Nam Yee and Red Bean Dumplings/ Ham Chin Peng/ 油炸面包

Firstly, this is not my recipe, I couldn't possibly invent a Ham Chin Peng recipe.  I saw this recipe at my friend's house while reading her cookbooks' collection.  This recipe was from a cookbook called Pasar Malam Delights.  When I saw this recipe, I got to have it because it has my favorite Ham Chin Peng recipe which the book called Nam Yee and Red Bean Dumplings.  What got my attention was the easy one step method (no starter, no ingredient I couldn't recognize) and furthermore, I already have all the ingredients at home.  You know me, I don't attempt any difficult recipe, anything too complicated, too troublesome, I passed.  If you are like me, this is one recipe you should look at and try. 

The end result, crispy skin, soft fried bread, sweet red bean paste and Nam Yee smell in the bread.  Next time, I will try the savory version using this recipe, just replace the red bean paste with salt and five spice powder and wrap it differently (I liked the savory one more).  I have a little step-by-step pictures in my next page and tips/note.  Living abroad and everything have to make ourselves, this recipe is good enough for me.  The one we get at the Vietnamese bakery store in Denver is plain, unlike the ones in Malaysia.

Ready dough waiting to be deep-fried.  I made only 13 pieces.  I didn't bother to measure 30g each.

During deep-frying.  Remember to stretch the round dough wider before putting into the hot oil.  Peanut oil recommended.

Deep-fried until golden brown like above.

Note/Tips:  The dough will be sticky.  I floured my hands before shaping the dough and added in the filling.  Also remember to stretch the ready bread again before adding it into the hot oil to deep-fry.

I got the recipe from Pasar Malam Delights cookbook at a friend's house.

Ingredients:

300g  plain flour (or 2 cups)
1 Tbsp. baking powder
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp shortening (I used butter)
2 pieces nam yee
200ml water

Filling:
300g red bean paste (I used canned red bean paste)
divided into 15 portions
some white sesame seeds

Method:

1.  Sift flour and baking powder together into a mixing bowl.  Add in the remaining ingredients and knead into a smooth dough.  Cover with a piece of damp cloth or plastic sheet and rest for 30 mins.

2.  Divide dough into 15 portions (35g each) and wrap in filling.  Shape into ball, flatten it and rest for 15 mins.

3.  Brush a little water onto the dough and sprinkle a little sesame seeds on top.

4.  Heat up oil for deep-frying, deep-fry dumplings with medium heat until golden brown.  Dish up and drain.  Leave to cool before serving. 

Sweet Lily Buds and Lotus Seeds Soup

This is a pretty common Chinese sweet soup in Malaysia. I know I didn't like this soup when I was little or when I was back in Malaysia. It is just not my thing especially the lotus seeds and lily buds, not something that youngster would like. But as I got older, my taste bud changed as I am more into healthy food these days or food that would provide benefit to my body as to the opposite. I came into this soup again and the benefits of drinking this simple soup really changed my mind about this soup. This soup is said to be supporting heart, nourish kidney, fight memory loss, insomnia, loss of appetite, nourish brain especially for students or white collar workers who need to use brain to think a lot and anti-aging. I believed in Chinese medicinal soup for prevention and overall body wellness so I guess I will cook this sweet soup frequently from now on. Yeah, I thought my girls wouldn't like this soup but surprisingly they both loved it, even finishing all the lotus seeds, longan, wolfberries and lily buds I gave them. I seriously thought they wouldn't eat the lotus seeds and lily buds like when I was young.



Ingredients:

15g dried lotus seeds
15g dried lily buds
10g wolfberries (Goji berries/ Ke chi)
12 red dates
12 dried longan
800-1000 ml water
Rock sugar to taste

You can add 1 or 2 beaten eggs if you like (optional)

Method:

1. Rinse lotus seed, lily bud, red dates, wolfberries, dried longan under running water. In a pot, add in water, let it boil. When boiling, add in the rest of the ingredients except rock sugar.

2. Turn the heat to low and let it simmer for 2 hours. Add in rock sugar to taste and continue simmering for 10 minutes.

3. Add in beaten eggs (if used) to create egg drop soup effect before serving.

Char Kway Teow Malaysian Style

Since I haven't cooked fried kway teow (fried flat noodle) for awhile, while shopping at the Asian grocery store recently, I picked up the necessary ingredients and cooked it at night. The Asian restaurants here serve this noodle in a different way, they called it beef or chicken hor fun (炒牛河 or 鸡炒河). It is cooked differently from our Malaysian kway teow.



This is my hubby and daddy favorite dish. I don't normally eat this dish while I was in Malaysia. But once I came here, all these hawker style noodles, like char kway teow, hae mee, curry mee, mee rebus, mee goreng, or lam mee became something special. I guess the saying is true, you don't know how to appreciate when there is in abundance, but you will see the value when it is scarce.

Satay Dinner Again!

While replying to Cooking Ninja regarding my satay sauce and compressed rice, Evy walked by and saw the satay chicken. She loved satay chicken and of course requested that I make it for her. I was salivating looking at the pictures and reminiscing how good the satay sauce taste, so I told her I will make satay for dinner the next day.


Yummy and moist satay chicken! Help yourself ya!


My homemade compressed rice, seedless cucumber and shallot.


Peanut satay sauce. Dipping sauce for the satay chicken and accompaniment.



And guess what I ended out using? The Rasaku satay marinade & sauce mix!! I was pleasantly surprised with this brand because I was quite skeptical when I saw the satay sauce that came in the packet. It was in powder form and all I needed to add was water and oil. I was contemplating of making my own sauce or using this powder and decided to give it a try. The sauce looked okay when thicken, so I did a taste test and it was not too bad. But I wanted more flavor out of it and creamier in texture, so I added some creamy peanut butter and toasted ground peanuts into the sauce. Now it looked really good and tasted superb. I won't be hesitating in buying this brand again, just for convenience and it's authenticity in taste. If you want to try it too, you can buy it online at MyTasteOfAsia.com. I just checked the website and now this paste is on sales for $1.95! Grab it before it's gone!