Tang Yuan Chinese Sweet Dessert, 22.12.2014

22.12.2014 - Yummy Tang Yuan.  Even thought i don't really love much sweet stuff with syrup, but can't resist these little colorful balls, they simply looking too cute to eat. Make just little bit to celebrate our yearly Winter solstice aka “dong zhi” (冬至), which usually falls on the 21st or 22nd of December.

Ingredients:
1 cup glutinous rice flour (250g)
1/2 cup water, add gradually ( i added more then 1/2 cup of water until smooth )
1/2 tbsp super fine sugar
food colouring: 1 drop pandan paste, 1 drop strawberry paste, 1 red+1 yellow food colouring to make orange

Sweet soup:
80g ginger, thinly sliced
1 litre water
80g gula Melaka chunk (use 50g Taiwanese Winter Melon Tea cubes, you can add more if you like the soup to taste sweeter)
2 pandan leaves, ties in knot

Method:
1. In a bowl, add the glutinous rice flour and sugar. Gradually add in the water. Knead the mixture into a smooth dough. The dough should feel wet and smooth with hands.

2. Divide the dough into four, one plain, one with pandan paste, one with strawberry paste and one with orange food colouring. Set aside.

3. In a small soup pot, boil the water, ginger, pandan leaves and drop in the winter melon tea cube. When the water is boiling, discard the pandan leaves and set aside.

4. Prepare a bowl of drinking water (room temperature), and boil another pot with water. Divide the flour dough into smaller balls, roll it in your palms to make it round. Drop the balls into the boiling water in step 4. When the glutinous rice balls floated on the water, it means it is cooked, keep it in the boiling water for another 1/2 min. Scoop the glutinous rice balls out from the boiling water and place it in the bowl of drinking water. Let it be there until serving.

5. Serving: Scoop out the Tang Yuan (glutinous rice balls) and place it into the ginger winter melon soup you prepared in step 3.

Semur Betawi / Stew Beef Betawi - Indonesia Lebaran Dish

ketupat, godog and semur betawi

Bahan-bahan:
½ kg daging sapi bagian lamusir, potong-potong kotak
2 batang sereh, geprek
2 ruas lengkuas, geprek
2 lembar daun salam
5 cengkeh
3 cm kayu manis
50 ml kecap manis
Garam dan gula secukupnya
Air panas secukupnya

Bumbu yang dihaluskan:
10 bawang merah
5 bawang putih
1 cm jahe
½ sdt lada
½ biji pala

Bumbu kering dan dihaluskan:
½ sdm ketumbar
¼ sdt jintan
garam
marica


Petunjuk
• Lumuri daging dengan kecap dan bumbu halus.
• Remas daging berbumbu sampai lemas dan bumbu tercampur rata. Sisihkan 1 jam.
• Masak daging dengan cara diungkap sampai setengah matang, atau air daging habis
• Tambahkan air panas secukupnya, masak lagi sampai daging empuk.
• Masukkan bumbu kering, masak sampai kuah mengental.
• Angkat, hidangkan dengan ketupat dan sambel godog.

Stuffed Beancurd ( Tau Pok & white Tau fu )

 Stuff Tofu Pok

Stuffed Tofu / Stuffed Firm Beancurd 

STUFFED TAU FU & STUFFED TAU POK 
INGREDIENTS

4 white tau fu ( cut into triangles )

10 tau pok

FILLING INGREDIENTS
( BLEND WITH FOOD PROCESSOR )

500g chicken boneless, minced 

2tbsp Osyter sauce

1tbsp light soya sauce

dash of salt, pepper, chicken granules,

2 tbsp corn flour

handful chopped coriander leafs / spring onion

SAUCE

4 cups water, add more if needed

oyster sauce, salt, sugar to taste

GARNISHED
Chopped Spring Onion
Chopped Cilantro

METHOD

1. To make filling - Clean chicken, minced chicken with food processor.  Transfer minced chicken in a clean bowl, add the rest of the seasoning and ingredients mix well and set aside.

2. Clean tau fu, cut tau fu into equal triangles. Use a knife, carefully cut around the edges of the long side of triangle. Make the incision slightly more than half way through the tofu. Make sure you don't cut through.

3. Use teaspoon remove a portion at the center tau fu, Be very gentle to keep the pouch intact. Scoop filling and stuff in to the middle as much as you it could fit in. Shape the stuffing with finger tips. Repeat this to the rest of the tofu.  As for the tau pok, just gently poke a hole in the middle, do the same stuffing till finish. 

4. In a soup pan, place tau pok below follow with white and brown tau fu, arrange closely next to each other.  In a bowl, add in sauce and mix water, pour over tau fu.  Cook with medium fire slowly until cooked through.

5. Add water, taste and add seasoning as needed.

6. When it is cooked, dish up, sprinkle with chopped spring onion and cilantro.

冬至 Happy Winter Solstice Festival - Tong Yuan

22.12.2013 - Batam. 冬至 Dongzhi/ Winter Solstice Festival is one of the most important festival celebrated by all Chinese around the world.  I would never want to miss this day.  This time i get my 3 years old to help me make Tong Yuen.  I love Tong Yuen with Peanut Butter fillings.  My son loves Peanut Butter too.  So im sure he will love this one.  He is not really helping me in the kitchen, he is making some mess and helping to eat and lick peanut butter while attempting to make ...haaa..but i have so much fun getting him in the kitchen.

INGREDIENTS:-
( make 21 Tong Yuen )

1 1/2 cup Glutinous Rice Flour
1/2 cup Confectioner's Sugar
1/2 cup water
Peanut Butter

* Mix all in a bow except peanut butter, mix well with a wooden spoon/ spatula.  if is too dry add some water.
* Roll into a big ball cut into 2 evenly, put the other half  with a drop of red coloring. Another half remain white. Roll and cut into a desire shape.  Fill each balls with peanut butter fillings and seal it properly.  Sprinkle generous flour on plate and place Tong Yuen prepare to cook.  Do not place each ball too near to each other or it will stick together.
* In a Soup Pan,  Put a few Tong Yuen into hot water let it cook for a few minutes.  When Tong Yuen are cooked, it will float to the surface and dish up into a bowl of water.  Let it set in the bowl of water while you can prepare the Tong Yuen Syrup.


PREPARE SYRUP
3 slices of Old Ginger
few Pandan Leafs
Palm Sugar, desire amout to taste
Water


* Bring water to boil and add pandan leaves, gula melaka and ginger. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes.  Ready to served with Tong Yuen.

Tang Yuan with Peanut Butter Fillings ( Sweet Glutinous Rice Ball )

Tang Yuen is also eaten during auspicious family celebrations and Winter solstice aka “dong zhi” (冬至), which usually falls on the 21st or 22nd of December. The round and sticky dumpling balls symbolise family closeness and togetherness.  This Tang Yuen I made was in 2011 when my mom visited us in Brunei.  Im being too free and created a few colors for my tang yuen :) i made 6 colors, they were the purple, original white, pink, green, orange and yellow.  I filled my tang yuen with peanut butter.  So yumm.

Ingredients

Rice Balls

- 1 1/2 cup glutinous rice flour

- 1 cup water (add gradually until all form a ball and not sticky )

- food colourings

Fillin - Skippy Peanut Butter

Sweet Soup (糖水)

- Fewginger slices

- 2 litres of water

- Rock sugar / Plum sugar / regular granulated sugar

- 2 pandan (screw pine) leaves, tied in a knot

Method:-

In a large mixing bowl, add flour and water. Gradually add water (you don’t have to use all of it) and knead the dough until soft, smooth, easily kneadable (pictured above) yet not sticky to the fingers (too wet), nor crumbling (too dry). If the dough is too wet, add a bit more flour.

Divide the dough depending on the number of different colours you intend to make (I divided mine to 6 portions). Add food colouring, just one drop to each portion and knead until the colour is well distributed. 

Shape the dough to even-sized balls, press in to a round disc and feel in a tsp of peanut butter, use index fingers to close and round into a round ball.  

Bring a pot of water (enough water to submerge the dumplings completely) to boil. Add the tang yuan into the boiling water and cook until they float to the surface. Transfer them immediately to a bowl of room temperature water to cool down. This prevents the tang yuan from sticking to one another or discolour the soup, especially helpful if you are not serving immediately. Do not over cook this or you will find the tong yuen all breaking apart.

Add ingredients for sweet soup (糖水) in a pot. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer until the sugar is fully melted. To serve, add cooked tang yuen to a serving bowl and ladle the sweet soup over.'