My house was overfilled with all kinds of dumplings. There are the traditional ones with salted egg yolk, one fat piece of pork, some black eye peas and mushroom. There are also the ones that we made using lye water and glutinous rice and also the red bean filling ones. Another variation is the Sambal Dumplings which consist of chilli paste and dried prawns. Well, my favourite are still the ones made by my grandmother. Something like this one which Jane made.
After my grandmother passed away, my aunties would still make them but nothing beats the taste from my grandmother's dumpling. I would drive my mum all the way down to Melaka and collect them from my aunties. Each dumpling is so precious that its kept in the freezer and eaten slowly.
This year, we did not go back because my aunties decided not to make the Nyonya Dumplings anymore. They went back to the traditional ones that every man loves.
The Lye Water Dumplings are best eaten with Kaya. A lot of people know that making Kaya is a tedious job. The constant stirring that can go up to 1-2 hours in front of a stove!
I attempted making Kaya twice during my third trimester when I was pregnant with Samantha. The first time, I squeeze the 3 coconut myself. Prepare all tools and utensils myself by washing them to get rid of the traces of oil and wiping them dry with paper towels. I sat on a stool and monitor the whole 2 hours process while my helper helped me stir and stir... I got terrible leg cramps that day and my hands hurt from squeezing the coconut milk. My kaya turns out smooth but hubby spoils it all. He said it was not cook after 1 hour of cooking and asked my helper to cook it again for 30 minutes. It smells of rancid coconut oil. On my 2nd attempt, I asked my helper to do everything and make sure everything was clean and dry. But somehow, things happen. It turn out very-not-smooth. Sigh...
I stumble across Jane's Kaya while blog-hopping one day and bookmarked it. Tried it out today and was so surprise how easy it is. Taste wise, it taste like strong gula melaka. Texture wise, it was smooth and perfect to go with the dumplings.
If you have a sweet tooth, you can keep the sugar to one part, if not, 3/4 parts are good enough.
Easy Peasy 15 minutes Kaya
(Recipe Adapted From: Jane's Corner)
1 part Whole Eggs
1 part Freshly Squeeze Pure Coconut Milk
3/4 part Castor Sugar
For the eggs,
1. Choose the desire measurement bowl or cup. I used a medium bowl.
1. Break the whole eggs into the bowl until full and be careful not to break the yolks. (It took about 8 eggs for my bowl.)
2. Using a soup spoon, scoop out the yolks one by one and put it into another large bowl.
For the coconut milk,
1. Wrap the grated coconut in a piece of muslin cloth and squeeze the coconut milk out.
2. Do not add any water to the grated coconut or the squeezed coconut milk.
3. For my medium bowl, I need about 2 large grated coconut.
For the kaya,
1. Using a flat stainless steel pot, cook 1/4 of the sugar under low heat till sugar melts and turn brown.
2. Mix the yolks, coconut milk and the remaining sugar till even and pour the mixture into the caramelize sugar.
3. Caramelize sugar will harden at this point but do not stop stirring.
4. Stir till the harden sugar dissolve and your kaya is done.
5. Kaya will thicken up once its cool.
No comments:
Post a Comment