STEAM BREAD PUDDING WITH CUSTARD SAUCE/PUDING ROTI DENGAN SOS KASTAD

This is an easy to make bread pudding which is a perfect use for a day old bread. This is also an all time favorite serve in most of the hotels in Malaysia. 

I used to bake the pudding but this time around I tried the steaming method. The texture is much better.

There are different ways to serve bread pudding, and it can be made more rich by adding cinnamon or caramel sauce. Our family preference is the custard sauce.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups milk- I used fresh milk/2 cawan susu, saya guna susu segar

1 tsp vanilla extract/ 1 sdt vanilla

3 eggs, beaten/ 3 biji telur ayam dipukul

2 tbs butter, melted/ 2 sdb mentega cair

1/4 cup white sugar/ 1/4 cawan gula pasir

6 slices of day-old bread, cut into 3/4 inch cubes/ 6 keping roti dipotong 3/4 in

1 tsp ground cinnamon or nutmeg/1sdt serbuk kayu manis atau serbuk pala

½ cup raisins (optional)/ 1/2 cawan kismis

METHOD

• Lightly butter an 8-inch round baking dish. Spread the bread cubes in it./Leserkan butter dalam dulang/acuan. Susun roti yang telah dipotong 3/4 inci.

• Mean while heat the steamer./Sementara itu panaskan periuk kukus.

• In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon,nutmeg and salt until well blended. Pour in melted butter and milk and whisk until combined./Dalam mangkuk yang berasingan pukul telur, gula,vanila, serbuk kulit kayu manis, serbuk pala dan garam sehingga sebati. Akhir sekali masukkan mentega cair dan susu segar, kacau sehingga sebati.

• Pour the mixture over the the bread cubes. Let stand, pressing down on the bread occasionally, until it is evenly soaked, about 20 minutes./Tuangkan bancuhan ke atas roti yang telah disusun tadi. Tekan sedikit bagi memastikan bacuhan menutupi roti. 

• Steam for 20 minutes./Kukus selama 20 minit.

• Chill/Sejukkan.

• Serve with Custard sauce/Hidang dengan sos kastad.

Custard Sauce
1 can evaporated milk/1 tin susu cair


2 large egg/ 2 biji telur
3/4 cups granulated sugar/ 3/4 cawan gula
1 tablespoon water/1 sdt air
1 teaspoon vanilla extract/1 sdt vanilla
1 tablespoon custard powder/1 sdb tepung kastad
1 tablespoon butter/ 1 sdb mentega

• In saucepan, scald milk and allow to cool./Dalam periuk didikan susu dan biarkan sejuk

• Mix together remaining ingredients, except for butter. Add to cooled milk. Cook over low heat until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in butter, mixing well./Masukkan semua bahan-bahan kecuali mentega. Campurkan kepada susu yang disejukan tadi. Didihkan di atas api perlahan. Alihkan daripada api dan masukan mentega.

______________________________________________________________

Puding roti ini biasanya dibakar, tapi kali ini  mencuba cara mengukus. Merupakan sajian kegemaran keluarga. Enak dimakan bersama sos kastad dan sesuai dijadi  sajian pencuci mulut. Cara membuatnya mudah dan ringkas.

_______________________________________________________________

Next Post - Apam Beras/Steam Rice Cake

_______________________________________________________________

MY NEW OBSESSION - MAKING KUIH TALAM

Kuih Talam or Tray Kuih as what the name indicated is another steam local traditional kuih popular among the Malay and the Chinese. The Chinese Peranakan made a good kuih talam. Originally kuih talam consist of two layer coupled with pandan flavored, palm sugar or tapioca. The base texture of the Kuih Talam are make of rice flour and tapioca flour.

This is my favorite and I always envy those who made good talam. I have encountered a few failure while mastering the talam making technique and almost give up however, I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel after I discovered one recipe from Chef Liza. I used her recipe as the base for all my talam. Alhamdulillah, my dedication was rewarded as the resulting talam was amazing. Not that perfect, but as an amateur talam maker and after so many disappointment I am happy now.  

My mum is a good talam  maker.Her talam was superb, but one thing for sure I failed to inherited her skills, not that I refused to learn but it was difficult for me to follow when the method of cooking was by "agak-agak"- (approximation). Amazingly  those days most cooking were judged by its look and texture. Today talam has taken a new twist. Many  different types of talam has been created by adding flavors, colors  and layers. If can recall there are more than a dozen of talam this day. I called this the New Era Talam. I am constantly amazed with the new era talam and have been following the trend, in fact today there are many cooking classes specializing in making a perfect Talam. Those graduated from the talam courses made beautiful talam.  I wish I could have  the time to attend such classes, who knows it could be a good retirement plan for me - A Talam Supplier. 

Literally hundreds of thousands of fantastic talam recipes and everyone has their favorite recipe they got from their grandmother, mother. aunt or friend. However as I mentioned earlier, the recipe from Chef Liza never let me down, the recipe is easy to follow and it allows creativity and experimenting new ingredients without worrying whether it gonna works or not.

Have you ever thought of experimenting with the new era talam? They are a sure way of revolutionizing your cooking. All you need is a little bit of creativity and you can make various versions of this delicacy. So, switch on your right brain and see what you can pull off with the new era talam!! It all depends on the style of talam you want. Using pumpkins, yam, sweet potatoes, cendol, sago etc.... is not a strange idea if you are creative! It is all about being creative and trying out various things. The choice is all yours!  The trick is to follow the standard recipe for making talam and then include any additions you may want.  

Enjoy these easy recipes! Use them, modify them, and make them your own! 

Here are the basic talam recipes.

______________________________________________________

INGREDIENTS

Bottom Layer

2 cups rice flour

1/2 cup cornflour

3/4 cup sugar

3.5 cups medium santan

Combine all ingredients, I normally blend, sieve and cook over low heat, stirring slowly all the time until it thickens slightly. Pour into a 8 " round tray or 7" square pan. Steam batter for 20 minutes. Batter is cooked when it is firm to touch.

Top Layer

3 cups thick santan

1 cup rice flour

1 tbsp cornflour

1 tbsp Hong Kue flour

pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients and cook over low heat, stirring slowly all the time until it thickens slightly. Pour batter over cooked (bottom layer) and steam on medium heat for 20 minutes. Open the cover and let the fire on for another 10 minutes to dry up the surface. Off the fire and cool the kuih completely before cutting.

________________________________________________________

 

 

14 Talam in a month! Don't you think I'm crazy. I experimented all that during the month of Ramadan. I’ve been obsessed with making them. There’s something really satisfying when you see the results. It’s very satisfying to have made talam from scratch.  I still have 12 more talam to try and I  guess it will take a lot more practice to get the perfect smooth surface talam. Anyway I'm still perfecting my skills and wish to enroll in courses held by the expert. I need to learn more on the cutting techniques and to prepare talam in a big volume.


For those who have had phobia in making talam try the basic recipe above, I believe it will change your thought, so give yourself another chance, after all the key word to perfection is practice......practice.....practice.


__________________________________________________________


Segalanya bermula pada bulan Ramadan baru-baru ini. Buat pertama kali dalam hidup saya, saya berkesempatan untuk memasak untuk anak-anak. Kebetulan saya sedang dalam proses untuk berhijrah ke tempat kerja baru, jadi ada banyak cuti tahunan, saya habiskan untuk menghidupkan semula dapur saya yang telah lama berkubur.


Saya memang sudah lama mencari resipi kuih talam yang sesuai setelah beberapa kali gagal membuatnya. Biasalah orang selalu mengaitkan membuat kuih Melayu ini memang susah, banyak ragamnya, tetapi sebenarnya anggapan itu tidak betul. Apa yang penting dalam membuat Kuih Melayu ialah adunannya mesti betul tetapi masalah bagi kebanyakan kita ialah bagaimana mendapat adunan yang betul sedangkan kuih-kuih ini banyak dipelupori oleh ibu dan nenek moyang dengan menggunakan method "agak-agak". Tapi kini tidak lagi, dengan kemurahan hati rakan-rakan blogger kita dapat berkongsi dan mencuba resipi yang telah berjaya diusahakan oleh rakan-rakan kita. Saya meletakkan diri saya sebagai pembuat talam amateur  yang baru bertaktih untuk menghasilkan talam yang baik. Alahamdulillah berpandukan resipi yang dikongsikan bersama saya berjaya menghasil 14 jenis talam dan sedang dalam proses untuk mencuba lagi 12 jenis talam.


Menariknya tentang kuih talam ini ialah ianya telah melalui evolusi baru di mana hari kita bukan lagi dihidangkan dengan kuih talam evergreen iaitu talam pandan, talam gula merah dan talam ubi, malah terdapat lebih dari 1 dozen talam era baru yang mempunyai wajah dan citaras yang baru.  Ini yang menjadi kegilaan baru saya. So bagi sesiapa yang pernah mengalami kekecewaan seperti saya, jangan putus asa, saya sarankan sebagai permulaan cubalah resipi yang disarankan oleh Chef Liza ramai rakan-rakan blogger yang lain telah berjaya  malah saya sendiri telah berjaya menghasilkan talam yang agak baik, walaupun masih banyak ruang yang diperlukan untuk memperbaiki mutu talam saya, saya jadikan kegilaan baru saya sebagai suntikan semangat untuk terus belajar dan mencuba. Insyallah.
_________________________________________________________________

Next Post - Steam Bread Pudding

   

_________________________________________________________________

ENGLISH TEA/FLOWER TEA/3 LAYERED TEA - LEARN THE TECHNIQUES

My daughter Tyca is just about to turn 17 next week. Too bad her birthday falls on her SPM examination day. So nothing much can be done. I want her to focus on her papers and celebrate the special day later.In the past, I kept things pretty simple. Just took the entire family for a "makan", bought them a birthday cake of their choice and of course their birthday gift.. However after indulging myself in this food blogging, I'm not sure that a simple family outing will do. And I'm not sure that I want it to.  What I have in mind is a decent afternoon tea party - the Victorian Way. 


I think she deserve it. It's the birthday every girl looks forward to -- her sweet 17th. A special year deserves a special celebration, so  I put some extra thought into planning her 17th Birthday Afternoon Tea. While surfing the net I came across an article by Jeniffer MacFadyen, on How To Make A Proper Tea. My first impression was, do we need to learn that? It's our everyday routine, making coffee and tea, but I was wrong, making proper tea may sound simple, but a lot goes into doing it correctly! This list will lead you through the steps to properly make your tea the English way.

There are many ways to brew tea and hundreds more types to choose from. This How To isn't about all those brewing methods and flavours - this is about making a proper cup of English tea.

• Purchase good quality tea. Proper English tea is made with black tea - loose or bags, it's up to you. You'll have to weigh the convenience of bags with the full-bodied taste that only loose tea can give you. But whatever you do, avoid the cheap, boxed bags from your local supermarket. There's nothing more in those boxes than "dust." Stop by your local tea shop or check the imported shelves at the market to find some high quality tea.

• Get a good tea pot. This is an important step. Tea needs room to move around to develop the best taste and you just won't get that by making it in a cup. The type isn't that important. Brown Betty pots are a favorite but you'll do just as well with a stainless, clay or ceramic pot.

• Use fresh water. Do not use the water already sitting in the kettle. Your tea will taste stale if you use re-boiled water. Pull fresh cold water into the kettle - preferably filtered to avoid any contaminants that might alter the taste of the tea. If think water doesn't mater, try an experiment when you have the time. Make a pot of tea with tap water and another pot with filtered water. You're sure to taste the difference

• Boil the water. Hot water from the tap is just not enough. You need a good rolling boil to get the water at the right temperature to meet the tea. A good electric or stove-top kettle will help you with this.

• Heat the pot. While your kettle is boiling, run some hot water into the tea pot and let it sit. "Warming the pot" helps to keep the boiling water at the right temperature to brew the tea and will keep your brewed tea hotter, longer.

• Get the tea ready. Just before the water comes to a boil, pour the hot water out of the standing tea pot and add your tea. If you're using tea leaves, spoon in a teaspoon for every cup plus "one for the pot." You may want to use a tea ball to hold the loose tea and that's fine, just be aware that the tea may taste slightly different than if it was loose in the pot because it doesn't have as much room to unfurl in the tea ball and develop its full flavor. If you are using tea bags, add two or three to the pot, depending on your preference.

• Add the boiling water to the tea. Notice that the instruction is to add the WATER to the TEA, never the other way around.

• Leave the tea to steep. The tea needs time to unfurl its leaves and develop its flavor. This usually takes about five minutes but you can adjust that time up or down depending on your personal preference. Cover the tea pot with a tea cozy or tea towel to keep it warm.

• Pour the tea. Purists would tell you that tea just doesn't taste right unless it's served in porcelain cups. There's no doubt that the tea does taste wonderful in porcelain but if delicate cups aren't your thing, any cup or mug will do. If you've used loose tea, rest a tea strainer on your cup to catch any leaves.

• If you have used tea bags and don't plan on drinking the whole pot right away, remove the tea bags so the tea doesn't get too strong and bitter - same idea with a tea ball. If you have used leaves, it's best to serve the full pot right away or else the sitting leaves will make the tea bitter and undrinkable.

• Add the extras. After the tea is poured you may add your milk and sugar. English tea is commonly served with milk but never crI have, however, worked hard on perfecting my loose tea brewing practices, and will again someday make another purchase of some rare, delicate, choice tea and just maybe, find that there is such an exotic out there that's worth the extra cost...maybe.

• The fat content in cream is too rich for tea's delicate taste, so low-fat milk is the way to go. For some time, sugar in your tea was very popular but this seems to be going out of style. Honey is never served in traditional British tea. If you prefer your tea black, you might enjoy a slice of lemon. - Source E-How

Rose Bud Tea

I have, however, worked hard on perfecting my loose tea brewing practices, and will now exploring the techniques of making Chinese tea. Speaking about tea have you ever try flower tea? I first had it given to me by old friend returning from her Taiwan trip. It has no tea in it at all, just a tiny rose bud. It has a pleasant but not totally wonderful taste. It's natural rose taste and aroma, make it lovely and highly enjoyable beverage. The essential oils in Rosebud Tea can help to improve blood circulation and is good for the heart.I still have it occasionally and once a while tried other flowers tea. There's a cafe named Winter Warmer, in Gurney Plaza Penang and The Curve serve a wide range of flowers tea in an English mood and environment. Check this out.Like other tea, flowers tea do have different preparing techniques used in order to obtain different tastes, so you can try the different ways depend on your flavor.

• Boil the water first, add the flower teas and continue boiling with low heat for one minute, then pour them into a teapot and leave it until the color and aroma changes. Then it is ready to be served. This method produce slightly thicker aroma, but it is time consuming and complex.

Insert the flower teas into a teapot or funnel, straightly infuse boiled water into it. Flower tea will opens up, promptly release the aroma of tea, but it will cause the flower tea smashed into pieces.


Infuse half cup of boiled water into a tea pot. Then add flower teas, and fill boiled water till full. This method will cause the cleaner, but it takes more time than the first two methods and the tea color will be lighter.

Fill a teapot full with boiled water, and then add the flower teas. This method slightly takes a longer time, the contents of flower teas will be completely released, and it is more aromatic.- Source - Tea House

Now how about the Three Layer Tea? I had accidentally tasted it in one of the Mamak shop in Ipoh. It looks so tempting, I could'nt help myself for trying it. It was my first encounter and was sternly warned by my children to avoid the drinks - I'm diabetic. Wow it was fantastic. Sort of my kind of drink, but I can't take it  often especially with my body guard all around me. The bottom layer is the taste of palm sugar, taste like cendol, second layer is evaporated milk and the top layer is pure tea. Perrgghhh.......... my sugar level will definitely shoot up. You can try the three layered tea. I tried to make once, but failed. Anyway if you want to try, check this  out - recipe from F&N.

Ingredients

30 ml Palm Syrup

70 ml Evaporated Filled Milk

10 gm Ceylon Tea Leaves

70 ml Hot Water

Crushed Ice/Ice Cubes

Instructions

• Soak Ceylon tea leaves into a hot water cup/ container and leave it 

       aside for 15 min.

• Pour Palm Syrup into serving glass.

• Fill in crushed ice up to the brim.

• Pour in F&N Evaporated Filled Milk.

• Gently pour in Ceylon tea prepared earlier. The tea should remain 

above the layer of F&N Evaporated Filled Milk. A 3 Layer of separation 

will appear.

Three Layer Tea

I am starting to get quite anxious into starting to organize the Afternoon
Tea Party.Haven't fix the date yet. Most likely Tyca Birthday Afternoon 
Tea will be hosted after her final SPM paper. Probably after 9th 
December 2010. See how it goes and I'll keep you posted on the event 
and the menu of the Afternoon Tea. 


So my dear  TYCA 

and all the best in your SPM.

Birthday Girl - TYCA

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Next Post - The New Era Kuih Talam

______________________________________________________

ANEKA KUIH LOMPANG/STEAM MORTAL KUIH

Lompang Warna Warni

Kuih Lompang is a traditional steamed cake. 

The ingredients are mixed  into a batter and poured into small cups  (traditionally, it is done with Chinese tea cups). When served,the cup is removed and the rice cake is topped with grated coconut flesh. 

This kuih is famous among the Malay and the Chinese. It is best served during tea-time. Lompang is easy to make and yet excellent to serve at parties. Lompang comes in two version, the sweet lompang and the savoury lompang. The sweet lompang can be further made into the pandan, gula merah and colourful lompang. 

I remember  indulging in this when I was in my Form 1, making Lompang was one of my home science subject. It seem that lompang was my first venture into the world of cooking. Different from other kuih, your lompang is consider perfect if its hollow the center. I made lompang recently for the buka puasa kuih.  This is my first attempt in making it after so many years learnt in school and it came out well. 


Rasanya Kuih lompang adalah kuih yang paling murah dan paling senang dibuat. Tidak banyak ragamnya, kita hanya perlu memastikan adunannya seimbang, tidak terlalu lembut dan tidak terlalu keras. Pertama kali memcuba ialah kita di bangku sekolah. Membuat kuih lompang adalah salah satu subjek Sains Rumah Tangga.


Setelah sekian lama saya mencubanya sekali lagi untuk juadah berbuka puasa. Walaupun sudah lama mengantung periuk, alhamdulilah hasilnya memuaskan.

Resipi ini dapat membantu mereka yang pertama kali ingin mencuba.
_____________________________________________________________________

KUIH LOMPANG WARNA-WARNI

Lompang warna-Warni/Colorful Lompang

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups rice flour/2 1/2 cawan tepung beras
1/2 cup cornflour/1/2 cawan tepung jagung
2 1/2 cups of water /2 1/2 cawan air
1 tsp alkaline water/1 sdb air abu atau air kapur
Coloring and flavor/perisa atau warna

B)
3/4 cup sugar/3/4 cawan gula putih
2 cups water/2 cawan air
pandan  leaf/daun pandan

C)
1/2 grated coconut/1/2 biji kelapa parut
pinch of salt/secubit garam

METHOD

• Boil ingredient (B) until sugar dissolve. Cool and put a side./Masak bahan (B) jadikan air gula. Ketepikan.
• In a mixing bowl mix ingredients (A) and (B). Sieve, I usually blend to get a smooth mixture. Campurkan bahan (A) dan (B) kacau sebati dan tapiskan. Saya selalunya blendkan kedua-dua bahan ini.
• Heat the cups for 5 minutes/Panaskan acuan lompang selama 5 minit.
• Pour mixture into cups and steam for 15-20 minutes./Tuangkan adunan dan kukuskan selama 15-20 minit.
• Leave to cool before removing  lompang from the cups./Sejukkan sebelum dikeluarkan.
• Add salts to the grated coconut and top the lompang./Gaulkan garam dengan kelapa dan letakan atas lompang.

In a Mixing bowl mix Ingredient (A) and (B)

Heat up the cups for 5 minutes before pouring the mixture

____________________________________________

KUIH LOMPANG PANDAN/PANDAN MORTAL KUIH

Lompang Pandan/Pandan Lompang

Add pandan  juice/pandan paste for pandan flavor/ Masukan air daun pandan untuk mendapatkan perasa pandan.

______________________________________________

LOMPANG GULA MERAH/PLAM SUGAR MORTAL KUIH

Lompang Gula Merah/Sugar Palm Lompang

I used 3/4 cup palm sugar and 1/4 cup sugar. Caramalised to make syrup. Add to the basic mixture/Saya masakan 3/4 cawan air gula merah pada adunan asas.

_________________________________________________________

KUIH KOSUI

Kuih Kosui is actually a tray version of Lompang. I used the 7" tray to steam the Kuih, Ngam-ngam with the mixture. You can make both pandan and plam sugar/

Kosui Pandan/Pandan Kosui

Kosui Gula Merah/Plam Sugar Kosui

Kosui  Gula Merah/Plam Sugar Kosui

_____________________________________________

LOMPANG BERLAUK/SAVOURY LOMPANG

For the savory lompang I used santan. You can make the filling of your choice. You canuseminced chicken, beef or even shrimp. All depend on your favorite choice.

Lompang Berlauk/Savoury Lompang

INGREDIENTS

2 cups rice flour/2 cawan tepung beras

1/2 cup cornflour/ 1/2 cawan tepung jagung

pepper and salt to taste/lada sulah dan garam secukup rasa.

Fillings/Intinya

1/2 cup shrimp - chopped/1/2 cawan udang cincang

1 onion/1 biji bawang besar dicincang

1 tomato/1 biji tomato dipotong dadu

spring onions/daun bawang

3 tbsp oil/3 sdb minyak masak

1 tsp oyster sauce/ 1 sdt sos tiram

salt and pepper to taste/lada sulah dan garam secukup rasa.
METHOD

• Make the filling first. Heat oil and fry onion gently until golden brown. Add the chopped shrimps, tomatoes, spring onion, oyster sauce, pepper, salt and cook for 5 minutes. Mix well and leave aside to cool./Untuk membuat intinya, tumis bawang besar sehingga naik bau. Masukan udanf, tomato, sos tiram, lada sulah garam dan kacau hingga masak. Sejukkan

• To make lompang, mix flour with santan, salt, and stir well. Steam in cups and leave to cool./Utk membuat lompangnya, campurkan semua bahan, tapis dan kukus seperti mana cara membuat di atas. Sejukan dan letakan bahan inti di atas.

Once you have your basic lompang  techniques, you can get creative. Lompang can easily be customized  depending on the extra ingredients you choose to add. 

There is no limit on what you can do with this recipes. Just use your creativity and imagination and see what kinds of lompang you come up with. Try these ingredients to add to lompang sweet corn, green beans, red beans, sweet potato and yam. and yam

________________________________________________________


Next Issue - English Tea/Flower Tea and Three Layer Tea - Learn The Proper Way of Brewing.

_______________________________________________________