Char Kueh Kak - Malaysian Fried Rice Cake

Comfort food is a funny thing. It can be something that you don't find easily these days or just plain accessible at the grocery store. Whatever it is, there is something about this comfort food which brings us back to childhood. Ah....those happy times where you have no worries in the world, where the only crisis in your life is whether mom and dad did get you what you want for birthday or Christmas.

Having moved from Malaysia to the States some years back, my definition of comfort food is definitely something which I cannot find at any grocery store here. Every now and then, a candy from yesteryear will pop up at some Asian grocery stores near my house. But that just won't do cos unlike many children my age at the time, I have never develop a sweet tooth. My kinda comfort food have always been savory in nature, call me weird.

One of them is Char Kueh Kak. If you are from Malaysia, and have either live in Kuala Lumpur or Penang, you will know exactly what I mean. No, not the stir fried radish cake you can get a dim sum place cos those are radish cake. A true blue char kueh kak you can find in a roadside eatery is made out of nothing more than plain rice cake stir fried with preserved cabbage, beansprouts, chives/scallions, and an egg. They probably use a ton of dark soy sauce to give it that glistening dark color, and yes, they use pork lard to stir fry that tasty concoction.

Should you have anything against pork fat, stop reading right now. I mean, now.

To make a true blue KL/Penang hawker style Char Kueh Kak, you will need to make your homemade rendered pork fat with the crispy bits. No, your primary care physician and cardiologist should not know about this. Heck, my primary care physician will probably fire an array of reasons on why I should not eat this. Whatever he doesn't know, won't hurt him, right?

Truly, he can't say a thing about my minuscule consumption of pork lard to make this dish when he himself is a deep fried chicken fanatic?

To make the authentic Char Kueh Kak I so love as a child, there are some works involved. Rest assure, all your hard work shall be duly rewarded if you follow this recipe. I promise!

Malaysian Homemade Char Kueh Kak
(Adapted from Minty's Kitchen)

For the Kueh
110g Rice Flour
2 Tbsp Tapioca Starch
1 Tbsp Wheat Starch
1/2 cup of cold water
1 1/2 cup of boiling water
1 Tbsp oil
1/2 tsp salt

For the Char Kueh Kak
3 Tbsp Rendered Pork Fats
3-4 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
1/2 - 1 tsp Garlic Chilli Sauce
2 Cups Beansprouts
2 Stalks Scallions
A handful of chives
1 Tbsp Preserved cabbage (Chai poh)
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Directions

1. Make the kueh. Preheat a steamer filled with water half way. Let the water come up to a rolling boil and turn the heat down to medium low.

2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine all the kueh ingredients except for the boiling water. Whisk tills get a smooth thick batter. Then, slowly stir in the boiling water while whisking vigorously. 

3. Place a 9-inch oiled pan I the steamer and let it heat up for about a min. Slowly, pour in the batter mix.

4. Steam the kueh for 25-30 mins till a toothpick inserted into the center of the kueh comes out clean. Remove and let cool completely.

5. Once cooled, cut the kueh into bite size pieces. Store in a large ziplock bag and refrigerate overnight.

6. The next day, cut up the pork fat into small pieces and render the fat out till u get about 2-3 tablespoon of liquid fat. You can do this by placing the fat in a non-stick pan over low heat for 10-15mins.

7.Prepare all the other ingredients. 

8. Using the same non- stick pan, add a tablespoon of the pork fat and pan fried the kueh till they turn lightly golden brown and a hard skin is formed. This step is important in order to avoid mushy char kueh kak.

9. Pan fried the kueh in batches. Set aside.

10. Next, in the same pan, add in the remainder of the pork fat and crunchy bits. Turn heat up to medium.

11. Saute the chai poh, chinese sausage (if using), and garlic till it is lightly browned.

12. Add in the garlic chilli sauce and stir fried till you get a nice spicy aroma.

13. Add in all the kueh and dark soy sauce. Stir till all the kueh has a nice dark color to it.

14. Next goes the bean sprouts, scallions, and chives. Continue to stir fry till the bean sprouts wilted slightly. Bout a minute.

15. Using your spatula, make a space in the center of the pan. Crank up the heat all the way to high. Stir in the lightly beaten eggs. Count to 20.

16. Immediately, cover the eggs with the kueh and vegetables. Stir fry all the contents till you can see specks of eggs assimilated with the rest of the ingredients.

17. Dish out and serve whilst hot.

Swiss Style Chicken Wings

If you are beginning to wonder why this dish is called Swiss-style chicken wings, don't ask. I have no idea where the name originates from, however, as far as I am concern, this dish was really popular when I was young. Go to any "tai chow", Cantonese equivalent of roadside eateries cooking dishes to order back in the days, and the owner/cook will recommend this dish to his customers particularly if there are children in the group.

The wings are heavily coated in a mix of salty sweet soy concoction, seriously, who doesn't love salt and sugar. Since Memorial Day cookout is around the corner, I figure why not make this dish for the company. True, it doesn't involve cooking the wings on the grill which contradicts with the official Memorial Day choice of cooking method. Nevertheless, who doesn't love chicken wings. There is something inherently wrong with a person who doesn't like chicken wings, pretty much like people who doesn't like chicken, period.

I can't take credit for this recipe, after all, I did copy the recipe from a fellow food blogger who goes by the name wantanmien Funny, cos the name when translate from Cantonese to English means Chinese wanton noodle. I guess she really likes noodle. I have seen many adaptations of the recipe on the Internet but hers come closes to my memory of the Swiss-style chicken wings of yesteryear. OMG, that makes me sound so old.

Without further adieu, here's the recipe.

Swiss Style Chicken Wings (adapted from wantanmien)
Ingredients
8 whole wings, sectioned, tips discarded
1 Tbsp chopped ginger
1 Tbsp of oil
1/3 to 1/2 piece of Chinese cane sugar (substitute with 2-3 Tbsp of dark brown sugar)
1 Tbsp of canola oil
1/2 tsp salt
water enough to boil wings
1/2 Tbsp sesame oil
Chopped scallions for garnishing

For the spice pouch (you can use either cheesecloth or disposable tea bags)
2 scallions, white part only, lightly smashed
1 star anise
1/2 tsp of Szechuan peppercorn

Sauce Mix
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp dark soy sauce
1 Tbsp rum
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 Tbsp Ketchup
1/3 tsp salt
50 ml water
100 ml water

Directions

1. Wash all the chicken wings, careful to remove any visible feathers. Drain in a colander.
2. In a pot, bring enough water to a boil. Place 1/2 tsp of salt into the water and all the wings into the pot.
3. Let water come back up to a boil. Cover and simmer for 2 mins. Turn off heat and let wings steamed for 3 mins.

4. Drained wings in a colander till dry.

5. Prepare the sauce mix. Combine all the ingredients, except for the 100ml water in a bowl. Stir till all ingredients melded.

6. Heat up a non-stick pan over medium heat. Place a tablespoon of canola oil into pan, the chopped ginger and the spice pouch. Saute for 1 minute.
7. Slowly, add in all the chicken wings and the cane sugar.

8. Pan fry the wings on both sides till lightly brown and sugar is all caramelized.

9. Add in the sauce mix and continue to pan fry wings till both sides are coated with the sauce. Cover and cook for 3 mins over medium low heat.
10. Add in the 100 ml water. Cover the pan and let it cook for 5 mins.
11. Flip the wings over gently, cover and continue cooking for 5 mins.
12. Check to see if all wings are coated with the sauce. Flip wings onto the other side to caramelize. Cover and cook for another 3 mins.
13. Once sauce has reduced to the desired consistency, turn off heat.
14. Let wings sit in the covered pan for 10 mins. 

15. Arrange wings on a platter. 

16. If u have leftover sauce in the pan, bring sauce up to a boil over medium heat.

17. Stir constantly till sauce reduces to a thick glaze.

18. Pour sauce over wings.

19. Drizzle 1/2 Tbsp of sesame oil over wings. Garnish with chopped scallions and serve.

Homemade Chinese Turkey Floss/ Turkey Rou Sung

If you have ever have a taste of the Chinese meat floss or any pastry item from a Chinese bakery using meat floss, then you will know how good this meat product is. For those who have not, the idea of a meat-based cotton candy type food can be off putting. In reality, think of pulled pork only dehydrated. Kinda like pulled pork jerky, if you will.

Now, you can usually buy this pre made at any decent Asian grocery store. Some better tasting ones will originate from manufacturers in Taiwan. However, if you are sick and tired of paying over $18 for a pound of pulled pork jerky like I do, and you are a fan of this, you should absolutely try making this at home.

Or in case, Thanksgiving was but a week ago and you found yourself left with over a pound of roasted turkey breast and no one in the family is willing to have another turkey sandwich or pot pie, you can try using the turkey breast for something that won't remind them of Thanksgiving dinner at all, hence, a great reason to make this.

I should warn you however, that this is no easy task. Takes about half an hour of non-stop stirring and spatula chopping action to get the turkey looks like cotton candy and get it to the desired crispiness. Fear not, because the reward is sweeter than you think.

Homemade Turkey Floss

1lb of cooked turkey breast (you can use cooked chicken breast, leftover roast pork, etc)
2 1/2 Tbsp of soy sauce
1 Tbsp of oil (use only if meat is dry, i.e. turkey breast, chicken breast, very lean pork)
5 Tbsp sugar or to taste
1/2 tsp chicken stock powder (optional)
1 tsp 5 spice powder
1 tsp chili powder (optional)

Directions

1) Slice leftover turkey, chicken or pork into thin strips. Place them inside a freezer bag.

2) This is the fun part. Using a meat mallet, pound the meat till it is completely flatten and then some. This step is important as it helps to loosen the meat, which will cut short the time you will require when stirring and cooking the meat later.

3) This step is completely optional. If you are anal about getting all pieces completely loosened up and cutting the cooking time to its shortest, use a rolling pin and run it over the bag for, say ten times, just to make sure that they are very close to falling apart.

4) To make your cooking and stirring time a lot shorter, shred the meat into even finer pieces with your fingers before placing them into the wok. This will take less than 5 minutes.

5) Turn the heat to medium. Start stirring the meat in the wok, pressing visible large strips into small bits. Remember, the goal is to get a cotton candy like texture. At this point, I hope you have all the seasoning ingredients mixed in a bowl. Continue to cook and stir the meat for the next 10 minutes before adding the seasoning. It burns easy after you have add the seasoning into the meat.

6) Add in the seasoning, stir, stir, and stir. It is important to toss the meat mixture around the wok and always scrape the bottom of the wok to ensure nothing sticks. Turn the heat down to medium low or low if you find the meat browning up too quick. After 30 minutes, your meat floss should look like the picture above. Now, if you don't want your meat floss to get crispy, you can pretty much stop at this point.

7) Another 5 minutes, and your pork floss will turn crispy. Let the mixture cool in the wok, off heat. You can eat as is, or store them in a jar for use later.

That is how it should look like. And yes, I stored mine in a jar because the next baking project I have in mine will require this meat floss as an important ingredient.

Homemade Silver Needle Noodle aka Lou Shu Fun

I forgot which famous figure once said invention comes out of desperation or something to the tune of improvisation comes out of desperation but recently, I find that saying is true. Just the other day when I thought of something to do which will fulfill my target of "Doing Something For the First Time" (more about that some other time), I came across this blog page which I have bookmarked for ages now.

An hour and a half later, this is what happened.

Now, if you live in Asia where you can get this noodle anytime you want, you really have no purpose making this at home. I will advise you not to cos it is very time consuming and all you get out of this is a cup of the noodle. However, since I do not live in Asia anymore and I can't for the life of me find this in the Asian grocery I frequent, that will have to do.

To reward myself for all the hard work, perseverance, and that moment of adding another item to my first time list, I make myself a delicious bowl of minced meat silver thread noodle, of course. Who wouldn't? Honestly, the end result is so good that I don't think I will mind making this again in....say......next year?

Silver Needle Noodle (Adapted from Do What I Like)

Ingredients:
140g wheat starch
60g tapioca starch
pinch of salt
170ml boiling hot water
2 tsp olive oil

Method:
1. Put all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Add in the boiling hot water and stir with a pair of chopsticks. Cover with a wet towel and leave to cool for 5 minutes.
2. Add in the olive oil and knead till you get a smooth dough.

3. Roll into two log-shaped pieces and cut them into small pieces about 3g each. Shape dough with your hands.

4. Put some oil into a big pot of hot water and cook the noodle till transparent.

5. Once the noodle is cooked, drain and put them into a mixing bowl, add one teaspoon of olive and toss the noodle around (to prevent them from sticking to each other). The noodles turn transparent after rinsing in cold water. I'd say you should probably boil it for at least 10 minutes before draining the noodles and rinse it under cold running water. Remember to stir the noodles while boiling to avoid them from turning into a hot boiling glue in the water.
6. Chilled overnight before using.

Cheese Sticks or Buns

Nope, if you are looking for the American Cheese Stix aka thick strips of cheese, breaded, and fried.....this is not it. The Cheese Sticks I am referring to is the bread topped with shredded cheese that you can find in most Asian bakery. Why? The better question is why not? Instead of doing PB&J for lunch, something new with a little twist should make for an interesting light lunch or snack.

Yeah, I can take the easy way out and just called it Asiago bread but there is a problem to it. First, I am not using Asiago although the appearance of these buns do look like one. And secondly, I still feel that it is somehow wrong to term the Asian style bun as bread. Bread to me is more of the European style hard crust, hearty, and kinda like steel sitting in your stomach-type of bread. The Asian's bakery style bun on the other hand has a soft and thin crust with a fluffy light interior.

So, no! I don't think they are the same at all and cannot in all my years as a baker, group this different types of baked flour yeast-ed goodness in the same category. You just have to bear with me on that one. Back to the cheese sticks, these babies are really great. It is nice and soft, with the crispy crunchy melted cheese exterior. Beats those cheese crusts in Asia's pizza hut's cheesy crusts anytime. Anyone in Asia or Middle East has, by any chance, try the latest hamburger stuffed crust pizza in Pizza Hut there yet? I am curious to know how it will taste. Intrigue? Most definitely! You can read more on it at AHT - Serious Eats.

Cheese Sticks or Buns
Ingredients
Dough
300g bread flour (King Arthur brand if you can)
30g sugar
70ml warm milk
75g water roux
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp salt
1 packet Active Dry Yeast (About 7g or 1 Tbsp)
45g butter

Toppings
2 cups of shredded Mozzarella
1 cup of shredded sharp cheddar
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1 egg, beaten
Paprika
Dried Parsley Flakes

Directions
1. In a bread machine, combine all the dough ingredients in the order as prescribed by the manufacturers.
2. Set bread machine on dough cycle and let it knead and proof the bread dough till double in size. Mine take 1 1/2 hours.
3. After dough is done proofing, divide it into 10 portions (about 50-55g each)
4. Shape it into a round. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel and let rise for 10 minutes before shaping.
5. Once dough is done resting, press flatten one portion of dough with a rolling pin. Then roll it up into the shape of an oblong. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Cover with clean kitchen towel. Let proof for 45 to 50 mins until it doubles in size.

6. Preheat oven to 350F/175C.
7. Brush dough with egg wash.

8. Mix the shredded Mozzarella and sharp cheddar in a bowl. Generously top dough with cheese. Sprinkle with Parmesan/Romano.

9. Bake in the middle rack of the oven for 15 minutes, rotating the pan halfway for even browning. Once bread is out of the oven, sprinkle lightly with dried parsley and paprika. Let cool on wire rack for 10 minutes before serving.

The best tasting soft fluffy cheesy bread you will ever taste.

Char Siew - Chinese BBQ Pork

I make this recipe quite a bit, mostly for the filling of my Chinese-style baked goods. It has not occur to me to post the recipe for this till now. It's a combination of recipes I found on the few food blogs and through trial and error.
It is actually very easy to make your own Char Siew at home and eat them as is or if you are into baking like I am, use the roast pork as a filling for a lot of baked goodies. My family loves it and I hope you will enjoy it too.

Char Siew- Chinese BBQ Pork
Ingredients
2 lb pork (I use boneless pork chops but the belly cut or pork butt will yield better results)
Note: As a rule of thumb, I always brine all the meat before using. I find that the meat stays tender, moist, and juicy even after long hour of baking.

Marinade
5 Tbsp Hoisin Sauce
3 Tbsp Chinese Cooking Wine or Rose Wine
2 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
3 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 2/3 cup sugar (I like mine sweet, you can reduce it to a cup)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp 5 spice powder
A Few Drops of Red Food Coloring, if you prefer

1. In a bowl, combine all the marinade ingredients.

2. Place pork in the marinade and let sit in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight.

3. Preheat the oven to 400F.
4. Line a baking pan with heavy duty foil. You really want to do this to avoid the messy clean up.
5. Place pork and all the marinade into the pan. Bake 30 minutes and turn the pork chops over.

6. Bake for an additional 30 minutes till sauce begins to thicken. Remove from oven.
7. Turn broiler on to low.
8. Prepare a baking sheet lined with foil. Place a wire rack, lightly coat with baking spray onto the baking sheet.
9. Place pork on wire rack and place under broiler. Broil till the pork is lightly charred. Serve with the remaining sauce or use as a filling for savory baked goods.

Shoyu Chicken - Hawaiian Version of Chicken Teriyaki

Been a while since I blog. Too busy with work. Speaking of which, any easy to make recipe is good for weekday dinner these days and Shoyu Chicken is one of them. This chicken came out tasting so Oishii. A close friend of mine, Taka, is originally from Hawaii. He told me that this is the Hawaiian version of teriyaki chicken. There are of course plenty of variations out there on how to make the delicious Shoyu Chicken. However, I love Taka's recipe cos it is simple and so good. Make sure you cook plenty of rice with it. The teriyaki sauce is amazingly good with rice and vegetables.

Shoyu Chicken (Recipe courtesy of Taka)

Ingredients
8 pieces of chicken thighs with bone, or 3 large split chicken breast (about 2.5lb)


Marinade
1/2 cup Shoyu (Japanese soy sauce or just use light soy sauce)
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of water (I use mirin, Japanese cooking wine just because of I have it in the fridge)
1/2 large onion sliced thin or one whole small onion
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 1/2 teaspoon of ginger, grated

Sliced green onion and toasted sesame seed for garnish


Method
1) Brine the chicken for 2 hours. Remove from brine and pat dry.
2) In a large bowl, combine all marinade ingredients. Immerse chicken into the marinade and leave in the fridge for at least 3 hours. (Overnight is fine)
3) Preheat the oven to 350F. In a large baking pan, place the chicken, skin side up. Bake for 25 mins, basting with marinade occasionally.
4) In a small pot, pour remainder of marinade and heat to boil. Let simmer until sauce has thickened. (Note: I added another 1/4 cup of sugar to the sauce). Reserve for glaze and extra sauce for serving.
5) Glaze chicken by brushing teriyaki sauce over the chicken every 5 mins or so.
6) When the 25 minutes has passed, turn on the convection oven function. Let chicken cooked for another 8-10 minutes till skin crisp up a little and teriyaki sauce is caramelized.
7) Garnish with sliced green onion. Serve with rice and vegetable. Drizzle with more teriyaki sauce if desire.

Variation: Layer the pan with sliced onion and bell pepper. Place chicken on top of vegetables. You will have  teriyaki chicken with vegetables all ready for your meal.

Bún Rice Noodle Salad with Vietnamese Restaurant Style Grilled Lemongrass Pork

It was a hot summer day, one of those days that make you doesn't feel like doing anything at all. My only resolution to cooking that day was to use the grill outdoor as I hate to overheat the house. Thank God we got the ac fixed, the house is nice and cool now, we intend to keep it that way.

Near supper time, I was at a lost as to what I can cook when suddenly I remember a summer Vietnamese dish: Bún! For the uninitiated, Bún is a Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad. I love how refreshing this dish is as it combined lots of lettuce, shredded cucumber, onions and fresh herbs, all nicely mixed with heaping tablespoon full of nuoc cham dipping sauce.

So whom do I go to when I need great Vietnamese recipe which I can count on? Andrea Nguyen of the famed blog Viet World Kitchen, of course! If you have never tried the Vietnamese Bún before, go ahead and try it now. It is so healthy and refreshing, I can really eat this all summer long.

Bún Rice Noodle Salad with Vietnamese Restaurant Style Grilled Lemongrass Pork



Recipe adapted from Andrea Nguyen
(Serves 2)

Ingredients
2 pieces of dried rice noodle, soaked in cold water for an hour to soften
1 cup of fresh Vietnamese herbs, basil, mint or other herbs you prefer
1/2 cucumber, seeded and finely shredded
1 cup raw beansprouts, washed and dried thoroughly
1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
A few whole Thai chilli peppers, thinly sliced

For the pork
2 piece of boneless center-cut pork chops, about 1-inch thick
2 Tbsp light brown sugar
1 Tbsp chopped garlic
1 Tbsp chopped shallot
1 stalk lemongrass, finely chopped
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 Tbsp fish sauce
1 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
1 Tbsp oil 

For the Nuoc Cham Dipping Sauce
3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup water
2 1/2 Tbsp fish sauce
1 small garlic clove, finely minced
2 small Thai chilli, thinly sliced


Directions

 Step 1: Prepare the pork marinade. Finely chopped the lemongrass, garlic and shallot.

Step 2: In a bowl, combine oil, brown sugar, dark soy sauce and fish sauce.

Step 3: Mix in chopped lemongrass, shallot and garlic. Stir to mix well.

Step 4: Submerge pork chops into the marinade. Leave to marinade for 45 minutes at room temperature. You can also leave pork chops in refrigerator. Just remove pork chops 30 minutes prior to grilling.

Step 5: Make the nuoc cham sauce by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Step 6: To assemble, boil a pot of water. Cook rice noodle in water for 2 minutes, drained and set aside.

 Step 7: Preheat an outdoor grill to 450F. Grill pork chops till cooked, about 7-8 minutes on each side. Let rest and slice thin. Place some noodle salad at the bottom of a bowl. Top with lettuce, cucumber, bean sprouts, herbs, onion and pork slices. Add in nuoc cham sauce.

 Toss well and served.