The Hedgehog Knows: Chinese

Chinese

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Chinese pear and apricot kernels are traditionally known to be beneficial for respiratory health, and I really like how this recipe requires no added sugar at all.

This recipe is simple to prepare and can even be completed during lunch time when you work from home. I have included both the traditional boiling and pressure cooking timings - but of course if you have a pressure cooker too, just use that. It's much faster. Enjoy!

Chinese Pear and Longan Dessert Soup

Ingredients:

▪️ 2 pears, deseeded and diced

▪️ 20g apricot kernels

▪️ 40g red dates, deseeded and chopped

▪️ 40g dried longans

▪️ 2.4 litres water

▪️ 30g wolfberries

Directions:

1) Soak.

Soak apricot kernels in hot water for 30 minutes to soften it.

2) Add.

Add all the ingredients except the wolfberries into a pot.

3) Cook.

▪️Boil: Boil for 30 minutes until the pear is soft.

▪️Pressure cooker: Cook on HI for 10 minutes and do a natural release.

4) Add.

Add wolfberries. Stir. Serve hot.

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Foodie at Home Challenge

And so, in my last recipe post, I shared about the "Foodie at Home Challenge" that Shopee had for me, i.e. to come up with various dishes using some pre-assigned fresh ingredients purchased from their app.

(PS: As this is a collaboration with Shopee, do look out for my exclusive Shopee Promo Code for you at the end of this recipe!)

3 Dishes, 3 Recipes

The ingredients I had to order online through the Shopee App were fresh pork loin prime ribs, fresh kampong chicken, pumpkin, black fungus, beetroot, asparagus and sake.

In this 3-part series, I am sharing 3 recipes which I came up with using ingredients from Shopee and what I already had in my kitchen:

Japanese-styled Honey-Sake Pork Ribs with Asparagus using Airfryer (recipe here)
Steamed Herbal Chicken (see below), and
Pumpkin and Beetroot Salad with Feta Cheese (recipe here).

Fresh, Reliable, Convenient

Overall, I was impressed by how fresh the ingredients were. Service was reliable and I really love how convenient it was to have all my fresh groceries arrive - with just a few clicks on the app! :)

Steamed Herbal Chicken

This dish is overall very nutritious and an easy 4-step recipe to prepare. As there are various plant-based ingredients (e.g. black fungus, red dates) in this dish as well, I usually just pair this with rice and it makes for a balanced meal.

One of the key ingredients in this dish is Dang Gui (当归). Generally known as a herb beneficial for women as it helps to support and maintain healthy menstrual balance in women, it is generally safe for both genders as it aids in blood circulation. Personally, I find Dang Gui in double-boiled soup a bit too intense for me, so I prefer it cooked in a dish.

The chicken I used is Fresh Anxin Chicken from QQMart. As female chickens are supplied, I found the meat to be overall very tender. Personally, I avoid eating chicken wings as the hormones are usually injected there, but I am glad that Anxin Chickens are free from antibiotics and growth hormones.

RECIPE

Serves 2

Ingredients

(A)

140g black fungus*

50g red dates, halved & no seed

40g ginger, sliced

5g dang gui, sliced

2 tsp wolfberries

200g water

(B)

2 tb sake*/ Shaoxing wine

2 tbs oyster sauce

1 tsp soy sauce

600g chicken*

*Items available from Shopee (under QQMart or Sake Inn).

Directions

1) Soak.

Soak all (A) ingredients except wolfberries in a bowl.

Tips: Use a bigger bowl as the fungus will expand. You may require more water, depending on your bowl size.

2) Marinate.

Marinate chicken using (B) ingredients for at least 2 hours in the fridge.

3) Lay.

Place the black fungus in a large flat metal dish. Lay chicken above it. Lastly, spread the (A) ingredients above the chicken.

4) Steam.

Steam the chicken over medium-high fire for 45 minutes.

Serve with rice. Enjoy!

Exclusive Promo Code

Quote SHOPEEXTHK for S$7 off a minimum spend of S$15. Valid for new Shopee accounts until 11 November 2020. Useful links:

Shopee's Food & Beverage category
QQMart

(This is a collaboration with Shopee. Recipe and opinions are mine.)

Follow me on Facebook and Instagram at @TheHedgehogKnows.

If you have used my recipe, tag me and stand to be featured!

I recently took up the "Foodie At Home Challenge" by Shopee to try out their online grocery-shopping and cook up various dishes using a list of ingredients pre-selected by them. Hence, in this 3-part series, I will be sharing 3 recipes:

Japanese-styled Honey-Sake Pork Ribs with Asparagus using Airfryer (see below)
Steamed Herbal Chicken, and
Pumpkin and Beetroot Salad with Feta Cheese.

PS: I have included an exclusive Shopee Promo Code for my readers below too, so do look out for the surprise at the end!

My Initial Thoughts on Online Grocery Shopping

To be honest, I am someone who takes a more conservative approach when buying perishables, such as fresh meat, vegetables and fruits. I prefer to see and feel the fresh produce before buying them, because they are more delicate. A dent or a slight fingernail mark in the packaging could cause a whole product to go bad very soon.

Shopee's Challenge For Me

As part of this challenge, I would be using various ingredients purchased from their online platform to create some dishes. The ingredients were fresh pork loin prime ribs, fresh kampong chicken, pumpkin, black fungus, beetroot, asparagus and sake.

Fresh Groceries

Our groceries arrived very punctually during the stipulated time slot. Kept in styrofoam boxes during transportation, the fresh produce were still very cold when they arrived. All the items were fresh and kept safe in cling wrap/ bubble wrap, in perfect condition.

Reliable Service

Overall, I was really quite pleasantly surprised. To be honest, I think this experience totally changed my perception about online grocery shopping.

I have to commend the Shopee seller, Mr Tan from QQ Mart, for his great service. In particular, he updated me on the delivery schedule twice (once after my groceries were ordered and the other just a few hours before the delivery).

Even after delivery, he shared with me with some tips on how to handle the fresh chicken which was just slaughtered the night before. Totally unexpected and I really appreciate that!

Convenience

One thing I learnt from this experience is to try out a service at least once, before jumping to conclusions. I definitely saved a lot of time for this week's groceries and reduced all the inconveniences from the various Circuit Breaker rules if I had to physically go to the supermarket to get all those groceries.

You can also browse through Shopee's various food-related offerings here. If all it takes are just a few clicks and this service negates the need of having to lug everything home, why not? :)

3 Dishes

And so, here are my 3 recipes. Enjoy!

Japanese-styled Honey-Sake Pork Ribs with Asparagus using Airfryer (see below)
Steamed Herbal Chicken (coming up soon), and
Pumpkin and Beetroot Salad (coming up soon).

Japanese-styled Honey-Sake Pork Ribs with Asparagus using Airfryer

Even though I used the airfryer, these ribs came out really flavourful because of the marination. I also really like the light tinges of sake aftertaste as I sink my teeth into the ribs.

For this recipe, I used pork loin. This part is a little bit more fatty and is usually more tender. Yummy!

RECIPE

Serves: 2 pax

Ingredients

(A) For ribs:

500g pork loin prime ribs*

50g dark sauce

35g sake*

1 tsp honey

20g ginger, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

(B) For asparagus:

200g asparagus*

2 tbs olive oil

Pepper and salt, to taste

*Items available from Shopee (under QQMart or Sake Inn).

Directions

1) Remove.

Remove membranes from ribs, if any. (Mine from QQMart were already removed.)

Tips: Removing the membranes will allow the meat to "fall off" the bones when you bite into it. :)

2) Marinate.

To marinate the ribs, mix (A) ingredients together. Cover with cling wrap and keep in fridge for at least 2 hours.

3) Preheat.

After marination, the ribs are ready for cooking. Preheat airfryer at 190 degrees Celcius for 5 minutes.

4) Airfry the ribs.

Place the ribs in a baking pan. Cook at 190 degrees Celcius for 15 minutes. Flip, and continue for another 5 minutes.

5) Brush.

While the ribs are being cooked, trim the base of the asparagus and brush with olive oil. Add pepper and salt to taste.

6) Airfry the asparagus.

Cook at 190 degrees Celcius for 5 minutes. Toss, and continue cooking for another 5 minutes.

Serve with Japanese rice. Enjoy... And feel free to eat the ribs with your fingers! :)

Exclusive Promo Code

Quote SHOPEEXTHK for S$7 off a minimum spend of S$15. Valid for new Shopee accounts till 11 November 2020. Useful links:

Shopee's Food & Beverage Category
QQ Mart

What dish/ dishes would you create using the same ingredients, if you were me? :) Stay tuned for my next 2 recipes. Let's get creative and try new dishes together!

(This is a collaboration with Shopee. Recipe and opinions are mine.)

Follow me on Facebook and Instagram at @TheHedgehogKnows.

If you have used my recipe, tag me and stand to be featured!

In recent years, peach gum has gained popularity among Asians for its nutritional properties. Costing at just a fraction of the price of bird's nest, peach gum is rich in amino acids, allowing collagen to be easily absorbed into the body. Well, I definitely wouldn't mind younger, smoother skin!

So what is peach gum? It is the resin from Chinese wild peach trees. Sold as little golden "balls", they are usually cooked in soups and dessert.

As I prefer to add more ingredients, the sweetness is naturally elevated and I usually don't add any rock sugar. The family loves it!

Ingredients

80g peach gum (桃胶)

30g lotus seed

2 white fungus

90g longan

80g red dates

40g wolfberries

Water

Rock sugar (only if required)

Directions

Serves 8

1. Soak peach gum.

Soak the peach gum overnight.

2. Soak lotus seed and fungus.

Soak lotus seeds and white fungus for 30 minutes.

Tips: Use a large bowl, as the fungus will expand a lot.

3. Remove black germ.

Crack the lotus seeds into half. Remove the black bitter-tasting germ from the seeds.

4. Boil.

Bring half pot of water to boil. Add the longan, red date and lotus seeds, and boil for 1 hour.

5. Remove impurities.

By now, the peach gum would have softened and expanded. Remove the black impurities from the peach gum.

6. Continue boiling.

Add the peach gum and fungus, and continue to boil for 45 minutes. Top up with more water (and rock sugar if needed). In the last 5 minutes, add the wolfberries.

Serve hot. Enjoy!

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As some of you already know, I have been baking my own mooncakes for several years already. Being a little bored with the usual Lotus Paste Mooncakes, I have so far baked mooncakes using durian paste as well.

To push the boundaries a little further this year, I decided to bake ondeh ondeh inspired ones. Ondeh ondeh, a type of Peranakan kueh, is one of my favourite local desserts as I love how the gula melaka playfully squirts into my mouth as I bite into them.

In these fusion mooncakes, I make use of the various ingredients of the ondeh ondeh, such as gula melaka, desiccated coconut, pandan etc. Whilst this mooncake will look closest to the original kueh in snowskin form, I decided to keep to the baked form as I am wary of the (unhealthy) shortening used in snowskin mooncakes. Do note that I have also reduced the sugar content through my experimentations, so don't worry about needing to cut down further yourself. :)

So do you prefer mooncakes in traditional or fusion form? If you have used my recipe, share/tag your photos on my Facebook or Instagram and stand a chance to be featured!

Ondeh-Ondeh Inspired Baked Mooncakes

Yield: 15 mini mooncakes, 50g each

Ingredients

(A) Skin
120g top/ cake flour* (all purpose flour is ok)
50g golden syrup*

30g gula melaka
3/4 tsp alkaline water* (this helps to make the dough more stretchable and give the skin the golden-brown colour)
30g peanut oil (or any other types of oil)

1/2 tsp pandan paste

(B) Filling
480g pandan coconut paste*

40g desiccated coconut

* If you are in Singapore, these items can be purchased from Phoon Huat/ Kwong Cheong Thye (KCT). Click here for my review of KCT!

Directions

1. Mix together all (A) ingredients, except flour.

Tips: Remember to mix the gula melaka well, otherwise there will be (ugly) brown patches on your mooncakes skin.

2. In another bowl, sieve the flour and make a well in the centre. Pour ingredients from Step #1 into the sifted flour.

3. Combine the mixture with a spatula until it forms a soft dough. Wrap with cling wrap and place it in the fridge to rest overnight. This step is known as 醒面.

Tips: The longer you let the dough rest, the easier you can wrap the fillings later.

4. The next day, divide the dough into dough balls of 15g each. For this recipe, you will get 15 pieces of them, with some leftover for "patching" later - if needed. Return the dough balls back into the fridge and keep them chilled.

5. Next, mix together ingredients in (B).

6. Make 15 balls of fillings, each 33g.

7. It is now time to start making your mooncake balls. Remove 1 of the dough balls from the fridge and place it between 2 sheets of non-stick baking paper. Press to flatten the dough ball and roll it out thinly into a flat circle.

Tips: Only remove dough balls from the fridge when you are about to use them. Warmed-up dough can become very sticky and difficult to work with!

8. Wrap the flattened dough around the filling and shape it into a mooncake ball. Ensure that there are no exposed parts. (Repeat to make next 14 mooncake balls.)

9. Place the mooncake balls, 1 at a time, into mooncake mould plunger. Press hard so that the impression can be properly made (this is my favourite part!). Release the plunger and gently place them onto a baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Spray with water to prevent the mooncakes from cracking during baking later.

10. Preheat the airfryer at 160 degrees for 4 min. Bake the mooncakes at 160 degrees for 10 min.

11. Meanwhile, prepare the egg wash by mixing well 1 egg yolk and 1 tsp water. If you would like the egg wash to have a more even consistency, pass the egg wash through a sieve.

12. Remove the mooncakes from the airfryer and leave them to cool for at least 15 min (do not skip this step). Thereafter, glaze the top and sides of your mooncakes thinly and evenly with the egg wash.

13. Return the mooncakes to the airfryer. Continue to bake for another 4 - 6 min until golden brown.

14. Cool the mooncakes completely before storing in an airtight container at room temperature for at least 3 days. This allows the mooncakes to 回油, so that the skin can soften. It will also produce a glossy and shiny surface, and the flavours can be better developed.

PS: If your kitchen is too warm, you can put it in the fridge sooner.

15. After 3 days, you will find that the mooncakes' surface will turn glossy. For optimal results, wait for up to 7 days. Keep in the fridge if your home is warm.

16. The mooncakes are now ready. Serve with hot Chinese tea and enjoy!