Being able to make my own bao is a bonus. It means I can stick some into the freezer and can have bao on tap, so to speak. Today I made some duck bao. I have a deep love for duck cook any which way EXCEPT soup. I cooked the fillings a day before I want to wrap.

Division on labour makes for a stress-free cook. My daughter is also on holiday so I have a chief bottle washer. I am using my old recipe but reduced the yeast to 1 pkt and added 1 tsp of sugar. In doing so I have to wait a bit longer for it to proof but it works the same. – Easy Char Siu Baozi (叉烧包) – Just Julie (julieolive.co.uk)

Cooking and baking is a forever learning process. If for any reason you think you are good enough then you are wrong. Recently I learned something new so am sharing another TIP.

New TIP – After wrapping and shaping your bao do not wait too long before steaming. 10 minutes is more than ample. I find the longer you wait the bao shape will sink a little and not stay in the same sexily shaped you wanted after steaming.

When I was growing up in Kuching, Sarawak I remembered one of the places where my mother used to take us, me and my 4 other siblings to buy breakfast from this shop (I forgot where) that sold the best egg tarts, cream puffs and this very special egg sponge cake but with savoury mince pork and fried shallots in the middle.

I have tried to recreate this over the years, ahem….decades actually… but the last few batches always ended up in the bins. As I have ‘accidentally’ clicked and bought too many packets of cake flour a couple of months ago from Amazon, I decided to give it another go. Finally I have a recipe I am happy to record and share. This is because hubby asked for a second slice. When he does this it means ‘he passed it’ – kekekekeke

I have always remembered this as something from my childhood which I have eaten countless times growing up in Kuching, Sarawak. This is like 5, 6 decades ago but I am not counting. – kekekeke

Only recently some claimed that this is a ‘Taiwanese street food’ Which is which I am not sure but hubby loves this now as he is not too keen on char sui bao being of fatter pork fillings. The daughter declared today she loves it too. Previously they both have said it was weird being sweet and savoury and refused to eat, hence the bin ate them. Of course that got them the lashing of my tongue as isn’t char sui bao etc sweet buns and savoury fillings too? Here are some TIPs if you want to give it a go.

TIP – When steaming use medium to high heat. Make sure water is bubbling before your batter goes in.

TIP – When steaming second round after the mince and fried shallots toppings do not forget to top up water before doing so.

TIP – You can season your mince a tad saltier because the egg sponge is plain.

TIP – Do not be tempted to add more seasonings to the mince or vanilla essence etc to your egg mixture. You do not add vanilla essence to your char sui bao bun do you? Same concept.

TIP – Remember to lift out your cake from the tin onto a rack to cook. If not you might have a soggy bottom syndrome.

Note : Big NO. NO, this savoury sponge cake from my memory do not have chicken floss! Of course that is not to say you cannot add to your bake but this IS my childhood nostalgia indulgence. My childhood idiosyncrasy if you like.

When I was a lot younger, decades ago during the durian season in Kuching, mother will have rest days. We, 5 siblings and parents will be eating durians a few days a week.

In the evening my father would drive us to the central market, I forgot the name of this market. There lorries loaded with durians would unload by tilting the durians onto the ground. The customers picked out a pile themselves and pay. The small ones were 50 sen, bigger ones RM1.00, next RM1.50 and so on.

My father taught me how to pick the ‘best’ durians. I favoured those a bit ‘wet’ with taste like alcohol. Second choice will be the dry and creamy ones but they are rather a bit ‘rich’ in taste. I was very spoilt. Any single seeded durian pulp would be claimed by me! Is there a secret knack to picking the best durian? YES there is! Ah…those were the days.

Yesterday I had visitors and decided to churn durian ice cream to serve as dessert. This is also because I bought as much of the Musang King durian my freezer could hold last week. I happened into my local Asian shop and saw them on offer for £14 a box. The usual price was £20 for a box of 400g. I have bought this brand for my daughter before so I knew it tasted all right. As for myself I seldom eat durian in UK frozen or otherwise as the taste is just not the same. However durian ice cream I do eat. Anything else with ‘processed’ durian I do not like. Fussy huh? kekekekeke

Anyway I have bought enough Musang King durian and tried a few combo but this is my favourite recipe thus far.

TIP – It is every important that you temper your egg yolks nicely. You do not want scramble eggs! Remember to add some just boiling creamy milk to your eggs. Mix well before tipping all back into the creamy milk pot and cook till your custard coat the back of your spoon.

TIP – It is also very important to add that pinch of salt. It helps turn your ice cream into soft scope and not icy.

TIP – If it were just me eating I would not be bothered to blend and sieve the durian custard before churning but hubby prefers a smooth soft scope.

So I am into making talam at the moment. Making and doing research and I felt like I have been to mathematics class last couple of weeks and back. kekekekekeke

Luckily I have enough guinea pigs and even the British neighbours have been promoted to try though it is very far and few that you will meet any British born and bred whom will like our kuih-muih. Well except my husband! He has actually placed an order for a special kuih lapis of his designs! I accepted his challenge. I just have to figured out how to make what he wants as I have not seen this designs online So watch this space!

Today I have decided to finally pen this recipe out. If I tried some more (research) my friends and neighbours and family might kill me. I have bought 2 dozen tins of coconut milk. Go figures However when my classmate from age 13 years old informed me that I have made the best talam pandan she have ever tasted I believed this recipe is a keeper.

Now when I said I felt like I have been to Mathematics class the last week, I meant I have calculated ratios of countless talam recipes online and from my cookbooks. This is the final ratio that I settled on which I can comfortably slice without breaking because I prefer softer talam.

However I did make some in glass jars and those I add a touch more liquids and a touch more salt for the crazy hubby who (thinks he’s a food critic) really like a touch more salty top to contrast with the sweet bottom (his words; not mine!) Shocking right? Coming from a white British guy – hahahahaha

Now if you have read all my musings this far I think you deserve a good tip. I actually added A DROP of alkaline water to my top layer. it works fine but do not be tempted to add more. If you want to know why, you can try it and see I did and the talam went into the bin.

TIP – Use as many pandan leaves as you can afford. Blend with water the night before. Store in a container with a cover and put in the fridge. I hate cross contamination of smell in the fridge. My everything is in either lock & lock, tupperwares or vacuumed sealed. For this recipe of 7×7 tin I used 2 packets of pandan leaves.

The next day when you are ready to make, it is entirely up to you how you use your pandan juice. You can throw the top water away and used the more condensed bottom bit or you can use all but sieve again one more time to remove residue.

TIP – If you want your pandan green to be slightly more deeper green try adding a few drop of intense blue pea flower water. Just boil blue pea right down to get a darker colour. However I am not sure I like it. I prefer a more natural pandan leaf colour. Which do you prefer?

TIP – As long as you stick to the flours and liquid ratio, do experiment. You can omit the tapioca flour and used just green bean flour and rice flour…..but you cannot do the reverse aka you cannot omit the green bean and used tapioca instead. Well I suppose it is all up to you to try Enjoy trying. I did.

p/s I am also trying to perfect the gula Melaka talam. Will update that recipe this weekend if free. It’s so much easier to make as just need to melt the gula Melaka

Here is another post hubby was able to recover from the net, from my old block. It’s ‘Chuk bi peah’ I have made both sweet ones and savoury ones.

This ‘peah’ literally means ‘biscuit’ in Hokkien dialect. This is only sold in Kuching in the old days as far as I know. Only those who grew up in Kuching will know this kueh and some have not even eaten them before.

A few times when I phoned my mother she was on and on about this chuk bi peah. She kept telling me how much she misses this kuih. and she’s in her 70ies.

So I wanted to learn this kuih and make it for her one day. Thanks to some of my classmates, their patience with me and guidance, taking pics for me so I am able to make this in UK. Thank you Ron, Cindy and Mary. Hubby extended his ‘Thanks’ too. He said next time in Kuching beers on him!

He preferred the haebee one because of my sambal even though he ate 4 of the tausah cause I fried and served them first! 

I will defo make this again. Love the crunchiness – Happy me.

First published – 1st August 2018

When I lived in Bercham Ipoh, there was a man who came sometimes to the market and he sells all manner of fried Chinese dough aka Chinese doughnuts but this is my favourite – Kap Chong.

My husband was very happy with this and said no need to cook lunch, he can have these for breakfast as well as lunch.

Luckily I can still make these because have not made them for like 10 years since I moved down from Devon to London’s as Chinatown is just half an hour train ride away.

I prefer my sticky rice to be “can see each grains” type. I fermented the dough overnight.

The second batch I made I used ley water and I have to say I did not like the taste! So I adjusted to my taste with amonia powder and after the 4th time (discounting the 2 times that went into the rubbish bin) I am happy to post this recipe. I have certainly made a little dent into the bread flours I bought before lockdown – kekekekekeke

I actually made Kap Chong with Chinese 5 spice and Kap Chong with fermented red beancurd because I forgot which taste I prefered more.

However the hubby and I found out that we much prefer the Chinese 5 spice taste more.

Why making these at home? Well you can adjust the amount of Chinese 5 spice to suit your taste, the amount of sugar, salt and dough. My husband requested for more glutinous rice and I can adjust that too. The taste is entirely up to you.

The next batch I make I will freeze half to see how well they freeze. I know dough when proofed can be frozen but I just do not like to handle them when defrosted. I will update when I have done so. I have already decided to freeze them individually with grease paper separation but at the moment I do not have freezer space spare.

It will be nice to be able to just put some to defrost overnight in the fridge and fry the next morning for breakfast.

My next project as I have kilos of glutinous rice left – kekekekekeeke (blame lockdown)!

TIP – I made the rice baton the night before.

TIP – I let my dough ferment overnight too.

It has been a very long time since I last wrote on my blog. Today I decided it is time I start again after being unwell.

I chose to post this old Nonya kuih – Bingka Beras. This seem to be a forgotten Nonya Kuih which I love with all my heart. As a young child I remember wanting this always whenever I was taken to the morning market where the hawker sold this. I just love the aroma of the coconut with the slightly burnt bits on top! The coconut sweetness, the banana leaves smell, the slightly caramelized top and sometimes the taste of a bit of bitter burns is FABULOUS. I just <3 <3 <3 this “fei chui yuk” aka fat pork belly, in Cantonese because they resemble a piece of fat pork.

Luckily my husband, though British born and bred loves all kuih-muih. Makes life a lot easier for me. I can make a kuih and he’ll eat it all day long and I don’t need to cook anything else.

This kuih is so easy to make so I hope those who have rice flour handy will try it out. Especially more so now we are still staying at home. This lockdown due to Covid19 have seen such a lot more baker, home chefs, gardeners, hairdresser, dressmakers as well as teachers and many other skills. Amazing what we can do when we have to.

TIP – Melt some butter and mix with the reserved 1 tbsp coconut milk. Brush on top of the kuih for that extra ummmph before you grill. kekekekeke

Cekodok Pisang or Banana Fritters is one of Malaysia’s best-love snack. It’s one on my favourite.

I am almost embarrassed to post this as this is so easy to make. However I have since been persuaded that it is not everyone that can make it so here’s a post on my blog.

Living in the UK, I have never found it taste quite the same as in Malaysia for we do not have that much choice of bananas here. I always leave my bananas to go to almost rotten before I use them to get as close a taste to home as possible.

However I do not make this often even though hubby loves them. He will eat this till the cows come home but he will never on his own eat a fresh banana. Go figures.

I don’t make this often because bananas when ripe contains so much sugar and as a diabetic I cannot afford to use up my sugar rations.

Pulut Tai Tai with gula malacca kaya (gift from a friend) Pulut Tai Tai according to Wikipedia – Pulot Tartal is Malacca-based dish where white coconut milk sauce is served with glutinous rice (pulut)

I have always been a bit of a rebel deep down. Hence a green coloured Pulut Tai Tai

I am steamed my glutinous rice the same way I did for my Seri Muka recipe. https://www.julieolive.co.uk/2018/12/26/kuih-seri-muka-special/

Compress the rice lightly but firmly. Do NOT press to hard until your rice are tough! I prefer my glutinous to have a little give myself. However this is again arguably to personal taste.

I also like my rice slightly more salty as it goes so well with the sweet kaya. Again you can adjust to your taste.

If you soak your rice a longer time, say more than 8 hours you might need less coconut milk and less steaming time. It is entirely up to you to try.

Of course it stands to reason then your steaming time also depends on your heat. I used medium. Happy trying.