Chawanmushi (Japanese Steamed Egg Custard)

Chawanmushi is a classic Japanese steamed egg custard that is served in a cup. A delicate and savoury appetiser for the family. I made the Dashi broth with bonito flakes and Korean Ottogi Sea Tangle (kelp) The Dashi broth is what makes the egg custard tasty and the texture of the egg custard is silky smooth and wobbly. You can add any fillings you want to the egg custard. I have just prawns and carrots in the fridge, so I have just this two ingredients for the fillings. The prawns and carrots lend a contrasting  mouthfeel to the dish. A beautiful appetizer to serve to the family or when you have guests. It appeals to both adults and children. This is served in Japanese Restaurant when we order their set meal .

I will prepare this dish whenever I have bonito flakes and kelps in the house. Flavourful Japanese steamed egg which hubby and I love very much.

Love the silky smooth wobbly

texture

the prawns and carrots

add character to the dish

Bonito flakes

and kelp for making

Dashi broth

Chawanmushi
Ingredients
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups Dashi broth
4 med sized sea prawns - removed shell and deveined
1/2 carrot - sliced into thin slices
4 ginkgo nuts

seasoning
1/2 tsp mirin
 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp soy sauce

Toppings can be 1/2 tbsp ikura ( salmon roe ) 2 pieces of uni ( sea urchin ) but since I do not have them, I just add spring onions as garnishing :)

Method:
Prepare the dashi by boiling bonito flakes and kelps. Dashi creates a savory umami flavor from these ingredients and you don’t need to season the food much if you have good dashi. You can add shiitake mushroom and anchovies and boil these four ingredients to get a good dashi.

Whisk egg and seasoning and 1 1/4 cups Dashi broth together till well combined.
 Sieve the mixture.  Prepare a medium sized ramekin or 2 chawanmushi cups,  add in the fillings  , first the prawns and then ginkgo and carrots.  Pour in the sieved egg mixture.

Prepare a boiling steamer.  If using ramekin, cover with aluminium foil ( to prevent water from getting into the egg custard.  Steam for 15 mins under low heat.  Take out and garnish with spring onions or with ikura and uni .

Enjoy !

Nyonya Acar

Wow, time flies ...now it is back to my normal routine after a week of CNY celebration . Kids have gone back to work and we are back in Ipoh enjoying our lazy laid back days. Me to my baking, cooking and my  and not to forget my photography lessons :) and my other half back to his own work. I have retired for two years now and I am still enjoying the laid back days :) People asked me whether I am bored..of course NOPE.  The reason being cooking and baking and gardening and photography lesson is enough to keep me occupied and excited.  Each time I cook or bake something interesting, photography lesson will be in progress :) and needless to say gardening and photography goes hand in hand !  How can I be bored :p I wish there are 28 hours in a day...4 more hours to enjoy my gardening and cooking !

Okay back to this Nyonya Acar an appetizing pickled vegetable , with its sour and spicy taste, normally served as a side dish  with a main dish .  I have been wanting to make this appetizing and flavorful Nyonya side dish many months back but did not due to my travelling to and fro to Semenyih in the last one year . As promised not to procrastinate this year, I made this side dish using My Kitchen Snippets recipe and gosh I am glad that I made it at last :)  Worth all the hard work getting this dish done. 

these are the ingredients used for making nyonya acar :) 

I used 4 types of vegetables only, some add pineapple to it

but for me I made it simple just using carrot, cabbage, cucumber and longbeans

 

 pounded ingredients consists of fresh turmeric, Serai (lemongrass ),

galangal (aromatic rhizome ), shallots, garlic, chilli paste, shrimp paste (belacan)

 

toasted peanuts and toasted sesame seeds are to be added to the sauce

and as garnishing for the nyonya acar.  I toasted the peanuts and sesame seeds 

a day before making the Nyonya Acar so as not to 

load myself with too much work :p

love the yellow color of this dish..so good for the eyes and

it makes me drool the whole time while I was making this dish

Nyonya Acar - adapted from My Kitchen's Snippet

Ingredients :

3 cucumber - (removed the seeds) and cut into 4cm strips
300g cabbage leaves, cut into 2.5cm squares
2 carrots cut into 4cm strips
150g long beans, cut into 4cm strips

To make into paste:

6 fresh red bird eye's chillies
15 dried chillies –soak in hot water until soft
12 shallots
6 cloves garlic
2 cm fresh turmeric root
 1" galangal (lengkuas)
5 candlenuts/almond or macadamia nuts
2 stalk lemon grass, sliced finely
1.5” of shrimp paste (belachan) - optional

 Vinegar mixture:

1cup of white vinegar * I used only 3/4 cup
1 cup water
10 tbsp of brown sugar (more if you like it sweeter)
2 tsp salt
300g roasted peanuts, skinned and pounded
10 tbsp roasted sesame seeds

For blanching the vegetables:

600ml water
400ml vinegar
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp sugar


Method:


1. Rub cucumber slices with 1 tbsp salt. Leave aside for one hour. Wrap in clean towel or muslin cloth and squeeze out excess liquid. Put all the ground ingredients in a food processor and ground into paste and set it aside.

2. Bring water, vinegar, salt and sugar for blanching vegetables to a rapid boil. Blanch the vegetables (except cucumber) one type at a time for 15 second. Remove and using a clean kitchen towel, squeezed the water out of the vegetable and set it aside.

3. Heat up about 3-4 tbsp of oil in frying pan and stir-fry the ground ingredients until fragrant and the oil begins to separate. Stir in water and vinegar. Add sugar and salt and bring to a boil, then leave to cool completely. Check seasoning as you might need to add more sugar to it.

4. Stir in all the prepared vegetables, peanuts and sesame seeds. Store in a clean jar and refrigerate.

Enjoy!

Minty , Tangy Eggplant Appetizer

Eggplant can be cooked in many ways.  I prefer simple one like this...easy to prepare and doesn't take much time to prepare.  Homegrown eggplants are the best as they are not only organic but near at hand too...just pluck them when they are in season :p  Okay, back to making this simple yet delicious appetizer dish.  Minty, tangy and some heat from the bird's eye chillies made this dish so good that I have put in my to-make-again list :)

I learned from a cooking book that give tips on how to cook eggplant so that the inside wont turn dark color.  First ,lightly cook the eggplant as a whole in hot oil. Take it out, then boil in hot boiling water till cook.  I guess it worked as you can see the inside doesn't change color, making the eggplants looks refreshing. The eggplants,  mint leaves and calamansi are from my lil garden space . I whipped out a simple appetizer using homegrown stuffs :)   Hope you like this recipe too :)

first fry the eggplant in hot oil, then boil in hot water

so that the inside will not turn darker color, it works as you can see

the inside is refreshing and maintain its color :)

 

Add lightly sauteed chopped garlic to the eggplant

the minty, tangy plus the sauteed garlic really give

flavors to the bland eggplant and the chillies gives heat to the dish

what can I say, the flavors just explode in the mouth ...mmmm

excellent appetizer dish!

Minty , Tangy  Eggplant Appetizer

ingredients:

5 eggplants -wash and wipe dry

oil enough to fry the eggplant

3 cloves of garlic- chopped

3 tbsp of chopped mint leaves

2 bird's eye chillies - sliced

2 calamansi - cut into halves and squeeze juice

1 tsp of rice bran oil

1 drop of sesame oil

salt to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a wok and fry the eggplant till skin is lightly brown.  Dish out and put the fried eggplant in boiling water and cook till soft.   Dish out and let it cool down before removing the skin.  Cut into 1.5 inch length wise strips.  Place the cut eggplant in a bowl.

Lightly saute chopped garlic till lightly brown and crisps.  Dish out and leave aside.  Chop mint leaves and slice chillies . Cut calamansi into halves and squeeze juice into a small bowl.

Add the mint leaves, chillies, a drop sesame oil and 1 tsp of rie bran oil to the cut eggplants.  Mix well together and add in salt and calamansi juice to taste. Add in the sauteed garlic as garnishing last.  Serve this appetizer cold  or warm

Kerabu Mango - Mango Salad Asian Style

Mango salad or commonly known as Kerabu Mango is the family favorite side dish . An appetizer which is a must order when dining in Thai Restaurant.  Since it is a favorite, I decided to learn how to make this all time favorite of the family.  After reading through a few recipe, I came up with this simple yet delicious mango salad.  With homegrown mint added to the salad, it really take this mango salad to another level ,and making it my own signature mango salad  :)  The mango looks slightly on the ripe side but no worry, I prefer the taste and texture of the mango at this stage. It is not sour and still has its crunch.  Love the mint leaves in this mango salad....the aroma and taste is fantastic. Try it and I am sure your family would love it as much as mine :)  I served this mouth-watering salad with home deep fried chicken. 

seven  main ingredients made up this mouth-watering mango salad

green mango, mint leaves, red onion slices, bird's eye chillies,

deep fried crispy anchovies and toasted peanuts and fish sauce is the 

most important ingredient here :)

I prefer my green mango to be lightly ripen, still have the crunch and not so sour

toss all the ingredients together with the fish sauce mixture
till well combined

this is mouth watering mango salad is a keeper for sure

an appealing appetizer..goes well with deep fried chicken

I am sure no one will complain if you serve them this pair for dinner :)

Kerabu Mango Salad Asian Style 

1 green mango ( apple mango / chokunan ) - remove skin and use grater to grate into shreds
1 handful of mint leaves
1/4 cup deep fried crispy anchovies
1/3 cup of toasted peanuts - pounded coarsely

(A)
1 big red onion - cut into thin slices
2 bird's eye chilli - sliced
1 calamansi - squeeze for juice

Fish sauce mixture - mix all the ingredients tog
2 tbsp of fish sauce
1 tsp of sugar
a pinch of salt

Method:

Place the all the prepared ingredients together on a big salad plate.  Pour the fish sauce mixture onto the prepared salad ingredients and toss together till well combined.  Serve chilled as an appetizer .

Enjoy and have a great weekend !

Baby Octopus Salad With Tangy Hot Mint Dressing

Even though I know the fact that octopus has high cholesterol value, I  still use them in salad such as this :p This is a easy to prepare salad . First ,I will pickle the raw shallots slices, bird's eye chillies and chopped garlic and young mint leaves with calamansi juice and fish oil and a pint of salt for half hour.  Then pour over the cooked baby octopus and mix them well.  Serve this dish as an appetizer or side dish...I am sure you and family will enjoy this appetizer.   I DO ! :) 

to make dressing , pickle together shallots, garlic, chillies and mint leaves

with calamansi juice and fish oil

 appetizing dish to serve as appetizer or side dish..

Yummy !

Baby Octopus With Tangy Mint Dressing  - WB Kitchen

Ingredients

6 pieces of baby octopus - steam it for 8 mins over hot boiling steamer - cut into bite size pieces

Dressing Ingredients:  ( mix all the ingredients together and pickle for half hour )

4 calamansi - extract juice

a handful young mint leaves - you can chopped them but I prefer not chopped

4 shallots - slice thinly

2 cloves of garlic - chopped

a pinch of salt

1 tbsp of fish oil

juices from the steamed octopus

Preparation:

Clean the octopus and drain off water.  Heat up steamer and when water is boiling, put int the octopus and steam for 8 mins. Off heat and take out the cooked octopus and placed into a mixing bowl.  Keep aside the juices from the octopus .

Mix the dressing ingredients together and leave it to pickled for at least half hour.  Pour dressings over the cooked octopus and mix well.  Serve chilled  if you like a chilled one and serve as appetizer or as a side dish.

Enjoy!

Stuffed Baguette

Made some baguettes during the weekend and I am happy with the 4-Hour Baguette recipe from SAVEUR. Easy to make and the texture of the baguette is really good. You can have a look at the baguette recipe which I posted up in Elinluv's Sweet Delights.  WB asked how are we going to finish 3 long baguettes.  I told him not to worry, I have a few recipes lined up and today I am going to share with you guys what I do with my homemade baguette. Stuffed Baguette ....sounds good...right?  Yea, it is GOOD.  I prepared the fillings and stuffed them into the baguette.  I made the stuffing out of ripen avocados, mini cherry tomatoes, japanese cucumber, the baguette crumbs ( the dug out part of the baguette) and not to forget the grated parmesan cheese. I added in japanese mayo and a pinch of freshly ground black pepper and pinch of sea salt for taste. Stuffed the mixture into the hollow of the baguette and gosh...this hearty meal is something we will not forget. We each had a 7" long stuffed baguette and it was so filling that we burped and burped the whole nite.  Mmmmm you should try this out too.  

use a long thin knife and working from both ends hollow the baguette,

leaving 1/2" thick crust all around. Chill the fillings for 1 hour

before stuffing into the baguette

fill the baguette from both ends

you can either wrap the stuffed baguette and chill in the fridge for 1 hour before

slicing or you can slice them as soon as you have it stuffed. 

this can be served as appetizer if you have guests for dinner

this is finger licking good..the creamy avocados and parmesan cheese

goes really well ...a great combination !

Stuffed Baguette

Baguette recipe

Ingredients:-

one 15" long baguette - cut into two

Fillings:

2 ripen Hass avocados - diced
1 japanese cucumber - diced
10 pieces of mini cherry tomatoes - cut into halves
the dig out baguette crumbs
4 tbsp of grated parmesan cheese
2 tbsp of japanese mayonaise
a tsp of freshly ground black pepper
a pinch of salt to taste
1 tsp of olive oil

Preparation:

Cut both end of baguette and cut into two equal halves.  Use a long thin knife and working from both ends, hollow the baguette out leaving 1/2 inch thick crust all around.

Diced the avocados, japanese cucumber and halves the mini cherry tomatoes. Put into a small mixing bowl. Add in the baguette crumbs , parmesan cheese, mayonaise, black pepper , salt and olive oil. Use a spatula, mix the ingredients together till evenly mixed.  Wrap the bowl with cling wrap and chill in the fridge for an hour. Take it out and stuff the mixture into the hollows till it is packed on both sides.  You can either chill the stuffed baguette for 30 minutes wrapped in cling wrap or aluminium for easy slicing.

You can serve this slices of stuffed baguette as appetizer .

Enjoy!

Mango Salad

This is my favorite appetizer .  Mango salad is so refreshing and easy to whip up too.  It is a great accompaniment for meat dishes.  The dressing is the main attraction here. Tangy flavor from fresh lime juice, salty flavor from the fish sauce and spicy flavor from chillies and the sweet flavor from the brown sugar. A perfect combination and the garnishing of crunchy dried shrimps and peanuts add texture to the salad.  It is 'wow' appetizer and I make this very often.  I used apple mango for this mango salad.  They are cheap when in season :) Provides natural vitamin C too :)   This is so good that I recommend you try this too :)

Mango Salad

Ingredients :

300 gm unripe mango

2 shallots- thinly sliced

2 bird eye’s chillies ( red ,green- one of each )

2.5 tbsp of fish sauce

2 tbsp lime juice

20 gm dried shrimps – soak, drained and deep fried till crispy

40 gm peanuts- toasted and pound coarsely

3 tbsp brown sugar

Method:

1.  Peel the green mango and shred with a zig zag peeler  or  julienne  manually.

2.  Soak the mango shreds in ice cold water to make it crunchy texture.

3.. Mix fish sauce, lime juice and brown sugar in a small bowl

4.  In  a big bowl, mix  all the ingredients together  ,except the peanuts and  deep fried dried shrimps , till well combined.  

5.  Garnish with peanuts and dried shrimps.  

6.  Served chilled or at room temperature.

Enjoy !

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