Pan-Fried Breaded Nian Gao

Nian Gao , a sweet sticky cake which sounds like Year High when spoken in Chinese, is said to symbolise reaching new heights in our lives - it is generally a wish for us to have a better year than the last. It is also known as the Chinese New Year cake because it is most sought-after during this festive season.

Mom-in-law (MIL) gave us some to bring home earlier this week. I was pretty excited about it because I do love the stuff. My mom used to fry it with eggs for us when we were young. I carried the tradition on every New Year.

Fresh out of the pan, the nian gao is gooey soft and stretches like mozarella cheese. It is always best eaten warm. Since I had some breadcrumbs left over, I thought I'd make my nian gao a little interesting this year. The result is a delicious sticky snack which is easier to handle.

Pan-Fried Breaded Nian Gao

Pan-Fried Breaded Nian Gao
Ingredients:
- 2 x 220g nian gao (sliced)
- ½ cup fine breadcrumbs
- 1 large egg (lightly beaten with a pinch of salt)
- Cooking oil

Method:
1) Dip nian gao slices in beaten egg. Then, coat well with breadcrumbs. Set aside.
2) Heat cooking oil in pan - just enough for a pan-fry.
3) Pan-fry the breaded nian gao in low-medium heat, turning once, until nicely browned. Remove gently as it is soft.

Best enjoyed warm with tea.

1) Three Ingredients - Egg, BreadCrumbs, Nian Gao
2) Dip Nian Gao In Egg
3) Coat Nian Gao With BreadCrumbs
4) Fresh Out Of The Pan Breaded Nian Gao

Pan-Fried Breaded Nian Gao

A Facebook friend suggested that I try it wrapped with popiah skin. I'm game for anything nian gao related! That will be my cooking project this week.

Nom nom nom Pan-Fried Breaded Nian Gao

How do you prefer your nian gao?

Read more...

Food Discovery: Wajik Sirat

Wajik Sirat is a traditional sweet treat that can be found in many parts of Malaysia. I didn't try it until my recent trip to Melaka where it was abundantly sold in the touristy Dutch Square.

The word wajik (Malay) means diamond in English. Wajik, a sticky rice snack, is commonly served sliced in the shape of a diamond. That's where it gets its name. Wajik Sirat is similar to Wajik except that the glutinous rice, instead of being used whole, is ground into coarse powder .

Wajik Sirat

Wajik Sirat is also known by other names such as Kuih Kasirat or Kesirat. A few call it Beras Rendang .

There is a risk that treats like these can be too sweet but the ones I bought were just perfect. It had the distinct well rounded flavour of palm sugar. The texture was lovely. It was soft but not overly gluey that it sticks to the teeth.

Wajik Sirat - Soft, Not Overly Sticky

Would you believe that this snack is an easy one to make? There are slight variations from household to household - some cook it with pandan leaves for a more aromatic take, some use brown sugar, some add a little salt into it, some prefer it with toasted coconut paste and so forth. This is the gist of how it's done.

The basic ingredients: Glutinous Rice, Palm Sugar (Gula Melaka), Coconut Milk

Method: First, the glutinous rice is pan-fried without oil. It is then left to cool completely before being blended into a coarse powder. Palm sugar blocks are dissolved with some water in a large cooking pot. The coconut milk is then added. Once the mixture is well combined, the blended rice is added in and cooked into a thick malleable paste that looks like dough. It is then pressed into small containers optionally lined with banana leaf or wrapped in plastic like the ones pictured below.

A Packet Of Wajik Sirat

Have you eaten this snack before?

Read more...

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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.

Read more...

Food Discovery : Ipoh's Snacks

Ipoh, land of Bean Sprouts Chicken (Nga Choy Kai) and Flat Rice Noodles (Sar Hor Fun). It's the tastiest there is but that's not all Ipoh has to offer.

Ipoh has yummy snacks that have people queuing for a taste. Standing in line for a long time is not something anyone looks forward to but when you're as curious as us or a die-hard food fan, determination wins.

Like a good soldier, my partner Eve, braved the line for Sin Eng Heong's legendary Kaya Puff. It took almost two hours. On a brighter note, you never get anything less than freshly baked ones because these biscuits fly off the oven trays as soon as it is done!

Freshly Baked Sin Eng Heong Kaya Puffs

With over fifty years of experience, they have certainly earned their black belt in making kaya puffs. The soft flaky crust matched the home made coconut egg jam (kaya) perfectly. It was heavenly to bite into.

Kaya Puffs - The store, the queue!

Freshly Baked Kaya Puffs Being Sorted Into Boxes

Biting Into Sin Eng Heong's Kaya Puff..yum!

Also Popular - Salted Egg Biscuits

The rule: First come, first serve. Queue cutters beware! You could 'try' making reservations but don't get your hopes up and don't expect special treatment.


While waiting for Eve, I took a stroll around the area, inadvertently stumbling across another queue. "What is with Ipoh and queues? " I wondered fleetingly.

A quick check on my phone revealed that this soybean store, Funny Mountain, was famous for its tau fu fah (tofu pudding).

Funny Mountain - The soybean, tau fu fah specialist!

I wasn't prepared to be wowed. I mean - how different could it be from the ones I regularly have. Now I see how wrong I was.

Silky Smooth Tau Fu Fah

This is phenomenal. I love the texture - soft and silky. If anything, this has ruined any chance of me appreciating tau fu fah just like that anywhere else ever again. I've become fussy. Funny Mountain's tau fu fah has become sort of a benchmark.

How I longed For Second Helpings

The soybean drink was good too.

Funny Mountain's Soybean Drink

If you're tired of queues and want a quick bite of something, walk across the road to Fast Food Corner. There's a host of fried snacks to try - sweet potatoes, bananas, yam, cempedak , nian gao (Chinese New Year Cake).

No queue, no good? I wouldn't say so.

Fried Food Snacks - Nian Gao layered with yam and sweet potato in hand

Nian Gao Layer Cake

To summarise, both Sin Eng Heong and Funny Mountain should be on your must-visit list. In this case, the finest things in life doesn't come free. Time is a price you'd think twice to pay if you're not a foodie.

Read more...