Session #2: Drink - Cinnamon & Ginger Tea

Ginger and Cinnamon *Pic Googled

We were so focused in snapping photos of the food that we forgot to snap the photo of our drink. It was so yummy we gulped the whole teapot in a few minutes only. The ingredients blend well and I did not even realize it has ginger until I check the recipe. So here is how we make our tea:

Ingredients
1 1/2 sticks cinnamon
3cm ginger, halves (we just use half of it)
5 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon tea leaves
1 sprig mint leaves

Directions
1. Infuse the tea leaves for a few minutes.
2. Strain the tea into the teapot.
3. Add water and sugar and adjust to your taste.
4. Add the cinnamon sticks, mint leaves and ginger in the teapot.
5. Let the taste blend for a while then serve.

I tried the tea with some ice cubes and it was as good. Give it a try!

Session #2: Dessert - Durian Pancake

The most awaited recipe is here! As now the king of fruits are in season, we can't think of a better dessert than this. Of 4 of us, I was the only one who had tasted this before, the rest don't know what to expect from it. I was a bit nervous though just in case it did not turn out well and they don't like it then I might be blamed. But thinking of how good those that I have tasted and their price tag, I decided to take the risk. If it turns out well, I can just make my own after this.

Here is how we make our yummylicious durian pancake. We got the recipe from Masak-masak blog. The recipe was adapted from the book At Home with Amy Beh 3.

Ingredients
30 grams icing sugar (6 teaspoons)
30 grams tapioca flour (6 teaspoons)
15 grams plain flour (3 teaspoons)
15 grams melted butter (3 teaspoon)
8 eggs, beaten
190ml water
100 grams UHT cream, whipped
durian flesh from 1 durian, pounded

1. Sift the icing sugar, tapioca flour and plain flour into a mixing bowl.
2. Melt the butter and cool it down before mixing it in the dry ingredients.
3. Beat the eggs and sieve it into the mixture.
4. Add the water and stir until the batter became smooth.
5. Heat up a small non-stick frying pan and pour a ladle of the batter. Swirl the pan around so that it is evenly coated. When the sides of the pancake curl up immediately flip the pancake on to a big plate. (We just use our fingers to pick the pancake) It should be thin and soft to taste nice.
6. When all the wrappers are ready, pound the durian flesh (we used clean bottom of sauce bottle).
7. Whipped the cream. Careful not to over beat it.
8. Scoop 1 tablespoon of the whipped cream and place in the middle of the wrapper. Scoop 1/2 tablespoon of durian paste on top of the whipped cream. Wrap into a mini sized parcel. Chill in the refrigerator until cool. It is best served chilled.

I was so lucky the pancake tasted so great and no one blames me for choosing it :) Anyway, the first batch of whipped cream was overbeaten and became watery so we whipped another batch. The second batch was fluffy only for a short while before it became watery again. I was not satisfied with the results so I went online to troubleshoot the problem.

So here is what I found:

1. We are living in Malaysia and it is hot! So before you whip the cream, make sure the room is cool. During the session, not only there was no air-cond in the kitchen, we whipped the cream beside the hot oven! Big Mistake #1!
2. The utensils used should be chilled first. If your mixer bowl is like ours (plastic instead of steel like Kenwood and Kitchen Aid), use a steel bowl instead. Chill the mixer hooks and the steel bowl in the freezer for at least 15 minutes prior to the whipping process.
3. Start whipping from slow speed to avoid cream splashing all over you and increase slowly to high speed.

Now that we have given you the tips, do try it out and share your results with us. Good luck!

Session #2: Side Dish - Glass Noodle Salad

This is one of the simplest dish and most yummy dish for this session. As most of us were busy folding the dim sum and pancakes in between of our kids crying, most of us missed watching the process but according to the lead chef for this dish, it was very easy. So here is the recipe:

Ingredients
1 packet glass noodle (sooun)
Your favourite salad
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 skinless boneless chicken breast, finely chopped
Ground white pepper to taste
2 birds eye chillies
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup shrimp, peeled, deveined and coarsely chopped, boiled in salted water for a few minutes
1 red bell pepper
2 stalks green onions, chopped
2 stalks cilantro, chopped
2 stalks chinese celery, chopped
Juice from 1 lemon
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoon fish sauce (nampla)
2 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
salt to taste

Directions
1.Place noodles in a large bowl. Cover with cold water; let stand until noodles begin to soften. Drain. Transfer to a large pot of boiling water, cook until just tender and pliable, about 1-3 minutes. Drain. Rinse with cold water. Drain.Cut the noodles with a pair of scissor.
2.Heat the oil, add chicken, garlic, chillies, and white pepper. Stir fry until chicken is cooked. Season with salt to taste. Set aside in a large bowl.
3. Combine lemon juice, sesame oil, fish sauce, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, sugar and salt in a small bowl.
4. Add noodle, shrimp, green onions and remaining ingredients to bowl. Add in the sauces from the small bowl. Toss to blend. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Arrange the salad on a big serving dish and place the noodle on top of the salad. Done!

Easy peasy right?

Session #2: Main Dish - Roast Duck

One of the reason we have this "Main Masak-masak Session" was that most of us are still learning how to cook. Just like any other things in life, when you are new at it, you might do a mistake. So, for example, if I want to learn how to roast a whole chicken, even if it turns out perfect, who is going to finish them all? If I were to invite families and friends, the chicken might ended up burnt instead By experimenting the dishes with my dearest friends, we divide the cost between us and if it burns, it wouldn't cost as much per person. If it turns out well, we could all feast on it and most of the time, even our partners get to taste them. With this group, we could eliminate some risk as well as each of us have some experience of our own and by sharing them, we could avoid some mistakes that we might have experienced before.


Malay restaurants rarely serve ducks. So it is very hard to find duck dishes as most of them are non-halal. So, this session, we decided to have duck as our main dish. One of us had never tasted duck in her whole life but is daring enough to give it a try. Glad that the duck turns out well and enjoyed by all of us. Here is how we roast our duck.


Ingredients
1 whole duck
Lemon juice from 1 lemon
2 tablespoon ginger, blended
1 large red onion, finely chopped
3 teaspoon paprika
3 teaspoon ground rosemary
3 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon honey
4 tablespoon margarine, melted


Directions
1. Marinate the duck with the mix of lemon juice, onion and ginger for 45 minutes.
2. Mix well the rest of the ingredients and use it to marinate the duck overnight. 
3. Roast the duck at 220c for 1 hour or until cooked. Once in a while, glaze the duck with the marinade.


Here is the recipe for the sauce:


Ingredients
1 large red onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoon margarine
2 tablespoon plain flour
300 ml chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon soy sauc
2 tablespoon ketchup
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper


Directions
1. Sauté the onion until softened, add in plain flour. Stir until browned.
2. After onion and flour mix is thick, add in chicken stock, bay leaf, soy sauce, ketchup. Mix well and season with salt and pepper to taste. 


Done!