My seafood shopping choices are heavily dictated by budget, in the sense that I would pick up something simply because it looks cheap, and figure out how to make it palatable after the fact. This explains why I often use squid instead of the more expensive calamari; contrary to popular opinion, squid can taste pretty tender even when simply » Read More
How to Make Sweet Potato Dumplings with Red Bean Paste Filling
These sweet potato dumplings are pretty easy to make; you can used ready-to-use red bean paste (in cans or packs at your local Asian grocery store), though in this Live Asian Kitchen, I used the homemade red bean paste I’d made a couple of weeks earlier. Other popular filling options include lotus seed paste or mung bean paste. The » Read More
How to Cook Yee Mein Noodles with Garlic Butter Sauce
I recently had some crab yee mein noodles at The Good Kitchen restaurant in Hurstville, and they were so memorable I decided to attempt making the dish during my Live Asian Kitchen broadcast (but with prawns due to budget constraints). The noodles were served up with a butter and garlic sauce, and I was told that the secret was to add a small » Read More
How to Make Shanghai-Style Pancakes
I remember Shanghai red bean paste-filled pancakes being a staple on the sweets trolley at yum cha back in the day, but I have to admit that I haven’t really seen them around in recent years. The good news is that they’re actually pretty easy to make, and apart from red bean paste, all you really need are flour and eggs, and oil for frying. I used » Read More
How to Make Durian Fritters (Jemput-Jemput Durian)
I belong to that demographic of Malaysians who turn up our noses at our Singaporean neighbours’ sad attempts to use durian in edgy ways, such as in a pizza, hot pot (ie. steamboat) or chee cheong fun (rice noodle rolls). It seems like a bit of a waste of good durian, which I prefer to eat straight and unencumbered by ingredients that effectively » Read More
How to Make Harm Chim Peng (Savoury Doughnuts) w/Red Bean Filling
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again… Harm Chim Peng (I’ve spelled the dish the way it’s pronounced in Cantonese; I don’t know of a standard spelling for it), is a type of savoury doughnut sold at street stalls back in Malaysia, and it comes in a number of different varieties - plain, spiralled, filled with sticky rice, etc. My favourite » Read More
How to Make Vegan Yam (Taro) Cake
This iteration of yam (taro) cake which I made during my Twitch Live Asian Kitchen broadcast did not start out being vegan, but it became so when I realised I did not have anywhere near enough dried shrimp for it. I did have some minced preserved radish, however (the stuff you use in Pad Thai, and which I use in my Chai Tow Kway or radish cake), so » Read More