Beansprouts

i am sure all of us have experienced the frustration when beansprouts are needed as a condiment and the bag of beansprouts,bought from the supermarket, is discolored, broken and the roots are at least 1/2 inch long. I feel like i am doing prison duty taking the roots off and i needed my mom more than ever, cos she is one who will patiently do this duty for me. Having seen my friend sprouted a batch of perfect beansprouts, gave me the inspiration to give it a try. The first batch was a total failure and i learned alot from this failure. The second and third batch turned out fine and i am now sprouting my fourth batch so that i can cook curry noodles when the beansprouts are ready.




Ingredients:

1/4 cup mung beans
a square one gallon ice cream tub
a bag of pebbles about 3 - 5 lbs
a strainer
few layers of kitchen towel

Method:

Wash the beans thoroughly, and sort out any discolored or defective beans.

Place the beans in the tub, cover them with water, and let them soak overnight in a dark place.
Sprouting in light allows a green color to develop and most people prefer white sprouts.

The next morning, drain off the water using the strainer. Sort beans again, there will be immature beans that have not been soaked through.

Wet the kitchen towel and place on top of beans, then place the bag of pebbles on top. Cover the tub and place in a dark cabinet.

Each day rinse the beans and developing sprouts with lukewarm water, pouring off the excess water each time, rince once in the morning and then in the evening.

By the fourth day the sprouts should be at least 1 inch long .(the beansprouts can be eaten at this stage but i prefer them to be about 2 inches in length which will take another 3 - 4 days)

When the sprouts reach the desired stage of development, wash them in cold water to remove seed coats, fibrous roots, and other residue.

The sprouts are best eaten soon after washing, but can be stored for several days in the refrigerator at 40-45°F.

Serves
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Ban Jian Kuih

This is the original Apam Balik and the texture is chewy but the sides are crispy. You can make them in a 10 inch diameter and cut into wedges or have them smaller of which the thickness have to be proportionate to the size. You can even use as little batter as possible to make a crispy pancake. i had to edit all my recipes which 'lye' is mentioned as what i used was actually 'potassium carbonate & sodium bi-carbonate solution' To read about this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_bicarbonate. i received so many requests for the picture of the bottle , so here it is






Ingredients:

100 g all purpose flour
25 g rice flour
1/8 tsp potassium carbonate & sodium bi-carbonate solution
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tbsp dry buttermilk
1/4 tsp salt
50 g sugar
160 ml water

Filling :

100 g chopped roasted peanuts)
80 g castor sugar ) Mix together

2 tbsp Margarine cut into small pieces


Method:

Mix all the ingredients well into a batter and leave aside covered, to rest for at least 30 minutes.

Lightly grease an apam pan(if available) or a 10 inch nonstick frying pan and heat it over a medium low flame.

Pour in all the batter and using the base of the scoop/ladle , spread the batter evenly around and to the sides of the pan. Cover pan.

When bubbles are seen on the surface of the half cooked batter, sprinkle a handful of filling over. Spread the pieces of margarine all over the filling.

Cover the apam and cook further for half a minute.

Remove the cover and use a flat-bladed knife/spatula to release the sides and bottom of the apam and fold into half.

Cool before cutting into wedges.

Recipe 2 with egg

ingredients;
A
125 gm bread flour
15 gm tapioca starch
40 gm sugar
1 egg and top with water to make 150 ml.

B
60 ml/4 tbsp water
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder

1 egg

Method

Blend ingredient A and using hand mixer, beat flour mixture until bubbly and leave to rest for at least 1 hour.

Dilute baking soda, baking powder with water.

After 1 hour, add in egg and beat until well mixed.  Beat in the diluted mixture. Mixture should be thick and runny.

Heat up pan and oil the pan.  use kitchen towel to remove excess oil.

Turn down heat to MEDIUM LOW

Pour batter into pan and using a spoon or soup ladle, push the batter to coat the sides of pan.(if a thick ban jian kuih is desired, use all the batter.  I like to make 3 ban jian kuih with this recipe  your choice)

Let batter cook uncovered until batter has turned bubbly.

Then cover the pan and cook until batter is cooked and the sides has turned brown and crispy.

Sprinkle sugar all over the surface of cake and cook until sugar melts (cover with lid)

Remove cake from pan, brush the surface with butter, then sprinkle peanuts on to half of the cake.

Fold the half without peanuts over and press lightly.

Cut into pieces and enjoy










Serves
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Apam Balik

This version of the Apam is a spin off from Ban Jian Kuih and is very crispy. It is more of a crispy crepe/pancake but the filling of peanuts, sugar and a dash of butter is the same as Ban Jian Kuih. Seeing how they were made while waiting for your turn in the pasar malam, was amazing, a task i thought was difficult to make at home. The dough was thick and a whole ball of it was put in the heated special apam pan and then the excess was removed leaving a thin layer of dough that was stuck to the pan. This recipe below is totally different although the result of crispy apam is the same. I don't know if it is the recipe or that there is no humidity here that the apam remained crispy throughout.



Ingredients:

170 gm all purpose flour
100 gm rice flour
30 gm cornstarch
2 tsp double action baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
6 - 7 ozs water
150 gm fine granulated sugar

Filling:

120 g melted butter
150 gm fine granulated sugar
1 cup chopped roasted peanuts

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together, strain and leave in the fridge for at least 3 hours. (i left it overnight)

Heat a crepe pan or a small nonstick pan slightly. (just hot enough for batter to stick to pan)

Pour in a 4 oz laddle of batter and swirl pan so that batter is coating the edge. Remove the excess batter and sprinkle in some sugar on the pancake.

Cook till the bottom of pancake is golden brown.

Sprinkle with melted butter and then chopped roasted peanuts.

Fold the pancake into a half and leave to cool.(it will be crispy as soon as it gets cold)

Serves
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