Pizza with bacon, capsicum and onions

09 Sep 2007, ST

(Makes a 20cm pizza)



INGREDIENTS

Dough

2 tsp dried yeast
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1.5 cups water,
at room temperature

600g bread flour
3 Tbs olive oil
Flour for dusting


Toppings

2 Tbs tomato-based pasta sauce
5 slices back bacon
1/4 white onion, sliced
1/4 yellow capsicum, sliced
80g mozzarella cheese
5 slices salami


METHOD

1. Mix yeast, salt, sugar with water in a bowl and wait till mixture bubbles.

2. Put flour in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in it and pour in yeast mixture.

3. Mix until the flour and yeast come together in a ball.

4. Let the dough rise in a cold oven for at least one hour.

5. Dust dough with some flour.

6. Roll the dough out into a 20cm round or stretch it by tossing in the air several times. Place in a pizza pan or metal pan.

7. Spread pasta sauce evenly on the dough, and add the toppings.

8. Bake in a preheated 200 deg C oven for 10 minutes, until cheese is bubbly.


Verdict: This pizza looks and tastes like it was made by a professional Italian chef. The dough was light and crisp, and the lean back bacon makes the pizza a little healthier.

Tiramisu with strawberries

29 Jul 2007, ST




Ingredients:

500g fresh strawberries
2 Tbsp sugar
Cointreau, an orange liqueur

Cream:

1kg mascarpone cream cheese
8 large egg yolks
100g caster sugar

Coffee bath:

6 tsp instant coffee
8 tsps sugar
100ml coffee liqueur
cocoa powder

2 packets (40 sticks) of ladyfinger biscuits, also known as sponge or Boudoir biscuits

Method: Slice strawberries lengthwise in the shape of hearts. Place in glass or ceramic bowl, add the 2 Tbsp sugar and some Cointreau liqueur. Mix well and refrigerate for three hours.

Beat mascarpone cheese, egg yolks and caster sugar in an electric mixer until mixture is smooth.

Prepare coffee bath by dissolving instant coffee and sugar with a dash of hot water in a bowl before adding in liqueur. Dunk each ladyfinger in coffee bath. Cover the bottom of a medium-sized container with ladyfingers.

Pour half the cream on top, smooth out with a spatula and top with a layer of strawberries. Place another layer of dunked ladyfingers on top of the strawberries. Pour the rest of the cream on top, smooth it out. Refrigerate for at least six hours.

Sprinkle cocoa powder generously over the top. Arrange remaining strawberries into a heart shape in the centre. Serve with coffee or liqueur.

Verdict: My reservations about strawberry tiramisu disappeared with my first mouthful.

The fruit lent the dessert a refreshing texture. Wing added a generous dash of Cointreau in my serving.

Bliss with a cup of espresso.

ASK THE FOODIE

08 Jul 2007, ST

By Chris Tan

Hot fun

Q Fried hor fun is nothing without the slightly burnt ('wok hei') taste but this is almost impossible to recreate using a domestic gas stove. What is the best method to do it at home and get a nicely burnt flavour without burning the meal?

Benedict Andrew Lim Wee Yong


A There's no way of getting wok hei - literally 'wok breath', which doesn't quite equate with 'burnt' but refers to that particular intensity of aroma produced by high-heat cooking - with a non-stick cooking vessel.

However, if you have a good, well-seasoned steel or iron wok, turn your heat (and cooker hood) up to the max, make sure the wok is extremely hot before adding the oil and hor fun, and keep your frying arm moving, you should get at least a modicum of wok hei.

Lacking the above, you might like to try this. I learnt to make Laotian hor fun at a cooking class in Laos.

First, you fry the rice noodle clumps in a little hot oil, until they are lightly browned on the outside. Then you break an egg over them and stir lightly until it's cooked, by which time the noodles have browned a little further and developed a delicious, very lightly caramelised taste.

The other ingredients are stir-fried separately and given a quick toss with the noodles before serving. It's not quite the same as wok hei, but it's jolly good.

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Garlic gaffe

Q I grind fresh garlic when I make popiah but after some time, it turns lime green and loses its flavour. How do popiah sellers prevent theirs from turning green?

Lim Lee Eng


A The aroma and flavour of garlic come from a family of sulphur compounds. Crushing or pounding garlic breaks its cells and allows these compounds to mix and react with other cellular substances, forming new molecules that, while perfectly edible, happen to be a slightly alien shade of green.

To prevent this from happening, you can do three things. First, use new-season rather than aged garlic as the former is less rich in sulphur compounds; second, pound the garlic just before serving time.

Lastly, stir some oil into the garlic paste immediately after pounding. The oil coats the garlic fragments, reducing the amount of sulphurous juice that leaks out.

In the photo, both clumps of pounded garlic have been standing at room temperature for 10 hours.



The garlic on the right was mixed with oil and has darkened a little from its original ivory hue. But as you can see, it's far more acceptable than the Yoda-esque oil-free mound on the left.

Adding salt to the garlic does nothing, while adding vinegar accelerates the colour change.

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Powder play

Q Several readers have asked for information about the differences between cream of tartar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda, so here's the lowdown.


A Baking soda, also known as bicarbonate of soda, is an alkaline compound, usually sodium bicarbonate. It neutralises acids in dough or batter. Water and carbon dioxide are by-products of this reaction: Bubbles of the latter expand in the oven's heat, enabling the dough or batter to rise.

It's often used alone or together with baking powder in cakes with acidic ingredients - sour cream, buttermilk, molasses, fruit, honey - and is also added to cookies to encourage browning.

Ammonium bicarbonate is another alkaline compound used for leavening, and to achieve a light, crunchy texture in pastries. This is because it reacts with acids to form ammonia and carbon dioxide - gases which evaporate quickly - but no water.

However, it's pongy in raw form, and the recipe has to be baked long enough to dispel the ammonia fumes.

Cream of tartar is an acidic salt, potassium bitartrate. Its most common role is to stabilise beaten egg white and improve the texture of egg-foam cakes such as chiffon cake.

Baking powder is a mixture of chemicals that react to yield carbon dioxide when liquid is added. It usually consists of an acid salt, an alkali, and a filler, usually cornstarch, to absorb moisture and prevent the compounds from reacting in the jar.

None of the above are interchangeable. Each has different powers and specific roles in baking, so follow reliable recipes closely for the best results.

Recipe: Daging or ayam merah

01 Jul 2007, ST

INGREDIENTS

2kg beef or mutton or 1 whole large chicken

2 handfuls dried chilli (soak and grind to a paste)

7.5cm-piece ginger (grind after slicing into thin pieces)

10 pieces kaffir lime leaves (thinly sliced)

5 stalks lemongrass (bruised)

3 Tbs tomato puree

120ml sweet soya sauce (the Habhal brand from Indonesia is recommended)

125ml coooking oil



METHOD

1. Combine all ingredients and leave for about 2 hours.

2. Heat up oil and add combined ingredients.

3. Continue to cook until meat is tender and quite dry, stirring every now and then to prevent burning.

Verdict: The ginger, lime leaves and lemongrass gave this dish a beautifully piquant and textured flavour. It's magnificent with rice or bread. My only complaint was that it was not spicy enough. It turned out that Hassan - fearful that I was a Chinese chilli coward - used only half the dried chilli called for in the recipe. Aiyah!

No-fuss otak-otak

18 Oct 2006 ST, Mind Your Body

By Sylvia Tan

I am back to eating butter and eggs ever since I found out that substitutes, such as margarine, have bad effects that are far worse, but coconut milk remains resolutely off my list.

While coconut milk does not contain any cholesterol as so many people mistakenly think, it is high in saturated fat which raises cholesterol levels in the body. (Cholesterol is found only in animal foods and not in plant foods.)

And so otak-otak, essentially a spicy fish custard, was an occasional dish in my household because of the coconut milk it contains.

But no longer. I have found a way to substitute the coconut milk in the recipe with soya milk and found that it makes no substantial difference to the taste but a world of difference to the fat intake. There is less than a gram of saturated fat in one cup of soya milk compared with 50g of fat found in a cup of coconut milk!

This is good news, if like me, you are constantly searching for new healthful ways to cook old favourites.

I made several ramekins of the baked custard using soya milk recently and handed them out to various friends on different occasions and they did not detect the difference.

The secret lies in the herbs used. As in regular otak, a scattering of shredded kaffir lime leaves at the end makes all the difference. Also a generous addition of spices, which in this case, comes from a bottle.

I now make otak-otak in five minutes flat ever since I discovered that bottled nonya sambal chilli delivers the right flavours to the quiche, which traditionally demands quite a few painstaking steps.

My grandmother used to scrape the meat from a fish, then pound the spices - shrimp paste, chilli, onions, coriander seeds and turmeric - in a mortar to mix with the fishmeat. She then added coconut milk, squeezed by hand from the grated nut, added beaten egg and then placed a mound of this mixture in a banana leaf, before wrapping it and grilling it over coals.

Now I buy fish fillets, rely on a bottled spice paste and whiz the lot in a blender to produce that smooth paste which is the basis for this aromatic custard. Neither do I bother with a banana leaf wrap as I find it is easier and as convenient to bake the lot in individual ramekins, taking just 10 minutes in the oven.

The result? A truly healthful otak that takes just 15 minutes to turn out.

The proportion of liquid (soya milk) to solid (fish meat and spices) is important if you want a soft yielding custard. You will find that I have upped the soya milk content to 300ml and kept the fish meat at just two cups or 250g unless you want to end up with a solid cake.

While this is already quite healthy, it is also possible to make a vegetarian version, using vegetables such as asparagus, beans and carrots, instead of fish, making a healthy otak no longer a contradiction in terms.

Sylvia Tan is a freelance writer.

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HEALTHY OTAK-OTAK (FOR 8-10) Ingredients 250g fresh fish fillets – I used bocourti fillets 300ml unsweetened soya milk 2 tbs nonya sambal chilli paste (Glory is good) 1 tbs coriander powder 1 tsp turmeric powder 3 medium-size eggs Dash of white pepper 1 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar Shredded kaffir lime leaves Method 1. Heat oven to 160 deg C. 2. Cut fish fillets into smaller pieces. Place in a blender. Add soya milk, chilli paste, coriander and turmeric powders, pepper, salt and sugar to the blender bowl. 3. Break the eggs into a basin (to ensure that they are fresh before adding to the mix) and pour the eggs into the bowl. Blend till well-mixed. Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed. 4. Pour spicy custard into individual ramekins. Place on a baking tray and pour enough water into the tray to reach halfway of the ramekins. 5. Carefully place tray into oven on the middle rack and bake for 10 minutes or till custard sets. If you like a browned crust, just before serving, place ramekins on the topmost rung under the grill or else use a kitchen blow torch to scorch the tops of the mini-otaks.

Pineapple and almond mini cupcakes

Mar 2007, Simply Her

Ingredients (serves 12-15) 60g butter, softened 6 pineapple rings (tinned in syrup), very finely chopped 75g sugar 1 egg, beaten 1/2 tsp vanilla essence 2 tbsp milk 100g self raising flour, sifted 2 rings canned pineapple, finely chopped 1 tbsp almonds, broken into small bits Directions Combine butter and sugar and blend with a handheld mioxer until it's creamy and light. Add egg, vanilla essence and milk, and blend again briefly. Put in the flour and combine well with the mixture. Then stir in the pineapple and almonds. Line the cupcake moulds with muffin liners and fill half the mixture. Bake at 180 deg C for 20 mintues. Tip! To make a large cake, pour the batter in a round 21cm cake pan and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Savoury muffins

15 Aug 2005, New Paper

Muffins don't necessarily have to be sweet.

Savoury muffins are just as tasty as the traditional muffins with the oft-expected blueberry and chocolate chip flavours.

So said the muffin man. Well actually, he's Leonard Oh, executive chef of The Moomba.

He said: 'It's an alternative for a quick breakfast.'

The savoury muffins are available at the restaurant's sister outlet, The Moomba Tuckshop. They raised some eyebrows when they were first introduced as customers were not used to savoury muffins, but soon became popular, said chef Oh.

'The perception is that muffins are sweet. While sweet muffins are great for brunch and tea, savoury is more suitable for breakfast,' he said.

'You get breakfast flavours such as bacon in a convenient takeaway form.'

In this demonstration, he came up with three flavours - bacon and rockette, smoked chicken and mushroom pesto.

At the Tuckshop, other savoury flavours also include blue cheese, and bacon and spinach.

In this recipe, the amount of sugar has reduced to suit a savoury taste, and because of that, the amount of raising agent has also been adjusted accordingly.

Treat it as a basic recipe, and add your own flavours.

You are only limited by your imagination.

Savoury muffins

INGREDIENTS
# Eggs (whole): 5
# Sugar: 125g
# Milk: 175g
# Dijon mustard: 25g
# Cake flour (sifted): 500g
# Baking powder: 25g
# Salt: 10g
# Butter: 325g
# Rocket leaves (chopped): 50g
# Parmesan cheese: 50g
# Bacon (chopped): 50g

METHOD

1. Whisk sugar and eggs till fluffly.

2. Add milk and mustard, followed by flour, baking powder, salt and lastly, melted butter. Mix well.

3. Add the rocket leaves, bacon and cheese. Incorporate evenly into the mixture.

4. Transfer to muffin moulds and bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 deg C for 20 minutes till golden brown.

Chicken Ngoh Hiang

WHEN Malaysian Serene Lim wanted to open a restaurant with her husband, Nam Yen Heng, eight years ago, her retired restaurant chef father told her to put a much-loved family recipe on the menu: ngoh hiang.

Lim, 35, had always loved the meat rolls her father used to make when she was growing up, and said yes at once.

Not surprisingly, the deep-fried meat roll wrapped in beancurd skin was a key selling point at her small, no-frills eatery in Jalan Perang in Pelangi in Johor Baru.

She sold her business a week ago as she had such a good offer for the shop she could not refuse. The new eatery will continue selling her ngoh hiang as the new owners like it.

The chicken roll contains chunky pieces of chicken lifted by five-spice and coriander powder. It is a pleasure to bite into, with black fungus slices providing a contrast in texture.

Lim was kind enough to share the recipe of her signature ngoh hiang rolls, but if you prefer to try them at the new eatery, it is only a 20-minute drive from the Causeway.


Chicken Ngoh Hiang



Makes 9 rolls

INGREDIENTS

500g chicken meat with some skin (preferably thigh meat), cut into strips

MARINADE

Fried shallots (made from 10 shallots fried in 3 Tbs oil)
1 Tbs shallot oil
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp five-spice powder
2 Tbs oyster sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp chicken seasoning powder
1 egg
2 Tbs cornflour
1 stalk parsley, chopped
1 big black fungus, soak till soft, chopped 1/3 carrot, chopped
4 water chestnuts, chopped
1 beancurd sheet for wrapping (cut into required sizes)

METHOD
1. Marinate chicken with the marinade ingredients for about three hours.
2. Add parsley, fungus, carrot and water chestnuts. Mix well.
3. Scoop some of the mixture onto a beancurd sheet and roll up firmly.
4. Deep-fry the rolls in hot oil till golden brown.

DYNASTY TANG SEAFOOD HOUSE
7 Jalan Perang, Taman Pelangi, 80400 Johor Baru
Open: 10am to 10pm

ANGEL FOOD CAKE

WITH many recipes for baking and even cooking calling for only egg yolks, you could actually end up with a lot of egg whites on your hands.

For example, if you bake an average-size kueh lapis, you are left with 20 to 25 egg whites.

But there is no reason they should go to waste. If you are not using spare egg whites immediately, you can keep them in a freezer for about a month. Simply take them out to thaw for an hour or two before use.

As for what you can use them for, consider recycling them to make another delicious (and healthier) cake like the Angel Food Cake here.

Angel Food Cake, or Angel Cake as it is also called, is American in origin. It is so named because it is snowy-white and feathery-light in texture. Basically a fat-free sponge cake, its light airy structure is made of egg white whisked with sugar.

Mrs Celeste Chew of Cake My Day, a culinary studio in Grange Road, came up with her version of coating the cake with white chocolate to further enhance the flavour and added strawberries as a decorative touch.

Cake My Day is at 61-A, Grange Road, Block F, Kim Lin Mansions, tel: 6327-1181.

ANGEL FOOD CAKE

INGREDIENTS

250g castor sugar
100g Hong Kong flour (available in NTUC FairPrice and Cold Storage
supermarkets)
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
350g egg white (about 7 eggs)
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
White chocolate cream
50g white chocolate (melted over a hot water bath to avoid a grainy texture)
100g fresh cream
100g icing sugar
1 tsp lime juice
1 tsp lime zest (grated lime skin)
For decoration
100g fresh strawberries/raspberries
Mint leaves

METHOD

1. Put castor sugar in a blender or chopper and process till fine. Divide into two parts of 125g each.
2. Sift flour three times and add in half of the processed sugar. Mix well using a spatula.
3. Add a pinch of salt and cream of tartar to egg whites and whisk at high speed.
4. When it turns foamy, add the remaining half (125g) of the processed castor sugar gradually. Whisk till firm and stiff.
5. Fold in flour and sugar into the egg white. Add vanilla essence.
6. Spoon mixture into an ungreased tube pan (which you use for making chiffon cakes) and smoothen the top using a spatula.
7. Bake at 160 deg C for 35 to 40 minutes till springy. Invert cake in pan and cool completely.
8. To decorate the cake, whisk the fresh cream and icing sugar for the white chocolate cream at high speed. Add in lime zest when the cream is beginning to firm. Add lime juice and continue whisking till mixture is stiff. Add in chocolate, mix well and coat all over the cake. Top with strawberries/raspberries and mint leaves.

ROAST CHICKEN

WHEN weekends come around, the thought of a long wait at a restaurant or a hawker centre is sometimes enough to put you off dining out.

At times like these, you just want to stay at home and have a fuss-free meal.

One way is to do a roast chicken.

It is one of the easiest dishes to whip up, and chicken, especially minus the skin, is healthy.

There are many recipes for roast chicken. Some call for herb stuffings while others require plenty of seasoning and basting.

Ms Judy Koh of Creative Culinaire, a cooking studio in Eng Hoon Street in Tiong Bahru, has a simple recipe that requires none of the above yet produces a moist and flavourful dish.

An ordinary oven suffices here, and preparation is easy.

Before you get going, here are some tips on getting a succulent, moist bird.

Always use fresh chicken instead of frozen poultry.

Don't cook meat directly from a refrigerator. Leave it at room temperature for at least one hour.

Put the chicken onto a rack placed inside a large and shallow tray so that there is enough room for the bird to cook properly and crisp up nicely. You can put vegetables like carrots and potatoes to bake together with the chicken.

To check if the bird is cooked, use a skewer to poke through the thickest part of its thigh. The juices should run clear if it is done. If there are blood streaks in the juices, cook the bird a little longer.

Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the oven and allow it to stand for about 10 minutes. This will let the juices settle and it will also be easier to handle and cut up.

Creative Culinaire is at 20 Eng Hoon Street, tel: 6324-1663.

ROAST CHICKEN (serves 4)

INGREDIENTS
1 spring chicken (1 - 1.3kg)
1 Tbs light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs ginger juice
1 tsp sherry
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

GARNISHES
2 medium potatoes, a few tomatoes, a few stalks of parsley

METHOD
1. Marinade chicken with the above ingredients for at least 8 hours (4 hours will do if you are in a hurry).
2. Preheat oven at 175 deg C with turbo if your oven has a fan. Otherwise, just bake it at 175 deg C. Put chicken on a wire rack with a tray below to collect juices and oil. Pour some of the marinade over the chicken and inside the cavity.
3. Bake it breast side down for 45 minutes. Then turn it over and bake it breast side up for 15 minutes. You can cut potatoes into wedges and bake with the chicken. Put them in when you first start baking.
4. Garnish with the tomatoes, potato wedges and parsley.

ROASTED CHICKEN & VEGETABLE PIZZA

Pizza is a good choice as it's a dish everyone can tuck into at the same time, enhancing that feeling of togetherness.

It is also easy to whip up, and everyone can chip in and help. In fact, instead of making the base yourself, you can use a sliced baguette and top it off with roasted chicken and lots of vegetables.

And how is Mrs Celeste Chew, owner of Cake My Day, a cooking studio in Grange Road,, who cooks virtually every day, celebrating Mother's Day?

The culinary instructor, who is in her early 40s, says with a laugh: 'Oh, my son and daughter will just tell me, Mum, no cooking today. We are taking you out.'

You can call Cake My Day on 6327-1181.

ROASTED CHICKEN & VEGETABLE PIZZA

PIZZA BASE
500g bread flour
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
14g yeast
250ml water (use 230ml first, if dough is dry, add more)
2 Tbs olive oil (more for greasing)

Method
1. Sift flour into a bowl. Add yeast, sugar and salt. Mix well.
2. Make a well in the centre, mix oil and water together. Pour mixture in and use a dough hook to mix till a soft dough is formed.
3. Knead dough for about 10 minutes till smooth and elastic.
4. Cover dough with cling film and proof for 1 - 1 1/2 hours till well risen or double its volume.
5. Punch dough down and knead on a floured board till smooth.
6. Divide dough into 2 parts. Knead each part to fit a 12-inch pizza pan.

TOMATO SAUCE FOR BASE
125 ml olive oil
1 large onion (finely chopped)
2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
500g tomato passata

Method
1. Heat oil in pan. Saute onions till translucent.
2. Fry garlic till fragrant and add tomato passata. Simmer till mixture is thick. Adjust sugar and salt to taste.

VEGETABLE TOPPING
2 Tbs olive oil
1 red onion (cut into 6 wedges)
1 zucchini (sliced 1cm thick)
1 eggplant (sliced 1cm thick)
1 red pepper (sliced)
1 yellow pepper (sliced)
1 green pepper (sliced)
3 cloves garlic (crushed)
20 cherry tomatoes
125g parmesan cheese

ROASTED CHICKEN
2 chicken thighs
1 tsp light soya sauce
2 tsp honey
2 Tbs brandy
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
1. Marinade chicken with the above ingredients for at least an hour. Bake in an oven at 220 deg C for 20-30 minutes, turning the other side up halfway through.
2. When cooled, shred chicken and leave aside.

ASSEMBLY
1. Preheat oven to 210 deg C.
2. Spread tomato sauce on pizza base, leaving a 1cm border.
3. Bake pizza for five minutes to set the base. Remove from oven.
4. Sprinkle grated parmesan cheese over the base.
5. Scatter vegetables over pizza top and bake for 15-20 minutes. The base of the pizza should be crisp and golden.
6. Spread roasted chicken over pizza.

Otak

Makes 20 pieces

500g fish meat (horse mackerel or bei kah, pound or blend two-thirds of it, and slice remaining one-third for more bite)
50ml water
11/2 tsp salt

Ingredients A

120g shallots
2 slices galangal
5 slices turmeric
6 buah keras
2 lemongrass stalks
1 small piece belacan
32g dried chilli (boil briefly and leave to cool)
8 fresh chillies

Ingredients B

200ml coconut milk
1 Tbs sugar
2 eggs
2 limau purut leaves, finely diced
11/2 tsp coriander powder
1 Tbs cornflour
8 Tbs oil for frying
Several banana leaves, cut into pieces about 18cm x 20cm, wash, scald in boiling water briefly to make them pliable, then wipe them dry Toothpicks

Method

1. Dissolve salt in water.
2. Scrape fish using a spoon and pound in a mortar, adding salt water gradually. Use ice water to blend fish meat if desired. Mix fish meat well till it becomes sticky and firm.
3. Blend Ingredients A. Heat oil in a wok and fry ground ingredients over low heat till oil exudes. Leave to cool and put into fish meat. Mix well.

4. Add coconut milk, eggs and rest of Ingredients B. Mix well.

5. Scoop 2 Tbs of fish paste onto a banana leaf, fold leaf and secure with toothpicks.
6. Grill for 10 to 12 minutes at about 200 deg C till otak is cooked.

Tip: Use fresh coconut milk rather than the processed version as the result tastes much better.

Coffee Buns

UN-WAGON : Make your own Coffee Boy instead of queueing for it.

FIRST, there was Rotiboy. Then came Papparoti, followed by Roti Mum. The family of coffee-flavoured buns is currently the rage in town.

The craze, which started across the Causeway with Rotiboy Bakeshoppe, caught on here when the first Rotiboy outlet opened in China Square last July.

Other versions have since been spawned, and culinary studios are also jumping on the bun-wagon.

Chef Judy Koh, 42, of Creative Culinaire, a culinary studio in Eng Hoon Street, was inspired to make her own version of the round buns at the request of her students (see recipe below).

She says it is based on the same baking method as the Mexican bun. This is a plain, round bun with coloured sugar paste or chocolate topping.

She had learnt to make the Mexican bun in a Malaysian bakery about five years ago. Replicating the coffee aroma is the biggest challenge in making coffee buns, she says.

Freshly roasted and ground coffee beans are essential for the topping, which is piped on top of the bread before baking.

This is then combined with a good coffee paste. Grind the beans yourself if you want the buns fragrant and fresh.

Chef Koh gives two tips for her bun which she names Coffee Boy:

1. Do not overproof, otherwise the bun goes flat once the topping is piped onto it.
2. When you put in the filling, make sure the bottom is properly sealed or else the bun will leak.

Call Creative Culinaire on 6324-1663 for enquiries.

Coffee Boy (Makes 10)

Topping

Ingredients
150g butter
3 eggs
150g sugar
120g plain flour
15g almond powder, toasted
4g Nescafe (Gold Blend)
10g hot water
2 Tbs good coffee powder*
2 Tbs warm water
2 tsp Cafe Crema or a good coffee paste
1 tsp vanilla essence
(*Try the Sumatran coffee bean from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf)

Method
1. Dissolve Nescafe in hot water. Also dissolve coffee powder in warm water.
2. Cream butter and sugar for about 1 minute to mix well.
3. Combine eggs and the rest of the ingredients using a mixer at low speed until mixture is even. Do not overbeat.
4. Put mixture in a refrigerator for a few hours or preferably overnight till it thickens. It is easier to handle.
5. Put mixture into piping bag and pipe to cover three-quarters of the top of each bun.

Filling

Ingredients
150g butter
15g icing sugar

Method
1. Mix well and divide into individual portions.
2. Put in freezer for about an hour for it to harden.

Dough

Ingredients
6g yeast
140g water
1 egg yolk
40g sugar
260g bread flour
8g milk powder
1/4 tsp salt
45g butter

Method
1. Mix yeast with water. Then add the rest of the ingredients above. Knead and set aside for 30 minutes.
2. Divide dough into small round portions and wrap in the filling (see above).
3. When dough is well proofed, pipe topping (see above) on top.
4. Bake at 200 deg C for about 10 to 12 minutes. The buns are best eaten hot.

Laksa cookies

Feb 2007, ST

WHEN I first passed some laksa cookies around to my colleagues to try, they exclaimed: 'Sounds weird' and 'What?'

But the verdict once they took a bite? Nice.

These cookies are made with laksa paste instead of the usual chocolate chips or nuts.

They are the creation of Ms Irene Yip, who owns Chef's Secrets Cooking and Baking Resource Centre, a culinary studio in Bukit Merah Central.

She came up with this unusual concoction about four years ago because she missed eating this spicy noodle dish during Chinese New Year, when most hawker stalls are closed.

The paste is cooked from scratch, and the most crucial part of making the cookies is getting this right.

Buy the best ingredients to get the best result, she advises.

The finely blended paste must also be fried over low heat for at least 30 minutes until it exudes oil.

You can buy a bottle of 60 cookies from Chef's Secrets for $13.80.

LAKSA COOKIES



Laksa paste ingredients

150g shallots

20g garlic

50g candlenuts

60g lengkuas (blue ginger)

30g lemongrass

30g belacan, toasted and crumbled

40 dried chillies
(or 150g wet chilli paste)

100g dried prawns, washed and drained

12 Tbs oil

1 tsp turmeric powder

3 Tbs coriander powder

2 Tbs thick coconut milk

Method

1. Blend the paste ingredients together.

2. Grind the dried prawns. Heat wok and add in 6 Tbs of the oil. Fry the dried prawns till fragrant. Remove and set aside.

2. Heat the remaining 6 Tbs of oil and fry the paste for 25 minutes over low heat.

3. Add the coriander and turmeric powders. Mix well and fry for five minutes. Add the dried prawns, mix well and cook for another five minutes.

4. Add the thick coconut milk and cook a further five minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the paste to cool. Makes enough for four batches of cookies.

Cookie ingredients

75g shortening, such as Crisco

40g icing sugar

50ml thick coconut milk

120g laksa paste

30g laksa leaves, finely chopped

250g Hong Kong flour, sifted

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 beaten egg for glazing

Method

1. Cream shortening and sugar together in a large bowl.

2. Add coconut milk, laksa paste and 10g of the chopped laksa leaves, mix well.

3. Add Hong Kong flour, baking powder and baking soda. Mix well until it comes together as a dough. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.

4. Roll the dough out 5mm thick and use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes.

5. Glaze with egg and top with the remaining 20g of chopped laksa leaves.

6. Bake at 150 deg C for about 25 minutes till golden brown.

Keeps in an airtight container for two weeks.

Chef's Secrets Cooking and Baking Resource Centre is at Block 163, Bukit Merah Central, 03-3579, Tel: 6273-9558.

Available only during Lunar New Year period.

Ma po dou fu

17 June 2007, ST

Ingredients

400g beancurd (silken)

4 baby leeks or 2 leeks

30ml peanut oil

100g ground beef

11/2 Tbs Sichuan chilli bean paste (dou ban jiang)
(up to 1 Tb more if you want it more fiery)

1 Tb fermented black beans (or fermented black bean paste)

1 Tb Sichuan chilli paste

100ml chicken stock

1 tsp sugar

dash of light soya sauce

salt to taste

cornstarch or potato starch mixed with cold water (for thickening)

1/2 tsp roasted Sichuan pepper (hua jiao)

1 stalk spring onion





Method

1. Cut beancurd into 1-inch cubes and steep in salted hot water. Cut leek into thin slices. Cut spring onion into fine slivers.

2. Season wok, add peanut oil and heat over a high flame until smoking. Add minced beef and stir-fry until crispy and a little brown, but not yet dry.

3. Remove the minced beef and put on paper towel to absorb oil.

4. Turn the heat down to medium, add the chilli bean paste and stir-fry for about a minute, until the oil is a rich red colour. Add the fermented black beans and chilli paste and stir-fry for another 30 seconds until the mixture is fragrant and the oil is nice and red.

5. Add the drained beancurd and stock. Mix in gently by pushing the back of your ladle or wok scoop from the centre of the wok - do not stir or the beancurd will break up. Season with sugar, a dash of light soy sauce and salt to taste. Simmer for about 5 minutes until the beancurd has absorbed the flavours of the sauce.

6. Add the leek and half the minced beef and gently mix in. When the leek is just cooked, add the cornstarch (or potato starch) mixture in two or three stages, mixing well, until the sauce has thickened enough to cling glossily to the meat and beancurd.

7. Finally, pour everything into a deep bowl, scatter with the remaining ground beef, Sichuan pepper and fine slivers of spring onions.

PS: This recipe can be adapted for vegetarian use by omitting the ground beef and chicken stock.

Wine recommendations (only if the dish does not have too much chilli):

1. Perrin & Fils, Gigondas 'La Gille', Southern Rhone, France, 2004

2. Torres, Gran Sangre de Toro Reserva, Catalunya, Spain, 2001

3. Bodegas San Alejandro, 'Baltasar' Garnacha Vinas Viejas, Calatayud, Spain, 2004

Verdict: This is the first time I've tasted ma po dou fu made with beef instead of pork. I prefer this version as it has a smokier flavour. The silkiness of the beancurd conspires with the minced beef and peppercorns to lend the dish a fetching texture. A colleague ate this with lettuce and pronounced it real 'shiok'.

Chicken abalone porridge

03 Jun 2007, ST

Ingredients

4 pcs conpoy

1 pc abalone strip

6 red dates

1.5 pcs of wai san (Japanese yam or dioscorea)

16 wolfberries

2 cups of Thai rice

1 medium-sized chicken

300g of pork spare ribs (the more bones, the better)

3 big bowls of water

1 can of Mexican abalone chives

sesame oil

salt and white pepper (to taste)

Method

Two days before

Wash conpoy, abalone strip, dried red dates, dioscorea and wolfberries. Soak in hot water before refrigerating overnight.

Day before:

1. Wash Thai rice before soaking in cold water to which a pinch of salt has been added.

2. Clean chicken and then blanch with boiling water. Do the same with the pork ribs.

3. Stuff chicken with conpoy, dioscorea and the abalone strip

4. In a slow cooker, place stuffed chicken, pork ribs, wolfberries and red dates. Fill with three big bowls of water. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for at least eight hours or until chicken is tender (everything should fall apart with gentle prodding).

5. Separate meat from chicken and pork ribs. Keep conpoy. Shred abalone strip.

6. Place chicken, pork, conpoy and abalone strips in a shallow dish covered with soup stock.

7. Strain soup stock and place everything in fridge overnight.

D Day:

1. Remove coagulated fat from soup

2. Remove water from rice.

3. Slow-cook rice and soup stock for about 8 hours.

Before serving:

1. Add chicken, pork conpoy and abalone strips to porridge.

2. Garnish with sliced canned abalone and chives and drizzle sesame oil over.

Verdict: Porridge, said Chan, should be made with tender loving care. And you can taste the TLC in this smooth-as-tofu concoction. Some people blend their congee to get a smooth texture. Not Chan, who said the secret is to soak the rice overnight. The choice ingredients and the achingly flavourful stock conspire to make this absolutely slurp-worthy. You can taste it at Mimolette (55 Fairways Drive, tel: 6467-7748) at its Sunday brunch.