rates .
Delivery takes about 3-10 working days.

Victoria Basement
Online & Retail
Based in 5 locations - Castle Hill, Queen Victoria Building, Artarmon, Auburn(HQ) and Alexandria, Sydney.
2 options: Online (Delivery) or Go to the store directly to purchase.
There is a delivery fee according to location, please check Shipping Rates .
Delivery takes about 7-14 working days.

KitchenWareDirect
Online
Based in Perth.
1 option: Online (Delivery) only
Free delivery on all orders over $100. Flat rate shipping fee $10 on orders below $100.
Delivery takes about 5-10 working days.

Everten
Online
Based in Mt Kuringai, NSW
2 options: Online (Delivery / Pick up - by appointment only)
Flat rate shipping fee of $6.90.
Delivery takes about 3-10 working days.

I've personally bought from Peter's of Kensington, Victoria Basement and KitchenWareDirect before. I've got friends who buy from Everten too.

So far, Peter's of Kensington is the cheapest based on the items I've looked for.

KitchenWareDirect has a "Limited Time Offer", this is usually when the product is new - Introductory Prices.

Hope this helps. Happy Shopping!


Enjoy! :)http://www.victoriasbasement.com.au/

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Chinese New Year Melt in your mouth Peanut Cookies

Here's a secret recipe that I would love to share with you all. This recipe has been requested. So here it is, thanks to my sifu (master) aunty Jess.

These cookies are the ones that you get during the Chinese New Year period...but...even better because these ones MELTS IN YOUR MOUTH! :)


I should have taken a step by step picture, but I forgot, next time okay. But here's a picture of my peanut cookies which I have packed for Chinese New Year!

All you need are: 
500 gm peanuts  ( toast and grind till fine )
400 gm plain flour
120 gm icing sugar
1 tsp salt
275 - 300 ml corn oil or peanut oil

All you need to do:
1. Pre-heat oven at 180 degrees.
2. Sift flour, icing sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl.
3. Mix in the grinded peanuts and mix it evenly.
4. Make a well in the center of the ingredients and pour in the corn oil.
5. Mix well to form a soft dough, and make small balls. (size of a marble)
6. Bake for about 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy! :)

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Croissant Bread Pudding

Thanks to Joy the Baker, I was inspired to make my own Croissant Bread Pudding. You can also try using Hot Cross Buns too.

Therefore, I am going to bring breakfast to the office for everyone tomorrow. :)

This recipe feeds about 6 people.

All you need are:
3 eggs
2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 bananas
2 large croissants
50g butter, softened

1) Pre-heat oven to 175 degrees.

2) Butter croissants and tear big chunks of it and just scatter it randomly in your dish.  (Big chunks because the croissant will absorb the pudding mixture and it might become a little to soggy if the pieces are too small.)
3) Slice bananas and scatter it randomly in between the croissant pieces.

4) Warm milk and sugar until all sugar is dissolved.

5) Whisk eggs in a bowl.

6) Slowly pour the warm milk mixture into the eggs, whisk continuously so that the warm milk doesn't cook the egg mixture.

7) Add vanilla extract into egg mixture, stir.
8) Pour egg mixture into your croissant and banana dish.
(if you like some crispy bits, do not soak all the croissants)
ooops...got overly excited until I forgot to take a picture of it before I put it in the oven..

9) Bake for 30-40 minutes.

10) When done, sprinkle (2 tsp sugar mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon) over your pudding. Let it cool down a little before serving.

Print this recipe!



Enjoy! :)