Turmeric Gluten

This is a recipe that I guess-timate from one of my visits to a Chinese temple in Malaysia. It is traditional to eat vegetarian meals in a temple even though you're not vegetarian/vegan out of respect of the Buddhist philosophies. This recipe is suppose to mirror one of Malaysia's famous dish, Satay. My mum refer to this dish as "Satay gluten" but out of technicality it is not a satay because the gluten were not skewered and grilled. I know, I am anal like that.

My parents (and Vance) absolutely love this dish. I usually make a big batch of these for my parents so they can eat it for a few days. I'm making this for Vance for our Chinese New Year Eve Reunion Dinner (actually lunch) tomorrow since he doesn't eat meat. Unfortunately, most meat dishes are auspicious for Chinese New Year and without a doubt I will see a lot of those during the reunion dinner.

16 oz. gluten (I use Le Chang brand gluten rolls)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 shallots, chopped
Ginger, about 1 inch, chopped
1 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and pepper, to taste

2 tablespoon oil (for frying)
1/2 cup water

Slice gluten into thin slices. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl to form a marinate.

Place gluten in a ziplock bag and add in the marinate (Marinate food with turmeric inside a ziplock bag as turmeric stains and it's pretty hard to get the stain off). Let it marinate for at least 6 hours or overnight.

Heat 2 tablespoon of oil. When hot, add in marinated gluten and fry in low heat for about 10 minutes. Stir constantly so it wouldn't stick. Add water, cover and cook for another 10 minutes. If the gluten mixture gets too dry, add more water.

After 10 minutes, take cover off and cook until gluten is dry. Stir constantly. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with white rice or satay sauce (peanut sauce)

Grandma's Fried Glutinous Rice (Loh Mai Fan)

This has to be one of my favorite food that grandma makes. I still remember her standing in front of the wok, stirring the glutinous rice so it wouldn't stick and also to ensure that it cooks evenly. After a while, this task was delegated to me. Soon enough, the recipe was handed to me and now I make my own grandma's fried glutinous rice.

It's call "Loh Mai Fan" in Cantonese and there are different ways and style to prepare this dish. This recipe is my favorite. Some of these ingredients might sound foreign (it should be!) but a trip to a Chinese supermarket should be enough to get all the ingredients needed. I don't eat Chinese sausage so I tend to omit it for this recipe. I realize that without using Chinese sausage, the result doesn't taste the same. And then I started using Shao Hsing rice cooking wine. The cooking wine gives the same aroma as Chinese sausage.

1 ½ cups rehydrated dried shiitake mushrooms, chopped (save the liquid)
1 cup dried shrimps
1 cup dried squid, chopped
1 cup Chinese sausage, chopped (optional)
5 ½ cups glutinous rice
½ cup oil

½ cup liquid from rehydrating shiitake mushrooms
1 cup soy sauce
½ cup water
2 tablespoon Shao Hsing rice cooking wine (if not using Chinese sausage)
1 tablespoon white pepper
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped shallot
Enough water to cook the rice

Soak dried shrimps and dried squid in warm water for 30 minutes. Drain well. Rinse glutinous rice under running water until water is clear. Drain well.

In a wok, heat oil on medium heat Add dried shrimp, dried squid and Chinese sausage. Fry for 15 minutes, stirring constantly. Add in garlic and shiitake mushroom. Stir. Fry for another 10 minutes.

Add in glutinous rice and mix well. Add in mushroom liquid, soy sauce, Shao Hsing rice wine (if omitting chinese sausage), white pepper and water. Mix well. Cover and let it cook for 5 minutes.

Every 5 minutes, check to see if the glutinous rice mixture is too dry. Add more water, cover and let cook for another 5 minutes.

Repeat process until rice is completely cooked. Depending on the type of glutinous rice you use, it should cook between 45 minutes to an hour. Rice is cooked when it is translucent and no longer appears white.

Pignoli Amaretti (Pine Nut Cookies)

I had this cookie for the first time in an Italian cafe and had since tried to find the perfect recipe for it. Vance was highly amazed that this cookie recipe does not require flour. Make sure that you get "Almond paste" not "Marzipan" because they are not the same. Also, make sure you get the canned almond paste instead of the tube ones.

2 cans (8 oz.) almond paste
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites
2 tablespoon honey
1 cup pine nuts

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper (I ran out of parchment paper and used non stick aluminum foil, which was a bad idea because it browns the bottom of the cookies faster so try only using parchment paper to line the cookie sheet).

In a food processor, pulse almond paste into small pieces. Add in confectioners sugar and salt. Pulse until it turns into small crumbles. Add in honey and egg white and pulse until well combined.

With a bowl of water next to you, wet your fingers. This is to prevent the sticky batter from sticking to you. Spoon a teaspoon full of batter and with your wet fingers loosen the batter into the cookie sheet. Place cookies about 2-inch apart. Sprinkle some pine nuts on top of the cookie and flattened it a little bit.

Bake cookies in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of cookie sheets halfway through baking until golden. Bake for approximately 15 minutes until lightly browned and soft and springy. Remove from oven and and transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Hazelnut Tea Cookies

I haven't been cooking lately especially since December is finals week. I just don't have any time! However, finals are over and now it's time to cook (or bake) again. I was going to bake this for Christmas but I was just too overwhelmed by final exams and papers. I'm making this today to de-stress myself from writing my research proposal the whole day.

I got this Hazelnut Tea Cookie recipe (by Aida Mollencamp) from Food Network's 12 Days Of Cookies 2008. It is also known as Mexican Wedding Cake or Cuban Wedding Cake. Once you have a piece of these light, buttery and nutty cookie you will not stop eating them!


2 cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups hazelnut, toasted and finely chopped
Additional confectioners sugar for rolling cookies in

Preheat oven to 325 °F. Sieve flour and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

Beat butter in a mixer for about 3 minutes or until fluffy. Add in confectioners sugar, vanilla essence and half of the nuts. Beat for another 2 minute, until whipped and light. Add in remaining nuts and flour combination into the mixture. Mix well.

Shape dough into 1 teaspoon balls and place on a cookie sheet. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the underside of cookie is brown. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.

Place some confectioners sugar in a medium bowl. Roll cookie in confectioners sugar and tap off excess. Let cool completely about 20 minutes. Coat again with confectioners sugar. Tap off excess sugar before serving.

Pecan Pie

I love pecan pies. It's actually not that hard to make. Just make sure the pecans are roasted to avoid being chewy.

1 frozen pie crust (9 inch)
2 cups chopped pecans
1 cup white corn syrup
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon molasses (optional)
3 eggs

Roast pecans in the oven on 350°F for 5 minutes. Set aside and let cool.

Thaw pie crust. In a bowl, mix white corn syrup, brown sugar, salt, melted butter, vanilla and molasses until it turns into a smooth batter-like consistency. In a separate bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add eggs into the batter. Mix.

Pour mixture into pie crust. Sprinkle pecans on top. Place pie on top of a cookie sheet and bake on a 350°F oven.

After 30 minutes, take pie out and line the edges with foil to prevent it from burning.

Put pie back into the oven and bake for another 30 to 40 minutes. Insert a knife into the middle of the pie, if it comes out clean then it's ready. Let it cool on a wire rack. Slice and serve. YUM!