Ginger Bread

Ginger Bread

175g butter

2 tbsp fresh milk

125g black treacle

210g self-raising flour

½ tsp cinnamon powder

3 eggs (Grade A)

1 egg yolk

110g soft brown sugar

½ tsp vanilla essence

1½ tbsp freshly grated ginger (squeezed for juice)

1 tsp grated lemon rind

Combine butter, milk and black treacle in a non-stick saucepan. Heat over low fire until butter melts.

Sift flour and cinnamon powder into a mixing bowl. Beat eggs, egg yolk, brown sugar and essence until creamy and thick.

Add ginger juice and lemon rind, and stir in butter and treacle mixture and mix until well blended. Stir in flour.

Pour batter into a lightly greased loaf tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 1 hour or 1 hour and 15-20 minutes or until cooked through.

Cool the ginger bread slightly before turning out onto a wire rack.

Sweet Corn Custard Tong Yuen in Heavy Ginger Syrup

Original Recipe by Amy Beh

35g wheat starch (tang mein fun)

100ml freshly-boiled water

200g glutinous rice flour

300-350ml water

Custard filling

100ml UHT milk

15g cornflour

20g custard powder

45g castor sugar

1/8 tsp salt

150ml hot water

10g butter

100g puréed sweet corn paste

Ginger syrup

130g mature ginger

80g brown sugar

20g palm sugar (gula Melaka)

100g castor sugar

1.2 litres water

5–6 screwpine leaves, knotted

TO prepare the custard, combine milk, cornflour, custard powder, sugar and salt in a saucepan. Stir in hot water and mix well. Cook the mixture over a low heat, stirring continuously until it thickens.

Remove saucepan from heat and add butter and puréed sweet corn paste. Keep stirring until well mixed. Dish out and set aside to cool completely.

Refrigerate before use.

To prepare glutinous rice ball dough, put wheat starch in a bowl and pour in boiling water. Stir well with a pair of chopsticks until a soft dough is formed.

Combine glutinous rice flour and the cooked dough in a large mixing bowl. Stir in water and knead to form a soft dough. Divide dough into small balls. Flatten each ball into a thin disk. Spoon a little custard filling in the centre and wrap up to secure the filling.

Repeat with the rest of the dough. Bring a pot of water to the boil; drop in the prepared balls of dough. When the balls float, remove with a slotted spoon and place in cold water for 10 minutes. Serve tong yuen in hot heavy ginger syrup.

To prepare ginger syrup, grate ginger and set aside. Bring water to the boil with the three types of sugar. Put in the grated ginger and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain the syrup and set over a gentle low heat to heat up.

Venison in ginger honey sauce

Fook lok weng wah (Venison in ginger honey sauce)

Ingredients
1kg venison loin, sliced thinly
10gm sliced ginger
5gm kei chee
100gm sweet beans
2 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp soya sauce
1/2 tsp sugar (optional)

Method
1. Season venison with soya sauce and pepper. Saute ginger in 1 tbsp oil. Add venison and stir-fry one minute.

2. Add in sweet beans and kei chee and stir until cooked.

3. Just before removing, add honey and sugar.

Ginger Cookies

Original Recipe By Amy Beh

200g plain flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp ground ginger powder
¼ tsp salt
120g butter
80g castor sugar
30g golden syrup
25g grated fresh ginger
1 Tbsp demerara sugar

Sift flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into a mixing bowl. Add ground ginger, cinnamon powder and salt to mix.

Cream butter and sugar until light, then beat in the golden syrup and grated ginger.

Stir in the sifted dry ingredients to mix. Lightly form the mixture into a ball of dough.

Roll out between two plastic sheets. Stamp out into rounds. Place on lightly greased trays and sprinkle over with demerara sugar. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 13-15 minutes.

Leave the cookies on the trays for 1-2 minutes before transferring them to wire racks to cool.

Century/hard-boiled eggs with fried ginger and dark Chinese vinegar

Ingredients
4 century eggs (cut into two)
3 hard-boiled chicken eggs (cut into two)
1 Tbsp chopped young ginger
1 Tbsp cooking oil
2 Tbsps Chinese black vinegar (or balsamic vinegar)
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsps soya sauce
2 Tbsps chopped Chinese parsley
1 Tbsp chopped red chillies (optional)

Method
1. In a serving plate, lay all the eggs, set aside.

2. Heat the cooking oil in a small shallow pan, brown the chopped ginger, turn off the fire and add dark vinegar, soya sauce and sesame oil.

3. Pour the sauce on top of the eggs; sprinkle chopped parsley, chilli and serve.

Tips:

1. Century eggs in supermarkets are usually chicken eggs. I used the duck century eggs which can be bought from the Pudu wet market in Kuala Lumpur.

2. More black vinegar could be added for more sauce.

3. A little brown sugar could also be added to the sauce.

4. Instead of cutting the eggs into two, they can be cut into cubes too.

Ginger Cookies

Original Recipe by Amy Beh

55g butter, softened

2 tbsp golden syrup

210g castor sugar

2¾ tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground nutmeg

Pinch of salt

165g plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

¼ tsp cream of tartar

Put butter, golden syrup and sugar in a mixing bowl. Beat until mixture turns pale. Sift in flour, bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar and add salt, ground ginger and nutmeg to mix. Stir until a soft dough is formed. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.

Make small cherry-sized balls of dough and place them on lightly-greased trays, well spaced.

Bake in preheated oven at 180°C for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. Leave the cookies on the tray for 5-6 minutes before transferring them onto a wire rack to cool.