鯉魚椰汁年糕

上次去香港的旅途中到上海街逛一逛後，買回幾個蒸焗模具和食用色料。趁着迎接農曆新年，便用鯉魚模蒸椰汁年糕慶賀新年和轉贈友人。鯉魚模有大、中和小三個款式。我覺得小鯉魚模做型可愛，比較適合作飯後甜品。

在此祝大家「年年有餘！」「歲歲平安！」「恭喜發財！」

準備時間: 10分鐘

烹調時間: 25分鐘

份量：6人 (6條小鯉魚)

材料：

-   100g糯米粉

-   10g粘米粉

-   15g澄麵粉    

-   65g椰漿

-   75g冰糖

-   100g水

-   2茶匙欖油

-   1小撮幼鹽

-   少量橙紅色食用色粉 (可用紅蘿蔔汁代替)

-   1個 6條小鯉魚模

做法:

1.	在一個小煱煲滾水將冰糖煮溶，熄火待凉。
2.	用一個大碗將糯米粉、粘米粉、澄麵粉和鹽拌均。
3.	將已凉的糖水分3次倒入粉中，慢慢調均。再加入椰漿慢慢拌調至粉漿。
4.	滔起一湯匙粉漿在一小碗中，加入 1/16茶匙橙紅色食用色料再拌勻。
5.	預熱蒸爐10分鐘備用。
6.	在每條鯉魚模內掃油後，將少量已混和的色漿塗在每條鯉魚背、鰭和尾 上。將鯉魚模平放在蒸架上，隔水蒸5分鐘。
7.	熄火後，取出鯉魚模平放在枱上，再慢慢地在每條鯉魚模注入已拌勻的白色粉漿至全滿。
8.	再將鯉魚模放入蒸爐，隔水蒸20分鐘。熄火待凉。
9.	待凉後將鯉魚模放入雪柜1小時。
10.	從雪柜取出鯉魚模，脫模後在每條鯉魚眼睛位置貼上黑芝麻作裝飾，便可食用。

Steamed Coconut Glutinous Rice Koi Cake (Chinese New Year Cake)

Chinese New Year is coming this Saturday.  There are some symbolic dishes served during this festival. Eating rice cakes is a Chinese tradition which means increasing prosperity year after year.  It also celebrates the beginning of the rice harvest in the spring. These cakes come in both savory and sweet variations. 

I am very happy to use the mold that I bought in Hong Kong last month to make the coconut glutinous rice cake.  I like this mold very much because its shape is like a fish “koi”. In Chinese language, the character (餘) means “surplus” which shares the same pronunciation with (魚) “fish”.  That is why making fish a must-have dish on a Chinese dining table during Chinese New Year. An old saying that goes with the Chinese New Year fish dish is "nian nian you yu" (年年有餘) which means "may every year ends with ample surplus". 

I use some artificial coloring powder in this recipe.  If you don’t like to use this powder, you can use minced carrot.  Wish all of you good fortune in the Year of the Rooster!

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Serve: 6 (for 1 small 6-koi mold)

Ingredients:

-         100g glutinous flour

-         10g white rice flour

-         15g non-glutinous flour/wheat starch

-         65g coconut milk

-         75g rock sugar   

-         100g water

-         2 tsp olive oil

-         A pinch of salt

-         A pinch of orange red water soluble coloring powder

-         1 piece of 6-koi mold

Method:

1.	Place rock sugar in a small saucepan, add water and boil over medium heat.  Stir occasionally until the sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat and let it cool down.
2.	Add glutinous flour, non-glutinous flour, rice flour and salt in a big mixing bowl, and then mix them well.
3.	Pour in the sugar syrup and coconut milk in the flour mixture.  Stir and mix them well.
4.	Place 1 tbsp flour mixture in a small bowl, add a pinch of orange red coloring powder into the flour mixture and mix thoroughly.
5.	Pre-heat a steamer for 10 minutes.
6.	Brush oil in each mold; add the colour flour mixture on the back, fin and tail of each koi.  Steam for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
7.	Pour in the coconut flour mixture in each of the small molds until it is full.
8.	Steam for a further 20 minutes and remove from heat.  Let it cool down.
9.	Put the mold in the fridge for 1 hour. Remove each koi cake from the mold carefully.
10.	Stick black sesame seeds as eyes on the koi cakes. Ready to serve.

Pan-fried Tofu with Homemade Teriyaki Sauce

It is a busy week. Why? Chinese New Year is coming.  It is the best festive to have family reunion and friend gatherings.  I have to do lots before this Saturday.  Cleaning before CNY is a tradition which means to drive the bad luck or the old things away from the house in order to get ready for a new start.  In the past, people would go shopping and buy new clothes after cleaning.  They believe that buying new items and putting on new clothes symbolize welcoming a new start.  During the last weekend, I did cleaning and finished decorating my house like pasting paper-cuts and “Fu” 福 on the main door, hanging Chinese knots and sticking couplets (words on blessings) on the wall. I feel blissful that my mom has written couplets for me and mailed it to me one week ago.  She is new to Chinese calligraphy; she has learnt it just a few months.

Yesterday I went shopping at a very big Chinese supermarket.  It was very crowded.  People were busy with buying fresh seafood and cooking ingredients for making scrumptious meals in the coming days. I bought five packs of different types of flour and a big pack of brown sugar for making turnip cakes and coconut pudding, fresh king prawns, frozen clams, oysters, veggie, tofu and rice dumplings.  Then I have to buy some fresh flowers in the coming two days and busy with making turnip cakes. 

I was tired after shopping so I cooked a simple dinner last night. I pan-fried tofu with homemade teriyaki sauce, a hot pot of veggie and served with brown rice.  

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Serve: 2

Ingredients:

-         150g firm tofu (cut into big pieces, about 1 cm thick)

-         2 tsp olive oil

-         1 tbsp corn flour                           

-         1 spring onion (chopped)

-         1 shallot (finely sliced)

-         1 tsp white sesame seeds

-         1 tsp dried skipjack Tuna flakes (optional)

Teriyaki Sauce:

-         3 tbsp light soy sauce

-         2 tbsp brown sugar

-         2 tbsp mirin

-         1 tbsp rice wine (optional)

-         1 tbsp water

-         ½ tsp ginger powder

-         ½ tsp garlic powder   

-         ½ tsp sesame oil

-         ¼ tsp corn flour

Method:

1.	Use a piece of kitchen towel to dry the surface of tofu.  Add a pinch of salt onto a plate and put the tofu cubes on it.  Then add another pinch of salt on the tofu.  Sprinkle the tops with a small amount of corn flour.
2.	Heat a non-stick pan over low heat and add olive oil.  Then pan-fry the tops and bottoms of the tofu to golden yellow.
3.	In a small mixing bowl, mix all ingredients of the teriyaki sauce well.  Set aside.
4.	In the meantime, toss in the shallot and spring onions and pour the well-mixed teriyaki sauce in the pan.  Spoon the sauce on the tops of tofu occasionally until the sauce is thickened. If you like more sweeten, add more sugar.
5.	Place the tofu on the plate and spoon teriyaki sauce around the tofu. Sprinkle with white sesame seeds and dried skipjack tuna flakes on top of tofu.
6.	Ready to serve with brown rice.

A Centre of kitchenware – Shanghai Street, Hong Kong

I just finished a relaxed and joyful vacation in Hong Kong during the Christmas holidays.  Since I love eating and enjoy cooking very much, I always spent time on walking around wet markets and shops which sell cutlery, tableware and cooking utensils in the trip. 

I like wandering along Shanghai Street in Yau Ma Tei.  It is like a centre of kitchenware.  I took MTR to Yau Ma Tei Station and started walking towards Shanghai Street from Exit C. I walked along Man Ming Lane and reached Shanghai Street.  There are over thirty traditional Chinese kitchenware shops which are selling everything from professional kitchenware for food and beverage industry to daily use kitchen utensils like Chinese knifes and chopping boards, bamboo steamers, chopsticks, woks, bowls, plates, cake tins, moulds, baking trays, etc.  The locals like going there to buy kitchenware. 

I love this place very much. I like chatting with the sales assistants about how to use the different types of kitchenware.  Most of them are friendly and helpful.  I am very interested in knowing how to choose a Chinese chopping board and its materials used. There are three main types of Chinese chopping boards which are made of wood, bamboo and plastic. I like the traditional round wooden chopping board. My grandma liked using it very much.  It is very heavy but it is more durable with reasonable price. The staff at “Man Kee Chopping Board" (萬記砧板) gave me professional advice on the choices of right chopping board and tools as well.  I wanted to buy a chopping board but it is quite heavy.  It is at least 3-4 kg depending on the size you like but I only got 23 kg baggage allowance for flying back to UK. The shop assistant suggested me mailing it back to UK.  That’s really a good idea. At last, I bought a pair of wooden chopsticks and a pack of Japanese chopsticks there.

Then I kept on finding some moulds for making Chinese New Year Puddings. When I was looking for a moon cake mould at a store called ‘I Love Cake”, I met a young man who is a shop assistant there.  He is very patient; he introduced different types of moulds and explained how to use them.  Also he shared his own recipe on making custard moon cake. I was very happy that he told me some useful tips on baking tasty mooncakes.  He is very nice.  

Besides, there are a wide variety of cake moulds, tins and trays in the shop, especially the moulds, they are very cute.  You must find some you like.  I bought a set of mooncake moulds, a pack of orange yellow coloring, some Japanese dessert spoons and two moulds for making Chinese puddings.  I felt tired after spending a half day in Shanghai Street but I enjoyed a lot!  If I have time, I will go there again!