Steamed Prawns With Egg White and Chinese Wine

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This is my second attempt to deplete the egg whites left over from my Lapis cake. Baking 6 Pistachio Dacquoise cookies did not quite help to make a dent in my bowl of egg whites and I desperately want to move away from sweets and butter for a short while.

This is a very handy recipe for seafood preparation at home.  The original recipe which I referred to featured steamed crabs instead of prawns but prawns work just as well and is more accessible for every day family meals.

The last prawn dish I cooked was a crispy golden fried prawns which is well received by all young and old. However, I have been brought up to remember that the best way to cook fresh seafood like fish, prawns and even crabs would be to steam them to retain as much of the original goodness of the ingredient as possible. Hence one of the most popular dishes served in seafood restaurants here is still steamed prawns or white water poached prawns in their shell.

What I like about this recipe is how the flavours of ginger, sesame oil and Chinese wine - each distinct enough on its own- meld together to result in a well balanced subtlety that is at the same time refined yet comforting.

I don't think this turned out quite right. I believe I did not control the heat well enough... having done which, I believe would result in a tofu like smoothness in the egg white. Well, I have no trouble at all repeating this again the next time I buy a batch of fresh prawns at the wet market...


Steamed Prawns With Egg White & Chinese Wine
Reciepe (Adapted from Home Cooking With Sam&Forest)

300g            Fresh Prawns
5cm knob    Ginger, finely sliced.
Dash           Chinese cooking wine

Seasoning
1 (40g)        Egg White
4 tbsp (40g)Chicken stock
Pinch          Salt
Pinch          Sugar
Dash           Sesame oil

Garnish
Coriander leaves

Method :
1. Shell prawns to leave only the tail end intact. Devein and wash.
2. Lay prawns on a steaming plate.
3. Pour seasoning over prawns and sprinkle ginger over the prawns.
4. Set up steamer and wait until water is boiling. Place prawns in a steamer and steam over medium to high heat for 10mins until prawns are cooked.
5. Pour Chinese wine over prawns, garnish with coriander leaves and serve immediately while hot.

Ox Tongue Cookies - 宜兰牛舌饼

My first encounter with this cookie was in Taiwan. Named after the shape it resembles, it is literally called  Ox Tongue Cookies and is the local specialty of Yilan Province in Taiwan.
The commercial grade I had tried, came in many different flavours including, cheese, coconut, black sesame etc...  The cookie was whisper thin and gloriously brittle. Packed with the wonderful flavours of butter and maltose, the fragrance was delightfully distracting as I was shooting the photos of these cookies.


My reference recipe worked with a soft oily dough (butter rich) which had to be proofed to relax the gluten structure. This was then used to wrap a sugary dough filling before it was rolled out carefully to form the thin tongue like shape. Obviously, made by hand, I can never attain the whisper thin thickness of the commercial product - most likely rolled out in large batches through machine press - but I am more than delighted with the results. Thin and brittle enough to break at the slightest snap, I am feeling very accomplished. I can't wait to show these off to my Taiwanese colleagues.  These are again, traditional treats that very few would be bothered to make at home nowadays.

I can't wait to modify the recipe for Chinese New Year. Continue to watch this space for further adaptation.

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YiLan Ox Tongue Cookies (宜兰牛舌饼， 原味）

Recipe : (adapted from 来做古早味零食） 
Oil Dough
120g                     All purpose flour
55g                       Water
12g                       Powder sugar
40g                       Unsalted butter

Sugar Dough
30g                       Powder sugar
20g                       Maltose syrup
20g                       Unsalted butter
5g                         Water
30g                       Condensed Milk
50g                       Cooked flour ( Cook flour in a pot over medium heat for about 15 to 20 minutes until
                             flour turns light brown. Sift and store)

Method :
1. Prepare oil dough by mixing water, sugar, butter together. Add all purpose flour and knead until a smooth dough is formed. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough proof for 30 mins.

2. Divide the proofed oil dough (1) into 10g portion and roll them into balls.

3. Prepare sugar dough by mixing sifted powder sugar,maltose syrup, butter and water. Add in condensed milk and cooked flour until a dough is formed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 mins to firm up the dough.

4. Divide the sugar dough into  7g portion and roll into a ball.

5. Flatten a oil dough ball and wrap one portion of the sugar dough with the oil dough.

6. Flatten (5) slightly on a lightly floured silpat / baking sheet. Carefully roll out the dough with a floured rolling pin (use a smaller pin - those typically used for making Dim Sum would be good) .

7. Repeat (5) and lay the 2nd dough next to (6) and roll out the dough as instructed in (6)...



8. Make a slit down the center of the dough as shown above. (failing to do so, the cookie will balloon up in the oven) Bake at 170C for 15mins until the cookie is golden brown.

XO Sauce Stir Fried Loh Shu Fun / Mee Tai Mak

Mee Tai Mak/ Bee Tai Mak is one of the many forms of rice noodles that we eat in Asia. Very much like a shorter and more wriggly cousin of the Japanese Udon, the cantonese name of this noodle (Loh Shu Fun) literally translates to mean Rat's Noodle. Not too difficult to understand for the tapering shape of the noodle does somewhat reminds one of the wriggly tip of a rat's tail...

Interestingly though, I had always referred to the noodle as Mee Tai Mak/ Bee Tai Mak when I was growing up. It was only until when I was much older , a widely reported outbreak of food poisoning in Malaysia exposed me to the more colourful ratty term. The food poisoning was traced back to a batch of contaminated Mee Tai Mak. The papers were rife with reports and stories of how people would fall sick after they ate Lou Shu Fun..( the pronounciation of the term can also be interpreted as  rat's powder / rat's poison). I was dumbfounded when I read the reports and started to ask my friends why on earth would those people in Malaysia want to eat Rat Poison??  Only then, did I learn that the Rat Poison was actually Mee Tai Mak...

I was invited to join a bloggers' gathering last weekend. Initiated by ZY of Baking Library, it was a small gathering among some of the Singapore food bloggers whom I have come to know over the last 2 years. I knew I had to bring a savoury dish for the event (I brought Mee Rebus for our first gathering last year) as most of the others I knew would be bringing sweet treats.


Fried with XO sauce and prawns, this is a relatively easy dish to prepare. However, dishes like these (as is true for most Chinese dishes) would taste best when cooked over strong heat. The Mee Tai Mak especially needs to be tossed very quickly over high heat to prevent it from turning soggy and mushy over prolong stir frying. Hence what I did was, I first poached the noodles in boiling water for 5 seconds before frying them quickly in small batches over very high heat in my wok. As a result, I had to divide and fry my potluck portion into 3 lots.
If you are only cooking for a small family at home, this is definitely more manageable - just make sure the wok is very hot.

Overall, I think my efforts were met with reasonable success... good enough to open shop? Maybe but I am still not consistent from batch to batch and I wouldn't want to stand in front of a blasting hot wok the whole day... :)


Recipe :

Mee Tai Mak               200g  (enough for 2)

Prawns                        6 -8 medium to large size prawns, shelled and deveined.
Spring Onion              4 stalks, chopped
Chili Padi                    Chopped finely. (you can also replace with sambal chili paste)
Bean Sprouts              50g (poached for 10 seconds in boiling water. For this post, I ran out of bean
                                   sprouts, so I omitted them)

Eggs                           2, beaten
Oil                              1 tbsp

Seasoning
XO Sauce                   1 tbsp
Oyster Sauce              1 tbsp
Sugar                          1/2 tbsp
Light Soya Sauce       1 tbsp
Dark Soya Sauce        1/2 tsp
Sesame Oil                  1/2 tsp
White Pepper               Dash
(For those who prefer a stronger taste, the seasoning portion can be increased in proportion)

Method :

1. Poach Mee Tai Mak in boiling water for 5 seconds, remove from water with a slotted spoon and set aside. (do not over cook Mee Tai Mak)

2. Heat up the wok until smoking. Add 1 tbsp oil and add beaten eggs. When eggs just begin to set, scramble with frying ladle and add Mee Tai Mak, Prawns, Spring Onion, Bean sprouts and seasoning.

3. Fry until prawns are cooked. (turns pink)

4. Dish out the noodles and garnish with more chopped spring onions and sesame seed (optional). Serve immediately while hot.

Hong Kong Soya Sauce Fried Noodles - 豉油王炒面

One of the dishes which I simply cannot resist when I am in Hong Kong, is a good plate of the plain, simple Soya Sauce Fried Noodles. Totally simplistic in its make up and yet so flavourful and satisfying. This is somewhat similar to our morning breakfast favourite, the economy Fried Beehoon/ Fried Noodles. These are commonly fried in big herd-feeding batches with just soya sauce and a little bean sprouts and are usually sold in a good fulfilling portion for a humble 80 cents to a dollar - hence the word Economy. We have since then turned affluent and started to add a myriad of side dishes (the likes of fried egg, Luncheon meat, chicken wings, curry vegetables etc...)  to make this into quite a yummilicious  feast. However, as delicious as the Economy Fried Noodles could be, one will never find it on the menu of a Chinese restaurant. The Hong Kong Soya Sauce Fried noodle, however, often comfortably shares a place in the menu with fancy dim sums and gourmet abalones...

The critical component to a great Soya Sauce Fried Noodles is a good soya sauce. A premium grade soya sauce lends nuances of delicate flavour and fragrance to the dish which instantly elevates this otherwise simple, no frills dish to its classic, evergreen status.
After the soya sauce, the choice of noodle would understandably be another important component for this dish. Dried egg noodles are usually quickly blanched in hot water to soften the noodles before they are fried to a dry, glossy consistency. The other accompaniments cooked together with the noodles are as humble as they come - bean sprouts and a little Chinese Chives are the staple fare. Sprinkle on a handful of toasted sesame seeds and this proudly becomes restaurant worthy. Enjoy!


Recipe :
Dried Egg Noodle               200g (blanched quickly in hot water to soften. Drain and set aside)
Premium light soya sauce     2 tbsp (生抽王）
Premium dark soya sauce    1 tbsp (老抽王）
Oyster sauce                       1/2 tbsp
Sugar                                  1/8 tsp
Pepper                                Generous dash

Bean sprouts                       1 loose cup
Chinese Chives                    1/2 loose cup ( I didn't have this with me so I omitted this)
Toasted Seseame seeds       Generous sprinkle.

Method :
1. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a heated wok.
2. Add bean sprouts and fry for 1 minute over medium heat. Add softened noodles and fry for 1/2 minute over high heat.
3. Add all seasoning and continue to fry noodles over high heat for about 2-3 minutes.
4. Add in Chinese chives and fry for another 1/2 minute. Sprinkle on toasted sesame seeds and dish out. Serve with chilli sauce.

Traditional Baked Mooncake

When I went to get my mooncake ingredients at Kwong Cheong Thye 2 weekends ago, I was suprised to see the little alley way along Geylang Lorong 27 jammed with vehicles and the shop house corridor blocked by a long queue leading to a traditional Teochew pastry shop. The shop, Thye Moh Chan Cake House has been selling traditional Teochew pastry and mooncake for almost 70 years and they have decided to close down the business as no one in the family was interested to inherit and continue with this traditional craft.

I have never eaten any pastry from Thye Moh Chan so I have little attachment to the shop. Nevertheless, it was still sad to see something so steep in heritage die in our fast paced, modern world. I had mentioned before how I hope our younger generation will not grow up only knowing how to make muffins, macarons and cupcakes. With pretty images of these western treats galore on the internet, everyone dreams of creating treats ala Pierre Herme, Adriano Zumbo.... However,I believe the internet can still cast its influences in many ways. Take for example, I would never ever have dreamt of making my own mooncake last year, if not for this little space which I call my food blog. Just like what I had mentioned in my last Durian Snowskin Mooncake post, baking these pastries is not as difficult as what it seems. True, we don't take the trouble to cook the lotus paste from scratch nowadays but if that is the little compromise we choose to make to connect with our heritage, it is, in my opinion, a harmless little indulgence.

So I promise you that you will continue to see my mooncake features for the many many Mid Autumn Festivals (mooncake festival) to come.  Happy Mid Autumn Festival to all Asians who will be celebrating this day of reunion.



I am submitting this entry to Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (September 2011) hosted by Happy Home Baker.

Recipe :
Dough (from Kowng Cheong Thye)
300g             Hong Kong Flour
180g             Golden syrup
60g               Peanut Oil
1 tbs             Alkaline Water

For rest of ingredients and method, please refer here.

Durian Snowskin Mooncake

Making mooncakes, contrary to what most people think, is not difficult. The pretty, exotic molds lend a wow factor which belies the simplicity of the modern day process of making this traditional celebratory pastry. Modern day accessibility allows one to purchase a myriad of ready made lotus paste in a wide array of exotic flavours. I don't believe I know of anyone who would cook their own lotus paste from scratch, a process that entails long arduous  continuous stirring over a boiling cauldron....

Compared to the traditional baked mooncake, the Snow Skin Mooncake is even more beginner friendly. Not requiring baking of any sort, the process only involves mixing of cooked glutinous flour (store bought), sugar and shortening before wrapping this dough with the ready made filling. To be honest, I have never been a big fan of the Snow Skin Mooncake and am even a lesser fan of it now that I realise that it involves the mixing of uncooked shortening.... However, the snow skin wrapping does open up  possibilities for more intriguing flavour combination, something that is less rich. I have always for example wondered about the Mango Pomelo mousse like filling in Goodwood Park Hotel's creation. This year, they have even introduced a new Lychee With Lime Marshmallow flavour.


For me, the Durian Mooncake will always be associated with Goodwood Park Hotel.  They have made it wildly popular more than 10 years ago. Though some better ones have been offered by other bakeries, the Goodwood Park durian mooncake will always have a special position among the durian mooncake lovers.




I have no idea how the durian mooncake is being made but was game to give it a go. Working with 100% pure durian pulp, I cooked this first over fire to remove as much moisture as possible.  Next, I tried to semi freeze the portioned durian pulp in the fridge before wrapping them. I have to concede, this is not easy. I had trouble with the degree of firmness of the frozen pulp - it can neither be too hard nor too soft. Then the snow skin poses another problem - it has to be just malleable enough to ensure that the skin does not break or crack during the wrapping process. I made a batch of dough but was only able to get 4-5 decent looking mooncakes. (the recipe should yield 20!)  I doubt that I am doing it right but at least I have a couple to show off...  So if you have any good tips to make these, please do share.

I am submitting this entry to Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (September 2011) hosted by Happy Home Baker.



Recipe :
Dough
150g         Fried glutinous rice flour
200g         Icing sugar
65g           Shortening
150g         Cold Drinking water

Filling
250g         100% Durian Pulp
7g             Sugar

Method :
Filling 
1. Cook durian pulp in a heavy bottom saucepan until boiling. Add sugar and stir until it is completely dissolved and relatively dry.
Cool down to room temperature. Portion into 50g portions and freeze.

Dough
1. Sift all dry ingredients together. Add shortening and mix well with the dry ingredients.
2. Add water gradually to the flour and mix to form a dough.
3. Leave the dough to 'proof' for 20mins.
4. Portion out the dough into 30g portion. Flatten and wrap a 50g portion of the durian pulp. Press with mooncake mold and store in freezer.
5. Defrost before consuming.

Lotus Seed Paste Pau - 莲蓉包

I shall officially admit that the yeasted species have bewitched me. First the sweet soft buns and now, the snowy white chinese steamed buns aka Paus.  I have been making paus everyday over the long weekend here and have been enjoying every minute of it. It helps when the friends and family to whom these were distributed gave positive feedback. I am happy to have a chance to work on  this again as it is rare nowadays that I  get to repeat the same recipe. The best way to hone and improve is really to practice - there is absolutely no other ways around it.

The versatile Pau recipe makes this alot easier as there are many different types of filling that one can vary to retain it's allure.

Today, I take the easy way out by wrapping it with White Lotus Paste. Easy because, this is readily available at this time of the year when Mooncake Festival is just round the corner. Almost all bakery ingredient outlets now carry a variety of lotus paste. I got mine from Kwong Cheong Thye - a low sugar version from Hong Kong that is fragrant and smooth.


Make these small enough and you may find yourself devouring one bun after another like me. I like my Paus bulging with filling. I used to feel very cheated when the commercially available versions stinge on the quantity of the filling. Now that I am making these myself, I am beginning to think that apart from the reason for cost stinging,  poor pau making technique may have something to do with the pithy dollop of filling. To pile on the filling in the buns, the dough needs to be rolled out carefully such that the center is thicker and the peripheral rim thinner. Failure to do this, would usually have the filling burst through the thin dough when it is being steamed.

With enough practice, I am now able to pile on more filling than dough for this lotus paste bun. So fulfilling, so generous and oh so satisfying!
So what Pau should I attempt next?

P.S. : In case you are wondering about the sear mark on the buns... I stamp these with the searing iron I bought a few years back in Japan... curiosity got the better of me then and it has been sitting in my kitchen drawer ever since... :)


Recipe :
Dough Recipe found here

Filling : ready made lotus paste.

Method :
Please refer to here.
Size of dough for each bun is 19g. Weight of lotus paste portion for each bun is 22g.

Chinese Chicken Pau - Following The Heritage Trail

When I started blogging about 2 years ago, someone left a nice message for me in my comment column. An outstanding baker, this lady had commented how happy she was to see a fellow Singaporean blogger bake French pastry when most of the time, the local food blogging scene are only limited to chiffon cakes, brownies, muffins....  I felt flattered by the comments but at the same time, an uneasiness had also set in. As much as I enjoy experimenting with macarons, madeleines and cupcakes, I also know that these have never been part of my core heritage. I grew up in a humble Asian household where we ate more kuehs than pastries.

It would be sad if our generation and the younger generations that follow would only know how to bake macarons and cupcakes. That is why I was really thrilled when I was able to get a place in Valerie Kong's Pau Class at Shermay's Cooking School. A hands-on class, we got to prepare our own Pau dough from scratch and we also learnt how to roll and pleat the dough - a skill I had desperately wanted to acquire and improve. Valerie's simple and clear instructions was easy to follow and quite a few of us were suprised that we were able to get the hang of it pretty quickly.


Emboldened by the session, I decided to compare the different Pau recipes I have in my cookbook library. This dough recipe that I am sharing here is not Valerie's recipe. This is a Mantou recipe that I found in a Hong Kong Dim Sum cookbook. The amount of yeast and baking powder for this recipe is much lower than Valeries' and I was intrigued by the addition of milk to the dough. What was missing from the cookbook was clear instructions. So the newly acquired knowledge at the hands-on Pau class was really valuable. I am very very pleased with this recipe - an easy dough to handle, the buns turn out very soft and fluffy.  I had used Valerie's Chicken filling for this exercise so I will not publish the recipe here. However, with a dough like this, one can easily wrap it with one's favourite filling - be it sweet or savoury.

I would be proud to present these Pau to family and friends. I know that many will be pleased for these are flavours and food that we have grown up with.

P.S. : If you are interested to learn about Pau making, look out for Valerie's  classes at Shermay's. I heard that all the Pau classes are now full so the earliest that these will be repeated would most likely be next year. So you may want to enquire with the school.

P.S. : I am also hoping that this would qualify for Edith's Heritage Food Trail event. Somewhat unorthodox as it does not really celebrate my Hainanese heritage in particular but I do hope you can join in the fun at Edith's.


Dough Recipe : (from Dim Sum in Hong Kong)

Hong Kong Flour            150g
Dry Yeast                         2g
Baking powder                 2g
Sugar                                28g
Milk                                  75g
Shortening (crisco)           2g (or lard)

Method :

1. Place all ingredients into a mixer and blend until smooth at low speed.
2. Ferment for 10mins at room temperature.
3. Blend in mixer again for 5 mins.
4. Divide the dough into pieces of 19g each. Roll out to form a round wrapping of about 2 inches in diameter.
5. Place filling in the center of the wrapping and pleat the edge to seal the bun with a round top.
6. Proof Pau at room temperature for 45 mins.
7. Steam Pau over boiling water for 15mins.

Hong Kong Egg Tarts - Flaky Egg Tart, 酥皮蛋挞

I have always wondered about the Egg Tart. It has all the elements of a western pastry, from the short crust/ puff pastry and the egg custard to the little tart molds but yet, I have only seen them offered at Chinese Dim Sum restaurants or bakeries in Chinatowns. There is no doubt that these had originated from Southern China. Some postulated that Southern China/ Hong Kong, through their interaction with the Western world could have adapted the egg tart from the English tart. These custard filled tarts have also been associated with the Portugese egg tart pastry, Pastel de Nata. Whatever it is, we know that the Chinese love their egg tarts. I have so far identified three basic varieties of Dan Ta, as they are fondly referred to in cantonese.

The one featured in my last post, has a short crust pastry which is easy to handle and is generally the variety most would try to bake at home. The key is to make the crust just thin enough to hold the glorious silken tender custard.

The second variety is the Portugese egg tart which uses a puff pastry crust and is filled with an egg custard mixture that would caramelise upon baking. If one uses store-bought ready rolled puff pastry, this could be the easiest egg tart to whip up at home.

The third variety is what is normally served at dim sum restaurants and comes with a flaky crust that can only be achieved with an obscene amount of shortening and deft pastry folding skills. The recipe requires one to wrap a highly oily dough with an oil free 'water dough' . This is not unlike making puff pastry from scratch but the ratio of the oily dough to water dough is much higher, thus rendering this a very difficult dough to handle... especially in warm and humid Singapore. I have been told by a dim sum chef that at the restaurant, they would normally roll out the dough (开皮) in a cold room. Once the dough is rolled out, it is folded in 3 folds, rotated 90 degrees and rolled out again. This process is repeated twice while for the third time, instead of 3, the dough is folded in 4 folds before it is rolled out to the desired thickness and cut to size. This process gives the dough the nice layered flakiness.


It was with a little bit of gungho spirit and a little hubris that I embarked on the venture of baking this at home. I don't have a cold room to work in and I am not skilled enough to work as quickly and deftly. As a result, even though my crust still tastes lovely and flaky, the discernible pretty layers were missing. I also experimented with the oven temperature to find the right balance to bake the crust to a crisp but not turn the custard into rubber ducky.

I have to admit that this is not the easiest recipe to work with and I am glad that I have managed to roll and fold the dough as required. However, there is still room for improvement. Lining the tart cases more evenly would have to come with practice and deftness ... especially so for a dough that wilts under the heat of the thumb.


Recipe :

Pastry Dough :
Oil Dough
Shortening                 180g
Butter                         50g
Plain Flour                 150g

Water Dough
Bread flour                 29g
Plain flour                   90g
Egg                             12g
Custard Powder          7.2g
Water                          60g

Egg Custard Filling : Refer to here

Method :
1. Mix ingredients for Oil Dough together in a cake mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until smooth and wrap dough between plastic sheets and chill for 3-4 hours.
2. Mix ingredients for Water Dough in a mixer fitted with the dough hook and blend until dough is no longer tacky to touch.
3. Wrap dough between plastic sheets and chill for 20mins.
4. Roll out Water Dough and place oil dough in the middle, fold and roll as illustrated below:


5. After final fold, roll out dough to about 0.5cm thickness, cut out rounds with a cookie cutter and line tart molds with the dough.
6. Fill the lined tarts cases with egg custard.
7. Bake for 13 mins at 200C.
8. Remove from oven, cool down and serve while warm.

Radish Cake with Seafood and XO Sauce

It took my 2 weeks' business travel to pry me away from my cookies. Taking a break sometimes, opens up the mind for new stimulation. The stimuli for this post came in the form of an amazing XO Sauce I found in Taiwan. Unlike the supermarket versions that we get here, this is chock full of precious flavourful ingredients such as dried whole baby scallops (not the shreds we normally get), dried whole shrimps garlic and chilli . The bottles of XO sauce we normally get in Singapore are expensive and for most of them, the solids would only constitute 50% of the bottle, the rest being made up of a mild chilli oil. With this Taiwanese XO sauce, the hefty bottle was packed almost to the brim with the precious ingredients. Sold at 250NT (about US$8) for a substantial 500g bottle, this is what I would consider great value for money!  This would definitely be on my replenish list when I return to Taiwan next time.
For those who do not have access to this, fret not, head over to Trissa's or Pickyin's blog to learn how to make this sauce from scratch.

There are a million ways to use the XO sauce. It is completely addictive when eaten on its own with steamed white rice, brown rice or glutinous rice. When you are in a hurry, it can be used to toss with noodles or spaghetti. It is also a great stir fry seasoning for vegetables or meat.

Here, I have chosen to use the sauce with the very tasty Hong Kong style Radish Cake. Commonly offered at Yum Cha (dim sum), the Hong Kong style Radish Cake is a steamed rice cake filled with bits of chinese sausage, dried shrimps and shitake mushroom. This can be eaten on its own or more commonly, pan fried to crisp up the skin. In the recent years, restaurants here have started to stir fry these with XO sauce, seafood and bean sprouts... a la Chai Tau Kuey.


I got the recipe from Celebrity Chef Sam Leong's 'A Taste Of Home' . However, I do suspect that there is a typo in the recipe. Instead of Rice flour, the book had asked for Glutinous rice flour. I had to throw out a batch and replace the glutinous flour with Rice flour. Also, whenever I steam rice cakes at home, I make sure that I 'pre-cook' my flour prior to steaming the liquid batter. This can either be done by mixing very hot water into the flour mixture or stirring the flour batter over low heat to thicken it up before steaming. Most recipes may just call for steaming the liquid batter directly over boiling water but I find this impractical for house cooks like us. Our stoves will never be able to generate the kind of heat intensity to cook the rice cake through.


So, if you've enjoyed this dish at Dim Sum restaurants, you can now replicate this at home now.... and eat to your heart's content!

Recipe : (Adapted from Sam Leong's A Taste Of Home)

Prawns                 8 medium, peeled
Cooking Oil          1 Tbsp
Bean Sprouts        100g, Blanched. (don't need to be too precise, I think I only used 50g)
Chinese Chives      100g (Kuchai, I used a few sprigs.Add according to your liking)
Spring Onions        100g (same as above)
Eggs                       2 Beaten

Radish Cake
Cooking Oil           1 tbsp
Dried prawns         1 tbsp (soaked in water for 10mins, then minced)
Chinese Sausage    20g     (minced)
Dried Shitake Mushroom   2 pieces (soaked in water for 10mins, then minced)
Water                    500ml
Rice Flour              75g
Potato Starch         20g
Corn Starch           20g
White Radish         100g (shredded and squeezed dry)
Sugar                     1/2 Tbsp
Salt                        1/2 tsp

Seasoning
Water                   4 tbsp
XO Sauce            1 Tbsp
Oyster Sauce        1/2 tsp
Sugar                    1/8 tsp
Dark soy sauce      a dash
Sesame Oil            a dash
Chinese Cooking Wine a dash

Method :
1. Prepare Radish Cake : Heat 1 tbsp of cooking oil in a wok. Fry dried shrimps, Chinese Sausage and mushroom until fragrant. Ladle out and set aside.
2. Mix 250ml water with Rice flour, Corn flour and Potato Starch flour and set aside.
3. Place remaining 250 ml water in a pot with shredded radish. Bring to boil. Add in sugar and salt seasoning.  Pour boiling mixture into flour mixture in (2).
4. Stir well. Return mixture into pot. Heat over low heat and stir continuously. Once mixture starts to thicken a little add in (1).
5. Continue stirring until mixture becomes almost pasty.
6. Pour mixture into an oiled 21 cm square tin.
7. Steam over vigorously boiling water for 35mins.
8. Cool down completely (refrigerating over night if possible). (Rice cake will still be soft after steaming. Do not try to cut)
9. Cut Radish Cake into small squares. Heat some oil in a frying pan. Sear cake over high heat to crisp the surface.
10. In a hot wok, heat oil . Add bean sprouts, chives and spring onion. Stir fry briefly, then add eggs and cook until just beginning to set.
11. Add radish cake and ingredients for seasoning. Fry until fragrant and egg is cooked. Dish out and serve hot.