Taiwanese Dessert Taro & Sweet Potato Balls 九份芋圆 - AFF Taiwan Aug 2014

Of all the Taiwanese food that we ate in Taipei many years back, hubby enjoyed this dessert 九份芋圆 from Jiufen 九份, a mountain area  in the Ruifang District of New Taipei City, the most. This Taro and Sweet Potato ball dessert is a traditional Taiwanese dessert made popular in Jiufen and hence most people refer it as 九份芋圆.
 
Honestly, I cannot remember how it tastes like, vaguely remember it as chewy and sweet? Since hubby likes it, decided to give it a try since the preparation is pretty straightforward.

Attempted only a very small portion because not sure if the homemade version is to hubby's our liking. So I just bought a piece of the yellow and orange sweet potato each, and a few pieces of baby taro that's in season now.

Basically steam till cooked, add sugar and tapioca starch and knead till the dough is smooth and slightly soft. Thereafter, cook in boiling water and serve with molasses syrup. For more elaborate version, some people serve the taro balls in red bean dessert soup and topped with black pearls and grass jelly.

*Update: According to Alan of Travelling Foodies, sweet potato flour would produce better results. Will be re-making with sweet potato flour soon for taste-test again. 

Taiwanese Dessert Taro & Sweet Potato Balls 九份芋圆
(serves 2-3; references Rumbling Tummy, Table for 2... or more, Meishijie)

Ingredients

• 50g Taro + 10g sugar + 20g Tapioca Starch + water if necessary
• 50g Yellow sweet potato + 10g Sugar + 20g Tapioca Starch + water if necessary
• 50g Orange sweet potato + 10g Sugar 20g Tapioca Starch + water if necessary
• 1 cup water + 2 tbsp Molasses
• Grass Jelly (to your preference)

 ** sweet potato flour might produce better results (will be re-making and update again)

Steps

1. Peel and cut the taro and yellow/orange sweet potato into small cubes, place them in 3 separate bowls. Steam until fork tender.
2. Work with 1 bowl at a time (I started off with taro), leaving the other 2 bowls in the steamer to keep warm.
3. Mash the taro with a potato masher and add sugar. Stir till sugar is melted. Then add the tapioca starch, mix till a rough dough forms.
4. Turn the dough to a non-stick mat and knead the dough till smooth, non-sticky and medium soft, adding water if necessary.
5. Repeat with the yellow and orange sweet potato.
6. Roll the dough into thin logs and cut into small cubes using a dough cutter.
7. Heat a pot of water, once water boils, add the balls and cook until the balls float. Cook for 1 min more, drain and place the balls in a bowl of ice cold water.
8. Heat 1 cup of water with 2 tbsp of molasses.
9. To serve hot, add the taro and sweet potato balls, and grass jelly or any other desired ingredients into a bowl, add some hot molasses syrup.
10. To serve cold, prepare the molasses syrup beforehand and chill. Add the taro, sweet potato balls and grass jelly into a bowl and add the chilled molasses syrup.
11. The taro and sweet potato balls must be eaten fresh to maintain the chewy texture. If not eating immediately, dust with some tapioca starch and chill/freeze till ready to use. 

The taro and sweet potato balls taste quite soft and chewy when first cooked, I prefer eating it with warm molasses syrup. The taste of taro and sweet potato is in fact quite subtle. Won't say I like it very much. I think I prefer eating glutinous rice ball (Tangyuan) as it's much more chewy than this.

I prepared the dessert in the afternoon and intended to serve hubby after dinner in the evening. Made the mistake of cooking and soaking the balls in the syrup and chilling them beforehand. By the time hubby ate the taro/sweet potato balls, the texture changed and not as chewy and soft as freshly prepared. I left some overnight in the fridge and the next day, the taro/sweet potato balls turned quite hard and not palatable at all. I should have chilled the taro balls in the fridge and cook them fresh just before serving. Guess I have to make it again to pacify the hubby, one of these days :p (Update: will be re-making with sweet potato flour).

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest #10 Aug 2014 : Taiwan hosted by travelling-foodies.

Pepper & spring onion flatbread 胡椒餅 - AFF Taiwan Aug 2014

Several years ago when I went to Taipei for holiday, I noticed this very interesting street snack called 胡椒餅 pepper and spring onion flatbread and was very curious about the taste. Unfortunately I was too full and had to give it a miss. Hence, AFF Taiwan offers the best opportunity for me to finally give it a try even though it may not be exactly the same.

The video provided by Joanne on Taiwan Duck is really useful and I was able to make the flatbread quite easily. The dough used is sort of like a master recipe for many Taiwanese street snacks such as spring onion/scallion pancakes, minced beef cake etc. The filling here is essentially spring onion/scallions, minced beef (or pork) and lots of black and white pepper.

I love how the flatbread turned out! It's crunchy on the outside and chewy inside with fragrance of the spring onion/scallions and juiciness from the beef and most important, the filling packs a fiery punch coz of the liberal amount of black and white pepper used. I could imagine the Taiwanese enjoying this flatbread during the cold winter nights. It could certainly warm up the body because I started sweating after eating a piece! Next time if I were to visit Taiwan during winter, I must buy one to try =D

Steps are easy.

Quick fry the minced beef with salt, black and white pepper. Mix with spring onion/scallion and add melted butter and sugar.

Add boiling water to flour, stir well and add more water to form dough. Knead till smooth and shiny. Rest for 15-20 mins and dough is ready to use.

Flatten dough into disc, scoop 1.5-2 tbsp of filling into centre of disc. Fold the disc in circular motion, pitch to make sure the dough is tightly closed up. Flatten the dough slightly. Not too much else the skin might break.

These flatbread could be frozen till ready to use.

Finally pan fry with a bit of oil, till both sides of the flatbread are golden brown.

Pepper and spring onion flatbread 胡椒餅
(makes 10 pieces - about 7cm each; reference Taiwan Duck)

Ingredients

• 140g spring onion/scallion (I use 4 stalks local spring onion and 1 stalk China scallion)
• 200g minced beef
• 1.5 tbsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 10g melted butter (I use unsalted butter)
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 250g plain flour
• 75ml boiling water
• 75ml tepid water (I use 70ml)
• Vegetable oil

Steps

1. Heat up a frying pan on medium fire and quick fry the minced beef till beef colour changes. Add black pepper, white pepper and sea salt, stir well with the beef. Dish and set aside in a large mixing bowl.
2. Chop up the spring onions and add to the minced beef. Add melted butter and sugar and mix all the ingredients well. Set aside.
3. Place plain flour in large mixing bowl, add 75ml boiling water and use a chopsticks to stir the mixture.
4. Gradually add the tepid water and stir till a dough forms.
5. Turn the dough onto a non-stick mat and knead the dough till non-sticky, soft and shiny (takes a few minutes, texture feels like ear-lobe). Cover and rest dough for 15-20 mins.
6. Roll the dough into a log and cut into 10 pieces (total weight of my dough is 389g, each piece of flatbread dough is about 38-39g).
7. Flatten dough into disc, fill with about 1.5-2 tbsp of minced beef filling, close up the dough, flatten slightly.
8. In a frying pan, heat up about 1 tsp of vegetable oil and pan fry the flatbread on both sides till golden brown. Drain on kitchen towel.
9. Best serve hot.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest #10 Aug 2014 : Taiwan hosted by travelling-foodies.

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Bake for Happy Kids and My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Diana from the Domestic Goddess Wannabe

Fragrant Pork with Garlic Sauce 蒜泥白肉 - AFF Taiwan Aug 2014

I'm sure many people are familiar with Din Tai Fung restaurant 鼎泰豐 from Taiwan, famous for its Xiao Long Bao soup dumpling 小笼包. Most of the time people would focus mainly on the Xiao Long Bao, handmade noodles, fried rice etc, but there's one dish listed under "Appetizers" called 蒜泥白肉 (Fragrant Pork with Garlic Sauce) which I quite enjoy probably coz I love pork belly. 蒜泥 is minced garlic sauce and 白肉 is plain pork.

The garlic sauce is the main star here else it would not be called 蒜泥白肉. There are many variations to the preparation of this sauce; so I experimented by putting together quite an extensive list of ingredients and came up with my own sauce. Feel free to omit or add on any ingredients.

As for the meat, instead of just cooking/boiling the pork belly for 30 mins directly, I used a more tedious method of boiling the meat, off heat and then boil again, total of 5 times or till meat is cooked. I learnt from a cooking show that this method of cooking makes the meat more succulent.

At Din Tai Fung, the pork belly is sliced very thinly and wrapped around a cucumber stick and drizzled with the garlic sauce. Since my knife skill isn't up to par, I tried to slice the meat as thin as I could, around 2-3mm. Instead of simply serving with normal cucumber sticks, I sliced the cucumber into wafer-thin strips using a fruit peeler and rolled them up. Same goes for the carrot.

I chilled the meat and cucumber/carrot relish to make the dish more refreshing. The meat was moist and bouncy and oh-so-tasty with the sauce. The rolled-up cucumber/carrots were surprisingly refreshing and crisp, much tastier than if I were to cut them into slices or sticks. I must say the relish is an important enhancement to the whole dish as the meat and sauce itself is quite overwhelming to the palate.

Overall, quite an easy dish to prepare at home, this recipe is a keeper :)

Fragrant Pork with Garlic Sauce 蒜泥白肉

Ingredients

• 550g pork belly
• 3 slices young ginger
• 1 stalk spring onion
• 1 tbsp cooking wine
• 2L water (or enough water to cover 2 inches above pork belly)
• Cucumber and carrot relish (slice thinly using fruit peeler)

Steps

1. Place pork belly, ginger, spring onion, cooking wine and water in a pot (covered). Bring to boil.
2. Off heat for 5 mins.
3. On heat and bring to boil again.
4. Repeat steps (2) and (3) for 5 times.
5. The pork belly should be fully cooked. To check, poke a chopstick into the centre of the meat, if juice runs clear, the pork is cooked. Else, repeat steps (2) and (3) one or two more times.
6. Slice pork into 2mm thin slices and serve with garlic sauce. The dish could be served chilled or room temperature.
7. Unused pork belly should be soaked in the brine water until ready to use to avoid drying.

Homemade Garlic Sauce 蒜泥醬汁

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp chicken stock
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 tsp grated ginger
• 1 tbsp premium dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp light soya sauce
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp distilled white vinegar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp chilli oil
• 1 tsp Gochugaru Korean red chilli pepper flakes or Sichuan red chilli pepper
• 1 stalk spring onion, finely chopped
• 1 stalk celery root (root part only, finely minced)
• Parsley for garnish

Steps

1. Heat up 2 tbsp of chicken stock in a small pan. Remove pan from heat once hot.
2. Add garlic, ginger, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, sugar, oyster sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, chilli oil and chilli pepper flakes and mix well till sugar is fully dissolved.
3. Stir in spring onion and celery root. Garnish with parsley.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest #10 Aug 2014 : Taiwan hosted by travelling-foodies.

Taiwanese Street Snack Deep Fried Oyster Cake 台灣小吃炸蚵嗲 - AFF Taiwan Aug 2014

The Taiwanese Street Snack, Deep Fried Oyster Cake (台灣小吃炸蚵嗲) bears a resemblance to one of our local snack - Fuzhou Hao Bing (福州蚝饼). However, other than the use of oysters as filling and the "UFO" shape, there are some differences between the two.

First, the batter. The Taiwanese version uses all-purpose flour with rice flour or corn starch, whereas the Fuzhou Hao Bing batter uses ground rice with soya bean (couldn't find much info about the exact recipe). And the fillings (besides oysters), the Taiwanese oyster cake uses mainly chinese chives, cabbage and spring onion, whereas the Fuzhou Hao Bing includes minced pork, chinese celery and some peanuts as topping.

I love to eat Fuzhou Hao Bing, there's a stall at Maxwell Market which sells quite decent ones and I would usually grab one piece when I go there. So for Asian Food Fest Taiwan, I thought of attempting the Taiwanese version just to taste the difference.

After searching on the net for recipes, I narrowed to two recipes by Taiwan Duck which has a video demo, and another on Xinshipu. Basic ingredients are pretty much similar except for the proportion. The video demo was really useful because the success of the oyster cake lies in the technique during deep-frying.

It took me eight tries before I could produce a decent oyster cake, almost wanted to give up! The technique seemed easy enough, coat a medium size ladle with some oil, add 2-3 tbsp of batter, add 1 tbsp of vegetables, add 2-3 oysters, cover with 2-3 tbsp of batter, dip the the ladle into very hot oil, once the oyster cake turns slightly brown, dislodge it into the oil and deep fry till golden brown. The thing was, I couldn't manage to dislodge the oyster cake from the ladle. The batter was totally stuck, total mess when I tried to pry the cake open!

Initially I used half recipe from Taiwan Duck, after five tries (used up all the batter), I thought perhaps the batter was too watery/thin. So I switched to the recipe on Xinshipu which has a thicker batter which was easily to manage. After two more tries, I finally managed to dislodge the oyster cake into the oil on the eighth try. Realised that if I coat the ladle with more oil, in fact not just coat but leave about half teaspoon of oil in the ladle before adding the batter and ingredients, the whole oyster cake could be dislodged into the oil much easily. In addition, had to reduce the amount of fillings so that it's much easier to handle.

But the problem with the oyster cake with the thicker batter, the texture was too hard and turned rubbery after a while. Yucks, no good. So I went back to the Taiwan Duck recipe, and with the newly mastered technique, yes, managed to produce six decent pieces of oyster cakes!

The oyster cakes were crispy on the outside and a bit chewy inside, I could taste the ocean with the oysters complemented by the aroma of the chives, cabbage and spring onion. Surprisingly quite bland. Good eaten on its own and equally nice with a sauce concocted of ketchup, oyster sauce, chilli and sugar.

It's really quite different from the Fuzhou Haobing which is much more flavourful, crispy and heavy. I could eat a few pieces of this Taiwanese oyster cake at one go but one piece of the Fuzhou Haobing is already quite overwhelming on the palate.

That said, the deep frying work was tedious, and the aftermath of it all, an oily and smelly kitchen :(
Gah, there were a lot of oil splatters especially when I added too much filling or didn't cover the filling properly with the batter. Perhaps once is enough.

Ingredients are simple - a batter of all purpose/plain flour, rice flour, finely chopped cabbage, chinese chives and spring onion and oysters (I bought frozen ones).

Like I mentioned, the key to successful oyster cake (at least to me), was having sufficient oil on the ladle to begin with. See the picture below, there must be enough oil on the ladle such that the oil surrounded the batter beneath and around. In this way, the whole cake could be dislodged easily into the hot oil after frying till slight brown.

Taiwanese Street Snack Deep Fried Oyster Cake 台灣小吃炸蚵嗲
(recipe from Taiwan Duck, yields about 6 oyster cakes with 3.5" ladle)

Ingredients

• 12-18 pieces oyster (I use frozen, 2-3 oysters per cake)
• 30g chinese chives
• 60g cabbage
• 25g spring onion
• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup rice flour
• 1 cup water
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• Salt
• Dipping sauce: 2 tbsp ketchup, 1 tsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp garlic chilli, 1 tsp thai sweet chilli, 1/2 tsp lemon juice, 1/2 tsp sugar

Steps

1. Rinse the oysters and thaw them in water added with 1 tsp salt. Set aside.
2. Finely chop the chives, cabbage and spring onion, toss with 1 tsp salt. Set aside.
3. Mix plain flour, rice flour, water and oil and stir till well-blended.
4. Heat up cooking oil (sufficient to cover a ladle full of batter) in a deep pot till very hot (more than 160 degree celsius).
5. Dip the ladle into the oil and remove, leaving about 1 tsp of oil in the ladle.
6. Add 2 tbsp of batter into the ladle, spreading a bit, then add 2 tsp of the vegetables, spreading and pressing down. Next add  2-3 oysters. Finally cover the top with 2-3 tbsp of batter, make sure that the batter covers all the ingredients.
7. Dip the entire ladle into the hot oil, make sure the batter is fully submerged. Swirl the ladle around.
8. Once the oyster cake turns slightly brown, dislodge the cake into the oil with the help of a thin knife (I use butter knife).
9. Deep fry till golden brown. Drain on kitchen towel.
10. Best eaten hot, on its own or with dipping sauce.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest #10 Aug 2014 : Taiwan hosted by travelling-foodies.

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Bake for Happy Kids and My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Diana from the Domestic Goddess Wannabe

Taiwanese braised pork on rice (滷肉飯 Lor Bak Png) - AFF Taiwan Aug 2014

It's August! And the country for Asian Food Fest (AFF) is "Taiwan". We all know that Taiwan boasts of many colourful and varied cuisine/food choices and most people would visit the night markets to try different street snacks like 炸鸡排 deep fried chicken cutlet, 大肠包小肠 taiwan sausage, 珍珠奶茶 pearl bubble tea, 蚵仔麵線 oyster vermicelli, 甜不辣 tempura etc etc.
 
Personally I have mixed feelings towards Taiwan. Went there with hubby many years ago but somehow didn't enjoy ourselves as much as our Japan trips. Blamed it on the weather, should have gone during late Dec/early Jan where it's much colder but we chose Nov and it was still quite warm. Nevertheless, we tried many of the local dishes and certainly enjoyed eating through our holiday. Anyways, we've been talking about returning to Taiwan for the longest time, hopefully could materialise soon :p

I digress. The first dish that I'm attempting is the Braised Pork Rice Bowl, 滷肉飯 (Lu Rou Fan) or Lor Bak Png ( 福建/闽南 Fukien/Hokkien language) which is a comfort food among Taiwanese for its homely mum's taste. As my dialect is Hokkien, this dish bears a nostalgic resemblance to the 扣肉 kong bak or Pork Belly Slices in Dark Sauce that we grew up eating.

Ingredients used are quite similar as well, except for the addition of dried shrimps, fried garlic and fried shallots. But I must say the addition of these three ingredients indeed heightened the fragrance and taste of this dish! The gravy was so savory that I couldn't resist eating more rice! The meat glistering in oil and sauce was very flavourful and I'm one who couldn't resist the skin, fats and all. As the gravy and meat were quite salty, it's good to have some greens and pickled radish to help relieve the taste bud. It also seemed imperative to add hard boiled eggs and indeed, the eggs provided a different texture which complemented the dish really well.

When I told hubby that I was cooking this dish, he wasn't very keen, but after tasting it, he gave thumbs up! This recipe is certainly a keeper and I believe I will be cooking this dish from time to time :)

Taiwanese braised pork on rice (滷肉飯 Lor Bak Png)
(recipe reference: Taiwan Duck)

Ingredients

• 500g pork belly, cut into 4-5mm thin pieces
• 1 tbsp dried shrimp, soaked for at least 30 mins and coarsely chopped
• 25g rock sugar (I use brown sugar in pieces 冰片糖)
• 1 star anise
• 1 pinch five spice powder
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp fried garlic
• 1/4 cup fried shallots
• 1/4 cup rice wine (I use Shaoxing cooking wine)
• 4 hard-boil eggs
• Water (enough to cover all the ingredients by more than 1 inch)
• Salt, to taste
• steamed short-grain rice, blanched xiaobai cai (or any veggies of choice), Japanese pickled radish

Steps

1. Heat a cooking pot on medium fire, dry fry the pork till slightly browned.
2. Add the dried shrimps and stir fry for 1 min.
3. Add the rock sugar, star anise and five spice powder, and stir fry for 1 min.
4. Add the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, fried garlic, fried shallots, and half portion of the rice wine.
5. Cover the pot and cook the food for 4-5 mins.
6. Remove cover, add enough water to cover the ingredients by more than 1 inch.
7. Add the eggs, cover the pot and cook for 30 mins on low heat, turning the eggs occasionally so that they absorb the flavours.
8. Remove cover, add the other half portion of rice wine, cover and cook for 2 more mins.
9. Serve warm with steamed rice, blanched vegetables and Japanese pickled radish.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest #10 Aug 2014 : Taiwan hosted by travelling-foodies.

Boracay Calamansi Muffin - AFF Philippines Jul 2014

When reading the introduction by Swee San (The Sweet Spot) who is the host for this month's Asian Food Fest, she mentioned this Calamansi Muffin which is very famous in Boracay, Philippines.

I have not been to Boracay but it's definitely on my to-go vacation places list. I'm intrigued by this muffin, wondering how it would taste like, whether similar to lemon cake? Couldn't be flying all the way to Boracay eh? The best is to bake it myself to find out :)

Since I wasn't sure if I would like it, I halved the recipe and also reduced the amount of sugar. The method was pretty straightforward, creaming butter with sugar, followed by egg, then flour and milk/calamansi juice mixture alternately.

Boracay Calamansi Muffin
(makes 9 pieces small size muffins, recipe from pepper.ph)

Ingredients

• 95g Plain flour
• 1/2 tsp Baking powder
• 1/8 tsp Salt
• 2 Tbsp Fresh milk
• 2 Tbsp Calamansi juice
• 55g Unsalted butter, softened
• 80g Caster sugar
• 1 Egg (60g egg with shell)

Steps

1. Preheat oven (top/bottom heat) at 175 degree celsius. Line muffin pan with paper cases. Set aside.
2. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.
3. Mix milk and calamansi juice together. Set aside.
4. Cream butter and sugar till pale and fluffy, about 2-3 mins.
5. Add egg and mix till incorporated.
6. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk/calamansi mixture.
7. Fold to incorporate, do not overmix.
8. Scoop batter into paper cases about 2/3 filled.
9. Bake at 175 degree celsius for about 20 mins.
10. Best serve warm

The muffin turned out pretty tender and yes I could taste a mild citrusy taste as I bit into it. Just as I was thinking, nothing spectacular, a sudden strong zing hit my taste bud. Oh hey, this was interesting, the zing came only after I swallowed the cake and not when I was chomping. I offered half a muffin to the kiddo and he had this weird expression after eating it and rejected my offer for more cake. But I must say, it was pretty addictive, this sudden zing. Well, if you are curious about this muffin, give it a try since it's so easy to bake and ingredients are very simple.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest – Philippines hosted by The Sweet Spot.

Chicken Adobo - AFF Philippines Jul 2014

For the month of July, Asian Food Fest (AFF) has moved on to Philippines. Although there are quite a number of Filipino migrants in SG now working in different fields such as healthcare, F&B, retail, IT, banking and domestic helpers etc etc, I hardly know any folks close enough to try the cuisine; moreover I grew up without domestic helper and didn't engage one now either.

So I'm totally unfamiliar with Filipino cuisine! Could only rely on internet resources for introductions and recipes. After reading through the introduction by Swee San (The Sweet Spot) who is the host for this month's AFF, I decided to try one of the easiest recipe, Chicken Adobo, supposedly a very traditional Filipino dish. 

Ingredients are really simple with chicken, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaves, sugar, peppercorn and vinegar. Steps are quick and easy as well and I found some resemblance to chinese and western cuisine, sort of like a fusion. The addition of vinegar towards the end is a surprise but it is this touch of vinegar that makes this dish so unique and addictive. I added a bit of dark soy sauce for some colour when I realised the original somehow looked much darker.

Chicken Adobo
(serves 2-3 pax, recipe adapted from Panlasang Pinoy)

Ingredients

• 3 chicken thigh (about 700g), chop into small pieces
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 3 tbsp cooking oil
• 1.5 cups water
• 3 pcs bay leaves
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp white peppercorn
• 1/2 tsp black peppercorn
• 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp vinegar

Steps

1. Marinate chicken with soy sauce and crushed garlic for at least 3hrs or overnight. Before cooking, take out the chicken from chiller for about 30 mins.
2. In a pot, heat up the cooking oil on medium heat. Add the chicken pieces and fry all sides till they are slightly browned.
3. Add the remaining marinate sauce and water into the pot and bring the mixture to boil.
4. Add bay leaves, sugar, peppercorn and dark soy sauce. Turn heat to medium low and simmer for 20-30 mins.
5. Add vinegar and cook for another 5-10 mins, stirring occasionally.
6. Add salt to taste (I didn't) and off heat.
7. Best serve hot with rice.

I really enjoyed this dish, especially the sauce which is savory with nuances of vinegar. Couldn't help eating more rice because of the sauce! Even the kiddo likes the sauce and asked for more in his rice. This recipe is a keeper and I'll definitely cook it again from time to time.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest – Philippines hosted by The Sweet Spot.

Vietnamese Sugarcane Shrimp (Chao Tom) - AFF IndoChina Jun 2014

At the start of AFF IndoChina beginning June, I had bookmarked this particular Vietnamese Sugarcane Shrimp recipe because it looks so yummy and I love shrimps and sugarcane. So throughout the month, I was looking out for sugarcane. The vegetable stores at the wet market do sell them in a bundle of half a dozen, but I only needed one. I guess many people buy the sugarcane to brew herbal drink, but I didn't want to brew any. I could probably go to a sugarcane drink stall to buy a stick of sugarcane, but hesitated coz I wasn't sure if the store owners would sell it me :p Or I could use lemongrass as replacement as suggested by the recipe.

I just kept procrastinating and sort of gave up on the idea. Until yesterday. Was at Bollywood Veggies at Kranji Countryside for lunch and they had a makeshift stall selling farm produce. Sugarcane was on sale at 2 for $1. Initially I wanted to buy, then once again hesitated coz I didn't know if I could split the sugarcane into small sticks required for the dish. Anyways, I bought some vegetables and when paying, the kind store owner gave me a stick of sugarcane! So sweet and nice of her :)

And so, I managed to make this Vietnamese Sugarcane Shrimp after all. Since I only wanted to make this for the fun of it and to find out about the taste, decided to make just 6 sticks using about 12 shrimp. Basically, chop up the shrimp, blend with marinate ingredients, chill for 30 mins, shape onto the sugarcane, steam for a few minutes and finally pan-fry (or air-fry). Sounds simple enough :)

Started off with preparing the sugarcane sticks. It wasn't that difficult after all. First hold the sugarcane vertically, use a sharp knife to cut into the top part of the skin then chop downward, the skin would just split by itself. Likewise for the sugarcane flesh, simply cut into the top part, chop downwards and the flesh would split by itself. Lengthwise, it's quite easy to cut through once each stick is slim. In no time, I had more than a dozen sugarcane sticks.

Next, proceeded to make the shrimp paste. Just deshell and devein the shrimp, and combine them with salt, cornstarch, palm sugar, black pepper, fish sauce, egg, garlic, shallot and olive oil. Blend into a coarse paste and chill the paste for about 30 mins. Then shape the paste onto the sugarcane sticks and steam on high heat for about 3-4 mins. And finally grill or pan-fry the sugarcane shrimp.

 I made 2 versions after steaming the sugarcane shrimp, 3 sticks were pan-fried in a frying pan.

And the remaining 3 sticks into the Airfryer. Could see that both yielded slightly different results in terms of appearance.

The sugarcane shrimps that were pan-fried were slightly more fragrant but the texture was softer. Whereas the ones that were air-fried were dryer with firmer texture. I enjoyed both versions, could taste the sweetness of the succulent shrimp. The fun part was chewing on the sugarcane and sucking the juice after eating the shrimp ball. Was too lazy to make the traditional Vietnamese dipping sauce to go along, instead I just ate the sugarcane shrimp on its own (it was flavourful enough) as well as with some thai sweet chilli sauce. I believe this traditional Vietnamese appetiser would be very popular as finger food if served at parties. Probably could add some water chestnut or coriander roots/leaves to make it even more crunchy and flavourful. Next time, if I couldn't get any sugarcane, I would give lemongrass sticks a try!

Vietnamese Sugarcane Shrimp (Chao Tom)
(recipe from Vietworld Kitchen, makes 6 sticks)

• 12 pc medium size shrimp (about 230g), deshell and devein
• 1/8 tsp sea salt
• 3 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp palm sugar
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 1/2 egg
• 1 clove garlic
• 3 cloves shallot
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil

1. Place the shrimp and the rest of the ingredients into an electric chopper and blend into a coarse shrimp paste. Chill the shrimp paste for at least 30 mins.
2. To make the sugarcane shrimp, first wet the hands. Take a ball of shrimp paste and place onto the palm. place a sugarcane stick in the middle and wrap the shrimp paste around the sugarcane stick.
3. Steam the sugarcane shrimp on high heat for about 3-4 mins. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. To pan-fry, heat a tsp of olive oil on medium low fire, place 3 sticks of sugarcane shrimp onto the pan and pan-fry till golden brown.
5. To air-fry, place sugarcane shrimp into the air-fryer, air-fry for 8 mins at 180 degree celsius.
6. Serve warm with Vietnamese dipping sauce or thai sweet chilli sauce.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest – IndoChina hosted by Kelly Siew Cooks

Vietnamese Lemongrass Beef Rice Paper Roll - AFF IndoChina Jun 2014

Ever since I made the Vietnamese Summer Rolls with Hoisin Peanut Sauce earlier this month, I've been craving to eat it again. Since I still have some rice paper rolls left, decided to make a variation, this time based on Just As Delish Vietnamese Lemongrass Beef Rice Paper Rolls.

The flavour of this rice paper roll is more intense than the summer roll, due to the addition of aromatic herbs like sweet basil, mint leaf and lemongrass (beef). Each bite into the roll was a burst of flavours and textures, and the salty spicy dipping sauce added a further dimension to the roll. But if I were to compare this lemongrass beef rice paper roll to the summer roll with peanut hoisin sauce, the latter wins hands down. Just my personal opinion.

The lemongrass beef was good to eat on its own actually. I love the whiff of lemongrass as I chewed on the tender and juicy pieces of beef. And it's so easy to prepare. I got some tenderloin as they were on sale at the supermarket. Basically blend all the marinate ingredients together, marinate the sliced beef for at least 2 hrs, pan fry for a min each side and done!

Vietnamese Lemongrass Beef

• 150g tenderloin, cut into thin slices
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 stalk lemongrass
• 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp olive oil

1. Blend all the ingredients (except beef) into a coarse paste.
2. Add beef slices and toss to coat the marinate thoroughly. Chill for at least 2 hours.
3. In a frying pan, add a tsp of olive oil and pan fry the beef slices for about 1 min on each side (done).
4. Serve with salad leaves and Vietnamese dipping sauce, or use as ingredient for rice paper roll.

 Preparing for the roll. I used baby romaine lettuce, carrot strips, sweet basil and mint leaves.

This time, I decided to try the "open" method of wrapping the rice paper rolls. Basically just place the wet rice paper roll on a non-stick surface, next place 2 leaves of baby romaine, 1 strip of lemongrass beef, few strips of carrots, 2 leaves of sweet basil and 2 sprint of mint leaves. Fold the bottom of the rice paper upwards to cover 2/3 of the ingredients, then fold the left and right sides towards the centre as tight as possible, and that's it. This type of "open" roll feels more flimsy than the closed roll though.

The roll is good to eat on its own due to the strong flavours, but I do like it with the dipping sauce which is very easy to put together. Instead of lime, I used calamansi since that's what I had.

Vietnamese dipping sauce

• 1/2 pc bird's eye chilli, thinly sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 3 calamansi, juiced

1. Combine all the ingredients together and ready to use as dipping sauce.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest – IndoChina hosted by Kelly Siew Cooks

Vietnamese Grilled Lemongrass Pork Sandwich (Banh Mi Thit Heo Nuong Xa) - AFF IndoChina Jun 2014

I've never eaten Bánh mì, the Vietnamese Sandwich before, but have heard a lot about it. Hailed as the national sandwich of Vietnam, it's sort of a marriage of two different cultures; a product of French colonialism in Indochina, combining ingredients from the French (baguettes, pâté and mayonnaise) with native Vietnamese ingredients such as cilantro, fish sauce and pickled carrots (source: Wikipedia).

Those who tried raved much about it, and apparently many variations have evolved. Typical fillings include steamed, pan-roasted or oven-roasted seasoned pork belly, Vietnamese sausage, grilled pork, grilled pork patties/meatballs, fried eggs, tofu etc. Accompanying vegetables typically include fresh cucumber slices, cilantro (leaves of the coriander plant) and shredded pickled carrots and daikon. Common condiments include spicy chilli sauce, sliced chilli, mayonnaise and cheese.

The weather has been so hot and humid that I didn't feel like embarking on any major workout in the kitchen, so keeping everything simple. Didn't bother to try baking the Vietnamese baguette which is supposed to be more airy with thinner crust, and just made do with the Delifrance baguette.

For the filling, decided to try the grilled lemongrass pork version since I love lemongrass and pork :p. Keeping in short and sweet, basically slice some pork shoulder, marinate and then grill using Air Fryer. No sweat :p. For the vegetables, I only added sliced Japanese cucumber, cilantro and made my own shredded pickled carrots and daikon. As for condiments, just Japanese mayonnaise. Was too lazy to do homemade mayonnaise like what most of the recipes recommended. Some recipes also recommended spreading some chicken liver pâté, but I'm not a fan so skipped it.

Vietnamese Grilled Lemongrass Pork Sandwich
(reference from The Ravenous Couple and Viet World Kitchen, makes about 6-7 sandwich)

• 2 french baguette
• 6-7 slices grilled lemongrass pork (recipe below)
• Pickled daikon and carrot (recipe below)
• Japanese cucumber, cut into 6" length and sliced
• Cilantro, mayonnaise

1. Slice the baguette into 6 inch (or 15cm) lengths. Half each baguette length-wise and toast for one minute.
2. Spread some mayonnaise on the insides of the baguette, add 2 slices of cucumber, followed by grilled pork, some pickled daikon and carrot and lastly few sprigs of cilantro.
3. Best serve warm.

Pickled Daikon and Carrot

• 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1/2 cup brown rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 medium carrot
• 1/4 pc daikon
• 1 pc red chilli

1. Combine the white vinegar, brown rice vinegar, water, sugar and salt in a pot and heat over medium fire. Once the mixture boils and sugar is fully dissolved. Remove from heat and cool down.
2. Shred the carrot and daikon, like matchsticks. Slice the red chilli into small pieces.
3. Add the shredded carrot, daikon and red chilli into the pickling liquid. Chill for at least one hour before use.

Grilled Lemongrass Pork
(reference from The Ravenous Couple and Viet World Kitchen)

• 230g pork shoulder butt
• 1 stalk lemongrass
• 1 tbsp light brown sugar
• 3/4 tbsp fish sauce
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 cloves shallot
• 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
• 3/4 tbsp dark soy sauce

1. Slice the pork shoulder into 1/4 inch thickness. Tenderise the pork slices and set aside.
2. Combine the rest of the ingredients into a blender/mini electric chopper. Blend till a paste forms. There will still be fragments of lemongrass in the paste.
3. Marinate the pork slices for at least one hour at room temperature (covered) or in chiller overnight.
4. Place the pork slices in the wire mesh of the Air Fryer, grill for 5-6 minutes at 180 degree Celsius, turning over once.
5. Best serve warm.

The lemongrass pork tasted so delicious already on its own! As I love lemongrass, I added a whole stalk of it and I enjoyed chewing the fragments. Actually only half a stalk is required, so for those who just want a whiff of lemongrass taste, please adjust accordingly. The meat was tender, juicy, sweet, salty and aromatic! I think I can make this as a dish for one of my family dinner or just it as a filling for the Vietnamese Summer Roll :)

Although the Banh Mi looked very much like Delifrance or Subway sandwiches, but no, it's much more complex and colourful in terms of taste and texture. I love how the tastes and textures complemented one another, the crispy crust, the juicy and succulent pork which was perfectly marinated, the fragrance from the lemongrass and cilantro, not forgetting the tangy pickled carrots and daikon, the refreshing cucumber as well as the smooth and creamy mayonnaise. Unfortunately, I felt that the store-bought baguette was a little too chewy and hence my jaws got a little tired from chewing the bread :(

Anyways, I would say that the Banh Mi is indeed tantalizing and if I were to go Vietnam one day, I would love to go for the real deal.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest – IndoChina hosted by Kelly Siew Cooks.