Red bean glutinous rice balls (Lor mai chi)

Red bean glutinous rice balls

Made this for work Christmas party 2014,  based on bringing something that is "traditional to my culture". 

Red bean filling

Adapted from Christine's recipes 

1 cup dry red (adzuki) bean

3 cup water 

Wash and soak overnight

Drain and boil beans at ratio 1:2 bean to water on medium flame. 

Takes 50-60 minutes. 

When most of the water has evaporated, and the beans mixture is slightly thick with some liquid left, add sugar (rock or other) to taste. 1/2 cup, roughly. Beans should be quite soft and on the verge of being mashable. 

Turn flame to medium low to prevent sugar from burning and caramelising too quickly. 

Bean mixture will thicken more due to sugar (syrup). Stir until remaining water has evaporated and left with a mushy bean mixture. Transfer to a bowl.

Add 1/2 cup canola (or flavourless oil) and mash beans with a spoon to make a paste, or mash/push through a sieve to remove skins. I like it semi mashed with some whole red beans for texture and fibre! Add more oil for smoother paste. 

Set aside to cool until ready to use. Could probably keep in fridge for 3-4 days. 

Glutinous rice dough wrapper

300g glutinous rice flour

150g sugar (white or icing for aesthetics)

1/2-3/4 cup hot water

1/2 cup canola or flavourless oil

Enough cold water to make dough come together

Add hot water to flour and sugar. Mix to start dough. 

Alternate small amounts of cold water and oil until dough comes together as a dry-ish, smooth ball. 

Cover with moist cloth until ready to use. 

Making the balls

Make rounds of dough (20g small, 30g large), flatten and add a spoon of red bean filling. Close wrapper around filling and roll into balls.

Set aside on a baking paper/ plastic lined tray, and freeze until ready to cook. Each ball shouldn't touch each other otherwise they'll stick. 

Drop frozen or freshly made balls into boiling water and let them sink. After a 4-5 minutes, make sure the balls aren't sticking to the bottom of the pot. Continue boiling at med-low heat until they float. 

Drain and roll immediately, 1-2 at a time, in desiccated coconut (using chopsticks for ease and neatness). 

Serve within 1-2 days. Otherwise they go hard. 

Lunch wraps

Orange and oyster sauce pork ribs

So simple. So yum. 

Marinade ribs overnight:

Salt

Corn flour

Pepper

Balsamic vinegar

Apple mango juice ( so the plan was to use orange juice. But had this one open already, meh)

In a wok ...

Sear meat on high heat with a bit of oil

When 80% cooked, add tofu skin and carrots. 

Add juice to cover 90% of ingredients. Turn heat to med / med low to get a constant simmer. Put on lid and wait.

When 50% liquid is gone, add in oyster sauce and mix. Put lid on to cook more. 

When sauce is reduced and thickened to liking, taste and season with more oyster sauce/ salt / honey/ sugar. Check tofu skin and carrot is soft enough to liking.

Dish up and Serve hot with a balance of whole grain carbs and green leafy veg 

Profiteroles - choux using olive oil

Ratio by volume

1 cup water

1/2 cup oil

1 cup plain flour

3 eggs

Oops forgot salt and sugar.

Cremè patisserie 

1 egg

2 egg yolk

1 cup lite Soy milk

1 tsp corn flour + water paste

Dinner: spaghetti, bok choi left overs with "orange & oyster" (sauce) pork rib casserole

Lor Mai Chi with Nutella filling and peanut almond filling

So the picture doesn't show the fillings. 

But for the record:

Fillings: 

1/2 tsp choc hazelnut spread, nutino ( Nutella substitute )- worked well because it was oozy and liquidy when hot and just cooked

Received comment they look like the white ferrero rocher... With the choc hazelnut filling, I guess I can call these ferrero inspired lor Mai chi. Or east-meets-choc-hazelnut-west lor Mai chi.

1 tsp peanut butter mixture made with almond meal, crushed peanuts, salt, sugar (peanut butter was the no added salt and no added sugar type) - didn't work so great because filling was solid. The taste was fine but need to brainstorm how to make it a luscious, liquidy, peanutty ooze. Maybe need to combine with sugar syrup or pouring custard.

Dinner: Rice with chicken and coconut curry and bok choi