Banana Chips aka Kerepek Pisang

It's already the end of the month. This means that it is almost the end of the LTU event which I'm hosting. So my last entry for the event is about my attempt at making the addictive Banana Chips, also known as Kerepek Pisang.

Kerepek pisang brings back memories of my younger days... To supplement the family income, my parents made kerepek pisang at home & supply it to shops & snack stalls at the market. My mum would use a huge kuali into which bottles of oil were poured. She would fry the chips while my father & I helped to pack them. Now, my mum still fries the chips but only for home consumption. 

My family loves snacking on kerepek pisang but we usually just buy the ready made ones since it's so widely available in shops & markets.  Last week's attempt was really my first time frying the chips myself. I wanted to use pisang tanduk but since I could not find any green ones, I decided to use pisang kepok/nipah instead. I think pisang tanduk  tastes so much better.

Update (5 April 2015):
I managed to find some green pisang tanduk on Friday. Below is a shot of the pisang tanduk chips. Not only do the bright yellow chips look prettier but also taste better! 

Banana Chips a.k.a. Kerepek Pisang

Ingredients:
bananas (young & green)
salt
water
vegetable oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Peel the bananas. Set aside.
2. Mix salt & water. Set aside.
3. Heat up the oil in a deep frying pan or kuali.
4. Using a handheld vegetable slicer, slice bananas directly into the hot oil.
5. Sprinkle a few tsps of salt solution onto the sliced bananas.
6. Fry until crispy.
7. Leave to cool completely. Then store in an airtight container.

Notes:

1. I've not included the amount for the ingredients used as I think you can just estimate it.
2. I used pisang kepok/nipah. You may also use pisang tanduk, another preferred type of banana when making banana chips. I prefer the taste of pisang tanduk.
3. The amount of salt & water needed will depend on your preference & the amount of bananas.

I'm linking this post to the Little Thumbs Up (March-2015 - BANANA) event organised by Zoe (Bake for Happy Kids) and Mui Mui (My Little Favourite DIY) and hosted by me, Faeez of BitterSweetSpicy.

Epok-epok

Today's entry is on one of the most popular, if not the most popular snacks in Singapore & Malaysia. It's epok-epok to Singaporeans & Johoreans,  while the rest of Malaysians call it karipap. Epok-epok is the Malay version of curry puffs, almost like the Indian samosas. 

I think almost all of us would agree that a good epok-epok is one with thin & crispy crust. Of course, the filling has to be good too. Epok-epok is more commonly sold as a snack because it's actually quite simple to prepare, unlike karipap bai.

Whenever I made epok-epok at home, I would just agak-agak (estimate) the amount of ingredients... so my epok-epok, not surprisingly, is often not consistent in quality. There were a few occasions when I  tried a couple of promising recipes from the internet... the epok-epok was crispy alright, but it's either soaked in oil or, a recipe I tried very recently made a dough that was so difficult to handle!

So yesterday, I decided to measure the ingredients I used when making my epok-epok since I was planning to share the recipe here. I'm pleased with the outcome.... it's thin & reasonably crispy, considering that I did not use any vegetable shortening. (Shortening contributes to a crispy crust but it leaves a plastic aftertaste.) The dough is also easy to handle. So, do give a try & let me know what you think of it. Free feel to adjust the recipe & let me know how it turns out.

Epok-epok

PASTRY
Ingredients:
300g plain flour
30g (40ml) vegetable oil
40g butter or margarine (I used salted butter.)
3/4 tsp salt
70-90ml warm water (Do not pour all at once.)
vegetable oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Combine oil & butter/margarine & salt & heat up until the butter melts.
2. Pour the hot oil mixture into the flour & mix using a spoon.
3. Add the warm water, as much as you need, & knead until a soft dough is formed. (You need not use up all the water.)
4. Cover the dough or wrap it in plastic & leave it to rest for 20 minutes in room temperature.

FILLING

Ingredients:

2 cloves

2 pieces cardamoms

2 cm cinnamon stick (thin stick)

2 tsp ginger paste (from 1cm ginger)

1 tsp garlic paste (from 1 clove)
1 tbsp + 1 tsp meat curry powder (or kurma powder) - mix with a little water to form a paste
100g ground beef (or diced chicken or dried prawns)

150g potatoes (1-2 pieces) - diced into small cubes

1 medium onion (diced)

1/2 tsp salt

water (as needed)

1 tbsp mint leaves (or coriander leaves, aka cilantro or Chinese parsley)

2 tbsp cooking oil

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the cloves, cardamons, cinnamon stick, ginger & garlic paste until golden & fragrant.
2. Add the curry paste & cook for 2 minutes. Then add the ground beef & stir thoroughly for another 2 minutes.
3. Add potatoes & a few spoons of water. Stir frequently until the potatoes are cooked & almost dry. Add salt & more water when the mixture becomes dry but still uncooked. (I also cover the pan to speed up cooking time.)
4. Add in onions & mint leaves & continue cooking until the onions become soft.
5. Remove from fire & transfer into a bowl. Leave to cool completely before assembling the epok-epok.

ASSEMBLY

1. Roll out the dough to 3mm thick and using a round cookie cutter, stamp out circles. (I used a 8cm cutter.) Pinch the edges of the circles to expand them a little. 
2. Fill the center of pastry with filling and bring the edges together to form a half-moon. Pinch the edges together to seal & then crimp or pleat the sealed edges neatly. Refer to the video below on how I did mine.
3. Deep-fry on medium fire until golden, about 1-2 minutes on each side. Drain & serve warm.
4. Makes about 20 pieces.

Video: How to seal & crimp the edges of epok-epok.

Notes:

1. If using dried prawns, soak them till soft & grind. Also, use fish instead of meat curry powder.
2. For a less spicy filling, use kurma powder instead of curry powder. Kurma powder is similar to curry powder  except that it has white pepper instead of red chilli & turmeric powder.
3. Cover or wrap unused dough with plastic, especially if you living in areas with low humidity, as the dough tends to dry up. 
4. If  yo've used all the filling & there's excess dough, don't throw it away. Just roll it out, cut into strips & fry them. They make delicious snack!
5. The uncooked epok-epok keeps well when frozen & fry it only before serving. You need not defrost them before frying.

I'm linking this post to Asian Food Fest #11 Sept 2014 : Singapore, hosted by Grace Phua of Life Can Be Simple.

Fried Cempedak

The cempedak that I bought  the other day was just enough for me to bake the Cempedak Buttermilk Cake & cook cempedak puree for my Hari Raya Haji baking project. I didn't get to fry any of them. So yesterday, I made a trip to Geylang Serai market & among other things, I bought a cempedak.

I was quite curious what it would cost me. Normally, a kilogram costs about $4-$5 versus RM6 (S$2.40) I paid at Pasar Larkin. Yesterday, I got it for $3/kg. But for a slightly less than 2-kg plump cempedak, the dude charged me only $4! ("Nevermind, just pay me $4.") That was a very good bargain.... there were 16 sweet, deep orange nuggets altogether & the seeds were sooo small!

The batter I used was quite similar to the one I used for my fried bananas, except this time, I omitted the baking powder & sugar. The crunchy coating plus the sweet cempedak flesh made such a simple snack yet so satisfying..... that's just amazing..

Fried Cempedak

Ingredients:

15 cempedak nuggets
1 cup (150g) rice flour
2 tbsp plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp  lye water -  you may also use lime water (air kapuh sirih) 

about 3/4 cup water (Don't add all at once.)
oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Combine rice flour, plain flour & salt in a mixing bowl.
2. Gradually add water & lye water & mix well to create a smooth batter. (The batter should not be too runny or too thick.)
3. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
4. Dip cempedak nuggets, one at a time, into the batter and deep fry until they turn deep yellow. Serve warm. If there's any leftover batter, just drizzle batter using a spoon or hand into the hot oil & fry till deep yellow.

I'm linking this post to Asian Food Fest #11 Sept 2014 : Singapore, hosted by Grace Phua of Life Can Be Simple.

Super Soft Pumpkin Doughnuts

I've bought Japanese pumpkin several times before but haven't tried making bread or doughnuts with it. So yesterday, I decided to use up the leftover in the fridge after cooking a pumpkin dish for dinner two nights ago. I decided to use the super soft Potato Doughnut recipe by Madam Fatmah  which I've used before. I replaced the potato with pumpkin & made  some other minor modifications.

As expected, the doughnuts are very soft. The pumpkin flavour is very subtle, so much so my kids don't know I've actually added pumpkin. And unlike the pale-looking potato doughnuts, these doughnuts are beautiful, taking up the beautiful orange colour of the pumpkin.

By the way, I've also used the Potato Doughnut recipe  to make Sweet Potato Doughnuts before. So, after making the pumpkin version,  I can certainly say the recipe makes a very good base recipe. Now, what other version should I experiment it with......? Do you have any suggestions?

Super Soft Pumpkin Doughnuts
Ingredients:
250g high protein flour or bread flour
5g instant yeast
50g sugar
100g cooked pumpkin (mashed)
50ml cold milk
2 egg yolks
30g butter
1/4 tsp salt
icing sugar for coating

Method:

1. Combine flour, yeast & sugar in a mixing bowl. Stir to combine.
2. Add the mashed pumpkin, milk & egg yolks & mix using the dough hook until well combined, about 2 minutes. 
3. Add in butter and continue mixing until the butter is well incorporated into the dough, about 2 minutes. 
4. Finally, add in salt and mix for another 3 minutes until the dough is smooth.
5. Remove the dough from the bowl & shape it into a ball. Then place it in a clean bowl. Cover the bowl & leave it to prove for about 45 minutes.
6. Punch the dough down & shape it into a ball. Leave to rest for about 10 minutes.
7. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and gently roll out to 1 cm thickness. Cut with a floured doughnut cutter. (OR, divide the dough into small portions of about 30g each & mould them into smooth balls. Leave them to rest for 10 minutes. Then shape them into ring doughnuts.)
8. Cover doughnuts loosely with a cloth & leave to rise for about 35 minutes. 
9. Deep fry doughnuts in medium hot oil till golden brown.
10. Coat the doughnuts with icing sugar. 

Notes:

1. I microwaved about 200g of cut raw pumpkin (unpeeled) & once cooked, I scrapped the soft flesh. I got about 100g.
2. I mixed the dough in the late morning & left it in the fridge to proof for about 5 hours. After taking it out from the fridge, I left it in room temperature for about 20 minutes before proceeding with step 6.
3. I wanted to coat the doughnuts with cinnamon sugar but I ran out of cinnamon powder. I think these doughnuts would go very well with cinnamon.

I'm submitting this post to Little Thumbs Up May 2014 (Milk) organised by Bake For Happy Kids, and My Little Favourite DIY, hosted by Tze of Awayofmind Bakery House

Spiral Curry Puffs

Since it's the school holidays, I've a list of recipes that I want to experiment with, along with a long list of things I want to do. Sigh.... it's already halfway into the holidays, but I'm not even halfway through the lists..... 

Anyway, I made Spiral Curry Puffs for teatime yesterday using the dough recipe by Alex Goh. I've made this before a long time ago. I remember feeling quite disappointed with my puffs then because the lamination was not as neat & fine as the one in the book. This time, I'm still not fully satisfied with my puffs... the lamination turned out okay, but many of my puffs were broken before I could fry them. I wonder what could have gone wrong....

The good thing is, overall, the puffs were not  a total disappointment. The tasty & spicy filling wrapped in the flaky pastry made an addictive snack! 

Spiral Curry Puffs

Filling:
2 cm ginger (grated)
3 pods cardamom
2 whole cloves
2 cm thin cinnamon stick
2 tbsp meat curry powder (you may add more) - mixed with water to form a paste
200g minced meat (I used beef.)
250g potatoes (diced)
1 onion (diced)
mint leaves
salt
oil for sauteing

       Heat up oil in a frying pan. Fry cloves, cardamom & cinnamon stick until fragrant. Add  ginger  & curry paste. Continue frying until fragrant. Add meat & cook for about 3 minutes. Then add in potatoes & cook until soft. Add water when necessary. Finally add in onion, mint leaves & salt. Once cooked, remove from stove & set aside to cool completely.

Dough:

Water dough
260g flour
50g margarine/butter
20g sugar
100-140g water

Combine all ingredients & mix to form a smooth dough. Divide it into 2 equal portions & let it rest for at least 20 minutes.

Oil dough
180g flour
100g shortening (I used crisco.)
Combine all ingredients & mix to form a smooth dough. Divide it into 2 equal portions.

Assembly:

1. Wrap 1 portion of the oil dough with 1 portion of the water dough. (i.e. oil dough is inside & water dough on the outside.) Then roll it into a rectangular shape.

2. Make a book fold. Then rotate the dough 90 deg. 

3. Roll it into thin sheet of 2mm thickness. Then roll it up like a swiss roll. Leave it aside to rest for at least 10 minutes. Then slice the dough into 8 equal parts. Repeat the assembly process with the other portion.

4. Roll each piece of sliced dough into 3mm thickness. Place filling & pinch to seal.

5. Fry in hot oil until golden brown.

Dough recipe by Alex Goh from Irresistible Pastry.

I'm linking this post to Cook-Your-Books #10 hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours.

Crispy Crab Sticks

As usual, as the Chinese New Year is drawing nearer, I notice bottles of cookies & snacks here & there at the workplace.... I also hear updates of what's baking, frying & buying for the celebrations. 

My colleague, Sharon, has been raving about the crispy crab sticks she made. I was not aware of such snack before she told me about it. She encouraged me to make it because she emphasised, confidently, that it's not only delicious, it's also very easy to make! It's also way cheaper to make it at home because, apparently, it's on sale for more than $10 per bottle! So I made it two nights ago & again this morning. Sharon is right, it's one of the easiest snack to make! But beware, like any delicious snack, it's very addictive!

Before I leave you with the recipe, I would like to wish all Chinese readers Happy Lunar New Year! Have a joyous & safe celebration!

Crispy Crab Sticks

Ingredients:
imitation crab sticks (thawed, if frozen)
vegetable oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Shred the crab sticks into thin strips.
2. Heat oil over medium fire.
3. Place shredded crab sticks, a small amount at a time, into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown.
4. Once brown, remove & place on paper kitchen towel to drain.
5. Leave to cool down completely. Store in an air-tight container.

Notes:

• Fry over medium fire, not high, as the crackers will turn brown quite fast.
• Don't fry too much of the shredded sticks at one time so that it's easier to separate & turn the shredded pieces when frying in the oil.

I’m submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers No. 39: CNY Rock & Roll! (Jan 2014) hosted by Food Playground.