Sweet Potato Balls and Local Barley in Coconut Milk

With the purple and orange sweet potato balls sitting in my freezer, I just can't help thinking of what dessert to come up with next ~ smile ~  It doesn't take me long to figure it out, and with these 5 ingredients:  Sweet potato balls, local barley, pandan leaves, sugar and coconut milk, here is the end product of today's simple dessert....

Few simple steps to kick start my cooking:

1. In a medium pot bring water to a boil with few pandan leaves (knoted). 
2. In another pot bring water to a boil.  Add in the sweet potato balls, each colour at a time as I prefer to have a clear purple and orange coloured potato balls.  Once the potato balls floats up to the surface, it's cooked.  Dish with a slotted spoon and set aside. Repeat until both potato balls are cooked.
3. Once the pandan flavor fills the kitchen add granulated sugar, stir to dissolve and taste for correct sweetness.
4. For the local barley, I boiled it separately, refer to the recipe here 
5. Scoop the barley grains (grains only) and put it into the sugar water, amount depending on your preference.
6. Add in both the purple and orange sweet potato balls and stir to mix.
7. Lastly, add in the coconut milk, amount also depend on how much you are cooking and your preference.  Some people prefers a more pungent coconut milk taste than others.  Once it comes to a boil remove the pot from heat.
8. Remove the pandan leaves.
9. Scoop into a bowl and let it cool a bit before consuming.  This desserts is best served either warm, room temperature or cold.  

Local Barley Soup

At any one time I always keeps stock of this 'local barley' in my fridge, and once a while I will boil a big pot of it to drink and the balance stored in water containers placed in the fridge.  During hot days, this is one refreshing drink which my family enjoys any time of the day.

To boil this barley drink all we need is just a few simple ingredients:

• Barley grains (amount depending on your preference and how much soup you need)
• Few pandan leaves (put more if you are boiling more soup)
• Granulated sugar/rock sugar/brown sugar (your preference)

Few simple steps:

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Use a bigger pot so that the water and barley when boiled will not overflow out of the pot.
2. Wash the barley grains, drain and add into the boiling water.
3. Leave the pot cover half open and always watch out as the water might overflow out of the pot when it's boiling.  
4. When it comes to another boil reduce heat to medium high and continue to boil.  Add in the knoted pandan leaves.   The soup is ready when the barley grains are soft.  More water might need to be added during cooking.
5. Add in sugar and taste for correct sweetness of your preference.  Stir until sugar dissolves.
6. Remove the pot of the heat and leave it to cool down.
7. The soup is ready to be served.  

Tips: 

• Normally, as soon as the soup is cooked,  I will scoop out the grains and soup onto a bowl to let it cool down faster, as I just couldn't wait to enjoy it.
• Some people might not like to consume the barley grains, that is fine.  

Taiwanese Sweet Potato Balls Desserts

I always enjoys cooking desserts and having them at any time of the day, especially on hot days.  Recently, I tried a hand on this Taiwanese Dessert using both the orange and purple sweet potatoes.  Yam is another tuber ingredients which is commonly used to cook this delectable desserts.  This time round I am not using yam.  Let's start cooking...

Ingredients:
250g orange sweet potatoes
250g purple sweet potatoes
200g tapioca flour or starch (divided into 2 portions)
Some hot water (to be added into the sweet potato and flour dough)

Methods:

1. Peel, cut both the orange and purple sweet potatoes and arrange them on  two steaming plates.  
2. Steam both the sweet potato separately until soft.
3. Immediately transfer steamed orange sweet potatoes onto a mixing bowl and mash with a hand masher until mashed.
4. Add in 100g of tapioca flour or starch while the sweet potato is still warm.  Mix with a spatula or spoon until incorporated.  Add 1 tablespoon of hot water at a time, if the dough is too dry until you get the correct texture for the dough.
5. Turn the dough onto the counter top and knead with hand for 1 to 2 minutes. Cut the dough into 3 portions.  Roll each portion into a log.  Cut rolls into small pieces at your desired sizes.
6. Lightly dust with tapioca flour. Set aside for later use.
7. Proceed with the purple sweet potato using the same steps 3 to 6.

From the above prepared orange and purple sweet potato balls I cooked 2 desserts to enjoy.

1.  Taiwanese Orange Sweet Potato Balls with barley, gingko nuts and candied winter melons.

Few simple steps to cook this dessert: (1 serving)

1. In a medium pot of boiling water add 2 tablespoons of washed barley, and let it boil until soft.  Drain the barley and discard water.  For this purpose I prefer to have a bowl of clear dessert, which is why I discard the barley water.  If you want to make use of both the barley and the water, it is also fine.
2. To boil the orange sweet potato balls, boil a pot of water and once the water boils drop in the balls.  Once the balls rise to the surface, off the heat, scoop out the balls and set aside.  If I am cooking a larger portion, I will put the boiled balls into ice water to let it stop cooking.  
3. In another clean pot  add water and let it boil together with 2 pieces of pandan leaf  tied into a knot.  Let it boil for about 5 minutes.
4. Add in the barley, gingko nuts (has been cooked earlier) and some candied winter melons, and continue to let it boil for a few minutes.
5. Finally, add in the orange sweet potato balls, stir and taste for correct sweetness.  The candied winter melons is sweet.  Add a bit of rock sugar or granulated sugar if needed.
6. Off the heat and this dessert is ready to be served warm or cold.

2.  Orange Sweet Potato soup with Taiwanese purple sweet potato balls.

Few quick and simple steps: (1 serving)

1. In a medium pot, add water and bring it to a boil with 2 pieces of pandan leaves tied into a knot.  Pandan leaves is a must as it enhanced the flavour of the dessert.
2. Peel the orange sweet potato and cut into chunks, sizes according to your preference.  
3. Add the sweet potato chunks into the boiling water and let it boil until almost soft.  Add in some rock sugar or granulated sugar or brown sugar (depending on your preference) and taste for correct sweetness.  Remove from heat.
4. While the sweet potato is boiling bring a small pot of water to boil, add in the purple sweet potato balls and once it floats to the surface, off the heat and scoop out the balls and set aside in a serving bowl.
5. Scoop the orange sweet potato and soup in the serving bowl with the sweet potato purple balls.  
6. This simple dessert is ready to be served.  

Notes:  The uncooked leftover sweet potato balls can  be placed in an airtight container, separated with parchment paper in between and place in the freezer.  To use, bring it out at room temperature until thawed or place the container inside the fridge overnight.

I adapted this recipe from 'Bake with Paws' with some amendments.

Stuffed Christmas Chicken

This is another backlog post!  I bake this Chicken for Christmas Eve last year.  This is not the first time I cook this dish, and with my table top Convention Oven, I prefer to use chicken instead of turkey.  This recipe is a keeper!

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (cleaned and wiped dry)
25g butter (melted for basting)

Seasoning for chicken: (Mix together in a small bowl)
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp Chinese five spice powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Lea & Perrins sauce

Filling:
1 tbsp cooking oil
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp chopped big onion
5 fresh chestnuts, shelled and diced
50g carrot, diced
1 small potato, peeled and diced
5 pieces button mushrooms, diced
1 slice day-old white bread, crust removed and diced
1 egg, beaten

Seasoning for filling:
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp sugar
Dash of ground black pepper

Glaze for chicken: (combine)
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp maltose

Methods:

1. Rub chicken inside and out with combined seasoning ingredients.  Place the chicken standing on a bottle over a round container and place in the fridge to dry overnight.
2. Parboil potatoes and chestnuts until tender.  Simmer carrots in boiling water until soft.  Drain and set aside for later use.
3. Saute garlic and onions in melted butter and cooking oil until fragrant.  Add button mushrooms, cooked chestnuts, potatoes and carrots.  Mix in seasoning and stir-fry well.  Dish out to cool slightly.
4. Add bread and beaten egg, Mix well.
5. Stuff filling into cavity of chicken. (Do not over pack the chicken with filling or the skin will burst during cooking).  Secure the openings with wooden skewers or satay sticks.
6. Bring the combined glaze ingredients to a low boil for 5 to 10 minutes.  Leave aside to cool completely.  Brush chicken evenly with cooled glaze mixture.
7. Place chicken on a baking tray, breast side down, brush lightly with melted butter and  bake in a preheated oven of 190 degree Celsius for 30 to 35 minutes.
8. Turn the chicken breast side up.  Brush with glaze and bake for 10 minutes.  Brush chicken with melted butter and glaze, then continue to bake for a further 50 to 60 minutes or until cooked through.
9. To test if the chicken is cooked, pierce a skewer at the thickest part of the chicken, the juice will run clear and not pink.
10. Cut open the chicken and let's enjoy this 'Stuffed Christmas Chicken'....

This recipe is adapted from Amy Beh with slight amendments to suit my cooking.

Chocolate Almond Marbled Cake

Ingredients:
180g unsalted butter (softened)
100g caster sugar
2 tsp baking powder
180g plain flour (sifted)
75g ground almond
3 large eggs
2 tbsp milk
3 tbsp cocoa powder (sifted) and mix with 3 tbsp hot water to make a paste
50g dark chocolate chips

Methods:

1. In a bowl add in flour, baking powder, ground almond and stir to combine.
2. Cream butter and caster sugar together until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in one egg at a time, adding a tablespoon of the flour mixture in between.  Repeat until all three eggs have been added, then fold in the remaining flour mixture with a rubber spatula and stir in the milk.
4. Spoon half of the cake mixture into a separate bowl and mix in the cocoa paste.  Add the chocolate chips to the other half of the mixture.
5. In a lined  6 x 6-inch cake pan, add spoonfuls of each of the batter alternately to the pan and use a chopstick to create a marbled effect through the mixture.
6. Bake in a preheated oven of 180 degree Celsius for 40  to 45 minutes or a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
7. Let the cake cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out and removing the parchment paper onto a cooling rack.

This recipe is adapted from Ann Low of 'Anncoojournal.com' with slight amendments.

Winter melon Chicken Soup

Opting for a soothing and nutritious soup with cooling properties during this hot season of the year in Malaysia is what most home-cooks will put that in mind when they prepare their daily meals.   

Cooked with chicken, the light sweetness of the winter melon makes the soup so refreshing, and the call for a second bowl of soup is inevitable.

Few simple steps to cook this soup:

1. Clean and cut the chicken into pieces, slightly larger than the chicken for stir-frying. Place the chicken in a large bowl.
2. Boil a pot of water using high heat, once the water boils off the heat and  pour some hot water over the chicken to blanch.  
3. Wash the winter melon, remove the skin, seeds and pulp and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Set aside for later use.
4. Reheat the pot with the remaining hot water, add in the drained chicken pieces and let it boil using medium heat.
5. Put a tablespoon of wolfberry in a bowl, wash, drain and set aside for later use.
6. When the chicken is almost cooked add in the winter melon and the wolfberry and continue to let it simmer until the winter melon is soft.  
7. Season the soup with salt and chicken stock granules.
8. Dish out and serve on individual soup bowls.

Stir-fried snow peas with prawns

As a homecook, at times I too run out of ideas or too lazy to think of what to cook; or nearing to the end of the week and my kitchen is running out of food; or too busy to go marketing, etc...

When I am in such a situation I will normally take a peek in my fridge, grab whatever items I can find, mix and match the ingredients, and there it goes...  a plate of stir-fried green peas with prawns.

Few simple steps:

1. Wash the snow pea and pull off the tough string that runs along the side of the pod.  Set aside.
2. For the prawns, remove shell, devein and set aside.
3. 1 shallot, peel and thinly sliced.
4. 2 garlic cloves, peel and chopped.  (sometimes I will use sliced garlic)
5. In a medium heated wok, add 1 1/2 tbsp of cooking oil, saute the shallots and garlic until fragrant.
6. Add in the snow peas and give it a few quick stir, then move the peas to the side of the wok, add in the prawns, stir-fry and mix in the peas.
7. Add some water, stir to mix.
8. Season with dashes of chicken stock granules, stir well to mix, taste for correct seasoning and once the peas is cooked, off the heat and dish onto a serving plate.  The doneness of the snow peas depends on individuals.  Some prefers it soft, while others prefers it crunchy.  So, cook it according to your family's liking.