Tang Yuan - Traditional Chinese Dessert

Tang Yuan is traditional dessert dish of glutinous rice ball served with sweet broth, there are also many ways to cook the sweet broth depending what kind of favors you like.

Today is Dong Zhi (Winter Solstice) is a tradition for chinese to welcome the Winter and most of the chinese family will prepare Tang Yuan dessert at home.

Ingredients

Tang Yuen

• Glutinous Rice flour - 1 cup
• 120ml of water
• coloring (optional)

Ginger Sweet Broth

• 1 large ginger - cut in big pcs
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• Pandan leaves

Method

1. Pour the glutinous rice flour in a mixing bowl and slowly add in water
2. Knead the mixture for 5mins or until it become dough texture
3. Divide the dough into half and mix them with coloring, pinch dough in small portion and roll into small balls
4. Boil 1.5L of water in a pot and add in ginger, simmer for 20mins then add in sugar.
5. While the soup is boiling, lower the head and prepare another pot of boiling water and drop the Tang Yuan into the pot, cook them until they float about 5 to 10mins.
6. Put the Tang Yuan into soup and served - hot or cold

Note : Tang Yuan can also stuff with peanut paste and sesame paste

Carrot and Radish mince pork soup

I got this recipe from Cuisine Paradise website and modified it a bit.. Radish is rich in Folic Acid and is very good development for my baby boy along the way :) The content given served 4.

Ingredients

• 200g Mince Pork (Season with soya sauce and pepper and set aside)
• 1 Medium Red Radish
• 1 Medium Green Radish
• 1 Carrot
• few red dates
• Handful of Wolfberries
• 1 Tbsp salt

Methods

1. Marinate Mince pork with 1Tbsp soya sauce and pepper
2. Wash and Cut carrot and radish into cubes
3. Add water into soup pot and bring to boil, add in red dates, wolfberries, cube carrot and radish
4. Roll mince pork into small round shape then add into soup
5. Bring soup to boil for 30mins and season with salt and pepper

Aglio Olio

The main ingredients are garlic and olive oil for this dish, it wont be perfect if without fresh chopped garlic and good oilve oil.. therefore Aglio Olio in italian means Garlic and Oil.

It is very easy to prepare and it only takes 10mins..

Ingredients

• 6 Tbsps Olive Oil
• 4-5 flakes of Garlic - Chopped
• 2 chilli padi - Chopped
• Pinch Black pepper
• Pinch of Salt
• Handfull of Spaghetti or Angel hair
• Optional - Picnic Ham / Canned Tuna / Seafood / Shitake Mushroom sliced
• Coriander for finishing

Method

1. Bring water to boil with a few drops of extra-virgin olive oil and add in spaghetti and cook for 10mins. set aside
2. Heat up frying pan and add in olive oil, garlic and chili padi and lower down heat
3. If you are adding Ham/Tuna or seafood, add them in and simmer for 5mins
4. Add in spaghetti and favor with black pepper and salt.

My Beautiful Wedding

Most memorable moments of my life with my beloved hubby Scott....... 29 Sep 2011 (Thursday) at Goodwood Park Hotel Singapore... Poolside Terrace.

Thank you to all friends and relatives attending our ROM wedding lunch. These are some nice photos taken and to share.

Our wedding suit and gown

Our ROM venue set up - Sunflowers

Raisins Muffins

It was a nice evening after dinner at home with mom and out of a sudden I feel like baking and realize that I have not been baking muffins for quite some time and luckily I still have a packet of chocolate chips and raisins but I had decided to make raisins muffins instead because Scott don't like chocolate chips, he told me last time that he will pick all chips out of those pastries.. haha.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Self raising flour
• Pinch of salt
• 50g Melt unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup castor sugar
• 100ml fresh milk
• 1 egg
• Raisins a handfull

Method

1. Preheat oven 180c
2. Mix flour, salt and sugar together in a large bowl
3. Add egg and melt butter
4. Add fresh milk and mix altogether
5. bake for 20 to 25mins

Key Lime Pie

Key Lime pie is a very refreshing dessert, is citrus and always served cool, so it really goes well after dinner dessert or tea break in the afternoon :)

This recipe was from Women's Weekly magazine.

preparation 20mins (Exclude 2hours refrigeration time)

Ingredients

• 150g wheat flake biscuits with crumbly texture (I used digestive biscuit)
• 80g unsalted butter, melt
• 4 egg yolks
• 400g sweetened condensed milk
• 1tbsp finely grated lime rind
• 125ml lime juice (fresh)
• 300ml thick whipped cream - optional

Method

1. Preheat oven 180c
2. Crush biscuits until fine, transfer to a bowl, stir in butter then press mixture over base and side of a 23cm pie plate.
3. Place plate in oven and bake for about 10mins or until brown lightly. Cool
4. Beat egg yolks in a small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. On low speed, add condensed milk, grated lime rind and lime juice.
5. Pour the mixture onto crust. Bake for 12mins or until just set. Cool to room temp, then refrigerate until required. Remove pie from from fridge 30mins before serve.
6. Cut into wedges. Serve with whipped cream on top.

Tip : to crush biscuits, place the in a Ziplock bag and pound with a rolling pin.

Spinach Soup

This is a healthy soup loaded with many nutritions and benefits, the main ingredients are green leafy Spinach which is rich in antioxidant and high in calcium.

There are many types of Spinach, this time round I bought China Spinach and they do not need to peel of the skin of the stalk so it is easier to prepare.

Spinach always goes well with Anchovy (ikan billis) and I had also used cube Anchovy broth to enhance the best taste.

Ingredients

• Spinach 220gm
• 1 Carrot cube
• Mince meat (preferably pork) 100gm
• Anchovy 50gm
• Tube Tofu - 1
• Cube Anchovy - 2pcs
• Wolfberries - A handful
• Water - 3 Cups

Seasoning of Mince meat

• Soya Sauce - 1.5 Tbsps
• Salt - A Pinch
• Cooking oil - 1 Tsp
• Pepper - Little
• Sesame oil - 1 Tsp

(Mixed all seasoning together with Mince meat for 1 hour)

Method

1. Heat water over medium-high in a soup pot, add carrots, Anchovy, wolfberries and cube broth and cook for 15mins
2. Bring to boil and add Spinach and seasoned meat for 15mins
3. Add tofu and simmer for 5mins
4. Served with white rice

Fried Nian Gao

Ingredients:

For every 100g nian gao - Buy during Chinese New Year
50g flour
1 egg
a pinch salt
oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Cut the nain gao into ½ cm slices. (I used a knife cut nian gao into thin slices).
2. Mix flour, egg, salt together and mix till smooth batter.
3. Heat oil to about 150°C
4. Dip the nian gao into the batter and fry over medium heat for 1 - 2 minutes until golden.
5. Drain on paper towels.

Drunken Prawns

Drunken prawns is a Cantonese dish and it is very easy to prepare.

The key to cook drunken prawns is to marinade the live prawns well with chinese wine but I substitute dead prawns with the live one although it wont be as delicious because I find it cruel to cook them alive.

Ingredients :

• Large Prawns 300g
• Gingers Sliced
• Sugar 1 Tbsp
• Chinese cooking wine 3 Tbsps
• Dried Scallops 2 big
• Tong Kwai a few
• Tong Sum 10g
• Wai San a few
• Wolfberries a handful
• Salt / Coriander
• Say Sauce 1 Tbsp

Boiling the chinese herbs

Method

1. Trim prawns and place prawns in deep bowl to season with wine, salt, gingers and soy sauce.
2. Soak dried scallops for at least 2 hours
3. Pour 500ml water and boil Tong Kwai, Tong Sum, Wai San and Wolfberries for about 20mins then pour in seasoned prawns and dried scallops and bring to simmering boil for another 10mins
4. Serve hot and garnish with Coriander.

Drunken Prawns

HapPy ChInEsE NeW yEaR Reunion Dinner

The reunion dinner is the eve of Lunar New year and is always draws all family members back home to eat dinner together, normally in the evening of the CNY eve's the streets will be quite quiet. This year my mum did most of the marketing for lunar New Year reunion dinner, so, my responsibility is to cook some nice dishes for her and myself.

As usual I worked half day during lunar New Year eve's. So, after work I took MRT to Serangoon and meet my Boyfriend Scott :) This is the 1st time I mentioned him in my blog as we were together for only 3 weeks, in future I believe there will be more to come.. cookies, cakes and food that I bake and cook for him, photos of places we travel together hehe :)

Okie, back to Reunion dinner, traditionally for chinese families they will have steamboat for dinner but for my family is only me and my mum, so is easier for us to cook a few dishes and soup. This year, I fry tomatoes prawns, steam lap cheong, fry vegetables with mushrooms and chicken soup.

My Set dinner and of coz of importantly it's serve with white rice :)

My Happy mum ready for dinner

My antique Sewing Machine

This Singer Sewing Machine was bought when I was about 19years old, is about 9years old and it cost $399, I used my 2 months savings to buy this..

Samantha's Sewing Machine :)

So, now and then when I am free during weekend I will draw paper pattern and sew somethings for myself :) this time I sew a tissue bag, I only use 3hours to do this.

Tissue Bag Paper Pattern

My Finished Work :D

My mum is using it now, I still got to make one more for Jessica, if not she will keep haunting me.. haha.. be patience Jess :)