Crawfish Etouffee

Crawfish étouffée accordingly consists of aromatic vegetables and crawfish meat smothered in a savory roux-based sauce and served over rice.  There is an endless debate as to what is the best recipe for crawfish étouffée? Roux or no roux? Tomato no tomato? This can go on forever ... it's one of those dishes where there is no one definitive recipe, but chances are that whichever one you try will be good and fantastically great.

Ingredients:

1 lb crawfish tails
4 ozs butter

2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 medium - large onion - chopped
2 cloves garlic - chopped

2 tbsp bell pepper, minced

1/2 stalk celery, minced

2 tsp tomato paste

Cayenne pepper
1/ 2 cups water
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt
Green onion tops
Fresh parsley








Method:
Melt butter in pot, add flour and stir well.

Add onions, bell pepper, celery and garlic. Cook until tender, and keep stirring.

Add tomato paste and cayenne pepper, then add water. Cook down for 20 minutes or so, then add the crawfish tails.  Bring to a boil.

 Add salt and pepper to taste,  then add chopped green onion tops and parsley.

Serve hot with white rice.

Chicken With Red Wine Residue

I have always wondered why dishes cooked with Red Wine Residue are so craved for.  Now that i have cooked with it, i can understand the craving.  I cooked this chicken dish with the red wine residue from my homebrewing, added wood ear fungus for texture and it was so delicious.  The depth of flavor in the sauce was so robust and made this dish so acceptable that the plate was licked clean and i did not have to clean the plate.

Ingredients:

2 lbs chicken - cut into bite size
1 - 2 ozs wood ear fungus - soak, woody parts removed and cut into bite size

3 heaped tbsp red wine residue(refer to Homebrewing - Glutinous Rice Wine

2 shallots - chopped

2 cloves garlic - chopped

1 tbsp chopped ginger

1 tbsp soya sauce

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 tbsp oil

Pepper and salt to taste

Sesame oil

Coriander or Spring onions as garnishings

Method:

Sprinkle salt and pepper to the chicken pieces.

Heat wok and add in 1/2 tbsp oil, just enough to coat the wok.  Brown the chicken pieces by batches, do not crowd  the wok.  Remove and set aside.

Add in  the rest of the oil and saute the chopped shallots, garlic and ginger until fragrant.

Add in the red wine residue and continue to saute until aromatic.

Add in the browned chicken pieces, wood ear fungus and chicken stock.  Bring to the boil, add in the soya sauce and reduce heat to simmer.  Cover the wok and simmer until the chicken pieces are cooked through.

Remove wok cover and cook down the sauce.

Adjust taste with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle with sesame oil and garnish with coriander and/or spring onions.

Enjoy

 Serves

Kuih Lapis Rainbow

It is strange but it is true with our tastebud, there are so many kinds of food that i do not like when i was younger but love them now.  Kuih Lapis which is chewy is one of them,  I like this Traditonal Nyonya Kuih Lapis  which is rich and soft.  But!!!  now that i have tried making this recipe after too many requests for this chewy type, and surprising i liked it.  I think i know why i did not like this chewy type cos i have eaten too many badly made ones.  I found that this kuih will be good if a considerable amount of thick coconut milk was used in the recipe.  I shall not call this 'Nine Layers Koh' cos i have made it with 10 layers.  I wanted to have 3 colors, so i ended with 9 layers - 3 layers of every color and a topping layer thus making it 10 layers.

Ingredients:

A:
80 gm rice flour
80 gm all-purpose flour
180 gm tapioca starch
2 x 400ml cans coconut milk(SAVOY brand)
100 ml water
240 gm fine granulated sugar
1/8 tsp potassium carbonate & sodium bi-carbonate solution aka 'kan sui'
1/4 tsp salt

B:
Food colorings
Pandan paste
Vanillin

Method:

Mix all the ingredients A in a large bowl and then pass through a fine sieve onto to a large microwave-safe bowl.

Microwave the batter, one minute at a time, stirring after every minute.  I did 3 times(my microwave is only 900 watts).  The sugar should have dissolved and the batter thickens slightly.

Measure 3 portions weighing 435 gms. Leaving the rest of the batter as the topping or last layer.

Leave one portion white and divide into 3 bowls - each weighing 145 gms.

Color the next portion pink and divide into 3 bowls - each weighing 145 gms.

Color the last portion with pandan paste and divide into 3 bowls - each weighing 145 gms.

Color the topping layer with a darker red color.

Heat a 9 inch greased pan in the steamer for 5 - 10 minutes, then pour in one of the white color batter.

Steam for 5 minutes and if the layer is cooked through, pour in one of the pink color batter and steam for 5 minutes..

When pink layer is cooked through, pour in the green layer and steam.

Repeat with these layerings until all 9 layers are done.

Finally pour in the topping layer and steam until cooked through and further steam the whole kuih for another 10 minutes.

Remove from steamer and allow kuih to cool to room temperature before cutting.  Use a very sharp knife for cutting.  Although i like the plastic crinkle cutter, it does not do a very good job on this chewy cake.

Serves

Chicken And Wood Ear Fungus Wine Soup

This dish is a confinement dish.  The chinese, especially the cantonese would cook this dish as a post-natal diet for the whole month of confinement after childbirth.  During pregnancy, a woman may feel bloated and feel like there is a lot of gas in the tummy. This is due to the softening of our body ligaments and etc to make way for the baby’s growth. To expel those gas from the stomach, one soothing food we can take is ginger but after childbirth, gas is bloating in abundance, ginger and more ginger in every dish will help, as food prepared with ginger develop a tendency to move outward.  The chinese do not encourage fresh fruits and vegetables, so ginger is the only source of fiber.  After delivery, the body is susceptible to 'cold' and must be kept warm, therefore wine is the best as it moves  upwards and pushes up the energy. Wood Ear Fungus helps to prevent various forms of bleeding and prevents blood clotting   All these practices are considered efficacious for curing the body's imbalance but especially as a preventive therapy against ailments in later years.  I, the renegade must remain cognizant and respectful of the indigenous beliefs and practices linking the events of reproduction and the health status of women.



Ingredients and Method

 
Recipe is the same as Chicken With Stone's Ginger Wine except peanuts are omitted, vegetable oil and glutinous rice wine were used instead of sesame oil and Stone's Ginger Wine.  This dish was cooked for my friends to enjoy the Home-brewed Glutinous Rice Wine. 

 

Serves

Kuih Gading Galoh

My sisters have always told me that i take too much upon myself in whatever i do, and they are absolutely right.  And, do i learn???? No!  Same old me, repeating my habits and trying to do too much.  Like last saturday, i had a potluck to go to and not satisfied with just bringing one kind of kuih, decided to make another one at the eleventh hour.  See, what happened to the most delicious kuih made, it was shabbly cut cos it was not cold enough and there was not enough time to do a good job.  I hate myself for that but do you think i will make kuih in a hurry again, you guessed right, i will.

Ingredients:

Rice Layer:

1 1/2 cup glutinous rice - washed and soaked

100 ml thick coconut cream

Thin coconut milk - enough to cover the rice
1 tsp  kosher salt
2 pieces pandan leaves
1 tsp dried bunga telang - reconstitute with 1 tbsp hot water and a drop of vinegar

Topping:

3 large eggs
300 ml thick coconut milk
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp tapioca starch
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar

Method:

Put soaked glutinous rice into the rice cooker and enough thin coconut milk to just covering the rice.  Add salt and pandan leaves.

Press the cook function and as soon as the rice is cooked,  discard the pandan leaves and pour in the thick coconut cream.  Close the lid and leave on warm for 10 minutes for the coconut cream to marry into the rice.

In the meantime, mix the ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute and stir.  Continue to cook for another 1 more minute.  The mixture should still be runny.

Remove rice from the rice  cooker and put it in a greased 9 inch cake pan and pressed the rice down.  Sprinkle the coloring from the bunga telang on to the top of rice.  If you like a marbled look, then you would have to stir in the color to the rice and then press down.

Put the rice to steam for 5 minutes, then pour in half of the topping.  Steam the topping until cooked, then using a fork, roughen the surface with a fork before pouring in the rest of the topping.  Steam on medium heat until cooked and done.  Do not use high heat - patience will rewarded with a smooth topping.

When done, leave kuih to cool before cutting.

Serves

How To Make Chicken Rolls

As promised, here is how to prepare the chicken rolls for Wine Steeped Chicken Rolls.  The wine used to steeped is Japanese Plum Gekkaikan and the taste is just as good as The Home-brewed Glutinous Rice Wine

Method:

How to serve refer to Wine Steeped Chicken Rolls


Serves

Wine Steeped Chicken Rolls

I have heard and even cooked Drunken Chicken  before but when i saw what my friend, Jinni brought to a Summer Potluck, i had to ask for the recipe.  The dish was so delectable and the chicken rolls so  delicately sliced and presented that i keep on coming back for more.  Jinni had a very light hand and the rolls were not very drunk.  I like the flavor very much, unlike the drunken chicken i made before, the chicken was drunk and the alcohol too overpowering.  Now that i have brewed some very light and sweet tasting glutinous rice wine, i decided that i had to "rock and roll " up some chicken thighs.  The result was so satisfying and i am sharing my version of the recipe.  Thank you, Jinni. I will be cooking alot more recipes using the home-brewed wine and the residues.  Please do come back and thanks for visiting.  Will be posting  step by step on how to roll the chicken thighs.

Ingredients:

6 boneless chicken thighs with skin

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup chicken stock

1/2 - 1 cup home-brewed glutinous rice wine (or use Wine that you will drink - I have tried with Japanese Plum Gekkeikan and it was very good)

Garnishes:

Sliced Cucumber, Carrot and Daikon

Spring Onions Shreds 

Method:

Lay 2 pieces of boneless chicken thighs with skin down on a large piece of plastic wrap.  Try and arrange the chicken skin neatly spread and meat as level as possible.

Sprinkle chicken thighs with salt and pepper.

Roll the meat up by holding the 2 ends of the plastic wrap, twist and roll it tightly like you would roll a sausage.  Fold the two twisted ends in to secure.

Repeat with the other chicken thighs - 2 thighs to a roll.

Wrap the rolls up with aluminium foil  and steam the rolls for 30 - 40 minutes until cooked through.  Let it cool. 

Mix the chicken stock and wine together in a large container and let the cooled chicken rolls(removed the foil and plastic wrap and discard) steep in this solution for a day or overnight.

Slice chicken rolls into 1/4 inch slices and serve cold or at room-temperature.

The stock and wine solution can be cooked down and reduced to a stock and drizzle over chicken rolls or use for dipping.

Serves