Sweet Steamed Eggs 炖蛋

This is a common and popular dessert in Hong Kong, available in various forms such as with egg whites only, or with ginger.

1 extra-large egg (or use one medium egg + one extra egg yolk if you prefer stronger egg taste)
5 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 cups warm whole milk
One drop of vanilla essence

Beat egg, add sugar and beat well, beat in milk and vanilla.
Pour into individual glass bowls and cover bowls with plastic wrap.
Steam over medium heat for 5 min.
Turn heat to low and steam another 5 min.
Turn off heat and let stand another 3 min.

Foochow (Fuzhou)Taro New Year's Cake 福洲 竽头年糕

This is a Foochow specialty and the recipe is well-guarded and hard to find.  I was told by my family to only pass it on to someone who is a Foochow, but seeing the generosity of other people willing to share their own secret recipes, I am sharing it here.  Unlike regular Chinese New Year's Cake which is made with glutinous flour, this unusual recipe uses tapioca flour.

Recipe:
2 lbs shredded taro (about 8 cups)

1 package tapioca flour or starch (14 oz)
2 tablespoons glutinous flour
1 3/4 teaspoons five-spice powder
Stir together these 3 dry ingredients.

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
1 cup white sugar
3 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1/8 tsp salt
Bring these ingredients to a boil.

Put in taro and bring back to a simmer without stirring. Turn off heat.
Stir in dry ingredients.
Pour into well greased pan or pan lined with soy skin (this is the traditional way).
Steam for 1 hour.
Cool completely and chill.
Cut into slices and pan fry before serving.

(Note: To be authentic, stir in one cup of cooked skinless peanuts before steaming, but I always omit this to save time.)

Egg Tart 蛋撻

 When pressed for time, store bought pie crust is a quick substitute for home-made crust, but of course home-made tastes much better!

Tarts are done when crust is light brown and filling is puffed up.

Filling will settle down after it's removed from the oven.

To save time, just pour into a regular pie crust and make a big egg custard pie!.

 

Preheat oven to 375 deg.
Dough:
In Canada, you can buy ready-made tart shells in aluminium liner, super convenient.
For the dough, either use recipe below, or use a store-bought pie crust dough.
Flour the top and bottom of the pie dough. Roll out a little thinner, then use a three-inch diameter  round cookie cutter and cut out circles of dough.  Place circles in a regular size muffin pan and press to form shell. Makes 12 tarts.

Dough Recipe:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 stick butter (4 oz)
1 egg at room temp
1 tablespoon icing sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cream butter with egg, sugar and salt.  Add flour.  Mix to form dough, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for one hour.  Roll out dough and cut into 3 inch circles.

Egg Filling:
2 extra large eggs, beaten well
1 1/4 cups cold milk
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
a drop of yellow food coloring (optional)

Mix well, pour into muffin pan lined with dough.
Bake at 375 degrees for 25 min until pie crust is light brown and egg custard is puffy but still jiggly in the middle.  It will set as it cools.

Variations:  You can try substituting evaporated milk for the whole milk, or try using only egg whites and coconut milk for Portuguese style egg tarts.

Pineapple Tart Cookies

Irresistable pineapple cookies. These disappear in 3 days in my house, but the store-bought ones are still around after 3 weeks. They're are called "Pineapple Tarts" in Singapore.

 Cook pureed pineapple in a dry, clean wok.

 Cook till pineapple is thick and light brown in color - takes quite a while. Well, no pain, no gain.

 Roll pineapple paste into small balls.

 Cover dough with another layer of plastic wrap for easier rolling - othewise dough will stick.

 Special cookie molds bought in Singapore at a Malay market - they make an indentation.

 Make sure dough is floured on both sides so it won't stick to the mold and won't stick on the baking pan.

 Ready for the oven. Don't worry about tidying the shape of the pineapple.  They will firm up after baking and will be easy to shape again after it's baked and cooled for a minute.

 Out of the oven.

 All that work for one jar of cookies - no wonder it's sold so expensive in the stores!

Leftover dough can be baked plain.

Makes about 100 cookies.

Dough Recipe:

2 cups flour

2 sticks butter at room temp

1 egg at room temp

1 tsp vanilla essence

Either 1/4 cup custard powder Or 1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup icing sugar

Cream butter together with egg, vanilla and icing sugar.

Stir in flour and custard powder or cornstarch.

Wrap in plastic wrap and chill till firm.

Roll dough between two layers of plastic wrap sprinkled with flour on both sides.

Cut out small cookie shapes and put one piece of pineapple filling on top.

Bake cookies at 350 deg for 15-20 min till light brown at edges. 

Pineapple Filling:

Three 20-oz can pineapple chunks, drained.

Puree pineapple in blender in batches, or put them all in a deep bowl and use a hand held blender.

Stir in 3/4 cups white sugar, 1/4 tsp cinnamon & 1/8 tsp cloves.

Cook over high heat in dry, clean wok, stirring constantly till it turns thick and brown in color and reduced to about 1/3.  Watch out for splatters in the beginning.  This process takes about 30 min, depending on the level of heat.

Cool and then roll into small balls.

Silken Tofu Flower 豆腐花

8 cups unsweetened soy milk (use store bought, make your own - recipe below.)
2 tsp food grade calcium sulphate powder 石膏粉 available from Asian stores
2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
Mix calcium powder and cornstarch with water.  Place in large pot or bowl with cover.
Bring soy milk to boil in uncovered pot, watching carefully so it doesn't boil over.
Pour over carbonate mixture and cover and let stand for 30 min to set.
Serve with syrup made by boiling rock sugar with some wataer.  If desired, a slice of ginger can be added.

Soy Milk:
Soak soy beans overnight.
Put some in blender with water to cover and blend till fine. Repeat till beans are used up.
Pour some mixture into cotton cloth and wring to obtain soy milk.  Discard the fiber.
Put soy milk in pot and stir and bring to boil over medium heat.  Do not walk away, watching carefully so it doesn't boil over.
Simmer for five minutes.  Add sugar to soy milk if desired or make tofu flower with it.

Water Chestnut Kueh 马蹄糕

8 oz water chestnut flour
2 cups water
3/4 lb rock sugar
3 cups water
1 cups chopped water chestnut
1 drop yellow food coloring (optional)

Directions:
Mix flour with 2 cups water and food coloring.
Boil rock sugar in 3 cups water till dissolved. Turn off heat.
Add flour mixture slowly into sugar mixture, stirring constantly.
Stir in water chestnuts.
Pour thickened mixture into greased pan and steam 1/2 hour.
Cool completely.  Slice and pan fry till golden brown.

Melon Sago Drink 蜜瓜西米露

A sweet refreshing drink for hot days, also served as a dessert sometimes.

Ingredients:
2 cantaloupes
1/4 cup sago
2 cups water
sugar
1 can coconut cream

Boil water and add sago, bring to a boil again and turn off heat.  Let sago stand until plump.  Drain off excess water if any.  Rinse with cold water.

Peel and cut sago in chunks and push through juicer to extract juice. (Some juicers cannot juice soft fruit, in which case you will need to blend it well in a blender and sieve if nec.)
Add sago and sugar to taste (remember the cantaloupe is already sweet).
Add coconut cream.
Chill until cold, add some ice and serve.
(In Hong Kong, some restaurants also add pomelo segments.)

Red Bean Coconut Kuih

Photo to come.

Usually served at dim sum places, red beans and coconut are popular ingredients found in many South East Asian desserts.

Red Bean Coconut Kuih
3 tsp agar agar powder
2 cups water
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 can coconut cream
6 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 1/2 cup water
2 cups cooked whole red beans (unsweetened)

Directions:
Boil all ingredients except red beans and cook for 5 min or till thickened.
Stir in red beans gently.
Chill overnight and cut into squares to serve.

Fu Juk Tong Sui - Sweet Soy Dessert Soup

Dried soy skin, called Fu Juk in Cantonese.

Gingko nuts or white nuts.

Fu Juk is a popular sweet dessert soup among the Cantonese.  It's made from the dried skin that floats on top when soy milk is left to stand.  Here's my own take on it:

Fu Juk Recipe:
One package fu juk
1/3 cup dried barley
1 can gingko nuts
1 cup rock sugar
one beaten egg
1/4 cup sago

Directions:
Boil sago in 1 cup water and let stand covered.
Prepare a pot of cold water and crumble in 1/2 package of the fu juk.
Add dried barley. Bring to a boil and simmer till barley is cooked.
Add in 1 can of gingko nuts, drained, and 1 cup of rock sugar, along with the sago.
Bring back to a boil,drizzle in the beatenegg.
Turn off heat and let the soup stand 30 min covered for sugar to melt and sago to plump up.

Note:  If you like a completely smooth soup, then omit the barley or cook it separately.
After boilling the fu juk for about 10 min, use a hand held blender to blend it smooth.
Some brands of Fu Juk are touted as quick-cooking and will supposedly disintegrate quickly once you boil it.

Red Bean Sago Kuih 红豆西米糕

Uncooked sago pearls.

Sago after it has been soaked.

Sago cakes after steaming.

Soak 1/2 cup small sago pearls in cold water for one hour.
Grease 12-cup mini muffin pan.
Put 1/2 tsp of sago on bottom of each cup, place 1 tsp of red bean filling (see Red Bean Filling Recipe) on top, then cover with more sago.
Steam pan in a wok for 20 min.
Remove pan, cover with a plastic wrap, and let cool completely.
Turn sago "cakes" out and roll in dessicated coconut.

Red Bean Paste Filling

There is an easy way and a hard way to make red bean filling, and of course the hard way tastes better, but the easy way is a pretty good substitute.  This filling can be used in many ways, such as for making Red Bean Mochi and Red Bean Sago.

Red Bean Filling - Easy Way
Wash one bag of small red beans (14 oz), put in pot and fill with triple amount water and boil for 10 min.
Place in a vacuum pot and leave overnight.
(If you don't have a vacuum pot, then simmer it, adding just enough water to cover as necessary, until cooked.)
The next day, use a hand held blender to blend the beans well.
Transfer to a wok and stir fry over high heat with 1 cup oil and 21/2 cups sugar until fairly dry.

Red Bean Filling - Hard Way
Cook red beans like above.
Put a colander in a bowl of water. Put small amounts of the red beans in the strainer and rub off the skins, letting the powdery liquid drain back into the bowl and discard the skins. 
When all skins have been removed, strain the remaining liquid with fine mesh cloth or towel. 
Discard liquid and the compact powder is the precious red bean residue to be fried with  3/4 cup oil and 2 cups sugar till it forms a sticky paste.

Plain Mochi

I find it surprising how many people like mochi.  I personally am not fond of sticky mushy foods, but I like this version of mochi which is chewy (QQ) rather than sticky.

Plain Mochi Recipe:

2 cups sweet rice powder

1 1/2 cups water or milk

1/2 cup sugar

Bring liquid to a boil, add sugar and cool till very warm.

Add rice powder, mix well.  Pour into greased pan and steam 15 min.

Wrap around red bean filling - see Red Bean Filling Recipe.

Coat with cooked rice flour or dessicated coconut.

Cooked Rice Flour:  Simply fry some rice flour or sweet rice flour in a dry pan till heated through.

Japanese Green Mochi

Japanese Green Mochi, called "Grass Cookie " (chou bang) in Cantonese, is not the green tea version, but is made from sagebrush or mugwort powder.  They have an unusual strong fragrant aroma and dark green color and are available in Japanese or Korean stores.  Mugwort is widely used as a flavoring agent and is also known for its medicinal qualities.  But it can be toxic in large quantities, so don't OD on these delicious bites, especially for pregnant women.  It is actually used by many cultures throughout the world - it is used as a bitter flavoring agent to season fat meat and fish in Germany, it is a common seasoning in Korean soups and pancakes; and it is used in the practice of traditional Chinese medicine in a pulverized and aged form called moxa. Mugwort is also grown in gardens to repel insects, especially moths.

Japanese Mochi Recipe:

2 cups sweet rice powder

2 1/4 cups whole milk

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 oz or 3 rounded tablespoons sagebrush or mugwort powder

8 oz sweet red bean paste

Directions:

Bring milk to a boil, add sugar and cool till very warm.

Stir in rice powder and sagebrush.

Pour into greased pan and steam 25 min.

Let cool just a little and take pieces of the dough and wrap around balls of red bean filling.

This can be a sticky task, so greased plastic gloves will come in handy.

Coat with cooked rice flour.

Cooked rice flour:  Just stir some rice flour or sweet rice flour in a dry pan over medium heat until heated through.

Chinese New Year's Cake - Baked (炬年糕)

This version has red bean paste added, but my favorite is actually the plain one, topped with shredded coconut.

Baked Nain Gao:

1 box Mochiko sweet rice powder (can substitute with a bag of Chinese brand glutinous rice powder)

3 large eggs at room temp

2.5 cups whole milk

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla essence

1 stick butter, melted

Fine shredded coconut (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 deg.

Beat butter with sugar, add in eggs one at a time.

Add in milk, melted butter and vanilla.

Fold in flour.

Pour into ungreased 9x13 metal pan (glass pan is fine, but metal pan will make bottom more brown and crunchy).  Top with fine shredded coconut (optional).

Bake for one hour.

For Green Tea & Red Beans version:  Add 4 level teaspoons of green tea powder to the milk, reduce sugar to 1 1/2 cups.  After mixture has baked for 15 min, spread a small can cooked sweet red beans on top and continue baking.  But my favorite is still the plain one, where you can appreciate the rich buttery eggy taste.  The crunchy edges are the best.  If you eat this fresh the same day, the top is crunchy and contrasts with the chewy inside.