Matcha Agar-Agar (Jelly)

Easy recipe for matcha lover, recipe from Asian Food Channel. 

Ingredients
1 tbsp matcha powder (green tea powder)
2 tbsp hot water
400ml milk
300ml water
8g agar agar powder (gelatine)120g caster sugar
120g caster sugar

Method:

1. Prepare matcha paste, mix with 2 tbsp hot water.
2. Boil the milk and water with agar agar powder for 2 minutes, after boil mix in caster sugar.
3. Then add in matcha paste.
4. Pour to mould
5. Chill at least 4 hours
6. Cut and serve chill
7. Serve with red bean paste

Homemade Wok Char Siew 叉燒

Ingredients
1kg (2.2lb) pork shoulder/ belly/ collar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons sugar / Maltose / Honey
2 tablespoons oyster sauce, or Hoi sin sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese (Shaoxing) wine, or rose wine
2 cups (480ml) water
plus+ extra ingredients:
1 tsp five-spice powder
2 cloves garlic, minced

To finish
2-3 tablespoons oil for searing
2-3 tablespoons honey


Instructions

1. Start with your preferred cut of meat. If you like your char siew to be more fatty, use the belly. If you prefer it to be leaner, use pork shoulder. I have also seen folks using pork collar - I think I shall give that a try the next time I make this. For today's char siew, I used pork shoulder.
2. To make the marinade, place all the ingredients in a bowl. Whisk to combine.
3. Pour the marinade over the pork.
4. Place this in an air tight container then into the fridge to marinate for at least 4 hours, but preferable over night.
5. When you are ready to cook, transfer the meat and all the marinade into the wok.
6. Cook, on medium heat for about 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how tender you like the meat to be. Turn the meat at (roughly) 10-minute intervals, and add more water if necessary.
7. Once the meat is near the tenderness that you like, continue cooking until the liquid has reduced. If there is too much liquid, you can remove some. Turn off the heat, and transfer the meat into a bowl.
8. Use a ladle to remove most of the liquid.
9. Place the liquid in a small heavy-bottom saucepan. Boil the liquid until a thick, syrupy char siew sauce remains. You can serve this with the char siew later.
10. Turn the heat to medium high. Add a little oil to the wok. Place the meat back into the wok.
11. Drizzle honey on the pork.
12. Flip the meat and sear it. You can adjust the amount of honey and how much char marks you want according to your preference.
13. Once both sides have been seared, the char siew is done.

Link here & here

Bossam (Boiled Pork Wraps)

Ingredients
For cabbage
1 pound napa cabbage leaves, washed and drained
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon salt
3/4 cup water

For the meat
2 whole fresh pork belly about 3-inch wide cut (about 2.5 pounds)
1/2 medium onion
2 - 3 white parts of large scallions
7 - 8 plump garlic cloves
1 inch ginger piece, sliced
1 teaspoon whole black peppers
1-1/2 tablespoons doenjang (fermented soybean paste)
1 teaspoon instant coffee (or a cup of brewed coffee)
1 teaspoon salt
2 bay leaves
10 cups water

Instructions

1. Bring the water and all the brine ingredients to a boil over medium high heat, and continue to boil for 5 minutes.
2. Add the pork belly and boil for 20 minutes, uncovered. Reduce the heat to medium low, and cook, covered, until the meat is very tender, 40 to 50 minutes. Turn the heat off, and cool the meat in the cooking liquid. This will keep the meat moist.
3. Thinly slice the meat and serve with the salted cabbage (or lettuce), saewujeot, and musaengchae.

For cabbage

1. Combine sugar, vinegar, salt, and water in a large bowl. Mix well until it turns into a clear pickle brine.
2. Add the cabbage and mix well by hand.
3. Let it sit for 15 minutes, then mix well and turn it over so the leaves pickle evenly. Repeat this every 10 to 15 minutes for 1 to 2 hours until the cabbage gets soft and withered.
4. Squeeze out the excess water and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes
Keep any leftover meat in the cooking liquid. Boil the meat in the liquid to reheat. This prevents the meat from drying out.

Soure here

Baked Sweet Potato Chips

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Yield: 2 to 3 serves

Ingredients: 
360 gm gold sweet potato
1 Tbsp raw sugar
1/4 tsp ginger powder
1/4 tsp ground paprika
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp vegetable oil

Method: 

1. Place a baking tray on the middle rack of oven. Preheat the oven at 220C/428F.
2. Peel the sweet potato, or keep the skin if you like. Cut into strips, about 2 to 2½cm in thickness. Transfer into a large bowl. Add sugar, ginger powder, paprika, salt and oil. Mix well and coat the sweet potato evenly.
3. Remove the preheated tray from the oven. Quickly arrange the sweet potato onto it. Put it back into the oven and bake for about 30 minutes. After the first 15 minutes, take the tray out and turn the sweet potato to the other side. Continue to bake until cooked through and evenly brown.

Notes：

• I didn’t rinse the sweet potato. If you’d like to rinse the sweet potato, make sure to wait until it dries completely before moving onto cooking. Otherwise, the sweet potato chips would become mushy.
• Pre-heating the empty baking tray will help the surface of sweet potato chips turn brown and crispy.
• The raw sugar will help add a caramelized flavour to the sweet potato after baking. You might skip it if you want.
• Ground paprika is not hot after all, just help enrich the taste of the sweet potato.
• The ginger powder goes so well with the sweet potato. You might adjust the amount to your liking.

Source here

Mung Bean Filling (For Mooncakes)

Prep time: 10 mins （plus soaking time）
Cook time: 60 mins
Yield: about 600 grams

Ingredients:
200 gm peeled split mung beans
100 gm caster sugar
80 ml coconut milk
70 ml vegetable oil
1/8 tsp salt
1½ Tbsp wheat starch

Method: 

1. Rinse mung beans. Soak over night or at least 4 hours.
2. Transfer the mung beans into a large shallow pan. Cover the mung beans with boiling water with 1cm depth. (Note: The beans will continue to absorb as much as water along the way of cooking.) Steam in a wok over medium high heat, about 25 to 30 minutes, or until it’s easily smashed with your finger tips.
3. Drain beans out and discard excess water. Use a large spoon to press through a fine sieve. You’ll get very smooth mung bean puree.
4. Transfer the puree into a non-stick frypan. Add sugar, coconut milk, oil and salt. Combine well. Cook over medium high heat until moisture is reduced by two-thirds. Sift in wheat flour in batches and stir to combine well between each addition. Reduce heat to low and simmer until thickened, stirring constantly, about 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer into a large bowl and let it cool down completely. Follow instructions of mooncake recipe to divide into portions, then shape into ball shapes. You can make mung bean filling one or two days ahead. Wrap it in plastic film and store in fridge.

Notes:

• How can you tell if the mung beans are steamed enough? If it’s easily smashed with your finger tips, it’s softened enough.
• The best mung bean filling is not too dry or not too wet. The texture should be like smooth dough, easily pulled away from pan (as shown in right bottom picture). Practice makes things perfect. You’ll get the hang of things after one or two trials.

Source here

Pandan Snow Skin Mooncakes with Coconut Mung Bean Filling

Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 60 mins
Yield: 16 mini mooncakes (50 grams each. Sized diameter 4.5cm, depth 4.5cm)

Ingredients:
55 gm glutinous rice flour
45 gm rice flour
25 gm wheat flour / wheat starch
60 gm caster sugar
190 ml milk
30 ml condensed milk
25 ml vegetable oil (such as sunflower oil or canola oil)
40 ml pandan juice
2 to 3 drops of pandan paste / pandan essence, optional
320 gm mung bean filling (To make the filling, refer to this recipe.)
2 Tbsp cooked glutinous rice flour, for coating


Method: 

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine glutinous rice flour, rice flour, wheat flour and sugar well.
2. Mix milk, condensed milk, pandan juice and oil together. Pour into the flour mixture and stir to combine. Drain through a fine sieve into a large and shallow pan.
3. Steam the batter in a wok over medium-high heat, for about 15 to 20 minutes. Try a bit of the dough. If it doesn’t have any raw flour taste, it’s cooked through. Remove from wok and let it cool down. Scrape the dough out onto a plastic board or a kitchen benchtop lined with plastic film. Lightly knead by hand until smooth. Cut dough into 16 portions, 30 grams of each.
4. Divide mung bean filling into 16 portions, 20 grams of each. Roll each into a round shape.
5. Wrap each filling ball with a dough portion. Roll with your palms and lightly coat with cooked glutinous rice flour. Shake off any excess flour. Place into a mooncake mould. Press to print the pattern. Repeat this step until finish all the dough and fillings. Store the mooncakes into an air-tight container. Put kitchen paper on top to prevent any condensed water dropped on the mooncake surface. Refrigerate overnight. Enjoy.

How to make pandan juice：

1. Rinse 4 pieces of pandan leaves and wipe dry. Roughly cut into smaller sections. Use an electric food processor to process the leaves with 4 tablespoons of water until finely cut.
2. Transfer to a filter paper. Squeeze out the pandan juice. Then measure out the amount yielded by the recipe. The rest of the pandan juice can be stored in fridge with cover for up to a few days.

Notes:

1. How to prepare cooked glutinous rice flour: Simply cook the flour in a frypan without any oil over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. When smoke releases and the flour turns light yellow, it’s cooked. Remove from the heat and let it cool down completely. Then you can use it to coat your mooncakes.
2. If you don’t have a mooncake mould, you can use a jelly mould or any other mould that comes in handy to you.
3. If pandan leaves are not available, you can replace it with milk. 
4. Add more pandan paste if you like a deeper colour.
5. When the dough is still hot, it seems to be quite oily. Don't worry. It won't be greasy at all, when it cools down completely.
6. The snow skin mooncakes can be stored in freezer up to a few weeks. Before serving, just transfer the mooncakes to fridge for about 3 hours, until they become soften a bit.

Source here

Beef Brisket in Clear Broth

Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 135 mins
Yield: 4 to 6 serves

Ingredients:
820 gm beef brisket
4 to 5 slices ginger
4 to 5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp white rice wine
3 cups salt-reduced chicken stock
1 cup water
1 star anise
3 pieces bay leaves
20 white peppercorns
10 gm rock sugar, about thumb-sized
500 gm radish, peeled and roughly chopped
salt, to taste

Method: 

1. Blanch the beef brisket in boiling water to remove the blood. Drain well. Cut into chunks. Trim away the fat if needed. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a wok or large pot over high heat. Saute ginger and garlic until aromatic. Add the beef brisket. Sprinkle wine and stir to combine. Pour in stock and water. Add star anise, bay leaves, white peppercorns and rock sugar.
3. Cover and bring it to boil. Cook for about 30 minutes. Turn off the heat. Don’t remove the lid. Let the beef cook with the residue heat inside the pot for about 15 minutes. Repeat this step until the beef starts to turn soft.
4. Use another wok or frying pan. Heat oil and sauté the radish. Transfer and cook with the beef until the radish is softened and beef brisket is tender over medium-low heat. Replenish some boiling water if necessary. Season with salt. Serve hot.

Notes：

1. Beef brisket needs longer cooking time. To save energy, I turned off the stove and made use of the residue heat inside the wok/pot to cook the beef. (Remark: I often used this method to make the classic stewed Beef Brisket in Chu Hou sauce.)
2. By adding a bit of rock sugar, not only it makes the beef brisket taste pleasant, but also it helps the meat turn soft more quickly.
3. Chicken stock works perfectly as a clear soup base. You might use beef stock anyway.

Source here