Happy New Year! How has everyone been doing? It’s been a long time since Hochiak! Delicious Asian Food was updated and I’ve received many emails wondering what I’ve been up to. Well, I’m doing fine and the cooking hasn’t stopped albeit, very much of the same old recipes recycling every other week. My family has also been blessed with a domestic helper from the Philipines who is very talented in cooking as she has been able to pick up Chinese cooking really fast. So, it’s been good to be having nourishing home-cooked food every evening when we return home from work.

So, what’s this cookbook that I have featured here on this post, you may ask. It’s something really exciting that I want to share with you. Hochiak! Delicious Asian Food was written based on my passion to record down everyday home-cooked food recipes to be shared with people all around the world and it has brought me tremendous pleasure and satisfaction to see many of you successfully replicating or even improvising on the recipes. Likewise, the Legacy cookbook is was written by 37 contributors, mostly home-makers and produced with the aim of ensuring that these favourite home-cooked food recipes are not forgotten.

The hard-covered 131-paged Legacy cookbook features more than 136 pages of 68 recipes ranging from Hakka Stewed Pork (Char Yuk) to Teo Chew Duck and Mee Siam. Desserts are not left out. The founders of Just Heavenly (famously known for their cakes and desserts) have also generously contributed some recipes in this cookbook. Meanwhile, two recipes featured on Hochiak! Delicious Asian Food are also featured in this cookbook.

I was also given the privilege to write the Foreword for this cookbook, which was printed and produced out of love for food. The Legacy cookbook retails at RM100.00 (gift-box not included) and full proceeds will be channeled to the Wesley Legacy Centre, a new multi-storey building project of the Wesley Methodist Church, Kuala Lumpur. Shipping is via courier is at a flat rate of RM15 worldwide for Malaysia. If you are not from Malaysia and wish to purchase this cookbook, please leave a comment here so that I can quote the shipping charges for you.

I truly hope that you will support this project which is non-commercial in nature. It took the project team, a small group of volunteers, one year to complete this cookbook. I have bought one. Will you buy one too for yourself and as a legacy to pass on down the generations?

UPDATE AS AT 27.08.2012 – I thank all of you who have donated and purchased the Legacy cookbook. The Church’s fund raising activity has come to an end and the Building is near readiness for vacant possession. If you still wish to purchase the cookbook, please let me know by leaving a comment below so that I can contact you directly. Thank you.

A sampling of the recipes featured are as follows:-

• Foochow Braised Duck
• Coriander Chicken Curry
• Chicken Pongteh
• Kaffir Lime Pepper Chicken
• Tex Mex Beef Tacos
• Meat Loaf
• Mutton Mysore Varuval
• Curry Deval
• Salt Beef
• Fish Head Assam Curry
• Fisherman’s Pie
• Sambal Petai Prawns
• Hakka Taufoo Soong
• Stuffed Prawn Fritters
• Gado-Gado
• Acar
• Cucumber Jellyfish Salad
• Yam Buttons (Suin Pun Chi)
• Nonya Laksa
• Mee Rebus
• Hing Hua Mee Sua
• Loh Mai Farn (Glutinuous Rice)
• Gomoku Chirashi Sushi
• 7th Heaven Cake
• Tiramisu
• White Radish Cake (Lor Bak Ko)
• Serimuka

Alternatively, you may also purchase this cookbook (while stocks lasts) from my church directly.

Wesley Methodist Church Kuala Lumpur

2, Jalan Wesley

50150 Kuala Lumpur

Tel : 60-3-20720338

Browse through more recipes of mine at the All Recipes page.

Legacy…recipes to pass to our children

Van Houten Chocolate cake, anyone? If you are looking for a tried and tested recipe for chocolate cake, you might want to try this out. This chocolate cake recipe is actually modified from the scroll cake recipe. Medium moist, light and buttery, it makes you want to have another piece once you’ve eaten one. Van Houten Cocoa Powder is used in this recipe. If you can’t find it, you might also want to try the Tudor brand. As for butter, we use Golden Churn brand. SCS butter is also a good substitute.

To prevent sticking, ensure that the baking pan is well greased with butter followed by dusting with flour. Cool the cake over a rack before storing.

Oh, in case you were wondering, the Van Houten Chocolate Cake is on the foreground. The other pieces of cakes are the famous Sarawak Layer Cake (Kuih Lapis Sarawak). Looks good, don’t they?

But for now, let me share with you the recipe for Van Houten Chocolate Cake :-

Ingredients

• 10 oz. Butter
• 10 oz. Castor Sugar
• 7 ½ oz. Flour
• 1 oz. Cocoa Powder
• 8 Eggs (separate egg yolks from egg whites)
• 2 ¼ teaspoon Baking Powder

Method

Beat butter and sugar for 8 minutes (or until white).

Add egg yolks one by one and continue beating for another 10 minutes.

Fold in flour sifted with cocoa powder and baking powder (sifted 2 to 3 times).

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff and add it to the butter mixture.

Pour mixture onto a baking tray (8″ inch, square tin)

Bake in a 300°F (or 150°C) oven for about 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Browse through more recipes of mine at the All Recipes page.

Van Houten Chocolate Cake

One of the earliest dishes I tried out at Japanese restaurants was the Chicken Teriyaki. Lightly grilled and basted with the mildly sweet teriyaki sauce, the tender pieces of chicken always go well with steamed rice. Though I’ve seen the teriyaki marinade being sold at the supermarket shelves, I never got around to buying them until a few months ago – now that I have an oven at home.

I never knew that it was so easy to prepare a dish of oven-roasted chicken teriyaki to perfection but that would be a recipe for another day to share with you. For today, let me share with you what I attempted for the first time which resulted in a thumbs up from my wife

Stir-fried boneless chicken with capsicums in teriyaki sauce may be a long name to pronounce but definitely short and easy to cook. Ingredients are simple and cooking time is minimal. I do think that this dish would be better if a couple of slices of onion are included but you won’t be disappointed even if you don’t have it. The capsicums themselves will give a slight robust taste to this dish, not to mention, a crunch to the otherwise tender pieces of chicken.

For the chicken, I chose the whole leg of chicken, completely deboned with skin removed. Breast meat may not be suitable as it is less tender. The skin is removed so that the dish will turn out less oily. Moreover, it would not be suitable to stir fry the chicken with meat intact. If you prefer to have the chicken skin on, roasting would be a better option. I never knew chicken teriyaki was so simple, and this recipe could even withstand the toughest restaurant reviews – it’s that delicious

This is my quick recipe for Stir Fried Boneless Chicken with Capsicums in Teriyaki Sauce

Ingredients

• 2 whole leg of chicken (deboned, skin removed and cut into bite sizes)
• 1 capsicum (julienned)
• 3 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 1 ½ tablespoons cooking oil (peanut, mixed or palm oil)
• 100 ml hot water

Marinade

• 2 teaspoons light soya sauce
• A couple of dashes of white pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon of corn flour

Seasoning

• 1 tablespoon of thick teriyaki sauce
• 2 teaspoons light soya sauce
• A couple of dashes of black pepper powder to taste
• Salt to taste

Method

Season chicken with marinade for about ½ hour before cooking.

Heat wok on high heat till smoky. Add oil, garlic and chicken. Stir briskly. Add capsicums when chicken meat is seared.

Add seasoning and water and bring to boil.

Cook chicken thoroughly and dish up when gravy is reduced.

Serve hot with steamed white rice.

Browse through more recipes of mine at the All Recipes page.

StirFried Boneless Chicken with Capsicums in Teriyaki Sauce

Scallop Congee is one of my most oft cooked congee for weekend lunch. Okay, make it Scallop Porridge for those who are more familiar with the word porridge. Actually, it’s the same. And whichever name you call it, it will still taste as good though I suspect the word “congee” sounds much more sophisticated and refined to be used.

For this congee, I use dried scallops which I purchase from the wet market. You can get them from supermarkets and some chinese herbal shops or even, dried sea produce. I use those which are relatively small in size – perhaps about the size of half a pop corn as they are cheap and easy to cook.

In the picture above, the scallop congee appears white in colour. I have a habit of eating my scallop congee with an egg. What I would do is to break an egg into the bowl and pour boiling congee over it before giving it a good stir. The egg gives the congee a much smoother texture and definitely tastes better. Game for a bowl?

This is my recipe for Scallop Congee

Ingredients

• 3/4 bowl of rice
• about 15 to 20 pieces of dried scallops (rinsed and soaked in water for 30 minutes. Do not discard water)
• 100 grammes of minced pork
• Chopped spring onions
• Sesame oil

Seasoning

• Salt and white pepper powder to taste
• 1 tablespoon light soya sauce

Method

Rinse the rice before placing it into a pot. Add 10 bowls of water plus the water previously used to soak the dried scallops and bring to boil.

Once it starts to boil, add scallops and reduce heat to low. Partially cover with lid and ensure the bubbles do not boil over the pot. Stir once a while.

Simmer until rice is completely cooked (starts to break up) which will take approximately 30 minutes. Add a little boiling water every now and then to keep it runny. Turn off heat and cover lid. Allow to cool for 1 hour.

Before serving, bring congee to boil. Add more boiling water to keep it runny as the congee would have absorb much of the water during the cooling process. Once it boils, add minced pork and stir well. Add seasoning.

Dish up and drizzle a little sesame oil over the congee.

Serve hot and garnish with chopped spring onions and yau char kuey (if available).

[Serves approximately 4 adults - soup bowl size]

Browse through more recipes of mine at the All Recipes page.

Scallop Congee

Christmas is just around the corner and I finally roasted it! I’ve always wanted to roast a lamb roll, boneless lamb shoulder roll to be exact, and last Sunday was the perfect opportunity for me to try this out. The boneless lamb shoulder roll was lying in the freezer and begging for a change in temperature from the freezing compartment to the oven which was just sitting across the kitchen.

It was an easy roast and I complimented the meal with baked potatoes and carrots. On the table were fresh garden salad, 3 varieties of pasta, mushroom pasta sauce and juicy jumbo sausages. Dessert came in the form of ice kacang and chocolate marble cheesecake. There were 9 adults and we were literally stuffed that night.

But the highlight for me that night was the lamb. It was my maiden roast and it turned out all right. Ingredients are simple and this is definitely something which a novice can try. I won’t say it’s an original recipe of mine as I got some ideas here and there and there are thousands of such recipes on the net. But it is definitely a tried, tested and given the thumbs-up recipe. Surprise your family and friends with this easy roast this Christmas!

This is the recipe for Roasted Boneless Lamb Shoulder Roll

Ingredients

• 1 boneless lamb shoulder roll (1.5kg)

Marinate

• 1 bulb garlic (smashed)
• a few sprigs of rosemary
• a few sprigs of thyme
• salt
• crushed black pepper

Sauce

• Fat dripping (see below)
• 30 to 50 grammes of butter
• 2 to 3 tablespoons of plain flour
• 2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
• Salt
• Crushed black pepper
• Liquid (Water / stock / red wine)

Method

Pat dry the lamb roll. Rub the marinate all over the lamb and leave overnight in the fridge. Ensure that lamb is brought to room temperature prior to roasting.

Pre-heat oven to 180° Celcius. Place lamb on rack in the middle of the oven with a tray to collect the dripping fat. Roast for 90 minutes or 30 minutes for every 500 grammes of lamb.

Remove from oven and cover with foil for 20 minutes before carving.

To make Sauce, slowly melt butter in sauce pan before adding flour. Stir briskly until flour becomes a rough sandy texture. Add fat dripping and liquid till the sauce turns to the consistency that you like (runny / thick). Add worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to taste.

Browse through more recipes of mine at the All Recipes page.

Roasted Boneless Lamb Shoulder Roll

I was never really a fan of carrot cakes all these while probably because I never had any good experience eating a good carrot cake out there. Maybe the thought of eating a “vegetable” cake deterred me from wanting to try this out compared to chocolate cakes or cheese cakes. Anyway, not any longer ever since we got ourselves a Fagor oven in our new house. Carrot cake rocks! More so when it is topped with lemon cream cheese frosting and eaten slightly chilled.

My wife made this a couple of weeks back and I’m now a fan of carrot cakes. Moist and nutritious, this carrot cake is laden with freshly grated carrots, sweetened pineapples, oven-toasted walnuts and plump raisins. I think the best part that there is no mixer involved (with a little caveat that a mixer would be required to prepare the frosting). Just get yourself a big bowl and spatula and give it a good mix ala manual

What makes this carrot cake so special that I have decided to call it the Ultimate Carrot Cake Recipe? Well, it’s been handed down from my mother-in-law to my wife, it tastes good as reported by many who have tasted this and most of all, one piece is never enough. Need I say more?

This is my mother-in-law’s recipe for Carrot Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

• 240 grammes carrots (grated)
• 120 grammes tinned pineapples (tinned, drained and chopped)
• 60 grammes raisins (lightly chopped)
• 60 grammes walnuts (toasted, cooled and chopped coarsely)
• 240 grammes self-raising flour
• 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon powder
• 1/4 teaspoons nutmeg powder
• 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoons vanilla essence (add to eggs)
• 3 eggs
• 200 210 grammes castor sugar
• 180 ml cooking oil

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

• 30 60 grammes butter (room temperature)
• 60 230 grammes cream cheese (room temperature)
• 30 230 grammes icing sugar (sifted)
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind (grate the skin)

Method

Sift the flour with soda and baking powder. Add castor sugar.

Beat Whisk eggs lightly until frothy in a separate bowl. Add in vanilla essence.

Pour egg mixture into the flour and stir well. Then add grated carrots followed by cooking oil. Add in the chopped pineapples and stir well.

Then add in the raisins and walnuts.

Pour mixture into a greased and floured tray and bake in a preheated oven at 170°C for 45 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to stand to cool before applying a thin layer of frosting.

Cake is best served chilled.

Frosting

Beat Put cream cheese and butter in the a bowl of using a hand-held or an electric mixer. Beat on low speed till blended. Gradually add icing sugar (sifted) and continue beating until smooth.

Add vanilla essence and grated lemon and allow to beat till well combined.

Browse through more recipes of mine at the All Recipes page.

The Ultimate Carrot Cake Recipe

It does not matter whether it is black or white. Black Soybean also known as Black Bean or Black Soya Bean will give you a white looking milk just like its cousin, the soya bean. It may not be common for you to find anyone selling this drink out there but you’d be surprise to know that the cooking method is the same. If you know how to make black soybean milk, you will also know how to make soybean milk

The Black Bean Milk tastes quite similar to the common Soy Bean Milk albeit creamier. It is more expensive to purchase compared to the soy bean but once you’ve made a couple of litres of this, you will then realise that the vendors are making hefty profit out of this nutritious drink (hint : a couple of hundred percent profit). The hardest work involved is the milking process – when you have to squeeze out the milk / juice from the blended beans. Ensure that you get a good filter. I used a cotton coffee filter (the ones which Malaysians use to brew coffee in kopitiams).

Do not keep this drink longer than necessary. Overnight at the most, being kept in the refridgerator. Somehow, my gut feeling is that drinks made from beans are not supposed to last long especially if it did not go through any factory process. Anyway, if you are keen to impress your family or your weekend guests, give this drink a try. It’s nutritious and definitely delicious.

This is my wife’s recipe for Black Soy Bean Milk

Ingredients

• 500 grammes black soy bean (soaked overnight)
• a couple of pandan leaves
• 2.5 litres of water
• Sugar to taste

Method

Drain the black soy bean and place them in a blender. Add some water to cover the beans before blending them finely.

Pour blended black soy bean into a large bowl or pot and add remaining water. Strain / Sieve the contents through a fine muslin cloth.

Place sieved black soy bean milk into a pot, add the pandan leaves and bring to boil very slowly. Ensure that you stir the milk regularly to prevent burning. Turn off the heat immediately upon boiling and allow to cool.

You can either choose to add the sugar whilst bringing the black soy bean to boil or prepare syrup separately and add the syrup prior to drinking.

Serve hot or cold.

Browse through more recipes of mine at the All Recipes page.

Black Soybean Milk

It’s another Saturday and I was fortunate enough to be able to go to the market this morning. Seeing some fresh medium sized brinjals on sale, I couldn’t resist getting my hands into 5 of them, no longer than 8 inches each. So, shall it be sweet and spicy brinjals or another one of the tried and tested brinjal recipes I have attempted so far? Considering that my wife was baking a cake, the oven would have been set up just nicely for a brinjal roast!

I have seen roasted vegetables in cook shows though roasted brinjals are kinda rare. Meanwhile, spicy brinjals are quite common here but I thought I would take it one step further by roasting the brinjals instead. It’s my maiden attempt and I am glad to report that it received favourable reviews from my wife and my sister-in-law. Though the brinjals were roasted, it was still packed with moisture and juicy to bite. The combination of dried prawns, buah keras and other ingredients which made the topping was nicely roasted to a fragrant aroma and delivered a riot of taste with each bite. For those who are not used to eating hot food, you can choose to ease off with the chilli but for those who prefer it sizzling hot, just add more chilli.

I believe the Roasted Spicy Brinjals would be suitable eaten with porridge (I actually had them with plain porridge) or steamed rice and would look incredibly appetising in any parties. Give it a try and be amazed by how delicious such a simple dish could be.

This is my recipe for Roasted Spicy Brinjals

Ingredients

• 5 medium sized brinjals (cut into half lengthwise)
• 50 grammes dried prawns (lightly soaked and drained)
• 5 buah keras (candlenuts)
• 2 cm belacan
• 3 red chillis (chopped as finely as you can)
• 8 shallots
• 5 cloves garlic
• 3 tablespoons cooking oil
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• spring onion for garnishing

Seasoning

• Salt
• Castor sugar

Method

Pound dried prawns, buah keras, belacan, shallots and garlic until well combined. Set aside.

Heat wok and add oil. Saute the combination ingredients above until aromatic and the paste begins to brown. Add chilli and mix well. Turn off the heat and allow to cool.

Heat up oven to 180°  celcius. Meanwhile, oil a baking tray with olive oil.

Sprinkle salt and sugar lightly on fleshy part of brinjal and then coat the flesh with combination ingredients. Lay brinjals (skin side down) on baking tray. Roast for 20 minutes.

Serve hot.

Browse through more recipes of mine at the All Recipes page.

Roasted Spicy Brinjals