Sticky rice balls in ginger syrup

Sticky rice balls in ginger syrup. Photo by Steve Shanahan

These are delicious to finish an Asian meal. Prepare them prior to serving. 

Filling

1/3 cup dried yellow split peas, pre-cooked to the equivalent of 1 cup of cooked beans

½ tsp salt

3 tbsp sugar

Rice Ball Dough

2 cups of glutinous rice flour, found at Asian grocers

¾ cup of water, and extra if required

toasted sesame seeds for serving

Ginger Syrup

3 cm fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into thick rings

1 cup brown sugar

3 cups water

Coconut sauce

300ml coconut milk

100ml water

1 tbsp sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 tbsp cornflour

Cook the yellow split peas for about 45 minutes or until soft. Drain, rinse in hot water, and mash with a potato masher until smooth, add the salt and sugar and mix to combine. Set aside.

For the rice ball dough, in a large bowl combine the rice flour and water and knead until a soft dough forms. Add water a tablespoon at a time if more water is needed to bring it together. The dough should be soft and sticky. Knead the dough in the bowl for a few minutes and wrap in plastic wrap and leave to rest.

For the filling, take a half teaspoon of the mashed pea paste and roll into about small balls, and place lined up on a piece of baking paper so they are not touching. Continue rolling into balls until all paste is rolled. Set aside.

For the ginger syrup, in a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the water and brown sugar. When the syrup starts to boil, add the ginger. Cover pot and and turn to low and leave the syrup to simmer for about 15 minutes.

Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil and turn down the heat to medium. Take one tablespoon of dough and flatten slightly to form a patty. Place a ball of paste in the centre of the dough. Gently work the dough around the paste and pinch and roll into a ball shape. Roll the ball lightly between your hands before gently dropping them into the boiling water. Continue rolling the balls until you have about 10 at a time in the water.

When the balls float to the top, they are cooked. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer them into the simmering ginger syrup. Continue until all the dough has been used up. Once all the balls are cooked simmer lightly in the ginger syrup for another 10 minutes. 

For the coconut sauce, in a small bowl, mix the cornflour and a tablespoon of water to form a thick slurry and set aside. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the coconut milk, water, sugar and salt. Stir to combine. When the coconut milk just starts to bubble, add the cornflour slurry and stir quickly for two minutes to stop lumps forming. Don’t overheat the coconut milk before you add the cornflour as this will create lumps.

Serve the warm dumplings in a bowl with a few spoons of ginger syrup, the coconut cream sauce poured over the top and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds.  

Pineapple upside-down cake

Photo by Steve shanahan

First published Canberra Times 9 October 2013

I wonder where the family bonfires on cracker night, the aussie-hacienda style architecture and the olive green and burnt orange kitchen laminate have gone. I suspect relegated to the same place as the pineapple upside down cake and such things. 

I have a vivid memory of my aunt arriving at our house, wearing her cat-eye sunglasses andvspotted sundress, stepping delicately out of her Holden EH, Jackie O-style,clutching a Tupperware cake server. We knew what was in the cake server, the ultimate treat – the caramelised, sticky, pineapple upside down cake. Like all good housewives of the day, she had stocked up on tins of pineapple rings to make this exotic delight.

This cake is best left for a day for flavours to infuse.

½ cup unsalted butter

1 cup brown sugar

can of sliced pineapple rings

6 maraschino cherries

6 pecans

1 cup plain flour, sifted

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

3 eggs, separated

1 cup white sugar

5 tbsp pineapple juice, from the tin

1 tsp vanilla paste

Preheat the oven to 175C.

Prepare a twenty-three centimetre cake tin by adding the butter to the cake tin and placing inside the warming oven until melted, this should take a few minutes. Remove the tin from the oven and sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the butter. Place six pineapple rings evenly over the sugar and place a cherry inside each pineapple ring. Fill the spaces between the rings with a pecan.

In a medium bowl, combine sifted flour, baking powder and salt, and stir.

Using a hand mixer, in a metal or glass bowl, beat the egg whites on high until peaked. Set aside.

Using an electric stand mixer beat the egg yolks with the sugar at medium speed until light and creamy. Add the pineapple juice and vanilla extract and beat well. Add the flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture and beat together until well combined. Fold in the egg whites using a metal spoon or rubber spatula. Pour the cake mixture evenly over the fruit, and smooth off with a spatula.

Bake the cake for thirty minutes, or until the cake is golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Place the cooked cake on a wire rack to cool for ten minutes. Run a blunt knife around the edge of the cake to loosen. Invert carefully onto a plate, as the juices will run out. Serve warm with cream or at room temperature. This cake improves with age. 

Porridge - Millet and spiced apple with chestnut cream and almonds

 Photo by Steve Shanahan

First published Canberra Times 8 May 2013. 

 It may seem a little weird, but the new food trend that’s burning through the twitter-sphere at lightning pace is porridge. This surprising trend not only includes your ordinary old Quaker’s Oats, but ancient grains of all descriptions, cooked in every which way. 

It just so happens that I was born with a porridge spoon in my hand, so I’m completely comfortable with this, but some of you, perhaps those who went to boarding school, may have an aversion to this sticky, goopy substance. And that’s okay, because in the new porridge world, there’s something for everyone. 
 
As a spinoff, trendy porridge restaurants are popping up in many cities with many variations on a theme, and food vans are hawking their grains to cold, grateful punters hungrily demanding steaming bowls of congee, jook and porridge. 

Café Grød, (Grød is Danish for, you guessed it, porridge) is a hip new establishment that has opened in a trendy suburb of Copenhagen. Grød is leading the way with its informal atmosphere and all-things-porridge menu. The Danes are lapping up this cheap, organic, peasant fare, and in true Goldilocks style, porridge aficionados are rolling in for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The specialty at Grød is spelt porridge with apple and toasted almonds topped with a chestnut puree.  

Open your mind to porridge and you’ll be rewarded by a huge range of grainy possibilities to inspire your creative juices, from buckwheat, rice, semolina, millet, barley, quinoa, oats, spelt, to the lesser known teff, amaranth, tapioca and all kinds of ground legumes.  Add any number of things including milk, cream, butter, water, stock, meat, coconut milk, fruit, nuts, spices, fish, sugar, honey or syrup to construct your own gourmet style creations.  

Inspired by the seasonal creamy, fresh chestnuts appearing at this time of year and with a nod to Grød, I whipped up a millet and apple porridge with chestnut cream and almonds ready to reheat for a chilly weekday morning. Pre-made jars of chestnut puree are available from delis or the Essential Ingredient for about $14, otherwise make your own. It’s a bit fiddly but not difficult.

½ cup uncooked millet

1⅓ cups water

1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored and diced

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

pinch clove

maple syrup, to taste

4 tbsp toasted almonds

¼ cup chestnut puree

¼ cup pouring cream

Combine millet, water, apple and spices together in a sauce pan. Stir and bring to a boil and cover and reduce down to a simmer. Let cook for fifteen to twenty minutes until millet and apple is cooked and tender. Stir and check occasionally while cooking, adding extra water as needed if the mixture is too thick. When almost done, add a drizzle of maple syrup and taste. Start on the low end (a teaspoon or two) and continue until you’ve reached a desired sweetness.

Place the cream and chestnut puree in a small jug and mix together. Warm in the microwave.

Remove from the heat and serve with a large dollop of the warmed chestnut cream and slivers of toasted almonds.