Baked dumplings

  

So I've made these several times over parties and I'd like to share the recipe (as promised).

I love dumplings. They are great savoury snacks and so versatile (you can bake them, pan fry them, deep fry, steam; you could use whatever fillings to your liking)

This recipe a really simple to make, delicious and healthy- because it's baked, not deep-fried like you get them at the restaurant.

Here are the ingredients you need (makes about 6 servings/ 40 - 50 pieces):

For wrapping the dumplings I used these wonton pastry you could get from the asian grocer

 

For the filling:

500g minced beef (or pork)

2x2 inches of ginger - finely diced

5 garlic cloves - finely diced

2x shallots OR 3 stalks of green/spring onions -  finely chopped

1x red chilli (optional) - finely chopped

8-10 x medium-large shitake mushrooms (pre-soaked until soft) - diced

2-3 stalks of asian coriander/ cilantro - finely chopped

1 egg

To add a little crunch you could also add finely diced carrots/ water chestnuts

oil for frying and brushing

sesame oil

soya sauce

cooking sherry /optional

pepper

woicester sauce / oyster sauce

 Instructions:

1. Marinate minced meat with 4 tbsp soysauce, 2 tbsp sherry, 1.5 tbsp oyster/woicester sauce, 3 tbsp of sesame oil, couple dashes of pepper. mix well and let it sit for 10 minutes
2. Meanwhile, heat 3 tbsp oil in frying pan on medium heat. Add ginger and stir fry until golden crispy / you smell the aroma. Then add in garlic, onions and chili. Stir until fragrant. Then add into meat
3. Mix in the cilantro/coriander and mushrooms. Mix everything well then add an egg and continue mixing (the egg will hold the meat together to ensure it doesnt fall apart when baked)
4. At this point I would pan fry a tiny bit of the meat mixture and taste it to see if it is under seasoned. Then adjust seasoning accordingly.
5. Start wrapping the dumplings in the wonton pastry by placing meat fillings at the center of the sheets and bring all corners together, give it a twirl around the top like you would do with a christmas gift bag, gently squeeze the together and open the ends downwards so it'll resemble flower petals.
6. Place dumplings on baking paper and brush them with a little oil. Bake them in preheated oven at 200 Celcius for 10-12 minutes.
7. Serve.

Difficulty level: Medium

Prep time: 1 hour

Braised Pork(belly) with fermented beanpaste and ginger

This is a very simple dish to make. throw everything together - marinade - simmer - serve!

 
Ingredients:


400g pork belly (cut into 1/2 inch chunks)
2 whole garlic, washed and not peeled
3 large thumbsized ginger, pounded
1tbspn five spice powder (can be found in most asian stores)
2 tbsp soy sauce
1tbspn dark soysauce
1.5 tbsp fermented bean paste/ taucu (found in most asian stores)
1tspn sugar
dash of salt to taste
coriander& red chili for garnishing


Instructions:

1. mix all ingredients and spices with meat, let marinade sit for at least 30 minutes
2. heat wok/ pan then add meat marinade into pot on semi high heat. stir until you start to see oil ('released' from pork lards)
3. add enough water to cover meat. Let it boil and simmer over medium heat until water slowly evaporates and you get a thick gravy.

Careful to ensure that you stir dish from time to time to avoid caramelised gravy at the bottom.
After simmering for about 2 hours meat should be tender and delicious to serve with rice. Add garnishing to your liking

Difficulty level:     Easy
Time to prepare:  5 minutes
Time to cook :     1-2 hours

Sticky-date Pudding

I think I first tried sticky date pudding back in Melbourne, Australia when dear Aunty Thina made some really lovely ones over her christmas lunch. I LOVED IT! I still remember how awesome it tasted with her home made toffee sauce, it just melts in your mouth.... This is a version I found online...rather than the overly sweet toffee sauce, I prefer it with vanilla ice cream=)
A little different from Aunty Thina's, certainly not nearly as good as her version, but good enough me thinks ;) it's 'momsfillibaba'.....

Here's what you'll need:
2 cups of roughly diced pitted dates (I bought mine from a regular middle eastern grocer, they are delish!)
125g butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1.5 cups boiling water
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
Self raising flour mixture (I used 2 cups wheat flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 0.5 tsp salt)
3 eggs

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven at 180 degrees celcius.
   
2. Roughly dice the pitted dates and place it in a bowl. Add in bicarbonate soda and then the boiling water. Let mixture sit for about 30 minutes (this would allow dates to soften, and turn into almost paste-like consistency)
3. In a cake mixer, beat butter and sugar until thoroughly mixed and then add in vanilla essence and the eggs one by one.
4. Slowly fold in the flour mixture and continue mixing until smooth. Then gradually fold in the dates from (1) and mix well.
   
5. Prepare a 20 or 25'' baking pan. Lightly grease with butter on the base and sides, then dust a little and shake off access flour.
   
6. With a ladle, transfer pudding mixture from (4) into the baking pan. Place pan into oven and bake for about 40-45 minutes (or check with a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake to test if it's cook or not. If it comes out clean then your pudding is ready to serve)

I love mine served warm and topped with a medium scoop of vanilla ice cream...YUMMERss..

Prep time: 1.5 hours

Difficulty: Moderate

Oven-baked Pandan Wrapped Chicken

Here's a simple way to make light, simple and tasty bites. I believe it's Thai origin, and it is yummier deep fried, but i prefer mine oven baked. It works with either chicken breast or tender chicken thighs.

Here's what you'll need:
Chicken meat, I used two large chicken breast pieces (cut into 1-1.5 inch cubes)
pandan leaves
3 inches ginger (grated and squeezed for juice)
1-2 dashes of soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
a dash of sesame oil
2-3 dashes of white pepper powder
3 tbsp of sugar (you may also use honey)

Instructions:

1. Marinate chicken pieces in all ingredients for at least an hour or two.
2. Starting on one end of the pandan leaf, start rolling in the chicken piece. Hold the wrap with a toothpick.
3. In a preheated oven, bake chicken pieces at approx 200 deg. celcius, for 20-25 minutes (until golden brown).
4. serve on its own or preferred dipping sauce
   

Prep + cook time: 1 hour

Difficulty level : easy- moderate

Chinese 'fu yu' (fermented beancurd) Fried Chicken Wings Recipe

I love the taste of this dish. I first learnt to make it from a friend when I was in Australia. It's actually pretty easy to make, as long as you have the right asian ingredients from your fav asian grocer. It's tasty, aromatic, crispy and goes very well with a warm plate of rice.

Here's what you'll need:

a dozen chicken wings (cut into two parts)
3 pieces fermented beancurd (fuyu)
1 tsp fermented bean paste (taocheo)
2 inch ginger (grated)
2 tsp garlic (grated/ finely minced)
1 tbsp chinese cooking wine
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp light soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp corn flour
flour mixture for coating (3 tbsp wheat flour, 2 tbsp rice flour, 1 tbsp corn flour, small dash of salt and pepper)
oil for deep frying

Instruction:

1. Clean chicken wings and marinate chicken wings with all ingredients. Rub all ingredients thoroughly with your clean hands. Refrigerate over night.
2. Heat oil for deep frying. One by one, coat chicken wings with flour mixture, making sure that you get a thorough but light flour coating, shake off excess flour before popping chicken into oil. Do not over-fry the chicken. Once chicken enters the oil, turn heat to medium setting.
3. Drain crispy chicken wings and best served while warm and crispy.

Prep + cook time: 1 hour

Difficulty level : moderate

Chocolate-dipped Strawberries

If you love Strawberries AND chocolate, you have to make these yourselves. It looks delicious, tastes amazing, and sOOO much fun to make. It's pretty easy....although it does require some tidious steps. It's basically a fruit fondue that you can do with grapes, apples, or bananas. It reminds me of school days, during school fairs where there will be stalls selling choc-dipped apples and marshmallows everywhere... So here's what you'll need:

Ingredients :
Baking chocolate bar ( I prefer going for the dark chocolate, slightly bitter sweet)
Fruits

Instructions:

1. You'll need to wash the fresh fruits thoroughly and then air dry them or pat dry with kitchen towels.
2. Bring a small pot of water to simmer on low-medium heat. Place a glass bowl over it, making sure it sits perfectly well on top of the pot, and the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water surface.
   
3. Once chocolate melts, you can start coating the fruits. (IMPORTANT: the fruit has to be absolutely dry when dipping into the chocolate sauce, as any moisture would turn chocolate grainy, and it would not give the fruits a shiny smooth coating)
4. Gently swirl fruit until excess chocolate is dripped off the fruit, then gently place it on a plate and cool it in the refrigerator for approx 30 minutes.
   
5. Best eaten within 24 hours.

Difficulty level: easy

Time : 1 hour

Oven-Baked Curry Puffs Recipe

Recently had cravings for some curry puffs.....and making these reminded me of the good ol' times on Samada Street, Melbourne with my dear friend Sam, how we used to make them together in our tiny little kitchen =) This recipe happens to be a cheat since i didnt make the puff pastry on my own (used the ready made ones from the frozen section at Coop, heh)....but you could probably easily make them your own if you want to. But to make the fillings here's what I used:

Ingredients:
Chicken (diced; omitted if vegetarian version preferred)
Oil for frying
half cup water
Peas
Potatoes (diced, pre-boiled)
Onions (finely diced)
Curry mixture (3 tbsp curry powder + 1 tsp tumeric powder + 1tsp chili powder + salt and pepper to taste + half tsp sugar)
Hard boiled eggs (diced, generously sized)

Instructions to make fillings:

1. Heat oil in a sauce pan. Add in onions and stir till brown then add in curry mix.
2. Stir fry curry mix until fragrant (about 2 minutes, on medium heat).
3. Add in meat, potatoes and peas. Stir in a little while then add water. Lower heat and let it simmer for about 15-20 minutes until mixture is mushy.
4. When folding in fillings into pastry, add in pieces of eggs to give it extra texture and taste.
5. Place puffs on baking paper, brush a little egg wash to give them colour. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 150 degrees (oh dont forget to preheat oven first )

Bon appetit!

Difficulty level : moderate

Time : 1.5- 2 hours