No-Frills Recipes ... cooking, baking & excerpts on travel

Each Chinese New Year, I would get a Nian Gao, sticky rice cake as an offering for prayers as Nian Gao is a homonym for  'higher year',  which symbolises increasing prosperity and higher achievement for the coming year.  Therefore it is considered good luck to eat Nian Gao during this period.  Instead of frying the Nian Gao with batter like what I did 'here' , this time I chose to just wrap it up with a piece of puff pastry and dump it into the oven, and the ultimate result,  yummy gluey Nian Gao with crispy pastry! Puff Pastry Nian Gao   ~   酥皮年糕 Ingredients 10 small pieces of Nian Gao about 1.1/2 x 3/4 x 1/2 inch  10 pieces of 4 x 4 inch Kawan puff pastry Egg glaze Method Place a piece of Nian Gao onto a piece of puff pastry Apply beaten egg all round the edges Roll up, and use a fork to seal the two ends Place seams side down onto a parchment lined baking tray Apply egg glaze ...

I was introduced to this Hawaiian Biscuit by a friend who bought this for me to try.  I was curious about the name and was wondering what's so 'Hawaiian' about these biscuits.  I understood, after the first bite of a Macadamia nut.  So the 'Hawaiian' thing is the Macadamia nut.  Since I have some lotus paste left after the mooncake festival, thought I'd give this a try.  I used the recipe for the pastry from my 'Lo  Por Paeng/Wife Biscuit ' post and just wrap up some lotus paste with some Macadamia nuts.  This is a yummy biscuit to be enjoyed at any time of the day and the biscuits stayed crispy even on the fourth day, kept in an air-tight container. Hawaiian Biscuits  ~  夏威夷饼 Ingredients Oil dough 80 gm plain flour 50 to 60 gm shortening Water dough 100 gm plain flour 40 gm shortening 30 to 35 ml cold water  300 gm lotus paste (divide into 8 portions, approx. 35 gm each and wrap each portion with 4 Maca...

This is a simple recipe, no-frills tart that attracts your eyes as well as your taste buds.  A refreshing and appetizing dessert for your sweet tooth after a  scrumptious meal.  You can also choose to enjoy it for tea with a piping hot cup of coffee or tea.  Tastes best when warm. Puff Pastry Peach Tart ~   水蜜桃挞 Ingredients 1 puff pastry sheet, 8 inch square, thawed and cut into 4 pieces 1 can of Peach halves, cut egg white icing sugar to dust Method Roll up the 4 sides of the pastry dough, about 1/4 inch. Brush some peach syrup on the dough and place the peaches on it. Brush some syrup over the peaches and apply egg white all round the pastry dough. Bake in a preheated oven @ 200 deg.C for about 20 mins. till the pastry is brown and all puffed up. Dust on icing sugar before serving.   Best to serve warm. Yield :  4 tarts

This is a quick and easy recipe made with store bought puff pastry.   Delicious with fresh apples and sheets of puff pastry.  Serve them for dessert with a scoop of ice cream or just drizzle on some cream. Apple Puff Pastries  ~   简易苹果派           Ingredients 1.1/2 sheets of 8 inch sq rough puff pastry (store-bought) 2 crunchy red apples 2 tsp cinnamon 3 tsp sugar 1 egg lightly beaten icing sugar for dusting Method Thaw the pastry and cut into 6 pieces. Cut apples into half, remove the core and slice into 4 mm thick slices. Arrange the pastries on a parchment lined baking tray. Prick the pastry with a fork and brush with beaten egg. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on the pastry. Arrange apple slices on top and sprinkle more cinnamon sugar.   Bake in a preheated oven @ 200 deg.C for 20 to 25 mins. Let cool and dust with icing sugar. Yield :  6 puff pastries.

This is a 'cheat' version of curry puffs.  Why do I say 'cheat'?  Because the puff pastries were store bought.  It's very much easier to make these curry puffs snack with instant pastry for if I were to make the pastries from scratch it's going to be very tedious.  Also, shaping and baking them in a muffin pan is less time consuming.  Enjoy! Curry Chicken Puff  ~   咖哩鸡角 Ingredients 1 packet Kawan puff pastry (store bought) 300 gm chicken breast, diced into cubes 1 potato, peeled and diced into cubes 2 red onions, chopped 2 tsp curry powder (or more if you prefer it more spicy) 1 lemon grass, smashed curry leaves salt to taste 1 egg + 1 tsp water for egg wash 1/4 tsp chicken granules Method for the filling Marinate the chicken cubes with the curry powder and some salt. In a pan, saute the onions with some oil, then add in the smashed lemon grass, curry leaves, then the marinated chicken cubes. Add in the potat...

These Lotus paste chicken floss pastries are getting very popular here in Ipoh and some of them are with Pandan Lotus paste.   To me, at Rm2.50 for an approximate 2 inch diameter size pastry, is a bit on the high side, so why not try to DIY it I told myself.  Well, I did and here's what I'm going to share with you today........ I enjoyed the fruits of my labour with a nice cup of hot local coffee. Recipe  for Lotus chicken floss pastries ~   莲蓉 鸡肉 松 酥 饼 Ingredients Water dough 100 gm plain flour, sifted 40 gm shortening 10 gm caster sugar 30 to 50 ml water to be added gradually Oil dough 80 gm plain flour, sifted 60 gm shortening 250 gm lotus paste Chicken  floss Sesame seeds Egg wash - 1 egg  beaten  Method  For the water dough, mix the flour, shortening, sugar together, then add in water gradually and knead to form a soft dough.  Cover with cling wrap and let rest for 30 mins. For the...

This is a 'cheat' version of chicken puff as I didn't make the rough puff pastry dough from scratch.  It was store-bought, Kawan puff pastry to be exact.  Why Oriental?   Simply because the chicken filling was cooked the Chinese way with soya and oyster sauces, plus a drizzle of sesame oil with onions and frozen peas thrown in.   They were indeed delicious and was perfect to snack on. Recipe for Chicken Puff ~ Oriental  (鸡肉千层酥皮) Ingredients 350 gm chicken breast, cubed 2 onion, cubed 100 gm frozen peas 3 sheets of Kawan puff pastry Egg glaze Seasoning 1 Tbsp light soya sauce, 1/2 Tbsp each of dark soya sauce and oyster sauce, 1/4 tsp salt, 2 tsps sugar, a dash of pepper, sesame oil and 3 tsp cornflour + 2 Tbsp water to thicken. Method Season the chicken with the above seasoning.  Lightly fry the onions, then the chicken.  Once cooked, add in the frozen peas.  Mix in thickening and fine tune to taste. Th...

These crispy straws, full of cinnamon fragrance are perfect for snacking and great to satisfy your hunger pangs while waiting for lunch or dinner to be served.   I kept them in a bottle and they stayed crispy and fresh even after a week. Recipe for Cinnamon dusted puff pastry straws Ingredients 1 piece frozen puff pastry, thawed (store bought Kawan pastry) 1 egg, whisked Cinnamon raw sugar Method Lightly whisk the egg. Roll out the pastry to 1/8 inch thick, then brush with egg wash. Sprinkle the whole surface with cinnamon, then sprinkle on the raw sugar. Cut into 3/4 inch strips with a sharp knife. Twist each strip and place on a  parchment lined baking sheet. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 deg.C for about 15 - 20 mins till golden brown. Let cool and keep in a bottle. Yield :  10 pastry straws.

These Apple Roses certainly do not need much introduction.  They were very popular on Facebook during the recent Mother's Day celebration and there are many videos on Youtube demonstrating how these lovely pastries are made.  It was 'love at first sight' when I saw these pretty sweeties on Youtube and I told myself that I just have to find time to make them.   Even if Mother's Day is over, these cuties can be given as a gift or to celebrate other occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries.  I've appended a video to show how they are made but also attach some pictures and recipe of how I made them for my personal reference. Recipe for Apple Roses  ~    苹果玫瑰花 Ingredients                          4 medium size apples  ( I used the South African crunchy apples) Juice of 1 lemon + 1 bowl of water to mix 2 Puff pastry sheets (I used Kawan puff pastry, 8 " squa...

Pineapple Tarts are available throughout the year in Malaysia and Singapore but they are most sought after and popular during the Lunar Chinese New Year.   They are a common sight in most Chinese households because it's symbolic to have Pineapple Tarts during this time of the year.  'Wong lai' in Cantonese and 'Ong lai' in Hokkien phonetically sounds like 'good luck comes'.  Hence, eating this cookie will thus bring forth good luck and prosperity. This is not the melt-in-the-mouth type of pastry, it's crisp when fresh and will stay good even after being kept for some time.  You can also view my  other recipes on   Nastar and closed Pineapple Tarts from  'here' and 'here'. Pineapple Tarts - 黄梨塔     (adapted from 'here' ) Ingredients 100 gm unsalted butter 200 gm plain flour, sifted 60 gm icing sugar, sifted 1 egg yolk 1 Tbsp milk a pinch of salt pineapple paste Method Sift flour with salt, se...

Happy New Year, everyone!   My first post for 2015 is 'Wife Biscuit' aka 'Lo Por Paeng', a soft and flaky pastry with winter melon filling which is a very popular delicacy in Hong Kong.  The ones that I find here are not the same as their  flaky counterparts, instead they are crispy and thin.   I've been surfing the internet for a recipe and I was very happy when I stumbled upon a Youtube video from SiuKitchen .   The video is in Cantonese and she gives very detailed steps on how to make these flaky pastries.   The pastries were good and stayed flaky and soft for three days in an airtight container.  I needn't have to reheat them in the oven toaster. Recipe for Wife Biscuit (Lo Por Paeng)   老婆餅  Ingredients Filling 120 gm candied winter melon, finely chopped 5 ml oil 15 gm caster sugar 40 gm koh fun 50 ml water Method Add sugar to the chopped winter melon, mix in the oil, water and mix lightly toge...