Home Made Golden Egg Tarts for Chinese New Year

Since I’m not a very good baker, I found egg tarts to be a very easy Chinese dessert to make.
These golden coloured treats are ideal for Chinese New Year celebrations and a perfect mini dessert for the delicious Phoenix and Dragon stir fry that I have made.

For the cups you’ll need:

• 75g white sugar
• 200g all purpose flour
• 100g butter
• 1 egg, beaten
• a splash of vanilla extract

Crusty

To make the cups, mix the flour and white sugar together.

Break in the butter and mix it with the sugar and flour until the mixture becomes crumbly.

Stir in the egg and the vanilla and form a dough.

The dough should be slightly moist.

If it is too dry, mix in a bit of butter or if it is too moist, mix in a bit of flour.

Shape the dough into small balls (I made 6 – 7 dough balls).

Press a ball into a mold so that it covers the bottom and goes up the sides.

Start heating up your oven to 230′C.

Messy messy

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For the custard you will need:

• 75g white sugar
• 3/4 cup water
• 5 eggs, beaten
• a splash of vanilla extract
• half a cup of skim milk

Mix the sugar and water in a saucepan and boil until the sugar has been dissolved. Take the pan off the stove and allow the sugar water to cool down to room temperature.

Whisk the eggs and sugar water and stir in the skim milk and splash of vanilla. Strain the mixture through a sieve. (As I’ve learnt from my online friends, this helps to make the custard smoother)

Fill the cups with the custard and bake the egg tarts for 20 – 25 minutes until they become slightly golden brown and the custard puffed a bit up.

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*** I used a silicon muffin tray to bake the egg tarts in. After baking I let them cool for a couple of minutes and then just popped them out.***

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Enjoy!

Gong Hey Fat Choy! (Happy Chinese New Year)

Phoenix and Dragon – A Chinese New Year recipe

Who said that you can’t celebrate new year twice a year?

The Chinese Calendar is a lunisolar calendar and on the 23rd of January a new moon phase starts for 2012 and to many Asian cultures that follow this calendar, this is the time to celebrate. So if not,  why not?

2012 is the Year of the Dragon and luck and fortune are the main themes.  Red and gold colours also play an important part in the celebrations. During the New Year period (which can last several days) families will come together and wear red clothes, hand out red envelopes with money in it called “lucky money”.

So to celebrate Chinese New Year, I have decided to make some Asian inspired dishes. I made Phoenix and Dragon stir fry which is a simple combination of chicken and prawns marinated in cornstarch, soy sauce and sherry stir fried with red and yellow peppers served on a bed of noodles (which symbolises long life).

Even though it is the Year of the Dragon, the Phoenix also plays an important role in Chinese Mythology. The Phoenix is often depicted with the Dragon at weddings ceremonies and symbolises blissful relations between husband and wife…

Phoenix and Dragon Stir Fry (Chicken and Prawn)

You will need:

• 2 chicken breasts cut into strips
• 2 cups prawns, shelled and de-veined
• Half of  a medium sized yellow pepper, cut into strips
• Half of a medium sized red pepper, cut into strips
• Mange Tout
• Cornstarch
• Pale dry sherry (or rice wine)
• Peanut oil
• Vegetable oil
• 1 inch ginger crushed and finely shopped
• 2 cloves garlic crushed and finely shopped
• Salt and Pepper
• 2 portions of egg noodles

Method:

Mix 2 tablespoons of dry sherry with 2 teaspoons of cornstarch and a tablespoon soy sauce. Combine with the chicken and allow the mixture to marinade in the fridge 30 minutes.

Mix 1 tablespoon dry sherry with 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 2 teaspoons soy sauce. Combine the prawns with the mixture and allow to marinade in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Prepare a  soy and peanut oil sauce by combining 2 tablespoons of sherry, 2 teaspoons of peanut oil, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of sugar and salt and pepper to taste.

Heat up 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large saucepan or wok.

Fry the garlic and ginger until it become fragrant.

Fry the chicken for a couple of minutes until the chicken isn’t pink any more.

Add the prawns and fry together for another couple of minutes until the prawns become pink.

Add the peppers and a hand full of mange tout and stir fry the mixture for a minute so that the vegetables are still crisp.

Drizzle over the soy and peanut sauce over the dish and stir until all the flavours have combined.

Serve on egg noodles that have been boiled and then pan fried in soy sauce. Decorate with origami Dragons!

RAWR!

Enjoy this festive dish that’s packed with flavour and symbolism

Chicken = Phoenix
Prawns = Dragon
Red and Yellow Peppers = Red and Gold colours

For dessert we have egg tarts! ^_^

Confit Byaldi (Ratatouille)

I was planning to make ratatouille for dinner one night and wanted to make it a bit more special. Not knowing on how to 1-up on ratatouille I searched the internet for some interesting ideas and stumbled upon a recipe from Smitten Kitchen. Here is my attempt…

This version of ratatouille takes a little bit of effort and time to produce, but the results are beautiful as well as delicious. Similar to the dish prepared in the film Ratatouille.
This is a two-part recipe as one of the main ingredients for confit byaldi is piperade (a slightly spicy tomato, onion and pepper sauce).

Piperade

Piperade: You’ll need 

• 1½ tablespoon of olive oil
• ½ large red pepper, seeds removed and chopped
• ½ large green pepper, seeds removed and chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large clove of garlic, crushed and chopped
• 1 small chilli pepper, seeds removed and chopped
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• ½ teaspoon of paprika
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• 1 can of diced tomatoes

Heat up the oil in a large sauce pan to medium. Fry the onions, garlic, peppers, salt, pepper, sugar and paprika for approximately ten minutes, stirring regularly. Add the chopped tomatoes and let the mixture simmer for 15 minutes until it has become a thick sauce.

Baby marrow and pettypans

Confit Byaldi: You’ll need

• 1½ cup of the pipirade
• 4 baby marrows, thinly sliced
• 8 pattypans, thinly sliced
• 2 tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed and finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon of thyme
• 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
• Salt and pepper

Arranging the veg on the piperade

Confit byaldi ready to bake

Heat the oven to 150°C and grease a medium-sized round baking dish.

Line the base of the baking dish with the piperade and stack the vegetables on top of it, alternating between the ingredients; a row of baby marrow, row of pettypans, row of tomato etc.

Sprinkle the garlic and thyme over the dish.

Cover the dish with a layer of baking paper that is cut to fit inside the dish (mine was a bit fully stacked, so the baking paper just rested on top).

Bake the ratatouille for 1h45min.

Remove the baking paper and continue to bake the dish for an additional 25min.

Drizzle 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar over the dish and season with salt and pepper.

Serve on couscous, rice, as a side dish or on its own.

Cocoa and chilli rubbed pork chops

Here is an interesting spin on the standard pork chop recipe that I has stumbled upon.  Pork was always a boring dish to prepare which I always just spiced with salt and pepper.
Now “boring” meal has been pepped up with the subtle chocolate and chilli flavours.

So here is a simple recipe for 2 people:

Ingredients

• Tablespoon brown sugar
• ½ Tablespoon cocoa powder
• Tablespoon onion soup powder
• ½ Teaspoon cumin
• Teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ Teaspoon salt
• ½ Teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ½ Teaspoon chilli flakes
  

  Dry Spice Mix

• 2 Pork chops
• Tablespoon vegetable oil

Method:

Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan.

Mix all the dry ingredients together and rub generously over the pork chops.

Cocoa Rub

Fry the meat for 5 minutes per side or until the meat is not pink any more.

Serve with roasted vegetables and butternut squash chips.

Wine Pairing:

Pair with a fruity Cabernet/Shiraz blend.

The Malaysian “Ramly” Burger

This is popular Malaysian burger was started by Ramly Mokninand, a small family owned company based in Kuala Lumpur in 1979. Their Ramly road stalls soon became famous for their “Ramly specials”, although the ingredients varies from location to location.

Unfortunately I’ve missed the opportunity to eat one of these authentic Ramly burgers when I went to Kuala Lumpur, and so I decided to make my own version. Tracking down an original recipe was next to impossible since the Ramly burger is famous for being highly customisable. I’ve combined a couple of different recipes I found on the internet, and my version was delicious!

The Ramly Burger is distinctive from most other hamburgers due to the unique way in which the ingredients are served. Rather than the usual method of stacking the ingredients within the bun, the patty in the Ramly Burger is first covered with the desired condiments, then wrapped in a thin layer of egg. The end result is packet-like and enhances the texture of the burger while simultaneously reducing mess from the condiments. The Ramly Burger served in this way is known as Ramly Burger Special.

You need the following for six burgers:

• 500g lean beef mince
  

  The ingredients

• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic finely chopped
• 1 chopped chilli
• soy sauce
• salt and pepper
• 6 eggs
• Vegetable oil
• 6 burger buns
• Butter
  

  Fresh patties!

• Cucumber
• Tomatoes
• Cheese
• Lettuce
• Mayonnaise
• Chilli Sauce
• Milk

Mix the mince, diced onion, chilli and garlic together with a good dollop of soy sauce (2 tablespoons). Shape the mince into 6 thin patties compressing the meat slightly. Set aside

Heat up a knob of butter in a frying pan. Cut the buns open and fry the inside of the buns in the ban until it is golden brown and set aside.

Heat up a tablespoon of vegetable oil and fry the patties on high heat until it is done.  (I prefer mine medium rare.)

Ready to wrap

Beat an egg with a small dash of milk in a bowl.
Fry the omelette in the pan until it is done.
Place the patty in the middle of the omelette, garnish with a good helping of mayonnaise and chilli sauce.
Wrap the burger patty with the omelette to make a package.

Stack your burger with the egg patty, cheese, lettuce and tomato. (You can add extra chilli or caramelised onion to taste).

Enjoy!

De-licious (and messy)!