Tau Suan

This is my short-cut recipe without the "you tiao".

Ingredients:

Split mung beans
Rock sugar
Water
Potato Starch (thickener)

Method:

1. Wash the split mung beans until the water is clear (no longer yellow).

2. Heat a pot of water until boiling. Add in the split mung beans. Turn the heat to low and simmer until the mung beans is soft.  Season to taste with rock sugar.

3. Mix some potato starch with a little water and add into the mung bean soup, stir until it's thicken. Serve warm plain or with "you tiao" (Chinese fried bread).

Pineapple Tarts

It is still too early for pineapple tarts isn't it? But I made some for my mom to try since I was still able to do some baking while my mom was here. You can find my recipe here. I was trying with some new cookie cutters that I bought in Malaysia and man...were it hard to use. Finally managed to find one that was easy enough to use (shown above), guess will have to shop for more design the next time I go back. This is one cookie that takes a lot of time to make and can finish in a day!

I also made some kuih bangkit for her to bring home for my sister who loves this cookie. I tried it with the pincher and it turned out prettier than the plain cut out one I did before.

Note: I updated the pictures for better viewing.

Edda's Full Moon Celebration

A little family celebration. I didn't make the angku because it is just too much work since I don't have the filling on hand.

Red Eggs, more like pink huh?

Nasi Kunyit, too much coconut milk thus too sticky! :P


Curry Chicken with Potatoes


Pork Wontons


Vietnamese Honeycomb Cake


Almond Agar-agar (jelly)

Normally with baby full moon, Chinese people gave out angku, red eggs, nasi kunyit, chicken curry or even cake to friends and relatives. One month old in Chinese meaning one year old for the baby so it called for celebration. Last time with Evy I only managed to do the red eggs. This time with my mom here, I am more hardworking. :D

Edda's One Month Pictures

Wahhh...big angpow from Popo (grandma). Thanks ya! *kiss kiss*

Mommy said better take the pictures with two red eggs also, just like big sister.

Okay, okay enough, I'm getting tired and sleepy!

Actually it's one month and a day old, mommy and daddy forgot to take picture on the actual day. Luckily still have some red eggs left. Hehe...

Update:

At her one month doc. appointment, she still looked pretty yellow thus the doc. sent her for another blood test. Turned out her bilirubin level was still high so now she is off breast milk and has to eat medicine twice a day until another blood test (this Monday, today) .

Update:

Got the result back today. Finally her bilirubin is low enough that she is off medicine and back on complete breastfeeding again! Horray, no more pumping for me! :)

Confinement Food - Chicken in DOM Wine

Ingredients:

1 cornish hen
1/2 cup Benedictine DOM
1/4 cup kei chee (medlar seeds)

Method:

Wash and clean cornish hen thoroughly. Add all ingredients into a slowcooker (small size one) and fill the slowcooker half full with hot water. Boil on High for 3 hours. Serve hot!

Note: This soup is quite sweet.

Confinement Food - Egg in Gingers and Sweet Snap Peas

Yeah, I got to have my veggies. But read that leafy greens are cooling to the body and prohibited during confinement. So, the alternative would be snowpeas or sweet snap peas, even french beans is okay. So, here's the easy recipe.

Recipe:

1 large egg, beaten and marinated with soy sauce and white peppers
1/2 cup of shredded gingers
About 5-6 sweet snap peas, cut
Sesame oil

Method:

1. Heat the wok with sesame oil. When hot, add in the shredded gingers and stir-fry until fragrant, add in the snap peas and stir for a while, then pour in the beaten egg. You can flip it omelette style until cooked.

Confinement Drink - Red Date Tea

This is the drink that I had for the whole month instead of water. Other than that I had Milo with milk in the morning and after three weeks cheating with two cups of coffee. :P This tea is simply delicious. I put everything in a slowcooker and let it cooked overnight on low and enjoyed it the next day. I used red dates, black dates, tong sum and dried longan. My slowcooker is the big one so everything I added was based on agaration.

For the complete recipe, click here . Courtesy of Peony and thanks for posting the recipe.

Confinement Food - Pork Knuckle in Black Sweet Vinegar

This is one common confinement must have food. I put the leftover in the refrigerator and trimmed off the fat and had it the next day.

Recipe:

1 pork knuckle
0.5kg old gingers, smashed
4 cups sweet black vinegar
8 cups water

Method:

1. Rub the pork knuckle with salt and wash it.

2. Add the vinegar and water in a big pot, heat until boiling and add in the gingers. When boiled, add in the pork knuckle. Turn the heat to low and let it simmer for a few hours or until the pork knuckle is soften.

Confinement Food - Mee Sua Soup

This is the mee sua soup that I have for lunch most of the times. My mom cooked for me for the first three weeks and I cooked the above myself. It actually pretty delicious.

Recipe:

Sesame oil
Shredded gingers
1 large egg, beaten
Cut sweet snap peas/ snowpeas (optional)
ground pork

Season to taste with soy sauce, salt and sugar.

Method:

1. Heat the wok with sesame oil and when hot, add in the shredded gingers and stir-fry until slightly brown, add in the egg. Stir-fry for a little while and add in the amount of water you want (for soup).

2. When boiled, add in the ground pork (drop it in like meat balls). Boiled until the ground pork balls are cooked, season to taste with the seasoning above.

3. Quickly boil another pan of hot water and drop the dried mee sua to soften. This only takes a second, dish out and place in a bowl. Scoop in the soup and enjoy it immediately.