Chinese Cuisine

Easy Ma Lai Koh (马来餻)

This is a steamed cake commonly found in dim sum restaurant, and of course it has always been in my order list. According to an article I have read, real chefs in Hong Kong would use a starter dough or levin to create this. However for the convenience of most home cooks I experimented instead with an instant yeast. I will experiment on my next cake using starter dough, and compare the difference between the two. So watch out for my post.

Ingredients

  • 240g sifted plain flour
  • 6g instant yeast
  • 200 ml warm water
  • 60g custard powder
  • 190g brown sugar
  • 256g eggs (equivalent to 4 large eggs, my egg is 64g each)
  • 3g sifted baking powder
  • 3g sifted baking soda
  • 60g melted butter
oops sorry I forgot to include my butter in the picture, sign of old age …

Now, prepare an 8 inch square pan lined with baking paper, set aside. Mix in all your ingredients except the baking soda, baking powder and butter. Ensure all ingredients are incorporated with no visible lumps from flour or sugar. Set aside and let it proof for an hour.

  • After mixing
  • after proofing

See the difference of the bubbles? This is what you should see after proofing.

Scoop some batter into a separate bowl (about 100g), add in your melted butter, baking powder and baking soda. Mix well. Then pour it back to the batter. Ensuring all are mix well. Mix gently as you do not want all the air bubbles popped. Transfer it to your pan. Tap your pan gently on your table a few times to pop off some big air bubbles. You want your cake to have more uniform texture. Steam for 45 minutes to an hour on medium high heat or do a skewer poke test. Poke the skewer at the center of your cake, if your skewer comes out clean then it is ready. Avoid opening the cover for the first 30 minutes.

As I do not have a big cloth to use for covering my steamer to prevent steamed water going in, I just cover my square pan with an aluminium foil. It works perfectly for me.

Now the most awaiting moment!… tan tan tan tan….

  • Here it is!! It’s done!
  • See the how spongy it is!

If you like my recipe, or you made the steamed cake using my recipe, please let me know, I would love to see it. Thanks for checking on my blog!

Do follow my blog instead of bookmarking my site. So that you would be notified immediately when a new post is up.

Ginger and Pepper Beef Soup

This soup is very easy to make, and it’s perfect for a rainy day. Meat is so tender that it easily fall apart, plus it is loaded with lots of vegetables. Hence you do not need to cook other dishes when you have this pot of soup. Normally, I would use the slow cooker to slowly simmer my soup. I simply just dump in most of the ingredients and do other things that I need to do, it can be a chore, a hobby or just want to sit back, relax and watch your favourite Korean series hahaha!

Ingredients

  • 1kg beef chuck or beef shank (you can add in some beef bones for added flavour)
  • 85g sliced ginger
  • 500g carrots
  • 500g Cabbage
  • 2 Big potatoes
  • 2 TBS salt
  • 1/2 Cup Premium Soy Sauce (Fenghe Jiangqing)
  • 3 litres of water
  • Beef Tendon (optional)
  • freshly grind pepper (I put a lot!)

Chop your beef into cubes and boil it, this is to remove all the blood or scum coming from the meat. Then rinse it off. Put 3 litres of water in your pot or slow cooker, then put in all the meat cubes together with the ginger. Now start peeling your potatoes and chop it into big chunks, same with your carrots.

Throw in the potatoes and carrots into your pot. You may add more potatoes, however it will dilute your soup because potatoes has a lot of water content, you might have to add more seasoning according to your taste. Adding a lot of carrots in your soup will give the soup a sweeter taste. Chop your cabbage,I prefer my cabbage to be chopped in big chunks, then set it aside.

Add in your soy sauce, salt and pepper. Slow cook for about 4 – 5 hours.

Add in only the cabbage when your meat is tender, this is to avoid it to become way to soggy. let is simmer until it becomes soft. Now your soup is ready to be served with a warm cup of rice!

piping hot soup perfect for a rainy day!

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