peony

this is the steamer I use for making my chee cheong fun - steamed rice rolls

Happy Dong Zhi today... We just ate these tangyuen after dinner. The filling inside is finely, ground peanuts and eaten with sweet peanut tang sui.

the only pitfall is my patience as the rice roll has to be steamed one at a time. no special equipment, just a metal steamer, the layer types, except that mine has no holes at bottom of steamer. I just mix rice flour with water, no recipe, just go by feeling to mix to the right texture.

do you all celebrate Chinese winter solstice on the 22nd Dec ? On this day, Chinese ( all over the world ? ) eat tang yuen to signify that they r one year older . My mom told me that this day is even more important than the lunar new year. We called this day - dong zhi

no..the greens are not choy sum we called them yuen choy - spinach ? the stalks are soft not crunchy like choy sum. sometimes, the tip of the stalk, near the roots is red. you can also used these veggi in soup, good for children as the veg is soft n slippery after cooking. my kids ( adult now ) don't like choy sum as they consider the veg bitter.

a lot of the bloggers had tried the mango sago / pomelo recipe. They are happy and I am glad you like it too, whitegold. I too was a convert and make this quite often...the lady who gave us the recipes had other fabulous n wonderful recipes too.

I always thought gula melaka is from the sap of the coconut and palmyrah palms...

my family meals are simple, one meat / seafood, one greens and soup with rice. hubby must have soup on table. soya sauce prawns sauté greens with garlic bak kut teh - herbal pork ribs soup

there is another type of savoury steamed cake, popular among the Javanese / Indonesian...it's a cake which has minced meat in the center. called soo-maker, Indonesian cupcakes.

Gula Melaka is the sugar from a coconut tree. When combined with coconut milk and poured over sago pudding makes a delicious dessert. If palm sugar is hard to find, molasses may be substituted." Ingredients 200 gm Sago Water, enough to cover sago 200 gm Gula Melaka ½ cup Water Coconut milk / cream to serve Method 1) Fill a pot with water and bring to boil. 2) Pour sago into boiling water and stir continuously while cooking. 3) Boil on medium heat for 20 mintues. 4) Turn the fire off and place a cover over the pot. Let sago 'cook' in the pot for another 10 mintues. 5) Remove the cover and give sago a stir to check all had become transparent. 6) Pour sago over a sieve and rinse under cold water till thoroughly cooled. 7) Scope sago and place into moulds / bowls. Keep chilled in fridge. 8) Chop gula melaka into pieces. Place in a pot with water and boil till dissolved. Leave to cool. 9) Serve sago pudding with cooled gula melaka syrup and coconut milk. notes : do use the small sago pearls, the larger type takes forever to cook.

thanks, kent.. walnut sweets : actually I dont know what they r really called in english...I just coined the word... but they r made from walnut and maltose /malt syrup bind together. then left to set. Think easily get in HK and China.

I suppose it depends on the fish and its size used to make the curry... if the head is kurau ( threadfin) or salmon, then the price is higher.. fish-head curry in Singapore cost between.S$12 - S$25.. and the fish is normally ikan merah...( sorry, dont know what's its eng. name )

Abacus Beads.. a lght dish for lunch or dinner... it's a Hakka traditional dish for the lunar new year.. the beads are made of mashed yam stir fry with veggi...

Abacus beads this is my family's light meal after all the heavy feasting during Chinese New Year. it's a traditonal Hakka dish too for the Hakka people during lunar new year. the beads are mashed yam stir fry with dried mushrooms and veggi.

the sago is put into a tartlet mould.

there is red bean filling enclosed inside the sago..as can see from the reddish center.

here's some more " stuff " u can make with sago sago pudding or gula melaka pudding crystal cake

this is how I cook my sago. Do get the small , mini types. The large balls take forever to cook. Yes, the sago pearls are the dried balls. Method:- 1) Fill a pot with enough water to cover sago pearls. Bring water to boil. 2) Pour sago ( not necessary to wash them ) into boiling water and stir continuously while cooking. 3) Boil on medium heat for 10 mintues. 4) Turn off the fire and place a cover over the pot. Let sago 'cook' in the pot for another 10 mintues. 5) Remove the cover and give sago a stir to check all had become transparent. If not, boil another few more minutes till sago are all transparent. 6) Pour sago over a sieve and rinse under cold water till cooled totally. 7) Drain, sago is ready for use.

I post the recipe here.

Mango with Sago Dessert this recipe is given to me by a kind lady ( nickname : jingle26 ). She loves to attend cookery classes. Her original recipe uses mango and pomelo. Ingredient : 1 cup water 1/4 cup sugar 1 large mango 2 cups of mango juice (use any packet mango juice) 1 cup of evaporated milk 1/2 cup cooked sago 1 cup of water (boiled & cooled) Cornflour mixture ( mix in a bowl) 1 tbsp cornflour + 3 tbsp cooled water Method : 1. Bring 1 cup of water + 1/4 cup sugar to boil until sugar dissolve. Add in cornflour mixture. Stir over low heat until the mixture is smooth. Switch off fire and leave sugar syrup to cool down. 2. Cut the mango from both cheeks. Cube the mango fresh. Slice the remaining mango and put in a bowl, add 1 cup of ( boiled n cooled) water and blend till smooth( I just mash the mango fresh ). Put aside. 3. Add the blended mango, cubed mango, pkt. mango juice and evaporated milk to the sugar syrup. Add in cooked sago and stir, if it is too thick, add either more water or evaporated milk. Put in the fridge to chill. 4. Serve it as cold dessert.

this is v easy to do.. 1/2 cup small sago pearls enough water to cover over sago 3 pandan leaves, tied-up 1 block gula melaka + 1/4 cup water (heated in the microwave till dissolved and smooth) 1 cup coconut cream Boil water and pandan leaves in a large pot. Add in sago pearls when water is bubbling profusely. Stir until sago pearls are transparent. This should take 15-20 minutes. Drain sago and scoop into jelly molds. Leave to cool for 30 minutes. Allow to set in the fridge for at least 2 - 3 hours before turning out to serve. Drizzle with gula melaka syrup and coconut cream to serve!

Mango and Sago Sweet Dessert make this sweet dessert ( tang sui - in cantonese ) . this is quite popular in Hong Kong too. but I think in HK, it is Mango & Pomelo dessert. It is not easy to get pomelo now, so use sago pearls.

yes, for this type of dumpling, it really needs hot and cold water. I also add potato flour in additon to the flour to make the dough.

we have sweet n sour pork chop rice today for lunch.

no, don't think I'm gonna have another grandchild for a long time. it's my daughter. she misses her confinement dishes... her work pl quite near my home. So we have lunch together and she requested these dishes. Better for me too, as most r one pot meals.