Mantou is a type of Chinese steamed bun. Unlike baozi, it is normally without filling. It can be eaten plain or sandwiched with stuffed meat. It is also great for dipping into gravy or curry sauce.   Mantou doesn’t have to be the usual plain boring white. It can be colourful as well by adding vegetable puree. I particularly like to use pumpkin puree as it gives the mantou a bright yellow look...

  Hazardous haze, caused by open burning at plantations in Sumatra, Indonesia, has been enveloping Singapore, parts of West Malaysia and some Indonesian cities recently. For some parts of Malaysia, the pollution index hit a record high and emergency had to be declared, forcing schools to close and people to stay indoors. As the smog headed north reaching Kuala Lumpur late last week, it’s now our turn...

  Lately, my family has a new liking. That’s my multigrain congee (rice porridge). Having this tasty yet healthy meal makes our bellies feel so satisfied and great.   This congee is not exactly 100% multigrain. Instead, it’s made up of 50% multigrain, 20% millet and 30% short grain rice. The presence of millet and short grain rice gives the texture a new dimension from toothsome to smooth, as...

I discovered moong dal (mung bean, 绿豆) through my Indian friend who introduced me to Indian cuisine some time ago. The husk of moong dal is green in colour, but the bean itself is yellow after de-husking.  It is commonly used by Chinese in making dessert (such as green bean soup and sweetened green bean paste). Amongst all the beans and lentils, split moong dal is the easiest to cook as it do not need pre-soaking...

  I would like to thank my friend EC and Kwong Wah Yit Poh (KWYP) (光华日报) for inviting me to be one of their food panelists in the daily recipe column. Founded in Penang, KWYP is the oldest Chinese newspaper in Malaysia with the largest readership in the northern region. I feel so honoured to receive this invitation as it was my favourite childhood newspaper. From 13 June onwards until end of August...

I still remember the first time I made this soup. It was a total FAILURE! I felt so discouraged because nobody liked it including myself. But I couldn’t figure out what went wrong because I had followed exactly the recipe from the newspaper cut-out. Then after searching for sometimes, I managed to find another simple recipe from Kuali Online. It turned out to be my son’s favourite now (partly because...

Ingredients: 140g pumpkin 200g cauliflower 140g minced meat (marinated with 2 tbsp light soya sauce, 1tsp sugar and cornflour) 1 red onion Seasonings: 1½ tbsp oyster sauce ½ tbsp concentrated chicken stocks ½ tbsp sesame oil Dash of pepper Cornflour Methods: 1. Heat up wok with oil. Sautee onion until transparent. 2. Add in minced meat. Spread it out evenly. Do not stir fry immediately. Let it cook for a...

Ingredients: 120g rice (2 persons) – (rinsed and soaked for 15 mins) 160g pumpkin (cut into cubes) 1 chicken thigh (de-boned, removed skin and cut into small cubes) 4-5 fresh medium size shiitake mushroom (washed with running water, cut into small chunks) 25g dried prawns (pre-soaked for 15 mins, retained water for cooking later) 5 shallots (sliced thinly) 3 tbsp oil Water for cooking (depending on the...

Pumpkin is always my son’s favourite regardless of my cooking methods (stir-frying, making soup, making porridge etc). Ingredients: Pumpkin (cut into cube) Black sesame seeds White sesame seeds Seasonings: Light soya sauce Fried garlic oil/ salad oil Methods: Steam the pumpkin until cooked. Toss with seasonings and both types of sesame seeds. Serve.

Ingredients: ¼ cup uncooked rice ¼ cup millet (u can replace with uncooked rice) 10 sunflower seeds 10 pumpkin seeds 10g fresh lily bulbs 50g pumpkin (cut into cubes) 2 baby sweetcorns 20g fish (cut into slides) Broccoli stem (cut into cubes) Handful of frozen green peas Spring onion (chopped) Water for boiling Seasonings: Salt and pepper to taste Dash of sesame oil Methods: 1. Wash rice and millet. Add in...