Orh Kueh/Steamed Yam Cake (II)

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many words is my video worth? Let's see . . . .

length of video = 5 minutes 10 seconds = 310 seconds
frames per second = 25
total no. of frames/pictures = 310 x 25 = 7,750
1 frame = 1,000 words
7,750 frames = 7,750,000 words

There are, depending on which translation you're counting, about 560,000 words in War and Peace. Hence, the video is equivalent to almost 14 times War and Peace.

QED.

The recipe for Steamed Yam Cake is in my earlier post here, and here are some tips for making the traditional kueh:

The yam must be fried, and it must be salted and seasoned with a bit of five-spice powder whilst it's piping hot. These two steps are crucial to bringing out the flavour of the yam.

To maximise the flavour and aroma of the dried prawns and mushrooms, season whilst you're stir-frying. If you season when you're making the batter, your kueh wouldn't taste anywhere near as nice even if you use the same amount of seasoning.

If you prefer a softer kueh, leave the batter thinner when you're cooking it on the stove. If you prefer a harder kueh, make it a bit thicker. Unless you like your orh kueh quite hard, the batter shouldn't be thick enough to hold its shape.

If you line the cake tin with parchment paper, you can lift the kueh out of the tin whilst it's still hot to let it cool down faster. If you're not in a hurry, the parchment paper isn't necessary.

When buying yam, make sure the peel is firm. Soft spots would mean the yam is starting to rot.

Yam may be sold with the stem withered or still fresh. The state of the stem doesn't affect the eating quality of the yam but fresher ones would keep longer.

Don't keep yam in the fridge or the starch would convert to sugar in the cold. Put it in a wooden bowl or on a pile of newspapers, uncovered. Yam needs plenty of ventilation or it would rot very quickly. Avoid plastic containers because yam may rot where it sits on the plastic, which doesn't breathe.

Click here for the recipe.

Samsui Ginger Chicken

Do you make 白切鸡, 'white-cut chicken'? If you do, chances are you stuff the cavity of the chicken with spring onions and ginger. After checking out the recipes online and in a few cookbooks, I think nine out of 10 people stuff their chicken. It's like these people, when they see an empty chicken, simply can't resist shoving in something. If you're one of them, I'm sorry to have to tell you, the method is wrong.

Why is it wrong?

Because jamming the cavity stops the hot water from circulating freely. Hence, the chicken is heated from the outside only, prolonging the cooking. By the time the inside is done, the skin would be overcooked and soft, and the meat on the outside dry and coarse. A good 白切鸡, one that's not overcooked outside or inside, should have skin that's still springy, and meat that's soft, juicy and silky smooth. Some people even like it slightly undercooked with the bones still red.

To cook 白切鸡 the correct way, don't block the passageway. Hold the chicken by its head, dunk it in boiling water, allowing the cavity to fill up, then drain the water back into the pot. Repeat the process 2-3 times. This warms up the cavity, and helps the chicken cook evenly as it steeps in hot water. Naturally, if you live somewhere where chickens are sold headless and neckless, getting the bird out of the hot water is a bit of a problem!

In the old days in China, common folks usually ate chicken only when they were making religious offerings. For these festivities, the chicken had to be whole, not cut up. Unless you're following the same tradition, there's really no need to cook a chicken the old-fashioned way. The head, neck and feet may be trimmed, along with the spine. Instead of a cul-de-sac cavern, the back of the chicken is wide open. Heat circulates freely, so the chicken cooks evenly without any dunking.

The traditional method cooks 白切鸡 by steeping the whole chicken, literally head to toe, in hot water. I, however, prefer to use a rice cooker on warm mode. This way, the meat juices released during cooking aren't lost in an ocean of water. Instead, the flavourful liquid may be added to the ginger sauce to give it extra oomph.

Before using the meat juices to make the ginger sauce, I drizzle the good stuff on the chicken. Basting, contrary to what some roast chicken recipes say, does NOT make the meat more juicy. I know because I once weighed a chicken before and after basting. But the extra step is useful because, as the liquid flows through the chicken, some of the salt is left in the meat. Which tastes better when it's salted, everyone knows that.

The best cooking technique in the world wouldn't make good 白切鸡 if you use a poor quality chicken with mushy skin and cottony meat. And don't think a bigger chicken would always taste better. It used to but nowadays size is no longer a good indication of flavour. Bigger chickens may just be pumped with more growth hormones than smaller ones! That's cheaper than investing time and feed to let the birds grow and mature in flavour.

In the place called Little Red Dot, 白切鸡 is usually served Hainanese style with garlic chilli sauce, grated ginger and dark soya sauce. The Cantonese style, with a sauce made with ginger, spring onions and oil, isn't common. I've not seen it anywhere here except Soup Restaurant where it's called Samsui Ginger Chicken. The restaurant serves its signature dish with lettuce leaves, which diners use to wrap the chicken and ginger sauce. This is a sexed up version of the classic style which is sans lettuce, and may be found everywhere in Hong Kong.

To some people, poached or steamed chicken may be just part of a low-carb, high-protein diet. It's something they tolerate, not enjoy. Poor things! (The chickens which die for an unworthy cause, not people). I'd tell the calorie counters to try Samsui Ginger Chicken except they'll refuse to eat the chicken skin, and probably make the ginger sauce without oil. *shudder* *wipe grease from chin* I wonder if they might change their mind if I tell them Samsui women, who loved nothing more than Samsui Ginger Chicken, were all skinny as a beanpole. Nah, cardboard chicken makes them feel all virtuous. Meanwhile, Samsui Ginger Chicken makes me feel all happy. *wipe more grease from chin*



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SAMSUI GINGER CHICKEN (三水姜茸鸡; 'WHITE-CUT CHICKEN' WITH GINGER SAUCE ) (Recipe for 4 persons) Chicken 1 kampong/organic hen weighing 1.0-1.1 kg, or 850-950 g without head & feet discard head; trim and reserve neck, feet and spine for making stock; rinse chicken thoroughly, removing feathers if any 1 tsp salt 20 g old ginger peel and rinse; slice thinly; crush slightly 20 g spring onion trim and rinse; halve lengthwise; crush slightly 姜茸 (ginger sauce) – makes about ⅔ cup 100 g young ginger peel, rinse and pound finely; squeeze to remove 3 tbsp juice; set both juice and pulp aside 30 g spring onions, bottom part only if you like a stronger onion flavour trim, rinse and chop finely 1½ tbsp groundnut oil 1½ tbsp white sesame oil ¾ tsp sea salt ¼ tsp chicken powder 1 head iceberg lettuce halve lengthwise; reserve outer and innermost leaves for other dishes; wash and drain the rest, or the amount you want; tear bigger leaves into smaller pieces just big enough to wrap bite size chicken; chill till ready to serve Garnish ½ cucumber wash, slice thinly and arrange on serving plate in a circle (1) The cooking time varies with not just the size but also the type of chicken. Organic chickens have denser meat and bones, so they need to be cooked longer compared to non-organic chickens of the same size. (2) If you live in the place called Little Red Dot, take note that the supermarkets sell both male and female kampong chickens. For白切鸡, you'd of course want a female bird. (3) The chicken shouldn't be too big so that there's room in the rice cooker for the heat to circulate. Chicken: Whilst preparing chicken as detailed above, place 2 tbsp water in a rice cooker on cook mode. After rice cooker changes to warm mode, place prepared chicken in the pot, skin side down. Spread ginger and spring onions on chicken. Add 2 tbsp water. Leave cooker on cook mode for 5 minutes. You should now see steam rising steadily from the air vent. Switch to warm mode and let chicken cook till juices run clear when a chopstick is inserted into the RIGHT thigh, about 30 minutes. Discard spring onions and ginger. Place chicken in running water till cool, about 5 minutes. Drain. Drizzle evenly with meat juices released during cooking. Repeat twice. Place chicken on a plate, minus juices. Brush with oil used for making ginger sauce (see below). Cover till ready to serve. Ginger sauce: Add meat juices to ginger. Stir through. Add spring onions and stir again. Heat white sesame oil and groundnut oil till just smoking. Drizzle on ginger and spring onions, leaving 1 tsp or so for brushing chicken (see above). Sprinkle with salt and chicken powder. Mix thoroughly. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, adding some ginger juice if you like it more spicy. Set aside for flavours to mingle. Remaining ginger juice may be frozen, then thawed for marinating meat, or making sweet potato soup, 姜汁炖奶, teh halia, etc. Serving: Wearing gloves and using a chef's knife, halve chicken lengthwise. Cut along joints to separate wings, drumsticks and thighs. Cut each wing into 2 pieces along main joint. Debone breast by pulling. Cut meat into bite size pieces, by tapping knife sharply. Slice drumsticks and thighs lengthwise on side with less skin. Pull bones to loosen, then cut tendons at both ends of bones. Cut bite size as before. Keep bones for making stock which will, please take note, taste of ginger and spring onions. Arrange meat on serving plate garnished with sliced cucumber. Serve with ginger sauce and lettuce leaves. To eat, wrap chicken and dollop of ginger sauce with lettuce. May be enjoyed as starter, finger food, salad, breadless sandwich, main course, midnight snack, whatever.

Fried Spring Rolls (Video #135)

Regular readers of this blog would know I made my first cooking video last week. So why is this video #135 instead of #2? Heh . . . heh . . . heh . . . . Because I'm following a Chinese custom.

In the old days far, far away in China, an abundance of male heirs to carry on the family name was considered good fortune. So much so that if someone had only one or two sons – which was tantamount to a tragedy – he'd say he had 11 or 12. IOW, it was how many he actually had, plus 10. Hence, the eldest son became #11, and the second son #12. Note that the creative accounting applied to sons only. It was perfectly alright to have only one daughter, or even none at all.

Since we're inflating the numbers – COOKING the books! – why stop at 10, right? OTOH, if I said I've made 34,347,595 videos, no one would believe me. So I'm going for something that's impressive but within reason. I reckon 135 sounds good.

Jokes aside, here are a few tips for making fried spring rolls (not that you need any, or that spring rolls are difficult to make):

 When buying turnip, pick the smaller ones. These tend to be younger and, hence, sweeter and less fibrous starchy than the big ones. They're also easier to peel and cut if you have small hands like me.

If you're using a grater, make sure it's razor-sharp. Otherwise, the turnip will be mushy.

 You don't need a lot of oil to stir-fry turnip because it's sweet and crunchy, not bitter or fibrous.

The filling should be crunchy. Don't overcook the turnip.

Drain the filling well before wrapping. If it's too wet, the spring roll pastry will tear.

Use the maximum heat possible for stir-frying the filling. If the wok isn't hot enough, the juices from the turnip won't evaporate and will have to be drained off. That'll be a waste of the flavour.

 To keep spring rolls for frying the next day, put them in the fridge, uncovered on a wire rack, so that water doesn't condense on or underneath the pastry. Or you could do the wrapping just before frying.

You might be tempted to embellish the filling with dried mushrooms, fresh prawns or fried beancurd. But it's really not necessary if the turnip is cooked with good quality dried prawns, and a good amount of sugar and ground white pepper. That's my mother's recipe, btw.

Frozen spring roll pastry comes in various sizes. The Goldilocks size – not too big; not too small – is 19 x 19 cm (7½ x 7½ inches).

You don't have to make spring rolls with the filling. It's delicious eaten with rice or porridge, or you can use it to make soon kueh.

POPIAH (SPRING ROLLS; 薄饼/春卷) (Recipe for 20 pieces) 40 g dried prawns (⅓ cup) wash and soak in 2 tbsp hot water till soft, about 15 minutes; squeeze dry, reserving the water; chop roughly 1 kg turnip (aka 沙葛, jicama and yam bean) wash and peel, leaving about 900 g; cut matchstick size 120 g carrot cut matchstick size wash and peel, leaving about 100 g; cut matchstick size 3 big cloves garlic peel and mince finely vegetable oil for stir- and deep-frying 2 tbsp light soya sauce 4 tsp sugar ¾ tsp ground white pepper 19 x 19 cm frozen spring roll pastry thaw to room temperature; separate 20 pieces and cover till ready to wrap; refreeze unused pastry Prepare dried prawns, turnip, carrot and garlic as detailed above. In a very hot wok, heat 2 tbsp oil till just smoking. Add dried prawns and fry over maximum heat till lightly golden. Add garlic and fry till nicely golden brown. Add turnip and carrots. Stir-fry till heated through. Add light soya sauce and sugar. Mix thoroughly. Drizzle with water used to soak dried prawns. Stir-fry till evaporated. Turnip should now be cooked but still crunchy. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, then sprinkle with ground white pepper Mix through and turn off heat. Push everything to one side of wok to drain off sauce. When cool, transfer filling to a bowl, minus sauce. To wrap, spread out pastry in a diamond shape. With a Chinese soup spoon, place 1 heaped tablespoonful filling (40-50 g) near bottom corner. Fold bottom corner upwards, then left and right corners. Roll upwards tightly. Set aside, seam side down. Repeat with remaining pastry. Heat oil in a wok till just smoking. Deep-fry spring rolls over medium heat till golden brown. Drain. Serve immediately.

Pandan Chiffon Cake (II)

I've made my first video. This is my new hobby now, making cooking videos. It is fun!

The filming was a lot easier than I'd expected, and the "post production" a lot more fun. Playing the film editor, I watched myself crack eggs in slow motion, made the upside down cake look like a (clumsy) flying saucer; zoomed in on my . . . . OMG, my hands look so dry!

My favourite part of the video is 1:54-2.03 where the image goes from blur to clear in "slowmo", and then it freezes. I think that's quite cool. The close-up on my hands survived the cut . . . sort of, as you can see from 1:50 - 1:51. Maybe next time I should get a double for hands? Meanwhile, I'm piling on the moisturizer!

Besides the video and the recipe, here are a few tips to help you make the perfect pandan chiffon cake:
Pandan leaves
Select pandan leaves like a painter mixing colours to get the right shade. If the mix of leaves is too dark, the colour of the cake will be dull, and the taste bitter and grassy. If it's too light, the cake will look pale.

A young bunch of pandan may be 80% usable; an old one, maybe only half. Use all of the innermost leaves, which have the best flavour but not much colour. The leaves in the middle have both. Those on the outside may be used if they're bright lime green and soft. Stiff, dark leaves are dry and bitter. These are good for scaring away cockroaches, not baking.
Egg whites
In his post on PCC, ieat says you should use the freshest eggs possible. Actually, fresh egg whites turn grainy easily when whisked to stiff peak stage. The water in grainy egg whites is no longer 'locked' with the proteins. It therefore evaporates easily in the oven, resulting in a cake that browns too quickly and is dry. Pierre Hermé, btw, makes his macarons with stale, totally watery egg whites.

If you have no idea what a stiff, firm or soft peak is, click here for photos. Stiff egg whites should be stiff yet creamy and fluid, i.e. not grainy. Without the fluidity, egg whites can't stretch upward, which is why overbeaten egg whites don't rise much in the oven.

The faster the whisk is, the higher the risk of overbeating, especially for small quantities of less than 200 ml. Electric hand whisks are generally ok but stand mixers may be a bit tricky if you're a novice baker whisking a small amount of fresh egg whites.

The mixing bowl makes a difference. Egg whites whisked in a deep bowl with straight sides, compared to a curved, shallow bowl, tend to be more moist and creamy, and have better volume.
Baking
PCC isn't done yet when an inserted skewer comes out clean. It needs to hit that stage, then bake an additional 5-10 minutes (7.5 minutes with my oven) for the crust to brown properly.

Here's how you can tell if the cake is done just right: Immediately after the chiffon pan is removed from the oven and inverted, lift it up slightly. The cake is underdone if it falls out of the pan, overdone if it doesn't budge at all. If the cake drops a bit but manages to stay in the pan, give yourself a pat on the back. The crust would be brown but not dry and leathery, and the inside soft, moist and springy.
Unmoulding
Make sure the knife scrapes the chiffon pan. Otherwise, the lovely brown crust would be on the pan instead of the cake.
Coconut milk
If you use preserved coconut milk with vegetable gum, like Ayam or Kara brand, the texture of the cake may be compromised. I've never tried it, but I suspect the gum has some negative effect on how the princessy chiffon cake rises. And the taste is nothing remotely like fresh coconut milk, but you knew that.



Mother's Day is just round the corner. Why not bake your mother a pandan chiffon cake? The recipe is right here waiting for you. Is it a lot of work? Of course not, it's a lot of fun! Happy Mother's Day to all mothers.

Here's my video: