Sweet Glutinous Bowl

Was trying to get rid of the freshly grated coconut (left-over from my Taro Sago Kuih) that has been sitting in my fridge for three days. I think I need to cook it otherwise it will turn stale.

Of course the perfect match will be gula melaka or palm sugar with grated coconut. Set off to the kitchen and started cooking the grated coconut. What to do with these then?

A few ideas crept through but I didn't want to do anything that is too tedious or time consuming as I have a high tea appointment. I chose to make this glutinous rice bowl and filled it with the coconut filling that I had just cooked. I dressed it up for the photo shoot and thought that it looked a little bland, so I cooked some palm sugar syrup and drench the bowl with it.

Here it is, chewy glutinous bowl with a hefty serve of coconut filling and a drench of aromatic palm sugar syrup. Simply delish if you love this match.







Ingredients: (about 13 pieces @ 20g)
Glutinous Bowl
150g glutinous rice flour
120ml - 125ml water

Filling
150g grated coconut
3 tbsp water
55g palm sugar (chopped up to small pieces)
10g -15g sugar or rock sugar (chopped to small pieces)

Method:
1. Put 3 tbsp water in a saucepan, add in both sugars. Cook over low heat till sugars dissolved. Add in the grated coconut and cook till a little dry or to your liking.
2. Combine glutinous rice flour with water till a dough is formed.
3. Divide dough into pieces of about 20g each and mold it into a bowl shape as in photo above. I used the back of my measuring spoon to help me (the back of my measuring spoon is a semi circle).
4. Cook dough pieces in a pot of boiling water till they float.
5. Dish them into a bowl of icy cold water. The ice water helps the glutinous bowl to be chewy in texture.
6. Fill with coconut filling and serve with palm sugar syrup.

Crispy Sugar Coated Taro

Sometime ago, I was at a lunch gathering with some friends in a small and cosy Chiuchow restuarant in Taikoo Shing. After the main dishes were served it was dessert time. One of my friends who knew that I loved taro suggested that I should order crispy sugar coated taro (反沙芋頭) instead of the usual "orr nee" (芋泥).

I absolutely loved what I tried. The taro is encased in a layer of crispy sugar and the taro itself is light and powdery. Apparently this fare is a very famous Chiuchow snack and nowadays not many Chiuchow restuarants or eateries serve this anymore.

I memorized this recipe from a book by Winnie姐 at a book fair in Apita three weeks ago. The recipe is fairly simple but I also got some pointers off the internet too.

To do the snack is easy but to get a uniform crispy sugar casing all around the taro piece is not easy as the sugar syrup dries up pretty fast in the strong wind. See photo of my ugly crispy sugar coated taro!





Ingredients:
250g taro pieces
8 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp water

Method:
1. Cut the taro into pieces of 6cm in length and 2 cm thick as in photo above.
2. Heat up a wok with enough oil, deep fry the taro pieces till cooked and golden brown. Place cooked taro pieces on absorbent paper to remove excess oil.
3. Remove all the oil and wipe off excess with absorbent paper from the wok. Add in the sugar and water. When the sugar mixture is bubbly hot and thicken add in the taro pieces.
4. Stir fry till the taro pieces are coated allover with the syrup (about 1 - 2 minutes).
5. Remove wok from the heat and start up a strong fan. Stir the taro pieces in the wok infront of the strong fan and let the fan dry up the sugar.
6. Serve hot.

Notes:
Choose a light weighted taro for light and powdery texture.

Chrysanthenum Agar Agar

After the raining spell, the real hot weather is here. Temperature on average was above 31°C during the day.

What better way to beat the heat than a slice of cold agar-agar.

For this agar-agar, I used dried chrysanthenum and longans to brew the tea which is then set by agar-agar strands.

In Chinese food therapy and herbal medicine, longan is believed to have an effect on relaxation while chrysanthenum aids in influenza recovery. The dried longan is considered a "warm item" while the chrysanthenum is a "cool item". The mix of longan and chrysanthenum balances the "yin yang" in food therapy thus making it suitable for most people to consume.

Beat the heat and enjoy a chilling piece served with honey to soothe the body!









Ingredients:
13g - 15g agar-agar strands (I used 15g)

40g dried longans (桂圆 or 圆肉)
20g dried chrysanthenum (菊花)
1500ml water

80g -100g rock sugar

Method:
1. Cut the agar-agar strands into smaller pieces and soak in water till soften.
2. Put longans, chrysanthenum and 1500ml of water into a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. While simmering the tea, select some whole chrysanthenum flowers from the tea and keep for use as decor.
4. Strain the brewed tea and measure out 1000ml for the agar-agar.
5. Bring the 1000ml tea to boil again and add in the strained agar-agar strands. Stir till agar-agar strands dissolved before adding in the rock sugar. Simmer till rock sugar dissolved.
6. Strain agar-agar mixture into molds which are rinsed with cool drinking water. Add in longans if desired. Place the selected chrysanthenum flowers on top of the agar-agar (they will float) for a pretty presentation.
7. Chilled till set and serve with some honey if desired.

Notes:
For a crunchier texture use 15g agar-agar strands.

Panna Cotta

Panna cotta literally means "cooked cream", it's believed to originate from Italy. It is a rich, creamy and silky smooth dessert. The main ingredients in this dessert are whipping cream, milk and sugar and thicken with gelatin.

My kids love this melt-in-the-mouth fattening dessert, they especially love it if I cook this with the rich and aromatic Hokkaido full cream milk.



Ingredients: 3 bottles of about 90ml each
150ml Hokkaido full cream milk
150ml whipping cream
30g sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp gelatin dissolved in 2 tsp boiling water

Method:
1. Simmer milk and whipping cream with sugar till all the sugar dissolved. Do not let it boil. Stir in the vanilla essence.
2. Remove from heat and add in the gelatin mixture. Stir till well combined.
3. Pour into rinsed ramekins and chill for at least 2 hours or till set.
4. Eat it plain or serve it with fruit coulis.

Sakura Honey Jelly

Coconut Milk Osmanthus Jelly

Typhoon Standby Signal No. I was hoisted since Monday. This typhoon Fengshen is currently about 200+km southeast of HK, and the weather has been terribly hot and humid day or night because of this typhoon.

Not wanting to bake anything today because of the hot weather, I chose to do some chilled jelly using Osmanthus fragrans or Gui Hua (桂花). Gui Hua, are really very tiny flowers but with a deliciously strong scent of ripen apricots. These tiny dried flowers can be infused into most type of green or dark tea leaves to create "Gui Hua Cha" which is very aromatic.

Besides its very aromatic fragrance, these tiny flowers has medicinal values. They are known to be able to release phlegm, alleviate cough, soothe painful joints and de-stress the body and mind.

The marriage of osmanthus and coconut milk produces an absolutely fragrant treat. The gelatin gives it a chewy and wobbly texture which is much more superior than using agar agar.





Ingredients: (5 cups of 115ml each)

Coconut Layer:
15g gelatin
50g sugar
200ml boiling water
135ml coconut milk

Osmanthus Layer:
15g gelatin
50g sugar
125ml boiling water
1.5 tsp osmanthus sugar
100ml cold water

Method:
Coconut Layer:
Mix gelatin and sugar well, add in boiling water and stir till gelatin and sugar dissolved. Stir in the coconut milk.

Osmanthus Layer:
Mix gelatin and sugar well, add in boiling water and stir till gelatin and sugar dissolved. Stir in the osmanthus sugar and cold water.

Assembling:
Pour a layer of osmanthus jelly into jelly cup, chill till a little set. Top it with a layer of coconut jelly. Alternate the layers till you finish the jelly solution. Make sure each layer is nearly set before you add in the next layer.

Reference: 小三看天下

Mango Mochi

I was asked to make some red bean mochi for HL's BBQ birthday party. As my kid is in the midst of her term test I have no time to cook the red bean paste. I asked HL if she liked mangoes. She was positive about that, so I made mango mochi for her.

Mangoes are in season now and they are cheap and nice. I used Philippines Luzon mangoes, these mangoes are sweet and juicy. When you bite into the soft chewy mochi, the chilled mango filling exudes aromatic luxury leaving a lingering aroma in your palate. This is the magic of mango mochi, giving you different layers of palate sensation when you bite into one of it. Get tempted!

This mochi recipe is nice in that the skin is still soft and chewy even if it has been in the refrigerator overnight. A good recipe for make-ahead desserts.




Ingredients:(30+ pieces)
300g glutinous rice flour
60g rice flour
1 tbsp santan powder
1.5 tbsp corn oil
200ml hot water + 45g sugar
160ml evaporated milk (1 small can)
240ml mangojuice
2 drops of mango essence- if you like (I did not use this)

2 ripe mangoes (diced into cubes)
dessicated coconut for coating

Method:
1. Sieve glutinous rice flour, rice flour and santan powder into a big mixing bowl. Add in the oil.
2. Dissolve sugar in 200ml of hot water. Add in the evaporated milk. Pour this into the flour mixture and mix till smooth and well blended. Stir in the mango nectar. Strain if mixture is lumpy.
3. Pour batter into a greased tray/bowl and steam on high heat for 30 minutes.
4. Remove from steamer and stir the cooked dough with a flat plastic knife till it is smooth. Leave aside to cool.
5. Wear a pair of plastic gloves and greased it with some oil. Take a 30g piece of dough and flatten it into a round disc, wrap in as much mango cubes as desired. Seal the edges tightly and shape it into round balls. Coat the shaped mochi with dessicated coconut.
6. Serve chilled.

Notes:
Couldn't really count the pieces that we've made, as we were eating and making them at the same time.

If you do not like dessicated coconut as the coating, you can use cooked glutinous rice.

Tofu Soy Parfait

The Humble Soybean!

The soybean is familiar to us all. They were first grown in China more than 2000 years ago. When we say soybean in Asia what most readily comes to mind is tofu. In recent years the humble soybean has found new dimensions. This is mainly because of the recognition of the soybean as an inexpensive and plentiful source of protein.

The soybean is economically the most important bean in the world, providing vegetable protein for millions of people and ingredients for hundreds of chemical products.

In China, Japan, and Korea the soybean and products made from the soybean are a popular part of the diet. The Chinese invented tofu (豆腐), and also made use of several varieties of soybean paste as seasonings. Japanese foods made from soya include: miso (味噌), natto (納豆), and edamame (枝豆). In Korean cuisine, soybean sprouts, called kongnamul (hangul:콩나물) are also used in a variety of dishes such as doenjang, cheonggukjang and ganjang.

The beans can be processed in a variety of ways. Common forms of soy (or soya) include soy meal, soy flour, soy milk, tofu, textured vegetable protein (TVP, which is made into a wide variety of vegetarian foods, some of them intended to imitate meat), tempeh, soy lecithin and soybean oil. Soybeans are also the primary ingredient involved in the production of soy sauce (or shoyu).

Though soybean is full of nutrients, please remember to consume in moderation only. This applies to all things that you consume.

Without further ado, let's see what I have made from this humble bean that is so full of goodness.

References: Wikipedia and Female Cookbook Vol. 14



Ingredients: 8 cups
400g Tofu (I used those packet tofu from supermarket)
500ml unsweetened soybean milk (you can diy this)
200ml whipping cream
70g - 80g sugar
4 tsp gelatin
4 tbsp boiling water

Topping (optional)
Canned azuki beans


Method:
1. Blend tofu in a blender till smooth.
2. Dissolve gelatin in 4 tbsp boiling hot water.
3. Cook soybean milk, sugar and whipping cream in a saucepan till a little hot. Add in the gelatin solution and stir till well blended.
4. Add in the blended tofu and cook for a little while. For smoothness, strain hot mixture twice and remove any foam formed during cooking.
5. Leave to cool before pouring into cups. Chill for at least 3 hours before serving.

Notes:
I top my soy parfait with canned azuki beans to enhance the dessert otherwise it may taste a wee bit bland.

If you dislike the taste/aroma of tofu and soybean milk, you may like to substitute half or all the soybean milk with skim milk.

Credits: Miss Jubie

Black Sesame Blanc Manger

Blanc Manger is a sweet and delicate dessert commonly made with milk, cream, sugar and thickened with just the right amount of gelatin to give it a soft and creamy texture.

Instead of doing the standard whitish type of blancmanger, I added black sesame paste to mine. The black sesame paste is very aromatic and it gets rid of the "milky" flavour of cream and milk (I'm allergic to the flavour of milk).



Ingredients:
200ml skim milk
2 tbsp sugar
1.5 tsp - 2 tsp gelatin
2 tbsp black sesame paste

200ml whipping cream
1 tbsp icing sugar

1 tsp rum

Method:
1. Put milk in a saucepan and sprinkle in the gelatin powder. Cook over low heat stirring till gelatin is dissolved.
2. Add in the sugar and black sesame paste and cook till well mixed and smooth. Then cool the black sesame milk mixture over a pot of cold water till it is a little thick or chill in the fridge till it is a little thick (this may take a couple of minutes, you have to check on it, so that it doesn't get set before the cream is added in).
3. Whip the whipping cream till it is 80% thick.
4. Add the black sesame milk mixture into the whipping cream and mix well. Stir in the rum.
5. Pour them into cups or metal moulds and chill for at least 2 hours before unmoulding.
6. To unmould from metal moulds, warm slightly all around the metal mould and the blanc manger will slid out nicely. Do not apply too much heat as the blanc manger will melt.

Coconut Milk Agar Agar

I realised that I have not make any agar-agar before and yet I have 2 big packets of agar-agar strand sitting in my pantry for the longest time ever.

Following the instructions at the back of the package, I did this plain coconut milk agar-agar. Being a plain item with no coloring added, I decided to use this silicon rose mold for a prettier presentation.

There are lots of variations and varieties that you can play with agar-agar. You can use colorful fruit juices or even fragrant tea as the liquid content and add in your favourite fruits to make your agar-agar. The ideas are endless. Like what TT always said, "Play with your Food".

What is agar-agar?

Agar-agar is derived from a bright red sea vegetable or agale with the botanical name of Gleidium purpurascens.
The name agar-agar is Malaysian in origin; in Japan it is known as Kanten and it is known as China Grass in India.

Like all the other sea vegetables, agar-agar is a good source of iodine and has 80% fiber. It has no calories, it promotes digestion and weight loss, treats hemorrhoids, and carries toxic and radioactive waste out of the body. It is cooling in nature, and reduces inflammations and other heat conditions as described in traditional Chinese medicine.

Agar-agar has high gelling properties and is considered the queen of gelling agents.
It is used as a thickener in many processed foods such as marmalade & jam, jelly candy, cheese, puddings, gelatin fruit desserts, meat products, bakery fillings and icings, dry and canned soups and ice cream.

Agar-agar may not set when mixed with vinegar or foods high in oxalic acid, like spinach, chocolate, or rhubarb. Agar gelled liquids will stay solid at room temperature.

Credits: www.tcwellness.com



Ingredients:
15g agar-agar strand
600ml - 700ml water
100g sugar
200ml coconut milk
100ml evaporated milk
1 tbsp coconut powder/santan powder
pinch of salt

Method:
1. Soak agar agar strand in water for about an hour. Drain and cut into small pieces.
2. Add in 600ml - 700ml water and sugar and cook till agar-agar dissolved. Stirring constantly.
3. Stir in coconut milk, evaporated milk, coconut powder and salt. Bring to boil.
4. Remove from heat and allow it to cool before pouring into clean rinsed mold.
5. Chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours before serving.

Notes:
For a firmer texture use a total of 900ml liquid content.

Baked Sago Pudding

With the winter monsoon affecting Southern China, the weather has been really cool. The temperature dipped to about 11C and we are gradually feeling the chill.

Isn't this the perfect excuse for warm desserts?

Speaking of warm desserts I would like to introduce this very popular dim sum dessert in Hong Kong - Baked Sago Pudding with Lotus seed paste. It is a rich and tasty custardy treat loaded with luminescent sago pearls with a nice caramelised top.

You can definitely look forward to warming up with a taste of this heated treat which is simple and decandent!







Ingredients: (8 8-cm ramekin cups)
115g sago pearls
Lotus seed paste/chestnut paste (optional)

30g custard powder
30g cornstarch
160ml coconut milk
2 eggs (beaten)

300ml water
160ml evaporated milk (1 small can)
90g - 100g sugar
30g butter


Method:
1. Boil sago pearls in a big saucepan with plenty of water for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and cover the saucepan with a lid and leave it aside for 5 - 10 minutes till sago pearls are transparent. Drain and rinse in cold water.
2. Combine the custard powder, cornstarch, coconut milk and beaten eggs till smooth. Strain if lumpy.
3. Boil 300ml of water till bubbling hot. Add in the sugar, butter and evaporated milk. Stir till sugar dissolved. Reduce the heat, add in the custard mixture and then the cooked sago pearls. Stir till thicken.
4. Grease ramekin cups with butter and spoon in sago mixture till half full, add in some lotus paste and top with more sago mixture. Sprinkle a little sugar on the surface.
5. Bake at 200C - 210C for 15 minutes in the middle rack and move to upper rack and bake till surface shows sign of golden brown caramelized spots.

SHF38 Aloe Vera Mango Pudding

Another SUGAR HIGH FRIDAY (SHF) event! Blog events are hard to keep track of. One has to bare in mind the deadline for each event in order not to miss them.

SHF38 is hosted by the gracious ZORRA, for more details please refer to her blog. Zorra, thank you for the invitation.

The theme of SHF38 is PUDDING!

What else should I make other than the infamous Mango Pudding of Hong Kong which is well liked by kids and adults either in their DimSum sesssions or even as a must-have after-dinner desserts.

I chose Aloe Vera Mango Pudding because this is so easy to make and my kids really loved it. With all ingredients readily available, the only other thing you need to do is to boil a jug of water.

According to Wikipedia, the mango pudding is classified as a newer type of pudding usually thickened with agent such as gelatin. They are usually sweet, smooth and creamy.

Exactly! This is how this Aloe Vera Mango Pudding is like - sweet, smooth, wobbly and creamy.



The transparent bits are the aloe vera cubes.


Ingredients: (12 jelly cups)
(A)
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
250ml boiling hot water
240g mango puree (made from fresh mangoes)
100ml whipping cream or evaporated milk

(B)
1 pack mango flavoured jelly crystals - about 90g
5 tsp gelatin powder
3 - 4 tbsp sugar
375ml boiling hot water

(C)
2 mangoes or more (dice into cubes)
5 tbsp aloe vera (dice into cubes) - optional

Method:
1. Lightly beat eggs in a big mixing bowl. Add in 250ml hot boiling water, stirring all the time to prevent eggs from curdling. Strain egg mixture, add in the mango puree and whipping cream or evaporated milk. Mix gently till well blended.
2. Put all ingredients in (B) into a large mixing bowl and stir till jelly crystals, gelatin and sugar dissolved.
3. Mix both egg and jelly mixture together till well combined.
4. Pour mixture into jelly cups that are rinsed with cool drinking water. Add in spoonfuls of (C) - the cubed mango pieces and aloe vera pieces into individual cups.
5. Chill in the refrigerator till set.
6. Serve chilled drenched with evaporated milk or mango puree and extra serving of mango and aloe vera cubes.

Notes:
Aloe Vera cubes are really optional.

Pooh Jelly

Nothing spectacular, just fiddling around with a new toy.

This Pooh ice cube mould is a gift from my dd.

Another temptation!

Sweet Corn Konnyaku

Last night I did a simple no fuss sweet corn konnyaku jelly from Lucy's Blog.
See, we even have the same set of jelly moulds.
This is a easy and yet delicious recipe, do give it a try.



These are the basic ingredients, and of course you need water too.


This is the jelly mould that I used.

Longan Konnyaku Fish

MC taught me how to do these while I was in Singapore.
Her fish moulds are very pretty but I don't seem to be able to find them. MC said she got these moulds ages ago. This mould is an individual fish mould and not the sheet mould.
So, if anyone of you come across these fish moulds, kindly drop me a note. Thank you!

What is konnyaku?
Konnyaku(Amorphophaiius Konjac,K. Koch.) produced from tubers of Konnyaku root, has been consumed as a part of important Japanese dishes for over 2,000 years. Science now unvail the real value of the Konnyaku as a high dietary, non fat, fiber low calorie diet food which shows several unique functions for maintaining a well-being.
When taken with foods, it reduces speed of sugar intake which prevent rapid blood sugar level jump. Instead, it gives graduale increment. Study also indicates Konnyaku lowers Choresterol level. Konnyaku is ideal for weight reduction since Konnyaku forms jelly like material and expands about 30-50 times in the digestive system and gives the feeling that the stomach is full. The Konnyaku cleans the digestive tract of toxins.
Most recently, the food industry is paying attention to the Konnayku flour to replace conventional starch formulations since the Konnyaku is lower in calories and lower in fat without sacrificing texture and taste.
Information extracted from: About Konjac (konnyaku)





We used this.


How I fix the eyes in the fish?
I used dried kiwi seeds.
First I soak the kiwi seeds.
Next pour the konnyaku just a little over the eye level, stick 1 soaked kiwi seed that has been dipped in konnyaku into eye area, wait a little while then pour in the rest of the konnyaku.
If you feel that kiwi seeds are a little small for the eyes, some friends suggested using half a raisin or soaked wolfberries.
So, take a pick which kinds of eyes you want!

Hello Kitty Jelly Candies

Cutie jelly candies!
Who would bear to eat these wobbly little cuties?
The kids would! They eat by the plateful.
These jelly candies are moulded by the Hello Kitty Jelly mould - see photo below. The kids love these and they are always the best-seller at birthday parties or BBQs.



This is the 3D Hello Kitty Mould.
They are available from UNY, HK for RRP HK$45.00


This is the jelly powder that I used.


Ingredients:
90g flavoured jelly powder/crystals
4 tsp gelatin powder
350ml boiling water

Method:
1. Mix jelly powder/crystals with gelatin powder.
2. Add in boiling water and stir till crystals and gelatin dissolved.
3. Cool the mixture.
4. Rinse the mould with cool water and pour the jelly mixture into the mould. Close the mould with its lid (lid has little air-hole on each cartoon character - see photo).
5. Refrigerate till the jelly candies are set.

Sago Mixed Fruit MangoSyrup

楊枝甘露 is a very popular dessert in Chinese restaurants. My nephews and kids had this at Teochew City Restaurant last Sunday and they loved it. My nephews specially requested this as dessert for a dinner party in their house tonight.



Ingredients:
120g sago pearls
3 mangoes for puree
2 mangoes diced into cubes
3/4 bowl of grapefruit or Thailand pomelo
500ml skim milk
300ml drinking water
150ml whipping cream
100ml coconut milk(can be replaced by milk)
4 - 5 tbsp sugar + 250ml boiling water

Method:
1. Soak sago pearls for an hour and cook in boiling water till transparent. Discard water and rinse in ice cold water and drain well. Set aside for use later.
2. Dissolve sugar in 250ml boiling water and leave aside to cool.
3. Peel and shred pomelo or grapefruit. Peel and core 2 mangoes and dice into cubes.
4. Peel and core 3 mangoes and blend with milk in a blender to get mango milk puree.
5. Mix all ingredients together well and chill in the refrigerator.**
6. Serve cold.

Notes:
You can use either pomelo or grapefruit. The amount used can vary, you can add more or less according to your preference and the same goes for the mango cubes too!

**Though I said to mix everything together in step (5) but guess it will be better to add the cooked sago pearls in only when ready to serve.

Low Fat Mango Yoghurt Pudding

Studied a few mango pudding recipes and chanced upon one with yoghurt. I thought that it was interesting and so I constructed this recipe based upon those that I have studied. To make it healthier for the family, the ingredients I used are all low fat except for the mango puree. I also control the use of sugar therefore I don't think you need to reduce the sugar any further unless your mangoes are very very sweet.
A very smooth and delicious low fat pudding which is very easy to do and best of all, a consolation to our waistlines huh... !



Ingredients:
400ml Low fat natural/mango flavoured yoghurt
500ml Hi-cal low fat milk
500g mango puree
90g castor sugar
200g cubed fresh mangoes (adjust amount according to your own preference)
100ml water
30g gelatin powder

Method:
1. Heat milk with sugar till sugar just dissolved. Remove from heat and leave to cool.
2. Stir mango puree and yoghurt into cooled milk. Strain for a smoother texture.
3. Dissolve gelatin in 100ml hot water.
4. Stir cooled gelatin solution into mango yoghurt mixture. Blend well.
5. Pour 1/2 mango yoghurt mixture into jelly mould, chill for 20 minutes, top with cubed mangoes and pour in the remaining mango yoghurt mixture.
6. Chill for 3 hours before serving.

Notes:
You can do half recipe by reducing all amounts by 50%.

SweetCorn Pudding

At last, I managed to get the right texture required for pudding. I have always wanted to make puddings like those we eat during "yum cha" in the restuarant and this is the one! It is really very smooth and the sweetness is just right.

I have edited the Coconut Red Bean Pudding recipe to be similar to this recipe as the texture for this pudding is much better.



Ingredient:
75g corn starch
200ml coconut milk
200ml milk
15g agar agar strands
1000ml water
125g castor sugar
400g sweet corn in cream sauce (about 1 can)

Method:
1. Mix corn starch, coconut milk and milk together and blend till smooth. You have to strain it if it is not smooth.
2. Boil agar agar strands in 1000ml water till dissolved. Turn off the heat and strain agar agar solution into another saucepan. Turn on the heat and add sugar into agar agar solution till sugar dissolved and the solution is bubbling hot.
3. Turn the heat to low and pour in the corn starch mixture and stirring at the same time till the mixture is thicken.
4. Stir in the sweet corn.
5. Pour the pudding into moulds rinsed with cold drinking water, cool it before sending to chill in the refrigerator.

Claypot Pudding

Claypot puddings are popular HK street side treats however, they are not found in abundance these days.
Anyway, you can try to make them yourself. Not a bad snack at all.


Ingredients:
100g rice flour (粘米粉)
1/2 tbsp glutinous rice flour (糯米粉)
75g ungluten flour (澄麵粉)
80g brown slab sugar (片糖)
500ml water
100g cooked red beans or as much as you like

Method:
1. Sieve all the 3 flours into a mixing bowl and add in 125ml water. Mix well till a thick paste is formed.
2. Put the remaining 375ml water into a saucepan, add in the slab sugar. Cook till sugar dissolved and it is bubbling hot.
3. Pour this hot sugar solution into (1) stirring it at the same time till a smooth and thick batter is formed.
4. Spoon batter into greased clay-pots/moulds about 90% full and add in the red beans.
5. Steam on high heat for 20 minutes. Unmould when it is a little cooled.

Notes:
I have tried making this several times and each time the consistency of the batter is different. On good times, I get a smooth thick batter but on other occasions my batter is more on the runny side. Do note the followings:
1. If batter is thick, you can add the red beans in and it will not sink to the bottom of the clay-pots.
2. If batter is more on the runny/watery side, steam the pudding for 30 - 45 seconds then add in the red beans.

Variations:
For coconut milk flavour:
(1) replace brown slab sugar with castor sugar
(2) replace 250ml water with coconut milk