Tepee

LOL, Ah Leung Gaw, you're getting more and more yau muk compared to your early no-nonsense days! Your demos are yummy as ever.

Check the consistency of your dough. Knead till it's even and smooth. A dough which is on the wet side will result in undiscernible pleats. I can see your baos are nice and soft. Yum! Here's some I did a couple of years ago, my pleats weren't very clear either because I remember making a mental note that the dough was too wet. I've been meaning to make some linyoong ones from my leftover mooncake filling too. Tks for the reminder.

Pak Chan...eeewww! I don't know how some women faithfully drink this every month...erm...after they're 'clean'. I love chinese herbs, I revel in the smell of a chinese medicine hall......but Pak Chan is UGH. Abra, this is definitely something served from Fear Factor. Have fun! BTW, don't know what is Ayam Taipan either.

Hey, Yunney...aunty TP here! Was surprised to see a msian name blogging. Syabas! Where did you get your stash of mooncakes? Just a couple of days ago, I made fresh batches of mini shanghai ones as I still have ingredients left. Want some? While you're still in mooncake mode, we're making open house rounds for Raya. Did you get your rendang, nasi himpit, lontong, nasi tomato, lemang etc...?

Dai Gah Jeh...it is very similar to the Malaysian Otak-Otak, a version shown here. Here's a recipe. For authenticity, instead of galangal, kracai is used....same family. I LURV it too!! Very easy to make...if you have the ingredients.

Black sugar? Frankly, I've never heard it before. Perhaps, it's so dark, they call it black? Here's a picture of gula melaka or coconut palm sugar which I use in Vinegared Pig Trotters. You may use rock sugar, which, although it does not have that extra complexity, it gives a smooth mouth feel. BTW, Peony, where are you situated? About the eggs...although it's visually more interesting cracked, I think the eggs would be more tasty nekkid.

For ginger, we have a variety grown in the M'sian town of Bentong; it has a neat bite and is fibreless...really delicious in jue geok cho...you can eat it completely. Make lots! Keep in a clay pot to eat over a few days and savour the flavour which develops as the dish is reheated every day and gets thickened.

Welcome, Peony...better late than never! I like your chocolate mooncake mould very much...very well-defined print.

Ben-sook, I saved your birthdate in my memory bank...but excessive indulgence in mooncakes had blurred the date somewhat. Thanks for the gentle reminder. "Sang Yut Fi Lok!" We couldn't see the moon as our country was covered in choking haze from indiscriminate annual burnings from a neighbouring country. I'm beyond mad. However, a thoughtful friend sent a photograph of a beautiful moon outside his home halfway across the world. We did hang some lanterns...mostly Japanese type as we love the colours, and each child had a traditional lantern made from cellophane paper too. Both sides of our family didn't have a celebration feast. First time it has happened. Everyone has been so busy and preparing elaborate dishes were the last things on our minds. My mother said we eat well every day so there's really no reason to have a 'feast'. Those days, meat and, generally, food, were expensive so festivities was a time to splurge on some chicken or duck or other roast meat. It was special. Sigh. Sad, isn't it? I must make an effort to make the next festival special...I'd hate to see tradition dying off out of apathy.

Use a tripod or your other half.

LOL, thanks dai gah cheh and Ah Leung Gaw. I made the mooncakes to test out my new camera and lens From that, I think you can see what my current interest is. Happy Mooncake Festival!

Bumping this up for that time of year. With ramadan, mooncake festival and deepavali all round the corner, it's time to wear clothes with elasticized waistbands. Lots of pix here. Enjoy!. You'll see some of my pix in there too.

What I've made so far: Red Bean paste mooncake...somehow, I don't like the taste of yolks in my red bean ones. White Lotus Mooncake with Double Yolk

Made them last year. I've finished making lotus paste and red beans traditional mooncakes. Will be making mini shanghai ones a la Jack on Thursday. If I've the time, I may make some ping pei.

Isn't anybody making mooncakes this year? One more week to go... I'm making lotus paste (double yolk) and red beans paste mooncake tomorrow. A few days ago, we visited a traditional teochew biscuit shop...just thought I'd share with you.

I use easily available ingredients for my caramel icing, melting 1/4 C butter and 1/2 C dark brown sugar with 3 T milk in heavy saucepan. Add 2 tsp vanilla essence. Then add around 1.5 C sifted icing sugar. Add more if you find it's not thick enough. Stir till smooth.

Err....beef is taboo...duk (toxic) as is lamb.

You're welcome, Rona. I'm not a very good person to ask about tin sizes. I eyeball (in Malaysia, we say agak-agak) all the time. Use the 8" square tin for a single recipe. I use an 11" tin for a double recipe.

I was too bushed to do anything except link the other day. I've recovered now, lol....so here are the recipes, Rona. Lemon Bars Shortbread Base: 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup castor sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt Bake 20 mins moderate oven. Tin must be lined at the bottom. Lemon Topping: 4 large eggs 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 1/2 cup all-purpose flour Pour over hot shortbread. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Bake for 30 mins or until set in 150 deg C oven. I like to melt some jam over it...didn't have lemon jam, so I used apricot...brush on top. Cut into bars or squares when still hot. But, let it cool completely before you lift them out. Hundreds n Thousands Shortbread Adapted the recipe from AWW cookbook, changed bits. This is a melt and mix shortbread, different for the above, which is creaming. 250g butter 1/3 C icing sugar 1/3 C cornflour 1/4 C castor sugar 1/2 teasp vanilla 2 1/2 C plain flour, sifted Melt butter. Sift icing sugar and cornflour, then add sugar. Add butter and vanilla. Beat until thick and creamy. Mix in flour. Press into 8 inch square tin. Bake in mod oven 30 mins. Make royal icing....gosh I wing this all the time, so I don't have the proportions. Just start with around 2 C of sifted icing sugar. Add egg white until you reach a consistency which is not too stiff it can't flow. Get your sprinkles ready because you have to work fast before the icing dries. Spread over warm shortbread. Add sprinkles. I didn't have enough sprinkles to cover the biscuit fully..because making this was impromptu. Cut while warm and let cool completely before lifting out of tin. White Chocolate Coated Flapjacks (apparently flapjacks in the US mean something else...pancakes with maple syrup) This recipe is by Chef Stephan Franz..paraphrased and slightly tweaked from The Cooks Book. 250g unsalted butter, cubed 200g golden syrup 100g brown sugar 250g porridge oats 100g plain flour, sifted twice 150g dried longan (his recipe uses dried cranberries) 100g white chocolate (I used more) Grease and line 9" tin. Oven 170 deg C. Simply melt butter, golden syrup and sugar till foaming. Stir tog oats, flour and dried fruit. Add butter/sugar mixture and blend well. Press into tin. Bake 25 - 30 mins. Cool. Cut. Melt choc. Dip bar inside diagonally (or any way you like). Let set on tin lined with non-stick parchment. Benedict Bars - inspired by Dan Lepard (in his Baking with Passion book). I've tweaked the amounts. Choose your fav shortbread recipe. I used the melt and mix one (above). After pressing the dough into the tin. Spread a thin layer of fav jam...don't get too greedy here (look who's talking?). Add topping. Bake for 25 - 30 mins at 170 deg C. Topping: 80g unsalted butter 60g castor sugar 1 tsp vanilla essence 150g flaked almonds 3 T milk Put everything into a saucepan. Heat over lowest heat until butter has melted. Remove until cool.

You're welcome, ludja. Tks, Ling. I got a very big hug from my friend and it was enough.

Oooh...I love the ideas in this thread! Phew! Am I glad you chose the only recipe there which can be found online! Here it is. However, as you can see in the pic, it produces a very thin layer. I'd do 1 1/2 recipe in an 8" square tin next time. Err...and I didn't add any nuts. For the topping: Just put 2 oz butter, around 5 T brown sugar (I used molasses sugar), 4T milk into a saucepan....low heat. Stir till the sugar has melted. Add about 1 1/2 C confectioner's sugar.

Hi I survived the baking...albeit by the skin of my teeth...my (bigger) oven broke down...never done that in 8 yrs...and I was left with the toy oven for half the baking sessions. Thanks, people, for your words of advice and help. I also found a wholesale bakery near my place...ordered some blueberry cheese tarts at a good price, and repacked them nicely. Posted the stuff I made here.

Here are the items (total of 126 packs) I contributed to a bake sale today. I didn't have much time and they happened to be the easiest to do and pack. And they sold well. Lemon Apricot Bars Pistachio Biscotti Hundreds n Thousands Shortbread White chocolate-coated oat bars (with dried longan) Caramel topped Blondies Benedict Bars (Grape Jam over shortbread...shortbread, again?...topped with flaked almonds) Edit to add: I noticed that stalls selling plain cakes and the usual plain-looking cookies didn't sell well. I suppose people wanted some special treat from a bake sale.

Many thanks, angeljolie and PPPans! Yes, thoughts of this fruit is indeed saliva-inducing.

I recently discovered that one of my friends has a belimbing buluh tree. The fruit is small and sour. I was so happy because my mother used to cook very appetizing dishes with it every time she finds it in the market. However, one can hardly find it in the market now. In fact, not many people here has even tried it before. Now, my friend (oh, what a friend!) gives me a bag every few weeks. If anyone could tell me what it's known in english, it would be great. Just cooked a dish tonight, with sliced chicken thigh meat, the belimbing, and bitter gourd in taucheo (fermented soy bean paste), a rather interesting combination of sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Can a dish taste more complex than this? Oh...with some chillies it can..but I didn't add it this time. Adding this little fruit to any dish (especially curries) will definitely pep up your taste buds.