Tepee

zongzi, chinese tamales

Alright!!! Let's get our act together....ingredients, recipes and gung ho!

The recipe was a bit muddled; there's mention of 8 and 10 pcs. I made 12 from the recipe but you can easily stretch it to 14. Yup, one ball-within-ball for each shell. After rolling, you get a very short frankfurter. It starts off being difficult to work with because the water dough is kinda sticky. I had to dust the work surface and rolling pin with a lot of flour. Then after the 2nd fold, it got much easier to handle...very easy to roll out a circle. Some circles I formed by pressing with my fingers instead of using the rolling pin. Remember to get it as thin as you dare. BTW, I used a chrysanthemum cutter. Then I put the whole tray inside the fridge while I made the filling. To dan tart perfection!!!

LOL, I used to puzzle over this one too! HTH. Hi-protein = bread flour = strong flour Hi-ratio = cake flour = soft/weak flour I agree that muffin tins may not be the best pans to use for this...too high, it's tricky to form a nice level top.

Thanks, Sheetz and Transparent (do you know we share the same birthday? ). I do thinkthis pastry is the way to go, but lard should be used instead. Wow, Lee. I salute you for all your efforts. Wished we could have seen the pix though. I used individual fluted tart tins for the shortcrust pastry effort and, for the latest, I used a shallow 12-holed tart pan with slightly sloping sides. The simple filling of whole milk, sugar, vanilla, whole eggs was very light and smooth but has no 'bite'. Rhoda (or was it Rhonda?)'s filling of whole eggs plus additional yolks, cream, sugar, milk is very satisfyingly rich... I can imagine it would be have been perfect if I had mixed it properly. Told DH that I'll attempt it yet again next week....he said since the pastry is now more or less perfect ( I may have detected a shudder), why don't I fill it with something else? I believe by the end of this cook-off, we'll all be egg-shaped or egg-faced!

Thanks, Sue-On. I already had 2....for testing purposes . You think I could have over-mixed? Hmmm...I did use a hand-whisk. Aside from the lack of flavor in the skin and the slightly rough texture of the filling, I think I prefer today's effort. I usually don't have bubbles in the egg mixture because I sieve it as I pour into the tart dough. Yes, quite a mouthful of ingredients in the tong sui...gingko nuts, foo chook sheets (both dried and fresh), pearl barley, rock sugar, quail eggs and the unused egg white 'flower' from the dan tart filling. Very yeon.

My mom is a fantastic cook, she loved (and still do) to cook for us because we were always very appreciative. What I learnt from her was purely through observation; I chatted with her while she cooked. She was so efficient, she didn't need an assistant in her kitchen. So, I never knew how to cook until I got married. However, I've inherited from her the desire to cook/bake something until I get it to perfection, and I also love to whip things up from the kitchen for my own family now. Thanks, ma.

Finally did the 2 dough pastry. I wished I had lard ( don't wish too hard, TP!), because I used shortening and although the pastry was light and flaky, it lacked flavor. I discovered that to prevent the puffiness, you mustn't be afraid to flatten/thin the dough as much as possible. See the tart on the right...it's not as puffy as the one on the left. Then I used Rhoda's filling; I think I must have overbaked the tarts. The texture is not quite as smooth as the simple milk, eggs, sugar filling for my first tarts. Taken with bak kor foo chook yi mai tong sui with quail eggs.

Thanks for sharing this great idea plus instructions! FUN!

Sue-On, how many tarts (and what size) did you make with Rhoda's filling?

Not really, Michael. I beg to differ. The fried onion, chicken, duck, lettuce, garlic, or/and century eggs as you mentioned, oh, and plus the sausages, are better cooked separately and added to the cooked congee at the end. If boiled together, all the flavor would have been leeched into the congee...which isn't a bad thing coz the flavor would still be in the congee, only thing is the original meat, onion, etc. would be quite devoid of taste. However, adding the ingredients like you said, would be OK if there's minimal boiling.

Patrick, I must say you're doing puhretty, pretty well inspite of your injured foot! I'm impressed! So many ideas in this thread.....

Hey, Sharon! Congrats on your new site...I know it's not easy doing a new website. Just to let you know that when I click on some thumbnails, the enlarged version is a bit distorted. Pls give your parents my warmest regards........

Some post-natal recipes (what we call confinement food) using black chicken.

Add chopped into fried rice. Lobak (radish) and Wu Tao (taro) goh (filling and topping)

Add some ketchup, onions and lemon juice to the sardines. Mash. Use as a sandwich filling.

I actually gave the link for the 2 pastry dough earlier in the dan tart thread. Here. I was going to try it out first, but I've run out of high protein flour. Too much bread, too little flour.....

Been there, done that. See, it's stated that it's eaten for medicinal purpose here ----> scroll down a little.. Don't know why I can't get the direct link via Mozilla. Drank soup made from many a silkie during my confinements.I'm grossed out by the color of the meat, so I don't eat them. Must have worked coz I made it thro all those sleepless feeding nights. Haven't tried or seen their eggs, though.

Well, clay is ideal, but lots of us modern beggars use salt (at least a kg of it), plain flour and water. Makes a shell that's rock-hard.

Herbal soups to 'bo' you all pink and pretty. Usually, if using the straight boiling method, given 1 person's portion of herbs, soups are boiled and simmered down for 2 hours from 4 bowls of liquid to 1 bowl, for a very thick soup. If you want 4 big bowls (wow!), you will have to increase the herbs and meat (if any) proportionately to get the thickness you want. Then again, you can boil the soup in a crockpot or double-boiler, where there's minimal evaporation. If you start off with 4 bowls, you will end up close to it. Edit: the link is bad. Just go to http://www.kuali.com and type in herbal soups in the search feature.

The typical order of a chinese banquet menu (although I won't say the menu I suggested above is 'banquet') in Msia: Hors d'oeuvres Soup Chicken* Prawns* Fish* Veg Rice/Noodles Dessert/Fruit *The order of the proteins could be interchangeable. Well, if you're serving this at home, and if you have a big enough table, I don't see why you can't bring on the whole lot!

Right you are!! I know some folks who will just die without chinese food for more than a day! <---- Like my parents. Popcorn, if you still want to follow the cooking route, use all the different resources for cooking in your kitchen. Here's a humble suggestion: Night before If it's summer by the time they arrive, a cold dessert like almond bean curd would be much appreciated. In the morning Do a good soup, one with a clear, good stock would be more elegant....use your crockpot. Make a rich wholesome stew or braised select mushroom...if the crockpot is occupied, do you have a thermal pot? In the afternoon A herbful beggar's chicken can be done in the oven. Lotus Leaf Rice can also be prepared before hand. You may want to have a trial run on this to get the texture right. Noodles are trickier. With the above done before hand....that leaves you time to Just before guests arrive ...steam a very fresh fish. Top with lots of blended and salted ginger. Drizzle lightly with sesame oil and light soy sauce. You want to able to taste the sweetness of the fish. Simple quick-blanched greens topped with oyster sauce, shredded dried scallops (or even fresh scallops in which case you'd want to keep it whole) and fried shallots. Note: we like our greens to look a healthy vibrant green. Do not boil it to death. Loh Hon Chai is a good veg dish, more complex but can be prepared an hour before. Fresh Cut Fruit. I think it's do-able! Go for it!

Your malaysian curry looks glorious! Did you have any potatoes in it? I love to wipe my curry off with bread.

Gee, thanks! Another on a mission.....

Can someone post pix of the tiles, please???