Super Chef Diary: Super Chef Diary: Green Pepper and Coconut Cream B...

Super Chef Diary: Super Chef Diary: Green Pepper and Coconut Cream B...: Super Chef Diary: Green Pepper and Coconut Cream Brule : The combination of the Asian coconut milk and the pungent taste of freshly picked g...

Double Boiled Snow Fungus with Lotus Seeds and Red Dates

It is healthy dessert made from white fungus and combine with other rich nutrient ingredients

30 grams of snow white fungus, 

(soaked overnight and drained and flakes into smaller pieces)

6 pieces of red dates, rinsed and deseeded

12 pieces of dried lotus seeds, rinsed

100 grams of white rock sugar, rinsed

1 liter of water

About the image above: dried snow fungus

About the image above: double boiled snow fungus

with lotus seeds and red dates

To prepare the white fungus: place the white fungus, dates, lotus seeds, rock sugar and water together in a small pot with cover and then place this pot in a bigger pot to double boil of bain-marie, fill the outer pot with water and bring to the boiling point. When the water start starts boiling, low the heat and covered the outer pot. Slow cook the white fungus in this double boiler for 1hours and 20 minutes. And leave the double boiler cool down and then remove the white fungus from the bain-marie. Cool it down before serving. Makes 2 servings

Super Chef Diary: Green Pepper and Coconut Cream Brule

Super Chef Diary: Green Pepper and Coconut Cream Brule: The combination of the Asian coconut milk and the pungent taste of freshly picked green pepper from Phu Quoc Island really good. Try this ...

Green Pepper and Coconut Cream Brule

The combination of the Asian coconut milk and the pungent taste of freshly picked green pepper from Phu Quoc Island really good. Try this one at home…! 

10 pieces of egg yolks

½ cup of granulate sugar

2/3 cup of heavy cream

½ tablespoon of corn starch

1 cup of coconut milk

1 piece of young coconut with skin, cut into halve in the lengthways center

10 grams of fresh green pepper slightly chopped plus 10 grams for the garnish

2 tablespoon of granulate sugar for caramelizing

About the image above: green pepper and coconut creme brule

served on young coconut shell

To prepare the cream brule: preheat the oven to 150-160 degree Celsius. I a bowl sieved the sugar and the corn starch. Whisk in the egg yolks and add in the coconut milk and cream to blend.  Pass it into a fine strainer.  Add the chopped green pepper to the mixture. Place the 2 piece of halved young coconut in a container of bain-marie. And then pour the mixture to the coconut shells and bake in the oven about 20-30 minutes (depend on the thickness of the coconut shells) or maybe more.

Remove from the oven when ready and take out from the water bath and cool slightly before refrigerating overnight.

To serve: just before serving, sprinkle the cream brule with a thin layer of sugar and caramelize he sugar using a small blowtorch. Serve the cream brule and garnish with fresh green pepper. Makes 2 servings

Super Chef Diary: Es Cendol Jawa Barat - West Java Style Iced 'Cendo...

Super Chef Diary: Es Cendol Jawa Barat - West Java Style Iced 'Cendo...: The ‘es cendol’ is considered a ‘sweet drink dessert’, a beverage that is usually ordered just before or right after meal. Cendol is ma...

Es Cendol Jawa Barat - West Java Style Iced 'Cendol'

The ‘es cendol’ is considered a ‘sweet drink dessert’, a beverage that is usually ordered just before or right after meal. Cendol is made from fine rice flour ‘spaetzle-like’ but a little bit softer. The dough mixture consists of finely ground rice flour combined with chalk water (boiled chalk with water) to make the dough really soft and spongy when it is cooked in boiling water. Use a strainer or sieve or a special ‘cendol’ sieve to produce the same fine particles. The ‘cendol’ usually comes in green and white color.

Combine the other ingredients: black jelly (cincao), boiled red cassava pearls, pandanus flavored coconut milk, pandanus flavored palm sugar and shaved ice.

The term ‘cendol’ came from Malay-Patani language (the language is used in South Thailand) ‘horn dooi’ means ‘help’ which is needed when preparing this drink because it is a bit complicated to make. Travellers from Southern Thailand in the early 1900s would cross the border to Malaysia and from there to Indonesia and to other region. The original ‘cendol’ is green in color, served with palm sugar, some coconut milk and shaved ice. This tasty drink was probably the base for the creation of ‘ais kachang’ and ‘ais batu campur’ in Malaysia as well as ‘halo-halo’ in the Philippines, where all of these types of drinks have similar ways of preparation and in appearance.

The ‘es cendol jawa barat’ is but a bit more complicated to prepare as there are more variety of ingredients to add. The Chinese style black jelly cincao, colorful cassava pearls and the flavor of pandanus leaf is predominant. This shows that there are so many cross culture influence in this particular  ‘glass of drink’ so I call it a cross-culture drink.

Ingredients for the ‘cendol’

1 cup fine rice flour

2 ½ tablespoons cassava flour

1 ¼ cups ‘suji’ leaves juice (this leaf looks like a pandanus leaf)

a pinch of salt

Combine the rice flour with the cassava flour and salt. Add ½ cup of the ‘suji’ leaf juice and mix well. Meanwhile, heat the remaining ‘suji’ juice to boiling point and add the flour mixture. Stir in to cook until it becomes very soft ‘jelly-like’ dough. Remove from the heat.

In another pot, boil water and place a ‘cendol’ strainer to sift the dough to form the ‘cendol’. With the use of a scraper, push the dough through the strainer to the boiling water to cook further the dough in a form of tiny green ‘pasta-like’ soft dough.

Prepare also a bowl of ice water to cool the cooked ‘cendol’. As soon as the ‘cendol’ float, you should scrape and take it out from the boiling water and allow to cool by placing it in the ice water so that it will not be overcooked and become saggy.  Then remove from the water as soon as the ‘cendol’ is cold and store in a container.

Repeat the process until the entire dough is cooked properly.

For the coconut milk syrup

4 cups coconut milk

1 ¼ cups sugar

1 piece pandanus leaf, crushed

Combine the coconut milk, sugar and pandanus leaf and bring to boil. Remove from  heat and allow to cool. Keep in the fridge.

For the palm sugar syrup

1 cup palm sugar

1 tablespoon white sugar

½ cup water

1 piece pandanus leaf, crushed

¼ cup chopped ripe jackfruits

About the image above: simple 'cendol' presentation in one of 

the restaurant in Vietnam; the cendol 'Jawa Barat' probably more

classic presentation and of course the taste will be

unforgettable especially if you try it in the region itself

like Bandung or other area in West Java

Combine the palm sugar, white sugar, water and pandanus leaf and bring to boil until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Add the chopped fresh jackfruits and keep for later use.

To serve

¼ cup boiled cassava pearls (red color)

¼ cup black jelly ‘cincao’

shaved ice to chill

Prepare a bowl or a tall glass to serve this ‘cendol’. Fill the bowl or glass with enough ‘cendol’ and add the cassava pearls, black jelly, coconut milk syrup and the palm sugar syrup. If you want a sweeter drink, you may add more sugar. And finally, top the drink with shaved ice just before serving. Enjoy this icy yummy treat!

Super Chef Diary: Ripe Mango and Sticky Rice with Sweet Coconut Sauc...

Super Chef Diary: Ripe Mango and Sticky Rice with Sweet Coconut Sauc...: This famous yet simple dessert is available mostly in Cambodia and Thailand but in few places in Malaysia and Indonesia is also can be fou...