In the old days, every Chinese household will make Tang Yuan 汤圆 to celebrate winter solstice 冬至, which falls on 22nd or 23rd, just three days before Christmas. There is a saying that the winter solstice is more significant than the Spring festival (Chinese New Year). No wonder many Chinese will take a day off, …
Seri Muka is a Malaysian dessert consisting of two layers. The custard layer is infused with pandan extract, sitting on a coconut milk flavored glutinous rice base. The contrasting flavor of the two layers makes it the most popular nyonya kuih (dessert) among the Baba Nyonya and the Malays. Seri Muka means beautiful face or …
Sesame ball (Jian dui / 麻团 /煎堆 / 芝麻球) is a well-known fried Chinese pastry made from glutinous rice flour. This delectable dessert is coated with sesame seeds on the outside which are crisp and chewy. It encases a sweetened filling consisting of red bean paste, peanut paste, or lotus paste. Cheese and chocolate are …
What is ondeh ondeh? It is a sweet delicacy with palm sugar wrapped within a glutinous rice flour dough and coated with salted grated coconut. The Indonesian version of ondeh-ondeh is called klepon. It is a popular snack in Southeast Asia. There are other names for ondeh ondeh. My Indonesian friend said it is one …
Osmanthus jelly is one of the best desserts among the Hong Kong dim sum for a reason. It has an attractive, crystal-like translucent appearance studded with goji berries. This lightly scented jelly with the soothing taste of rock sugar is the perfect dessert after a hearty meal of dim sums. Let’s get into the detail …
What is an image in your mind of a pineapple bun look like? You may visualize it as a bun with some pineapple jam as the filling. But in reality, there isn’t any pineapple in the bun. Eighteenth years ago, I visited a cafe called Polo Bun, serving these pineapple-shaped buns as the main menu …
Mango sticky rice (khao neow mamuang / ข้าวเหนียวมะม่วง) is an amazing and authentic Thai dessert. It is typical street food in Thailand, especially during summer, when mango is in season. This dessert is also popular in other South East Asia countries, including my hometown, Malaysia. Mango sticky rice is hugely popular in the Thai restaurants …
Nian gao (also known as kuih bakul)- is the must-have delicacy for Chinese New Year. Why? Since the character nian gao in Chinese is 年糕 is the homonym of the other two words 年高 (nián gāo), which means ‘a prosperous new year’, nian gao is most appropriate to serve during this auspicious festival. It is also …
I have just made the Pineapple tart for the forthcoming Chinese New Year. This pineapple tart (黄梨挞, 黄梨酥) is intertwined with flavor and texture The crust is so crumbly you can hear it break under your fork (handle with care!) and the filling is the result of condensing the pineapple to a dense jam with …
Taro cake (yam cake, wu tao gou,芋头糕, 芋頭糕) is a popular Chinese dessert for breakfast and tea break. It is one of such savory delicacies that you can find in the Dim Sum shops serving breakfast, along with shrimp dumplings, Char Siu Pao, Shumai, and others. If you want to throw in some Asian flavor …