Stuffed Golden Purses，金钱袋 (Braised Stuffed Tofu)

Happy Dragon Year Everyone! Hope everyone had a wonderful break and ny celebration during the past week. \(^o^)/ Although this year was kind of rush due to the short "intermission" from Christmas, but I still manage to have a nice reunion with my love ones. Plus my long break from blogging too, about 2 weeks to be exact. I bet some of my readers might have already given up hope on me, lol! Apologies! However, truth be told, it will probably be lesser posts from me from now on as I feel the need to spend more time with my kiddos. But no worries, I will still be posting, just less. ;P

Before the Lunar New Year is over, I want to post up a savory dish that I made awhile back. And I believe this dish is a presentable one to serve during new year. Its actually Stuffed Braised Tofu but I changed its name to Stuffed Golden Purses (金钱袋), to make it sound more festive, lol!

I bet many of you out there know what Yong Dao Fu (酿豆腐 ) is. This stuffed tofu is pretty similar to that, just that instead of stuffing it with the usual fish paste, I used minced pork and loads of other ingredients. My family loves any kind of tofu dishes, so this was a good one to serve up to them. If you too love tofu dishes, read on!

Ingredients for Stuffed Golden Purses (Braised stuffed tofu, makes 6)

3 squares of Dao Gua (pressed tofu)

Filling:

250g fresh ground pork (can be replaced with any meat of your choice)

100g fresh prawns, peeled, devined and dice small

3 dried mushrooms, soaked till soft and diced small

1 tbsp minced ginger

2 tbsp diced green onion

Marinate:

salt & pepper

2 tsp light soy sauce

1/2 tsp caster sugar

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp cornflour

Seasoning:

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

1/2 cup of water with 1 tsp cornflour mixed in)

Method:

• For the pressed tofu, take one and cut diagonally into 2 triangles, repeat for the other two tofu. The using a spoon, scoop out the a cavity in the cut surface, about 1 tbsp worth, see picture. (Those scooped out tofu can be added into the filling if desired.)

• In a mixing bowl, add in all the ingredients for the filling and marinate. Mix well and let sit for at least an hour in the fridge before use.

• After an hour, fill the tofu cavity with the filling and try to stuff it full so it will look nice and packed. (Just like what you wish your wallets to be, lol!) See Pic 1.

• Pat the stuffed tofu some cornflour and heat up a frying pan with about 1 cup of cooking oil. See pic 2 and 3 above.
• Pan fry the tofu till golden brown, dish up and drain on paper towels. See pic 4 above.
• Pour away the oil the pan and lower the heat to small. In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients in seasoning and pour into the pan and let it simmer till it thickens a little. Add in the stuffed tofu and let it coat with the seasoning sauce. After 2 to 3 minutes, dish up and sprinkle some fresh chopped green onions over as garnish if desired.

This is a nice homey dish that you can serve up any time. You can even add in some chopped water chestnut into the filling to enhance the texture too! Do try it when you get the chance. ;)

I am happy to submit this Stuffed Golden Purses (Braised Stuffed Tofu) to Aspiring Bakers #15: Auspicious Dishes for CNY (January 2012) which is hosted by Wen's Delight.

Okay folks, gonna end my post for now and be back REAL soon. Have a good evening!

Coke Cola Chicken Wings and Purple Sweet Potato Huat Goh

It took me a good few minutes to know how to start off this post. It's almost alien to me on writing up a post lately since I've been neglecting it for quite sometime now. Apologies to all my readers as I have been so tight up with the Chinese New Year baking that I don't even have any other free time. But I am so glad I completed my bake order and got some "spare change" for my NY shopping, heehee. (^_^) Anyway, I baked so many NY cookies this year, I'm not quite in the mood to post one now, lol! So for a change, a simple dinner dish, "Coke Cola Chicken" and a Purple Sweet Potato Huat Goh. :)

I have actually cook this Coke Cola chicken wings countless times now. But however because I wasn't very successful in capturing good pictures with it, I kind of deferred the post. I'm not sure if other bloggers are having this same experience, but I realize that those food in brown to dark colors just aren't as "photogenic". :P However today I kind of given up hope and left the photos as is...hopefully it still look yummy. :P

I'm not a Coke drinker, but lately I have been stocking up a few cans of coke in my house just to cook this dish. It is one of the easiest and most yummy chicken dishes I've come across....finger licking good!

Ingredients for Coke Cola Chicken wings (serve 3-4 people)

6-8 chicken wings, trim the fat and cut at mid joint

Seasoning for chicken : 1/2 salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp sesame oil and 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine

4 slices of ginger

2 minced garlic

1 large onion, peeled and slice into thin strips

3 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 can of 330ml coke (I tried with Pepsi and it's equally good)

• Marinate the chicken wings with the seasoning and let seat for at least 2-3 hours before use.
• In a pot, heat up 1 tbsp of cooking oil. Add the minced garlic, sliced ginger and saute till fragrant. Then add in the chicken wings and cook till opaque in color.
• Add in 1/2 cup of water and let boil. Then pour in the coke and let boil. Once it starts to boil, lower heat to simmer.

• Cook till the liquid is reduce into a thick sauce, about 40 to 45minutes. Serve hot with steam rice.

If you are like me, always looking out for easy, delicious dishes to serve up your family, you should definitely give this one a go. It's really easy, really delicious and I guarantee that you will cook this over and over again! Try it!

The other item I'm posting up today is Purple Sweet Potato Huat Goh. It was actually inspired by Lena whom just posted hers a few days ago, heehee! Thanks Lena! Her's was definitely a much cheerful with bright golden color. But since I used purple sweet potatoes...it wasn't as fantastic as I hoped it will be. :P

Err...see what I mean? Not so festive if you know what I mean. I had to tie that nice red bow to make it more NY like, lol! But taste wise, it's really good! I did reduce the sugar slightly and doubled the recipe since I'm making for my mum too. I'm posting the recipe for easier reference in future:

Ingredients for Sweet Potato Huat Goh: (makes about 2 X 6 inches round pan)

250g purple sweet potato, peeled and steamed

2 large eggs

200g caster sugar
250ml milk
60ml vegetable oil
350g cake flour
50g rice flour
1 tbsp baking powder

• In a blender, blend the sweet potatoes, eggs, sugar, milk and oil together till smooth and uniform in color.
• In a large mixing bowl, sift in the cake flour, rice flour and baking powder in. Pour in the sweet potato mixture and stir in till well combined.
• Prepare the steamer and keep it at a boil. Prepare the two 6" round pan (mine is 3" deep) lined with waterproof baking paper.
• Pour the batter equally into the 2 prepared pan and let steam in the steamer for 30 to 40 minutes till tester comes out clean.

I love it, it was not dense at all, soft and fragrant and just the right sweetness for me. Even my mum whom is also a Huat Goh "expert", also said it's pretty good, haha!;) The mild sweet potatoes taste was nice, but I bet with pumpkin will yield a even better huat goh. If you want a get a huat goh for the CNY, forget it, just steam up one yourself! This recipe is really easy, I'm sure you can get it done in no time. ;)

Okay folks, gonna end here today. In any case I can't post up before the new year arrives, Happy Lunar New Year to All! Huat Ah!