Onde-Onde (nyonya desserts) Recipe

Had a craving for Onde-Ondes, so I googled for the recipe and delighted to know it's so easy to make.... I love this because of the delightful sweet surprise you get on the inside. When you sink your teeth into the fragrant chewy ball you'll get liquid sugar oozing out....yummers.. but it's not any ordinary sugar, you'll need Gula Melaka (Palm sugar) (found mainly in south east asia/ sometimes your favourite asian grocer).
Here's all you'll need:
palm sugar (chop and shaped into tiny balls of sugar balls, about the size of a peanut, personal preference)
250 g glutinous rice flour
50 g tapioca starch flour
80-100 ml pandan juice*
grated coconut ( I used coconut flakes)

(* pandan/ screwpine leaves : juice can be extracted by blending 8 leaves with 1 cup of water. It is important to make sure you chop the leaves finely before blending. Then over a sieve, further squeeze juice from leaves with hands into a glass and set aside. Then with the same blended/drained leaves, blend them again with another cup of water to get slightly less concentrated juice.Pandan juice will give the dish a natural green colouring and fragrance)

Instructions:

1. Slowly add Pandan juice to flour mixture. adjust amount of juice according to the consistency desired. You want to knead the dough to get a smooth, green coloured dough.
2. Tear the dough to make approximate 1 inch balls. Make a cavity in center of ball ,place 'palmsugar-ball' and cover up neatly and give it a good roll to get a smooth ball.
3. Place balls into a pot of boiling water. Boil until balls start to float on the surface, further boil for 2-3 minutes to get sugar to melt inside.
4. Remove ball from pot into a bowl of coconut flakes/grated, roll the ball to give it a thorough coating.
   
5. Serve when cooled. Do not keep overnight / in the fridge as they will get very hard to chew.

Cook time = ~ 10 minutes per ball
Difficulty = tricky

Cream of Mushroom Recipe

Nothing fancy to warm your belly. I like them chunky, with loads of mushrooms...For this recipe I simply used the regular white/ brown fresh mushrooms. You may opt to use other types to your fancy.

Ingredients:
5 cups of chopped mushrooms
half cup of diced onions
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
1 cup of cooking cream+ milk
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp all purpose flour (dissolved in water)
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsbp salt
grounded black pepper

Instructions:

1. Heat butter in a sauce pan. Add in onions and fry till translucent, then add in mushrooms. Let simmer for 2-5 minutes then remove and let cool. (you may choose to save some mushrooms for the chunky bits later)
   
2. Blend ingredients from (1) with chicken broth. Blend until smooth.
   
3. Pour mixture into a pot, add cream+ milk, flour, thyme, salt and pepper to taste. Stir well and let simmer for 15 minutes.
   
4. In the last 5 minutes, add in remaining chunky mushrooms (finely diced). Garnish and serve warm.

Prep time : 30 minutes
Difficulty level : easy

Pumpkin Steamed Rice-Cake Recipe

MY ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE...
I'll admit it's lots of work, but so worth it. Kaj and I both had 2nds and 3rds. This is a common absolutely mouthwatering, to-die-for snack in Asia (to me at least). It's one of my favourite childhood dish which I used to beg my mom make all the time. It's more commonly made with Yam (Taro) - 'yam ricecakes'. Since it's so hard to find yam here in Sweden, I've learnt that you can make equally yummy ricecakes with Pumpkins (slightly sweeter).


To make this heavenly dish, you'll need the following:

Rice-Cake
pumpkin ( I used butternut squash)
400 g rice flour
2 1/2 tbsp tapioca starch
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
2 cups warm water

Toppings
Pork Belly/ Chicken fillet, thin strips (premarinated with splash of soy sauce and sherry)
6-8 pieces Shitake Mushrooms, soaked in warm water till soft, finely diced
2 red chillies,finely chopped
2 stlk green onions, finely chopped
a handful pickled turnip/ salted veg, finely chopped
a handful dried shrimps, soaked and softened then finely chopped
soy sauce
sherry (optional)
fried onions/ shallots

Instructions:

1. Skin pumpkin and boil for 30 minutes/ until soft. thoroughly mash pumpkin flesh. Set aside to cool.
   
2. To make rice cake: mix flour + starch+ salt + sugar. Slowly add in warm water whilst stirring to avoid clumps. You want to get a silky milk-like texture (adjust water amount). Set aside for 15 - 30 minutes.
3. Add mash pumpkin into flour mixture.
   
4. Prepare steamer at high heat. Place flour mixture into a tray unto the steamer. Steam for at least an hour.
5. Meanwhile, prepare the toppings for garnishing later. Heat 4 tbsp of oil in a wok and fry pickled turnip for ~ 5 minutes. Add in chopped dried shrimps and fry til crispy and fragrant. Add green onions and stir fry for abit. Remove and set aside.
6. Add in meat into the wok (avoid adding oil if using pork belly). Fry until meat changes colour and slightly crispy (personal liking). Add in mushrooms and a few splash of soy sauce (to taste). Stir fry for a few minutes. Remove and set aside.
7. Now to plate : Remove rice cake from steamer and let cool for some time. Slice out serving portion and garnish with fried toppings. To further enhance flavour and appearance add freshly chopped chillies, green onions and fried shallots.
8. Voila, ready to be served. I like mine with some chilli-garlic sauce. Smaklig maltid!
   

Prep Time: ~ 2 hours.
Difficulty level: moderate

No-Bake Cheese Cake Recipe

When you feel like having a snack, like say a cheesecake, and you dont know much about baking (like me) here's a simple basic 'no-bake' cheesecake recipe you can follow.

Ingredients (20cm baking tray):
1 package Soft Cream Cheese (Philadelphia)
1/2 pack of McVites Digestives biscuits (1 whole pack for thicker crust, as in picture)
150g butter, softened
250g whipped cream
lemon
vanilla essence
2 1/2 tbsp gelatin powder
1 tbsp sugar

Instructions:

1. Blend/ finely crush biscuits and add soft butter. Mix thoroughly and firmly fill bottom of tray (making sure it's compact, avoiding air pockets - brittle cake)
2. Beat the cream cheese, whipped cream and sugar together. Add 1-2 drop of vanilla essence.
   
3. Dissolve gelatine with 3-5 tbsp warm water. Add into cheese mixture and continue beating.
4. Add 2 tbsp lemon juice and some grated lemon zest. Pour mixture onto biscuit layer.
   
5. Chill in fridge for a couple of hours. Voila, best served chill.

*optional: you may top the cake with blueberries/strawberries/ raspberries.

Prep Time: ~30 minutes
Difficulty level : Easy