Category: Asian

Fried Carrot Cake (Chai Tow Kway)

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Fried carrot cake has always been my favourite breakfast back in Singapore since I was little! My parents would come across what they feel is the best one and either bring me there or buy me a packet to try! Because I use to live in the West, my favourite stall is at Bukit Timah Market and now that I live in the North, my favourite is no doubt the stall from Serangoon Gardens Market! (: In fact, I have a plate of fried carrot cake almost every Sunday after church! If you don’t know, fried carrot cake comes in black and white. My favourite is the black one. The blacker the better!

This is the one from Serangoon Gardens Market. It’s really amazing. Every single bite has got a balance of carrot cake, egg, chye poh, and sweet black sauce! Not too dry and just a tad moist the way I really like! And what’s more? It’s cheap! $2.50 and I will be happily stuffed! hehe

So it’s been on my agenda for almost a year to try and make from scratch, but just never got around to doing it. So since it’s the holidays, I decided to get down to getting it done! Truthfully, I was quite nervous, cause making kueh (of any kind) is not really my forte. That’s probably why it took me over a year to pluck up my courage to make it! But I’m so glad I did! This recipe from Bee @ Rasa Malaysia is delicious! The texture of the kueh is not too soft, so it’s really easy to fry without being all clumped up together!

It does take a little bit of time to get it done, and you have to wait overnight for the carrot cake to cool and chill in the fridge so that it’s much easier to handle and simpler to cut it into smaller pieces. So I recommend that you make the carrot cake a day in advance! It was perfect for me, cause I made it on a Saturday and fried it on Sunday so it just felt like being home and having a plate of delicious fried carrot cake at the markets. (:

 So do you have a favourite hawker food like I do?

Fried Carrot Cake (Adapted from Rasa Malaysia)

For the Carrot Cake

2 medium radish (about 800g), grated finely

50ml water

200g rice flour

250ml water

1/4 tsp salt

Steps :

1) Over a very low flame, steam the grated radish and 50ml of water for about 30 minutes or until the radish turns translucent. Set aside and allow it to cool.

2) Mix the rice flour, water and salt until well combined, making sure there is no lumps.

3) Add the rice flour solution to the cooled grated radish. Stir and mix it well, then pour into a round metal cake tin. The mixture will look like a watery coleslaw. Steam the mixture for 45 minutes on high heat.

4) Leave the carrot cake to cool (best to leave it overnight in the fridge) so that it would firm up and would not stick to the knife when you’re cutting into it.

Fried (black) Carrot Cake (Serves 2)

Half of the steamed carrot cake

3 tbs shallot oil

3-4 tbs chye poh (preserved turnip)

3 eggs, lightly beaten

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

 1/2 tsp sambal chilli

2 tsp fish sauce (can add more if needed)

2 tbs thick sweet black sauce

white pepper, to season

2 stalk spring onion, sliced finely

Steps :

1) Cut the steamed carrot cake to small pieces. I do prefer it a little smaller, so that it will crisp up more. In a non-stick pan, add the shallot oil and fry the carrot cake till golden brown and crispy. Have the heat on medium-high.

2) Reduce the heat to medium. Add the garlic and chye poh and fry till fragrant. Add more oil if needed.

3) Add the fish sauce, pepper and sambal. Fry till the carrot cake is well coated.

4) Pour the beaten eggs onto the carrot cake and allow it to set slightly before flipping over. Using the spatula, cut up the pieces and add the thickened sweet black sauce. Fry and mix it well. Add the spring onions and dish up into a bowl.

ENJOY! (:

Mine turned out a little drier than I hope, but was still really delicious! If you love fried carrot cake like I do, do give this a shot! (: If you prefer the white version, just omit the last step! So make the carrot cake today so that you can fry it tmr! 

Prawn Noodle Soup (虾面汤)

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I love hawker food. If I were to name the individual dishes that I love (and miss), I probably need a whole blog post! haha But one of my ultimate food I love is no doubt prawn noodle soup. The best part of this dish is of course the soup! I would always finish every drop of the soup and leave an empty bowl behind!

Mum has replicated this dish many times when I’m back in Singapore for a holiday and has taught me the steps to making it. So I needed to practice making it, or I would definitely forget! Plus, I froze the prawn heads from the cheesy butter prawns I’ve made (twice) and have enough to make a good prawn stock.

Prawn Stock 

1 bulb of garlic, finely chopped

500g prawn heads

1 tsp salt

2 tbs shallot oil

1 litre hot water

Steps :

1) In a medium-sized pot, heat the shallot oil and fry the garlic on medium heat, stirring continuously until fragrant, and slightly golden brown. Careful not to burn the garlic, as it will leave a bitter taste in the stock.

2) Add the prawn heads and fry till the shell turns orange-red colour. Using a masher, light press the heads to get maximum flavour. Give the prawn heads a good stir before adding the hot water.

3) Boil the prawn stock for 20 minutes before straining the stock through a sieve. Reserve the prawn stock while you prepare the other components of the dish.

Prawn Mee Soup (虾面汤)

800g pork bones, blanch in boiling water for 5-10 mins

1 bulb of garlic, left whole

3 litres of hot water

prawn stock (recipe above)

8 whole prawns, sliced length-wise and deveined

50g bean sprouts, blanched

a bunch of choy sum, cut into 2-inch pieces and blanched (can use any green leafy vegetables)

12 slices of fish cake, blanched

noodles, any type you like (I used thick rice vermicelli)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground white pepper

4-5 tbs fish sauce, or more if you think it’s not salty enough

1 tbs shaoxing wine

fried shallots, for garnish

chilli powder, to serve

Steps :

1) In a large heavy-based pot, bring the 3 litres of water to a boil, then add the pork bones and allow it to boil for 1 hour. Add the bulb of garlic and add the prawn stock.

2) Add the salt, pepper, fish stock and shaoxing wine and allow the stock to simmer on low heat for at least another 2 hours (or more if you have the time).

3) Just before serving, add the prawns into the pork & prawn stock and cook it until the prawns have turned orangey-red. Take it out and set a side.

4) Plating up : Place a tsp of shallot oil and fried shallots at the base of a big bowl. Add the noodles and give it a good toss. Place the blanched bean sprouts, vegetable, fish cake and prawns on top of the noodles. If you fancy more protein, dish out some of the pork ribs into the bowl as well.

5) Add as much soup as you like into the bowl with a ladle and serve with more fried shallots. Add some chilli powder if you want to add some kick to the soup, I don’t have my prawn mee soup without adding it!

ENJOY! *Slurps*

PS : There should be heaps of soup left, so you can always freeze it up and use at a later stage or just have more of the deliciousness the next day! (:

{Quick & Easy} Shallot Oil

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Shallot oil is widely used in many chinese/asian cooking. My grandmother would always have a metal tin full of fried shallots and the fragrant shallot oil. We would have it with her mince meat noodles, wanton noodles, and everything really! Too delicious to resist adding it in the dishes! It adds an extra flavour and depth. It’s really simple to make too! Just that shallots are a little costly here. So use in moderation! hehe

Shallot Oil

1 1/2 cup of vegetable oil

200g shallots, sliced thinly

Steps :

1) In a small pot, heat 1 1/2 cup of vegetable oil on medium heat and add the shallots. Allow it to fry the shallots till they turn golden brown.

2) Strain the fried shallots, reserving the oil in a bowl. Allow the oil to cool down and transfer into a glass bottle. Place some fried shallots in the oil and keep in the fridge. (Should be able to keep for a couple of months)

3) Place the fried shallots in an air tight container. You should be able to keep the fried shallots for 2 weeks.

You could garnish many dishes with the fried shallots, and cooking with the shallot oil just makes the dish more flavourful! Trust me, this is something you should make and keep!

PS : I will be using this in my Prawn Noodle Soup dish that will be posted next! So stay tuned! (: 

Chin Chin

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 I was super excited when the mr texted me to tell me that his colleagues are planning to head to Chin Chin for lunch and I was able to follow them! Chin Chin has been one of those places that you have been planning to go.But the first time I went there, they told me that a table of 3 would only be available after 2 and a half hours. It made me think twice whenever I think about the wait if I did want to head there for a meal! Thankfully, we went during the non-peak hour (2pm) and we got our table for 6 almost instantly!

Though it was 2pm, it will still packed with customers and the smell that greets you when you enter just makes you hungrier and just can’t wait to try their creations! As I was a plus one, I left the ordering to the mr and his colleagues. The only dish I requested was the famous son-in-law eggs! hehe (:

It was an extensive menu. I just wanted to try everything on it! haha So I can only imagine myself back at Chin Chin very soon trying more of the food that we didn’t get to try this time round! Chin Chin is a warehouse converted place that serves delicious Thai food! And boy have I been craving for some thai in my tummy! So every dish had some asian-thai influence on it.

 Our first starter was the kingfish sashimi with lime, chilli, coconut and thai basil. This was really fresh and with every bite you just want to have more. Love how a dish has many textures and this one had the sour, the sweet, the spicy and the crunch! Perfect dish to start our meal.

Our second starter was the DIY spring rolls! These were fun! The addition of the raw vegetables gave the dish a crunch with the very soft and thin handmade skin! What I really liked was the peanut sauce that came with it. Was really delicious! I couldn’t resist and had a second roll. hehe

I love restaurants who have dishes that encourage interactions between their customers at a time by having these DIY spring rolls! I think it’s a brilliant idea! This inspired me to have a DIY rice paper roll dinner which I will be blogging about soon! (:

Salad course : Salt & pepper salmon fin with banana blossom salad. The deep fried salmon skin just melts in your mouth the moment to bite into them. It was seriously delicious! It was our first time having banana blossom. It complimented the crunch of the fish and we just couldn’t get enough of it to be honest! Noms!

This was another really delicious dish. It’s dry curry “pad ped” with vegetables, spiced crusted organic tofu, kaffir lime leaf and thai basil. It’s a dry red curry and had a slight sweetness to it. It was so good! I could easily have this dish and a bowl of rice and be very happy!

 This was from their barbecue side of the menu : the salmon wrapped in banana leaf with coconut red curry, lime and thai basil. It reminded me so much of the otah we can get back home! The flavours were really good, but the mr and I felt that the salmon was a bit overcooked. And make us miss the otah his mum makes! can’t wait to head home and get some at the end of the year!

The stir-fried sirloin with green peppercorns were quite good as well. But wasn’t one of the stand out dishes in my opinion! Was pretty norma. Please don’t get me wrong, it was good, but compared to the rest of the dishes, this just didn’t stand out as much. The slices of the beef were really tender though!

And the much anticipated son-in-law eggs! They were so so good! We first had them when we went to Gingerboy last year, and also learned out lesson. haha We were told we have to put the whole egg in our mouths at Gingerboy and bite in to allow it to explode. But many of us had so much difficulty fitting an egg in our mouth! haha Thankfully this time, we cut it into halves and could really taste all the flavours in our mouths! DELICIOUS! The chilli jam that accompanied these fried eggs with gooey center was perfect. A true balance of flavours. Genius!

We were stuffed when we were done and just didn’t have any space for desserts, which I was actually looking forward to. So till we meet again Chin Chin, I really can’t wait to try the other dishes you have to offer! (:

PS : Chin Chin doesn’t take bookings unless for tables of 10-12. So do head there early (or late) and I highly recommend going there during off-peak hours so you will be able to get a seat and start indulging in the yummy food they have! 

Yum Cha Addiction

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I don’t think I can ever have enough yum cha. I could have it every single day. It’s something I have quite often with my family when I’m back for my break. Yes, we are a family of foodies! hehe

But because it’s a tad expensive here, we restrict it to once a few months. So I treasure these yum cha days even more! Fun fact : Back home, we actually call it dim sum! Never called it yum cha till I got here. hehe But I am always very happy and excited when the mr and I have planned a yum cha brunch!

We usually only go to one place for yum cha but recently got introduced to a new place by Daisy after seeing her instagram photos of the food there. I couldn’t be more excited to give it a try! Can you tell from the grin on my face? haha I think I was a bit too happy that day. and cold!

Wealth Garden

Add : 866 Doncaster Road, Doncaster East, Vic 3109

Tel : 0398407611

Thank goodness the Mr has the same favourite cuisines as I do, so we could both enjoy our food together. To me, there’s nothing worse than being forced to have something you don’t like! Besides, food tastes more delicious when you have it with the person you love! (: Don’t you agree? In fact, the mr loves almost everything at yum cha so we could order everything I liked! hehe I was doing the happy dance inside.

This is a family favourite : fried chinese dough fritter wrapped in cheong fan (rice noodle roll). These were amazing! The cheong fan was so smooth and thin together with the crispy dough fritters, it’s a perfect pairing! It comes with a sweet sauce that you can go with. What I liked about the ones they serve here is they have vegetables (kai lan) wrapped in the cheong fan as well! Makes me feel less guilty when having it. haha

this is one of my absolute favourite dish at yum cha – char siew sou (bbq pork pastry). The pastry was really flaky and the filling was thick and every bite was filled with bbq pork. DELICIOUS!

Fried prawn wantons. Jammed packed with fresh prawns, this is served with a saucer of mayo. Just after these 3 dishes, we couldn’t stop smiling and saying “this is SO GOOD!” haha. Just thinking back, I can remember our eyes lighting up with every bite of the food. NOMS.

Now, this was the king of all dishes. haha In fact, this was the dish that made me ask Daisy for the place she was at! Steamed white radish cake. You can’t really find this anywhere else. The first time I had it was at Kam Boat in Singapore. Usually, its cute into large rectangular pieces and panfried till it’s crispy. The first time I had the steamed version I was a little reluctant and questioned if it would be as nice as the panfried ones. I was proven wrong with my first spoonful! hehe Amazing stuff!

The glutinous rice was really yum as well! I am sure my mum would love this!

 of course, yum cha would not be complete if we don’t have the usuals. They were all really yummy, but they just don’t stand out after having the others. Don’t get me wrong, they were still really good. Especially the siew mai. It was really tasty and generously filled. Having just one would fill you right up!

The century egg porridge was sadly the least of my favourite that day. It was just a little too blend and nothing really special. But I guess once you’ve had porridge from Crystal Jade then it’s quite difficult to find anything better!

Chicken feet is definitely considered a delicacy cause not every one would like it. The hubs is a big fan and couldn’t resist ordering this although we were already quite stuffed! hah But it was a really generous portion and I could only have a maximum of 2. haha So the poor mr had to finish it on his own! Oppsy!

So it’s time for the desserts. Yum cha cannot be considered complete without ordering egg tarts!

Another food blogger, Liz, also saw that I was at Wealth Garden and highly recommended the po lo bun (pineapple bun)! So we had to give it a try! I was surprised that it was filled!

They were filled with a sweet pineapple paste and also had pineapple chunks in them! I was surprised because in Singapore, I usually get the unfilled ones and have a slice of salted butter with it. It’s what my mum and I would usually have when we are having tea at Crystal Jade! hehe

Okay, feel a bit home sick after a post about yum cha 😦

Thank you for driving me all the way here to try this place! (: I think it has become our favourite yum cha place!

PS : Thanks Daisy for the recommendation and Liz too! (:

PPS : Do call in advance to make reservations, as this place fills up really quickly from the time it opens for business! 

Stir Fried Okra (Lady’s Finger)

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I never really liked okra when I was young. The only memory I had of okra of is using it during Arts and Craft lessona at school. Have you done those vegetable prints before when you were little? We use to do heaps! And using okra was very popular as it makes pretty flower prints!

(image credit to http://bkids.typepad.com)

So I never really knew how it tasted! Also, the slimy texture on the inside kinda puts me off as well. Always thought it was kinda gross. haha My brother still thinks it’s gross! But he was never a fan of slimy or soft textured food. The first time I had it was in the fish head curry my mum cooked and I loved it! But I didn’t know if I liked it cause of the curry gravy that made it yummy! So mum sitr fried it during dinner one night and I absolutely loved it!

This is my mum’s version of the stir fried okra! Mine looks a little different. haha Hers is still a little crunchier and is less gooey. I think my wok wasn’t hot enough! :O But nonetheless, it was still yummy and the taste was quite similar! So I was really happy with my first attempt of cooking it!

I guess there are many ways you can slice your okra. I prefer mine thin and cut at an angle. But even if you cut it round, it would look nice too! Just that when it’s slightly thicker, might take a longer time to soften. So do take note!

Also, I am really lucky that my dearest mum made me a huge bottle of her own sambal chilli. But if you don’t have sambal in your fridge, just slice up a large chilli thinly and it would work too!

So here’s the recipe for my version of the stir fried okra. I decided to put it in a recipe card for a change! What do you think?

Have this dish with a hot bowl of rice! *slurps* ENJOY! (:

Dessert Story

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There’s alot of buzz about Hong Kong desserts in Melbourne of late. And I can never get enough of it! The Mr and I were at Glen Waverley for dinner one night, and we chanced upon it while roaming around the area. We are relatively new to the area, and wasn’t too sure what we could find there. And we found a place to satisfy our sugar cravings!

Dessert Story

Add : 72 Kingsway, Glen Waverley Vic 3150 

Tel : 03 95618884

When we got there, it was super packed and we the last couple of seats available. Thankfully we were a few minutes earlier, because after us was a line of people wanting to get seats! They had outdoor seats, but it was far too cold to sit outside.

The menu was extensive and there were really heaps to choose from, both hot and cold. We were definitely craving (and needing) something hot so we chose a dessert each! Trust me, it wasn’t easy narrowing down our choices because we just wanted to order everything haha. There were some interesting combinations too! Some of which we never heard or seen before.

I ordered the soya beancurd with black sesame paste. It kinda killed two birds with one stone and satisfied my cravings for both desserts. I was a little worried about the combination cause I never heard of it before. It’s usually sold separately back in Singapore. But I decided to give it a shot anyways and no regrets there! The black sesame paste was really fragrant, thick and smooth and not overly sweet. The beancurd was really smooth as well and just melts in your mouth. I do recommend it if you are a fan of black sesame!

The Mr ordered the tang yuan (汤圆) which are glutinous rice balls in a sweet pandan broth/soup. These are filled with peanut and black sesame. Yes, haha we do like black sesame alot. Plus it’s good for you! (:

It was a good balance between the sweetness of the glutinous rice ball and the sweet soup. Makes me miss those I usually get from China Town Food Street and they sell their glutinous rice ball in a peanut sweet soup! Noms!

I have to admit. If I were given a choice between the peanut and the black sesame, I am more inclined to choose the black sesame. It’s funny how my taste buds have changed through the years. I use to only have the peanut ones, but now I will only order the black sesame ones. hehe Although they are both delicious!

We will definitely be heading back to try the other desserts on the menu! They have desserts from both Hong Kong and Taiwan! Can’t wait to try the shaved ice to see if they are like the ones we had in Taiwan! (:

So what are the kind of asian dessert you enjoy? Would love to know if you have a favourite place in Melbourne to have them so I could pop them in my “to-go” list! 

{NZ} My Kitchen Part 2

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Remember my post on My Kitchen that had all the vegetarian Taiwanese food? This amazing place is also known for their meat-y delicacies and they are also equally mouth-watering! I’m sure if you’ve been to Taiwan, you know will know that they are well known for starters (小吃).

Pig’s ear! It’s stewed till the outside is really tender and the middle is really crunchy! It’s the fav of my parents and my hubs! It’s something you either like it or hate it I suppose. But in my family, we love it! hehe Mum said my grandma use to cook this but she doesn’t anymore. That explains why my dad loves it so much! hehe

Pan fried dumplings! I do love my dumplings. With lots and lots of vinegar! (: This came after our main for some reason and we were SO STUFFED. but still finished them all. haha

I ordered minced pork rice (卤肉饭)! I absolutely loved it! Worth every penny too! Just $4.95 for this small but mighty bowl of yumminess!

The hubs ordered the deep dried chicken cutlet. It was really crispy and was really well seasoned. It brought us back to Taiwan when we had the deep fried xxx-large chicken cutlet at the road side. This definitely came pretty close!

Mummy ordered braised pig trotters! Just looking at the photo makes me miss my grandma’s pig trotters even more! But these were really good too. Not too salty and the trotters were really tender, and the gravy. I could just have the gravy and rice to be honest. Think I might make some soon. haha

Dad had the dry noodles with mince. This sound and look ordinary but with the addition of the mince (similar to the rice) it was delicious. Could do more of the sauce though, cause it turned out a bit dry. The crunch of the zucchini was genious though. Added a bit of freshness with every mouthful! (:

The portions are really huge and we obviously didn’t learn from our first visit here and share our mains. haha Got too excited and just wanted to try everything on the menu! hehe Definitely a place you should try when you’re around the area!

Green Papaya Salad with Avocado

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I have been watching Poh’s Kitchen, and I really like how she is able to come up with recipes of things she have tried from different regions and countries. When I first saw this episode of Poh’s Kitchen on the road last year, I was super excited, because she went to Singapore! I was really thrilled (:

She made this amazing green papaya salad which made the mr and I drive out to Footscray Market to get the ingredients immediately. It’s almost like the Thai version of the papaya salad but she mashed an avocado which acted as a dressing that made the dish creamy and appetizing at the same time! Asian fruit salads are one of my favourites, when you have a bite, there is an explosion of different flavours. Sweet, salty, sour and spicy! This salad is exactly it!

It’s a really refreshing salad and it would go really well with any other asian dishes. I highly recommend something spicy like chilli prawn or BBQ stingray. YUM!

Green Papaya and Avocado Salad (adapted from Poh’s Kitchen On The Road)

1 cup (250ml) vegetable oil
1/3 cup ikan billis
2 cups green papaya or paw paw, shredded (see note)
2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
½ cup mint leaves, torn
½ cup picked coriander leaves
4 spring onions, green and white parts, sliced finely
1 long red chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped
1/2 of an avocado, mashed
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
3 teaspoons tamarind paste
3 teaspoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons caster sugar
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

Steps :

1. Heat vegetable oil in a small saucepan over a medium to high heat. Deep fry the ikan blilis and dry them on a kitchen towel.

2. To make the dressing : combine chilli, avocado, garlic, tamarind, fish sauce, sugar and lime juice in a bowl and mix with a fork  until nicely combined. Check the balance of the dressing and adjust accordingly adding fish sauce for saltiness, sugar for sweetness and lime juice for acid.

3. In a large mixing bowl combine the prepared papaya, tomatoes, mint, coriander, spring onions and dressing and toss very gently with your hands until just combined.

4. Sprinkle the deep-fried ikan billis over the top and serve immediately.

Note : To peel the green papaya (or paw paw), deseed and use one of those Asian peelers with the shredding attachment to shred the papaya to thin pieces. Alternatively, you could cut them into long matchsticks (about 10cm long) using a sharp knife. Try not to use a grater, as it might bruise the papaya and will become very watery.