Homemade Wontons, how do you like them? Crispy and crunchy or pipping hot in a savory broth?
​A few weeks ago, I posted a recipe for "Chinese Dumplings" and you might wonder, what is the difference between a dumpling and a wonton? Wouldn't you consider wontons a form of dumpling? And there are so many variations of dumplings in Chinese cuisine too.

There are many definitions out there but in my opinion, wontons are a form of dumplings. Dumplings are basically balls of dough made from flour and they may or may not have any filling in them. They may be sweet or savory. Meat filled savory dumplings usually have wrappers that are thicker and have a doughy texture. They are usually eaten with a dipping sauce although there are variations of it being served in broths. Wontons, on the other hand, have a much thinner wrap, a silken texture, and they are usually served in a broth. Wontons can also be deep fried till golden brown and crispy, served as am appetizer or side dish.
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Just like "Chinese Dumplings", making homemade wontons is so much better than buying the frozen ones from the store. There are no preservatives added, and you can make a large batch and freeze them. I tend to be very generous with the filling and always end up with pretty large wontons.
We often have the wontons as part of a one dish meal, like a bowl of noodles. One of Kian's favorite Singapore hawker dish is Wonton Noodles, which is a frequent weeknight one dish meal for is. I'll share the recipe for Wonton Noodles in my next post!

Homemade Wontons
by Miss Crumbs-A-Lot

Recipe
Filling
1 lb Minced Pork
1 lb Shrimp (shelled, deveined and minced)
1 tbsp Shao Xing Cooking Wine
1 tbsp Soy Sauce
1/2 tbsp Sesame Oil
4 cloves Garlic
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp White Pepper Powder

Wrapper
50-55 Wonton Wrappers (3x3 inch squares, extra thin)
1 egg (beaten)

Cooking Method
1. Prepare the filling by mixing all the ingredients together.
2. Place about 1 tbsp of filling in the middle of the wrapper.
3. Fold the wrapper into half to form a triangle and seal the edges using the beaten egg as a sealant.
4. Place the wontons on a tray, ensuring that they do no touch one another, and place them in the freezer.
5. Once they are frozen, you can store them in Ziplock bags or containers.
6. To cook them, you may deep fry them in oil at 350 degree for 3 - 4 min or until golden brown. Or boil them for 15 min (if fresh) or 20 min (if frozen) and serve on its own in wonton broth or chicken broth.

Makes 50-55 pieces

Chinese 5-Spice Roasted Chicken is what you'll want if you are looking for an easy recipe for dinner tonight! You simply combine the ingredients together in one pan for a complete meal which does not require any extra work. Cleaning up after is easy too as it leaves you with just one pan to wash after the meal.
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Sometimes, Kian travels for work or is not able to make it home for dinner with us. So, with Bella's and Jamie's busy schedule and after school activities, I make one dish meals quite a few times in a week. These meals are simple enough to be prepared in a snap for weeknight dinners but special enough for guests as well.

Chinese 5-Spice Roasted Chicken
by Miss Crumbs a Lot, inspired by "chowhound.com"

Recipe
Ingredients
4 pieces Chicken Thighs (deboned)
5 cloves Garlic (minced)
1 Shallot (minced)
1/2 tsp Black Pepper Powder
1 tsp Chinese 5-Spice Powder
4 tsp Soy Sauce
4 tsp Fish Sauce
1 1/2 tsp Honey
1 1/2 tsp Olive Oil
1 head of Broccoli (cut into bite sizes)
8 oz White Mushrooms (quartered)
1 tbsp Sesame Oil
1 tbsp Soy Sauce
1/8 tsp White Pepper Powder

Cooking Method
1. Remove excess fat from chicken pieces and pat dry with paper towel.
​2. Mix garlic, shallot, black pepper powder, Chinese 5-spice powder, soy sauce, fish sauce, honey and olive oil in a large bowl.
3. Add chicken pieces to the marinate and rub it in. Transfer into a Ziploc bag and marinate overnight.
4. Toss broccoli and mushrooms in sesame oil, soy sauce and white pepper powder. Set aside.
5. Heat very lightly greased cast iron pan. Brown the chicken pieces for about 2 min on each side and remove from heat.
6. Top with broccoli and mushrooms.
7. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 min.
8. Serve with white rice or noodles, if desired.
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Another one of our favorite dish from Singapore is Shrimp Paste Chicken, commonly known as "Har Cheong Gai" a direct translation from Cantonese. It is made from fermented shrimp paste along with some other ingredients and is probably one of the most popular family fried chicken dishes in Singapore. I remember that whenever we ate out as a family, this dish would always be a favorite request.
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I tried The MeatMen Sg's recipe and it was an instant hit! Bella and Jamie loved it and it was extremely easy to prepare. I did not have any potato starch for the batter and substituted it with corn starch instead. It worked out just fine but I had to add a little more water to the batter. I will most definitely try making it again with potato starch as this is going to be a frequent dish in our household.

Shrimp Paste Chicken (Har Cheong Gai)
by Miss Crumbs A Lot, adapted from The MeatMen Sg

Recipe
Ingredients
16 pieces Chicken Mid-Joint Wings
3 tbsp Shrimp Paste
1 1/2 tbsp Sugar
1 1/2 tbsp Sesame Oil
3 tbsp Shao Xing Cooking Wine
1 1/2 tbsp Oyster Sauce
3/4 tsp White Pepper Powder
6 tbsp Plain Flour
6 tbsp Potato or Corn Starch
1 Egg (beaten)
50 ml Water

Cooking Method
1. Mix chicken wings with shrimp paste, sugar, sesame oil, Shao Xing cooking wine, oyster sauce and white pepper powder. Mix well.
2. Transfer to a Ziploc bag and marinate for 4 hours or overnight.
3. Mix flour, starch, beaten eggs and water to form a smooth batter.
4. Add the chicken in to batter and ensure it is coated well.
5. Deep fry in 350 degree oil for 3 to 4 min or until golden brown.

Ang Ku Kueh (Red Tortoise Cakes) instead of a birthday cake! Ever heard of that? Yesterday, it was Kian's birthday, the last year of his 30s. I have been bugging him about how we should celebrate it. Should we have a little party at home? Or does he want an intimate dinner with a few close friends? He has never felt comfortable being the centre of attention so he said he just wants to hang out with us and have dinner at home.

So, instead of a birthday cake, I decided to make a traditional Chinese celebratory pastry, "Ang Ku Kueh" (Red Tortoise Cakes). It is a small round or oval shaped Chinese pastry with a sweet mung bean filling wrapped in a soft sticky and chewy glutinous rice skin. It is traditionally red in color and molded like tortoise shells. Red is an auspicious color and it is believed that eating tortoises would bring longevity to those eating it as well as good fortune and prosperity.
I texted my godsister to ask for my godmother's recipe. She replied back with a voice recording of my godmother reciting the ingredients and cooking instructions, in Cantonese! And like most Asian cooking usually is, she never included the measurements. She said that she makes it based on instincts and that I had to "feel" it myself! Now, that was going to be a real challenge. Fortunately, my mother had arrived a few days ago from Singapore for a visit. And together, we managed to successfully recreate my godmother's recipe and recorded down the measurements as close as possible.

Ang Ku Kueh (Red Tortoise Cakes)
by Miss Crumbs-A-Lot

Recipe
Ingredients
3/4 lb Peeled Split Mung Beans
10 leaves of Pandan Leaves (Screwpine Leaves)
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Coconut Milk
3 to 3 1/2 cups Glutinous Rice Flour
1 1/2 lb Yellow Sweet Potatoes
1/2 cup Water
Red Food Coloring
Banana Leaf (cut into 3 x 4 inch rectangles and oiled)

Cooking Method
1. Soak mung beans in water overnight.
2. Drain the overnight soaked mung beans and steam cook them with a bunch of 5 pandan leaves (screwpine leaves) for 20 min or until soft.
3. Mash the cooked mung beans finely, add sugar and coconut milk.
4. Fry the paste with another bunch of 5 pandan leaves (screwpine leaves) in a wok on lo heat until it is soft, fragrant and it can be molded. Remove the pandan leaves and set aside.
5. Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into 1 inch cubes. Steam cook them for 10 min or until soft.
6. Mash the sweet potatoes finely, add the glutinous rice flour and water. Knead until you reach a soft doughy consistency. If it is too wet/dry, add flour/water respectively.
7. Add the red food coloring to the dough and continue kneading until it is well mixed.
8. Wrap balls of the mung beans with the dough and press them into a tortoise shell mold. If the mold is not available, you may shape them into flat oval discs.
9. Place the cakes onto oiled banana leaves and shape the leaves according to the shape of the cakes. Steam cook them over med heat for 10 min.
10. Allow them to cool till room temperature before serving.

​Makes 24 pieces

Sweet Potato Balls, a sweet treat from Singapore that I can get the kids involved in. Fall is one of my favorite season of the year. Apart from the cooler temperatures that we will eventually get to enjoy here in Houston (we are moving into the last week of October and it is finally starting to get a little chilly), I always felt that it is a very festive time of the year. The celebrations is kicked off with Halloween, followed by Thanksgiving and Christmas, all great reasons to just get together and feast!

During this time, pumpkins (a popular fall food) are everywhere. With so much focus on them, from the pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks to all the pumpkin patches that sprout up, I'd like to give some attention to sweet potatoes instead, the unsung hero of the fall vegetables. They often show up as a sweet mash in a Thanksgiving meal or as fries with the all American burger.

In Singapore, this root vegetable is often used in desserts. They are usually cut into small cubes and cooked in coconut milk or in a sugar broth. Or they can be mashed and made into little doughnut holes. I have not had them in a long time; my godmother used to make them and I remember eating 10 of them at a go!
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They are easy to make and these little bite-sized fritters make a great snack or dessert. Like a beignet, you can have it for breakfast, afternoon tea or as an after-meal sweet treat. And your kids are going to love helping to make them too.

Chicken & Ginger Congee, a household comfort food for us when we we were kids and even until now. In Asia, congee is a type of rice porridge, when cooked plain, is usually served with multiple side dishes. When additional ingredients, such as meat and fish are added, it can be and is often served as a meal on its own. 

When Bella and Jamie were babies, right about at their second stages on solid foods (baby food that is slightly thicker and more textured), I often made congee for them too. I'd add stir fried minced meat (chicken, pork or beef) or fish and pureed vegetables, such as carrots, spinach, broccoli, pumpkin etc. I cooked the congee in water instead of chicken or vegetable stock as I preferred not to have too much sodium in their meals at such a young age. The natural flavoring from the meat and vegetables actually makes it very tasty. As they grew older, I added a dash of soy sauce and sesame oil for a little more flavor. 
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Even though the kids are much older now, we still enjoy having congee at meal times. These days, I get to be more adventurous with the ingredients, like adding dried scallops or dried oysters. If seafood allergy is not an issue, this is a great way to add flavor. It is a perfect one dish meal on a cold day, or for someone who may be a little under the weather, like another version of the Chicken Noodle Soup.

Chicken Congee
by Miss Crumbs A Lot

Recipe
Ingredients
1 cup Rice (rinsed and drained)
8 cups Chicken Stock
1 oz Ginger (skinned and sliced)
5 cloves Garlic
1/4 cup Dried Scallops (optional)
2 pieces Chicken Breast
2 tbsp Shao Xing Cooking Wine
1/2 tsp Soy Sauce
1/4 tsp Sesame Oil
Spring Onions
Fried Shallots
White Pepper Powder

Cooking Method
1. Put chicken stock, rice, ginger, garlic and Shao Xing cooking wine in a large pot and bring it to a boil.
2. Once it is boiling, add chicken breast. Continue boiling for about 20 min or until chicken is cooked through.
3. Remove chicken breast and continue boiling the rice in stock on med/low heat for another 20 min. Stir frequently to prevent the rice from burning at the bottom of the pot.
4. Shred chicken breast into thin strips and set aside.
5. Once congee is in a mushy state and you cannot see the grains of the rice clearly anymore, it is done. Add soy sauce and sesame oil to taste.
6. Serve hot in a bowl, topped with the shredded chicken and garnish with spring onions and fried shallot. Add a dash of white pepper powder, if desired.

Kaya Coconut Jam on toast is one of my favorite Singaporean breakfast foods, and some may say it is the national breakfast of Singapore. What is a Singaporean breakfast? Frankly, there is no hard and fast rule. If a hawker stall or eatery is serving it in the morning, there is no reason why you cannot have it for breakfast. Hence, it is not uncommon for Singaporeans to have a hot bowl of noodles for breakfast. 

"Kaya" is basically a jam made from coconut milk, egg yolks, sugar and flavored with pandan leaves (screwpine leaves). "Kaya" is a Malay word which means "rich", referencing the custard texture of the jam. It is often served on toast (sometimes with butter or margarine), and paired with soft-boiled eggs seasoned with soy sauce and white pepper, along with a hot cup of coffee or tea. It is considered to be a breakfast staple in Singapore and is available at almost every hawker center or coffee shop. It is so popular that Singaporeans often have it as snack as well.
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I usually make a large batch but you can scale the recipe down to 2/3 portion. The jam can be made and kept refrigerated in an air-tight container and goes well with toast, crackers and other pastries like croissants. The recipe only calls for egg yolks, so I usually use up the leftover egg whites by making an egg white omelet.

Kaya Coconut Jam
by Miss Crumbs A Lot, adapted from cookbook "Singapore Hawker Food" by Jimmy Chua

Recipe
Ingredients
9 Egg Yolks
300 g Sugar
375 ml Coconut Milk
10 stalks Pandan Leaves (Screwpine Leaves) (cut into small pieces)
3 tbsp water
2 drops Pandan Essence
Cheese Cloth

Cooking Method
1. Make pandan extract first. Place cut pandans leaves in food processor or blender. Add water and blend until it is in the form of a paste. 
2. Lay the cheese cloth over a bowl and transfer the pandan paste onto the cloth. Squeeze out all the juice into the bowl. This should yield 2-3 tbsp of extract. Set aside.
3. Whisk egg yolks and sugar together in a large bowl until it is well mixed.
4. Add coconut milk and mix well.
5. Add pandan extract and pandan essence and stir well. At this point, it should look like pastel green cream.
6. Transfer mixture into a pot through a seive.
7. Heat mixture over low med/low heat, stirring constantly. It is important to stir constantly to prevent lumps.
8. Cook for 45 min or until it is a thick, jam like consistency.
9. Set aside to cool before storing in air-tight containers. Keep refrigerated,
10. It is best to allow refrigerated "Kaya" jam to get to room temperature before consuming.

One of my fondest food related memories was when I was a teenager, right around 15 years old or so, at the canteen of my secondary school. There was a really sweet Indian lady selling Indian food and I remember that I would always buy these fried chicken pieces from her. She'd put them in little clear plastic bags which makes it easy to consume without getting your hands all greasy. Eating chicken pieces out of a plastic bag is kind of a skill on its own. Now, I remember the chicken to be very flavorful and infused with a generous dose of spices. And it was deep fried. So, it was crispy and crunchy on the outside, and the meat tender and juicy on the inside.

Just writing about it is making me crave for that flavor and so, I thought we should have that for dinner. Now, I do know that weeknights can get real busy for many of us. For me, with kids' homework and after-school activities, all that while still attempting to prepare dinner and getting the kids ready for bed on time, the day can go by in a flash. And the thought of setting up the deep fryer and the clean up after, on a weeknight, wasn't too exciting for me.
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Hence, I decided to roast the chicken in the oven instead of deep frying them. They may not be as crispy as the deep fried ones but they won't be as greasy and would still taste just as good. And it would be a quick and easy dish, perfect for a weeknight dinner. The chicken can be marinated the night before or during the day while the kids are in school. And if your oven is equipped with a "timed cook" function like mine, you can even set the oven to cook the meal for you, while you're out running a quick errand. And when you and the family get home, dinner is ready to be served.

Singapore Indian Style Chicken & Cauliflower
by Miss Crumbs-A-Lot
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Recipe
Chicken
4 Chicken Drumsticks, 4 Chicken Thighs
1 oz Ginger (finely minced)
5 cloves Garlic (finely minced)
1/2 tbsp Cumin Powder
1 tbsp Curry Powder
1/2 tbsp Turmeric Powder
1/2 tsp Chilli Powder
1/2 tsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper Powder
1 1/2 tbsp Olive Oil

Cauliflower
1/2 head of Cauliflower (cut into bite size)
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
1/2 tsp Curry Powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper Powder
1/2 tbsp Olive Oil

Cooking Method
1. Remove excess fat from chicken pieces.
2. Marinate chicken with the ingredients for 2 hours or overnight in the refrigerator. Ensure all the marinate is mixed well and rubbed into the chicken pieces.
3. Marinate cauliflower with the ingredients. Ensure cauliflower pieces are coated well with marinate.
4. Place chicken pieces in a baking casserole dish, top with cauliflower pieces.
5. Bake at 425 degrees for 40-45 min and broil on medium for 2 min to char the chicken and cauliflower before serving.
​6. Serve with white rice or butter rice, if desired.

Sunday nights are usually quiet nights for us at home as we get ready for the start of a new week. Dinners tend to be quick and easy and I also try to "eat down my refrigerator and pantry" - simply using up what is on hand. That helps us reduce food wastage, eventually saving money and yet still be able to eat well.

So, looking through my pantry and refrigerator, I had some leftover Italian Herb Roast Chicken, a few potatoes, some chinese celery and some leftover stir fried noodles (that we were going to have for dinner). I decided to make some Begedil, a Malay style fried potato patty, to go with the noodles. Traditionally, it is made with mashed potatoes, minced meat, corn niblets or tofu. It can be served as a side dish, as an appetizer or even on its own as a snack. When I was still living in Singapore, I would have it as a side dish with a Malay style chicken noodle soup called "Mee Soto Ayam". It was the best combination.

I figure if I shredded the chicken meat and chop them up, it could be a great substitute for the minced meat. Bella wanted to help so I had her shred the chicken meat with Kian assisting in maintaining the kitchen's cleanliness as we cooked. And Jamie... well, he was just waiting to eat.

So, we all knew what we had to do. Midway through, Kian and I couldn't resist having some red wine while we worked in the kitchen as a family, especially on such a beautiful day. Temperatures were cool and the sun was still shining. Fall is finally here.
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We had a 2012 Tempranillo from California (see pictures below for details) and surprisingly, it went very well with the Begedil. I would recommend Begedil as a finger food (you can make them into smaller bite sized portions) at parties and pairing it with a red wine.

Begedil (Malay Style Fried Potato Patties)
by Miss Crumbs-A-Lot

Recipe
Ingredients
4 large Potatoes (sliced)
1/4 cup Chinese Celery or Spring Onions (chopped)
1/4 cup Fried Shallots
1 cup Chicken (shredded and chopped) or Minced Beef or Chicken (uncooked)
1/2 tsp White Pepper Powder
1/4 tsp Cumin Powder
1/2 tsp Coriander Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
4 cloves Garlic (finely minced)
2 eggs

Cooking Method
1. Parboil the potatoes until it is soft enough to poke a fork through (but not completely cooked).
2. Mash potatoes leaving some small chunks.
3. Add chinese celery or spring onions, fried shallots, meat, pepper, coriander powder, cumin powder, salt and garlic. Mix well.
4. Mold the potato mixture into patties (about 1/3 cup per patty).
5. Beat eggs and coat patties with egg wash.
6. Deep fry until it is golden brown.
7. Serve with sambal chilli, if desired.

Makes 12 patties

A couple of weeks ago, I was at a party that one of Kian's co-workers hosted at his home. I was chatting with a few people and naturally, the topic of food came up. Some of them have been to Singapore and they were reminiscing about some of the unique Singaporean food that they missed too. And someone asked me where would they be able to find good frozen dumplings that they can just stock up at home and warm them up whenever they want. So, I directed him to our local Asian supermarket which I frequented.

After the party, I was thinking about the food conversations earlier and realized, "How could I not remember that I make and freeze my own dumplings? I haven't done that in a while!"
Not only do homemade dumplings taste way better than the store bought frozen ones, there won't be any preservatives in them too. And you will have a freezer filled with healthy ready-made meals for at least a few weeks (depending on your consumption rate). You can even make it a family activity and gather everyone to partake in the wrapping of the dumplings!
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Here's a recipe that I came up with.

​Chinese Dumplings
by Miss Crumbs-A-Lot

Recipe
​Filling
1 lb Ground Pork
1 lb Shrimp (shelled, de-veined and coarsely chopped)
2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Shaoxing Cooking Wine
2 tsp Sesame Oil
5 cloves Garlic (finely minced)
1 oz piece Ginger (finely minced)
3/4 cup Chinese Celery (chopped)
1/8 tsp White Pepper Powder

Wrap
45-50 Dumpling Wrappers (round ones)
Water

Cooking Method
1. Prepare the filling by mixing all ingredients together.
2. Place about 1 to 1 1/2 tbsp of filling in the middle of the wrapper.
3. Fold the wrapper into half to form a semi-circle and seal the edges using water as a sealant.
4. Place the dumplings on a tray, ensuring that they are not touching one another, and place them in the freezer.
5. Once they are frozen, you can store them in Ziploc bags or containers.
6. To cook them, steam them for 10-15 min (if fresh) or 15-20 min (if frozen).
7. Serve on its own with dumpling sauce from a bottle or Chinese black vinegar with ginger.

​Makes 45-40 pieces