Glutinous Rice with Chicken in Lotus Leaf (荷香糯米鸡)

Whenever I go for Chinese Dim Sum, the Lotus Leaf Rice is one of the items I will definitely have. I simply love the glutinous rice enclosing a heap of ingredients such as chicken and mushrooms and wrapped in a huge Lotus Leaf (see picture below). 

In some recipes, the glutinous rice with chicken is steamed in a bowl and not wrapped in a Lotus Leaf. That is still very delicious, but nothing beats opening the Lotus Leaf parcel and smelling the wonderful scent imparted by the Lotus Leaf as you tuck into the rice. 

A friend of mine passed me her recipe for Glutinous rice with chicken and I decided to improvise and make my own version of this dim sum delight in a lotus leaf. I was a little worried about how this would turn out as I not very successful at wrapping dumplings for the Dumpling Festival and wrapping a Lotus Leaf parcel sounds about as challenging. Fortunately, this turned out easier because it wasn't cone-shaped. Rectangular parcels are quite straight forward, sort of like wrapping presents (see my picture right the bottom for the steps).

So here's my Lotus Leaf Glutinous Rice with Chicken - soft, moist and sticky glutinous rice encasing a delicious mix of chicken, mushrooms and dried prawns, infused with the aroma of the Lotus Leaf.

Lotus Leaf Glutinous Rice 
6 to 8 servings depending on how large you want each parcel

Chicken and Mushroom Filling

Ingredients

• 4 Boneless chicken drumstick (cut into small pieces)
• 6-8 black  whole mushrooms (soak to soften)
• 3 teaspoons Sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon Hua Diao wine
• 2 tablespoons Light sauce
• 1/2  teaspoon Pepper
• 1 tablespoon Oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon corn flour
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• Pinch of salt

For frying:

• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 tbsp dried prawns (soaked to soften)
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
• Chinese sausage (optional - I didn't use)

Method

• Put in the mushroom and chicken in the mixing bowl and marinate with all the ingredients (except dried prawns and chopped garlic).  Leave it in in the fridge for  4-5 hours to marinate.
• Heat up the oil. Stir fry garlic, dried prawns and Chinese sausage till fragrant and add the chicken and mushrooms. Stir fry till the chicken and mushrooms are cooked. Set aside.

Glutinous Rice

Ingredients

• 600 gm glutinous rice (soak for 3-4 hours)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt    
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper 
• 1 tablespoon light sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soya sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil 
• 1 tablespoon of cooking oil
• 1 1/2 cup of water

Method

• Wash the rice and soak it for 3 hours.
• Mix in the sauce with the water and cover the rice.
• Steam on high heat for about 35 minutes till its cooked.
• Fluff up the rice with a dash more of sesame oil.

Lotus Leaves

Ingredients

• 3-4 pieces depending on whether you want to make 6 or 8 parcels

Method

• Cut lotus leaves into half.
• Soak each piece in boiling water for 2-3 minutes till its softened. Set aside till ready to use.

Assemble the package (see picture below)

1. Lay one half piece of lotus leaf on a flat surface. Cut off a small part of the hard stem at the bottom of the leaf.
2. Place a layer of glutinous rice on the centre of the leaf.
3. Fold up the bottom flap.
4/5. Fold in the right side, and then left side. 
6. Tuck in the flap on top
7. Steam parcels on high heat for about 20 mins.

I'm linking this post to Little Thumbs Up event, organized by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids and Doreen for my little favourite D.I.Y., and hosted by Joyce, kitchen flavours.

Mushroom and French Onion Soup

French Onion Soup and Mushroom Soup has to be two of my favourite soups in the world. While I was thinking of what to cook for Little Thumb Up's mushroom month, I thought it would be great to combine the these two into one delicious soup, so that I can have the best of both worlds in one bowl.  

The sweetness of the soup comes from the caramelised onions which was patiently sauteed on the stove for nearly 40 minutes till it turns a beautiful golden shade. The sauteed mushrooms, broth and white wine are then added, and these are stewed over a low flame into a thick-ish broth for another hour so as to bring out the richness of the ingredients. This is not one of those soups which can made in a hurry but certainly well worth the wait.  

This soup isn't complete without a serving of crusty bread and cheese which are toasted in the oven - so you get crispy toast with melted cheese, which is eaten soaked into the soup. The combination of soup and bread makes a wonderfully, hearty first course to a full meal or perhaps a light lunch. Totally delicious and healthy!

Mushroom and French Onion Soup (Serves 2)
Recipe by Mich @ Piece of Cake

Ingredients

• 200 g of mixed mushrooms, chopped
• 2 pieces of garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 medium white onions, sliced or diced
• 1-2 bay leaves
• A few sprigs of rosemary or thyme
• 1/2 cup of white wine
• 5 cups of stock (beef, chicken or vegetable - I used home made vegetable stock)
• Salt to taste

To serve:

• 4 slices of home-made crusty bread (Or store-bought if you don't make bread) 
• Cheese
• Parsley 

Method

• Heat up 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large pot. Stir fry the onions till its soft, brown and caramelised, about 30 to 40 mins. Set aside.
• In another pan, heat up the other 1 tbsp of olive oil. Heat up the garlic and stir fry the mushrooms till soft and fragrant, about 5 mins.
• Pour the mushrooms into the pot with the cooked onions. Put in the 1/2 cup of wine, 5 cups of stock, rosemary/thyme and bay leaves. 
• Boil till the liquid is reduced and slightly thickened, about 45 mins to 1 hour.
• Toast the bread with shredded cheese in the oven till cheese melts.
• Garnish the soup with parsley and serve with the toast. 

I'm linking this post to Little Thumbs Up event, organized by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids and Doreen for my little favourite D.I.Y., and hosted by Joyce, kitchen flavours.

This is for Made with Love Mondays by Javelin Warrior.

The Ultimate Oreo Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcake

Rita, a talented and creative baker I know from a Facebook cooking group shared a delicious looking Oreo cupcake on the group's wall and I knew I had to try it! Here, two Oreo cookies are sandwiched with a generous amounts of peanut butter and then baked in the ultimate Oreo chocolate cupcake. It sounds sinful, but it's one of those desserts you'll forget the calories for, especially if you are a chocolate and Oreo lover. 

It's very easy to do but it'll be easier to visualise what I'm talking about through these step-by-step photos:

Spread a generous amount of peanut butter on each Oreo cookie and stack them in twos.

Place the pair of stacked cookie in a paper cup in a muffin tray.

Pour the chocolate batter over the Oreo cookies. Here's my daughter helping me with this. It's such an easy cupcake idea that kids can easily do it themselves!

Make sure the Oreo cookies are well covered, and bake them till the chocolate batter is done.

The Oreo cookie isn't as crispy as it was out of the box, but the Oreo, peanut butter and chocolate cake combination is extremely delicious! I really love this simple yet interesting cupcake idea and was thinking of making it for my daughter's birthday celebration in school. I am almost certain all the kids would be thrilled to bite into a chocolate cupcake with Oreos and peanut butter hidden inside!

The Ultimate Oreo Chocolate Cupcake (14 cupcakes)

Inspired by Rita, who was inspired by Inspiration World

Ingredients

• 28 Oreo Biscuits
• Peanut Butter, more or less depending on your preference
• Any Chocolate batter (see recipe below for what I used)

Method

• Place paper cup into a muffin tin.
• Spread peanut butter on top of each oreo, and stack them up in twos.
• Place each set of two into a muffin cup.
• Fill each cup with chocolate batter till the top of the Oreo is covered.
• Bake at an oven pre-heated to 175*C for about 12-14 minutes.
• Let the cupcakes cool and enjoy!

Chocolate Batter Recipe
From Martha Stewart's One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcake

Ingredients

•  3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup warm water 
• 3/4 cup buttermilk (I added 3/4 tbsp of lemon juice to milk to make buttermilk)
• 3 tablespoons safflower oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

• Sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. 
• Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth, about 3 minutes. 
• Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed.

Bake Along is a bi-monthly blog hop hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours, Lena of Her Frozen Wings and Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids. 

Blueberry-Hazelnut Cake

The Marionberry-Hazelnut Cake from the book Coffee Cakes: Simple, Sweet and Savory by Lou Seibert Pappas is the next bake for the members of The Home Bakers. The Home Bakers  is hosted by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours. If you are keen to join us, please contact Joyce. 

I have never seen Marionberries before and its not easy to reasonably priced berries such as blackberries or raspberries locally, so I decided to settle on blueberries for this cake.  I thought the blueberries and almond nibs made a pretty pattern on top of the cake. 

The cake texture is moist, fine and soft. This is one of the cakes from this book which I enjoyed more than others much because of the aroma in each bite coming from the ground hazelnut/almonds. 

The flavourful cake was enhanced by the berries and the crunchy nuts on top. Overnight, I'd say this is a very delightful tea cake which is fairly simple to make as well.

I baked half the cake in a loaf pan and below is my ingredients list for half the recipe. For the full recipe, please go to Janis of The Kitchen is My Shrink.

Blueberry-Hazelnut Cake (1 loaf)

• 1/2 cups + 2 tbsp of ground hazelnut meal or almond meal (I used a combination)
• 56 g of butter at room temperature
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 large eggs
• 1/4 tsp almond extract (omitted)
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 cup fresh or frozen berries
• 1 tbsp Demenara or turbinado sugar
• 1/6 cup hazelnuts, toasted, skinned and chopped, or sliced almonds 

Mushrooms Bruschetta with Poached Egg

I'm always on the look for easy brunch ideas which I can whip in a hurry on weekends - not the usual fare (rice and dishes) which we eat on weekdays but something more interesting. I came across Mushroom Bruschetta when I was surfing for mushroom recipes. This is a twist from the original which is made of tomatoes and sounded delicious with all that different types of mushroom - as you can tell by now, I'm a mushroom lover.

Anyway, the Mushroom Bruschetta on its looks rather boring as you can see from the picture above. The recipe I found suggested it be served with fried or poached eggs. I recall my friend Baby Sumo's tutorial on making the perfect poached eggs on her blog. So I decided to try my hand at making them for this recipe. 

The poached egg turned out pretty well for a first timer. The yolk was a beautiful runny golden yellow. It was irresistible as the yolk soaked into the crispy bread and flavourful mushrooms. Totally divine!

It's hard not to take another picture of the beautiful, golden runny yolk on the bruschetta. My kids gave this a big thumbs up.

Mushroom Bruschetta with Poached Egg (4 servings)
Recipe adapted from here

Mushroom

Ingredients

• 150 g butter (I used a few tablespoons of olive oil)
• 4 thick slices sourdough bread (I used French Loaf)
• 2 banana shallots or 4 regular shallots, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 300g mixed wild mushrooms (chanterelles, ceps, wood blewitts, oyster, field mushrooms etc), trimmed and sliced
• 2 tbsp crème fraîche (I replaced with yoghurt)
• 2 tsp finely chopped fresh tarragon (I used rosemary)
• 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh flatleaf parsley
• 4 free-range fried or poached eggs, to serve

Method

• Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large non-stick frying pan. Add the bread slices and fry for 1-2 minutes each side or until lightly browned. remove and keep warm.
• Add the remaining butter to the frying pan and sauté the shallots and garlic for 1-2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and stir-fry over a medium heat for 6-8 minutes. season well, remove from the heat and stir in the crème fraîche and chopped fresh herbs.
• Serve the mushrooms on the sourdough bread, top with fried or poached eggs and serve immediately, drizzling with any pan juices.

Poached Egg
Recipe from Baby Sumo, adapted from MasterChef Australia

You'll need:

• A fresh egg at room temperature
• White vinegar
• Water
• Slotted spoon
• Saucepan

Method

1. Crack the egg into a small ramekin or small bowl. It is easier to slip the egg into the simmering water later.

2. Fill a small saucepan with approximately 4 inches of water and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar to the water, it will help the eggs whites set.

3. Using a tablespoon, swirl the water making a whirlpool (as if you are drawing circles in the water). Gently tip the egg into the centre of the whirlpool and watch the magic of the swirl work. As the egg hits the whirlpool, the egg white will enclose around the yolk and form a neat tight round. (If your eggs are not fresh or not at room temperature, then this is when it will fail and won't enclose properly)

4. Allow the egg to cook for 2-3 minutes or until the yolk is cooked to your liking. Gently lift out the egg using a slotted spoon and give it a little wobble. The egg white should be just cooked (no more translucent white). Remove with a slotted spoon and rest the spoon on kitchen paper for few seconds to absorb any excess water.

I'm linking this post to Little Thumbs Up event, organized by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids and Doreen for my little favourite D.I.Y., and hosted by Joyce, kitchen flavours.

Roselle Cupcakes

The past weekend had been a cupcake weekend - because I was baking batch after batch of cupcakes because most of them turned out less than desired. There were two reasons for doing so - firstly I was looking for a cupcake recipe for my daughter's birthday party in school and also so that I could make some cupcakes for the Bake Along's second anniversary. 

Bake Along is a bi-monthly blog hop hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours, Lena of Her Frozen Wings and Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids. I remember starting out in blogging at around the time of Bake Along's first anniversary and can't believe how quickly time has gone by!

Back to my cupcake saga, after batches of deflated green tea cupcakes and chocolate cupcakes which were too dry because I forgot to add the oil, I finally decided to fall back on my favourite vanilla cupcake recipe but with a slightly different twist. I remember Ann from Anncoo Journal making these Roselle cupcakes recently and I thought it would be a great idea to use Roselle in my cupcakes and also make a Roselle buttercream to go along. 

I was feeling fairly discouraged after so many failed attempts at cupcake baking and started to wonder if its my baking skills or the recipe or if its simply not my day to bake! I held my breath as I watched these cupcakes rise in the oven. I heaved a sign of relief when I broke open one of the cupcakes to check. It was the moist and fluffy cupcake I know this recipe produces - this recipe has never failed me.

Anyway, here's just a little introduction to Roselle for those who have never heard of it. This is quite popular among Chinese, we called this 洛神花/玫瑰茄. Roselle is also known as Hibiscus Sabdariffa -a species of Hibiscus. Among the other health benefits of Roselle are its ability to lower blood sugar and cholesterol, prevent dental decay, slow down premature aging, prevent joint inflammation, improve concentration, reduce the risk of a stroke, stabilise blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart attack and cancer growth. Usually the Roselle is normally taken as a tea/drink or in jams, so I thought it would be interesting to try using it in cakes.  In this recipe, I'm using dried Roselle flowers seen in the picture below which must be soaked ahead. However, you can also use pickled Roselle flowers. 

The Roselle pieces in the cupcake tasted like pieces of dried fruit - the taste wasn't obvious in the cake but they added pretty red specks to the cake. However, the buttercream had a light aroma of the Roselle flowers. I would be better if there was Roselle essence to give the cupcake a stronger Roselle flavours but I don't think that exists. The Roselle flowers that topped the cupcake looked like rose petals and looked really pretty. However, I'm quite happy with my improvised Roselle cupcake! 

Roselle Cupcakes

Cupcake Recipe

Cake recipe by adapted from Glorious Treats

Yields- 15-16 cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups cake flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup oil (vegetable, canola or extra light olive oil)
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup milk plus 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice- add acid to the milk then set aside for 5 minutes before using)
• 20 dried *Roselle flowers, soaked for about an hour, then diced or shredded

Method

• Preheat oven to 350*F or 175*C
• In a medium bowl, add cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Stir together with whisk, and set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, add eggs and beat 10-20 seconds.  Add sugar and continue to beat on medium speed about 30 seconds.  Add vanilla and oil, beat.
• Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add about half of the flour mixture.  Add half of the milk, then the rest of the flour and the rest of the milk.  Beat until just combined.  Scrap down the side of the bowl.
• Stir in the shredded or cut Roselle flowers.
• The batter will be thin. Pour batter into a muffin pan prepared with paper liners.  Fill liners about 2/3 full.
• Bake cupcakes in pre-heated oven for 12-14 minutes.
• Cool in pan 1-2 minutes, then remove cupcakes from pan (carefully) and finish cooling on a wire rack.

Buttercream Recipe

Recipe adapted from Joy of Baking

This buttercream recipe enough only for 8 cupcakes

Ingredients

• 2 cups (230 grams) confectioners sugar (icing or powdered sugar), sifted 
• 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk or light cream
• 5-6 dried *Roselle flowers, soaked for an hour, cut into small pieces

Method

• In an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter until smooth and well blended. Add the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. 
• Add the milk and beat on high speed until frosting is light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes). Add a little more milk or sugar, if needed (I added an additional 10 tbsp of icing sugar as I wanted to make a stiffer icing).
• Add in the pieces of Roselle flowers and mix in well.
• Tint the frosting with a small drop of pink colouring.

For decoration

• 2-3 dried *Roselle flowers, soaked for an hour, shredded to top the cupcakes.

* In this recipe, I'm using dried Roselle flowers which must be soaked ahead. However, you can also use pickled Roselle flowers. 

Corn and Cashew Nut Curry

I've been quite busy exploring all sorts of seeds and nuts recipes of late and have been discovering how delicious some of these dishes can be. This is part of my effort to get my family into a healthier eating mode. This Corn and Cashew Nut Curry is one of those I came across which I thought was really delicious and satisfying. 

Corn, cashew nuts, potatoes and celery are stewed in a mildly spicy tomato-based curry. The cashew and corn gives a nice crunch while the potatoes make it more "meaty". The use of herbs such as lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, spring onions and basil makes it extremely fragrant and aromatic.

Because so little curry paste is used, it isn't spicy and even my kids enjoyed this very much - they loved the crunchy cashew nuts. It goes great with rice and is great as a side dish.

Corn and Cashew Nut Curry
Recipe from 160 Chinese Wok & Stir-fry Recipes by Jenni Fleetwood

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 shallots, chopped
• 90 g or 1 cup cashew nuts
• 1 tsp red curry paste
• 400 g potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 lemon grass stalk, finely chopped (I cut into 1 inch long parts)
• 200 g chopped tomatoes (canned)
• 600 ml boiling water
• 200 g canned corn kernels, drained
• 4 celery sticks, sliced
• 2 kaffir lime leaves, rolled into cylinders and thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 1 tsp palm sugar or brown sugar
• 4 spring onions, thinly sliced
• Small bunch of basil, chopped

Method

• Heat oil in the work. Add shallots and stir-fry over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes until softened. Add the cashew nuts and stir-fry for a few minutes until they are golden.
• Stir in the red curry paste. Stir-fry for 1 minute, then add the potatoes, lemon grass, tomatoes and boiling water.
• Bring back to boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover gently simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
• Stir in the corn, celery, lime leaves, ketchup, soy sauce, sugar and half of the spring onions into the wok. Simmer for a further 5 minutes, till heated through.
• Sprinkle with remaining spring onions and basil leaves.

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs up organised by Doreen from my little favourite DIY and me, Bake for Happy Kids, hosted by Esther from Copycake Kitchen, at this post. 

This is for Herbs on Saturday hosted by Lavender and Lovage.