Taro Sago in Coconut Milk 芋頭椰汁西米露

Taro is root vegetable, and many people have never thought of using it for dessert. Surprisingly, it pairs coconut milk amazingly well. It is one of the popular desserts in Hong Kong. Since sago is made of tapioca, it coagulates when it is cold. If you chill your dessert in the fridge, you will find it becomes sticker. Just try to stir in a little water to loosen it up when you reheat your dessert. For me, I find this dessert tastes best when it is lukewarm. I hope you enjoy this recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 Toro

1 cup Sago

3 cups Coconut Milk (I used Real THAI)

2 cups Water

Rock Sugar to taste

1/8 teaspoon of Salt

DIRECTION:

1. Cut off and discard the taro skin. Cut the taro into dices; set aside.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add sago, and boil it for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the remaining heat to cook it continuously for another 10 minutes. (Don't worry if you still see the white dots in the middle of the sago at this point)

3. Drain the sago; rinse it under running water until it is no longer like a cake. Set aside.

4. In a pot, add coconut milk, water, rock sugar and taro. Bring it to a boil over high heat and then cook it for another 10 minutes until the taro is slightly soften. (You don't want to over boil it or the taro will be too soft and break apart and make a gooey mess of the dessert)

5. When the taro is slightly soften (the rock sugar should be dissolved by now), add the cooked sago. Stir well. Bring the dessert back to a boil and it is done. Enjoy the dessert either hot or cold.

Papaya Sweet Soup with Lotus Seed and White Fungus

It is one of the popular dessert in Hong Kong that people usually enjoy eating it through the year.  Since the white fungus is consider as 'natural collagen' due to the high amount of protein, women love to eat it regularly.  The rock sugar and lotus seeds can help nourishing dry skins or sore throat.  In summer, people like to chill this clear looking dessert before eating so that it can cool off the body from the heat.

I used the dried lotus seeds in this recipe, but it is always better if you are using fresh lotus seeds.  Remember to remove the green core that has a bitter taste.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Papaya, ripen

10-15 Lotus Seeds, core removed (I used dried lotus seeds here)

2 White Fungus

2 tablespoons Goji Berries

1/3 cup Rock Sugar (adjust it to your preference)

8 cups Water

DIRECTION:

1, Soak the white fungus in water until it is rehydrated; about 30 minutes.  Discard the yellow hard core.  Gently tear the fungus into large pieces; set aside.

2. Peel off the skin of papaya.  Cut it lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.  Cut the papaya into chunks; set them aside.

3. Bring the water to a boil.  Add lotus seeds and rock sugar.  Boil for another 15 minutes.

4. Add papaya, white fungus and goji berries.  Bring it to a boil again and then turn the heat to medium.  Continuously boil for another 20 minutes and it is done.  It is delicious to serve it both cold or hot.

Red Bean Sweet Soup with Lotus Seeds and Lily Bulb | 蓮子百合陳皮紅豆沙

Red Bean Sweet Soup with Lotus Seeds and Lily Bulb

蓮子百合陳皮紅豆沙 

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup Red Beans

10 cups Water

15 gram Dried Tangerine Peel

30 gram Dried Lily Bulb

35 gram Dried Lotus Seeds

1 cup Brown Sugar

材料：

1 杯   紅豆

10 杯   水

15 克   陳皮

30 克   乾百合

35 克   乾蓮子 

1 杯   黑糖

DIRECTION:

Steamed Egg Custard with Milk | 鮮奶燉蛋

Steamed Egg Custard with Milk | 鮮奶燉蛋 

Ingredients: (yields 4 servings)

120 ml Hot Water

3 tbsps sugar

3 tbsps Brow Sugar

2 cups Whole Milk

1/4 tsp Vegetable Oil

材料：(4人份)

120 毫升   熱水

3 湯匙   糖

3 湯匙   黑糖

2 杯   全脂奶

1/4 茶匙   菜油

DIRECTION:

Ginger Milk Curd | 薑汁撞奶

Ginger Milk Curd | 薑汁撞奶

Ingredients: (yield 2 portions)

1 cup Whole Milk

5 teaspoons Ginger Juice, freshly squeezed

2 teaspoons Sugar

材料：(二人份量)

1 杯   全脂牛奶

5 茶匙   新鮮薑汁

2 茶匙  白糖

DIRECTION:

Summer Green Tea Pudding | 夏日綠茶軟糕

Summer Green Tea Pudding | 夏日綠茶軟糕   

Ingredients:

1/3 cup Uncooked Red Beans

6 tablespoons Corn Starch

400 ml Coconut Milk

1 cup Water

2 teaspoons Green Tea Powder

1 cup Red Bean Water (you will obtain it after you cook the red bean)

1/3 cup Maple Syrup (for serving)

材料：

1/3 杯   紅豆(未煮熟)

6 湯匙   粟粉

400 毫升   椰奶

1 杯   水

2 茶匙   綠茶粉

1 杯 紅豆湯 (煮過紅豆後的水)

1/3 杯   楓糖漿 (伴食)

DIRECTION:

Bean Curd, Ginkgo and Egg Dessert | 腐竹雞蛋湯水

Bean Curd, Ginkgo and Egg Dessert

腐竹雞蛋湯水

Ingredients: (yield 3-4 servings)

2 sheets Bean Curd

3 Eggs

60 gram Ginkgo, unshelled

4 cup Water

100 gram Rock Sugar

材料： (3﹣4人份)

2 塊   腐竹

3 隻   雞蛋

4 杯   水

60 克   白果， 去殼

100 克   冰糖

DIRECTION:

Simple Sesame Sweet Soup | 簡易芝麻糊

Adding white rice in the sweet soup is to thicken the consistency and also gives it a smoother texture while coordinating the bitter flavour of the sesame.  You may see that I added a few other types of mixed grains in my rice, but it's totally personal preference.  The fact was, I ran out of white rice.  Lol. 

In this recipe, I skipped the process of straining, which is supposed to give a silky texture for your palate.  Since this original texture doesn't bother me, I was happy to keep all the remains and to save the work.  If you do like the smoother version, after blending the rice and the sesame, you can strain the mixture through a cheese cloth or a fine-mesh sieve to filter the residue.

Hope you enjoy our traditional dessert.

DIRECTION:

Simple Sesame Sweet Soup | 簡易芝麻糊

Ingredients: (yield about 2 portions)

85 gram Ground Black Sesame

20 gram Rice, rinsed, soaked for about an hour

60 gram Rock Sugar or White Sugar

2 cups Water

* Ground black sesame is always available in big Asian markets.  If you have only black sesame seeds, just simply toast them in a pan over a low heat until they are fragrant and start to pop.  Then, blend the seeds with the soaked rice together until smooth.

材料： (約2人份)

85 克   黑芝麻粉

20 克   白米，洗淨，浸約一小時

60 克   冰糖 或 白砂糖

2 杯   水

＊黑芝麻粉通常在大型華人超市找到。如真的只有完粒黑芝麻，你可用慢火把其炒香，再與浸好的白米一起磨成粉未。

Kelp and Mung Bean Sweet Soup | 海帶綠豆沙

Another popular summer dessert that is well known in Hong Kong.  We like to eat it warm or cold, and even make popsicle out of it.  The ingredients should be available in many Asian markets.  I hope you will give this recipe a try this summer.

Kelp and Mung Bean Sweet Soup

海帶綠豆沙

Ingredients: (yield about 6 servings)

1 cup Green Bean

7 cups Water

10 gram Dried Tangerine Peel

25 gram Dried Kelp

100 gram Rock Sugar

材料：(約6人份)

1 杯   綠豆

7 杯   水

10 克   陳皮

25 克   乾海帶

100 克   冰糖

DIRECTION: