I was not a fan of pretzel before until I tasted the soft pretzel selling in the Malls. I was then hooked on this soft pretzel. Whenever I was shopping at the Malls, I always got attracted by the delicious looking large soft pretzels. With the sweet tooth that I have, I prefer the sweet pretzel. I don't know, we Asian seem to prefer sweet bread instead of salty. However, pretzel is not cheap, at almost $3 a piece, it needs some consideration on my part. Am I willing to spend that much for a pretzel? I guess occasional treat would do. But fear not, soft pretzel is not that hard to do and I can easily made a bunch for less than $3. I made mine in salty version because I thought it would be better for freezing. I didn't proof mine long enough as they were harder than my first attempt.
Adapted from Sugarlaws.Ingredients: (Yield 1 dozen, small size pretzels)(A)
2 tsp. active dry yeast
pinch of sugar
2/3 cup + 1 Tbsp. warm water
(B)
2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. oil
(C)
3 Tbsp. baking soda
1 cup hot water
(D)
1. Sea salt + garlic powder/sesame seeds
2. Maple syrup/honey + cinnamon powder
Method:
1. Put (A) in a bowl, stir well and let stand 10 minutes, until creamy colored. In another bowl, add in (B), stir-well. Add in (A) mixture and knead until a dough is formed.
2. Transfer the dough in a greased bowl, cover with cling wrap and let it rest until double in size. Time needed depends on the temperature in your kitchen.
3. Preheat oven to 425'F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
4. When the dough has double in size. Cut it into half, divide into 6 balls. Take one ball and roll it into a long strand. Set aside. Repeat with the rest of the dough and continue with the other half of the dough. After all 12 long strands are rolled out, take the first one and stretch it out again and twist it into a pretzel shape (like pictures shown) and place on the parchment paper. Repeat and finish the rest.
5. Mix (C) together until baking soda is dissolved (I had a hard time making the baking soda dissolved, never completely dissolved for me). Dip each pretzel into the mixture and place it back on the parchment paper. Sprinkle the top with (D) 1 for salty soft pretzel or (D) 2 for sweet soft pretzel (brush on maple syrup/honey). Or for plain pretzel, just sprinkle with sea salt.
6. Bake for 8 minutes or until golden brown. Or freeze leftover for later, just microwave for about 50 seconds to reheat it.
Pretzel from my 1st attempt, nicely proofed and very soft.
My girls and I loved wakame while my husband won't touch it. He doesn't like the texture and taste of wakame at all. Oh well, more for us. :) Wakame is the edible seaweed that mostly consume by Japanese and Korean. It usually sold as dried seaweed and need to be constituted in cold water before cooking. It will expand when soak and need to cut into smaller pieces before cooking. It is green color, slightly chewy, slippery texture and taste of ocean (to me). It is very good for health, rich source of omega 3 fatty acids and has high level of calcium, iodine, thiamine and niacin. Traditionally and to this day, Koreans eat seaweed soup on their birthday. Sharing my easy way of preparing this miso seaweed soup.
Ingredients:1000 ml water
Small block of soft tofu, cubed
1/2 cup of Wakame (dried seaweed), soften in cold water (it will expand a lot)
1 scallion, chopped (optional)
3 Tbsp. red miso paste
1 tsp. chicken stock granules
Method:
1. In a saucepan, add in water and let it boil. When boiling, turn the heat to low and add miso paste. Stir until miso paste dissolved.
2. Add soft tofu and seaweed. Let it simmer for 5 minutes. Turn the heat off and add the chicken stock granules. Stir to dissolved. Do a taste test, season accordingly.
3. Serve in a bowl and sprinkle some chopped scallion to top.
Deep-fried food, hardly anyone can resist. Deep-fried beancurd rolls with seaweed, give me anytime! I finally bought some frozen beancurd sheet at my last visit to the Asian market and I was so eager to try this out. Of course my homemade version was not as pretty as I made the rolls too long. So, when I tried to roll the seaweed around, I noticed that it looked weird with just one seaweed wrapped around it, so I wrapped two seaweeds, one on each end with the thought that I could cut it in half and made a better presentation. And thus tada! This beancurd sheet is actually the vegetarian version of the pork fat sheet that we used to make "5 spice meat roll" (五香肉).
You can serve it with Thai sweet chili sauce, Maggi chili sauce or Japanese mayo.
Before deep-frying.
Ingredients:(A)Ground chicken from 1 skinless chicken breast (can process it in a food processor)
Minced shrimps from 8 large shrimps
4 Chinese dried mushroom, soften and diced
1/2 carrot, diced
1 scallion, chopped
A little ginger, chopped
Salt, to taste
Sugar, to taste
1/2 Tbsp. rice wine
1 tsp. sesame oil
Dash of white pepper
(B)
Frozen beancurd sheet, defrost, use as needed (about 3/4 sheet)
Japanese sushi seaweed sheet, use as needed (about 2 sheets)
Before cutting in half, notice that the roll with expand during deep-frying and made it tighter.
Method:
1. In a bowl, mix (A) together and stir until it bind together. Let it marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
2. Take the defrosted beancurd sheet, cut into rectangle shape pieces. Set aside. Prepare a bowl of water.
3. Dip one piece of cut beancurd sheet into the bowl of water until soften. Take it out and place some filling in the middle, roll it up and seal it. Finish the rest.
4. Take a piece of seaweed sheet, use a scissor and cut into 1 cm length. Prepare some cornstarch water as glue (1 Tbsp. cornstarch + 1 Tbsp. water). Roll the seaweed on the beancurd roll and seal the end with the cornstarch water glue. Finish the rest.
5. Heat a wok with medium heat hot oil. Test with a wooden chopstick, when bubbles, it's ready. Drop 4-6 beancurd rolls into the hot oil, deep-fry until golden brown and the filling is cooked. Can take one and cut into half to make sure it's cooked inside. Finish the rest.
6. Drain on paper towel. Cut it into half to serve. Or if you make the smaller one, just serve it whole. Serve warm with condiment of your choice!
Another simple and healthy home cook dish from me. I would buy cabbage if I did not go to the Asian supermarket to get my vegetable for the week as cabbage has a long fridge life. With cabbage on hand, just add some colors and some tofu and oyster sauce, a delicious and healthy meal awaits you. You can't go wrong with oyster sauce, so stock up on Lee Kum Kee's oyster sauce for easy Chinese stir-fry. I don't like other brands so I always stick to my trusted LKK brand for my oyster sauce. Look for it when you shop at your local Asian supermarket next time.Ingredients:Regular tofu, cut
Cabbage, cut
Carrot, cut
Green bell pepper, cut
Garlic, chopped
Oyster sauce to tasteMethod:
1. In a heated wok, add in some cooking oil. When hot, add in garlic, fry until fragrant but not burn. Add in cabbage, carrot and bell pepper. Stir-fry well.
2. Add in oyster sauce and a little water. Mix well. Add in tofu and fry to mix well. Serve hot!
I created this dish by accident one night. I had a block of silken tofu for dinner but had no idea how to cook it. I looked through my pantry and saw a canned of creamy corns and thought why not? It should pair well together as we loved the creamy chicken corn soup with tofu. And I was right, this dish was so easy to put together and guarantee deliciousness. Smashed the silken tofu and served the rice with lots of creamy corn sauce. You can have this dish along and be satisfied. If you don't have the chicken stock granules, you can substitute it with a little sugar. Try this dish on one of your lazy nights, hey it's healthy too.Ingredients:1 canned of creamy corns
1 pack of soft tofu or silken tofu, sliced in half diagonally
2 scallion, chopped
Salt to taste
Chicken stock granules to taste
1/2 cup water
Method:
1. In a heated wok, add in 1/2 cup of water and one canned of creamy corns. Stir to mix well and let it boil. When boiling, add in the salt and chicken stock granules. Mix well.
2. Then, slowly slide in the silken tofu. Scoop the creamy corn sauce on top and heat up the tofu. Let it boil for few minutes or until the tofu is hot. Turn off the heat and add in the scallion. Serve on a big plate.
We came to know this dish when we came to America. Frankly, we were curious at first to see Singapore Fried Vermicelli (星州炒米粉) in the Americanized Chinese restaurant's menu. We were like what they know about Singapore vermicelli? So, we ordered the vermicelli and gave it a try. As you guest, it was not a noodle we had before in Malaysia or Singapore (10+ years ago). It was a vermicelli fried with curry powder and they called it Singapore style fried vermicelli. But today, I guess it's pretty wide spread, so I am curious, have you seen people in Malaysia or Singapore cooking this curry powder packed vermicelli these days? This Singapore vermicelli is very common in an Americanized Chinese restaurants today, not only that even the authentic Chinese restaurants cook this dish. For this dish, it is best to cook with the yellow Indian curry powder, not the Malaysian Baba's red curry powder. Since I only have the Baba's curry powder, I used that and the fragrant was not as great as the Indian yellow curry powder that they used here.
Ingredients: (My home cook version)1/2 packet of vermicelli, soften in warm water, drain
Some fish balls, sliced
1 chicken breast, sliced
Some broccoli, cut
1 small carrot, julienne
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
Sauce:
Oyster sauce
Salt
Sugar
Red curry powder (Use Indian yellow curry powder if you have)
Method:
1. In a heated wok, add some oil. When hot, add in garlic and chicken breast. Stir-fry until cooked, add broccoli, carrot and fish balls. Stir-fry well.
2. Add the sauce ingredients and a little water. Mix well and add the vermicelli. Stir-fry well and season to taste. Fry until dry and dish out to serve.
(You can add any kind of vegetable you have at home and any meat you prefer)
I'm sharing this noodle with Presto Pasta Nights, an event created by Ruth from Once Upon a Feast.
This week host is Heather,
do go and check out Girlichef delicious round up on Friday, Oct 23rd!
I made this spice chicken as a side dish for my nasi lemak (fragrant coconut rice). Because my girls couldn't take the ikan bilis sambal (too spicy for them), so I had to come out with a side dish that they can eat with their nasi lemak. I also saved some fried ikan bilis (anchovy) for them. So, my girls version were hard boiled egg, cucumber slices, spice chicken, crispy anchovies and roasted peanuts. They loved the fragrant coconut rice so I wanted them to be able to enjoy this dish too.
Ingredients: (Estimated recipe)2 chicken breast, sliced(A)2 tsp. turmeric powder
2 tsp. cumin powder
1/2 tsp. fennel seeds powder
1/2 tsp. lemon grass powder
1 tsp. coriander powder
Salt to taste
1 to 2 tsp. sugar
Oil ( You can add 1 Tbsp. of oil to keep the chicken breast moist)
(B)
A few Kaffir lime leaves
Method:
1. In a bowl, marinate the chicken slices with (A) for few hours.
2. In a heated wok, add in some oil. Stir-fry the chicken for a minute, add in some Kaffir lime leaves, stir-fry until chicken is cooked. Dish out and serve.
As a Foodbuzz Tastemaker, I received two loaves of Nature's Pride breads to sample (100% Whole Wheat and 12 Grain). If you know me, I'm pretty health conscious and have been eating mostly 100% whole wheat bread for the past years. I was delighted to sample this Nature's Pride bread as it is the only 100% natural brand of bread available across the country (as they claimed). They are committed to baking the tastiest bread with wholesome and natural food choices such as no artificial flavors or colors, no high fructose corn syrup, no trans-fats, and no artificial preservatives. Sharing this bread with you with my mom's version of French Toasts. She added sugar into the eggs mixture and we ate it without any syrup, fruit puree, whipped cream or powder sugar. It is great as it is!
Ingredients:4 slices of Nature's Pride 100% whole wheat breads
3 large eggs
4 tsp. sugar
Dash of cinnamon powderMethod:1. In a large bowl, beat eggs, sugar and cinnamon powder together.
2. Heat the frying pan in medium heat, add some oil. Take one bread and coated both side with egg mixture. Slowly put it in the frying pan. Pan-fry both sides until golden brown. Drain on paper towel. Finish the rest of the bread. Serve warm.
Nasi Lemak or Fragrant Coconut Rice, a Malaysian favorite dish! I don't know anyone who doesn't like nasi lemak. I am a sucker for the banana leaf wrapped nasi lemak that used to sell for 50 cent a pack. Right now, I have no idea how much is it, $1? $1.50? One thing for sure, it was not that cheap anymore. The combination of coconut rice and the ikan bilis sambal (anchovies chili sauce) blended so well together, it is hard to stop at just a packet! And when it is wrapped in banana leaf, oh mine, the fragrant of the banana leaf with the coconut rice, it's explosive! So, if you are going to visit Malaysia, this is a must-try dish. Even now, when I go back to visit my parents, it's my must have breakfast.My girl friend back in college gave me the idea of adding pandan paste into the coconut rice. She made this dish for a cooking competition and won first place. So now, for variation I also added some pandan paste into my coconut rice. I served my nasi lemak with the usual ikan bilis sambal, roated peanuts, fresh cucumber, hard boiled egg and spice chicken (recipe coming up).
For the above nasi lemak, wash the rice, instead of water, use coconut milk, add a little salt, some black peppers and pandan paste. Cook in rice cooker.
When I was contacted to sample the POM new product, Iced Coffee, I was delighted and curious at the same time. Curious as in how would a coffee with POMx added in tasted like. POMx is a potent antioxidant rich extract from POM Wonderful pomegranates. This iced coffee is best suited for people who needed a coffee or caffeine boost everyday and yet wanted it to be healthier, like packed with antioxidants for example.
POMx Iced Coffee combined a potent antioxidant rich extract from pomegranates, Rainforest Alliance Certified shade-grown Arabica coffee beans, rBST growth hormone-free milk and organic cane sugar. It came in three wonderful flavors, Chocolate (fat-free), Cafe au Lait and Vanilla. It is either fat-free (yes 0% fat) or low-fat and preservative free.
Can you imagine your cup of morning coffee to deliver a "Healthy Buzz" of energy? With 650mg dose of polyphenol antioxidants from pomegranates (more potent than those found in red wine, green tea, grape and acai extracts) and 175mg of high caffeine-content for extreme energy boost. And it was made with premium, all-natural ingredients to give you a healthy buzz. The POMx Iced Coffee Chocolate is a deliciously rich coffee with chocolate flavor (what's best is it is fat-free). I couldn't taste the POMx at all which is a good thing. LOL! Evy even said it tasted a lot like the coffee at Starbuck. What best to kick start your day than with a glass of this powerful and antioxidant rich coffee?
We had a beef version of this dish in Denver authentic Chinese restaurant and loved it. The beef was tender and the eggs was smooth. Since I don't buy beef at home and trying to cut down on pork intake, I used chicken breast instead. I added milk in the eggs mixture to give it some milk fragrant.
Growing up in Asia, fresh milk is not in our diet at all. All we had were milk powder and we only consumed it when we were kids. Coming here in America, I noticed that people drink fresh milk all the times, not just for breakfast, but anytime they want. It was a culture shock at first. Even to these days, a lot of Asian can't get use to the taste of fresh milk. In China, in order to let the children or elders have some fresh milk, they used it in eggs or bakes or dessert. For example, instead of water that the recipe calls for, they used milk instead. It makes the food more nutritious and also added the fragrant of fresh milk (奶香). I thought that was brilliant!
Ingredients:1 skinless and boneless chicken breast, thinly sliced and marinate with rose wine, sesame oil, salt, pepper, sugar, garlic powder and cornstarch.
4 eggs, add some 2% milk (about 1/4 cup) and season with rice wine, salt, white pepper and chicken stock granules, beat well.
1 green chili, slicedMethod:1. In a heated wok, add in some oil and stir-fry the chicken slices until cooked, dish out and set aside.
2. In the same heated wok, add in more oil and turn the heat to medium. Add in the beaten eggs, keep stirring the eggs. When half cook, add in the chicken slices and green chili. Mix well and dish out to serve.
I saw this recipe on CCTV4 TV food program, "Everyday Food" and thought what an excellent idea! Thought I share it with my readers here, so we will have another way to serve our favorite dessert "Tang Yuan". As I mentioned earlier, in order to incorporate more diary into the Chinese families diet, they have used fresh milk in cooking and making dessert. Usually we used water to make glutinous rice balls but for your own family consumption, you now have the option to use fresh milk for extra nutrient, what an excellent idea right? Also, I never thought that I can add cocoa powder into making my glutinous rice balls too, we usually just use the different colorings. Can you tell, I really learned a lot from this episode. It looked too pretty not to try it out especially all of us adored "Tang Yuan". So, I gave it a go and really liked it, you can give it a try too!I want to wish my readers a "Happy Mid-Autumn/ Moon Cake Festival" too! Enjoy the mooncakes, food, full moon and good company!
Ingredients:
White dough: glutinous rice flour + milk
Brown dough: glutinous rice flour + cocoa powder + milk
Filling: Red bean paste, roll into ball shape
Syrup: Water + Gula Melaka (or brown sugar) or (1 cup water + 1 cup sugar + a drop of almond extract)Pictures Guide:
Lay the brown log shape dough side by side with the white log shape dough.
Twist them together.
Cut it into pieces.
Flatten each piece with a roller or hand and place red bean paste in the middle. Close it and make into ball shape.
Like this. Very pretty right? :-)Method:
1. In a bowl, add in white glutinous flour and a little milk at a time. Knead until a dough is formed. In another bowl, add in white glutinous flour + a little cocoa powder + milk (a little at a time) and knead until a dough is formed. At the meantime, also roll the red bean paste into balls for easy filling.
2. Roll each dough (white and brown) into a long log shape and intertwine both together. Cut into pieces. Take one, roll into flat circle and put filling inside, close it and roll into a ball shape. Finish the rest.
3. Bring a pot of water into a boil. When boiling, add the glutinous balls into the boiling water. When it floats to the top, dish out and place into individual bowl. Dissolve some Gula Melaka (or Chinese brown sugar) with a piece of ginger as Syrup for the tang yuan. Or just plain syrup with a drop of almond extract (optional) (1 cup water + 1 cup sugar + a drop of almond extract).
