cassava dessert

I grabbed a cassava (also known as yucca, yuca or even tapioca) yesterday, just because it is so cheap, only cost me $ 0.99/lb.

My friends suggest me bake cassava cake, but... it takes 1 hour to bake, kinda energy-consuming. So I changed my mind, and wanna make something unique and relatively green.

Okay, I announce that I create a cassava dessert as shown in my photo, LOL.

It tastes soooooooooooooo goooooooooood, with marvellous smell of coconut, not too sweet, very healthy dessert. Look at the inside, soft red bean paste filling ^&^.

First of all, I would like to talk about the toxin in cassava, which is called cyanide-based toxin. Because of that terrible compound, raw cassava can't be eaten. As a very important first step, boil cassava to get rid of this toxin. If it can be poked through easily, it means the cooking is done. Strain and remove water, wash with running water thoroughly, and strain dry. Now it is ready to be used in further cooking.

For my cassava dessert, besides mashed cassava, I need one small sweet potato (cooked and mashed), 2 tbsp coconut cream powder, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 4 tbsp sticky rice flour and 1 cup adzuki bean paste.

Blend cassava, sweet potato, sugar, coconut cream powder, sticky rice flour. Wearing disposable gloves to avoid ingredients sticking on the hand and making mess, form an elastic dough. On the working counter, line a sheet of plastic wrap or parchment paper, place dough on, and divide the dough into eight portions.

On a plate, sprinkle dry shredded coconut.

Wrap each dough portion with adzuki bean paste filling, round well and roll on coconut to have it evenly covered with coconut. Put in muffin cup and place in steamer.

Steam for 15 minutes.

And...

Enjoy!

Tangyuan for Lantern Festival (Feb. 21)

Lantern festival is the first full moon day after Chinese New Year. In 2008, it will be on Feb 21. With its round shape, Tangyuan is a wish for family reunion.

Main ingredient for Tangyuan is sticky rice flour (also known as glutinous rice flour or sweet rice flour). Its filling can be sesame paste (a mixture of ground black sesame, lard and sugar), red bean paste (with sweet-scented osmanthus) or mince pork. We love sweet filled Tangyuan. With my homemade adzuki bean paste and sticky rice flour (milled sticky rice powder), I make Tangyuan with red bean paste filling.

1. Dough

Blend 400 g sticky rice flour with 1 3/4 cup warm water, knead until obtaining an elastic dough ball. Cover with damp cloth for 30 minutes.

2. Filling

Divide 1 cup adzuki bean paste to 60 portions, round each portion. Use toothpick to pick up filling balls, so that Tangyuan won't be coloured by messy fingers.

3. Tangyuan

Considering the low humidity in my apartment, damp cloth is used to cover either dough or small portions or Tangyuan, otherwise, dough will be dehydrated and Tangyuan will have crack on its surface.

Divide dough into 60 portions (small doughs), take one and cover the rest with damp cloth. Point thumb in the centre of the small dough, use other four fingers to hold the edge of the dough, rotate the dough to creat a cone-shape, put the filling in the cone, wrap, seal and round.

4. Cook

Bring water to boil, gently stir in Tangyuan. Stir with wooden spoon to avoid Tangyuan sticking at the bottom of the pot. Bring water to boil again, add some cold water, cover and reduce to medium power. Add cold water when water boils, until Tangyuan float.

Serve immediately with water.

5. Preserve

For uncooked leftover, place Tangyuan in a covered container, one layer only, leave space between Tangyuan, and freeze. After all Tangyuan become well-frozen (hard and not sticky any more), transfer Tangyuan to a zipper bag or container (can be piled).

Cook frozen Tangyuan directly, do not defrost.

Tapioca pudding

I have some homemade rice powder and sticky rice powder left in the freezer. So, why
not try tapioca pudding?

Besides the two powders, I need small tapioca pearl, two egg white, granulated sugar, and oil.

(1) Bring 10 cup water to boil, stir in 250 g small tapioca pearl; bring water to boil again and reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 30 minutes or until tapioca pearls are all translucent.

(2) Add some cold water to lower the viscosity, strain through a sieve and wash pearls with tap water until pearls are not sticky.

(3) In a mixing bowl, blend 100 g sticky rice powder and 100 g rice powder, well mixed with 1/2 cup water to get an even paste.

(4) Beat two egg white to stiff peak (beaten egg white won't fall down when bowl is turned up-side-down).

(5) Under medium power, in a hot sauce pot, add 1/4 cup oil, and stir in 200 g granulated sugar until sugar is fully melted as brown liquid; add tapioca pearl and blend well (very shiny pearls, I really love this); shut down power, stir in paste followed by beaten egg white.

(6) Line small bowl or container with muffin cup, fully fill muffin cup with batter. Place bowls in steamer.

(7) Bring lower pot to boil and put on steamer, cover and steam for 15 minutes under medium power.

(8) Let cool to room temperature and then chill in the fridge.

Make 15 puddings.

Rice cake and happy Chinese New Year

To celebrate Chinese New Year, as an important traditional food, rice cake decorated with colourful glazed fruits is steamed before New Year's Eve. This sweet cake symbolizes a coming happy and healthy year, fruits are good wishes for prosperous and abundant life.

Main ingredients in rice cake include rice powder, sticky rice powder, icing sugar, and red bean paste. Sure, three of them can't be found in local supermarket. You can either buy them in oriental supermarket or do it yourself.

For the preparation of rice powder and sticky rice powder, please visit here; and for adzuki bean paste, visit here.

Well, get all ingredients? Let's make rice cake:

(1) In a mixing bowl, blend 250 g sticky rice powder, 250 g rice powder, 150 g icing sugar and 150 mL water. Mill bulky powder and sift.

(2) Line bamboo steamer with two-layer cheesecloth, wet cloth thoroughly.

(3) Place half sifted powder into steamer, smooth and flat the surface.

(4) Use a pot which can fit the steamer, add water in the pot and bring to boil.

(5) Put on steamer with bamboo cover, let steam for 5 minutes under high power.

(6) Remove steamer from pot, spread on 2 cup soft adzuki bean paste, then add another half sifted powder onto the paste, flat the surface. Decorate with pitted date and golden raisin (and other favorite glazed fruits).

(7) Bring water in lower pot to boil and put on steamer with bamboo cover.

(8) Steam for 15 minutes under high power.

(9) Take out rice cake from steamer and remove cheesecloth immediately. If cheesecloth is hardly removed, wet cloth a little bit.

(10) Cut rice cake with a wet knife, and enjoy!
Happy Chinese New Year!

Homemade Rice powder

(1) Soak 2 cup rice for 6 hours, strain and add into blender.

(2) Add 1 cup water, blend under "grind" mode followed by "sauce" mode.

(3) Strain through jelly strainer bag, keep filtrate in a container and squeeze white paste in bag as dry as possible.

(4) Line wire rack with two-layer cheesecloth, divide paste into small portions and sprinkle over cheesecloth, let dry in ambient air.

(5) For filtrate in container, let sit in the fridge overnight. Remove upper clear water with baster, transfer precipitate to cheesecloth, let dry in ambient air too.

(6) Mill bulky rice powder in mortar and pestle, transfer to a sealed bag and keep frozen.

* About 400 g rice powder can be obtained from 2 cup rice.

** For preparation of sticky rice powder, starting with sticky rice under the same directions.