菜燕 vs 果冻

菜燕(Agar)，也叫大菜糕，是一种东方食品。由紅褐藻類(Gelidium amansii 等藻类)，或海藻(Sphaerococcus euchema)提煉而來。

菜燕含琼脂糖(agarose)和琼脂胶(agaropectin)。两者都是多糖纤维，可有效帮助肠道运动。

生菜燕是白色半透明的，市面上可買到粉狀、角狀、條狀、絲狀等等不同型態。在食品加工的用途上，可做布丁、果凍、茶凍、咖啡凍等等。

使用時需要先在水中加熱至85°C左右溶化到看不見顆粒為止，然後在其中添加想加入的甜味食材或是水果粒就可做成菜燕凍，或是甜點表層的凝膠。温度降至32°C左右便凝固。



菜燕与果冻外表虽然相似，但菜燕口感较脆、易碎，不比果冻弹口难化，不难分辨。果冻由动物膠原蛋白提炼而成，素食者、穆斯林、兴都教徒等敬而远之。  

果凍(Gelatin dessert, Jelly, Jello)是一種西方甜食。由动物，尤其是牛、猪的膠原蛋白(Collagen)提炼而来。

果凍呈半固體狀，由食用明膠(Gelatin)加热水、糖、色素、香精製成。市面出售的果凍有已凝固成形既食的，也有未凝固成形粉末状。

果冻的鲜艳色泽，是加入色素、香精而成，吃多无益。而且，果冻富弹性又不易溶化。小孩往往是吸食果冻，再加上边吃边玩，边吃边说话，就很容易造成软滑的果冻吸入气管，形成阻塞，使小孩窒息而死。

Gelatinous Dessert 凝胶状甜点

除了燕菜，类似其凝胶状的食品有仙草，爱玉冰，凉粉等，都是植物天然胶质使其凝固。龟苓膏则由受保护动物金钱龟龟板、土获苓、甘草 等中药制成。而豆花却以盐卤或石膏点卤豆浆凝固。

	thickening agent	animal / plant source
燕菜 agar	植物胶质 gelatin	Gelidium amansii 石花菜, Gracilaria lichenoides 菊花心江蓠, Sphaerococcus compressus
仙草 grass jelly	植物胶质+  淀粉  gelatin + starch	Mesona chinensis, Mesona palustris, Cyclea barbata, Melastoma polyanthum
龟苓膏	胶原蛋白 collagen	Cuora trifasciata 金钱龟
爱玉冰	植物胶质 gelatin	Ficus pumila var. awkeotsang 爱玉子
凉粉	淀粉 starch	Vigna radiata 绿豆
豆花	coagulants ( E509 calcium chloride / E516 calcium sulfate /  E518 magnesium chloride /   E575 gluconolactone )
果冻 jelly	胶原蛋白 collagen	cattle bones, bovine hides, pork skins

CNY : 春卷 Spring Rolls

Spring rolls are literally translate from Chinese word ’春卷‘  ( pronounced chūn juǎn ), are originally snacks prepared during first day of spring ( 立春), to celebrate and mark the first day of the spring.  It is also known as popiah ( 薄饼 in Hokkien dialect ) in Southern China, Malaysia and Singapore.   

Spring rolls are made of sweet or savory fillings wrapped in a thin flour-made crêpes, fried or non-fried.  The fillings varies, mostly combinations of vegetables and meats. 

The popiah’s filling consists of julienned French bean, jicama, chinese leek, carrot, cabbage ; bean sprout ( taugeh ) ; tofu ; and minced pork.  The tofu is carefully cut into small long pieces, and deep fried till golden in colour.

In a big wok, stir fry the minced pork till its half cooked.  Then put in all the ingredients except the taugeh.  Keep on stir fry till everything is cooked.  Don’t add any water.  Lastly, add in the taugeh, and a substantial amount of pepper powder and salt to taste.

As the ingredients sweat during the cooking, the broth need to be strained out.  Otherwise, the popiah would be too damp and slurry, and caused the popiah crêpes to rupture. 

first, place some filling on the lower corner of the popiah crepe ...
add chili sauce ...

roll up the crepe a bit ...

fold-in both left and right corners ...

proceed to roll the crepe ...

finish !

Popiah, as my family fondly call it, is prepared especially during CNYs.   As we skipped meals while busying visiting ( 拜年 ) relatives and friends, popiahs are eaten to fill in the no-so-hungry stomach.   Besides, everyone was lazy to cook anyway.

CNY : 煎年糕

年糕

年糕切片后粘面糊

油煎好的年糕

CNY : Kuih Kapit

Kuih Kapit is another traditional Malay kuih somehow managed to find its way into Chinese homes.   In our home, it is called “kuis’pit”, a derivative from the word ‘kuih kapit’, I guess.

I have never participated in the making of kuih kapit, but I’ve heard the story and the process for so many times, ( thanks to my mother )  that I can visualize the process, as though I've already mastered the kuis’pit making .

The main ingredient of kuih kapit are of course flour, sugar, and eggs.   Most of the times, coconut milk is added to make it more fragrant.

The ingredients are mixed into a watery batter.  Then, the batter is pour onto the scissor-like round metal plate, and kapit.  ( kapit in Malay means ‘clamp’, thus the name kuih kapit ).  After heated over charcoal for a while, the metal plate is open and the cooked-round-thin-layer batter is remove and double-fold into a quarter or rolled into a cylinder.    The folding or rolling must be done in a jiffy, while its still hot and soft.  Once its cool, it will hardened, and its impossible to shape it anymore.

Every year, one or two weeks before CNY, Grandma from Matu will send us a tin of rolled kuih kapit.  The kuih need to be stored in an air-tight container.  The most easily available one are metal tin used to store biscuits.  (  Those tins are almost obsolete now )

We used to suck MILO or milk, using a cylinder kuih kapit, as though it is a straw.  Of course, it will softened and shatter soon after in contact with liquid.  So, we will need 4-5 kuis’pit to finish a cup of MILO.  

CNY : 鸡蛋糕 Bahulu

Bahulu is a traditional Malay cake made of mainly sugar, flour and eggs.  It is normally made during festive season, but now its easily available in the market.  

Although Wikipedia says that it’s a Malay delicacy, I remember fondly as a child, my Grandma in Julau made this kuih for CNY.  It is called 鸡蛋糕 ( literally means ‘egg cake’) in Hokkien dialect.  We the cousins will help her with the chores.  It was fun as we can play with fire. 

Those days, the batter was cooked in a special metal mold over charcoal.  It was indeed a dangerous task.  Fire and kids are dynamite combinations.  That’s why, I remembered still being supervised by Uncle Yii 小叔.

The shape of the cake varies, depending on the mould.   Some butter is first applied on the mould, then the batter is pour in the mould...  The mould is then covered for a few minute with a plate with heated charcoal.   Normally, a fine stick is use to stick into the cake to check if its cooked.  

CNY : 瓜子 Kuaci

 

Kuaci, 瓜子 literally means ‘gourd’s seed’, is a term collectively refers to dried or roasted seeds, sometime flovoured or salted, of sunflower, pumpkin, watermelon, luffa, cucumber or wintermelon etc, usually consumed as a snack. 

Dehulling is commonly performed by cracking the hull with one’s teeth and spitting it out while keeping the kernel in the mouth and eating it.

Kuaci is reported to have many nutritional properties, but I do not intend to discuss it here.   Its significance in culture is sometime more amusing.  In Chinese community, kuaci is always related to ‘多子多孙’,  ‘fruitfulness’, ‘abundant offspring’ … thus its served during CNYs, and weddings.

Century Egg 之 松花纹

皮蛋, supposedly ‘leathered egg’, yet named as ‘century egg’ by the Westerners.  During the Ming Dynasty, it was known as 混沌子, which is beyond translation, even for Google translate.

Century egg also known as pine-patterned egg, a more accurate-translation from alternative Mandarin name 松花蛋. 

Some century egg have patterns on the surface of the yolk, which resemblance pine branches.  The pattern is believed to be crystal salts of amino-acids.

Century eggs are coated with a mixture of quicklime (calcium hydroxide 石灰), soda ash (sodium carbonate 碱面) and salt (sodium chloride盐).  Quicklime reacted with soda ash, and forms sodium hydroxides.... Sodium hydroxides then seep through the egg shell and reacted with the amino acids in the yolk, forming amino-acid salts.  It’s the crystallization of the amino-acid salts that form the pattern on the yolk surface.     

皮蛋瘦肉粥 #2 Lean Meat Porridge with Century Egg #2

This is again a porridge of century egg. 

Yet, this time, I incorporated the 2 century eggs into the rice for simmering from the beginning.  The century eggs were cut into 4 quarters, together with some minced lean meat.  I expected the porridge to be murky and darker coloured, because of the century eggs.   Yet, it turned out quite fair !  And it doesn't smells unpleasant too.

A little bit of salt and msg, and its another mouth-watering dinner !

p.s.

I checked the century eggs sold in Jusco Taman Equine.  Its RM3.90 for 4 piece, i.e. RM0.975/piece.

The Singapore's century eggs cost S$7 for 20 pieces, i.e S$0.35.  Convert to Malaysian Ringgit @ rate of 2.4, its RM0.84/piece. 

OMG !  Singapore's century eggs are really cheaper than Malaysian's

How can that be ? 

Well, I believe our government will surely compare the price with other development countries, and concluded that our century eggs are among the cheapest !

( OMG ! = Oh My Government ! )

Century Egg 皮蛋

Century egg ( 皮蛋 ), or alkalized egg is a Chinese cuisine ingredient made by preserving duck, chicken or quail eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, lime, and rice hulls for several weeks to several months.

When the Westerners first reached China, they were puzzled with this preserved egg, assumed that it took very long time for it to become dark coloured, thus named it ‘century egg’ or ‘thousand-year egg’.   It is also called ‘pine-branch egg’ ( 松花蛋 ) for the snow-flake pattern on its white.   

Through the process, the yoke becomes a dark grey colour, with a creamy consistency and an odor of sulphur and ammonia.  The egg white become a dark brown, translucent jelly with little flavour.  

Century egg was said to be in existence some 600 hundred years ago during Ming Dynasty in Hunan, when some duck eggs were discovered in a pool of slake lime.

《益阳县志》:“皮蛋于明朝初年在湖南省益阳县在一个偶然的机会下发现。当时有一家人所养的鸭在家里的一个灰卤里下蛋。这些蛋在两个月后被发现，录皮而看，蛋白蛋黄皆已凝固”。明代称之为‘混沌子’。

Traditionally duck eggs are coated in a mixture of alkaline clay ( 3 tea : 3 quick lime : 7 oak ash : 9 sea salt ), then covered in rice husk to avoid the eggs from adhering to one another.

方以智《物理小识》: “池州出变蛋，以五种树灰盐之，大约以荞麦谷灰则黄白杂糅，加炉炭石灰，则绿而坚韧”。

In modern production , duck eggs were soaked for 10 days if solution of calcium hydroxide, and sodium carbonate, then followed by several weeks of aging.

Lead oxide is also known to shortened the curing period.  But its highly poisonous, thus very unlikely is used.   On other side, zinc oxide is a safer alternative.  But excessive zinc consumption  can lead to copper deficiency.

There are some misconception that century eggs are soaked in horse urine, due to its pungent ammonia odour.  Horse urine, however, is only slightly basic, ranging from pH 7.5 – 7.9, not enough to raise the eggs’ pH to >9.

皮蛋瘦肉粥 Lean Meat Porridge with Century Egg

Lean meat porridge is best served with century egg. 

But, in a real century egg porridge, the century egg is simmered with lean pork meat and rice until the rice become porridge.   

I have bought a box of century egg during my recent trip to Singapore.  A box of it contains 20 pieces of this preserved duck egg coated in mud-rice husk mixture. 

Century eggs from Singapore ?   Well, the century eggs are actually imported from China, but apparently they are more fresh than those in Malaysian market, and cheaper too ( S$7 for 20 pieces )
Seems like there will be more recipies of century eggs ......

CNY : 白粿

白粿，又称年糕片，原是福建省莆田市山区群众逢年过节和喜庆筵宴的一道风味菜肴，现在是莆田美食之一。.

白粿是用白棱米制作而成，其品质远胜于市场上的普通白粿。

棱稻为梗稻的一种，生长期长、产量低，因而种植面积不多，但其米质的韧性、粘性和香味特优，是制白粿的稻米，莆田城里、涵江人称这种白粿叫“山里白粿”。.

干白粿片可以水煮、炒、火锅、蒸均可食用。



早市的湿白粿



干白粿


 

CNY : 年糕沾椰丝

年糕是农历年的应时食品。年糕与“年高”谐音，寓意着人们的工作和生活一年比一年提高。

年糕是用糯米粉蒸成的糕，煮后不腻，干后不裂，久藏不坏。虽易生霉，洗洗切切后，又可入肚 ！(吃不死人，挺多泻肚) 不过干年糕硬如砖，不易切，非用大刀大俎不可。

中国地宽人多，年糕种类也多钟多样。除了有北方的白糕、塞北农家的黄米糕、江南水乡的水磨年糕、西南的糯粑粑，台湾的红龟糕，福州白粿年糕，广东年糕，海南年糕等，还有日本鏡餅年糕，韩国年糕。吃法更也穷出不尽。

家乡的年糕吃法是同面粉浆 油炸，一片片的金黄色，聚色香甜于每一口。Yum yum !!

近日有幸尝到另一食法，就是沾椰丝吃 ...

先将年糕切片，水蒸至软...

用筷子卷起...


沾些椰丝...

粘粘甜甜的年糕，配上新鲜的椰丝，不妨试一试！