Steamed Pumpkin Cake

with crispy shallot, chilli and coriander ...

with sweet sauce 'n' chilli 'n' sesame seeds ...

with mock floss ...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This recipe is inspired by the Steamed Carrot Cake or Steamed Yam Cake. It looks kind of troublesome to whip but it is not.

To include some fun elements for your guests or kids, allow them to designer their unique Pumpkin Cake to show off their creativity or culinary art. They are few ways to garnish or add flavour to the Pumpkin Cake - top with some mock floss and coriander leaves, or drizzle some sweet soy sauce and sprinkle some sesame seeds or chopped chilli, with some Japanese Spring oil shreds and shichimi, or with some crispy shallot and chopped spring onion, or with chee cheong fun sauce and sesame seeds ...

Preparation:     15 mins, Cooking time:  25 mins

Ingredients (makes 8 pieces)

°         250 pumpkin weight after  peeling, diced

°         4 chinese dried mushroom, soaked and sliced

°         150g rice flour

°         1 tablespoon corn starch

°         1 teaspoon salt or to taste

°         pepper to taste

°         ½ teaspoon sesame oil (optional)

°         500ml water

°         1½ tablespoon oil

Garnish

°         ½ fresh red chilli, finely chopped

°         few coriander leaves

°         some toasted sesame seeds

Method

1.      Combine the rice flour, corn starch, salt, pepper and sesame oil with 250ml of water. Mix well and stir into a smooth batter.

2.      Heat oil in a wok. Throw in the pumpkin and mushroom and stir fry for 1 minute. Pour in 250ml of water and bring to a boil.

3.      Off the heat and pour in the batter. Stir till the batter turn thick and transfer to a steaming container and steam for 25 minutes.

4.      Let it cool. Garnish with chilli, coriander and serve.  

Carrot Cake with Mock Floss

Lately, there are lots of dishes using Floss - Chicken Floss, Pork Floss! Look like it is another way to market the product - FLOSS!  I chance upon this recipe - Meat Floss Carrot Cake (non-vegetarian) and modified the recipe to make a Vegetarian Carrot Cake with Mock Floss.

This is a long neglected food and is not too difficult to whip up at all and I love to add lots of ingredients to it. Other way to garnish this Carrot Cake is to drizzle some sweet soy sauce and sprinkle some sesame seeds or chopped chilli, with some Japanese Spring oil shreds and shichimi, or with some crispy shallot and chopped spring onion, or with chee cheong fun sauce and sesame seeds ...

Preparation:     15 mins, Cooking time:  25 mins 

Ingredients (makes 8 pieces)

°         200g radish weight after  peeling, diced

°         50g carrot weight after peeling, died

°         4 chinese dried mushroom, soaked and sliced

°         150g rice flour

°         1 tablespoon corn starch

°         1 teaspoon salt or to taste

°         pepper to taste

°         ½ teaspoon sesame oil (optional)

°         500ml water

°         1½ tablespoon oil

Garnish

°         some mock floss

°         few coriander leaves

°         ½ fresh chilli, sliced

Method

1.      Combine the rice flour, corn starch, salt, pepper and sesame oil with 250ml of water. Mix well and stir into a smooth batter.

2.      Heat oil in a wok. Throw in the radish, carrot and mushroom and stir fry for 1 minute. Pour in 250ml of water and bring to a boil.

3.      Off the heat and pour in the batter. Stir till the batter turn thick and transfer to a steaming container and steam for 25 minutes. Let it cools. Top with mock floss, garnish with coriander and chilli. 

Mini Red Bean Pumpkin

It is fun making mini pumpkin. After having this at a Buffet, I decided to try out. Use any filling – sweet or salty. Try to roll or flatten the dough portion into a thin round disc and you can fill up with more koshian. I am not that good with thin disc, therefore my mini pumpkin is too thick. If you don’t have any chilli stalks, use stalk of the Chinese celery to make the mini pumpkin stalk.

Preparation: 30 mins, Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients (makes 12± )
° 200g pumpkin (weight after peeling), peeled and sliced
° 200g glutinous rice flour
° 1½-2 tablespoons sugar
° 150g koshian/red bean paste
° 12 chilli stalks

Method
1. Bring the water in the steamer to a boil. Place the pumpkin in and steam for 10 minutes or until soften. Mashed the pumpkin.
2. To make dough, combine the mashed pumpkin, glutinous rice flour and sugar in a mixing bowl. Mix well, knead into dough and divide into 25g-30g portions.
3. Flatten each portion into a thin circular shape. Place ½ teaspoon koshian/red bean paste on top. Wrap up and shape it into a ball using your hand. Use a plastic cutter to crave some lines on the ball to resemble a pumpkin. Place the stalk of the chilli in the centre.
4. Grease a tin with oil and place the mini pumpkin in and stream for 10 minutes.
5. Serve immediately.

Nonya Kueh: Steamed Tapioca Kueh

Hey, did not know that this is so simple to make. The only work is grating the tapioca but it is fun using the grater, or else makes use of the blender. The tapioca is quite cheap about S$1 for 1kg when I bought two days ago. Peeling the tapioca is easy too, just made a slice lengthwise and the bark can be easily peeled off. Food colouring is optional for a healthy choice. Use desiccated coconut if freshly grated coconut is unavailable.

Preparation: 15 mins, Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients (makes 6)
° 300g tapioca (weight after peeled), grated
° 90g sugar, or to taste
° 150ml water
° ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
° food colouring (optional)
° 75g-100g fresh grated coconut
° a pinch of salt

Method
1. Combine the grated tapioca, sugar, water, vanilla essence and food colouring in a mixing bowl. Mix well.
2. Grease a tin with oil and pour in the mixture. Steam for 20 minutes and leaves to cool prior to cutting.
3. Mix the grated coconut with a pinch of salt in a plate. Ensure that the steamed tapioca kueh are evenly coated with grated coconut.
4. Serve.

Steamed Huat Kueh (Fa Gou)

Traditional Huat Kueh! I bought a packet of Red Man Huat Kueh Mix. Instead of using coconut milk or milk and food colouring which was indicated on the packet. I replaced with unsweetened soy milk and green tea powder or black sesame powder. You may use paper cup or plastic cup for the steaming but I think to be more environmentally-friendly, little teacups would be better. Alternatively, make huat kueh by using 250g of self-raising flour, 200g of black sugar and 250g of coconut milk. I have yet to test out using wheat flour and soy milk and self-raising flour with soy milk. Remember, always bring the water in the streamer to a boil before steaming for a more satisfactory result.

Ingredients of Red Man Huat Kueh Mix: Wheat Flour, Sugar, Baking Powder, Vanillin.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients (makes 10-12 pieces)
° 500g huat kueh mix
° 300ml unsweetened soy milk
° 2-4 teaspoons green tea powder or black sesame powder, or to taste

Method
1. Combine all the ingredients in bowl. Mix well to form a batter.
2. Grease the teacups and pour in the huat kueh batter.
3. Bring the water in the steamer to a boil. Place the teacups in and steam for 15-30 minutes, depending on the size of the cup.
4. Serve with brown sugar and grated coconut.

Nonya Kueh: Kueh Kosui (Palm Sugar Rice Cake)

Another popular dessert – kueh kosui which is palm sugar rice cake streamed in chinese tea cups and coated with fresh grated coconut. Alternatively, stream this kueh in a metal container or tin and cut into small pieces. You may like to insert a toothpick into the streamed cake to test whether it is ready. If it comes out clean, off the fire and leave it to cool completely prior to mixing with coconut.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 25 mins

Ingredients (makes 30± cubes)
° 200g fresh grated coconut
° a pinch of salt

Syrup
° 125g gula melaka (palm sugar), chopped
° 200g black sugar
° 5 pandan leaves (screwpine), tie in knot

Mixture
° 100g tapioca flour
° 200g rice flour
° 350ml water
° 1 teaspoon alkaline water

Method
1. To make syrup: combine the syrup ingredients in a bowl and bring to a boil. Stir occasionally. Strained and set aside.
2. Combine the mixture ingredients in a mixing bowl. Stir in the syrup and mix well.
3. Transfer to a pot, cooked over low heat and stir constantly until the mixture slightly thickens.
4. Grease a tin with oil and pour in the thicken mixture. Stream for 15 minutes or until it slightly harden and leaves to cool completely prior to cutting into small cubes.
5. Mix the grated coconut with a pinch of salt in a large plate. Roll the kueh kosui and ensure they are evenly coated with grated coconut.
6. Sprinkle some grated coconut and serve.

Nonya Kueh: Pulut Inti (Glutinous Rice with Caramelized Coconut Topping)

The process of making this kueh can be simplified by using the rice cooker instead of steaming the glutinous rice. To make the filling, it is fairly simple and need no expert. Just get some fresh grated coconut and good quality gula melaka, you will have a tasty filling. Traditionally, the blue coloured rice is the result of using the extract of the blue pea flower. In here, I used food colouring. A better alternative is to use fresh pandan juice to cook the glutinous rice.

As for how to wrap this kueh, it is up to individual, using banana leave or plastic to wrap, or stack on a tiny square piece of banana leave. Another way is, use the plastic bag (15.5cm x 10cm), made a slit on one side, open it up to form a cone, place the coconut filling first, follow by the glutinous rice, pressed it and wrapped it like a little present! It is yummy but do not eat too much if you are watching your weight (I have reduced half the amount of coconut milk and replaced with water in this recipe!).

Preparation: 15 mins, Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients (makes 16)
° 400g glutinous rice
° 200ml water
° 200ml coconut milk
° ½ teaspoon salt
° 4 pandan leaves (screwpine), tied into a knot
° blue food colouring (optional)
° banana leaves or plastic wrappers, cut into 12cm x 15cm rectangle

Filling
° 80ml water
° 125g gula malaka (palm sugar), chopped
° 4 pandan leaves (screwpine), tied into a knot
° 150g fresh grated coconut

Method
1. Wash the glutinous rice and place in a bowl with enough water to cover. Leave to soak for 4 hours or more. Drain thoroughly.
2. Place the glutinous rice, water, coconut, salt and pandan leaves into an electric rice cooker, mix well and turn it on. When done, leave the cooked rice to rest, covered, for 10 minutes. Sprinkle some blue food colouring and mix well.
3. To make filling: combine pandan leaves, chopped gula melaka with water in a small pot and cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Discard pandan leaves and add in the grated coconut. Mix well, stir occasionally and simmer until the liquid dry up.
4. To assemble: Place 1 tablespoon of glutinous rice in the middle of a plastic wrapper and top with 1 teaspoon of caramelized coconut filling and fold into a pyramid shape.
5. Serve warm.

Nonya Kueh: Onde Onde (Coconut Popper)

When I was a little girl, my mother used to buy me onde onde when she went shopping in Johor Bahru. I just love the big size onde onde, with a second bite, there would be a sweet sensation of oozing gula melaka syrup! It is a bit difficult to find it nowadays, so I decide to make some myself using this simple recipe and gives away some. It is fun and easy to make.

Preparation: 20 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (makes 20)
° 350g glutinous rice flour
° 300ml water
° 12-15 pandan leaves (screwpine) or green food colour and essence
° 100g-120g gula melaka (palm sugar), cut into 20 cubes
° 200g fresh grated coconut
° a pinch of salt

Method
1. To make pandan leaves juice: chopped the pandan leaves, with 50ml of water and blend to a grassy pulp. Squeeze the pulp in muslin cloth for the green juice. Ensure that the juice combine with the water make up to 300ml or slightly less.
2. Combine the flour and water (with pandan juice) in a mixing bowl. Mix well, knead into dough and divide into 20 equal portions.
3. Flatten each portion, place a cube of gula melaka in the centre and shape into a ball. It does not matter, if it is not too rounded. Alternatively, shape each portion into a ball, make a well and place a cube of gula melake in it, seal and reshape it into a ball.
4. Bring 1 litre of water to boil. Add in the dough balls and return to boil. Remove dough balls with a slotted spoon as soon as they float to the surface.
5. Mix the grated coconut with a pinch of salt in a large plate. Roll the cooked onde onde and ensure they are evenly coated with grated coconut.
6. Serve warm.

Steamed Banana Cake

Steamed banana cake usually calls for rice flour, tapioca starch, sugar and salt. I have a packet of waffle pancake mix (‘Red Man’ brand) and some ripe bananas. So, I make some steamed banana cake.

It is extremely simple and easy, as the pancake premix contains most of the ingredients, I just need to add water, coconut milk and mashed banana. To make the cake look nicer, you may add some yellow colouring, but I choose not to. You may even garnish with some desiccated coconut if desired.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients (makes 8-10 pieces)
° 200g waffle-pancake mix
° 100ml water
° 100ml coconut milk or fresh unsweetened soy milk
° 2 (300g) ripe bananas, mashed

Method
1. Combine the mashed banana, flour, water, coconut milk in bowl. Mix well.
2. Grease a heat-proof ware, pour in the cake mixture and cover with plastic wrap or banana leave on top.
3. Steam for 25-30 minutes or until it is springy. Set aside to cool and cut into small squares.
4. Serve smaller serving.

Coconut Glutinous Rice Ball with Palm Sugar

This is a simple and easy kueh’s recipe, for the sweet tooth. You can choose to shape it like ball, flatten or make into a triangle shape.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients (makes 8 balls)
° 200g glutinous rice
° 200ml water
° ½ teaspoon salt
° 2 pandan leaves (screwpine), tied into a knot
° 250g fresh grated coconut

Sauce
° 100-125g gula malaka (palm sugar), chopped
° 50ml water

Method
1. Wash the glutinous rice and place in a bowl with enough water to cover. Leave to soak for 3 hours or more. Drain thoroughly.
2. Place the glutinous rice, water, salt and pandan leaves into an electric rice cooker, mix well and turn it on.
3. When done, use your hand to shape the rice into 8 balls. Coat them evenly with the fresh grated coconut. Set aside.
4. Combine chopped gula melaka with water in a small pot and cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Strain into a serving jug and set aside.
5. Serve glutinous rice ball with gula melaka sauce.