Mee Rebus - Penang style

I hope you are not Penang food overload... hehe. I promise, this will be my last entry on Penang food.... for now. 

I made  Mee Rebus using the recipe shared by Wazir Jahan Karim. As I read the recipe, I realised that this dish is actually what we in Singapore &, I believe, southern part of Malaysia call Mee Bandung. Nevertheless, I still wanted to try  cooking it. Yes, it is very similar to our Mee Bandung except this dish is richer because there is milk & cream added to the cream of tomato soup.

Mee Rebus (Penang style)
Recipe by Wazir Jahan Karim from Feasts of Penang, Muslim Culinary Heritage.
(I've rearranged the ingredients & simplified the method.)

Ingredients:
1 kg yellow noodles (blanch)
200g bean sprouts (remove tails & blanch)
1 kg beef or mutton bones
2.5L water (for beef or mutton stock)
300g medium-sized red or orange sweet potato (Boil until soft, peel & mash into an even paste.)
200g potato (Boil until soft, peel & mash into an even paste.)
6 red chillies*
20 shallots*
12 cloves of garlic*
(*blend to become paste)
5 tomatoes (chopped)
1 tbsp ginger juice
600 ml cream of tomato soup concentrate
5 sprigs coriander leaves (Separate leaves from stems & use leaves for garnish.)
250g squid (Clean & remove ink. Then boil in water.)
500ml water (to boil squid)
500ml water for soup
6 tbsps palm or rice oil
salt to taste

Garnish:
6 large hard-boiled eggs
6 sausage-long pieces of crispy cucur udang (slice) - I didn't use.
6 sprigs mustard leaves with soft stem (sawi) ( Soak with salt, wash & chop into 2cm strips.)
3 sprigs spring onions (chop)
5 sprigs coriander leaves (chop)
6 tbsps fried shallots
3 pieces tofu or bean curd (Fry & cut into cubes.)
3 fresh red chillies (Remove seeds & white pulp & slice on a slant.)

Method:

1. Boil beef or mutton bones in 2.5 litres water for an hour or until tender. An equivalent amount of water should be added if the water (stock) is reduced to half after boiling. If a pressure cooker is used, it should take about 20 mins. If pressure cooker is used, add in rest of water when meat is cooked. Transfer beef or mutton with stock into a clean deep pan, after removing foam & impurities 
2. Add in the sweet potato, potato, chopped tomatoes, chilli, shallots & garlic paste, ginger juice & cream of tomato. Stir evenly & allow gravy to boil.
3. Add squid & stock & 500ml water for soup. Then add coriander stems & salt. Reduce fire & allow to simmer.
4. To serve, place noodles first, add beans sprouts & mustard leaves. Pour in gravy. Garnish with cucur udang, tofu pieces, one hard-boiled egg, fried shallot, coriander leaves, spring onions & sliced red chilli .

Serves 6 persons.
Preparation time: 90 mins.
Cooking time (gravy): 60 mins.

I'm submitting this post to the Malaysian Food Fest, Penang Month hosted by Alan of Travellingfoodies & Cook-Your-Books organised by Kitchen Flavours.

Mango Pickles (Jeruk Mangga)

Whenever my family made a trip to Penang, it's not difficult to decide what souvenir to get for our  family & friends back home. Without fail, I would buy for them fruit pickles. In fact, a visit to Penang is not complete without a visit to the Chowrasta Market area where there are several fruit-pickle shops. The last time I was there, I noticed there were more shops selling them.

Although I'm quite certain that fruit pickles don't originate from Penang,  for some reasons, which I can only guess, Penang is always associated with fruit pickles or vise versa. One reason could be because they are cheaper compared to the ones sold in other states in Malaysia or even Singapore. Another reason could be because of the quality, which I learnt recently. Just a few days ago when I was at Pasar Larkin in JB, I saw a stall selling fruit pickles, among other things. The stallholder explained that fruit pickles from Penang, compared to the ones produced in other states or Indonesia, taste better because they  do not have the unpleasant aftertaste caused by the chemical used.

I'm not a big fan of fruit pickles, so I rarely buy them. I've also never thought of making them at home until I saw Roz made some last year. I made them soon after I saw her post but didn't manage to post it here. I made them again a few days ago. These pickles don't resemble the store-bought ones but they are definitely healthier!

Mango Pickles (Jeruk Mangga)
Recipe by Roz@HomeKreation

Ingredients:
8 young mangoes
2-3 tbsp coarse salt
a pinch of lime paste*
water* (* mix)

Sugar syrup:
1½ cup sugar
2 cups water
Combine sugar & water in a pot & boil. Set aside to cool.  (You may add more sugar syrup if you like sweeter pickles.)

Method:

1. Peel & slice mangoes lengthwise.
2. Sprinkle salt on mango slices in a big bowl and mix well.
3. Place it in a container. Fill with water* until fully covered.
4. Leave for one or two days until the colour changes to slightly yellowish. Then discard water & rinse mango slices if too salty.
5. Pour sugar syrup into the container of mango slices. 
6. Store in fridge overnight to allow sugar to fully absorb into mango slices before serving.

Update: I observed that after a week, the water turned slightly murky & the pickles tasted much better. So do wait a few days before consuming them. I threw the water away once it turned murky & store the pickles in the container without the water.

I'm submitting this post to the Malaysian Food Fest, Penang Month hosted by Alan of Travellingfoodies.

Spicy Fried Beef

According to Wazir Jahan Karim, the author of  Feasts of Penang, Muslim Culinary Heritage, the original basic Nasi Kandar in the olden days would include fish curry, fried beef, hard-boiled egg and okra. So the second dish that I cooked from her book was Spicy Fried Beef.

It's  certainly not a simple dish to prepare as it entails a long list of ingredients & more than an hour to cook. But the effort is all worth it as the  meat is very tender & the gravy is sweet & very flavourful. This dish does go well with the Fish Curry when eaten with rice.

Spicy Fried Beef (Daging Goreng Rempah)
Recipe by Wazir Jahan Karim from Feasts of Penang, Muslim Culinary Heritage.
(I rearranged the ingredients & simplified the method.)

Ingredients:
1 kg lean beef, preferably topside
30g fennel powder*
20g turmeric powder*
100g coriander powder*
(*combine & add water & mix to form a paste)
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 kg red onions - peel & finely slice four & cut remainder into rings for garnish
10 cloves of garlic - finely sliced
4 slices ginger - cut into strips
2 sprigs coriander - separate leaves from stems & chop stems
4 cloves
5 cardamoms
1 cinnamon stick (10cm) - break into two
200g tomatoes - cut into small pieces & remove seeds
1 L water
2 tbsps thick sweet soya sauce
salt to taste
150 ml palm or rice oil (I used vegetable oil.)
Garnish:
onion rings
1 sprig  mint
1 green chilli - sliced into eight
1 red chilli - sliced into eight

Method:

1. Marinate beef with spice paste (*) & brown sugar. Leave aside for 1 hour.
2. Heat oil in deep pan. Fry onions & garlic to an even brown.
3. Add ginger, coriander stems, cloves, cinnamon stick & cardamons. Then add cut tomatoes. Stir until oil separates.
4. Add half a sprig of coriander leaves, marinated beef & water & stir for about one hour until beef is cooked. 
5. Add thick sweet soya sauce & salt. Reduce until sauce thickens & beef is tender. 
6. Garnish with mint, onion rings & chillies.

Serves 6-8 persons.

Preparation time:30 mins (excluding marination)

Cooking time: 1hr 20mins

I'm submitting this post to the following events:

1. Malaysian Food Fest, Penang Month hosted by Alan of Travellingfoodies,
2. Little Thumbs Up hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders, organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen of my little favourite D.I.Y. and
3. Cook-Your-Books organised by Kitchen Flavours.

Fish Curry - The essential for Nasi Kandar

There are many books written on Penang food in the market but very few are written specifically on Muslim food. So, last week, when my husband saw Feasts of Penang, Muslim Culinary Heritage, a book written by Wazir Jahan Karim, he decided to get it for me for my birthday. 

What my husband likes about this book is the inclusion of detailed description & the historical background of the dishes discussed by Wazir. Of course, a book about food is not complete without the recipes. Here, Wazir shared more than 100 recipes & I've tried 3 of them.

For me, the most interesting chapter in the book is the one on Nasi Kandar. I've always been intrigued by the fascination with Nasi Kandar. When I first went to Penang, my impression was that Nasi Kandar is just an Indian version of nasi padang... so what's the big deal..? But after making a few trips there & falling in love with the place, I can sense that it's more than just about Indian food.  After reading this book, I can appreciate the fascination with Nasi Kandar better.  Wazir's explaination of the historical background & evolution of Nasi Kandar is accompanied by beautiful pictures of the various places where the more popular  Nasi Kandar stalls were & are still found.

The first  recipe in the book that I tried was the Fish Curry. Fish curry was a basic dish in the original Nasi Kandar sold in the early 1900s. Fish curry is also a staple for my family... I cook it every other week. Since I wanted to taste the real flavour of this recipe, I followed the recipe (almost) to the T & measured all the ingredients. Although my family & I don't eat okra & brinjal, I decided not to omit them because, when cooked in the curry, they provide a unique flavour to it.

Just look at the pictures...... & it tastes heavenly.. It's rich, spicy & very delicious! I'm really not surprised... just look at the long list of ingredients! 

Before I leave you with the recipe, I encourage you to get this book, especially if you are keen to read more about Muslim food in Penang. It may be a bit pricy, but for a well- researched  book, I think it's worth it.

Fish Curry (Kari Ikan)
Recipe by Wazir Jahan Karim from Feasts of Penang, Muslim Culinary Heritage.
(Note: I've changed the order of the ingredients & simplified the method.)

Ingredients:
1 kg king mackerel (tenggiri) - cut into 2cm-thick slices, wash & set aside
1kg red onions - slice finely
1 bulb or 10-12 cloves of garlic - slice finely
2 sprigs coriander - separate stems & chop stems finely (set aside leaves for garnish)
2 sprigs curry leaves - remove leaves from stems
1 tsp mustard & fenugreek seeds (I used store-bought mixed fish spice a.k.a rempah tumis ikan.)
200g pre-mixed fish curry powder - mixed with 250ml of water to form a paste
OR   25g turmeric powder
            100g coriander powder
            25g cumin powder
            25g black cumin
            25g chilli powder
500g tomatoes - cut, remove seeds & chop into fine pieces
100ml diluted tamarind juice
2 sprigs lemon grass - press
300ml coconut milk
1.1L water
250ml palm or rice oil (I used vegetable oil.)
500g okra - wash, cut hard end, lightly boil & set aside
500g purple or white brinjals - cut into small even pieces on a slant & fry to a golden brown
2 red & 2 green chillies - cut into two lengthwise & remove seeds
salt to taste

Method:

1. Fry onions until light brown.  Add garlic, curry leaves, chopped coriander stems, mustard & fenugreek seeds. Fry to a golden brown.
2. Add spice paste & chopped tomatoes & stir evenly for 10 mins until oil separates from paste.
3. Add another 250ml water as it thickens. Stir until oil separates from paste. The spices should by now render an aroma as oil separates further from paste. This process (from the time spices fry in oil) should take about 20mins. 
4. Add tamarind  juice & lemon grass sprigs. Boil for another 20 ins.
5. Add 600ml water, salt & coconut milk. Reduce as gravy thickens, oil will rise to surface.
6. Add fish, boiled okra, fried brinjalm green & red chillies & one sprig coriander leaves. Remove from fire immediately & close pan with lid to allow fish to cook in the heat of gravy. Garnish with remaining coriander leaves. 

Serves 6-8 persons.
Preparation time: 40 mins
Cooking time: 1 hour

I'm submitting this post to the following events:

1. Malaysian Food Fest, Penang Month hosted by Alan of Travellingfoodies,
2. Little Thumbs Up hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders, organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen of my little favourite D.I.Y. and
3. Cook-Your-Books organised by Kitchen Flavours.

Best Ever Banana Muffins

Before we left for KL last Saturday, I threw into the freezer some food items which otherwise would have turned bad in the fridge by the time we  came back this week. One of them is half a bunch of ripe bananas with which I had already planned to bake muffins. That's exactly what I did with them this morning, before I forget about them....

I used the recipe shared by Roz @ Homekreation which she called her Best Ever Banana Muffins. After baking them, I understand why... they are simply yummy. Light & fluffy, they rose quite nicely even when I fill the cups almost to the brim, unlike some recipes which cause the muffins to overflow onto the pan. Only thing, I find them rather sweet, maybe because the bananas were very ripe. So the next time I use this recipe, I'll adjust the amount of sugar used.

Best Ever Banana Muffins
Source: Roz@HomeKreation.

Ingredients:
170g (3/4 cup) mashed ripe bananas
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
1 egg - slightly beaten
1/3 cup (80g) melted butter
1 tsp baking powder*
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda*
1/2 tsp salt*
1 1/2 cup (180g) flour* (* sift together)
1 tsp pure vanilla paste (I added.)

Method:

1. Place bananas & sugar in a bowl & mix until combined. 
2. Add in egg & butter gradually while mixing. 
3. Fold in dry ingredients gradually until well mixed. 
4. Spoon into muffin cups/tin. 
5. Bake for 20 minutes at 180 deg C.

Homemade Laksa Noodle

For the past few years, my mother will always make laksa noodle herself instead of buying it from the market. She said that that was what she used to do long, long time ago, before she was even married. You see, my late grandfather liked to invite guests over for meals. Of course, at that time, the guests would be served with home cooked food. So, my mother & late grandmother would cook the noodle, accompanied by a big pot of laksa gravy. Imagine the work involved..... stoneground spices, self-grated & self-squeezed coconut milk... I'm not surprised if the rice flour was also stone ground at home. And the noodle maker is the big type, the one that requires a person to push the handle while walking around the big pot. I recall seeing that equipment before we left our kampung house..

My mum's habit has kind of rubbed off on me... I've been wanting to make laksa noodle myself & finally, a few days ago, I did it! Not  bad for a first time...  Will I ever make it again..? Yes, at least one more time. This time, the muruku maker that I used requires a lot of energy, so it was quite challenging. But I want to try using another type of muruku maker (see pictures below). My mum said it's easier. I'm not giving up yet, haha!

Homemade Laksa Noodle

Starch:
70g tapioca flour
80ml tap water
150ml boiling water

Combine tapioca flour & tap water in a bowl & mix thoroughly. Pour in boiling water & stir until starch is formed. My starch is white in colour. It's supposed to be colourless. My mum said that the water I used was not hot enough ( I actually used the hot water from the dispenser). But it's ok if it's white. Set aside.

Dough:
300g rice flour
80g tapioca flour
1 tsp salt
150ml hot boiling water (You may not need all, so adjust accordingly.)

Combine flour & salt & mix thoroughly. Add in starch & continue mixing. Add in hot water bit by bit & mix until a pliable dough is formed. Set aside.

To cook noodle:

1. Boil a big pot of water.
2. Place some dough into a muruku maker. Press it directly into the boiling water.
3. Once the noodle floats, remove from pot using a strainer & place noodle into a bowl of cold water. 
4. Remove the cooled noodle & place it onto a tea towel. Leave to dry.

The flour that I used.

The tapioca flour & water mixture.

.... after adding hot water, starch is formed.

The dough...

Cooked noodle on the tea towel...

This is the type of muruku maker that I used. It's quite challenging using it.  My mum is right...

Picture taken from Baking Frenzy.

My mum said it's better to use this type. I will definitely use this one the next time.

Picture taken from Loyang & Acuan.

Truely Homemade Asam Laksa

Laksa is not one of my family's favourite food. So I seldom cook it at home since that entails buying a host of ingredients & spending quite a bit of time in in the kitchen. It doesn't feel like it's worth it. So, I usually cook it  when I'm receiving guests or I would cook & share it with my mum who happens to be a laksa fan. My mum would go one step further... besides preparing the gravy, she would also make her own laksa noodle... yes, the white & thick noodle.

Asam Laksa not commonly found in Singapore. Even if you find one, quite likely, it's not up to your expectation. So whenever I go to Malaysia, I would try to eat it at least once.

Since it's the school holidays, I can afford to spend more time in the kitchen. So,  a few days ago, I cooked Asam Laksa. I also made the noodle myself. So we had a truely homemade Asam Laksa. 

Asam Laksa
Recipe by Chef Wan from The Best of Chef Wan, A Taste of Malaysia.

Ingredients:

300g thick rice vermicelli (I used homemade laksa noodle.)

Garnish:

2 red chillies, seeded & thinly sliced

2 green chillies, seeded & sliced

2 torch ginger buds, thinly sliced

15-20 laksa leaves, finely sliced

20 mint leaves

2-3 leaves lettuce, finely shredded (I didn't use.)

6 kalamansi limes, halved

1/2 pineapple, peeled & thinly sliced

1 hard-boiled egg, peeled & quartered

4 tbsp black prawn paste (hae ko) - I didn't use.

Gravy:

500ml water (I added more.)

4 pieces dried sour fruit (asam gelugor)

15 laksa leaves

2 torch ginger buds, halved lengthwise

1.5 kg (I used 1kg only.) mackerel fish, cleaned, boiled, deboned & coarsely pounded

salt to taste

sugar to taste

Spice paste:

30 dried chillies, soaked in hot water, seeded & drained

15 shallots, peeled

2 galic cloves, peeled

1 tbsp dried prawn (shrimp) paste (belacan)

Method:

1. Combine ingredients for spice paste in a food processor & blend until smooth.
2. Prepare gravy. Put the spice paste, water, dried sour fruit, laksa leaves, torch ginger buds & fish into a pot. (I added more water to the  gravy.) Bring to the boil & season with salt & sugar. Allow gravy to simmer until it thickens slightly.
3. To serve, place vermicelli into bowls & pour gravy over. Top with the remaining ingredients & serve immediately.

I am submitting this post to Malaysian Food Fest, Penang Month hosted by Alan of Travellingfoodies.

Creamy & Fluffy Cheesecake

After a delightful experience with the Creamy Cheesecake a week ago, I'm here with a cheesecake again... This time, as I've mentioned I was going to do, I did a slight tweak to the method, in the hope of duplicating The Coffee Bean Chicago Cheesecake, at least the texture.... 

So, did I succeed? Well, I think I was not exactly there..... but almost.. I'm very happy with the result though. So, beating the egg whites separately did produce a fluffier cheesecake, just like the Souffle Cheesecake. 

I'm also happy with how it tastes this time... rich & creamy but not so tangy. This time, I reduced the Greek yogurt significantly & mixed it with a can of cream. Hmmm.... I wonder what the outcome would be if I were to use whipping cream... No... I'm not going to experiment with that so soon.. or we'll all be cheesecake overload! 

Ok.. before I leave you with the recipe, just some notes:

1. This recipe is still based on the recipe by Dorie Greenspan.
2. You may vary the combination of cream & yogurt. It all depends on how creamy or tangy you want the cheesecake to be.
3. Again, mine is the low version, so if you want a tall cake, just double up the cheesecake ingredients.

Creamy & Fluffy Cheesecake

For the crust:
170g (1 3/4) cups graham cracker crumbs
30g (3 tbsp) sugar
pinch of salt
60g (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake:
500g (two 250g boxes) cream cheese, at room temperature
120g (2/3 cups sugar) - divided
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp pure vanilla paste
2 large eggs (separated), at room temperature
1 can (170g) Nestle cream (sterilised pure dairy cream)
50g (3 tbsp) Greek yogurt

This is the cream that I used. Picture taken from fairprice.com.sg.

To make the crust:

1. Butter a 9-inch square (with removable bottom) or  round springform pan & wrap the bottom of the pan in a double layer of aluminium foil. Put the pan on a baking sheet.
2. Stir the crumbs, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. Turn the ingredients into the buttered  pan & use your fingers to pat an even layer of crumbs along the bottom of the pan. You may put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven. I didn't do that.
3. Center a rack in the oven, preheat the oven to 180°C & place the pan on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the cheesecake.
4. Reduce the oven temperature to 170°C

To make the cheesecake:

1. Put a kettle of water on to boil.
2. Working in a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until it is soft and lives up to the creamy part of its name, about 4 minutes. With the mixer running, add salt & 3/4 of the sugar & continue to beat another 4 minutes or so, until the cream cheese is light. Beat in the vanilla. Add the egg yolk one by one, beating for a full minute after each addition. Reduce the mixer speed to low and stir in the cream & greek yogurt. Set aside.
3. Place the egg white in a mixing bowl & beat on medium speed for about 1 minute. Then add the rest of sugar & continue beating until soft peak.
4. Scoop 1/3 of meringue into the cream cheese mixture & fold in, preferably, using a hand whisk. Then add in the rest of meringue & continue mixing until well blended.
5. Put the foil-wrapped baking pan in the roaster pan.
6. Scrape the batter into the baking pan. Put the roasting pan in the oven and pour enough boiling water into the roaster to come halfway up the sides of the baking pan.
7. Bake the cheesecake for 50 minutes, at which point the top will be browned. Turn off the oven's heat and prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon. Allow the cheesecake to luxuriate in its water bath for another hour.
8. After 1 hour, carefully pull the setup out of the oven, lift the pan out of the roaster—be careful, there may be some hot water in the aluminium foil—remove the foil. Let the cheesecake come to room temperature on a cooling rack.
9. When the cake is cool, cover the top lightly and chill the cake for at least 4 hours. Chill it overnight for better flavour.

Chilled Soya Bean Pudding

Today's  dessert is  the all-famous soya bean pudding which I first made 3 weeks ago after I saw Dr Leslie Tay posted the recipe, shared by his  friend, on his ieatishootipost facebook page. He claimed that the taste was quite close to the one sold outside. I'm guessing it's the one from Lao Ban stall at the Old Airport Road Hawker Centre, the one that has sent Singaporeans going gaga over it for a period of time.

I've never bought this dessert before because I wasn't sure what kind of coagulant was used & whether it's halal. I've seen  blogger posts on the recipe but I wasn't keen to make it. So why now...? Well, recently, the famous stall started operating a kiosk in my neighbourhood. So every time I passed by it, I couldn't help but wonder how it tasted. So when I saw the facebook post, I was eager to try making it. It was so delicious!! No wonder Singaporeans are going crazy over it! The first time I made it, I couldn't stop eating it... and I thought only fried stuff can be addictive! Actually, this dessert is quite similar to dadih, a  traditional Malay food which  originated from Minangkabau in Indonesia. 

Yesterday was the second time I made the dessert. The first time,  I only made half recipe & I ate most of it! This time,  I made the full recipe & sent some to my mum's place. (I just finished one bowl as I'm typing this entry..hehe...)

As I was googling the recipe, I found the exact recipe that was shared by Dr Tay in Miss Tam Chiak's blog. So below is the recipe she posted.

Chilled Soya Bean Pudding
Source: Miss Tam Chiak.

To make Soya Milk (6 regular bowls):
120g Polleney Soya Bean Milk Powder
60g Unisoy Soya Bean Milk Powder
1400ml water

Method:
Stir everything together.

To make beancurd pudding:
1400ml of soya milk
60g of Nestle Coffeemate coffee creamer
60g of sugar to taste (not required if using carton-ed Soya Bean Milk)
28g of Phoon Huat’s instant jelly powder (note: if the pudding is still too watery, increase it to 30-32g)
1 tsp vanilla paste - I added.

Method:
1. Heat the soya milk in low heat till its hot. DO NOT BOIL.
2. Stir in coffee creamer till it is fully dissolved.
3. Stir in sugar till it is fully dissolved.
4. Stir in instant jelly powder till it is fully dissolved.
5. Sieve out the bubbles & pour into bowls.
6. Allow to cool down for 5 minutes
7. Put in fridge for overnight. Enjoy!

TIPS:
- Never add too much jelly powder, it will become too hard!

Creamy Cheesecake

On the last day of the school term, my colleagues & I went for  tea at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. We wanted to reward ourselves for all the hard work we had put in.... Oh boy....we sure rewarded ourselves! Each of us ordered a different type of cheesecake.... so, between us, we ate four different types of cheesecake in one sitting! 

We all agreed that the Tiramisu cake was not that fantastic. Two of them were actually variations of  its Chicago Cheesecake. And yes... the Chicago Cheesecake is to die for....!! It's creamy, smooth, velvety & slightly fluffy. It's just PERFECT! 

Funny thing is, that was not my first time eating the sinfully delicious cheesecake, but the experience on that day felt different.... Must be the combination of good things on that day.... the last day of school, the company &, of course, the 4 different types of cheesecake! Haha....

After that day, I started itching to bake a cheesecake, hoping to duplicate the Chicago Cheesecake from Coffee Bean.... So, after looking through some recipes on the internet & some books,  last Thursday, I baked one using the recipe from Baking: From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan. Well, it didn't turn out as good as expected in terms of the texture... it was smooth & velvety but it wasn't as fluffy. Taste wise, I would give it a 9 out of 10! The only minus point is, since I used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream or heavy cream, the cake was too tangy to my taste.  Not sure if the yogurt was the cause...  Anyway, I'm planning to bake it again using the same recipe but with some tweaking. That's coming up, hopefully, soon..

What changes I made when making this cheesecake:

1. Instead of using a 9-inch round springform pan, I used a 9-inch square pan, the one with a removable base.
2. I only used half of the cheesecake recipe because I did not want my cheesecake to be too tall. (By the way, the original name of this cake is Tall & Creamy Cheesecake.) I still used the whole recipe for the crust.
3. Since my cheesecake is not as tall, I only baked for about 1 hour.
4. Oh yes, I replaced the sour cream / heavy cream with greek yogurt because I didn't want to buy the big tub of sour cream sold in the supermarket.

Creamy Cheesecake
Recipe by Dorie Greenspan from Baking: From My Home To Yours.

For the crust:
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake:
2 pounds (four 8-ounce boxes) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sour cream or heavy cream, or a combination of the two

To make the crust:

1. Butter a 9-inch springform pan—choose one that has sides that are 2 3/4 inches high (if the sides are lower, you will have cheesecake batter leftover)—and wrap the bottom of the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil; put the pan on a baking sheet.
2. Stir the crumbs, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. (I do this with my fingers.) Turn the ingredients into the buttered springform pan and use your fingers to pat an even layer of crumbs along the bottom of the pan and about halfway up the sides. Don't worry if the sides are not perfectly even or if the crumbs reach above or below the midway mark on the sides—this doesn't have to be a precision job. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven.
3. Center a rack in the oven, preheat the oven to 350°F and place the springform on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the cheesecake.
4. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.

To make the cheesecake:

1. Put a kettle of water on to boil.
2. Working in a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until it is soft and lives up to the creamy part of its name, about 4 minutes. With the mixer running, add the sugar and salt and continue to beat another 4 minutes or so, until the cream cheese is light. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one by one, beating for a full minute after each addition—you want a well-aerated batter. Reduce the mixer speed to low and stir in the sour cream and/or heavy cream.
3. Put the foil-wrapped springform pan in the roaster pan.
4. Give the batter a few stirs with a rubber spatula, just to make sure that nothing has been left unmixed at the bottom of the bowl, and scrape the batter into the springform pan. The batter will reach the brim of the pan. (If you have a pan with lower sides and have leftover batter, you can bake the batter in a buttered ramekin or small soufflé mold.) Put the roasting pan in the oven and pour enough boiling water into the roaster to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.
5. Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, at which point the top will be browned (and perhaps cracked) and may have risen just a little above the rim of the pan. Turn off the oven's heat and prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon. Allow the cheesecake to luxuriate in its water bath for another hour.
6. After 1 hour, carefully pull the setup out of the oven, lift the springform pan out of the roaster—be careful, there may be some hot water in the aluminum foil—remove the foil. Let the cheesecake come to room temperature on a cooling rack.
7. When the cake is cool, cover the top lightly and chill the cake for at least 4 hours, although overnight would be better.

Indian Curry Puff a.k.a Karipap Bai.

I'm glad the school term is over. The last three weeks of the term had been hectic...... the daily challenges to meet datelines while keeping up with the ever active eight-year-olds had left me feeling tired & sleepy everyday. I'm so thankful I'm healthy..... so managed to complete the tasks with no major hiccups. There wasn't much time to update this blog although I managed to squeeze some time during the weekends to prepare some simple desserts.

Hard to believe  it's already almost the end of the first  week of the holidays! It's been a good one so far...... besides doing the routine, managed to watch the tele a lot, do some window shopping & bake, of course!

I baked these Indian Curry Puffs, or what we usually call Karipap Bai,  twice this week. Karipap Bai is one of the iconic snack in Singapore, especially among the Muslims. I started eating them when I was very young. Back then, my family often bought them from the Bai Roti who peddles on his motorcycle everyday. 

I learnt to make them in 2001 during one of the weekend baking classes with Kak Wannah. Love the flaky pastry of these puffs, unlike the ones sold outside which sometimes can be hard & crunchy, depending on where you purchase them. I must say, this is one unhealthy snack... just look at the layers of fat & more fat on top of the puffs used in the preparation! Having said that, I would still buy & eat them occasionally because I just love them! Btw, I like eating them with hot green tea as it helps to clear the fat that tends to stick to the tongue.

Ok, enough of the ramblings... I should get started with the recipe. This is going to be one very long post, in fact, my longest so far! I've included a lot of details in the method followed by many pictures to illustrate the folding of the puffs. If you have not made these puffs before, there's  no way you  would understand just by reading the method. So I've included the pictures for the step-by-step tutorial. My advice is, read the instructions carefully & read them several times before you start doing it. It's really not very difficult...

Some notes when making these puffs:

1. I followed Kak Wannah's recipe very closely except for the rest periods which she did not emphasise. During my pastry-making course, I learnt that resting the dough after each folding is very important as this will prevent the dough from becoming tough. It's also an important step to produce flaky, not hard,  puffs. 
2. I made 16 big puffs from this recipe. Although they look small in the pictures, they are actually quite big. The side for each square pastry (refer picture for step 18) is about 10cm. So if you want to make smaller ones, cut into smaller squares in step 13.
3. Like any layered puffs, these puffs must be baked on very high heat (200 deg C) to produce nicely-layered puffs. It's good to use a thermometer to ensure the correct temperature. (I had to put mine at 220 deg.)

Indian Curry Puffs  a.k.a  Karipap Bai.
Recipe by Wannah Alshatrie (with more details in the method).

Pastry
Ingredients:
600g plain flour
1 egg (beaten)
250ml warm water (not hot)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp yellow colouring (reduce if use the powder form)
200g pastry margarine

flour for dusting
egg white or water for sealing (I used water.)
vegetable oil of topping

Steps:

1. Combine warm water, salt & colouring in a bowl & mix until salt dissolves.
2. Combine flour, egg & water in another bowl & mix just until the mixture forms a dough. Do not overmix. Don't worry if  there're still specks of flour in the dough as they will 'disappear' after the rolling & folding process. Cover dough with plastic & leave to rest for at least 20 minutes.
3. In the meantime, place the pastry margarine on a plastic & place another piece of plastic on the margarine. Roll out the margarine evenly into a rectangle. Leave aside.
4. Roll out the dough into a rectangle about 1cm thick, as carefully & evenly as possible. Then place the rolled-out pastry margarine on one side of the dough. 
5. Fold dough into 2, just like you would close a book. Press the edges to seal.  Cover dough with plastic & leave to rest for at least 20 minutes.
6. Turn dough at 90 deg. Then roll dough into a rectangle.
7. Divide the rectangle crosswise into thirds by sight alone or mark the dough lightly with the edge of your hand. Fold one-third of the dough over the middle section. 
8. Then fold the remaining one-third over both of them, brushing away the excess flour from the inside as you fold. 
9. Next, fold into thirds again, this time from top & bottom, to form a square.  Cover dough with plastic & leave to rest for at least 20 minutes.
10. Roll out the dough into a rectangle,  about the same size  as  in step 6. Repeat Step 7 & 8.
11. Now cut the dough into thirds.
12. Place the bottom third onto the middle third & followed by the top third. You'll end up with a very tall dough. (This step is just like step 9 except that this time the thirds are cut.) Cover dough with plastic & leave to rest for at least 20 minutes.
13. Using a knife & a ruler, divide the dough into small squares & make markings on the dough. (I divided it into 16 squares.) Then carefully cut the small squares. (You may also place the dough in the refrigerator for a while so it's easier to cut it.)
14. Using your fingers, press each square gently & coat it with flour.
15. Starting from the middle, roll out each piece upwards & then downwards, turning it at 90 deg after every set of upward- & downward-rolling. This is to ensure that the square shape is maintained throughout the rolling process.
16. Then, turn the dough such that you are facing a diamond shape dough. Starting from the middle, roll out upwards & then downwards, once only. 
17. Place the side of each square with lesser veins facing upwards. So the side with more veins will be the outer part of the puff.
18. Spoon the filling on the square. Brush egg white or water on the edges.
19. Fold into a triangle & seal. 
20. Then dip the puff into a bowl of water, & using your other hand, rub off any flour that is stuck to the pastry. Lift up the puff & drain as much water as possible & place it on a baking tray which has been lined with baking paper. 
21. Just before putting the tray of puffs in the oven, pour a tsp of oil onto each puff & spread it evenly using a brush.
22. Bake in a preheated oven at 200 deg C for about 25 minutes.

Illustration for Steps 4 - 9.

Step 4: Place rolled-out pastry margarine on one side of rolled-out dough.

Step 5: Fold dough into 2,  like closing a book. Press the edges to seal. Leave to rest for 20mins.

Step 6: Turn dough at 90 deg. Then roll out dough into a rectangle.

Step 7: Fold one-third of the dough over the middle section.

Step 8: Then fold the remaining one-third over the other thirds.

Step 9: Next, fold into thirds again, this time from bottom & then top, to form a square. Leave to rest for 20 mins.

Illustration for Steps 11 - 21.

Step 11: Cut the folded dough into thirds.

Step 12: Place the bottom third onto the middle third & followed by the top third. Leave to rest.

Step 13: Divide & cut dough into small squares.

Step 14: Using your fingers, press each square gently & coat it with flour

Step 15: Starting from the middle, roll out each piece upwards & then downwards. 

Step 16: Roll out upwards & then downwards.

Step 17: Let the side of pastry with lots of veins be the outer part of puff.....

.....while the side with lesser veins be the inside part.

Step 18: Spoon filling onto the dough.

Step 19: Fold into a triangle & seal.

Step 20: Dip puff into water to wash off the flour.

Step 21: Pour oil & spread it evenly using a brush.

Yummy Curry Puffs!

Filling

Ingredients:

500g potato (peeled & cut into small pieces)

200g onion

200g ground meat (I used chicken breast which I cut into small pieces.)

4 tbsp meat curry powder (mix with some water to form a paste) - you may adjust the amount of  curry powder to your preference.

1 tbsp ginger & garlic paste
3 cloves, 3 cardamom, 1 inch cinnamon stick
2 tbsp cooking oil

chinese parsley & spring onion (I replaced these with mint leaves.)

salt to taste

Method:

1. Heat up oil in a frying pan.
2. Fry cloves, cardamon & cinnamon stick until fragrant. Add garlic & ginger paste & continue frying until fragrant.
3. Add curry paste & continue frying. Add meat & cook for about 3 minutes & add in potato & cook until potato is soft. Add water when necessary. Finally add in onion, mint leaves & salt.
4. Once cooked, remove from stove set aside to cool completely.

I'm submitting this post to the Little Thumbs Up event hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders, organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen of my little favourite D.I.Y.