Daring Cooks December 2011: Asian Style Spicy Filled Buns

Wonderful challenge which I was delighted to complete. My version was of course vegetarian, where I substituted the egg in the dough with an appropriate amount of buttermilk, and we loved the results. Not able to upload photos as am on the road. Am back at my desk and here are the photographs of this challenge. I did this challenge twice. The first time I used all purpose flour and the second a combination of all purpose and whole wheat flour. The second time the buns came out much better!!

Daring Cooks January 2010: Tofu Satay with Peanut Sauce

Satay or sate is a popular street food dish consisting of sliced and marinated chicken/other meats/tofu, skewered on the midrib of a coconut leaf, and grilled or barbecued over a wood or charcoal fire. These tasty morsels are then served with a variety of spicy seasonings and dipping sauces.

It is unclear where exactly Satay originated but it is very popular in most SE Asian nations including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. Did you know that Satay has multiple variations depending on the marinade uses, method of cooking and the dipping sauces provided!!!!

A.W.E.D. Malaysia - The Roundup

The roundup for A.W.E.D Malaysia is here!! Both sweet and savoury contributions have come in. I would like to thanks everyone who participated and contributed to this event. Do stop by at each of these entries to get the full flavour of Malaysian cooking :)

First, from Priya @ Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes comes Vegan Cucur Kodok or the very delicious Malaysian Banana Fritters to the uninitiated!!

Next comes Curry Puff from Usha Nandini @ Usha Nandini's Recipes. Usha Nandini notes that the Curry puff is a cousin of samosa from Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. It is a "Fill-It-Yourself" snack due to its choices of wide varieties of fillings suitable to your taste.

Jill @ Smart Green Gourmet writes, "Inspired by fellow bloggers Annarasa and D.K., I'm trying out some Malaysian cuisine this week as part of the A.W.E.D. (A World of Epicurian Delights) event hosted by Annarasa. Beautiful, flavorful Malaysia inspires a soup loaded with flu-fighting foods, the perfect quick fix cure for your change-of-seasons cold." The soup in question is the Malaysian-Inspired Sweet and Sour Tofu Soup.

Sudha @ Malaysian Delicacies sends in the very lovely looking Pressed Rice, Vegetable Stew with Groundnut Gravy . Beautiful rice dumplings steamed in banana leaves are served with a thin coconut milk gravy stew, and groundnut sauce!! Mmmm - you don't want to miss out on this one.

Alesia @ Alesia The Home Cook has made one of her favourite desserts for A.W.E.D Malaysia: Sago Gula Melaka. Alesia write that she loves this dessert as it is easy to make and it's not time consuming at all. Further the ingredients can be obtained at almost every Asian stores. This is a wonderful dish as it combines the tasteless yet springy sago with the fragrant coconut milk and the sweet aromatic gula melaka.

Sweatha @ TastyCurryLeaf sends in Gendan Kasturi or Sweet Mung Bean Fritters made Malaysian style!! A very simple recipe with a very satisfying taste.

Swathi @ Zesty South Indian Kitchen sends in the delicious Kuih Dadar or Coconut Pancake! Swathi selected this dish because it resembles a breakfast dish common in her home town Kerala, India. She says this dish is usually popular in malls, food courts, and street vendors in the mornings or night. Needless to say Swathi is a big fan of street food which she quite rightly observes is often tastier that food at restaurants!!

DK @ The Chef In You sends in her contribution with Roti-Canai. A flaky and soft albeit rich bread, this is a delicious recipe that DK explains in no less than 2 variations!!

And finally one from yours truly!! Steamed Malaysian Dumplings to be found @ my blog Annarasa - Essesence of Food. These are a family favourite and a regular at my home. Try them, you will love them.

If your contribution is missing from this roundup, please email me and I will add your entry here pronto.


All text and photographs in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright of © Annarasa 2007 - 2009. All Rights Reserved. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.

Steamed Malaysian Dumplings

Here's my contribution for A.W.E.D. Malaysia: Steamed Vegetable Dumplings served with a spicy ginger sauce. These dumplings are really delicious and they are a favourite at our home. As it is really easy to get dumpling wrappers here, I make them quite often. Besides I love my bamboo steaming basket, which I purchased a couple of years ago at a tiny but exceedingly well-stocked Asian store, run quite coincidentally by a Malaysian family!! Here is the recipe.


Ingredients:
1/2 cup carrots, minced
1/2 cup bok choi, minced
1/2 cup zucchini, minced
1 green onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp white pepper powder
1 teaspoon rice wine
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
1 inch grated ginger
1 pack potsticker/dumpling wrappers

Method:

1. Combine the chopped vegetables, ginger, and all seasonings together. Set aside to marinate for at least half an hour.
2. To make dumplings, take a wrapper. Then place a small spoonful of the filling in the center of the wrapper. Using your finger, pat a little warm water around the edge of the skin. Fold the dumpling, seal the edges.
   
3. Repeat the same for the rest.
4. Place the dumplings in a bamboo steamer (lined with fresh cabbage leaves). Then steam for 10-14 minutes. Serve immediately with your favourite dipping sauce.
   

A.W.E.D Malaysia this month is hosted by this blog - Annarasa-The Essence of Food. A big thanks to everyone who has participated and sent in lovely recipe for this event. The round-up will be posted shortly.

Vegan Recipe

All text and photographs in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright of © Annarasa 2007 - 20013. All Rights Reserved. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.

Masaman Curry on White Rice

Thai cuisine is one of my favourites. In fact, we have a world class Thai restaurant in the city here that we frequent and love - largely because they offer so much choice in vegetarian food. Of course, I do make Thai food at home too, experimenting with various spices and sauces. My favourites are green curry, yellow curry, sticky rice, pad Thai, light summer rolls, dumplings, bananas in coconut cream, and of course the tasteful Thai chili sauce!!