Khanom Chor Muang & Khanom Jeab Nok (Thai Steamed Flower & Bird Dumplings)

Recent months, I've been intrigued by Thai desserts, especially the traditional ones that are served to the Thai Royalty since ancient times. I had wanted to go to BKK to attend classes but couldn't find the time.

Then, last weekend I happened to be at northern Chonburi and took the opportunity to visit a Thai Traditional Dessert Cafe called Hom's House at the Bang Saen area. Totally fell in love with the cafe, as well as the desserts served there!

My desire to make these intricate and pretty looking desserts was so strong and after watching several YouTube videos and researching in online recipes, I thought I would start with this Khanom Chor Muang as out of all the desserts I tried, I love this the most, as it's both sweet and savoury. It's basically a chicken dumpling but palm sugar is added to the chicken filling so it's sweet. I thought it's more apt as an appetiser but the Thais categorised it as a dessert.

Anyways, bought ingredients, tools and even similar serve ware (as the cafe) and this whole week I'm basically eating and breathing Chor Muang!! LOL!!

Proudly presenting my Khanom Chor Muang which is Thai Steamed Flower Dumplings and Khanom Jeab Nok which is Bird Dumplings. For the flower dumpling, anchan or butterfly bluepea flower is used as colouring; I wanted to get a pink flower so used beetroot but the colour turned out white -_-

A crimping tool (the thais call it Chor Muang tweezer) is used to shape the flower petals, yes petal by petal. It's quite therapeutic I must say. The Bird is much harder to shape and crimp!

All in all, I made three batches (five actually but threw out two - problems with cooking the dough and a particular recipe). So why three? The first batch (above picture), I used beetroot to colour the flowers pink but they turned out white. In addition, the texture of the dumpling is slightly different from what I ate, it's a bit hard and less soft and chewy.

The second batch (below picture), I intensified the beetroot water and the colour turned out more visible but it's more orangey than pink -__-. I also experimented with a different flour to try to get better texture but failed.

As for the third & final batch (same picture below - in blue), I changed the proportion of the flours used and hey, the texture turned out slightly closer to the one I tried! Yippeee! In addition, I used another crimping tweezer to create a different flower. Can see the difference? There are 2 videos below that show both crimping.

Anyways, I'm pleased that I managed to make this dessert! It's definitely not 100% yet, but I'm satisfied for now. Hopefully will make more improvements along the way. Let me rest from Chor Muang for some time first :p

Here's sharing my process of making Chor Muang. Like I said, this is not a perfect recipe yet yah. The full recipe will be after the brief explanations.

First step, cooking the chicken filling. Ingredients are simple, minced chicken, onion, coriander root, garlic, palm sugar, salt, white pepper, fish sauce and oil.

First of all, pound the coriander root with garlic and white pepper into a paste. In a frying pan, add the cooking oil, saute the paste till fragrant, then add onion and chicken. Finally season with palm sugar, fish sauce and salt (to taste). The filling shouldn't be too wet else difficult to wrap into the dough later.

Second step, will be the dough. Ingredients include rice flour, tapioca starch, arrowroot starch (or mung bean starch), glutinous rice flour, coconut milk, water (which can be coloured according to preference).

I use butterfly bluepea flower for blue, beetroot for pink and just water for white (the bird).

Mix all the ingredients together to form a runny batter. If necessary use your hand to do the mixing as there might be bits of undissolved flour. Alternatively, sieve the batter after mixing. I use my hand LOL!

Next comes the cooking of the batter into dough. Pour the batter into a COLD, NON-STICK pan, it's important! If the pan is hot, it will cook the batter to a rubbery dough (yes I tried it, it's one of a batch I threw out). Cook the batter using low heat (I'm using electric induction cooker, temperature is 60 degree celsius), stir constantly. It will get thicker and sticky and eventually come together in a dough. It took around 8-10 mins per batch colour. Non-stick pan is very useful here, makes it easier to cook the dough. And the pan is clean after each batch, no need to clean the pan between batches.

Now, the dough will still be very sticky, sprinkle some tapioca starch on a mat and knead the dough till smooth and not so sticky (it will still be a little tacky like soft play dough, when pull apart it stretches a little). Basically the dough will be slightly hot to touch initially and knead till it's barely warm.

Third step, wrapping the filling into the dough and crimp into shape! Please refer to the pictures below and a short video on the steps. Each dough ball is around 10.5g-11g. Filling is about half teaspoon.

For this particular flower design, the crimping tweezer is like a leaf shape. A bit tough initially, but after practising a few, it became manageable. Remember to dust with some tapioca starch in between crimps, otherwise the dough will stick onto the tweezer.

Fourth and final step, steaming the dumplings. Prepare a steamer on medium high heat. Place a banana leaf onto the steamer, brush with some cooking oil to prevent the dumplings from sticking to the leaf. Place the dumplings onto the leaf, using a spray bottle to spray some water onto the dumplings to prevent them from drying. Steam for 10 mins, after they are done, brush the surface of the dumplings with oil to give a little shine and prevent them from drying. 

Here are the before steaming pictures of the "pink" flower and the birdies, so cute right? But seriously they look nice but difficult to shape and too much dough :p

Yep, the "pink" flowers became white.

 

And so I made a second batch! For the first batch, I merely soak cubes of beetroot into cold water, probably that's why the colour wasn't intensed enough. This batch, I blended the beetroot and soak it in hot water for a longer amount of time. The colour turned out much better and I was quite happy!

 

BUT, after steaming, the colour turned out orangey rather than pink pink! Oh well -_- maybe next time try another type of natural colour or just use food colouring? Hmmm....

For the second batch, I also replaced arrowroot starch with mung bean starch to see if the texture of the dumpling would improve. Nope, didn't make much difference. 

And so I made my third batch! Increased the amount of tapioca starch and reduced rice flour, and also used a different crimping tweezer, which is more squarish shape. Below is another video of how the crimping looks like.

 

Hope that the explanations above are useful! Here's the full recipe.

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Khanom Chor Muang ~ Thai Steamed Flower Dumpling

(each batch of dough weighs about 130g, makes 11-12 flower dumplings or 8-9 bird dumplings )

(A) Chicken Filling (enough to make 3 batches of dumplings)

• 150g chicken thigh, minced
• 70g onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1-2 coriander root
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• 25g palm sugar
• 1.5-2 tbsp fish sauce, to taste
• Pinch salt, to taste
• 2 tsp cooking oil

1. Pound the garlic, coriander root and white pepper into a paste.
2. In a frying pan, add cooking oil on medium heat.
3. Add paste (from 1) and saute till fragrant. 
4. Add onion and fry till slightly translucent.
5. Add minced chicken and fry till cooked. Use spatula and break up the minced chicken into smaller pieces during frying.
6. Season with palm sugar, fish sauce and salt, to taste.
7. If filling is too wet, turn up heat and simmer till sauce dries up. The filling is just a little moist.
8. Dish and set aside.

(B) Dough (quantity is for one batch, repeat to get 3 batches)

• 1/4 cup rice flour
• 2 tbsp tapioca starch
• 2 tsp arrowroot starch or mung bean starch
• 2 tsp glutinous rice flour
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 2 tbsp butterfly bluepea water or beetroot water or just water
• Butterfly pea flower water - soak 10g bluepea flower in 50g hot water for at least 30 mins.
• Beetroot water - blend 15-20g beetroot and soak in 50g hot water for at least 30 mins.

1.  Mix the 4 types of flour/starch together.
2. Add coconut milk and mix well till no bits of flour.
3. Add bluepea water/beetroot water/water and mix well.
4. Sieve the batter to get rid of fine bits of flour (or use hand to mix the batter).
5. Add the batter into COLD frying pan on very low heat. Stir the batter till it thickens and eventually comes together into a dough. Each batch takes 8-10 mins. Repeat for 3 batches. The dough will be sticky.
6. Sprinkle tapicoa starch onto a mat, knead the dough till barely warm, and texture less sticky.
7. Dough weight is around 125-130g. *For the flower dumpling, divide dough into 11-12 pcs, each piece around 10.5g to 11g. For the bird dumpling, divide dough into 8-9 pcs, each around 14-15g)
8. Shape dough to circle/bowl, scoop half teaspoon of chicken filling into the centre, close up the dough and roll into a ball. *for the bird dumpling, after closing the dough, pinch some excess dough to form the head and neck of the bird.
9. Use crimping tweezer to crimp the ball into flowers. *For the bird, crimp lines for the bird's body. 
10. For the bird's beak, cut carrot into small triangles and stick the carrot into the head. For the eyes, stick black sesame seeds.
11. Prepare a steamer on high heat, place banana leaves into the steamer. Once water boils, brush the banana leaves with oil and place the dumplings onto the leaves. Spray the dumplings with water.
12. Steam the dumplings for 10 mins. Once done, brush the surface of the dumplings with some oil.
13. Scoop the dumplings into serving plate and serve with fried garlic, lettuce, coriander and chilli.
14. Best eaten warm and on the same day.

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Hope the recipe and videos would be useful! Below are more food porn LOL!

Enjoy!

It has been an exciting week for me to make these dumplings. Hope to find time to attempt more Thai desserts, stay tuned!

Guay Tiew Reua Thai Boat Noodles

Boat noodles is a very popular street food in Thailand 🇹🇭 In fact, noodles is a very big part of the food culture. I learnt that all types of noodles (whether rice noodles, glass noodles, egg noodles), they are all called Guay Tiew (same pronunciation) unlike in SG where Kuay Tiao means thick rice noodles. I still remember when I ordered my very first bowl of Guay Tiew, thinking that it's thick rice noodles, the hawker gave me "Sen Lek" which is very thin and slightly chewy. Sen Lek is somewhat like the default type of noodle hawkers would serve if you don't specify, or some stalls just serve "Sen Lek" only. Anyways, there's a whole lot of jargon to learn about ordering noodles, such as the type of noodles, soup or dry, type of broth, and we're not even talking about the fried ones. Well, I guess the same goes for SG where we have so many type of noodles as well.

I digress.

Anyways, Guay Tiew means noodles and Reua means Boat, so literally translates to Boat Noodles, I think because it's traditionally cooked and served on a boat, and hence the name. I love Boat Noodles as the broth is very aromatic and flavourful, plus I get to eat pig's blood which is no longer available in SG. I used to enjoy pig's organ soup during my teens because of the pig's blood. LOL! Nowadays, friends around my age who loves pig's blood still talk about it fondly and I guess we could only satisfy our craving or rather, relive the fond memories in Hong Kong or Thailand.

I digress again.

Back to the Thai Boat Noodles. And so, the very authentic stalls would use the liquid from pig's blood to thicken and flavour the soup broth  but sometimes they can be a little overwhelming on the palate. Some hawker stalls may also add MSG to the broth making the soup a tad too salty for my liking. That got me to think whether it's feasible to make the noodles soup at home. After searching on the internet for recipes, I found there are many variations to making the broth; some use beef bones and some use pork bones and different aromatics are used to season the soup. I decided to adapt from Hot Thai Kitchen's recipe as I find her youtube videos very informative and recipes easy to pick up.

Have tried cooking this a few times already, and I must say I love how my Boat Noodles turned out. So as mentioned, the broth is a key component, and homemade is even better because no MSG is added.

The recipe by Hot Thai Kitchen is such that the pig's blood is optional, that is it's not necessary to use the liquid to thicken the soup. The broth is already very aromatic and flavourful as it is. Trust me my soup tasted equally nice without the pig’s blood :p.

To serve, besides noodles of your choice, I included ingredients such as fishball, fishcake, marinated pork slices, bean sprouts and water spinach (kang kong), along with condiments like cilantro, spring onion, Thai basil, fried shallot & garlic, and finally a chilli vinegar dipping sauce.

Let's start with the soup broth preparation, which I usually cook one day in advance and let the flavours develop overnight.

Soup Broth
(makes 8 servings)

Ingredients

• 4 pcs pork bones (about 950g)
• 4 pcs chicken leg bones (optional, I use because I happen to have them)
• 1 pc onion
• 2 stalks lemongrass, lower white portion only
• 1 tsp coriander seeds, toasted
• 5 cloves garlic
• 10 slices galangal
• 1 pc star anise
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 3 pc cilantro roots
• 2 pc pandan leaves
• 9 cups water
• 3 cups homemade chicken stock
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp Golden Mountain thai soy sauce (if don't have, just use light soy sauce)
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp tao jiew (yellow soy bean paste)
• 1 tbsp white vinegar
• 15g rock sugar
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• Sea salt, to taste (I didn't add)

Steps

1. Blanch the pork and chicken bones to get rid of blood and dirt. Rinse and place them in a large stock pot. 
2. Add onion, lemongrass, coriander seeds, garlic, galangal, star anise, cinnamon, cilantro roots, pandan leaves, water and chicken stock. Bring the pot of stock to boil then lower heat, cover and let it simmer for 2hrs. Use a fine sieve to remove any scums that float to the top of the stock from time to time.
3. After 2hrs, add the seasonings - soy sauce, dark soy sauce, tao jiew, white vinegar, rock sugar and white pepper and simmer for another 1 hr. 
4. After 1hr, taste the soup and add sea salt if required.
5. Leave the soup stock in the pot overnight. *if stock is prepared early in the day, at night bring it to boil first, off heat and cover.
6. The next day, strain and discard the ingredients. Boil the soup broth again and it's ready to use.

Now that the soup broth is ready, it's time to cook Boat Noodles!

Personally I prefer Sen Yai which is thick rice noodles like the hor fun we have in SG, my son likes Sen Yai as well, but a thinner version of it. As for the HB, he likes Sen Lek which is the thin noodles which is slightly chewy (not glass noodles). Luckily I can get all these at one hawker stall at the wet market I frequent.

Typical ingredients include marinated pork slices, fishball, fishcake, pig's blood (optional), bean sprout, water spinach (kang kong).

To serve, I have two separate pots, one is the soup broth and the other is water to cook the noodles and vegetables.

(1) Bring the soup broth to boil and cook the fishball, fishcake, marinated pork and pig's blood.
(2) Bring the other pot of water to boil, blanch the bean sprouts, water spinach till just cooked, drain and place them in individual bowls. Next cook the noodles briefly till just cooked, drain and add them on top of the vegetables.
(3) Scoop the fishball, fishcake, pork and pig's blood from the soup broth and arrange on the top of the noodles.
(4) Finally, scoop the soup broth into the bowl of noodles till the soup just cover the ingredients. Best serve hot!

Not forgetting condiments, the noodles are typically served with cilantro, spring onion, fried garlic, fried shallot, Thai basil and not forgetting, chilli vinegar dipping sauce which will add much kick to the Boat Noodles!

Chilli Vinegar Dipping Sauce - blend all the ingredients together. Start with minimal amount of chilli and add more according to preference.

• 1-2 red chilli and thai chilli, to taste
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup white vinegar

Look at my bowl of noodles loaded with ingredients. LOL! That's the beauty of home cooked dishes. I think I cannot be a noodle seller; there's too much preparation work involved and I load my noodle soup with too much ingredients!

Usually I will make a large pot of soup broth and eat it for a few meals (mainly because the ingredients are sold in large quantity and cannot use up within one meal). LOL! Anyway we don't mind since we enjoy this noodle soup a lot. Aroi Mak Mak!

Thai-Themed Meal: Tod Mun Pla (Thai Fish Cake), Khao Pad Sapparod (Pineapple Fried Rice), Som Tum (Green Papaya Salad)

[ Collaboration with Borges Singapore and Singapore Home Cooks ]
Dish 1 - Braised Chicken with Bamboo Shoot & Mushroom
Dish 2 - Thai-themed ~ Tod Mun Pla (Thai Fish Cake) and Khao Pad Sapparod (Pineapple Fried Rice)

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have been using olive oil and grapeseed oil for most of my cooking in the recent years, because they are healthier and boast of multiple health benefits. Many people have this misconception that olive oil and grapeseed oil can only be used for western cooking or drizzling on salad; however both oils are good for stir-frying and deep-frying as well! I usually alternate between the two types of oil for my cooking (as well as baking).

Once again appreciate the opportunity given by Borges Singapore and Singapore Home Cooks to demonstrate the use of olive oil and grapeseed oil in our common daily Asian dishes :)

For my second dish (or rather dishes), I'm going Thai since I'm currently residing in Thailand =D That said, many Singaporeans simply love Thailand as well as Thai food, judging from the frequent trips that I see on FB by friends and snaking queues at Thai eateries in Singapore. My family included :p

I've been trying to cook more thai dishes, since I've access to more thai ingredients now. Today's dishes are Tod Mun Pla (Thai Fish Cake), Khao Pad Sapparod (Pineapple Fried Rice), Som Tum (Green Papaya Salad), all popular and quite easy to cook at home, and I'm using Borges Grapeseed oil to cook them (except for Som Tum which doesn't require oil).

Some useful info about Grapeseed oil (source from Borges Singapore and Singapore Home Cooks):

• Cholesterol Free. Contains vitamin E and A. 
• Ideal for Wok, sautéing, frying and fondues.
• Mild taste, light and nutty overstones that allows the flavours of other foods to shine through when used for frying and cooking.
• Contains acid linoleic essential fats.
• Low in saturated fats. No Trans Fat.
• Carbohydrate and sodium free.
• No added preservatives, flavourings or colorings.
• With a smoke point 210-245ºC, it is ideal for stir-frying, fondues and deep-frying.

The Grapeseed oil is unique by its polyunsaturated fatty acid concentration and natural antioxidants that contribute to regulating the free cholesterol presence and radicals in the body. Grapeseed oil has a relatively high smoke point approximately 420ºF (260ºC), so it can be safely used for stir-fries, sautéing and fondue. In addition to this smoking point, Grapeseed oil has other positive attributes in relation to cooking. It has a clean, light taste that can be described as “nutty”.

Tod Mun Pla or Thai Fish Cake is a popular snack or appetiser which is very easy to make at home. Simply blend fish meat, red curry paste, egg yolk and sugar into a paste, add long beans, kaffir lime leaf and thai/holy basil, shape into a patty and pan-fry. Taste really good with sweet chilli dipping sauce. I make my own sweet chilli dipping sauce as well, so that I can adjust the sweetness and spiciness level. Mine is less sweet with more vinegar (for a more tangy taste).

Tod Mun Pla (Thai Fish Cake)
(makes about 18-20 pcs)

Ingredients

• 500g fish meat (choose more tender fish, I use dory and tilapia)
• 2 tbsp red curry paste (storebought)
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 stalks long beans, cut into thin slices
• 8 pcs kaffir lime leaves, cut very finely
• Handful of thai basil or holy basil
• Fish sauce (to taste, if necessary)
• 10 tbsp Grapeseed Oil (Borges)

Steps

1. Cut fish meat into small pieces. Add the fish meat, red curry paste, egg yolk and sugar into a food processor or chopper and blend till a paste forms.
2. Taste-test: Wet both hands and a teaspoon, scoop a spoonful of paste and form into a patty. Heat a frying pan with 1 tbsp of oil and pan-fry the patty till golden brown on both sides. Taste to see if salty or flavourful enough. I use store-bought red curry which is quite salty and flavourful. If not, add 1 tbsp more of red curry paste and/or 1 tsp of fish sauce to the fish paste.
3. Once fish paste is ready, add long beans, kaffir lime leaves and basil, use a spatula to fold the ingredients till well-mixed.
4. Heat frying pan with 10 tbsp of oil (my pan is 26cm) on medium high heat. Wet both hands and a tablespoon, scoop a spoonful of paste and form into a patty using the hands. Pan-fry the shaped patties in the frying pan till golden brown on both sides.
5. Best serve hot with sweet chilli dipping sauce.

Sweet Chilli Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 big red chilli
• 3-4 thai chilli/chilli padi (to taste)
• 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp sugar (to taste)
• 1/3 cup white or rice vinegar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp water
• Garnish: sliced shallot, cucumber and coriander

 Steps

1. In an electric chopper or food processor, add garlic and both chilli and blend coarsely (bits are visible).
2. Place blended garlic and chilli bits into a small pot, add sugar, vinegar, salt and water and bring to gentle boil over low heat. Taste and add more sugar or chilli if necessary.
3. Stir till mixture turns syrupy and remove from heat. The mixture will thicken slightly more once cool down. 
4. To serve, top with sliced shallot, cucumber and coriander.

Pineapple fried rice is yet another favourite dish, as it has a tinge of sweetness from the pineapple (and raisins), aroma from curry powder, seafood freshness from the prawns and different textures from the rice and cashew nuts.

Khao Pad Sapparod (Pineapple Fried Rice)
(serves 4-5)

Ingredients

• 3-4 tbsp Grapeseed Oil (Borges)
• 10 pcs prawns, deveined and sliced into half
• 2 eggs
• 530g cooked rice (preferably overnight)
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 10 pcs cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters
• 150g pineapple flesh, cut into small pieces
• 60g cashew nuts, lightly toasted
• 4 tsp thai soy sauce
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1.5 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 4 stalks spring onion, finely chopped
• Garnish: coriander, thai lime

Steps

1. Heat up a large deep frying pan or wok on medium high heat, add 2 tbsp of grapeseed oil and saute the sliced prawns till just cooked. Dish up and set aside.
2. Add 1 tbsp of oil, add the eggs and scramble lightly. Once eggs are almost cooked, add the rice and toss to mix well with the eggs.
3. Push the rice aside, add 1 tbsp of oil and saute the onion till slightly cooked (changes colour), then toss the onion with the rice.
4. Add the seasonings and toss the rice to mix well. Taste and adjust seasonings accordingly. Mine is on lighter side.
5. Add cooked prawns, cherry tomatoes, pineapple, cashews into the rice. Toss to mix well.
6. Off heat and add spring onions and toss to mix well.
7. Best serve hot (in pineapple bowl or plates).

And finally Som Tum (Green Papaya Salad)! This is such a refreshing salad that our family eats it so very often as it's crunchy and appetising with different textures and taste. Many times the HB would tabao from the evening market on his way back from work. It's convenient to buy from street stalls as you can find it everywhere, but the thing is sometimes they are too spicy and sweet for my palate. Of course the advantage of homemade is, you can adjust the taste to suit your own tastebud.

The below recipe is on the lighter side, feel free to adjust the seasonings. As my mortar and pestle is  small and I don't have a big proper som tum mortar, I make my som tum in my own steps by batches, which is not the authentic way of preparing it. Please google or check youtube videos on how it's done properly.

Som Tum (Green Papaya Salad)
(serves 4)

Ingredients

• 200g julienned green papaya (I use a slicer tool to slice the papaya into thin strips)
• 10 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 stalks long beans, cut into 1cm pieces
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3-4 thai chilli, add more to taste
• 2 tbsp fish sauce, add more to taste
• 1-2 tbsp palm sugar, add more to taste
• Juice from 1 thai lime, add more to taste
• 3 tsp tamarind juice, add more to taste
• 3 tbsp raw skinless peanuts, toasted till slightly browned
• 1 tbsp tiny dried shrimps, lightly toasted

1. Soak the julienned green papaya in iced water for 10 mins. After 10 mins, dry using salad spinner or kitchen towel.
2. Add the green papaya into a large mixing bowl, use a pestle to lightly pound/crush the papaya strips.
3. Add cherry tomatoes and long beans into the mixing bowl and lightly pound/crush them using the pestle.
4. Add the tiny dried shrimps into the salad.
5. Add the peanuts into the stone mortar, lightly crush the peanuts into halves or smaller pieces. Add the peanut pieces into the salad.
6. In the same stone mortar, pound the garlic and chilli till a coarse paste. Add fish sauce, palm sugar, lime juice and tamarind juice. Lightly pound and stir till the palm sugar is melted.
7. Pour the sauce from the mortar into the mixing bowl, toss everything together till well-mixed. 
8. Taste the salad and adjust taste to preference.
9. The salad tastes best freshly prepared.

Hope everyone enjoys these thai dishes! I'll try to post more thai recipes in time to come (if I have the time!). Stay tuned :)

LAST CALL for Borges Giveaway!
Want the best from the Mediterranean? We are giving away three sets of Borges Gift Basket worth $60 at http://bit.ly/2INmCz4 

Be sure to check it out!
#BorgesRecipes

Mango Sticky Rice

The kiddo has been bugging me to make Mango Sticky Rice for him.

Whenever we go to Thailand or Thai Restaurants, this is one of the few items that he enjoys (he can't take much spicy stuff), probably because mango is one of his favourite fruit and the sticky rice taste sweet and fragrant. Well, this is such a likable snack/dessert, I don't think anyone will dislike it right?

Since I have extra packets of coconut milk and I happen to have glutinous rice too, all I need is mango. Found some lovely Thai Honey Mango at the fruit stall near my place, so Mango Sticky Rice it is!

Actually this Thai street snack/dessert is very easy to make at home! Basically, rinse the glutinous rice a few times and soak them overnight first. The next day, steam the rice for 18-20 mins, make coconut sauce, mix the sauce with hot steamed rice, serve with mango and some crispy mung beans, that's it!

This is how I steam the rice - by laying a piece of cotton cloth/muslin cloth (I use those soup filter bags) on the steamer. When the rice is steamed, it will be translucent, just hold the bag/cloth at the 4 corners and pour it into a heatproof bowl. 

Mango Sticky Rice
(makes 2 servings)

Ingredients

• 1 cup glutinous rice (about 150g)
• 200ml coconut milk
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 mango
• 20-30g split mung bean *optional

Steps

1. Wash and rinse the glutinous rice at least 4-5 times till water runs clear.
2. Soak the rice overnight. The next day, drain the water and place the rice onto a piece of muslin cloth.
3. Place the muslin cloth into a steamer. Steam on medium high heat for 18-20 mins.
4. Meanwhile, add coconut milk, sugar and salt into a small pot. Heat the mixture on low heat, stir and cook till the sugar is fully dissolve. Off heat and set aside.
5. When the glutinous rice is ready, pour it into a heatproof bowl. Add half quantity of the coconut sauce bit by bit into the rice and mix gently till fully absorbed.
6. Slice or cut the mango into desired servings.
7. Rinse and boil the mung beans in water for about 5-10 mins. Off heat and cool down. Drain liquid and dry-fry the mung beans in a frying pan till golden and crispy, or air-fry.
8. To serve, place the sticky rice and mango in a serving plate, drizzle with more coconut sauce and some crispy mung beans. 

*cover the sticky rice with clingwrap if not eating immediately, otherwise the rice will turn dry and harden.

The kiddo is a happy camper when I serve him this Mango Sticky Rice for lunch. Yep, who says this can't be lunch, it has rice, fruit and coconut milk, a totally nutritious meal :p

Ok, since I'm at it, might as well submit this entry for the Ayam Brand's Coconut Milk Cooking Contest hosted by Singapore Home Cooks :p


Check out my first entry here - Bake Coconut Cheese Tart

#AyamBrandCoconutMilk

Thai-style Stuffed Chicken Wings

I like to eat Thai-style Stuffed Chicken Wings very much, but seldom order it at Thai restaurants as the HB says that he doesn't like how those taste.

No choice, I have to make it myself then! Actually it's a very simple dish, the tedious part is removing the bones from the mid-joint wings :p Seriously have to get the hands dirty and all, to the point of squishy squashy -_- Or maybe coz my knife skills is not good enough.

Anyways, "de-boning" the chicken wings aside, the stuffing is very straightforward. Some recipes choose to remove all the chicken meat (leaving the skin only), chop up the meat with ingredients like prawns, black fungus/mushroom, water chestnut etc, and stuff the mixture back to the wings.

For me, I chose to leave the chicken meat intact with the skin and use minced pork, along with prawns, water chestnut, garlic, cilantro root and seasonings for the stuffing. In this way, I get to enjoy different textures and tastes :)

As for cooking method, I tried 2 ways. One is recommended by a Thai cookbook, first steam the stuffed wings till cooked, then deep fry till golden brown. And secondly, using air-fryer and glazing with sauce.

I find the steam/deepfried one drier but more fragrant due to the deep-frying process. As for the airfried/glazed one, it's more juicy and succulent. Our family prefer the latter.

Ingredients for stuffing include minced pork, prawn, garlic, cilantro root, water chestnut, 5-spice powder, pepper, sugar, cooking oil, egg, salt, corn starch, and of course deboned mid-joint wings.

This is how the wings look like after stuffing.

Here's a short video clip of how I deboned the mid-joint and do the stuffing. Pardon my poor knife skills and videography skills :p

Thai-style Stuffed Chicken Wings
(reference from The Best of Thai Home Cooking by Forest Leong)
(makes 9 pieces)

• 9 pcs chicken wing mid-joint

Marinate A

• 100g minced pork
• 3 prawns, roughly chopped
• 2 water chestnut, finely chopped
• 1 garlic, finely minced
• 1 cilantro root, finely minced
• 1 tbsp egg
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cooking oil
• 1 tsp corn starch
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• Pinch of 5-spice powder

Marinate B

• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp hua tiao cooking wine
• 1/4 tsp sesame oil

1. Debone the chicken wing mid-joint portion. Twist the mid-joint and wing tip to break up the bones. Insert a small knife into the mid-joint front and back to cut the meat, if need be use the fingers to ease the meat off the small bone and twist it out. Use the knife to scrape the meat away from the bigger bone and slowly twist/cut it out. Set aside.
2. Add all the ingredients (Marinate A) for the stuffing in a bowl and mix well.
3. Stuff the mixture into the mid-joint wing, about 1 tbsp per wing.
4. Combine the ingredients for Marinate B and pour the marinate over the stuffed chicken wings. Marinate the wings for 4hrs or overnight.
5. Before cooking, bring the wings back to room temperature. 
6. Drain the marinate B into a sauce pot, bring to boil and set aside to use as glaze. Alternatively make a new batch of glaze.
7. Place the wings inside the air-fryer, glaze on one side, air-fry for 6-8 mins at 160 degree celsius, turn over, glaze again, air-fry for 2-3 mins, then turn up heat to 180 degree celsius, air-fry for another 3-5 mins, glazing and turning as necessary, till wings are golden brown.
8. Best serve warm, on its own or with thai sweet chilli sauce.

Note:
*Steam/deep-fry: steam the stuffed wings for 10-12 mins. Drain and pat dry, deep fry in very hot oil till golden brown and crispy.
*Baking: haven't test it, should be the same as air-fryer.

This is totally yummy! The seasoning is on the lighter side, as my family prefer it this way. Feel free to add more seasonings. It's great to eat it on its own or with some thai sweet chilli!

The HB gave thumbs up, this taste is what he preferred over the restaurants' ones. Yay!

This recipe is certainly a keeper for me, that is if I have the mood and time to debone the midjoint wings :p