Tapioca

July 14th, 2009

Tapioca is a flavourless, colourless, odourless starch extracted from the root of the plant species Manihot esculenta. Tapioca is a staple food in some regions and is used worldwide as a thickening agent, principally in foods. Tapioca is gluten free, and nearly protein free. The commercial form of tapioca most familiar to many people is pearl tapioca.
Pearl tapioca is similar to pearl sago, which is used in essentially the same ways. Consequently, tapioca may be called sago, and vice versa.

Coloured tapioca sticksPacar Cina
Commercially, the starch is processed into several forms: powder, fine or coarse flakes or meal (“flour”), sticks, and “pearls”. Flakes, rectangular sticks, and spherical pearls must be soaked well before cooking, to rehydrate them; they will easily absorb water equal to twice their volume, becoming leathery and swollen. All these products traditionally are white, but sticks and pearls may be coloured. The oldest and most common colour is brown, but pastel colours are now available. In all its forms tapioca starch is opaque before cooking; after cooking it becomes translucent.
Pearl tapioca

Pearls are made in several sizes, ranging from about 1 mm to 5 mm. In the United States, 2-3 mm pearls are the most common size and are labelled “small”. In good quality pearl tapioca, the pearls are very uniform in size, smooth, and few are broken. The pearls must be further prepared before use. For use in tapioca pudding, pearls are prepared simply by soaking them overnight in water. For use in tapioca drinks, they are prepared by boiling for 25 minutes, until they are cooked thoroughly and are chewy, though not gummy, then allowed to cool. If not used immediately, they may be kept for hours in a syrup of sugar or honey.Tapioca Pearls
Pearl tapioca is easily confused with pearl sago, an equivalent product made from a different starch. In Indonesia these are sometimes multi coloured and nicknamed Pacar Cina
In Southeast Asia, the cassava root is commonly cut into slices, wedges or strips, fried, and served as a snack, similar to potato chips, wedges or French fries. Another method is to boil large blocks until soft, and served with grated coconut as a dessert, either slightly salted or sweetened, usually with palm sugar syrup. Tapai is made by fermenting large blocks with a yeast-like bacteria culture to produce a sweet and slightly alcoholic dessert. A variation of the chips popular amongst the Malays is kerepek pedas, where the crisps are coated with a hot, sweet and tangy chilli and onion paste, or sambal, usually with fried anchovies and peanuts added.

Source»

Unlike

Comments ( 0 )

, , , , , , , , , ,

Agar-agar

July 14th, 2009

The word agar comes from the Malay word agar-agar meaning jelly. It is also known as kanten, China grass, or Japanese isinglass. The various species of algae or seaweed from which agar is derived are sometimes called Ceylon moss. Gracilaria lichenoides specifically is referred to as agal-agal or Ceylon agar.
In Malay and Indonesian, it is known as agar-agar. In Japanese, it is known as kanten meaning -cold weather, referring to the fact that it is harvested in the winter months.

Agar agar

Agar agar

Agar or agar agar is a gelatinous substance derived from seaweed. Historically and in a modern context, it is chiefly used as an ingredient in desserts throughout Japan, but in the past century has found extensive use as a solid substrate to contain culture medium for microbiological work. The gelling agent is an unbranched polysaccharide obtained from the cell walls of some species of red algae, primarily from the genera Gelidium and Gracilaria, or seaweed Sphaerococcus euchema. Commercially it is derived primarily from Gelidium amansii.
Agar can be substituted for gelatine but has stronger setting properties, about 5 times greater so less of it is required. Unlike gelatine, agar will set at room temperature. It comes in variety of substances. Some can be bought in sheets or alternatively you can buy the powder.

2 people like this post.
Unlike

Comments ( 0 )

, , , , , , ,

Chiffon Cake

July 13th, 2009

Mixture I
1 cup Self Raising Flour
1 cup caster sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
5 egg yolks
1/2 cup orange juice or soda water with pandan pasta

mixture II
5 egg whites, or equal quantity as the egg yolks
1 teaspoon of tartar
1/2 cup caster sugar

Preparation:
Preheat oven electric 200° C
1. Mix all the ingredients for mixture I.
2. Prepare mixture II by beating the egg whites till firm. Add the tartar and then add the sugar
Little by little till peaks form
3. Fold mixture II into mixture I little by little
4. Pour into a ring form
5. Bake in oven for 50-60 minutes
6. Remove from the oven and turn over onto a wire cake rack. Let cool before attempting to remove.

Note» INFO»

Unlike
The mass quantity of the egg yolks and the egg whites should be equal. If 5 egg whites is more than the volume of the egg yolks, then discard the excess egg whitesPowered by Hackadelic Sliding Notes 1.6.4
This is my mothers recipe for Chiffon CakePowered by Hackadelic Sliding Notes 1.6.4

Comments ( 2 )

, , , , , , , ,

Pandan Chiffon Cake

July 13th, 2009

Ingredients:
8 eggs, separated
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup liquid vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 tsp. pandan paste
1 cup self-rising flour
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
2. In a small bowl, combine coconut milk , pandan extract . Add the 1/4 tsp. of pandan paste. Set aside.
3. With an electric mixer OR by hand, beat the egg yolks, sugar, vegetable oil and vanilla until well combined. Beat in coconut milk/pandan extract mixture.
4. Sift the self-rising flour three times into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre of sifted dry ingredients, and whisk egg mixture into the flour mixture.
5. With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and beat until firm peaks form. Fold the beaten egg whites into the flour/egg yolk mixture in two batches using a balloon whisk or rubber spatula.
6. Gently pour the batter into a 9 or 10-inch (23-25 cm) ungreased tube or angel food cake pan. With a spatula, spread batter to even out top. Bake in preheated 350 degrees F (180 C) oven for 45 minutes or until the cake feels spongy to the touch.
7. Remove cake from oven, and carefully invert the pan (upside down) onto a cooling rack. Do not remove cake from pan until completely cooled. Once cake has cooled, run a spatula around the sides and centre tube of the pan to release the cake. When you are ready to slice the cake, use a thin sharp knife with serrated blade, and cut with a “sawing” action opposed to slicing through the cake.

Unlike

Comments ( 3 )

, , , , , , , , ,

Garlic

July 12th, 2009

Bawang Putih Bawang Putih

Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion family Alliaceae. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, and chive. Garlic has been used throughout recorded history for both culinary and medicinal purposes.

Allium sativum grows in the wild in areas where it has become naturalised; it probably descended from the species Allium longicuspis, which grows wild in southwestern Asia.[5] The “wild garlic”, “crow garlic”, and “field garlic” of Britain are the species Allium ursinum, Allium vineale, and Allium oleraceum, respectively. In North America, Allium vineale (known as “wild garlic” or “crow garlic”) and Allium canadense, known as “meadow garlic” or “wild garlic” and “wild onion”, are common weeds in fields.[6] One of the best-known “garlics”, the so-called elephant garlic, is actually a wild leek (Allium ampeloprasum)Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Alliaceae
Subfamily: Allioideae
Tribe: Allieae
Genus: Allium
Species: A. sativum

Translations:

Dutch: Knoflook
Indonesian: Bawang putih
English common Name: Garlic


Unlike

Comments ( 0 )

, , , , , , , , ,

« Previous Entries