Chocolate Mousse made with hard-boiled eggs and Herb Tea Paste for Hakka Lei Cha During yesterday morning’s Cookalong session, I made Chocolate Mousse using hard-boiled eggs.— inspired by Jackie who took Jenny and Cathy’s idea to use up her “thousand” leftover eggs from her corporate event. My mousse appeared a little runny to me, but when I showed it to Jackie, she thought it was ok. I blamed it on the hot weather we are having. I spoon it into individual glasses and bowls and left them to chill overnight in the fridge. In the evening session I made the Herb Tea Paste for Hakka Lei Cha. Jackie was busy making and frying fritters for Pasembur. Cathy joined us an hour later looking fresh after a good night’s sleep, and spent the time chatting about the good and challenges she’s been facing, and sharing her goal and ambitions. Just before we wrapped up, I showed Jackie my Herb Tea Paste. I thought it was a bit thick and I could feel the grittiness, so she suggested I add more water and blend it again. I took her advice and blended it 3 times — and it finally turned out really smooth. We had Lei Cha for lunch and the Chocolate Mousse for dessert. The mousse was lovely and chocolatey. It was a little too rich for me, but right up John’s street! I ate half a cup of mousse and save the other half for later….though it might not last long with John keeping an eye on it. 😁

This morning’s Cookalong was all about clever shortcuts. Jackie showed us how to make Achar using some leftover spices and other ingredients from her catering gig the day before. Great way to use up ingredients and still get that lovely tangy flavour. I was making Fah Sun Wu (Chinese Peanut Paste Sweet Soup Dessert). I used the Thermomix Cookidoo recipe for Zhi Ma Hu, but swapped the black sesame seeds for roasted peanuts. I had made Fah Sun Wu last year and it turned out nice, but I thought it was a little too pale. This time I roasted the peanuts for an extra 5 minutes and that did the tricks, much better brown colour this time round. When Jackie heard that I was making Fah Sun Wu, she decided to make it too since she had lots of roasted peanuts left over from catering. My Fah Sun Wu turned out really nice — sweet and creamy with a lovely nutty fragrance. We had it for dessert after lunch and it went down a treat.

ONDE-ONDE Last night night’s Cookalong had the regular gang all busy in their kitchens. Jackie was doing a freezer clear-out and found some fish cutlets she had forgotten about. She fried a few & turned some into Ham Yue (salted fish). At my suggestion, she diced a piece of Ham Yue into very small pieces and fried them with rice. She said the rice turned out really good. Jenny was busy prepping for her gathering — Passion Fruit Curd, a tray bake cake and a crumble dessert. I cannot remember what was the filling in the crumble 😝. And Cathy was making Pasta Sauce for her mum. Everyone was on the go! I was making Onde-Onde for a lunch gathering we had been invited to. Since it was for next day, I took Jackie and Cathy’s advice and froze them on an open tray first. Early the next morning, I boiled them, then rolled them in desiccated coconut. They turned out beautiful — soft, chewy and the gula Melaka sugar filling just burst & melted in the mouth. They disappeared fast! Thank you Jackie and Cathy for the advice 🩷.

Loh Mai Gai (LMG) and Char Kwei Teow (CKT) This morning in the Cookalong, Jackie was cooking squids — lots of them! She made Squids with Salted Egg Yolk and Squids in Kam Heong Sauce, and they both look absolutely good. Watching her sampling them, I wished I was there to join in. Jackie made Loh Mai Gai (LMG) during last week’s Cookalong, and that inspired me to make it this week. She had actually taught me how to make LMG in Malaysian Street Food Academy four years ago, so I thought it was time to revisit the dish. We had the LMG for lunch and they were lovely. For John’s sake I also made the sauces to go with them and he lapped them all up! I also made Char Kwei Teow (CKT), so we had that for lunch too. I must be a glutton for hard labour. I picked a very hot day to make both LMG and CKT. I was melting! Lunch would have been even better if the weather wasn’t trying to cook me too.

Egg Curry I forgot to defrost meat, so we went vegetarian for lunch today. For this morning’s Cook along Jackie made Hakka Lui Cha while I did Egg Curry from the Thermomix Cookidoo recipe. Jackie’s Lui Cha was a thumbs up 👍 all round. My Egg Curry had too much tomato passata and not enough “curry” taste. Flavour was flat. Soon as we finished, I rescued it. I tossed the sauce back into the pan with 1 tsp curry powder, 2 tabsp coconut powder, 1/2 tsp sugar, pinch of salt, 1 tsp chicken powder (Jackie will be happy I used that), plus 20ml water. Simmered for 20 minutes till all added ingredients were fully mixed and the sauce was smooth. Finally tasted like curry! If I make this again, I will halve the tomato passata and probably use a different recipe.