Stir Fry Yam Cake

Left with some yam in the fridge...

Hmm... only one thing came into my mind - steamed yam cake a.k.a. woo tau kou!

It's interesting that the yam I get here in Middle Eastern is not as purple as the ones I get back in Malaysia... some are yellowish in colour.

Firstly, I stir fry some chopped dried prawns and garlic in cooking oil and a bit of sesame oil until fragrant. Then, add the yam (cubed). I also added some white mushroom to the yam mixture (you can also use shitake mushroom). Add salt and pepper to taste. Add some water to the yam mixture and let it simmer for a while.

Meanwhile, mix 1 cup rice flour to 3 cup water (I used organic mushroom stock). Add the rice flour mixture to the yam mixture. Constantly stir the mixture until the mixture thicken. Pour the mixture into a greased tray and steam for 30 to 45 minutes.

Once cooked, serve the steamed yam cake with some garnishings i.e. spring onion, fried shallots and some chillies.

We can also stir fry the leftover steamed yam cake with garlic, salted vegetables, sesame oil, dark soy sauce and chili bean sauce to get stir-fry yam cake a.k.a. 'chai tau kueh'!

Enjoy!

Pineapple Tarts

Pineapple tarts, a must-have Chinese New Year biscuits... my Chinese New Year is incomplete without this all-time favourite biscuit... There are few version of this tart. Every individual is unique... hence, some prefer the "hard" pastry, some prefer the melt-in-your-mouth pastry, some like the ones with the jam on top of the pastry, some liked it enclosed and etc... to me, I can adapt to both...

One of my favourite is my aunt's pineapple tarts... She was kind enough to share her recipe with me... Have yet to try it... Here goes:

250g Butter

300 - 325 g Flour (add together a pinch of salt) - I do come across other recipe that include 20g of milk powder/ corn flour (for the melt-in-your-mouth effect)

1 Egg Yolk

1/2 tsp Vanilla Essense

Rub butter into flour to form breadcrumbs.

Add in egg yolk and vanilla essense to form dough. If a bit sticky, add in more flour.

For pineapple jam:

1 Pineapple + 500g Sugar

1 small Cinnamon Stick

Scrap/ Grate pineapple. Cook scrapped/ grated pineapple and sugar with cinnamon stick until almost dry.