Angku Kueh

What do I do with mung beans?

Initially I was preparing them for tao suan (a type of Chinese dessert) but changed my mind because none of my children fancy it. So I ground the mung beans into paste as ang ku kueh fillings.

I have made purple, green and yellow ones (link here) and my mood today convinced me to make ang ku kueh with red skin. The skin dough is made up of  sweet potato and glutinous rice flour. The sweet potato used was yellow and after adding a little bit of red colouring, the appearance of the dough turned into a lovely rosy cheek colour . They are lovely and sweet.

Crispy Sardine Croquetts- 香脆沙丁鱼可乐饼

Its tastes so good. The outside is crispy and inside is moist and soft. This croquetts  is suitable for tea-time and even dinner time served on the table with chilli sauce or mayonnaise.

Recipe:

Ingredients:
3 medium sized potatoes
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
350 g sardine (in tomato sauce, drained)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon of lime juice

1 egg, lightly beaten
2 cups breadcrumbs
Oil for deep-frying

Method:
1)  Boil potatoes. Peel skin off and mash. Heat 1 tablespoon oil, stir-fry onion until fragrant, then add sardines.  Mix in mashed potatoes.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat. Allow to cool slightly.

2)  Add lime juice to the sardine mixture. Shape the sardine mixture into oval or round shapes.

3)  Coat with egg, then breadcrumbs.  Place on a tray and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

4)  Heat oil in a pan or wok until hot. Deep-fry croquetts until golden brown and crispy.  Drain, and serve with your desired sauce.

Ayam Ponteh -马铃薯鸡

Recipe:

Ingredients:
500 g chicken, washed and wiped dry, cut into pieces
3 tablespoon bean paste (minced)
10 shallots, diced or chopped
10 pips garlic, diced or chopped
2 - 3 medium size potato, removed skin and cut into wadges
1/2 tablespoon light  soy sauce
1 tablespoon palm sugar (gula Melaka)
1.5 cups water
3 - 4 tablespoon cooking oil

Method:
1)  Heat up wok with oil, fry shallots and garlic over medium  heat for few minutes until brown.
2)  Add in bean paste and stir-fry for few minutes until fragrant.  Add in chicken, and stir-fry until the the chicken is covered with paste. Now add in water and potatoes, continue to cook for 20 minutes over medium high heat (cover with lid).  Stir occasionally to prevent getting burnt at the bottom.
3) Pour in light soy sauce and palm sugar. Continue to cook till the meat and potatoes are well cooked.  Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

Easy Shepherd's Pie (2)

This is my improvised version of Shepherd's Pie . I added more grated cheese and crunchy bacon bits on top, I think it is more interesting.

I also used chicken instead of beef. You can see from the pics that the inside is creamy and appetizing. An one-dish meal that is easily prepared by simply heating it up, it is also filling and yummy, I'm sure your kids will like it very much.

Recipe: 

Ingredients:  Makes 4  18cm x 9cm baking dish (bought from Daiso @SGD2 for 6 pcs)
1 kg potato, peeled
30 g soft butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
450 g chicken fillet, diced
200 g  fresh button mushroom, sliced
1 can (300 g)  Campbell's Wild Mushroom cream soup (Premium Selection)
150 g to 200 g mixed shredded Cheddar cheese and Mozzarella Cheese
100 g bacon, diced and fry till crispy.

Method:
1)  Place the potatoes into a small pot, and add enough water to  cover.  Bring to a boil.  Cook until soft, drain and mash.
2)  While the potatoes are cooking,  heat up a frying-pan with some oil, fry the diced chicken over medium heat until fragrant. Stir in the button mushroom and cook for a while, add salt and 1/2 chicken cubes to taste. ( Add some cheese into the mixture to thicken the sauce if the sauce is too wet)
3)  Mash potato with a folk and add in salt, butter and pepper , mix well.
4)  Transfer chicken mixture onto  a light oiled baking dish.  Sprinkle  shredded cheese over the meat.  Spread mashed potato evenly over the top.  Make some patterns as you like.
5) .Bake in a preheated oven at 200 deg C for 20 - 25 minutes.  Sprinkle shredded cheese and bacon bits.
     Serve and enjoy.

Roti Jala

Had leftover potatoes cooked in curry from yesterday and as my family has been bugging me to make roti

jala for some time, I went to dig up "Singapore Cooking Book 2-  By Mrs Leong" recipe.  And went to buy a roti jala mould for 60 cents from a neighbourhood sundry shop.

I found the mixture too thick to go through the strainer, so had to trial and error to keep adding water before the consistency allowed it to flow rather smoothly. I do not know whether it is the holes that are too small, or the mixture is too thick.

Finally the roti jala turned out to be thinner than I wanted, however its texture was fine and does not stick to one's teeth when you bite into it.

Here's my roti jala, goes superb with the potato curry. Yum yum.

Recipe:

Ingredients: (makes 12, diameter 8")
225 ml (8 fl. oz)  milk
2 eggs
salt ( I used 1/2 tsp )
225 g  (8 oz ) all purpose flour - sieved
1 tablespoon oil

Method:
1) Mix all ingredients together (except oil), and strain the batter. If the batter is too thick, add water until desired consistency is reached.  Add 1 tablespoon of oil and set aside for 15 minutes.

2)  Heat up a non-stick pan with  medium low heat and grease it with some oil.

3)  Pour some batter into the mould and quickly transfer to the pan, make circular movement from outer part of the pan to inside of the pan, then make a zigzag movement from left to right and zigzag up and down.

4)  Leave the crepe to cook for 10-15 seconds (or the tops is set and done, the bottom turns light brown).
     Fold the crepe into half, then in half again to form a triangle shape.  Remove from the pan and set aside.        Repeat until all batter is used.

5)  Serve with your  favourite curry.  Enjoy.

Black Sesame Potato Buns

These black sesame potato buns are super light, soft and fluffy.  My family and I like so much. I have been making this recipe for many times because it is really very easy and takes a short time for fermentation. Whenever you feel like making them you can just make it. It tastes as good as the cold sponge dough method, and the texture is as lovely.

This recipe is actually made with reference to an earlier post, refer to here.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

A) 200 g bread flour
70 g plain flour
30 g roasted ground sesame (or sesame powder)
1 teaspoon + 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
70 g fine sugar
3 g salt
10 g milk powder
100 g whole egg
*60 g water (room temperature), do not pour all at once, save 10 g - 15g depends on the moistness of your mashed potato
100 g mashed potato (peel off skin and cut into small pieces, steam till soft, then mash)

B) 50 g soft unsalted butter

C) 10 - 15 g roasted sesame

Method:
1) Beat all ingredients (except butter) until form a dough.  Add butter continue to beat until a smooth and elastic dough is formed.

2) Add in sesame , mix well. Shape into a big ball. Put into a lightly greased bowl, cover with damp cloth. Place in a warm place for 30 minutes.

3)  Punch down the dough and expel  the air.  Divide dough into 30 g portion each. Shape them round and arrange them on a greased baking tray.  Rest for 45 - 60 minutes or until double in size.

4) Glaze with egg wash and bake in the preheated oven at  185 - 190 degree C  for 10 - 15 minutes.

Chicken and Potato Curry Milk Bun

When I first saw Sonia's  Chicken and Potato curry  buns, I was very enchanted. I have never made bread using the sponge dough method before. And I gathered from many food bloggers who praised the texture of the bread to be super soft. Sooooo.... today I gathered all the ingredients and put my hands down into making them. It does not disappoint me the buns are really super soft and good..

Thank you Sonia for sharing this recipe.


Recipes: Adapted from sonia @ nasi lemak lover

Ingredients for the filling:
3 potatoes, small cubed
200 g chicken breast, small cubed
2 spring  curry leaves
1/2 big onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic,chopped finely
3 shallots, chopped finely

Mix to form a paste:
1.5 tablespoon meat curry powder (one and the half)
1/2 tablespoon red chilli powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon tumeric powder
4 tablespoon water

Method:
1) Heat oil in a wok, saute onion, garlic and shallots till aroma.
2) Add in curry paste, curry leaves, stir fry till fragrance. Add in chicken and potatoes, mix well.
3) Add in enough of water to cover the chicken and potatoes, cook over low medium heat till potato is softened, add salt and sugar to taste..  Set aside to cool.

To Prepare the buns:  Overnight Sponge dough:
215 g bread flour
125 g full cream milk (cold)
2 g instant yeast (1/2 teaspoon)

Method: Mix all ingredients till a rough dough, cover with cling film or put in the plastic bag and store overnight in the fridge.

To prepare basic dough:
1 quantity of above overnight sponge dough
90 g bread flour
30 g egg (about 1/2 large egg)
4 g instant yeast (1 tsp)
3 g fine salt
60 g fine sugar
45 g butter ( room temperature)
1 tablespoon milk (cold)

Egg wash = balance egg +  1 tablespoon milk

Method:
1)  Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl except overnight sponge dough and butter. While beating the ingredients, tear the overnight sponge dough  into pieces and throw into the mixing bowl piece by piece. Beat till  form a smooth dough.
2)  Add in the butter and beat until dough is smooth, shinning and elastic. Cover with cling film or a piece of damp cloth. Leave aside to proof till double in size.
3)  Punch down the dough  to expel the air, divide into 55gram portions and mould into round balls, rest for 10-15 minutes. (I made 10 big buns and one small bun)
4)  Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough into a round disc, spoon filling in the center, wrap and seal. Shape them round and place on a baking tray. Let it proof for another 45-60 minutes.
5)  Brush with egg wash on the surface and sieve curry powder over it. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes at 180 degree C.

Note: Fully proofed dough that has doubled in size with a nice texture. Insert a finger into the dough and the finger hole mark should rise very slowly.

Potato Bread 马玲薯面包

Five stars  for this super light and soft bread .  ☺

No wonder Cass (@ 揾到食) and Jane (Jane's corner) have praised  so much and highly rated this potato bread. I totally agree with them. It is soft, light, fragrant,  does not stick on your teeth. and I will definitely make this bread again and again.

Recipe: (This is my version)

Ingredients:

100g bread flour or high protein flour
50g plain flour
3g instant dry yeast (1/2 tsp + 1/4 tsp)
35g sugar
1/4 tsp salt
5g milk powder
50g egg
30g water
25g butter or margarine
50g potatoes, steamed and mashed

Method:
1)  Put all ingredients (except butter) into a mixing bowl, beat over slow speed for 1 minute.  Add in butter and  beat over medium speed for 8 minutes to form a pliable dough (smooth and elastic),  form into a round shape.

2) Cover with wrap or a piece of damp cloth, leave to proof till double the size ( to test whether it is well fermented, poke a hole with your finger in the cnetre, the hole should not bounce back or shrink).

3) Divide dough into 30g each small dough. Roll into round balls, arrange onto a  8" or 21 cm round greased baking pan.
  
4) Leave to proof again for  45-60 minutes.

5)  Bake in a preheated oven at 185-190 degree C for 10-15 minutes.

6) Remove from oven, glaze with beaten egg or butter while it is still hot.

Tuna Croquettes

Recipe:

Ingredients:

(A)

300 g potatoes

1 small can tuna chunk (150 g), drained

1 red chilli, seeded and chopped

some black pepper to taste

1/2 large onion, peeled and chopped

1 tsp lime juice (optional)

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp olive oil/cooking oil ( for stir-frying onion)

4 - 5 tbsp plain flour

some bread crumbs

1 egg (beaten)

2 cups oil for deep-frying

Method:

1) Boil potatoes. Peel skin off and mash. Heat oil; stir-fry onion until fragrant, remove from fire.

Mix in all ingredients A until well combined.

2) To make croquettes, brush a little oil on hands, shape the tuna mixture into oval or round flat shapes. Coat with plain flour, dip in beaten egg and then breadcrumbs.

3) Heat up oil for deep-frying, deep-fry patties at medium-low heat until golden brown. Dish, drain and serve while hot.

Potato And Minced Pork Croquettes

Recipe:

Ingredients:

250 g potatoes

1/2 tsp salt

100g minced pork

1 /2 onion, peeled and chopped

some black pepper to taste

Coating:

4 tbsp plain flour

1 small egg

some bread crumbs

Method:

1) Cook potatoes in boiling water until soft, drain. Peel and mash into paste while still hot.

2) While cooking the potatoes, heat up a non-stick frying pan with little oil, saute the big onion until fragrant. Dish up.

3) In a mixing bowl, mix all ingredients until well combined.

4) Divide mashed potato mixture into 15 equal parts and form into cylinder/round shapes. Coat with plain flour, dip in beaten egg and coat with bread crumbs .

5) Heat up oil, deep-fry potato croquettes at medium-low heat until golden brown and cooked. Dish up and serve.

Potato Tuna Patties

"Stir fry potatoes with chicken? Stir fry minced meat with potatoes? Or boil potato soup? Aya! no-lah," I was talking to myself what to do with the potatoes. Finally, I decided to cook potato patties.

Recipe (about 8 pcs)

Ingredients:

*200 g potatoes (boiled)

*1 can tuna fish 185 g ( drain well)

*80 g big onion (chopped)

*1 egg

*1 tablespoon tapioca flour

* 8 bird's eye chillies (chopped)

coating: 1 egg, lightly beaten

seasoning:

1/2 tsp. salt;

1 tsp. sugar;

1 tsp. chicken stock powder

Method:

*1) Peel and mash potatoes. Combine with tuna fish, onion, chillies, egg and tapioca flour. Season the mixture with the seasoning. Mix and blend well.

*2) With well floured hands, shape mashed potato into egg-sized balls. Flatten slightly, dust lightly with flour and dredge with beaten egg.

*3 ) Heat oil in a wok over high fire . Fry patties until golden brown . Drain cutlets on paper towels and serve hot.

ENJOY!