Famous Asian Recipes Blog

Yuan Xiao Jie or The Lantern Festival, which falls on the 15th day on the First Month of the lunar calendar, marks the end of the Chinese New Year’s Holidays. By this time, most family will still have some nian gao (Sticky Rice Cake) left behind at home.

What is the best way to do with this sticky, chewy and harden rice cake?

With a simple process, you can turn this into a sandwich like fritter which give you the feel of crispness of the crust and hidden inside the crust, the sweet potato and yam slice is cook to the perfect tenderness that wrap up the soft and caramelize nian gao.

Ingredients

2 blocks 2×4 cooked nian gao (cut 1 cm square), 1 yam (peel and sliced 1 cm), 2 large sweet potato (peel and sliced 1 cm), 1 cup rice flour, 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 100 ml water, 1 egg, 1 tsp salt, 3 cup oil for frying

Method:

• Peel, wash and  cut yam, sweet potato and nian gao then set aside.
• Preheat oil in stainless steel wok or pan at 300 F or 150C.
• Mix egg, rice flour, all purpose flour, salt, baking powder and water in a deep bowl, whisk and combine all ingredients well until batter become smooth. Add water little by little If the batter is too thick.
• Sanwich 1 piece of nian gao between sweet potato and yam.  Hold it with a pair of long chopstick and dip it into the batter and deep-fry over slow medium heat for 1-2 minutes or until golden brown. Drain well and serve.

Ingredients:
500 grams  Sardine or Mackerel fish, 2 liters of water, 4 pieces of dried tamarind peel (soaked), some Vietnamese mint leaves, 300 grams cooked laksa noodles
Spicy Paste (process into fine paste with a blender)
6 fresh chilies (seeded), 10 dried red chilies (seeded), 8 small onions, 1 stalk lemon grass (use only about 4 inches from the bulb, crushed), 1 thumb size belachan
Tamarind Juice
Extract juice from 3 tbsp of tamarind paste with 1/2 cup water (repeat 3-4 times)
Seasonings
Sugar, salt and fish sauce to taste, Penang prawn paste (hae ko, add only when serve)
Garnishing
1 cup shredded cucumber, 1 red onion (sliced thinly), 1 bunch pepper mint leaves, 1 ginger bud (bunga kantan, chopped finely), 1 lettuce (cut into small pieces), 1 red chili (cut into small slices), 5 chili padi (cut into small pieces), 1 slice of pineapple (cut into thin strips)
Method

• Remove scales and innards of the fish and clean well. Bring 2 liters of water to boil in a deep pot then add in the fish and boil for about 10 minutes. Strain the fish stock into another pot and leave the fish to cool.

• Bring the strained fish stock to a light boil again then add in the peeled tamarind and the Vietnamese mint leaves and continue to simmer in low heat.

• Pick the flesh out from all the fish and discard the bones. Break the flesh into small pieces and return the fish into the stock and continue to simmer with low heat.

• Saute the spicy paste with little bit of cooking oil until it become aromatic then add it to the stock together with the strained tamarind juice and continue to simmer with low heat. Add seasoning to taste.

• To enjoy this sweet, tangy and spicy dish,  arrange cooked laksa noodle in a serving bowl and garnish with all vegetables. Pour the piping hot soup over the noodle and serve with a spoonful of Hae Ko.

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A wholesome dish of fish or seafood steamed in its own juice and infused with fragrant herbs and spices. Claypot’s versatile, all-natural Herbal brings you to new culinary heights in creating healthy dishes your family will love.

Ingredients

500 grams fish Fillet, 10 pieces yu zhu, 2 slices of dang gui,  Chinese Wolfbery (ji zi) 1 tbsp, 2 slices of fresh ginger, 750ml of chicken stock, fresh coriander leaves to garnish, salt and soy sauce to taste

Method

Bing 750ml of chicken stock to a boil and add in all Chinese herbs then continue to simmer with low heat for 30 minutes.

Place fish in a deep steaming plate and pour herbal soup over, add seasoning to taste.

Steam fish over boiling water for 10-12 minutes, garnish with fresh coriander and serve hot.

Note: All Chinese herbs mentioned above can be easily obtained in Chinese Medical Hall.

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Ingredients for Stock
1 kilogram of shrimps heads and shells (rinse well and drained), 500 grams of lean pork, 2 tbsp rock sugar, 2 liters water, 500 grams yellow noodle (scalded), 1 packet of rice noodle (scalded)

Toppings
300 grams shrimps (shelled and deveined), water spinach (scalded), some bean sprouts (scalded), 4 hard boiled eggs (quatered), some crispy fried shallot

Chili paste
20 dried chilies (soaked in warm water and remove seeds), 3 cloves garlic (peeled), 6 shallots (peeled), 1½ tbsp water, 4 tbsp cooking oil

Method

• Blend all chili paste ingredients in a blender or food processor into fine paste. Heat up 4 tablespoons of cooking oil in a wok and stir fry chili paste to fragrant for about 5 minute. Add a little seasoning and set aside to let it cool.

• Add a little bit of oil in the wok and pan fry the shrimps till cooked. Sliced into half and and set aside for toppings. Using the same wok, heat little bit of oil again and stir fry the shrimps heads and shells for 10 minutes until ingredients become aromatic.

• Bring 2 liters of water in a deep pot to a boil. Add fried shrimps head and shells in and let it boil for 10 minutes then simmer with low heat for another 2 hours until the stock is well flavored with the shrimps taste. Strain the stock with a fine siever and discard the shrimps head and shells but keep the lean pork (sliced thinly) as toppings.

• Bring the stock to a light boil again then add in half the cooked chili paste. You can reduce the amount of chili paste in the stock if you do not want it too spicy.

• Add rock sugar and seasoning to taste and keep it warm.

• Serve both noodles in a large bowl top with sliced shrimps, sliced pork, water spinach, bean sprouts and hard boiled egg then ladle hot stock to cover the dish and garnish with little bit of crispy fried shalots.

• Add more chili paste at your desire and serve immediately.

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Ingredients
1/4 cup sago (soaked in cold water for 5 minutes), 100 ml evaporated milk, 300 ml full cream milk, 100 ml fresh coconut milk, 200ml water, 150 g caster sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 400 g ripe mango flesh (blend till pureed), 3 tbsp mago flesh (diced), 1/4 cup fresh pomelo sacs

Method

• Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. Add sago and cook for 5 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat. Cover saucepan and leave aside for 10 minutes. Drain sago in a fine siever and wash sago under running water to remove starch.

• Combine evaporated milk, full cream milk, coconut milk, water, sugar and salt in a pot. Over low fire, stir and bring to a low boil. Remove and leave it to cool completely.

• When mixture is cool, add the mango puree and sago. Chill on the refrigerator for about 3 to 4 hours.

• Pour the well-chilled mango puree mixture into individual serving bowls and top up with diced mango and pomelo sacs.

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This dish is tasty, healthy and easy to prepare, it can also be served hot or chilled.

Ingredients
6 pieces of fresh mushrooms, 1/2 can of tuna fish, 1 tbsp finely chopped onion, cornstarch

Marinade
2 tsp ginger juice, 2 tbsp wine, sugar, salt and pepper to taste

Method
Drain all excess oil and liquid from the can tuna, add chopped onion and stir to mix well. Set aside and serve as filling.
Trim and rinse mushrooms, drain and season with marinade for 15 minutes.
Pat a thin layer of cornstarch onto the mushrooms and stuff it with 2 teaspoons of tuna filling. Steam stuffed mushrooms for about 10 minutes and serve hot.

The alternative way is to blanch mushrooms in boiling water, then leave it to cool. Stuff in the tuna then refrigerated and served cold.

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Ingredients
300 grams yellow noolde, 1 onion, 50 grams cabbage, 3 black mushrooms, few slices red carrot,3stalk spring onion, 2 stalk spinach, 1 tbsp soy bean paste, 1 tsp chopped garlic, 1 tsp chopped red chili

Seasoning
1½ tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp oyster sauce, drops of sesame oil, ½ tsp of chicken powder,  2 tbsp water

Method

• Rinse noodles, drain well and set aside.
• cut onion and vegetables into small pieces.
• Soak mushrooms s and cut into thin slices.
• Heat 2 tbsp of oil, saute garlic to fragrant and stir-fried mushrooms and vegetables for 2 minutes, add noodles in and follow by seasoning, toast to mix well all ingredients.
• Add little bit of water if dish is too dry and fry until noodle is cook.

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Ingredients

1/2 chicken, 450 gram winter melon, few slices of Yunnan ham, 2 slices of ginger, salt to taste

Method

• Rinse and chicken thoroughly, cut into chunks and scald with boiling water. Drain and set aside.
• peel and remove seed from melon, cut into chunks and set aside.
• Place all ingredients into an earthern pot except melon, add 2 liters of water to cover the ingredients, bring it to a boil and simmer with low heat for 1 hour.
• Add melon into the soup, bring it to a light boil and continue to simmer for another 30 minutes. Add salt to taste and serve hot.

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Ingredients

500g beef, 300g turnips (cut into small diagonal chunk), 4 thin slices of ginger, 2 cloves of garlic (crushed), 1 slice tangerine peel (soaked), 2 stalks spring onions(sectioned), 2 tsp fermented bean paste, 1 star anise

Seasoning

1 cup beef stock, 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar, dash of sesame oil, 1 tbsp of cooking wine, salt and pepper to taste

Method

Scald beef and turnips separately, rinse well and set aside.

Bring 1 liter of water to boil and cook beef with medium heat until beef become tender and cut into small chunks. Reserve stock for later use.

Heat 2 tbsp of oil to saute ginger, garlic and bean paste, add beef, turnips and toss well.

Transfer dish to an earthen pot then add seasoning and beef stock and bring it to a light boil.

Simmer with low heat until all ingredients become completely soft. Garnish with spring onions and serve hot.

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Ingredients
800 grams large prawns, 4 tbsp Chinese celery (diced), 4 shallots (chopped), 1 tbsp red chili (cut into rings), 2 tsp curry powder
Marinade
2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine, pinch of pepper
Seasoning
100 ml chicken stock, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, dash of sesame oil, salt, sugar and pepper to taste
Method

• Trim prawns, keep shell and rinse well then pat dry.
• Marinate prawns for 20 minutes, coated with little bit of cornstarch and deep-fry briefly until slight golden in color.
• Saute shallots and curry powder to fragrant, return prawns and sprinkle cooking wine then add seasoning and stock.
• Let the dish boil for 2 minutes and when gravy thicken and almost dry up, stir in the celery and chili, toss wel and dish up.

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