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乞孟乐
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1 Chinese Lunar New Year s Eve and New Year s Day a 10

In spite of the menu variations, all these specially prepared Chinese New Year foods share the same sentiment and meaning: they represent good luck, good fortune and happy reunion.

2 In spite of the menu variations, all these specially prepared Chinese New Year foods share the same sentiment and meaning: they represent good luck, good fortune and happy reunion. Different types of New Year s cake and snacks Strangely enough, although my whole family really enjoys my New Year cakes whether they are sweet red bean, savoury radish with Chinese preserved meat and sausage, water chestnut, or taro cakes I never make them for any occasion other than Chinese New Year. My family enjoys them so much that I m beginning to think I ll have to make them for our breakfast or afternoon tea more often so we can have them more than once a year. Last Chinese New Year I wanted to create a new kind of cake as a surprise. It so happened that I had seen some fresh lotus roots at the local Chinese supermarket, which made me recall reading a blog post of one of my blogger friends Chocolate Mui Mui. She had written about two types of cake she d had recently, one of which was made with lotus root. I barely had any recollections of eating such cakes, except at my grandmother s house where we visited her in China when I was a teenager. The lotus cake she made had such a lovely, fresh yet earthy flavour and was so crunchy I remembered their taste vividly. Another memory that came to my mind was of reading Dream of the Red Chamber when I was a young girl. In the book, the Grandmother has lotus cakes sent to her. Every time I read this passage I was made hungry by the author s description without fail! Fresh lotus root has a distinctively simple yet earthy flavour, and a texture so different to any other ingredient I d used in my cakes before. Lotus root in Chinese also rhymes with prosperity, so naturally it is closely associated with good meanings, making it a very suitable food for Chinese New Year! One thing my mum always made at Chinese New Year was sesame balls, which traditionally symbolise good fortune for the year ahead. I have fond memories of each New 14

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4 Lotus Root Cake Ingredients For the batter: 560g rice flour ( 300ml cup) 80g wheat starch 1200ml water 1 tbsp corn starch 2 tsp salt 1 tbsp oil For the filling: 600g lotus roots 1 wind dried Chinese pork sausage ½ strip wind dried Chinese belly pork 8~10 dried Chinese mushrooms 2 tbsp dried small shrimps 3 shallots 3~4 tbsp Chu Hou paste 1 tbsp soy sauce 2 tsp salt 2 tsp five spice powder 2 tsp sugar 2 tsp sesame oil 2 tsp ground white pepper Equipment: 2 x 8 round baking tins 29

Method 1. 2. 3. Cut lotus roots into 1cm slices, then cross cut each slice into 1 cm cubes.

5 Method Cut lotus roots into 1cm slices, then cross cut each slice into 1 cm cubes. Put the lotus root cubes into a small pan, cover with water, bring to the boil, and then simmer for 5 minutes till soft. Rinse with cold water, drained and leave to one side. Trim off the fat from the dried preserved pork, place it into a small pan of boiling water with the sausage to blanch, and then cut into small pieces. Soaked the Chinese mushrooms till soft, then squeeze the water out and cut into small cubes. Soak the dried shrimps until soft. Finely chop the shallots. Heat the pan and add 1 tbsp oil. Fry the shallots, sausage and pork until soft, then add the mushrooms and shrimps, followed by the lotus roots. Mix in the seasoning and stir - fry everything together for a few minutes until well-cooked and seasoned. 30

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5. 6. When the time comes to serve the dessert,

moulds in hot water the same height as the pudding

slightly, upturn the mould onto a serving plate,

out. To make a coulis to serve with the panna

Put them in a bowl, add 15g sugar and 1 tbsp

7 5. 6. When the time comes to serve the dessert, loosen the panna cotta simply by standing the moulds in hot water the same height as the pudding inside, but be careful not to let the water get into the pudding. When you can see the edge of the pudding soften slightly, upturn the mould onto a serving plate, giving it a gentle tap and a shake to help it come out. To make a coulis to serve with the panna cotta, wash and dry the raspberries. Put them in a bowl, add 15g sugar and 1 tbsp liqueur to mix together. Press through a sieve into a two small dishes to serve along with the pudding

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4. 5. Use the back of a table spoon or a spatula to coat each cupcake with

Then hold the cupcake upside down to dip it into the bowls of coconut or

You can cut open a candy tube lengthwise and insert into the cupcake to

Measure the eggs in their shells on the digital scale.

self- raising flour and caster sugar to make the cupcakes.

9 4. 5. Use the back of a table spoon or a spatula to coat each cupcake with the frosting. Then hold the cupcake upside down to dip it into the bowls of coconut or cocoa. Finally, decorate the egg with the mini eggs and other candies. You can cut open a candy tube lengthwise and insert into the cupcake to form the handle of a basket. Measure the eggs in their shells on the digital scale. If 4 eggs weigh 260g, then use exactly the same weight (260g)of butter, self- raising flour and caster sugar to make the cupcakes. You can make your own self-raising flour by mixing 125g plain flour with 1 tsp baking powder and ½ tsp salt together, then sift the flour through a strainer onto a bowl, do that twice to get a batch of self-raising flour

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11 The customs and rituals of Qixi Festival Qixi Festival falls on the seventh day of the 7th month on the Chinese Lunar calendar. Traditionally, girls and young women would lay out incense, flowers, seasonal fruit, wine, cakes and dumplings for worshipping and praying to the 7th weaver maid. In worshipping they are asking to be blessed with delicate needle work skills or the happiness of a blissful marriage. After the ceremony, the ladies share food, drink and chat happily together, gaze to the sky to look for Vega and Altair shining in the Milky Way, dreaming romantically under the stars. 137

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14 Snow Skin Mooncakes with Mung Beans and Coconut Red Beans Ingredients Snow skin: 25g glutinous flour 20g wheat starch 25g rice flour 15g plain flour 85 ml fresh milk 110 ml coconut milk 38g granulated sugar 12 ml vegetable oil ½ tsp vanilla essence For the red bean filling: 110ml coconut milk 8 ml vegetable 90g red beans 6 g wheat starch For the mung bean filling: 180g split mung bean 30ml coconut milk 12g unsalted butter 12g granulated sugar 70 ml condensed milk 20g wheat starch 10g skimmed milk powder 20g custard powde Equipment: Plastic hand press mooncake mould (medium) for up to 63g and 5.1cm in diameter 173

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9. stir in the corn flour and water mixture, bring it to the boil then turn the fire off,

Roasting time for each 455g of meat is 20 minutes plus 40 minutes at the end.

Then turn down to 220C and roast for 50 minutes.

At the last half an hour, check the pork by inserting a meat thermometer into the thickest

Loosely cover with foil to rest for 20 30 minutes before carving.

17 9. stir in the corn flour and water mixture, bring it to the boil then turn the fire off, spoon the apple sauce in a bowl, then serve with the sliced roast pork and gravy. Roasting time for each 455g of meat is 20 minutes plus 40 minutes at the end. For instance say a 2300g joint of meat will need to roast for 100 minutes, plus 40 minutes so in total 140 minutes. When roasting this joint with crackling, first roast the pork in 240C for 30 minutes. Then turn down to 220C and roast for 50 minutes. Lower the temperature again to 180 C and roast another 60 minutes or so. At the last half an hour, check the pork by inserting a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the joint: if the temperature reads 71 77C, then you can take it out from the oven. Loosely cover with foil to rest for minutes before carving. Cooking this way not only guarantees the inside of the meat is cooked to the temperature reached to destroy any harmful bacteria, you'll also never need to worry about the meat being over cooked. Don't baste the pork, or the crackling won't be crisp; the dryer the skin, the crunchier it becomes!

18 Yorkshire pudding Ingredients 300g plain flour 300ml milk 6 eggs 1 tsp salt Vegetable or corn oil 3 x shallow four holes baking tray, or 2 x deep six holes baking tray 284

FP.pdf

FP.pdf 8 9 10 congee (see page 9) half bird dressed chicken 1/2 head lettuce 2 tbsp ginger juice 2 tbsp light soy sauce 1 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar 1 tbsp corn starch 1 tbsp oil 1 tsp sesame oil 1. 2. 3. 4. 1. Wash