Claypot Chicken Rice (in Rice Cooker)

My mom used to cook this dish quite often when I was younger. But it was such a long time ago that I've forgotten all about it. It wasn't until few years ago, I recalled back this dish when I was doing my meal planning. I'm so glad I did! This dish is a real Time-Saver! For mommies like me where 24 hours a day is never enough, we will appreciate any One Pot Meal recipe!

The good thing about this dish is that you can prepare the ingredients a night before (or weeks before, just keep in freezer), and then dump everything in the rice cooker the next day. The rice cooker will do the cooking and you are free to do your own things. (Ahhh... so nice!)

This recipe works great in my family because my children love this dish. I put in more mushrooms to suit their liking. You may adjust the amount of mushrooms or add other ingredients to suit your family's preferences.

Hope you'll enjoy my recipe!

CLAYPOT CHICKEN RICE (IN RICE COOKER)

Prep Time  : 20 mins
Cook Time : 40 mins
Total Time : 1 hour
Serves       : 2 pax

Ingredients:
1 cup rice
300g chicken whole leg, deboned
4 - 6 pcs dried shiitake mushroom
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 thick slices ginger, bruised
2 Tbsp light soy sauce
2 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1/4 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp white pepper
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp shaoxing wine
4 Tbsp water
1 pc lap cheong/ chinese sausage (optional)
Chopped spring onions for garnish

Directions:
1. Wash the shiitake mushrooms briefly in a bowl of water. Discard the water and soak the mushrooms in hot/ warm water till soft. Slice mushrooms thinly.

2. Cut the chicken into small cubes or your preferred sizes but not too big piece or else the chicken is not going to cooked through.

3. In a medium bowl, combine chicken, mushrooms, garlic, ginger and the rest of the seasonings, and marinade for at least 30 minutes.

4. Prepare the rice: Add rice into the rice cooker bowl. Add water until the 1 cup level marked on your rice cooker. Using the same measuring spoon you used to measure the seasonings, scoop out 5 tablespoons of water.

5. Start the rice cooker and let it cook for 15 - 20 minutes or until the rice is about 35% cooked. You will see the water is bubbling and the rice is a little bit puffed. Add in the chicken on top of the rice, in a layer. Drizzle the marinades all over the rice and chicken in a circular motion. Make sure to evenly distribute the marinades to ensure that all the rice can fully absorb the marinades.

6. If you are adding lap cheong/ chinese sausage, you may add in now. Just place the lap cheong on top of the chicken and continue to cook the rice until the cooking process is done.

7. When the cooking process is done, wait for another 5 mins before opening the lid. Remove the lap cheong and slice them thinly. Stir the rice around and mix well until all the rice is well coated with the soy sauce marinades. Serve immediately or keep warm in rice cooker.

Notes:
● You may also use fresh shiitake mushrooms. But I find that the dried ones have better flavor on the rice.

● Make sure the chicken is not too wet. Too much water will cause the rice to be too soft and mushy.

● You may prepare the chicken in the marinade in advance and keep in freezer for upto 1 month. When want to use, thaw in the fridge overnight.

● If you like, you may pan fry the lap cheong and add in the frying oil to the cooked rice for a more flavorful taste.

● Different rice cooker has different cooking timing. If your chicken has not cooked through by the end of your cooking process, just add a "Quick Cook" mode.

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3-Ingredient Steamed Sponge Cake

This steamed sponge cake is also known as Kai Dan Kou. The original recipe is from my hubby's late grandma (Ah Mah) - 1 bowl egg, 1 bowl sugar and 1 bowl flour. In Chinese families, our elderly usually don't have the exact measurements. It is always "agak-agak" which means "more or less". And most of the time, they will use bowls to determine the recipe.

According to everyone in my hubby's family, they said Ah Mah make the best Kai Dan Kou. She would use a spring whisk to whisk a bucket of eggs until fluffy and airy, and then steam a big tray of Kai Dan Kou for everyone at home. How I wish I have the chance to witness it and enjoy her Kai Dan Kou!

Well, right now, I can only try to recreate her Kai Dan Kou. Since I don't have a spring whisk, I use a hand mixer instead. The taste and texture wise is good and almost the same as Ah Mah's, according to my hubby. He said that the inside should have more holes, mine is too refined.

Initially, I wanted to name this recipe as "Traditional/ Ah Mah's Kai Dan Kou". But since it is still lacking of something (compared to Ah Mah's Kai Dan Kou), I couldn't bring myself to name it that way. So instead, I am naming this recipe as "Steamed Sponge Cake".

This sponge cake is the easiest I've ever make. It only requires 3 ingredients and cooking time only 15 minutes. The texture comes out to be really fluffy, soft and moist. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

3-INGREDIENT STEAMED SPONGE CAKE

Prep Time  : 20 mins
Cook Time : 15 mins
Total Time : 35 mins
Makes       : one 8" cake

Ingredients:
4 eggs
90g sugar
100g cake flour, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Directions:
You will need a round 8" cake tin, line sides and bottom with parchment paper.

1. Prepare the wok for steaming.

2. Using a hand mixer on low speed, beat eggs till frothy. Gradually add in sugar and increase speed to medium. After 5 mins, increase speed to high and beat for another 10 mins, until the batter is thick and has quadrupled in volume.

2. Add in cake flour, a tablespoon at a time, continuing to beat the batter as you add. Lastly add in vanilla extract (optional) and mix till combined.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and steam on high heat for 15 mins. The cake is done when the skewer inserted came out clean.

Notes:
● You will need to steam the batter immediately after pouring into the cake tin. So make sure to prepare the steaming wok and have the water boiling first.

● Adding the vanilla extract will help to reduce the eggy smell.

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Chinese Black Bean Soup

In search of healthy soup recipes for my family, I found this chinese black bean soup recipe which I've been wanting to try. The appearance may not be inviting or tempting because of the monotone dark colors but this nutritious soup is definitely a must-try. The black beans or also known as turtle beans (because of their hard, shell-like look) have a dense, meaty taste similar to mushrooms.

Chinese Black Bean Soup is also a popular tonic soup for pregnant ladies or during confinement. It is rich in antioxidants and nourishes the blood. You may replace the pork ribs with black chicken which has more nutritional values when cooking for pregnant ladies or new moms.

Black beans are classified as legumes and like other legumes, such as peanuts, peas, and lentils, black beans are regard highly for their high protein and fiber content. They also contain several important vitamins and minerals that helps maintaining healthy bones, lowering blood pressure, managing diabetes, warding off heart disease, preventing cancer, helps in healthy digestion and weight loss.

A bowl of hearty Chinese Black Bean Soup

CHINESE BLACK BEAN SOUP

Prep Time  : 60 mins
Cook Time : 210 mins
Total Time : 4 hours 30 mins
Serves       : 3 - 4 pax

Ingredients:
300g pork ribs
2 pcs chicken feet (optional)
200g black beans
5 pcs dried red dates
2 pcs dried honey dates
2 pcs thick slices ginger (bruised)
2.5ℓ water
Salt to taste

For blanching
3-4 pcs thick slices ginger
1 stalk spring onions

Directions:
1. Soak black beans in cold water for 1 hour. Drain and set aside.

2. In a small pot of water, add ginger and spring onions. Bring the pot to a boil and blanch pork ribs for 10 minutes to remove impurities and "porky smell". Discard the water and wash the pork ribs briefly under running tap water.

3. In a big pot, add the blanched pork ribs and the rest of the ingredients, and bring to a boil over high heat.

4. Reduce to medium high heat and let simmer for 15 minutes. After that, reduce to low heat and let simmer for 3 hours or until the black beans is soft.

Notes:
● Soaking black beans helps remove some of the oligosaccharides that cause gastrointestinal distress.

● If you are using frozen pork ribs, it is essential to do Step 1 because the "porky smell" will transfer to the beans later.

● You may replace pork ribs with chicken carcass, if you like.

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Homemade Boba Pearls/ Tapioca Pearls

I am super excited to be posting this recipe. I can't believe that I've actually succeeded in making a nice and chewy boba pearls at home. Didn't know that it was this easy!

...tea-based drink invented in Tainan and Taichung in the1980s...

Boba Milk Tea or Pearl Milk Tea is a Taiwanese tea-based drink invented in Tainan and Taichung in the 1980s. Toppings are usually boba pearls/ tapioca pearls (that's how it got its name), grass jelly, fruit jelly, agar jelly and pudding. Even tho' it is mostly served cold, ice-blended version is also available at some shops.

You may have notice that my boba pearls are not as black as the usual ones. That is because of the sugar used. I should be using dark brown sugar but I couldn't find any dark brown sugar, so I've used mixture of light brown sugar with molasses.

Once I started on this Boba Project, I was so obsessed with it. I couldn't rest until I have perfected the recipe. If you search in the internet for boba pearls recipe, you will find a few. The ingredients used are more or less the same - tapioca starch, brown sugar and water. But the method used are all different. Believe me if I said I've tried all the methods.

And With some tweaking here and there, I've finally found my perfect recipe. This recipe is easy and yield the closest texture to the boba pearls I've tasted. Hope you guys will enjoy this recipe as much as I do! Happy trying!

HOMEMADE BOBA PEARLS/ TAPIOCA PEARLS
(Recipe adapted from Bizarre Island and Amanda Tastes)

Prep Time  : 50 mins
Cook Time : 27 mins
Total Time : 1 hour 17 mins
(+15 mins steeping)
Makes       : 1 1/2 cup pearls

Ingredients:
80g + 10g tapioca starch
4 Tbsp dark brown sugar (see note below)
50ml hot water
Extra tapioca starch for dusting
Extra 3 Tbsp dark brown sugar for coating/ as lubricant

Directions:
1. In a small pot, add hot water and brown sugar together and mix until the brown sugar dissolved. Then, add in 3 tablespoons of tapioca starch and mix well to get a tapioca starch slurry.

2. Bring the pot on low heat and stir continuously until you get a sticky paste. Once it has reached the sticky paste consistency, turn off the heat. Add in the rest of the tapioca starch and stir vigorously to combined until you get a soft sticky dough. It is fine if there are still some tapioca starch on the surface of the dough.

3. Transfer the soft sticky dough onto a parchment paper and knead for a few minutes until it becomes a shiny dough. The dough now is still abit sticky. Add in 10g tapioca starch in 4-5 batches and knead to form a soft dough.

4. To shape the pearls, roll out the dough to approx. 0.3cm thick. Cut out horizontal and vertical lines to get small squares. Roll each square into tiny balls/pearls. Remember to coat your bowl with some tapioca starch before putting your pearls in it.

5. Bring a pot of water to boil, add in the pearls to the boiling water. Stir occasionally to prevent the pearls from sticking together at the bottom.

6. When all the pearls floated on surface, close the lid and reduce the heat to medium. Continue to cook for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, off the heat and let the pearls steep in the hot water for 15 minutes. Do not open the lid.

7. Drain the pearls and soak in cold water for a minute or less until they are warm to touch. Transfer to a bowl, add 3 tablespoons brown sugar and mix evenly to coat. The brown sugar will melt almost immediately and act as a lubricant.

Notes:
● Dark brown sugar substitute : Mix 2 tablespoon light brown sugar with 2 tablespoons molasses/ gula merah.

● You need to work fast in Step 2 and Step 3. Work on the dough while it is still hot/ warm.

● Step 3 : I find it easier to work with the dough on a parchment paper. You can use it to protect your hand from the hot dough. And it also acts as a cover for the dough while shaping the boba pearls.

● The cooked boba pearls need to be consumed within the day of cooking. The texture will be hard if kept in refrigerator.

● Keep the uncooked pearls in a zipper bag or air-tight container in freezer for upto 2-3 months. When you want to use it, take it out from the freezer to the boiling water.

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Ondeh-Ondeh

Ondeh-Ondeh is a popular traditional sweet dessert in Malaysia, which happened to be mine and my hubby's childhood favorite snack. Ondeh-Ondeh or Onde-Onde is a chewy pandan flavored glutionous rice ball with melted gula Melaka/ palm sugar filling.

As you bite into these cute little green chewy balls, the melted gula melaka oozes out, literally bursting in your mouth. The differences in the texture is definitely appealing to the tastebud. The aromatic of fresh grated coconut further enhances the flavor. It's a yummy~licious combination!

When you buy ondeh-ondeh from outside, have you ever wonder why sometimes they are soft, sometimes they are chewy? That is because of the amount of tapioca starch added. Some peoples will also use sago flour or wheat starch. And some will use cooked dough method.

Me and my hubby has different preferences on the chewiness of our ondeh-ondeh. He likes the soft chewy texture where else I like the QQ chewy texture.

To achieve a less chewy or should I say, soft chewy texture, you may just use glutinous rice flour with cooked dough method or add 10g of tapioca starch to your glutinous rice flour.

And to achieve a QQ chewy texture, you need to add more tapioca starch to your glutinous rice flour. How much tapioca starch to add depends on how QQ/ chewy you wanted it to be. I personally think that 1:3, tapioca starch to glutinous rice flour is the most ideal ratio.

If you follow my recipe below, you will get the QQ chewy texture that me and my kids love! Hope you'll love it too!

ONDEH-ONDEH

Prep Time  : 90 mins
Cook Time : 10 mins
Total Time : 1 hour 40 mins
Makes       : approx. 45 balls

Ingredients:
180g glutinous rice flour
50g tapioca flour
180ml pandan juice + 10ml hot water (see note below)
90g gula Melaka/ palm sugar, finely chopped
110g fresh grated coconut
A pinch of salt
2 pandan leaves

Directions:
1. Mix salt with fresh grated coconut and steam with pandan leaves underneath for 2-3 minutes. Remove the pandan leaves and leave aside to cool completely.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine glutinous rice flour and tapioca starch. Mix well. Slowly add in the pandan juice whilst stirring with a stainless steel spoon or a spatula. Knead lightly to form a soft dough.

3. Pinch a a small piece of dough (approx. 10g) and flatten lightly. Using a 1/4tsp measuring spoon, scoop a spoonful of gula melaka into the center of the dough. Bring all sides up and seal it. Roll to form a nice round ball.

4. Repeat Step 3 until all dough has been used up. Bring a pot of water to boil. Cook the glutinous rice balls in the boiling water. When it floats up on the surface, let it cook for another 1-2 minutes. Scoop out with a slotted spoon into the grated coconut. Roll them around to fully coat the balls with grated coconut.

Notes:
● Pandan Juice : Blend 15pcs pandan leaves with 190ml water. Strain and measure out 180ml pandan juice. Add 10ml hot water to the pandan juice.

● You may buy your fresh grated coconut a few days beforehand and keep in the freezer. When you want to make ondeh-ondeh, portion out 110g and steam for 10-15 minutes. Keep the remaining grated coconut in the freezer upto 1-2 months or more.

● Uncooked ondeh-ondeh can be kept in freezer for 2-3 months. When you want to eat it, take it out directly from the freezer into the hot water and bring to boil.

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