Chee Cheong Fun (Rice Noodle Roll)

Recipe: Chee Cheong Fun (Malaysian Style)(猪肠粉)
Yield: 10 rolls (size of each roll is about 0.75" diameter x 6.5" length)




INGREDIENTS:

Cheong Fun Batter

• 155g rice flour
• ½ tsp wheat starch
• ¼ tsp salt
• 200ml hot water
• 330ml water (room temperature)
• 2 tsp oil for brushing

Oil For Brushing

• 3 TBSP vegetable oil
• ¼ tsp sesame oil

Side Ingredients

• fish cakes
• fish balls
• hot dogs (slice diagonally)
• * Put all side ingredients into a pot of boiling water and let simmer on high heat, uncovered, until they float on top of the water surface. Fish out the ingredients, cut them into desired sizes and set aside.

Sauce

• sweet sauce
• store bought garlic chili sauce

Garnish

• roasted sesame seeds
• shallot crisps (optional)
• chopped spring onion (optional)

Measurements: tsp = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Mix flour and salt in a mixing bowl.	2. Pour 200ml hot water into the flour mixture and whisk until incorporate.	3. Gradually stir in the 330ml water. Mix evenly.
4. Stir in the oil and mix well. If necessary, strain the mixture once. Set aside.	5. Heat up water in steamer or wok over high heat. I use wok so I place a steamer rack in the center of a my wok and fill water level just about the height of the steamer rack.	6. Lightly grease serving plate or baking pan with the oil prepared earlier.
7. Give the batter a quick stir each time before use then add a thin layer of batter to the plate. I put 2 TBSP of batter each round.	8. Gradually swirl and tilt the plate as close to the steaming hot heat as possible to allow batter to coat evenly and slightly coagulate by using a plate retriever tong.	9. Cover steamer with lid and let it steam over high heat for 2 minutes until cheong fun is cooked.
10. Cheong fun will turn transclucent white once cooked.	11. Remove the plate with cooked cheong fun from steamer carefully and put another greased plate into the steamer. Let rest for about a minute before scrapping and rolling the cheong fun if you can not handle it hot.	12. Lightly grease bamboo chopping board with oil.
13. Loosen the edge of cheong fun by using a spatula.	14. Roll cheong fun with both hands. Roll it loosely or tightly as desire.	15. Roll cheong fun in 2 layers if you are making the traditional Malaysian type.
16. Cover rolled cheong fun with cling wrap. Repeat step 6 to step 16 to finish the remaining batter. Add water to steamer if necessary.	17. Cut cheong fun on the lightly greased chopping board. Divide cheong fun and the precooked side ingredients into serving bowls or plates. Sprinkle with some roasted sesame seeds, shallot crisps and chopped spring onion. Serve hot with sweet sauce and chili sauce.

Notes

You will need at least two right size serving plates or baking trays according to the size of your steamer. To speed up the process of making chee cheong fun, use n-tiers steamer OR use 7.5-inch x 7.5-inch square pan with 5 TBSP to 5½ TBSP batter each time. Do not add water to the steamer when you are in the middle of steaming cheong fun. Add before or after. Make sure water is hot boiling before you put batter into steamer.

Hainainese Chicken Rice Chili Sauce

Recipe: Hainainese Chicken Rice Chili Sauce海南鸡饭辣椒酱

Makes: ½ cup

This chili sauce goes well with fried noodles and fried mee hoon too.

Ingredients

20g bird's eye chilies (deseeded) 50g red chilies (deseeded) 10g ginger 30g garlic

Seasoning ½ tsp. + 1/8 tsp. to ¼ tsp. salt or to taste 2 tsp. sugar or to taste 1 TBSP distilled white vinegar 2 - 3 TBSP lime juice or to taste 1 TBSP fresh chicken stock

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Chop off the stem ends of bird's eye chilies. Halve bird's eye chilies and put them in a bowl of water. Squeeze the seeds out from the chilies by using a metal fork.	2. Have all ingredients ready.	3. Blend ingredients into puree together with distilled white vinegar.
4. Season sauce with salt and sugar. Pulse for couple of times to combine.	5. Finally, add chicken stock and lime juice to taste. Pulse to combine.

Notes

Substitute bird's eye chilies with red bell peper if you're making this sauce for someone who can't eat spicy.

Assam Laksa

Recipe: Assam Laksa(亚参叻沙)
Serves: 2




Ingredients

• 400 - 500g whole Spanish mackerel / wolf herring (ikan parang) / galunggong fish
• 1150ml water
• 500g fresh or dried laksa noodles (thick rice noodles)

Tamarind Paste (view)

• 150g seedless tamarind
• 200ml hot water

Seasoning

• ½ tsp salt or to taste
• 1 TBSP sugar or to taste
• 3 TBSP Hae Ko
• lime wedges (squeeze juice to adjust sourness)

Ingredients A (Spice Paste)

• 15 to 20 dried chilies
• 4 cloves garlic (15g)
• 8 shallots (150g)
• 1 lemongrass (use white part only) - need 1 TBSP
• ½ tsp grated ginger
• 1 TBSP belacan powder (shrimp paste)
• 1/8 tsp turmeric powder / 1 tsp grated slice fresh turmeric
• 1/4 tsp galangal powder / 20g fresh galangal (grated)
• ** Heat up some oil in a pan and saute asam laksa paste over medium low or low heat for about 20 minutes until oil separates. Set aside. **

Ingredients B

• a small bunch of polygonum leaves (a.k.a Vietnamese mint or laksa leaves)
• half of a red onion

Ingredients C (Garnish)

• 1 small cucumber (julienned)
• red onion slices
• pineapple (julienned)
• cucumber (julienned)
• chopped bird's eye chillies
• finely chopped polygonum leaves
• finely chopped mint leaves
• finely chopped bunga kantan (* if available)
• Hae Ko

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Deseed and rinse dried chilies. Put dried chilies in a pot of water and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for another 10 minutes with lid on. Turn off the heat. Allow to simmer for another 30 minutes. Drain and set aside chilies.	2. Clean fish.	3. Get 150g seedless tamarind.
4. Soak tamarind in 200ml hot water for 20 minutes. Then, grab a handful of tamarind pods and keep squeezing and squashing to separate pods from seeds and veins; Repeat process with the remaining pods. Strain and set aside tamarind paste.	5. Julienne and thinly slice garnishing ingredients. Cut lime into quarter wedges.	6. Grate ginger and lemongrass (for ingredients A).
7. Place all ingredients A into a blender.	8. Blend ingredients A into a thin paste.	9. Mix 1000ml water, half of the tamarind paste, and spice paste in a stockpot and bring to a boil. Add the remaining tamarind paste if not sour enough.
10. Add ingredients B. Reduce heat to medium low and continue simmer for 15 minutes.	11. Season soup with salt, sugar and Hae Ko. Squeeze lime wedges to get lime juice if soup is not sour enough.	12. Add cleaned whole fish. Simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes or until fish is cooked (lid ajar).
13. Remove fish from soup. Leave soup to continue simmer over very low heat. Flake 2/3 of the fish meat and leave 1/3 fish meat as chunks. Discard bones.	14. Return fish flakes into the soup. Reserve fish chunks for later use. Cook for 3 minutes over medium high heat. Then reduce heat to low and simmer for another 20 minutes.	15. Prepare another clean pot of boiling water. Sprinkle a pinch of salt into the water. Cook noodles as instructed at the back of packaging (if using dried ones) or blanch noodles for 40 seconds to a minute(if using fresh ones).
16. Put some julienned pineapple, red onion, hae ko and chopped chilies into each serving bowls.	17. Then, divide noodles and fish chunks into each serving bowls. Ladle soup into each serving bowl and garnish with the remaining garnish ingredients. Serve hot.

Notes

Extra lime wedges can be used for garnishing.

Homemade Hae Ko (Black Shrimp Paste)

Recipe: Homemade Hae Ko (Black Shrimp Paste)自制虾膏

Makes: about 150g

Adapted from: kuali.com

Ingredients

120ml water 1 TBSP Marmite yeast extract 1 TBSP thick soy sauce 1 TBSP belacan powder 1 tsp. creamy peanut sauce or to taste 1 - 2 TBSP sugar or to taste 1 TBSP maltose (mak nga tong) or to taste

Thickening 1 TBSP corn flour 2 TBSP water

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Combine all ingredients in a non-stick saucepan and cook over low heat until it comes to a simmering boil for 1-2 minutes.	2. Stir in thickening to mix.