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Homemade Steamed Egg Tofu

Home Made Steamed Egg with Soy Milk

This is a neat one, but delicious steamed dish that goes perfectly with rice! It’s really quick and easy, and I think it’s light and healthy too! so, why not put together a quick dish on the dinner table tonight? Well, this recipe takes a spin off scramble eggs – as you normally put a splash of milk in the scrambled eggs, except you’re putting soy milk in your steamed eggs! Also, you can dress up this dish if you like, or enjoy it as it!

Ingredients:
125mL Soy Milk (unsweetened)
3 Eggs (beaten)
pinch of salt and white pepper

Some people opt out of the white pepper if they’re just looking for the smooth custard look and feel of the steamed egg.

First off, set up your steamer for steaming. This recipe is quick, so you can start preparing this right away! Beat your 3 eggs and season it. Make sure it’s beaten well.

When it’s mixed thoroughly, pour the soy milk into the mixture and beat well again.

Strain the egg mixture through a strainer into a heat proof steam plate, cover it tightly with aluminum foil and set into the steamer. Steam for about 12 to 15 minutes on low.

After you remove it from the steamer, unwrap the tin foil to see the beautiful creation you’ve made! My eggs were over-cooked so it’s not the custard texture that I was looking for on the top as I left it in the steamer so it would stay warm. However, it was smooth and creamy on the inside. I like to add some soy sauce to my eggs, because that is how my dad did it. My mom would actually put a bunch of stuff on top to make the eggs more flavourful. I like the XO Sauce Steamed Egg Tofu for me!

If you like steamed eggs for dinner, try ending with steamed egg for dessert with Dun Daan (Sweet Egg Custard Dessert)

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Homemade Sai Mai Lo – 西米露

Home Made Chinese Coconut Tapioca Dessert Recipe

There’s nothing more refreshing on a hot day, or just a blah day than a bowl of tapioca pudding (or better yet, soup) which is thick, flavourful and creamy!

Ingredients (makes 2 Chinese bowls)
1/4 Tapioca Pearls – 西米 (dried)
1/4 cup rock sugar
1 can coconut milk (165mL)
1/2 can 2% milk or evaporated milk (about 82.5mL)

First, rinse the tapioca pearls off well, it helps with getting rid of the “tapioca starch” sediments, so rinse with cold water. Then, let the pearls sit and soak for a few hours until it has at least doubled or tripled in size. The longer they soak, the less time it takes for them to cook!

I like to rinse the pearls again, before putting them in a pot of boiling water. So, bring some water up to a boil and pour the pearls in there. Don’t step away long if you have to, these pearls do cook up fast! The pearls will become clear or translucent – but pour them through a fine mesh strainer when there is a bit of whiteness still in the centre! Rinse WELL under cold water to stop the cooking process.

Meanwhile, pour the can of coconut milk and half a can (the can the coconut milk was in) of either milk or evaporated milk. Dissolve some brown rock sugar in the milk making sure the milk never comes to a full boil – otherwise, you’ll start getting a film on top when it begins to cool. You can also dissolve the sugar in some boiling water if you’re afraid of the film.

Once the mixture has combined thoroughly, stir in the pearls and you’re ready to enjoy! I like my sai mai lo both hot and cold, and since I can make 2 bowls with this recipe, I normally eat one right away and the other goes into the fridge!

If you don’t really want to make your own, a delicious option would be to get it at T&T Supermarket! They make a really good one, and it comes in a convenient cup, and it’s the same portion size! Their Sai Mai Lo is actually not bad at all!

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Homemade Ma Lai Go – 馬拉糕

Home Made Chinese Steamed Sponge Cake

I didn’t know what to make – besides knowing I wanted to make a cake. I’m no good at baking, so I opted for a steamed cake. The first one that came to my mind was the ma lai go which is a common cake that you’d get during dim sum. This is a simple recipe for a small batch, which was all I needed!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup cake flour
1/2 cup of sugar
2 eggs beaten

First you cream the eggs and sugar together until it becomes “thick” and forms kind of “ribbons” from your whisk. This does take a long time, so use an electric beater or have lots of energy! Make sure you get your steamer ready as you need it right away! The steamer and everything has to be hot and ready – or the cake won’t rise and you’ll just get a block of cake.

Once the mixture is creamy, thick and frothy, then you’re ready to add in the flour. Mix the flour in gently until incorporated – do not over mix!

Then, just pour the batter into the container of choice. I used 2 small ramekins, which worked great for my purpose!

Steam for 30 minutes and you’ll know it’s ready when the cake starts pulling away from the sides. You can do the clean toothpick test too just to verify!

Serve hot/warm, and I just pulled my little cake out of the ramekin so you can see the great bubbles.

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Homemade Bor Lor Bao – 菠蘿包

Home Made Chinese Pineapple Bun Recipe

Ingredients (makes 4-6 mini buns):
Dough:
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tbsp yeast
1/2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup milk
1 egg beaten
pinch of salt
pinch of sugar
oil

Topping:
2 1/2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp butter
1 egg yolk
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp milk
1/2 cup flour
1 tbsp baking powder

First, you make the yeast solution for the yeast to activate by mixing the yeast with a pinch of sugar, 1/2 cup of flour and 1/4 cup warm water

Once the solution has become frothy and has doubled in size, you’re ready to start making the dough. Melt butter, then add milk to the butter.

In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs to the flour and then incorporate the milk mixture and yeast mixture. Knead for a few minutes until a ball of dough forms. You may need to add more water or flour depending on the consistancy.

Once the ball of dough is formed, take another mixing bowl and grease the sides. Put some plastic wrap on the top – or a wet tea towel and wait for 2 hours for the dough to rise. In the mean time, you can make the topping as it needs some time to set in the fridge. To make the topping, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Then, add in the egg yolk with milk and mix again. Next comes the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Once this comes in, be sure to mix to combine only. Do not over work this mixture. Form into disks and refrigerate.

After you proof the dough, cut it up into the portion size you’d like your pineapple buns to be. Keep in mind they will rise again, so they’ll be bigger than you make them!

Once you got them portioned out, place the topping and place it on the bun with egg wash. Then, let them rise for a second time. You can score diamond markings on the top of the topping or just leave it – as the diamond texture simulates the look of a pineapple.

When you’re ready, bake in a 375F oven for 10-12 minutes when a toothpick can come out clean – then you’re ready to enjoy!

To get the shiny topping which I didn’t do, you can brush the top with some egg wash (beaten egg with some water mixture).

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Homemade Sweet Green (Mung) Bean Soup – 绿豆沙

Home Made Lu Dou Sha – Chinese Dessert

I was thinking about a refreshing dessert that is simple to make and refreshing would be the Chinese Mung Bean Soup

Ingredients:
1/2 cup dried green bean
1/4 cup rock sugar
4 cup of water

First thing you have to do is clean and soak the green beans. Keep in mind that the green beans swells up and doubles in size after soaking.

Once you finished soaking the beans – I did mine overnight, but a good rule is to soak at least 4 hours.

Boil the soaked green beans with rock sugar in water. Once the water boils, turn down the heat to a simmer. The green beans will become soft and swell up.

Once the beans started swelling up, basically you’re boiling out the water to the consistency that you like the dessert to be.

We like our dessert to be more on the thicker side, but I must admit – I’ve over done it on mine! I didn’t feel like adding more water to it since the sweetness was perfect, and it wasn’t bad having it thicker either!

This is a dessert where you can enjoy it hot or cold, and it tastes great both ways as well! I found once chilled, it becomes a little bit thicker as well, and less sweet. It’s a refreshing dessert!