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 my batch of homemade red bean paste from a couple of weeks prior (see recipe here >> http://jackiem.com.au/2018/10/25/how-to-make-red-bean-paste/ ) but you should be able to easily find canned versions at your local Asian grocery store (well, here in Sydney anyway)

Shanghai-Style Red Bean Paste Pancakes

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup plain flour

1 pinch salt

1 egg

approximately 1.25 cups water

1 ½ cups red bean paste

Oil for frying

METHOD:

1. Combine plain flour, salt, egg and enough water to whisk to a runny batter.
2. Brush a non-stick frying pan with oil; pour in a ladle of batter and swirl to make a thin crepe.
3. Cook until it starts to lift, flip it and cook until both sides are done.
4. Remove and repeat with rest of batter.
5. Spread the centre of each crepe with 2-3 TBSP red bean paste, press into a thin rectangular shape, then fold in the sides of the crepe to enclose.
6. Fill pan to about ½-inch deep with oil, heat, then fry the pancakes on both sides until golden brown and slightly crispy.
7. Remove, drain on paper towels and allow to cool enough until they can be handled by hand.
8. Cut into 6-8 pieces per pancake before serving.

The post How to Make Shanghai-Style Pancakes first appeared on Jackie M..

The fact that you need to deep-fry them is probably a bit of a turn-off for your average Australian cook, but as I often tell my Live Asian Kitchen audience, you don’t in fact need a deep-fryer to do decent deep-frying; a wok or pot filled with oil will work just fine.

The filling for this is the same as what I use for pulut panggang – those grilled sticky rice rolls wrapped in banana leaf that I used to sell back when I ran market stalls around Sydney. Essentially, we’re replacing sticky rice with steamed & mashed sweet potato kneaded into a dough with some flour, before dropping them into oil.

Cucur Badak

INGREDIENTS:

Dough:
500g sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks
7 Tbsps plain flour
1 tsp salt

Filling:
3 Tbsps dried shrimp, soaked and drained
1 onion, quartered
5 cloves garlic, peeled
2 Tbsps minced lemongrass (optional)
3 Tbsps sugar
⅔ Tbsp chicken powder
2 tsps belacan powder (optional)
⅔ cup desiccated coconut
1 Tbsp chilli crush
4 Tbsps oil

Oil for deep-frying

METHOD:

1.  Steam sweet potato until soft, then mash. Allow to cool until it can be handled; add salt.
2. Add flour gradually and knead to form a soft dough.
3. Combine onion, garlic and dried shrimp in a food processor; mince.
4. Transfer to a saucepan and fry until most of the liquid has evaporated; add oil.
5. Fry until oil separates and onion caramelises. Add all other ingredients and fry until aromatic.
6. Allow to cool, then form into balls about 2cm in diameter.
7. Divide sweet potato dough into 1 ½ Tbsp portions.
8. Place dough on palm of hand, flatten slightly, then make an indent in the middle.
9. Place a piece of filling in the middle, then seal with dough.
10. Heat oil to between 160-180C; deep-fry evenly until they float and are a light golden brown.
11. Drain on paper towels, allow to cool, then serve.

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The post How to Make Cucur Badak (Stuffed Sweet Potato Dumplings) first appeared on Jackie M..

Kuih Ketayap, also known as Kuih Dadar in my part of Malaysia, is a popular teatime snack which consists of pandan-infused crepes rolled with a coconut and palm sugar filling. It’s an easy recipe to attempt, and the ingredients should be readily available at any well-stocked Asian grocery store. Should you have trouble finding pandan leaves (readily available fresh in Cabramatta, #postcode2166), you may substitute it with canned pandan juice, or a few drops of pandan concentrate. This recipe is courtesy of Parkroyal Penang Resort, from my Wok Around Asia project.

Watch the full video here (5 mins) >>

Kuih Ketayap

INGREDIENTS:

Crepe Batter:

20 pandan leaves

600ml water

400g plain flour

4 eggs

250ml coconut milk

pinch of salt

METHOD:

1. Cut pandan leaves into 1-inch lengths. Blend with water and strain.
2. Combine with the rest of the ingredients, mix well, sift and set aside.
3. To cook, brush oil on a non-stick pan and heat. Ladle some batter on it and swirl to make a thin crepe. Cook until crepe starts to lift from the pan.
4. Remove and set aside; repeat with rest of batter.

INGREDIENTS:

Grated Coconut Filling:

400g grated fresh coconut

400g chopped gula melaka (dark brown palm sugar)

4 Tbsps white sugar

200ml water

2 pandan leaves, tied in a knot

2 Tbsps cornstarch

METHOD:

1. Combine palm sugar, white sugar, water and pandan leaves in a saucepan, and simmer until sugar is dissolved. Discard pandan leaves.
2. Add grated coconut and salt and simmer until slightly dry. Add cornstarch to thicken. Allow to cool.
3. To assemble, put a spoonful of coconut filling on each crepe, fold in the sides and roll up like a spring roll.

My Wok Around Asia project is made possible through the support of the following >>

The post How to Make Kuih Ketayap (Coconut-Filled Crepes) first appeared on Jackie M..

Onde-Onde Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups glutinous rice flour
• Water to make a soft, non-tacky dough
• 1 tsp each blue butterfly powder, rosella powder and matcha powder
• 1 cup desiccated coconut
• 100g dark brown palm sugar, grated
• Water for boiling the dumplings

METHOD:

1. Gradually add water to the glutinous rice flour while mixing it by hand, until you get a soft, non-tacky mixture.
2. Split into 3 batches, fold in the blue butterfly powder, rosella powder and matcha powder respectively, and knead for a minute or two.
3. Start heating up some water in a pot.
4. Roll up the grated palm sugar into marble-sized balls.
5. Pinch the dough and roll into balls about 2cm in diameter.
6. Stuff the dough with the palm sugar, seal, then drop into boiling pot of water.
7. Repeat, making sure the onde-onde balls don’t get stuck on the bottom of the pot.
8. Remove with slotted spoon when balls float to the top and remain there for at least 20 seconds.
9. Transfer into bowl with desiccated coconut and toss.
10. Remove and allow to cool slightly before serving.

The post How to Make Colourful Onde-Onde first appeared on Jackie M..

Chi Pa (Steamed Glutinous Rice Dough with Crushed Peanuts and Sesame Seeds)

INGREDIENTS:

Dough –

250g glutinous rice flour
1 ½ cups water
2 Tbsps fried shallot oil (or any oil)

Coating –

250g skinless peanuts, roasted
50g sesame seeds, roasted
120g icing sugar

METHOD:

1. Combine dough ingredients and mix till smooth.
2. Pour into a greased 8” pan and steam on medium heat for 45 minutes.
3. Remove and use a wooden spoon to stir in one direction until smooth.
4. Brush with oil to prevent it from drying. Allow to cool.
5. Crush peanuts in food processor until fine. Add sesame seeds and pulse briefly.
6. Add icing sugar and mix well. Adjust ratios of sugar/peanuts/sesame seeds as desired.
7. Cut dough into small ½ x 1-inch pieces (approximately) and coat generously with peanut mixture. Serve with toothpicks.

Click here for the Prawn Stock Paste recipe from this broadcast >> http://jackiem.com.au/2017/01/16/make-prawn-stock-paste-instant-noodles/

The post How to Make Mah Chee aka Chi Pa first appeared on Jackie M..