Rice Wine Dessert (Com Ruou)

I had a craving for these rice wine after trying them in Texas. I really like the aroma of the rice. They're so sweet and smell so good. The one I bought is not chewy compared to the one I made. The reason for this is because I cooked my rice with the rice cooker instead of steaming. Steamed rice is too dry. Sometime you can taste some of the rice not cooked fully. Plus it is a lot easier to use the rice cooker. But the right way to do it is to steam the rice. This way your rice balls can be in perfect shape even after 3 days. You probably wonder what's that yellow stuff on top of the rice wine. The yellow stuff is osmanthus syrup, which smell really good too. :) I think I wanted to eat this because it have health benefits. Eat the rice wine in the morning to kill parasites in your body....:) I heard this is also good for woman after giving birth.



Ingredients:

2 cups glutinous rice
1 cup water (minus 2 tbsp)
1 tbsp sugar (optional)
1/2 tsp salt (about)
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 tbsp ground ragi yeast

Method:

1. Wash the glutinous rice and cook with 1 cup water in the rice cooker.
2. After the rice is cooked, spread the rice on a plate. Add in the sugar and mix well. *Sugar for sweeter result.
3. After the rice is cooled, add in the yeast. One tbsp on top layer and one on the bottom. Try to mix the rice well.
4. Mix the salt with 1/2 cup water. Dip hands into the water and then take a piece of rice to form into a ball. Repeat for all the cooked glutinous rice and place in a container. Place the container in a warm area for fermentation.
5. You can serve the rice wine after 3 days or continue to ferment. Rice wine tastes best after refrigeration.

Fatt Koh (New Year Rice Cakes)

For this New Year, I made this delicious fatt koh which means lucky cakes. Got to have some lucky cakes for New Year. This is also a good gift for for family and friends. This is my first time making this and I'm very happy it turns out well. It's great when it's warm. I have to say that it will get a little harder when it's cooled. But all you have to do is microwave for 20 seconds and it's nice and soft again. I used couple flavor to make the different color. I used some ube powder to make the purple, rose paste to make the darker pink, and strawberry jelly powder to make the lighter pink. I'm not including it in the recipe as you can just add coloring. These cakes are so good I'm going to make it again for my family. I think you can eat this any time of the year! The sugar amount is just good so it's not too sweet. Best of luck to everyone!



Fermenting yeast:
100 gm cooked rice (cooled)
1/2 tbsp ragi (chinese yeast ball pound into powder)
1 tsp sugar
1/2 - 1 tbsp water

Mix everything together and let it ferment for 3 days. The rice should be soften by then. ***I usually make some extra and after fermenting I just leave it in the refrigerator. It will last a long time and you can use it any time after. This way you don't have to wait for the fermented yeast when you need it right away.


Ingredients:

400 grams rice flour (about 1 bag minus 3 tbsp)
175 grams sugar (1 cup minus 2-3 tbsp)
415 ml water
90 grams fermented yeast (about 4 big full tbsp)
4-5 blades of pandan leaves (tie into knots)
pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder


Method:

1. Boil the water and add in the sugar, salt and pandan leaves. Boil until all sugar melted. Remove the pandan leaves and let the sugar water cool.

2. Take some of the sugar water and blend with the 90 grams of fermented yeast. Then mix with flour and the rest of the sugar water. Mix well and then cover and leave at a warm area to ferment overnight or 10 hrs. After 8-10 hrs the mixture should bubble up and light.

3. Stir the mixture and then add in the baking powder. If you want to make different color then divide it into 4 parts. 60% for white since it will be used as the base. Then you can divide the other 3 equally. Let the mixture sit for another 15 minutes.

4. Heat the water for steaming. When the water is ready then you can place cupcakes paper into your molds. Now pour the base in first, at least 80% full and then add the other 3 colour on top. The molds should be 90% -100% full.

5. Steam over high heat for 15-20 minutes depending how large your mold is. Do not open when steaming.

***Note: If you want your cakes to have a extra big smile then use 1 tsp lime juice with 1 tsp water mix. Then use the toothpick to dip into the lime juice and then make a cross on the mixture before baking. Dip again for each cross.



Without using lime juice to make cross.

Used lime juice to make crosses before baking.

Happy Chinese New Year 2010!!!!

I'm very happy this year as I got the ochna flower tree which is the New Year flower. This is a popular flower in Vietnam for New Year and they call it bong mai vang. Guess where I got this tree from. I got it when I went to Houston, TX to visit my brother-in-law on January 26. It was the day before we flew back to Philadelphia. I have to say I was so lucky...hehehehe. We got this tree from a Vietnamese nursery. They also sell them at the Asian supermarkets. There were some really big ones and one of them cost like $1000. It was a really old bonsai....so beautiful and tall. Too bad I could not afford to spend that much money on a tree. My tree cost $35 and it came with lots of flower buds. I got the shorter dwarf type since I could not fit the taller one in my suitcase. I wrapped it the morning before we leave with plastic film and removed the bottom half of the soil. I placed it in a carry on bag and carried all the way home. I lost some flower buds after unwrapping it but no broken branches. :) The tree is so beautiful when it blooming. I read that another name for this flower is called mickey mouse flower because it produce black seeds and it looks just like the mickey mouse. But the true Vietnamese Ochna does not produce black seeds. I observed the tree for a couple days after some of the flowers die and there was no black seed. I guess I got the real thing or maybe my tree is not old enough. However, I'll be more happy if I got the one with 7 or 9 petals which is more beautiful and have larger flowers. I'll keep on hunting until I get one of that. :) Happy New Year all. Wish this will be a prosperous year for everyone!

Chicken Sausage Sticky Rice (Xoi Man)

Here is another great sticky rice. I think this is a great dish for Chinese New Year.



Ingredients:

2 cups glutinous rice (soak 4-6 hrs)
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 links chinese sausage sliced
1 boneless chicken breast sliced
1/4 cup dried shrimps soaked 1 hr
1/4 large onion chopped
2 scallion onion chopped
2 shallots sliced
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp oil
2-3 tbsp water

Method:

1. Drain the glutinous rice and mix with 2 tbsp soy sauce. Steam for 20 minutes until rice is cook. If the rice is too dry then sprinkle some water on it.
2. Oil the the pan and fry the sausage then remove from pan.
3. Oil the pan again and fry the shallots until golden. Then add in the chicken and then dried shrimps. When chicken is cook then add in the onions.
4. Now add in the soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and water. Mix well and add in the green onions and sausage.
5. Place all the cooked ingredients over the sticky rice. Serve warm.

Mung Bean Sticky Rice (Xoi Vo)

Here is another Vietnamese sticky rice. I've never eat this before but my husband like it since it have a lot of mung bean with it. I like this after trying it. This it's very good since it have the aroma of the mung bean and chewy too. Add in some sesame sugar and it's super good.



Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup glutinous rice (soak 4+hrs or overnight)
1 1/2 cup split mung bean (soak 4+hrs)
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3-4 tbsp coconut powder (optional)

Sesame sugar:
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp roasted sesame

Method:

1. Drain mung bean and steam for 20 minutes. After steaming then mash it finely.
2. Drain the glutinous rice and mix with the mashed mung bean. Add in the salt and mix well.
3. Steam the mung bean rice on a cheesecloth for 15 minutes. Then add in the sugar and coconut powder and stir well. Steam for another couple minutes until the rice is tender. The rice should taste and a little sweet. The rice should also be separated and not stick together.
4. Serve alone or with some sugar sesame. Remember to pound some of the sesame to give it more fragrance.

(Note: The right way to eat this is to press the sticky rice with hands before eating. For me I just use the spoon eat this.)

Homemade Soy Milk

Nice hot soy milk is the best in this cold weather. Soy milk is also good when cold. Homemade soy milk is the best since you can taste more of the soybean and add your own sweetness. It's also cheaper to make your own.



Ingredients:

2 cups soybeans (soak 6 hrs or overnight)
5 liters water
1 cup sugar
6-8 pandan leaves (tie in knots)

Methods:

1. In a blender add in 2 cups of soaked soybeans and about 1 liter water and blend it well. Puree it for a couple minutes. (Remember not to fill the blender all the way as it will spill when blend. Do not need to use the full 1 liter water at a time. Can always add in at the end.)
2. Strain the liquid in a cheesecloth over strainer. Squeeze out the milk. (see below pics.)
3. Repeat until finish with soaked soybeans.
4. Strain the milk again before cooking.
5. Boil the the milk until slowly boiling with pandan leaves. Stir constantly to prevent burning to the bottom of pot. Also, need to keep an eye on the pot or it will boil and spill. Turn heat lower when milk become boiling. Add in sugar and stir well. Taste and add in more sugar if needed. Simmer for another couple minutes before removing from heat.
6. Strain hot soymilk again over cheesecloth before drinking. Let milk cool completely before storing in refrigerator.