B-b-b-baking: Year of the Horse!

I know what you're thinking - Chinese New Year was last weekend. I know, I know. But those lions, lanterns, and red and gold decorations won't be taken down just yet because celebrations actually go on for about 2 weeks! Chinese New Year came quite early this time around on Friday, January 31st! I actually did some baking prior to that day, but decided to wait until after I visited my relatives over the weekend.

What I learned last weekend about Chinese New Year:

- It doesn't have to be Chinese New Year if you want to find a cheap Chinese-looking fan or red and gold things. Just go to Chinatown.
- Merchants of businesses in Chinatown aren't more friendly during Chinese New Year. They're just the same...
- Chinese bakeries smell especially good on Chinese New Year. Especially if you've been deprived of legitimate Chinese food for a month. It gets to you.
- Chinese New Year means eating a lot of black mushrooms, and I am completely okay with that.
- It's common to eat black moss on Chinese New Year because it's called "faat choy" which sounds similar to the word for "prosperity". So, the thought is that if you eat it, you will have prosperity. But, the black moss "faat choy" actually translates to something like "hair vegetable" because of its appearance.
- If you want to bring some CNY sweets with you to visit your relatives and are taking the Greyhound, you probably shouldn't bring dessert soup or anything too fancy. Pineapple cakes and almond cookies are viable choices ;)
- Pineapple cakes might not really be a Chinese New Year snack in Hong Kong. (My uncles and aunties only recognized the almond cookies.)

Cookies can look cute. They just can.

After the first bake. They are fragile, so let them sit for a bit before carefully handling them.

After the second bake. Nice and golden! (Yes, that is a rice paddle. My spatula was in the sink, so I had to improvise.)

Almond Cookies (adapted from Daily Delicious)

*Makes ~20 cookies* (I somehow made 19 D: I usually even it out so that I make an even number, but just didn't notice this time.)

1 1/2 cups ground almonds

~20 whole blanched almonds (I didn't have any so I used slices)

1 cup golden-brown sugar

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp table salt

2 eggs 

1/2 cup all-vegetable shortening

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F.

2. While the oven is preheating, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. If you don't have ground almonds, just put some sliced and/or blanched almonds in a food processor (or your roommate's Magic Bullet) until you have 1 1/2 cups of it.

3. In a medium-sized bowl, beat and soften shortening.

4. Add sugar and 1 egg until combined.

5. Sift in flour, baking powder, salt, and ground almonds, and mix until just combined.

6. Divide the cookie dough into 20 even balls. Use the back of a 1 tsp round measuring spoon to press each ball, so that they're about 2 cm thick. 

7. Place a whole blanched almond or an almond slice in the middle of the dip you created in the cookies.

8. Bake in the oven for 12 min, and take out to cool. Allow them to set for a couple of minutes before moving them, because they'll be fragile. Reduce the oven heat to 300 F.

9. After cookies are almost completely cooled, use the remaining egg to make an egg wash, and brush the surface of each cookie. Keep the egg wash for more baking later. 

10. Bake in the oven for another 15 min, and take out to cool completely. They should be golden in appearance.
11. Hooray! Almond cookies!

Be careful not to score them too deeply, or you'll hit the pineapple jam. If it's exposed to the heat and air, it'll dry out, and won't be all moist and chewy on the inside.

Tadaa! Usually, pineapple cake/cookies are cube shaped and aren't scored, but I don't have anything to make perfect cubes. Even my "ice cube" tray has rectangles, and they're actually about the same size as my cookies anyways.

Pineapple Cakes (adapted from Rasa Malaysia)

*Makes ~25* (Although, I made 27 from the first batch, and 23 from the second.)

Pastry/Cookie Dough
2 cups flour

4 Tbsp icing sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp cornstarch

2 egg yolks

1 cup shortening

Egg wash (I just used the remaining egg wash from my almond cookies.)

Pineapple "Jam" Filling

1 can (14 oz) crushed pineapple

8 Tbsp golden brown sugar

*Make the pineapple filling ahead of time (e.g. the night before), so that it has time to sit in the fridge. It'll be easier to work with that way :)*

1. Drain the juice from the can of crushed pineapple. Squeeze some juice out with your hands if you can, and add into a medium-sized pot.
2. Over medium heat, add the sugar and stir until most of the remaining moisture has evaporated.
3. Set aside and refrigerate until needed.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
5. Cream shortening in a medium-sized bowl.
6. Add two egg yolks and mix until combined.
7. Add flour, cornstarch, salt, and icing sugar, and mix until combined into a cookie dough texture.
8. Divide the dough into 25 even balls.
9. Take each ball and flatten in the palm of your hand, and add ~1/2 tsp of the pineapple filling in the centre. Roll and envelope the filling so that the cookie resembles a rectangular log. Repeat for remaining balls of dough.
10. Brush the surfaces with egg wash, and lightly score the tops in a criss-cross pattern with a sharp knife (if you want to).
11. Bake for about 25 minutes until slightly golden-brown.
12. Be careful when removing from the cookie sheet after finished baking. They will be very hot and fragile. It's best to wait a couple of minutes for them to set after taking them out from the oven.
13. Enjoy and impress your relatives with delicious snacks for before and/or after dinner!

I visited both sides of the family since it was the first time that I've been on the right side of the country to see them for Chinese New Year. Below are some cellphone pictures of the meals that I enjoyed...

This was at my mom's sister's. She made a beautiful braised duck with taro root and lettuce. It was so moist and delicious.

The spread for Chinese New Year dinner! You can see the duck in the centre. I should have gotten a picture up close of the one to the right of the duck. It's called the "10 treasures" vegetable dish. It had carrots, bean sprouts, baby corn, lotus root, black mushrooms, black fungus, black moss...I don't remember if there was actually 10 vegetables, but it's just called the "10 treasures". Sometimes, it'll be more or less than 10 ingredients. We also had lettuce wraps with shredded pork with mushrooms and other vegetables and rice, chicken, steamed salmon, and another vegetable dish with choy, black mushrooms, and dried baby scallops.

I headed the other direction to see my dad's sister for lunch the next day. We had a plain Chinese soup with tomato, onion, carrot, turnip, and pork bone, and a vegetable dish with choy, black mushroom, and black moss. There were two kinds of steamed "cake". It's not a dessert cake, but it's made out of a paste with either taro or daikon (we had both kinds), flour, Chinese sausage, and baby dried shrimp. There was also braised beef, pigeon, panfried salmon steak. Basically, I had a pretty good fill of real Chinese food.

I hope you all enjoyed some good food too, whether or not you celebrate Chinese New Year, and I wish you all a prosperous Year of the Horse! :)

-M

P.S. Did you know they now have "Angry Birds" red envelopes? My goodness.