Nian Gao or Sticky Rice Cake

The Lunar Chinese New Year is celebrated over 15 days. During this period, auspicious food would be consumed and one of this would be Nian Gao or Sticky Rice Cake made from glutinous rice flour and sugar.

Eating Nian Gao, (Chinese: 年糕; pinyin: nián'gāo) during the Lunar New Year is considered good luck as it symbolises increasing one's prosperity every year.This association makes Nian Gao a popular gift item during the New Year period.



The traditional Nian Gao is round with a auspicious decoration such as the character for prosperity 发 on its top. The character is often written in the traditional Chinese script.

It is sold is several sizes small, medium and big. As a gift item, Nian Gao are fashioned into different shapes with attractive packaging to suit the festivee season. Popular designs include a pair of carps 年年有余 symbolizing surplus every year, ingots 元宝, or the God of Wealth 财神. These designs are auspicious symbols and sends good wishes for the New Year.



There are several ways of eating Nian Gao. Some would just consumed it steamed, sometimes steamed and then coat it with freshly grated coconut or else it would be sliced into pieces, dipped into a batter and fried. A popular method of eating this in Malaysia would be to sandwhich it between a thin piece of yam and sweet potato, coat it with batter and then deep fried.





Nian Gao or Sticky Rice Cake

Ingredients:

1 medum size Nian Gao, sliced into squares
1 medium size sweet potato, sliced into squares
1 medium size yam, sliced into squares

For the Batter:

100g rice flour
45g cake flour or all purpose flour
20g corn flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4tsp salt
1 tsp oil
1 egg
110 - 120 ml ice water

Method:

1) Into a bowl, add all the flour and salt.

2) Add the egg and oil into the ice water and mix. Then gradually pour in the liquid into the flour, stirring to mix until it becomes a thick batter.

3) Sandwich the Nian Gao with 1 piece of yam and 1 piece of sweet potato. Set aside.

4) Heat about 1 cm high vegetable oil in a large frying pan. Once the oil is hot, reduce to medium low heat. Dip the Nian Gao sandwich into the batter and then gently drop into the oil. Becare as it will splatter when it starts to cook.

5) Fry until golden brown. Drain and set aside. Best consumed whilst still warm.

Pineapple Tarts and Happy Lunar New Year

As far back as I can remember, pineapple tarts have been served in every single household we visited during the Chinese Lunar New Year. Our own household served these tarts as well to visitors. Pineapple tarts in fact have a significance to the Lunar New Year.



Pineapple, Feng Li 鳳梨, literary means the phoenix pear. It is also commonly known as 黃梨: Huang Li (in Mandarin) or Wong Lai (in Cantonese) or Ong Lai (in Hokkien). It means the yellow pear or to some, the golden pear. The common vowel of "Wong" or "Ong" in the many Chinese dialect just means one thing which is "prosperity". I guess this is the reason why Pineapple Tarts are served during the Lunar New Year as eating this cookie means it would bring prosperity and maybe the chance of good luck to the individual.



Wishing you and your family a Happy Lunar New Year. May you have lots of prosperity this year.



Pineapple Tarts

Ingredients for the Jam:

4 slightly riped pineapples
400g sugar

Method:

1) Cut the pineapples and remove all eyes. Cut into long wedges removing the center core. Using a food processor, grate the pineapple and put into a non-reactive deep pan.

2) Add the sugar into the pan and cook the mixture over a low heat, until it resembles a thick jam. This will take between 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Cool and pack into containers. The jam can be refrigerated up to 2 months.

3) For a spice flavour, you can add in a stick of cinnamon and some star anise during the cooking process. Remove the spices before packing into containers.

Ingredients for Pastry:

150g plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp corn flour
100g unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 Tbsp icing sugar
1 egg yolk

Method:

1) Sieve flour, corn flour, salt, icing sugar and vanilla essence into a mixing bowl.

2) Beat the butter and icing sugar until soft and creamy. Add in the egg yolk and beat until combined.

3) Add the flour mixture all at once and rub into the butter mixture until it resembles bread crumbs.

4) Take a bit of the pastry dough (the rest covered with a slightly damp cloth to keep it from drying) and roll pastry into 1/2 cm thickness. Dust the cutter with some flour and then stamp out the shape onto the rolled out pastry. Place the cut out piece onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

5) Pinch some pineapple jam and roll into a ball with 1cm diameter. Place on the center of the tart.

6) Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 20 to 22 minutes minutes till lightly golden.

Peanut Cookies

I can't believe how time flies! We had just celebrated Christmas and we will now be celebrating the Lunar New Year in a week's time. Chinese New Year is considered the most important traditional holiday. It is celebrated over two consecutive weeks and is popularly known as Spring Festival. The coming New Year will be the year of the Dragon, which is the 5th sign of the Chinese zodiac. The Dragon is regarded as an auspicious symbol which stands for power, good luck, success, and happiness.



To usher in the New Year, we Chinese have some customs and rituals to perform prior to the celebrations.

Cleaning house and decorating it is definitely a "MUST"! People clean their homes with the belief that it will help them get rid of bad luck and get the house ready to accept good luck in the year ahead. We decorate our front doors and windows with signs and posters having the word "fu" engraved on them, which means good luck and happiness. Adding flowers to the home signifies the coming of spring.

As the coming Lunar New Year ushes in the Dragon, some of these decorations will have the dragon symbol displayed.

One of the popular Chinese New Year traditions is to present your dear ones gifts that are symbols of good luck and prosperity. Most adults gift red envelopes (called "ang pows")filled with money to their younger family members, relatives, and friends. It is a custom not to open the envelopes until the recipient leaves the house of the person who has offered the present. The adults also offer gifts packed in red covers to unmarried family members.



It is also a time for all family members to get together and have a grand meal. Some dishes eaten normally during this festival are Chinese dumplings, long noodles, and oranges. The noodles symbolize long life and oranges are a sign of completeness. Sticky rice cakes and sweets are also eaten during this time.

Wearing new clothes is one of the Chinese New Year traditions. Any clothing that is read is believed to help to get rid of evil spirits. Black clothing is avoided during the New Year.

Chinese New Year has a special significance for the business houses. They offer a special prayer on the 2nd day of the festival, especially if they plan to start a venture at this time of the year. They believe that by doing so, they will be blessed with good fortune and prosperity.

A special highlight of Chinese New Year celebrations is the preparation of the Tray of Togetherness which is octagonal or circular in shape. This tray comes with an assortment of foods like sugared fruits, coconut, winter melon, water chestnut, and lotus seeds. In addition, it may have carrots and tangerines. The purpose is to wish for a sweet beginning in the year ahead.



Peanut Cookies
Recipe Adapted from "Rasa Malaysia"

Ingredients:

4 cups ground roasted peanuts (loosely packed)
1 cup powdered sugar (icing sugar)
1 cup vegetable oil (not olive oil) (I used slightly less than 1 cup)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp vegetable shortening (or Crisco)
1 egg yolk, beaten slightly for egg wash

Method:

1) Mix the ground peanut, sugar, oil, shortening and flour together until well combined. Shaped into small balls. Use the rounded tip of a chop stick to make a slight indentation.

2) Brush the top with the egg wash and bake at 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) for 18 - 20 minutes or until brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.

3) Note that the cookies will be very light, so handle with care. When packing, place a piece of parchment on each layer.

Kuih Bangkit

I have never made Kuih Bangkit before but I do so love these cookies. You cannot imagine what it'll taste like just by looking at the pictures. It's like eating a melting moments that has the aroma and taste of coconut cream but oh so much better! Kuih Bangkiit can be found in almost every Chinese household during the Chinese New Year which happens to fall on Valentine's Day this year. The perfect kuih bangkit is dry and crispy. At the same time it should also be light (and I mean in weight that is) and has a somewhat hollow sound. They should also be "pop" size - meaning you can pop the whole cookie into your mouth.



So over this Chinese New Year period, I decided that I will attempt making Kuih Bangkit for the first time. I even went to buy the wooden moulds in order that they are more authentic. And boy, these moulds were quite expensive (as compared with the plastic ones) and this is probably due to the fact that each cookie shape has to be carved into the wood. So last Sunday I put aside some time and tried out a recipe which I had chanced upon. In fact I had printed out several Kuih Bangkit recipes and each one was somewhat different. One called for icing sugar whilst another used castor sugar. And another recipe used arrowroot flour instead of tapioca flour. I decided on the easiest of the lot. Unfortunately that recipe totally "bombed" out. the cookies turned out hard like rock cakes. I threw the rest of the dough away and not wanting to give up as yet, I picked up a different recipe and started once again. The second recipe "bombed" out as well. By this time, I was totally exhausted and fed up as well. I decided to give myself a week's break before attempting to make Kuih Bangkit again.



I chanced upon a recipe from Zurin of Cherry On A Cake which look as if it would logically work. And it did! Well three times lucky it surely is. The Kuih Bangkit turned our perfectly and I could not help myself pinching a few cookies even before they had cooled. No worries I still have left overs to be served to guests over the Chinese New Year holidays.

To all my blogger friends who would be celebrating Chinese New Year, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you Gong Xi Fa Cai.



Kuih Bangkit

Ingredients:

420 gm tapioca flour (fry about 500g of flour)
50 gm shortening
100 gm icing sugar
2 egg yolks
150- 200 ml coconut milk (I used 180 ml, a mixture of coconut cream and coconut milk)
4 or 5 pandan leaves

Method:

1) Sift the flour into a deep pot. Cut up the pandan leaves into 3" lengths and stir them into the flour. Fry the flour over low heat for about 25 - 30 minutes until the pandan leaves have dried up and crisp.

2) Sift flour again and leave to completely cool over night. You can do this a few days ahead of time as well.

3) Cream the shortening with icing sugar till light and creamy and the sugar is totally dissolved. Then add in the egg yolks and cream to combine completely. Pour in slowly 100 ml of the coconut milk and beat until well mixed and creamy.

4) Put 420g of the tapioca flour into a bowl, add a pinch of salt and add in the creamed mixture. Add in about 80ml more of the coconut milk and mix until the dough comes together. If dry add in some more coconut milk until you get a nice lump of dough. (If the dough is still wet, add a bit more of the flour and if it is too dry, add a bit more coconut milk. The dough should look matte and not glossy). Cover with a damp cloth.

5) Flour the wooden mould well with the extra flour and then press a small mound of dough into it. Keep the remaining dough covered to prevent it from drying out. Press down and cut off excess with a knife or spatula. Then knock the mould face down on the baking tray and the cookie should fall out easily. If it doesn't then you have not floured the mould well.

6) If you don't have a cookie mould , roll out the dough onto a floured board and use a cookie cutter.

7) Mix some gel red colouring with a bit of water. Using a toothpick, dot each cookie.

8) Bake the cookies for 20 minutes in a 170C oven.

9) Allow to cool and store in an airtight container.

Pineapple Tarts

Is it really just a week before we celebrate Chinese New Year? It must be because the decorations in Chinatown (Singapore) is already up. People are bustling around to buying goodies, shopping for new clothes, sprucing up their homes to make sure that it is spic and span. And my blogger friends are all posting up Chinese New Year cookies.

In the Chinese communities of Singapore and Malaysia, the pineapple tart is the ultimate Chinese New Year dessert. The word "pineapple" in the Hokkien dialect resembles the word for prosperity, so eating the pineapple tarts is said to help bring luck and money in the coming year. I guess I should be eating more then! Pineapple tarts now come in a variety of shapes and sizes such as “open-faced” flower shape tarts (the jam is exposed), rolled like logs, mini tangerine and even tarts that are shaped like pineapples. A good pineapple tart should have an ultra-flaky dough which crumbles into buttery powder in your mouth. The pineapple jam should still have a bit of fibre to it, soft, not overly sweet and flavored with spices - cinnamon, star anise and cloves.

This is my first attempt at making this festive cookie. Initially I tried making the “open-faced” tart but the dough kept sticking to the cutter and I ended up having to ply it from the mould. After a few attempts at it, I gave up completely. It was taking up too much time. I brought some of the tarts to my workplace and passed it around. I had really good feedback on the pastry and guess what, I ended up taking orders from my colleagues. So over the last two weekends, my time was taken up baking pineapple tarts and I still have a bit more of baking to day over the next few days.



Pineapple Tarts

Ingredients for the Pastry:

220g unsalted butter, at room temperature
375g all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks
50g confectioners' sugar/icing sugar (I reduced my icing sugar to 45g)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 egg yolk, for egg wash

Ingredients for the Pineapple Jam:

2 pineapples
250 grammes granulated sugar
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
1 star anise
a dash of cinnamon powder
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Method for the Jam:

1) Skin pineapple and scrape out the flesh. Drain flesh on a sieve for 10 minutes to obtain 1½ cup of juice.

2) Place the scraped pineapple flesh in a non-stick pan and add granulated sugar, pineapple juice, lemon juice, cloves and cinnamon. Place pan over low heat and cook, stirring occasionally for about 1½ hour until pineapple jam is sticky and can easily be rolled into a ball. Set aside to cool.

Method for the Pastry:

1) Sieve all purpose flour, corn flour, salt and icing sugar into a medium bowl.

2) Beat butter in a mixer until it turns light in color and fluffy.

3) Add in egg yolks until well combined. Slowly beat in the flour mixture until just combined. Do not over-mix as it will result in a dry pastry.

To assemble the Tarts:

1) Roll pineapple filling into small individual rounds. Turn dough out and roll into small rounds. Flatten the rounds and use it to cover the prepared filling. You can either roll it back into a ball to resemble mini tangerine oranges. Alternatively roll it back into a round and shape it as a small log. Using a fork, indent the log to get a pattern.

2) Brush the unbaked rolls with egg wash. For the mini tangerine dough, stick a clove in the middle to resemble the stalk of the tangerine.

3) Bake in a preheated oven at 350F/180ºC for 10 to 15 minutes (I baked mine for 13 minutes) or till lightly brown.