Fragrant Oil

Ingredients
garlic
shallots
ginger
(can try other fragrant ingredients like cekur, lemongrass, chilli, coriander roots etc.)
vegetable oil (double portion of ingredients eg. a cup of chopped garlic+chopped ginger+sliced shallots = 2 cups of oil)

Directions

• in a wok or sauce pan, mix garlic+ginger+shallots with room temperature oil
• start fire at high heat and cook till oil is hot and bubbly
• lower the temperature and cook till garlic+ginger+shallots are light golden brown
• sieve crispy garlic+ginger+shallots and collect oil in stainless steel bowl
• once all the oil have dripped into the bowl, put the bowl of oil over a bigger bowl with room temperature water to stop the oil from oxidation
• crispy garlic+ginger+shallots can be used as garnishes over noodles, dumplings, siew mai etc.
• transfer oil in glass bottle and it will be good to use for up to 3 days
• use the oil for any cooking and it will bring the cooking to the next level woohoo... 

Foodnote: A master oil recipe for take your cooking to the next level. One of the best tip/takeaway from my baking/cooking class. This oil can be added to any dish recipe and the crispy bits can also act as garnishes. It is really easy to make so I will try to add this to as much of my cooking.

Kueh Lapis

Ingredients

2 cups rice flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup caster sugar

4 cups of coconut fresh milk from 1 coconut (or 500ml Kara coconut cream + 2 cups water)

a pinch of salt
2 cups of water (please adjust consistency)

4 pandan leaves knotted and dropped into water in steamer

Directions

• grease tray and heat steamer till boiling hot (wrap steamer cover with cloth to prevent steam from escaping)
• whisk the rest of ingredients till combined... adding water slowly to make sure batter is not too thick. It should be a bit watery so that kueh is soft after steaming. See below tips
• sift to remove lumps and separate into 2 portions... one white and another with red coloring
• pour each layer to cover base of tray thinly and steam each layer for about 3-5 minutes till firm
• steam last layer for 20 minutes and 5 more minutes without steamer cover to ensure any water on kueh will evaporate off
• leave kueh lapis to cool before cutting to serve

Tips

best to not start coloring first. Steam first layer and check... if it is too soft, add a bit more flour. If it is too firm, add more water. Ensure each layer is the same amount so layers will be even (except for last layer). Make sure kueh is properly cooled before cutting.

Foodnote: Got this recipe from mum. She's trying hard to remember the ingredients. First time I tried (7th June 2015), it doesn't turn out well. So I tried again today... just half the portion this time (using 200ml Kara coconut cream) since it is only for me and my niece. Turns out very nice and soft yippeeee. I'm a bit impatient though and have different scoop for each layer so the thickness is not consistent. But still I am super happy and feel more confident to make this again. Just need to get a proper steamer now woohoo.

Hong Kong Style Crystal Dumpling / Har Gow

Ingredients
Dumpling Skin
100g wheat starch
25g tapioca starch
150g water (100°C)
5g oil
1g salt

Meat Fillings
600g meat (chicken + prawn or fish paste)
3-6g salt (3g for sweet, 6g for savory)
18g sugar
1-2g white pepper powder
10g sesame oil
optional ingredients: chopped waterchestnut (soaked in sugar water for 10min), shallot, garlic, mushrooms, spring onion or mushroom seasoning (MSG)

Garnishes
chopped shallots
sliced garlic + light soya sauce
crispy fried shallots
fried peanut and crispy anchovies
chopped spring onion
chopped coriander leaves
potato chips (yes... potato chips)
chopped red chillies (to add last so that the color will stands out

Green Tea Skin: add 5g matcha powder to the flour
Charcoal Skin: add 2g charcoal powder to the flour
Other colors: add the liquid colourings to the boiling water
Soon Kueh: the skin can also be used for soon kueh. Increase the oil to 15g

Directions
Meat Filling

• chop meat into very small pieces
• add all other ingredients together (best to use a mixer), spread on a tray and keep in the fridge until ready to use
• proportions of ingredients can be adjusted to taste (yes taste the raw ingredients... won't die one)

Dumplings

• put both flour together in a bowl
• combine water, oil and salt in a pan and cover the top with stainless steel bowl (to prevent evaporation) and bring to a boil
• once the water get into rolling boil, add the flour and quickly keep stirring using a wooden spatula till all floor absorbed the water evenly
• remove the dough to a working surface and keep kneading till dough is even, smooth and springy
• put the dough under a covered bowl to prevent drying
• prepare a plate and glaze it with oil (preferably onion+garlic+ginger oil)
• take a small piece of dough and use a rolling pin to roll thin
• use a round cutter (I use a small bowl) to cut round shape, fill with meat fillings and pinch the edges together to form hargow dumpling (refer to here @ 6.5min on how to pinch the edges of the har gow)
• place on the prepared plate and steam for 10-12min ... you should be able to smell the fragrant of the dumpling when it is ready (do not open the steamer cover too early to check)
• immediately after removed from the steamer, glaze each dumpling with oil
• add garnishes for presentation and to enhance the taste

Foodnote: I love dim sum and am glad to have the opportunity to learn how to make this myself. The taste is really awesome and the garnishes together with the dim sum really makes the taste super awesome. Looking forward to the next baked dim sum class (Basic). Hopefully after Hari Raya, I will definitely want to continue with the intermediate class and learn more dim sum dishes.

To freeze: keep raw dumplings uncovered in the fridge on a tray for 1-2hr. Transfer to a covered container. When it is ready to be consumed, steam from frozen.

Traditional Butter Cake

(creaming method)
Ingredients
Group A
250g unsalted butter 
250g castor sugar

Group B
200g eggs (room temperature)
10g vanilla essence
~ whisk together with a fork till foamy

Group C
250g cake flour
7g baking powder (double action)
~ sift both ingredients

60g fresh milk (UHT or Pastuerized)

Directions

• using the paddle attachment, whisk Group A at low speed (4 speed on KitchenAid mixer) for about 10min or batter turns pale
• add egg mixture slowly (split into 5 portions)
• if mixture start to split and curdle, add about 1 tbsp of flour and whisk for a while at high speed till batter turn smooth again
• remove batter from mixer and transfer into another bowl
• in the meantime, heat oven to about 160-170°C
• fold in flour and milk in the following order... flour, milk, flour, milk, flour till all are combined
• do the dollop test... batter should drop easily from spatula. If it is a bit stiff, add a bit more milk... about 1 tbsp or 5g each time
• scoop into mould that have been lined with baking paper
• optional: sprinkle walnut and almond on the cake before baking
• bake for about 30-40min or till skewer comes out clean

Marble Cake

• add 2 tbsp cocoa powder to 1/3 of the batter and add a bit more milk till it pass the dollop test. Alternate scoop into a mould and use skewer to run through the batter

Blueberry/Raisins/Nuts Cake

• combine the fruit and nuts into the flour then fold it in

Butterscotch/Chocolate Chips Cake etc

• scoop a layer of batter and sprinkle some chips over the surface... cover with batter... you get the idea

Tips

• Pandan essence: cut about 6pcs pandan leaves and blend with a bit of water. Sieve/Squeeze the juice. Leave it in the fridge overnight. The following day, the essence will separate with the water. Remove the water on the top later to use the pandan essence. Might need to add green color as the essence color is a bit pale. It is also good to replace milk with coconut milk to make pandan traditional butter cake
• any recipe that calls for cake flour can be substituted with Hong Kong flour to get a finer texture

Foodnote: Learn basics of cake making... only because one of the module is to make chiffon hehehe. I practice to make it at home and it is so yummy and successful. Made one with butterscotch chips and another with blueberries.