(Disclosure: I received this device to review as a member of the
Lenovo INsiders Program. All opinions are my own.)

A few weeks ago, I was sent a Lenovo Smart Display to evaluate. Never having owned any smart devices before, I wasn’t sure what to expect and how much use I’d get out of it.

As a point of comparison, if you’re familiar with smart speakers like Google Home or Amazon Echo, the Lenovo Smart Display is the next level up – imagine a smart speaker that comes with a display screen so you can watch videos, see pictures and read or select search results.

I followed the instructions that came with the unit, installed the Google Home app on my phone, and connected the smart display to it. Since I already use Google Assistant on my phone, I didn’t need to train it to recognise my voice or speech pattern.

I then set up some “routines” in my Google Home app – which include adding a chronological set of instructions for the Lenovo Smart Display to carry out when I issue specific commands – eg. “Hey Google, good morning/I’m home/good afternoon” etc.

Right now, I’ve programmed it so that when I say “good morning”, it tells me the current temperature and weather forecast, the estimated commute time to “work”, any reminders and upcoming items on my calendar, and then it plays a specific podcast until I tell it to “stop playing”.

When I say “I’m home”, it’s set to play the latest news from a variety of sources I’ve preselected – including news from Indonesia, Germany, France, Spain and a couple of other countries, in their native languages (I graduated Sydney University with a degree in languages 25 years ago, apparently in anticipation of this invention).

The most intriguing feature, though, is its ability to pull up recipes in its search results, and then read out the instructions step by step at my pace – which means I can cook along while listening to it, without having to touch the screen.

Here’s my 3-minute video showing how this works (along with some of the other commands) –

It also controls some 5000 smart devices including lights and even coffee makers.

So what do I think of the Lenovo Smart Display?

Here are the pros –

It’s a sleek and beautiful unit with a sturdy and stable base.

I like that I can watch YouTube videos on it, and get it to scroll through the thousands of photos in my Google Photos album throughout the day.

It’s kind of like having a really smart housemate who can tell you stuff like what time it is halfway across the world (something I need to know more often than you’d think, simply because I work online and have meetings in different timezones), and set reminders and pull up other search results for me.

It works as a security camera so you can monitor the rooms in your home through the display (including the baby’s room), and you can also get it to show a live feed of your backyard, using smart devices.

Instead of just listening to music, I can watch the videos that accompany them.

I can make video calls with it, and when in that mode, I can pop the Lenovo Smart Display on its side for vertical video.

The speakers are clear and powerful, and the microphone has a great range – it can pick up my commands from my study at the far end of my apartment.

Unlike Google Assistant on my phone, the Lenovo Smart Device can hear my commands very well (eg. telling it to stop) over any audio it’s playing.

What are the cons?

Because it runs on Google Assistant, its capabilities are pegged to the limitations of said software –

• It doesn’t recognise my command to pull up recipes from specific websites (eg. yours truly’s) – right now it only yields Google search results, which means when I ask for “the perfect steak recipe” – my selections are limited to those from websites that rank highest (think Jamie Oliver, etc.).
  
  
• It defaults to the most recent upload when I ask it to play a particular podcast or YouTube channel. With the YouTube video, I can then pause it and then scroll through the playlist for one I do want to watch, but I can’t do that with podcast episodes since they are audio only.

However, when it can’t perform a specific task, it does respond that “I can’t do that right now, but I’m still learning” – which gives me hope that someone at Google is working hard to finetune its features.

The Lenovo Smart Display I received for review is an 8-inch model; it currently retails for just USD 99.00 at https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/smart-display

Here are the specifications:

• Design
  • Width x Height:142.21mm x 263.21 mm
  • Thickness:12.5 mm — 111.36 mm
  • Weight:1 kg (2.2 lbs)
  • Color:Grey
  • I/O Buttons:1 x Microphone-Mute, 1 x Camera Shutter, 1 x Volume +/-
• Display
  • Size:8”
  • Type:IPS
  • Resolution:HD (1280 x 800)
  • Screen:Direct Bonding
  • Rotating View:86° Wide Angle
• Performance
  • Processor:Qualcomm® Home Hub Platform (base​ Snapdragon 624, Octa-Core A53 1.8 GHz, 14 nm)​
  • Audio:1.75″ 10W Full Range Speaker​ 2 x Passive Tweeters
  • Microphone:2 x 2 Dual Microphone Arrays
  • RAM:Up to 2 GB
  • Flash (eMMC):Up to 4 GB
• Multimedia
  • Front Camera:5 MP Wide Angle
  • Video Call:720p
• Connectivity
  • WLAN:2 x 2 WiFi 802.11 ac 2.4G/5G, MIMO
  • Bluetooth®:Bluetooth® BLE & 4.2
• What’s In The Box
  • Lenovo Smart Display (8), Cable, Adapter, Quick Start Guide, Warranty Card

The post Lenovo Smart Display for Hands-Free Cooking first appeared on Jackie M..

Now, I know I’m going to get blowback on this but if you were to ask me, an expensive ingredient like dried scallops is wasted on what is essentially a glorified chilli sambal; I can’t really taste any scallop flavour in it and its primary function, from what I can determine, is to give it the condiment a slightly stringy texture.

Anyhow I was rummaging through my pantry right before last Friday evening’s Live Asian Kitchen (my thrice-weekly FREE live online cooking classes), when I came across some dried cuttlefish in shredded stringy form, which I’d picked up in Penang during my Wok Around Asia trip. In a rare flash of brilliance, I decided it’d make a good substitute for dried scallops.

I further decided I could replace another key ingredient – ham (I don’t eat pork) – with the minced preserved radish that was similarly sitting in my pantry.

(The minced preserved radish I buy is available in grocery stores that stock ingredients used in Southeast Asian cooking – the Thais use it in Pad Thai, and I use it in my Chai Tow Kway aka Char Kway Kak, ie. fried radish cake. Alternatively get the more widely-known salted preserved radish used in Chinese cooking, but rinse it very well, then mince it in a blender.)

I have to say, it tastes so delicious I’ve decided to give it a name – the Jackie M XXO Sauce. It took under an hour compared to what would have been an all-day affair had you used actual dried scallops (granted, I took other shortcuts aside from having to soak the scallops for 6 hours, then steaming and shredding them by hand etc.)

I’m going to assume you may not be so lucky as to find pre-shredded dried cuttlefish at your local Asian store, hence why I’ve tweaked the recipe below to use whole dried cuttlefish, cut into pieces.

My final caveat is that I’ve increased the amount of oil in this recipe, if for no other reason than to replicate the oily visual of your standard XO sauce; my effort produced a much less oily version; your call whether you want to use all two cups of oil.

Jackie M’s XXO Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

5 onions, peeled
8 garlic cloves, peeled
½ cup dried shrimp, soaked in hot water and strained
¼ cup dried cuttlefish
¼ cup minced preserved radish (chai poh), rinsed and strained
1 cup chilli paste or ¼ cup chilli powder (adjust according to heat level)
2 Tbsps chicken powder
1 Tbsp thick soya sauce aka cooking caramel
1 Tbsp sugar
½ Tbsp fish sauce (optional)
2 cups oil

METHOD:

1. Simmer dried cuttlefish with 2 cups of water for 3 minutes. Strain, then pulse in a blender to a soft, flossy texture. Remove and set aside.
2. Finely mince dried shrimp in a blender. Remove.
3. Mince garlic and onion.
4. Transfer garlic & onion into a heavy-based wok and fry until most of the moisture has evaporated.
5. Add oil and fry until onion is caramelised.
6. Add dried shrimp, cuttlefish, minced preserved radish & chilli and fry until oil separates.
7. Add chicken powder, thick soya sauce, sugar and fish sauce.
8. Mix well, fry a further couple of minutes, adjust seasoning, then remove from heat.

Store in jars and refrigerate. This will keep well in the fridge for at least 4 weeks, and should freeze well.

The post How to Make Jackie M’s XXO Sauce first appeared on Jackie M..

It’s taken me nearly four years since my first live video on this herbed rice banquet to finally put pen to paper (keyboard to website, whatevs) and publish the recipes for it. Here’s the highlights video from the original broadcast, streamed from The Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur (click on video to watch) >>

I’m vaguely aware of at least a couple of versions of Nasi Kerabu; this one is from Malaysia’s northernmost state of Kelantan. It’s comprised of the following components (not exclusively, I’m sure, but that’s what I’m covering), the recipes for which will be broken up across 4 blog posts –

• Blue rice
• Herbs and vegetables
• Salted egg (telur masin)
• Fried fish (ikan goreng)
• Stuffed chillies (solok lada)
• Spicy meat floss (serunding)
• Fish crackers (keropok ikan)

If you follow my free cooking classes on my Live Asian Kitchen, you will know I recently did a 2-part Nasi Kerabu broadcast here in Sydney.

The recipes in this series are based around these later videos, and have been tweaked to accommodate our accessibility to Asian ingredients (or lack thereof) here in Australia.

Blue Rice

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups jasmine rice
4 ½ cups water
½ tsp Blue Flower Powder (available at www.MyBlueTea.com.au)

METHOD:

1. Cook rice as per normal (simmer method; I use the rice cooker function on my Optimum PressureCook), but with blue flower powder mixed in.

Blue Flower Extract sold by MyBlueTea.com.au

Salad and Accompaniments

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups raw beansprouts
3 salted duck eggs
⅔ cup snake beans, sliced
1 cucumber, diced
Asian herbs – eg. Vietnamese mint, coriander, basil – shredded
Bunga kantan – ginger flower bud, sliced thinly
Budu – Kelantanese fish sauce
Chilli sauce (recipe link >> http://jackiem.com.au/2017/09/16/make-chilli-sauce-dim-sums/)
Desiccated coconut

METHOD:

1. Hard-boil the salted duck eggs. Allow to cool, then cut in half without peeling the shell.
2. Toss together the snake beans, cucumber, ginger flower bud (if using) and herbs.
3. Toast the desiccated coconut.
4. Serve the duck eggs, salad, desiccated coconut, chilli sauce, raw beansprouts and budu (fish sauce) as sides to go with the blue rice.

The post How to Make Kelantan Nasi Kerabu – Part 1 of 4 first appeared on Jackie M..

#TelstraFail Season 2, Episode 3

So right after my  6-dropout broadcast, I called the Westfield Miranda Telstra store where I’d signed up for the service days earlier.  Explained the symptoms to the woman on the phone, who responded –

• no worries, just bring it back in
• we can run some tests on it here
• since you signed up less than 30 days ago, you’re entitled to a straight swap of your modem with a brand new one.

We locked in an appointment for 1pm the next day. Minutes later, I received a confirmation email about my appointment with Telstra’s “Tech Bar”.

This hip Telstra rebranding sounded promising; very Apple store, very Google HQ. Although I had no recollection of a “Tech Bar” on my first trip to the revamped store, I figured maybe it was tucked away up the back along with its high tech testing gear.

Sadly I’d failed to learn my lesson from #TelstraFail Season 1 – ie. that 1) you can never believe Telstra’s promises 2) the definition of “accountability” does not exist in Telstra’s vocabulary 3) Telstra doesn’t care

Next day, after a 25-minute wait at the store, it turned out I’d be seeing the same guy who’d signed me up days earlier. Strange, but maybe Smiley Sales Dude was also a techie, kinda like me the Malaysian cook who is actually a qualified Microsoft systems engineer.

Smiley Sales Dude said – I’ll have to send your modem back to Netgear for testing, because it’s only an intermittent fault. It’ll take up to 5 days and you’ll have to come back to pick up a replacement then.

Erm, hell no. I asked to speak with his Operations Manager.

Two years in a row I’ve been nominated for Telstra’s Businesswoman of the Year award (isn’t that hilarious considering how much I publicly diss them).

Seems madam Operations Manager harbours no such aspirations.

So they told you about the straight swap? Well, that’s just too bad.

They said we could test it in-store? Lol (I’m not kidding; alright, it was more of a snicker than an LOL, but you get the idea).

You made a 90-minute round trip to get here? That’s just too bad.

You lost your entire audience the last time your live broadcast dropped out? That’s just too bad.

You have a sick, disabled kid who needs round-the-clock care and you can’t afford to be given the runaround by Telstra? Well, that’s just too bad.

Finally, calling her bluff –

You want to run a live broadcast right here in our store to show us it’s not intermittent but rather, it consistently drops out? NO, you’re not allowed to do that (with a tinge of suppressed horror).

So, rather than risk being dragged off by security, I left Telstra’s ironically-named “Tech Bar” without handing over the dodgy modem. My hope now rested on dealing directly with Netgear to see if the fix was a simple firmware (ie. built-in modem software) upgrade.

Like I said in this next broadcast, being with Telstra is like staying in an abusive relationship. They treat you like crap, but you’re stuck with them because there’s no alternative.

Cassava Cake (Kuih Bingka Ubi)

INGREDIENTS:

• 450g grated cassava
• 200ml coconut cream
• 1 egg
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp butter

METHOD:

1. Combine all ingredients and pour into baking tray.
2. Cover with foil.
3. Bake in air fryer (I used an Optimum HealthyFry) for 35 minutes at 180°C.
4. Remove foil and bake a further 15 minutes at 180°C.
5. Allow to cool before cutting into slices to serve.

Fried Bananas

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 bananas, sliced in half lengthwise
• 1 cup glutinous rice flour
• ½ cup rice flour
• ⅔ cup coconut cream
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• Oil for deep-frying

METHOD:

1. Combine flours, coconut cream, sugar and salt and mix well. You want to achieve a very thick batter (in all honesty the amount of coconut cream is totally agak-agak ie. my rough guesstimate – I never measure it).
2. Heat oil to 180°C. Dip banana slices in batter, coat well, then gently slide into oil.
3. Fry until golden brown; remove and drain.
4. Bananas should crisp up further once cooled.

*** I used an Optimum HealthyFry for the Cassava Cake recipe in this post. More details on this appliance can be found at Prestige Home Appliances.

The post How to Make Cassava Cake and Fried Bananas first appeared on Jackie M..

So far, the cause of the mid-stream dropout during my last broadcast could be any one of the following – faulty modem, faulty sim card, or general Telstra outage. I decided to switch the sim card out of the new Netgear Nighthawk M1 and place it in an older modem. I ran this episode of my Live Asian Kitchen while connected to this older modem – no dropouts.

This means the sim card works fine. So either the modem is faulty, or that previous broadcast was caused by a now-fixed Telstra outage.

I wanted to test out the Optimum Induction Pressure-Cook Pro and the HealthyFry air fryer, but these recipes can be replicated using more traditional cooking appliances; just adapt as appropriate.

Also, in all honesty I think I overcooked the stingray in the pressure-cooker; were I to do it again I would cook it for no longer than 15 minutes.

Stingray (Fish) Curry

INGREDIENTS:

• 700g fish (I used stingray)
• 2 cups eggplant, cut into 2-inch chunks
• 2 tomatoes, quartered
• 2 Tbsps fish curry powder
• 2 Tbsps minced garlic
• 1 ½ onions, minced
• 1 lemongrass, bruised
• 1 cup coconut cream
• 2 cups water or stock
• 1 ½ Tbsps chicken powder
• ¼ cup tamarind concentrate
• 2 tsps sugar
• Dash of fish sauce
• Sprig of curry leaves (optional)
• 3 Tbsps oil

METHOD:

1. Brush eggplant with oil, then fry in air fryer for 10 minutes at 180°C.
2. Mix curry powder with garlic and onion.
3. Heat oil, then add curry powder/onion/garlic mix. Saute for 5-10 minutes or until onion is browned and oil separates.
4. Add fish and all other ingredients; simmer until cooked through. If using Optimum pressure-cook pro, cook on medium pressure for 15-20 minutes.
5. If using a more delicate fish, you can brush it with oil and fry it in the air-fryer, then add to the curry sauce towards the end of the cooking process.
6. Toss in eggplant pieces, adjust seasoning, remove from heat and serve.

How to Make Stuffed Eggplant

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 large eggplants, cut into 2-inch thick slices, with slits cut along the sides
• 500g defrosted basa fish fillets, cut into 3-inch pieces
• 1 heaped Tbsp tapioca starch
• 1 Tbsp chicken powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp pepper
• Oil for pan-frying

METHOD:

1. Combine fish fillets, tapioca starch, chicken powder, sugar and pepper in food processor.
2. Blend until smooth (no more than 10 seconds at a time).
3. Transfer fish paste into bowl.
4. Using a butter knife, stuff eggplant with fish paste to about a 2cm thickness.
5. Repeat until all eggplant/fish paste is used up.
6. Heat oil, then pan-fry for 3 minutes (both sides). Ideally, remove and finish off in air-fryer at 180°C for 10-15 minutes to achieve a less oily product.
7. Alternatively pan-fry until done, or skip Step 6 and just deep-fry at 180°C for 10 minutes.

*** I used an Optimum HealthyFry for the Stingray Curry & Stuffed Eggplant recipe in this post. More details on this appliance can be found at Prestige Home Appliances.

The post How to Cook Stingray Curry and Stuffed Eggplant first appeared on Jackie M..

A cautionary tale – when you sign up for a new Telstra service, don’t be fooled by the world-class reception you get at the Telstra store (at Westfield Miranda, in my case). Don’t be tempted to give them a high rating when the inevitable – “Hey Jackie, how did we do?” email hits your inbox even before you arrive home on a euphoric high with your brand spanking new modem, dreaming of blazing internet speeds for your live streaming videos.

Wait till you find out your damn modem doesn’t work and you need to return it only to be greeted by the same staff who will have magically transformed into indifferent, soulless spawns of Satan. You’ll thank me for it then.

My #TelstraFail saga continues in future installments; this is just a primer on why my last broadcast, as well as this one, ended up in 2 separate parts.

Until this broadcast, I’d only ever deep-fried my spiral curry puffs, but back in the day quite a few of my customers used to bulk buy them from me frozen and bake them at home since they most of them didn’t own deep-fryers. They assured me they turned out fine but with a denser crust.

I wanted to see how the Optimum HealthyFry air fryer would handle my curry puffs – whether they’d be like the oven-baked ones (yes, they were).

Basic Malaysian Curry Paste

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 brown onions, peeled and quartered
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled
• 3 Tbsp minced lemongrass
• 2 Tbsp minced ginger
• 5 Tbsps Malaysian curry powder
• 4 Tbsps oil

METHOD:

1. Combine onions and garlic in food processor and blend to a paste.
2. Transfer into a thick-based saucepan or wok, add lemongrass, ginger and curry powder and mix well.
3. Fry for 4-5 minutes until some of the moisture in the onion is reduced. Add oil and fry until oil separates and curry paste is brown.
4. Allow to cool before storing in fridge for up to 4 weeks or in freezer for 6 months.

Vegetarian Curry Puff Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 potatoes, diced and steamed
• 1 Tbsp vegetarian seasoning powder (I use a mushroom seasoning)
• 2 Tbsps sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ cup commercial fried shallots
• ½ quantity of Basic Curry Paste from recipe above

• 2 Tbsps oil

METHOD:

1. Combine all ingredients and cook until everything is mixed through and the sugar is dissolved. Adjust seasoning as required.
2. Spread contents on pans to cool down to room temperature before use.

Pastry –

Water Dough

INGREDIENTS:

• 480g strong flour
• 75g butter
• 280ml water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp lemon juice

METHOD:

1. Combine all ingredients in dough mixer and knead to a soft, non-tacky dough.

Butter Dough

INGREDIENTS:

• 200g plain flour
• 150g butter, cut into small pieces

METHOD:

1. Combine flour and butter and mix to a firm consistency (don’t work it too much or it’ll be too soft to use).

To make curry puffs-

1. Pinch butter dough to make small balls about 2cm in diameter.
2. Scoop water dough to make portions about double the size of butter dough balls.
3. Wrap butter dough into water dough. Using a rolling pin, flatten dough into a long strip.
4. Roll up, turn 90 degrees, then roll out again.
5. Roll up into a tube and set aside. Repeat with rest of dough. Cover with cloth or cling wrap to prevent dough from getting crusty.
6. Cut a tube of dough in half per video, roll out into an oval shape the size of your palm (well, my palm).
7. With the non-patterned side facing up, place a tablespoon of filling in the middle, then pleat per video.
8. Keep curry puffs apart or they’ll stick together.
9. Brush with oil, then cook in Air Fryer at 180°C for 10 minutes.

*** I used an Optimum Induction Pressure-Cook Pro for the Curry Puffs recipe in this post. More details on this appliance can be found at Prestige Home Appliances.

The post How to Make Curry Puffs (Air Fryer) first appeared on Jackie M..

Having said that, the defining feature of Laksam is the use of steamed rice flour rolls instead of the usual array of noodles you would expect in a laksa. The soup is identical to the recipe for Laksa Kelantan which I featured just recently on another Twitch broadcast, but I’ll reshare it here.

My only encounter with Laksam was during my trip to Kelantan, the northernmost state on the Malaysian Peninsula, though a quick google search tells me it actually originated in neighbouring Terengganu, which I’ve yet to have the opportunity to visit. Clearly, I’m no expert on this dish, but I was spurred to give it a go because a Malay friend who is currently working as a surgeon here in Sydney messaged me for the recipe. So here’s attempt at it, and if you have any Southeast Asian dish you’d like me to feature, by all means let me know as well

Laksam Noodles

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 cups rice flour
• ½ cup tapioca starch (or cornstarch)
• 4 cups water
• Oil for brushing

• You’ll also need – steamer & steaming pan

METHOD:

1. Combine flours with water and mix well. Set aside.
2. Bring water to a boil in steamer.
3. Line steamer lid with towel.
4. Brush steaming pan with oil.
5. Place pan in steamer and heat for about 10 seconds.
6. Pour enough batter in pan to make a layer about 2-3mm thick.
7. Cover and steam until air pockets form on surface of noodle sheet.
8. Using a spatula, gently lift at one end and fold up into a roll about 1-inch wide.
9. Repeat until all batter is used up.
10. Cut into rolls about ¾-inch wide, place in bowl with fresh herbs and vegetables.
11. Ladle soup over noodles and serve.

Salad ingredients –

• beansprouts
• shredded cabbage
• shredded cucumber
• sliced chillies
• laksa leaves (aka Vietnamese mint)
• sliced bunga kantan (torch ginger flower)

Laksam Soup

INGREDIENTS:

• 1kg fish fillets
• 500ml coconut cream
• 500ml water
• 1 brown onion, pureed
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-inch piece of ginger, minced
• 2 stalks lemongrass, bruised
• 3-5 pieces dried tamarind slices (substitute with a tablespoon or two of lemon juice)
• ½ Tbsp chicken powder
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp sugar

METHOD:

1. Steam or poach fish, then debone. Discard bones and transfer fish into food processor and mince. Combine with rest of the ingredients and simmer.
2. Adjust seasonings to taste.

The post How to Make Laksam first appeared on Jackie M..

Another short broadcast thanks to my declining voice –

Singapore Chilli Crab Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 kg crab, cleaned and halved
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup tapioca starch

• 1 brown onion, minced
• 10 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 large chillies, minced
• 4 slices ginger
• 2 Tbsps ketchup
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• ½ Tbsp chicken powder
• Dash of soya sauce (optional)
• 2 cups water
• 1 Tbsp tapioca starch + 2 Tbsps water
• 1 egg

• Oil for deep-frying

METHOD:

1. Heat oil for deep-frying.
2. Coat crab pieces in egg wash followed by tapioca starch
3. Fry in oil for 3 minutes, then remove and drain.
4. Heat pan and add onion, garlic, chillies and ginger.
5. Fry for a minute, then add about 3-4 Tbsps oil. Saute for 5-10 minutes or until oil separates.
6. Add ketchup, sugar, lemon juice, chicken powder and 2 cups water and bring to a simmer.
7. Add crab, cover and cook a further 5 minutes.
8. Adjust seasoning and add dash of soya sauce if required.
9. Thicken with tapioca starch & water mixture.
10. Turn off the heat, remove crab pieces with slotted spoon, then add egg in sauce and swirl to create a runny egg sauce texture.
11. Pour sauce over crab and serve.

The post How to Cook Singapore Chilli Crab first appeared on Jackie M..

In the broadcast I experimented with a higher ratio of tapioca flour; I wasn’t entirely happy with it, so here’s the tweaked version.

Fresh Rice Noodles Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• 150g rice flour
• 2 Tbps tapioca flour
• 2 Tbsps wheat starch
• 500ml water
• 1 Tbsp oil
• ½ tsp salt

• Oil for brushing

*You will need – steamer, suitable baking tin or pan, brush, spatula, ladle

METHOD:

1. Combine ingredients in blender and process until smooth.
2. Fill steamer with water, heat until boiling.
3. Brush pan with oil, then scoop enough batter to make a thin layer in pan.
4. Place in steamer and after a few seconds, ie. when mixture starts to settle, tilt and swirl pan to spread batter evenly.
5. Steam for about one minute or until noodle sheet is cooked (it’ll start to swell up in middle of pan).
6. Remove with spatula and brush pan with oil.
7. Repeat until batter is used up.
8. Brush noodles with oil to prevent sticking.
9. Slice into strips or serve as rolls drizzled with hoisin-based sauce and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds

The post How to Make Fresh Rice Noodles (Hor Fun) first appeared on Jackie M..

Back in the day in Malaysia, my parents used to be hawkers, and one of the things they sold was fresh cut fruit. Here’s my live broadcast at Facebook.com/JackieMFood showing you how the pineapple would be cut, and also the kind of dip that was served with it.

The post How to Cut and Serve Pineapple – Asian-style first appeared on Jackie M..