Ang Ku Kuih { 紅龜粿 / Red tortoise cake }

credit : http://sarawakchankhoo.blogspot.hu/2010_09_14_archive.html

Red Tortoise cake symbolises longevity in the Chinese culture. These soft and chewy red dumplings are therefore popularly served on the occasions of birthdays. To learn more, read the entry on wiki

Traditionally the distinct shape of this dumpling is achieved using wooden moulds;  of course, in this day and age, plastic moulds are available too.

http://teowhinchan.blogspot.hu/

And since I did not have the proper moulds, I have used my rose moulds for my cake (don't laugh :D)

Next, let's talk about the fillings. Most of the time these dumplings come with sweet mung beans paste. There are other varieties like sweet coconut and peanuts filling . etc.

Whatever the shapes, I am satisfied with the recipes used in making this cake. For my future reference I have included the recipes as follow :-

Ang Ku Kuih

Ingredients

Sweet Potato Dough

via Peng's kitchen

 

300gm sweet potato, sliced

200gm glutinous rice flour

1 tbsp rice flour

2 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp rice bran oil

180ml warm water 

Peanut filling 
via Peng's kitchen

 

150gm prepacked grounded peanuts (no salt, sugar added) 

1 tbsp toasted white sesame seeds 

50gm fine sugar 

1 tbsp oil 

2 tbsp water

Method

1. Steam sweet potato until soft, for about 25 mins.
2. Use a fork, mash the cooked sweet potatoes till smooth. Add in glutinous rice flour, rice flour, sugar and oil. Gradually add in water and knead till dough is smooth and pliable. Cover with damp cloth and rest for 30mins.
3. Shape into 30gm small ball.
4. Meanwhile, get the peanut filling ready by combining all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix thoroughly. Mixture should not be crumbly and dry. Shape mixture into small balls weighing approx. 18gm each. 
5. To shape dumpling
   1. Grease the mould  (for plastic mould) by brushing it with some rice bran oil.
   2. Flatten the sweet potato ball, place a piece of filling in the centre. Cover and seal the edge. Shape into a round ball.
   3. Place the ball into the mould, press down evenly, knock out and place on a greased banana leaf.
   4. Place the dumplings on a steaming tray and steam over medium heat for 10 mins. Turn off flame and grease the surface with some rice bran oil. 
    

Chicken soup with Hungarian Semolina Dumplings { Grizgombócleves}

As I was scrolling my news feed the other day, I came across Jamie Oliver's recipe of Jewish Penicillin . It was served with matzo balls. I love the idea but without the matzo crackers (to make the matzo balls) I needed a substitute for matzo. My search lead me to the Hungarian semolina dumplings, which I have eaten at my MIL's place. I thought what a perfect substitute as I will put one more Hungarian recipe under my belt!

Chicken soup with Hungarian semolina dumplings
dumpling recipe via Hami Hami

For soup :-
1 medium onion, peeled
1 knob of ginger, peeled
1 cinnamon stick
6 pepper corns
1 dried bay leaf
2 cloves garlic
oil, for sauteing
3 chicken legs, de-boned, keep the bone
3 carrots, peeled and chopped half
2 parsley root, peeled and chopped half
1/4 celery root, peeled
3/4 cup of frozen green peas
salt, to taste
water

for sprinkling
parsley leaves, chop finely
spring onion, leaves only chopped

For semolina dumplings
1 egg
4 Tbsp semolina flour
salt, to taste
ground pepper, to taste
parsley leaves, chopped finely

Method
To make soup
1) Heat about 1 tbsp of oil in pot, saute whole onion, knob of ginger, cinnamon stick, whole garlic cloves, pepper corn, dried bay leaves and bones of chicken legs.Once browned a little, add all vegetables and about 2 tsp salt. add water enough to cover the vegetables and a little more.

2) Bring the water to a boil and put in the chicken leg meat, cook the meat for 20-25 mins until cooked. remove meat from soup and set aside let it cool and later keep in the fridge. Turn down the heat to simmer the soup for about 2 hours. remove the onion, and root vegetables except for celery root. set aside.
continue to simmer soup for another 1 hour. Cube the root vegetables, and put it back to the soup add the frozen peas. Bring it to a boil again check for seasoning. Turn off the heat and sprinkle with chopped parsley and spring onion leaves. It is ready to be served with semolina dumplings and chicken meat.

To make dumplings (start during the last hour of simmering the soup)
3) Prepare the batter for semolina dumplings. In a bowl, beat in the egg, add in the semolina flour, season with salt and parsley leaves, mix it well. Cover and let it rest in the fridge for 30 mins.
After 30 mins., bring a small of pot of water to boil, season the boiling water with some salt. Take out the dumpling batter, use 2 spoons to quenelle the batter into dumplings. Drop dumplings one-by-one into boiling water gently. Turn it a few times. The dumplings are reading when they float to the top and the semolina is no longer hard. Set it aside until soup is ready to be served.

Home-made Pot stickers / Jiaozi / Gyōza

I've halved the following recipe which yield 20 wrappers

Gyoza Wrapper Recipe

via http://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/gyoza-wrappers/

Author: Namiko Chen

Serves: 42-44 wrappers (thin wrappers)

Ingredients

240gm plain flour

½ tsp. salt

120 ml just-boiled water plus more if necessary (should be around 120 - 150 ml)

You will also need:

Potato starch (corn starch) for dusting
3" (8 cm) cookie cutter

While for the filling, I've just followed a rough guide from this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8MBX-SXnmg