Let Them Eat Tau Huay

A versatile Asian delicacy, “tau huay”, is eaten as a confection consisting of very smooth tofu (Soya Beancurd) and is simply sweetened with the addition of sugar or sweet syrup. I assume we all know that the consumption of tofu is often the brunt of jokes among westerners, except the ones who have adopted vegetarien diets or are simply on a health food kick. In China it is called douhua (豆花, dòuhuā) or doufuhua (豆腐花, dòufuhuā). It can be found among the street vendor stalls, sold in a plastic bag, or encountered in a Chinese fine dining restaurant, served as a favored dessert. 

Recently, my friend Alan, of the wonderful Travellingfoodies  blog invited me to join an on-line event he titled simply as  “Make and Eat Tau Huay Day”. This was his response to a live event in Singapore, called "Diner en Blanc", which originated in Paris in the 1980s and has since gone round-the-world as a celebration of all things white, especially the food. Apparently the organizers of the event, had responded negatively to a fellow blogger's recent post in which he expressed excitement for the rather "la-di-da", invites-only, affaire' de huat and had posted a suggested menu that included this local favorite.  You can read all about  the behavior of the organizers at Alan's blog. 

When I read Alan's post in facebook about the behavior of the organizers and their snub of the bloggers, I was not so incensed. The fact is that snooty people have been snooty for a very long time, long before I arrived on this earth. And there will be snooty people for a long time after I depart...what to do? In any case, I have long ago given up trying to unravel the mysteries of our southern neighbor's proclivities. However, Alan's note prompted me to consider  this admittedly humble sweet dish in some depth. The result is that I created a dessert with tau huay as the core ingredient and suitable to be served up as a dessert at any fine dining restaurant, east or west. At least that was my aim, and I will as always, surrender to the judgement of you, my good readers. 

My Quay Lo was quite enthusiastic for my "creation" though I admit that he learned a long time ago to love the variations of tofu and how useful they are when considering neutral flavors in a dish.  Actually, he seemed more angry than I about the Singaporean officials turning their backsides toward what has long been part of our collective traditional food.  When I gave him a serving of my attempt at an elegant pudding with Tau Huay he consumed it (more like "inhaled" it) with relish. I asked him for help in naming of it and he delivered the following to me on a piece of note paper. Without further ado, I am pleased to present, the Faux Marbleized Parfait of Tau Huay, Chocolate Ganache, and Zabaglione with fresh berries and pecan praline. 

Earlier, as he thought about how it should be named, he giggled to himself in a mad and conspiratorial way, while he wrote on the paper. It was quite odd to me as he is not a giggler usually. Then, in the midst of a giggle, he suddenly jumped up and shouted "PERFECT MY DEAR, WE WILL LET THEM EAT TAU HUAY IN DISGUISE".  This was starting to unerve me. I suddenly had images in my head from the musical play  "Les Miserables" and  I thought, are we safe? Had tau huay finally sent my normally loveable Quay Lo over the top? But then I began to understand his thinking. You see, without any thought of revolution or some show of disdain for the holier-than-thou attitude of the Singaporean organizers, I had actually come up with a dish that allowed the tau huay to be featured alongside components that would undoubtedly be liked by the organizers.  In fact, I would hardly call this inventive. It was really simple to understand that while Tau Huay has a beautiful smooth mouthfeel, it has no flavor. It is so flavor neutral that it pairs well with almost anything in which smoothness would be a good added contrast or highlight. My Quay Lo and I both love the complex taste of dark chocolate ganache and the smooth sweetness of a zabaglione made with marsala wine.  Consider both of those in a dish that is also embracing the acidic tartness of the fresh berries and the crunchy sweetness of a pecan praline. Who does not love these things?  The praline pecan and the red currant really dressed up the dessert. A slight twist of a rubber spatula created an amazing marbleized look in the pudding.  It is  all visually appealing. Who said tau huay is too lowly to be placed on the tableau blanc?  Hmpfff I thought.  

Here is the recipe if you wish to try.

Fuax Marbleized Parfait of Tau Huay, Chocolate Ganache, and Zabaglione with Fresh berries and Pecan Praline

Servings: 2

Ingredients:

1 cup soybean pudding (homemade or store bought)

16 blueberries

2 strands of red currants for garnishing

pecan praline ingredients:

4 whole pecan

1 tbs of melted butter

enough sugar to coat the pecan

Method:

Coat pecans in butter and sugar. Place on baking paper on a cookie sheet and toast in oven at 200 degrees C for 5 mins. Remove from oven and set aside.

Chocolate ganache ingredients:

50gm dark chocolate, chopped

62gm whipped cream

Method:

Put the heavy cream in a saucepan and set over medium-high heat. As soon as it begins to simmer, remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the chocolate and stir with a wooden spoon to melt the chocolate.  Set aside.

Zabaglione ingredients:

4 egg yolks

4 tbs castor sugar

2 tbs marsala wine

a pinch of cinnamon

a drop of vanilla extract

Method:

Place egg yolks, and sugar in a large stainless steel bowl. Add a pinch of cinnamon and a drop of vanilla extract to the yolk mixture. Pour in the Marsala wine. You can use sweet Vermouth as a substitute for the Marsala. 1/4-fill a pot with water, bring the water to a simmer and reduce the heat to low. Set the bowl containing the custard mixture over the water without the bottom of the bowl touching the water. Whisk the custard mixture until it reaches the desired consistency of a mousse. Take the bowl of custard out of the pot and set aside.

To assemble the dessert:

Mix soybean pudding, chocolate ganache and zabaglione, to make a marbleized parfait.  Add in berries and currants and mix in till covered by parfait. Transfer to 2 small dessert wine glasses. Chill for 1 hour in the fridge and garnish with pecan praline and red currant before serving.

I smelled the food but I lost my way

I was excited. I always am when our local bloggers plan a get together. While blog sharing in cyberland is what we all love and revolve around, I love the chance to get up, close, and personal with my pals. It is all the more festive & fun if we have a solid excuse to party. What better a reason than the Chinese New Year?    Wendy of Table for two and more was the bright light of recognition that we all would be silly to pass up this chance and very kindly organized a Chinese New Year  (CNY) lunch for local bloggers. Sonia of Nasi Lemak Lover generously opened her beautiful home to host the lunch. I was looking forward to this lunch scheduled for fourteenth day of the traditional CNY celebrations . When the day finally arrived, I woke up early that morning to prepare the cauliflower and potato in chilli tuna salad. I left the house early at 11.15am (though the lunch as set for 12 noon).  If a person blessed with a normal sense of direction drove it, they would probably reach Sonia’s house within 20 minutes. It took me 1 hour to reach her house and would have taken longer if not for Sonia’s hubby who was so kind to patiently direct me by phone on how to get there. My Quay Lo said he is very grateful that I can find my way home every night. Oh Darling, how blessed are you!! LOL!

When I arrived at Sonia's home, Lena of Frozen Wings was there already. Sharon of Feats of Feasts arrived shortly followed by Wendy of Table for two or more and Swee San of The Sweet Spot. Although all had arrived, there was still a little last minute cooking and plating for all of us to do before we could sit down and enjoy an array of home cooked delicious food.

LOOK!!

The above photo shows the lovely table setting by Sonia 

and below photos show her famous

nasi lemak with peanuts, hard boiled eggs,

boiled kangkung, deep fried anchovies, fried chicken, 

sambal prawns and the best sambal belacan I have ever had.

Sonia also made us a special drink that was so yummy and refreshing.

She called it Lychee lime soda

Food by Wendy 

beef rendang, kamquat almond mini cake and 
Goiabinhas

Food by Quay Po

Cauliflower, potato, romanian lettuce in chilli tuna salad,

Swedish wedding balls and pheasant pate and cheese on mini toasted bread

Food by Lena

Pandan kueh, sweet sour crab and scallop kueh

Food by Sharon

stuffed you tiau with pork and 

apple salad/slaw

Food by Swee San

Sicile (top l. & r.) an entremet of pistachio and blackberry cake,

and a Plum frangipane tart (below). Exquisite!

Last year, our CNY Blogger's lunch was at the home of Reese of Reese Kitchen  and you can see we had lots of wonderful food then as well. Time flew and one year passed already.

Reese was supposed to join us but she could not make it. Though her plans were changed, it was so thoughtful of her to send the chicken wings that she had marinated through Sharon. 

Reese, thank you so much for the delicious chicken wings. We wish you were here with us and we all missed you.

I am sure everyone will agree with me when I said we all felt connected even though some of us were just meeting for the first time. We didn’t seem to have any reservations; instead chatting like old friends. Our lunch lasted for almost four hours because we had so much to share. I am glad I can fit in despite the age difference between me and all the lovely young ladies. Most of them could be my daughters. 


Like the saying goes, All good things must come to an end, we took a group photo to remember our fun day.

Back row: Wendy, Lena and Swee San

Seated: Sonia and Quay po with

Wendy's two sweetie pies! (We missed Sharon in the photo as

she had to rush off for another appointment.)!

Just before I left Sonia’s home, I quickly caught hold of Lena and told her that I need to follow her car to go out onto the highway.  I know, it was so embarrassing that someone who is not from KL (Kuala Lumpur) had to show me the way out. I had to confess I have no sense of direction and if you blindfold me and turn me around, that would be enough to confuse me where I am.  No kidding, I am that hopeless. For being able to return home safely, I had to thank Lena for leading me to the highway from Sonia's house. Having said that, I can proudly announce that I found my way home without much fumble. APPLAUSE!! 


I would like to thank you again, Sonia, for being such a fabulous host. I am very grateful for your generosity in opening up your beautiful home to host the lunch for all of us. It was so thoughtful of you too to present me those gifts of ingredients any food blogger would be delighted to have.

Oh Lena, you are so sweet to give me the lovely little ceramic bowl and the pretty apron. I love them! Like how I look with the apron on (below)? I am holding the ceramic bowl you gave me also, I need a bigger one to ask for more of your out-of-this-world delicious sweet and sour crab lah! "lay sik joe lor" (You know what to do). LOL!

A big THANK YOU to all the "kitchen goddesses" who were there,  for your delicious food, great company and an enjoyable afternoon. That was a million times better than to have a lunch at a restaurant. You ladies sure can cook and bake! Three cheers to you gals! Keep on cooking, baking, blogging and sharing!

Steam three kinds of eggs

My son and hubby loves eggs. You can cook them in any variation, they will still love it.  To me, my mum makes the best steam eggs. This may look simple to do but to get the right consistency and texture are not so.  Before I started this blog, I never pay any attention to how mum makes this dish. I just know that I love it and have not found any restaurant in Kuala Lumpur that can make it better than her. There are times when I craves for it. Whenever that happens, all I have to do is said to mum, I want to eat steam eggs. "PUOOFF!" the steam eggs will be served at dinner time! I consider myself VERY lucky to have mum staying with me.  She is my BEST friend, someone I can confide in and be myself.  There are times when I go cranky and become nasty and blow my top unreasonably.  Mum puts me back on track by giving me a nice scolding which I deserved! She is my guardian angel. 

As usual, mum does not follow any measurement.  When I asked her how she makes the steam eggs, she said, a pinch of this and a bowl of that and use this aluminium plate to hold the eggs. So, I have to explain to her that I need accurate measurement in order for me to share this recipe with my readers and blogger friends.  They don't have the same size bowl or the aluminium plate we use. I told her I need to measure all her "pinch of this and handful of that" and "a bowl of this and that" to get it right. You know what she said to me?  She said "Aiyoh, why so "Ma fan"(troublesome)?, I don't need so many cups and spoons to cook. All I have is my ten fingers!" LOL! So there you go, here is the recipe carefully measured from my mum's ten fingers.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 egg

1 century egg

1 salted egg

¾ cup water

1 tsp chopped garlic, deep fried

1 shallot, thinly slice and deep fried

1 tsp diced chives

1 tsp sesame oil

Method:

Crack the regular and salted eggs in an aluminium plate. Dice the salted egg yolk. Add water and beat them lightly. Remove shell from century egg and cut into bite size and spread out into the salted egg and regular egg mixture.   Heat steam on high heat till water is boiling. Place plate with eggs mixture into the steamer and gently stir the mixture for 30 sec. Keep heat on high and close lid but just allowing a little gap. You can use a spoon or spatula to create the gap, this is a secret to getting the perfect steam egg custard with silky smooth surface. Steam for about 15 to 20 mins. Drizzle sesame oil on top of steamed eggs and garnish with deep fried garlic, deep fried shallots and chives. Serve hot.

Black eye peas and peanuts soup

I have been eating too much rich food the past few days and just want something plain and simple for a change. I put a cup of cooked rice into this soup and I have a healthy meal. This is it!

Ingredient:

(A)

50 gm black eye pea, soaked overnight

50 gm peanuts, soaked for 3 hours

600 ml water

1 cube bullion chicken stock

(B)

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground white pepper

Method:

Add (A) in a soup pot and bring to boil.  Lower heat to medium and simmer for 1 hour. Add B and serve hot.

Steam ladies fingers with dried scallops

Here is another side dish for Chinese New Year. Maybe after the heavy reunion meal with lots of meat, we should eat some light vegetable dishes. This one is quick and simple. I love it!

Ingredients:

10 pcs ladies fingers

20 small dried scallops (soaked in warm water and retain water)

5 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tbs cooking oil

Sauce:

2 tbs warm water from soaking scallop

2 tbs soya sauce

1 tbs oysters sauce

1 dash of ground white pepper 

Method:

Fry chopped garlic oil till golden brown. Remove garlic and set aside. Add dried scallops and oyster sauce and stir fried till fragrant. Add sauce and stir fry till sauce is reduced. Place ladies fingers in steamer and steam for 2 -3 minutes. Remove from steamer and place on a serving plate. Pour sauce over and dried scallops over the steamed ladies fingers and garnish with fried garlic. Serve hot.

Egg Roll with many symbols for Chinese New Year

Do you know why spring rolls is one of the side dish for Chinese New Year? I just found out what its symbolic significance is. It symbolizes wealth because of it's somewhat similar appearance to a gold bar. So if you make spring rolls and put it on a bed of lettuce, you have both wealth and rising fortune because the Cantonese for lettuce, sang choi, sounds the same as "sang" for rising fortune. Wow!

So egg rolls, which uses egg for the skin, versus the bean curd skin of spring rolls, can be a nice side dish for Chinese New Year too. Why? Okay, let me see what I can make out of the recipe. The skin of eggs symbolizes fertility. The skin is yellow and that color symbolizes success and gold. There is chili inside and it is red so which is another, more generalized symbol of good fortune. Put a little sugar for rich and sweetness in life, and the addition of cornstarch makes the filling stick together for family togetherness, while the layers symbolize rising abundance. Last but not least, the sound of prawn in Cantonese is "ha" so many prawns inside becomes "hahahaha" and there will be lots of laughter too. (I made that up, haha) Chive for garnishing is perfect because it's sound in Cantonese is eternity. What do you think? Does egg roll qualify to be served as a Chinese New Year dish or not?

Ingredients:
2 eggs, lightly beaten

10 medium prawns, removed shell, deveined and minced

1 tbs chopped choy poh (preserved radish)

4 thinly diced chili or 1 thinly diced red chili 2 florets of black fungus, (soaked and thinly sliced)

¼ tsp ground white pepper

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp corn starch

4 chives for garnishing

Method:
Mix minced prawns, choy poh, pepper, sugar and corn starch. In a 6 in. pan, pour in egg enough to thinly cover the bottom of the pan and let it cook on medium heat. Remove cooked egg wrapper from pan and let it cool. Repeat till eggs are finished.

To assemble the rolls:
Place an egg wrapper onto your work surface with one corner pointing towards you. Place about 2 tablespoons of cooled filling in a heap onto the bottom third of the wrapper. Fold the bottom corner over the filling and roll firmly to the halfway point. Fold the left and right sides snugly over the roll, then continue rolling until the top corners seal the roll Repeat with remaining egg wrappers. Heat water in the steamer to boil and steam the rolls for 20 mins. Cut and arrange on a serving plate and garnish with chives.

Sweet Sour Chicken for CNY instead of a whole chicken? - Featured at Dishfolio on 31 Jan 2011 & at Group Recipes Best of the Week

For my Chinese New Year reunion dinner, I usually have another variation of chicken dish in addition to the steam chicken which my family likes.  This is because Stitch is not crazy about the steam chicken.  The past years, I have made Lemon Chicken which is his favorite. This reunion I am including this dish in my menu for a change. How about you? How do you prepare yours?

 

This dish was featured in Asian Food Channel (Official) Facebook page

on 25th September 2012

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 lb. chicken breast (cut into bite size pieces)


1/2 green bell pepper, cut into pieces

1/2 red bell pepper, cut into pieces


2 stalks scallions, only the white part, cut into 2 inch length

1/4 fresh pineapple, cut into small pieces

1 tsp garlic, finely chopped,

1 tbs vegetable oil

MARINATE FOR THE CHICKEN:

(A)

1 teaspoon soy sauce


1/2 teaspoon corn flour


1/2 teaspoon rice wine

BATTER TO COAT THE CHICKEN:

(B)

1/2 cup water


2 oz. all-purpose flour


1 oz. corn starch


1/2 teaspoon baking soda


1/2 egg


1 teaspoon cooking oil


1 small pinch of salt

½ tsp vanilla

SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE:

(C)

1 1/2 tbs tomato ketchup


1 tsp plum sauce


1/8 tsp Chinese rice vinegar

1/2 tsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce


1 tsp oyster sauce


1 tsp corn starch


1 tsp sugar


2 tbs water

METHOD:

Marinate chicken breast pieces with (A) for 30 minutes. Mix (B) to form a thick batter and set aside. When the chicken is well marinated, add them into the batter and have them all well coated. In a deep wok, add in oil enough for deep-frying. Once the oil is hot, deep fry the chicken breast pieces until they turn golden brown. Dish out and drain on paper towels. Heat up the wok again and add in some oil. Add chopped garlic and stir fry until fragrant, followed by the bell peppers and pineapple pieces. Stir fry until you smell the peppery aroma from the peppers before adding in the (C). As soon as the sauce thickens, add the already deep fried chicken breast pieces into the wok and stir well with the sauce. The last thing to add in is the white part of the spring onion. Mix well, and transfer to serving plate. This is delicious to serve with steamed white rice.

Ngoh Hiang/Lobak (five spiced pork rolls wrapped)

I knew my best friend forever, Peng Peng when we were both in our twenties so by calculation, we have been buddies for thirty over years! Peng Peng is the most intelligent, rational, honest person I have ever known. She is a friend that you can trust to be there for you in a time of need. I feel so blessed to have her in my life.

Peng Peng inherited this “Ngoh Hiang” (five-spice pork rolls wrapped) recipe from her mum. This morning, she took time off from her busy schedule to show me how to make this dish. As I watched her preparing it, I recalled the first time I met her mum. Although we had been friends for many years, I have only met her mum once. On that occasion she left a great impression with me because she was a very beautiful and elegant lady. She looked very distinquished with her silver hair. She appeared to me as the ideal “wife and mum”. In the old days, she would have been every man's perception of an ideal wife. For a lady like her, the Cantonese people would say she is a “Yin Chye Leong Moh” (supportive wife and a caring mum). She passed away peacefully not long after I met her and I consider myself very fortunate to have had the opportunity. I dedicate this post to her and thank her for giving me a great friend and now, a terrific recipe.

Ingredients:

(A)

70gm sliced purple onion

150gm ¼” long srtips jicama

600gm ¼” long strips pork belly

1 ½ tsp oyster sauce

1 tsp dark sauce

1 ½ tsp sugar

1 tsp sesame oil

½ tsp salt

2/3 cups green pea flour

1 egg, lightly beaten

15gm five spices powder

1 big pc of bean curd sheet cut into 8” x 5” rectangle

a dash of ground white pepper

(B)

oil deep enough to fry the rolls

Garnish:

1 tbs roasted sesame seeds

some parsley

Method:

Mix (A) thoroughly.

Place 3 tbs of mixture onto each bean curd sheet. Fold into a neat roll. Place rolls on slightly greased plates and steam for 15 mins. Leave to cool.

Deep fry steamed rolls in hot oil till crispy. Place crispy rolls on absorbent paper to remove excess oil.

Cut rolls, garnish with roasted sesame seeds and parsley and serve with sambal belacan.

This dish was featured in the Asian Food Channel (Official) Facebook page 

on 23rd October 2012

Tip: Wipe both sides of the bean curd sheet with a damp cloth to remove excess salt. The steamed rolls, when thoroughly cooled, are suitable for freezing.

I have submitted this entry to  Malaysian Monday.  Do check out 3 hungry tummies or test with a skewer for more information.