Mama Huang's Cookbook

Adapted from Recipe by Ina Garten

Ingredients

3 lbs of fresh mussels
1/3 C all purpose flour

2 T butter
2 T olive oil
1 C of coursely chopped onion
1 1/2 T minced garlic

1/2 C of chopped canned tomatoes or 3/4 C of chopped fresh tomatoes
1/3 C chopped parsley
1 T fresh thyme leaves
1 C dry white wine
1 t kosher salt
1/2 t ground black pepper

Directions

To clean the mussels:
Put mussels in a large bowl with 2 Qts of water and the flour and soak for 30 minutes. This promotes the mussels to disgorge any sand  in their shells.
Drain the mussels, remove any beard, scrub with a brush or scrape off with a knife any dirt of growths on the shells. Soak in cold water till ready to put in the pot. Discard any mussel whose shell is not tightly shut.

To cook:
In a large stockpot, heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat.
Add onions and cook for 5 mins.
Add garlic and cook for about 3 more mins. till garlic golden  and onion translucent.
Add all the other ingredients (except the mussels)  and bring to a boil.
Add the mussels, stir well, cover the pot, cook over medium heat for 3 mins.
Uncover, stir well, cover and cook for 3 more minutes.
Check to make sure mussels are cooked. (The meat will be attached only to one shell and not to both).
Pour into a large bowl and serve!

Ingredients

1 /3/4 C dark brown sugar (if using light brown sugar, add 2 T molasses)
1 1/2 C water, divided
1 lb sweet rice powder
2 T canola oil
1-2 t vanilla or almond extract, or 1 t of each

Instructions

Line 2  6-inch cake pans with parchment paper
Add 2″ of water to a pot fitted  with steamer racks, and bring water to a boil.
Combine 3/4 C of water and the brown sugar, stir and microwave for 1 min.
Stir, and if sugar is not dissolved, microwave 30 sec more. Repeat till sugar all dissolved.
Add the other 3/4 C water, extract(s) and molasses if required, stir to mix.
Put sweet rice flour into a med-large bowl,
Add the liquid mix, stir to combine and until mixture is smooth and free of lumps.
Pour into the cake pans.
Put pans on the steamer racks and steam for 1 1/2 hours.

Check the water periodically, and add hot water as needed.
* Try to avoid letting the condensation from the lid drip on the cake, when lifting the lid. But if such water is laying on top of either cake, just take a paper towel, fold it a few times and siphon up the water by touching the edges of the paper to the water.

While warm, you can cut or spoon off pieces of the cake and roll it in fresh coconut flakes (adding some sugar and salt to the coconut is optional and, I think, adds a lot to the taste) and serve, Malaysian style.

Allow the cakes to cool completely, then cover. In a few hours, when completely cool, you can slice and serve. Or you can slice, dip it in beaten egg and pan fry with a little oil. Yummy!

Eating Nian Gao is supposed to bring GOOD LUCK, because “Nian Gao”, which means “sticky cake” is also a homonym for “higher year”.

Potato Flake Sourdough Starter and Bread Recipe Potato flakes make an easy starter for sourdough bread. This is a variation of friendship starter for breads. With attention, you can keep this starter going for a very long time. It will continue to gather wild yeast from the air and just get better. As with most yeast breads, you will need to plan ahead for rising time when you use the starter to bake bread.

Ingredients:

Starter (first time):

1 cup warm water
1/2 cup sugar
1 package (2-1/4 teaspoons) dry yeast
3 level Tablespoons instant potato flakes

Starter Feeder (subsequent times):

1 cup warm water
1/2 cup sugar
2 level Tablespoons instant potato flakes

To Make Bread:

6 cups bread flour (Pillsbury Brand)
1 Tablespoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1-1/4 cups warm water
1 cup starter (See notes below)

Preparation:

First Time Starter Directions:

Mix water, sugar, yeast, and potato flakes.
Let ferment on counter for two days.
Then feed with starter feeder (below).
If you get starter from someone else, you can omit this step.

Starter Feeder:

Combine water, sugar, and potato flakes.
Add to starter.
Let stand on countertop eight hours.
Refrigerate 3 to 5 days, then make bread.

After using 1 cup of the starter for dough, pour one cup back into container and refrigerate.
Discard any other starter.
Store starter in refrigerator.

When you are ready to make more bread or every 3 to 5 days add starter feeder mix again. Stir well and leave on the counter overnight or all day (about 12 hours).

To Make Bread:

Add flour, salt, sugar, oil, and water to starter. Mix well.
Knead on a floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes.
Put dough into a greased bowl. Cover with a wet dish towel and let it rise in a warm place overnight or all day (about 12 hours).
Punch down. Knead on a floured surface to get any air bubbles out.
Spray 3 loaf pans with cooking spray and divide dough approximately equal into the 3 pans (shaping into loaf form).
Let rise 6 to 8 hours, covered loosely.
Bake at 350 degrees F. for 25 to 30 minutes