Fried Popiah With Honey-Milk Powder

I was having a conversation with my aunt about food we used to eat when we were young. This addictive snack popped up - fried popiah with milk powder. It was something that we all loved to munch on during family gatherings. My aunt used to make this for Chinese New Year. She is part to blame for our expanding waistlines during the festive season!

I am only too thrilled to carry the tradition on.

Fried Popiah With Honey-Milk Powder

This yummy snack is easy to make! It's nice and crunchy. Imagine plain potato chips with lightly sweetened powdered milk - that's how this tastes like to me.

This are several variations to this recipe. Some flavour it with icing sugar. Others with a mixture of powdered milk and icing sugar. Then, there's the traditional recipe where ground green bean and sugar is used. For the traditional recipe however, the crackers or whatchamacallit is made from scratch with flour and coconut. We know this snack as 'Batang Buruk' (rotten log/wood) . Popiah skin is a convenient replacement of modern times.

Here is the recipe.

Fried Popiah With Honey-Milk Powder
Ingredients:
- 40 popiah skin, 8.½" x 8.½" (spring roll pastry - I used KG Pastry)
- 3 to 4 cups Dutch Lady honey-milk powder (or any other brand)
- 1 egg
- Cooking oil (enough for deep frying)
- Paper napkins

How-to:
1) Lightly beat the egg in a small bowl. Leave aside.
2) Lay out one popiah sheet. Brush the edge of one corner with egg. Using a chopstick, roll the popiah skin from the other end into a cylinder shape meeting the corner with the egg wash. Press lightly to seal. Do the same for the rest.
3) Slice the rolled popiah skins into bite sizes.
4) Heat cooking oil in a deep pan. Deep-fry the bite-sized popiah until it reaches a nice brown.
5) Place into a stainless steel wire mesh bowl lined with paper napkins to drain excess oil. Then, spread it out on a tray lined with fresh paper napkins to cool. (I changed the napkins once in between.)
6) Once it cools completely, toss lightly in honey-milk powder. Store in an air-tight container.

1) Popiah Skin/Wrapper 2) Egg and Chopsticks For The Popiah Roll
3) Rolling The Popiah 4) Forty Rolled Pieces
5) Slice The Popiah Rolls 6) A Sliced Popiah

Popiah Bites Ready For Deep-Frying

8) Popiah Bites Being Deep-Fried 9) Drain Excess Oil
10) Cooling The Popiah Bites 11) Once Cooled, Toss In Milk Powder

Fried Popiah With Honey-Milk Powder

I managed to fit these into three plastic cookie containers that were about 4½" (height) x 3½" (diameter) in size.

Fried Popiah With Honey-Milk Powder Stored In Airtight Containers

These Are For Eating!

Yummy Fried Popiah With Honey-Milk Powder

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This post is linked to Cook and Celebrate: Chinese New Year 2016, which is hosted by Yen from GoodyFoodies, Diana from The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids.

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Cream Corn And Minced Pork Soup

Do you remember comfort foods from your childhood? This soup is that for me. It was a popular dish for working mothers in my kampung because it was quick to make and oh-so-easy to get kids to finish their meals off.

Fast forward today, it's something I hardly make as my preferences lean toward clear soups. However, I don't want to lose my roots completely. So, here it is on my blog today.    

Cream Corn And Minced Pork Soup

I add quite a bit of white pepper to make it peppery. This is because I love a little spice in my soup. It's a personal preference.

Cream Corn and Minced Pork Soup
Ingredients:
- ½ can of 425g whole sweet kernel corn
- ½ can of 425g sweet corn cream style
- 100g pork meat (chopped/minced)
- 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
- 2 eggs
- 2 stalks spring onions (chopped)
- ¼ tsp white pepper (or flavoured pepper)
- A dash of black pepper (optional)
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- Salt to taste
- 3 cups water

How-to:
1) Heat oil in wok. Saute garlic until lightly browned.
2) Add minced pork, along with ½ cup water. Stir furiously (to keep the meat from lumping up).
3) Then, add both the corn and remaining water. Wait for it to come to a boil.
4) Once it's boiling, season with salt and pepper.
5) Stir the eggs in, then switch the fire off.
6) Serve garnished with spring onion.

Best eaten with white rice or on its own, as a starter.

1) Garlic, Corn, Minced Pork, Egg. 2) Cook the pork.
3) Add water and corn. 4) Flavour and add the egg.

Corn Soup Garnished with Spring Onions

Yum-yum Corn Soup

The easy way of doing this soup : Add water into a soup pot, along with the corn. Stir to combine. Then, wait for it to boil. Stir the minced pork in. Once it's cooked, season with salt and white pepper. Finally, stir the egg in. That's it!

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Braised Pork With Pickles

Black vinegar pig trotter or pork knuckles has been a family favourite for generations. Along the line (I don't know how it happened or when exactly!), mixed pickles were introduced into the dish. It made sense since the ones we use are vinegar-based and therefore, produces a similar tasting dish. 

This version turned out so delicious that it has been used time and time again in replacement of the usual vinegar sauces that was once considered a must traditionally.

The recipe shared here is one that I had noted down as my aunt cooked. She flew into the city two months ago and has been staying with me since. My aunt volunteered to make this dish for us out of the blue and I jumped with glee at the thought of seeing the process first hand!  

Tadaa..! Does it not look gorgeous? We finished the whole pot in one meal!

Braised Pork With Pickles - A Vinegary Take!

Taste-wise, this dish is vinegary-sweet. Be warned that we lean towards sour. It's a personal preference. Adjust the sugar measurements to suit your palate.

Braised Pork With Pickles
Ingredients :
-  800g pork (400g pork belly, 400g pork knuckles - into pieces)
- 1 cup smashed old ginger
- 1 bottle 530g Nowka mixed pickles (or any other brand)
- 1 tbsp thick dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp black vinegar
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar (or more)
- 2½ tbsp cooking oil
- 6 to 9 cups water

How-to :
1) Heat oil in large pot or pan.
2) Saute ginger for a minute or until lightly fragrant.
3) Add pork into the mix and stir-fry for a couple of minutes.
4) Stir in thick soy sauce, salt and black vinegar. Mix well.
5) Add enough water to stew covered until meat is tender (this took us an hour or so with 9 cups water in an electrical cooker on medium heat).
6) Once the meat is tender, cook until sauce is reduced to 2-3 cups.
7) Add mixed pickles (pour in all contents). Stir in sugar (to taste). Cook for a minute to allow the flavours to settle in. That's all there is to it.

Best eaten with plain white rice in view of strong flavour.

1) Pork pieces 2) Smashed ginger
3) Mixed pickles 4) Sauteing ginger in cooking oil

1) Stir-frying pork and ginger 2) Adding thick soy sauce, salt and black vinegar
3) Add enough water to cook until tender 4) Cook covered
5) Add the pickles once meat is tender 6) Add sugar and stir until combined

Braised Pork With Pickles - Best eaten with plain rice!

Yummy Braised Pork With Pickles

Enjoy!

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