Recipe For Deep Fried Glutinous Rice Balls

This recipe of deep fried glutinous rice balls is a Chinese-style snack or Tim Sum. You can serve this with Chinese tea. Glutinous rice is sticky and is commonly found in Asian recipes. Glutinous rice is frequently used as an ingredient in sweet desserts and savoury dishes such as rice dumplings.



Recipe for Deep Fried Glutinous Rice Balls



Ingredients for Rice Balls and Fillings :

• 1.2kg glutinous rice


• 225g pork, cubed


• 110g prawns, shelled and cubed


• 35g Chinese waxed meat, cubed


• 4 Chinese dried mushrooms


• 1 onion, peeled and chopped


• 75g barbecued pork, cubed


• 75g green peas

Seasonings for Glutinous Rice :

• 4 tablespoons fine salt


• 2 teaspoons mono sodium glutamate (MSG)


• 1/2 tablespoons fine sugar


• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce


• 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce


• 3 teaspoons sesame oil


• a pinch of white pepper


• 6 tablespoons cooking oil

Seasonings for Fillings :

• 4 tablespoons stock or water


• 1/2 teaspoons fine salt


• 1/2 teaspoons MSG


• 2 teaspoons fine sugar


• 2 teaspoons light soy sauce


• 2 teaspoons oyster sauce


• 1 teaspoon sesame oil


• a pinch of white pepper


• 1/2 tablespoons corn flour

Ingredients for the Frying Batter :

• 225g self-raising flour


• 2 teaspoons fine salt


• 300g water


• 1 egg, beaten


• 1 1/2 tablespoons cooking oil

Method :

1. Wash the glutinous rice. Soak in water for 5-6 hours. Drain to prepare for steaming. Line a piece of clean, wet cloth to the interior of a bamboo steamer. Place the glutinous rice into the steamer, making a hole in the center. After steaming for 20 minutes, use a pair of chopsticks to stir the rice, sprinkle a little water to the rice for a more fluffy texture when cooked. Continue steaming for another 25 minutes.
2. Cool the rice after steaming. Season the rice with the rice seasonings and mix well.
3. Prepare the fillings. Soak the mushrooms in water till soft. Remove the stalks and chop the mushrooms into small cubes.
4. Heat a frying pan and add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil. When the oil is hot, add in the onions, prawns, pork, waxed meat and mushrooms. Fry till fragrant.
5. Stir the filling seasonings well and add into the frying pan. Lastly, add in the green peas and barbecued pork. Stir well and remove from heat.
6. Divide the seasoned rice into 20 portions. Divide the seasoned fillings into 20 portions. Wrap one portion of fillings in one portion of rice. Shape it into a ball. If the rice sticks to the hand, dip the hand into some water to remove the stickiness. After wrapping all the 20 rice balls, prepare the frying batter.
7. Add the salt to the self-raising flour. Then add the water and beaten egg to the mixture, stirring thoroughly. Add in the oil last.
8. Dip the rice balls into the batter and deep fry in 6 rice bowls of hot cooking oil till crispy and cooked.

Save money on Groceries and Gas : Click Here

Recipe For Cheese Cookies

Below is an example of a rolled cookie recipe. Rolled cookies are best prepared in cool room temperature. Add flour to the soft dough to faciliate rolling. A soft dough yields tender cookies. You can roll the dough between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper. Keep dough in the refrigerater between rollings.

Recipe for Cheese Cookies

Ingredients :

• 112g plain flour
• 112g grated hard cheese (eg. Cheddar)
• 85g butter
• 1 egg yolk
• Pinch of salt
• 1 beaten egg

Method :

1. Sift the plain flour. Then re-sift the plain flour with the salt into a mixing bowl.
2. Add the butter and rub into the flour. Add the grated cheese and egg yolk and mix to get a soft dough.
3. Roll out to about 3mm thick and cut with cookie cutters or into strips.
4. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet and brush the top with beaten egg.
5. Bake in a moderate oven until golden brown.

Save Money On Groceries and Gas : Click Here

Recipe For Peanut Butter Cookies

Formed cookies have a stiffer dough than drop and pressed cookies. The dough can be prepared beforehand, rolled in greaseproof paper and stored in the refrigerator. Slice the dough when you are going to bake it. The dough can be shaped into balls, flattened, rolled in chopped nuts, sprinkled with sugar or cut to different figures as desired.

Recipe for Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients :

• 112g butter
• 112g crunchy peanut butter
• 120g brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoons vanilla essence
• 1 egg
• 170g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• castor sugar for dipping

Method :

1. Sift the plain flour. Then re-sift the flour with the bicarbonate of soda. Set aside.
2. Beat butter, peanut butter, vanilla essence, sugar and salt until fluffy. Add the egg and beat well. Lastly, add in the flour.
3. Shape the dough into small balls and place about 4 cm apart on a greased baking sheet. Dip a fork into a dish of castor sugar and flatten the balls with the fork.
4. Bake for about 10 minutes in a moderate oven.

Save Money On Groceries and Gas : Click Here

Recipe For Almond Ring Cookies

Pressed cookies are made by pushing the dough through a cookie press. The dough is rather soft. Here is a recipe that shapes the cookie to a ring using a cookie press.

Recipe for Almond Ring Cookies

Ingredients :

• 225g plain flour



• 1/2 teaspoons baking powder



• 170g butter



• 85g castor sugar



• 30g ground almonds



• Small pinch of salt



• 2 tablespoons beaten egg



• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method :

1. Sift the plain flour. Then re-sift the flour with the baking powder. Mix in the ground almonds and set them aside.



2. Beat butter, castor sugar and salt until light and fluffy.



3. Add the egg and continue beating. Add the vanilla essence. Slowly add the flour and ground almonds, mixing thoroughly. Press this soft dough through a cookie press. You may use a star pattern in the cookie press. Pipe small rings of dough onto a lightly greased baking sheet.



4. Bake in a moderate oven for about 10 minutes until golden brown. Be careful not to over bake the cookies. These cookies may turn too brown quickly.

Save Money on Gas and Groceries : Click Here

Image by BeautifulFreePictures.com

Recipe For Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is a recipe of 'drop cookies'. The dough is stiffer and has more butter or liquid than other types of cookie dough. Teaspoonfuls of batter are dropped onto the baking sheet. Leave ample space between cookies as they spread during baking.

Recipe for Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients :

• 125g plain flour
• 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 112g butter
• 100g brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoons vanilla essence
• 1/4 teaspoons water
• 1 egg
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cups walnuts, coarsely chopped

Method :

1. Sift the flour. Re-sift the flour with the bicarbonate of soda.
2. Mix in the nuts and chocolate chips.
3. In another mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugar, vanilla essence, salt and water till fluffy. Add the egg and beat well.
4. Add the flour, chocolate chips, walnuts and mix thoroughly.
5. Drop small teaspoonfuls onto a lightly greased baking sheet.
6. Bake in moderate oven for about 10 minutes.

Save Money on Groceries and Gas : Click Here

Picture from http://tututina.blogspot.com

Cookies For The Festive Season

Firstly, I would like to thank my first follower, Loren for her interest in my blog. Feel free to comment on my posts and I had looked at the 'adsense tips' blog that she is following and I think the information there is helpful. Thanks for sharing, Loren.

Nothing beats the smell of freshly baked cookies from the oven in the festive season. Cookies are simple to make. As long as you get the measurements right and oven temperatures right, your cookies are likely to turn out right.

There are basically four types of cookies.

1. Drop cookies
2. Pressed cookies
3. Formed cookies
4. Rolled cookies

Use tins with low sides for baking cookies. Line the tin with cookie sheet, grease the sheet with a thin layer of oil for easy removal of baked cookies.

The oven is too hot if your cookies brown too quickly. The cookies can turn out raw in the centre and not crisp as a result of the high heat. A moderate oven gives crisp cookies with a good colour. An oven that is too slow gives tough cookies. When the cookies are baked, cool them on a wire tray and store in airtight containers.

I will share some recipes for the four types of cookies in my next posts.

Save Money on Gas and Groceries : Click Here

Picture from http://tututina.blogspot.com

Recipe For Deep Fried Crispy Duck With Pickles

This duck recipe is good enough to be the main dish in your lunar new year celebrations :



Recipe for Deep Fried Crispy Duck with Pickles



Ingredients :

• 1 duck about 1.8kg


• 80g ginger


• 5 stalks spring onions


• 2 stalks parsley


• 1 cucumber


• 1 red carrot about 80g


• 2 white carrots


• 4 red chilies


• 1/2 teaspoons peppercorns


• 6 star anise


• 5 cm cinnamon


• 1/2 tablespoons cloves


• 1 tablespoon rose wine

Method :

1. Clean the duck, removing the intestines and beak.
2. Peel and chop the ginger into fine strips. Wash and chop the spring onions and parsley into one inch strips
3. Peel the red carrot and white carrots. Remove the seeds from the red chilies. Chop the carrots, cucumbers and chilies into strips. Add in 2 tablespoons of salt. Mix well. Leave for half and hour. Wash away the salt, drain and dry with a clean cloth. Soak in the *sugar and vinegar dip for three to four hours.
4. Wash the peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon and cloves. Put all the spices into boiling water to bring out their flavour.
5. Marinate the duck with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 2 teaspoons mono sodium glutamate, 2 teaspoons sugar, 1/2 teaspoons light soy sauce, 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce, 1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine. Rub thoroughly both the interior and exterior of the duck's body. Let it stand for about 25 minutes. Then cover the back of the duck with a clean piece of muslin cloth. Place the parsley, spices, spring onions and ginger on top of the muslin and steam for two hours or until the duck is done. After that, remove the muslin cloth with all the marinating ingredients and drain the duck off any sauce and liquid.
6. Deep fry the duck in smoking hot oil till crispy. Remove and serve with the pickles.

*Ingredients for the sugar and vinegar dip :

• 6 tablespoons water
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 4 tablespoons sugar

Boil all the ingredients above, cool and soak the pickles in it for three to four hours.

Save money on gas and groceries - Click here