【潮州炸虾饼】Teow Chew Style Prawn Fritters

One of the famous supper choices in my hometown is this Chinese Style Prawn Fritters. The hawker selling this also sells fried tofu, fried fish cakes/balls and the likes.

To order a plate of fried goodies from the stall and dip into their special Sweet sauce and Chili sauce was one luxury thing to do as a kid. Probably one reason this snack still holds a very special place in my heart.

I have made this shrimp fritters with the mold before, today I have made another variation without mold and has less flour, it is tasting very good！

年少时周末口袋里要是有几毛钱，一般就会呼朋唤友到离家不远的小摊子吃夜宵。我最喜欢的一款夜宵就是这个炸虾饼，摊子老板也会同时卖炸豆腐炸鱼丸等等炸物。

点上一盘炸虾饼和炸物，沾着老板特制的辣椒酱和甜酱，边吃边和朋友聊天调侃，是那个年代最简单的乐趣。

我之前用模具做过传统的炸虾饼，非常好吃，今天做的这批面糊比较少，也不需要模具，想尝试又没有模具的朋友可以试试这个做法。

Chwee Kueh （Steamed Rice Cake) 【水粿/菜脯粿】

It all started one year ago around this time, the Asian supermarket near my house was having radishes on sales at 10 cents per lb, I had to bring some back and made a batch of Chai Poh/Preserved Radish.

The Chai Poh turned out really well, so earlier in July this year, when the price of radishes in the local market is low again, I made yet another batch of Chai Poh. This time I have better understanding of the timing and the Chai Poh turned out even better than the last batch.

Since I have so many homemade Chai Poh sitting in my pantry now, I can't help but to keep thinking of ways to use them. This Chwee Kueh made it to the top of my list, Chwee Kueh is a snack close to many Malaysian/Singaporean's hearts, a breakfast or teatime choice for many when we were home.

A good Chwee Kueh is full of fragrance of rice, it melts in your mouth with the bits and pieces of Chai Poh toppings giving it the crunchiness and flavors that it needs. The duo compliment each other and their unique taste are there to stay in my memories.

There are a few recipes of Chwee Kueh online, I have tried one of them, and it turned out okay, but in my opinion, does make the real Chwee Kueh. The original Chwee Kueh is made only with ground rice and water, when steamed at high heat, the kueh will form a natural dent in the middle which make a perfect shape to fill and hold the toppings.

Since I wanted nothing but the original taste of Chwee Kueh, I took it to heart to experiment and make the kueh from scratch! I read all the information I could find on the making of this kueh and experimented 5 times before I could come to this recipe of mine.

If you like Chwee Kueh, here is my recipe to share!

事情的起因是这样的，一年前因为超市里的萝卜又大又便宜所以我就买了十磅回家做了一批日晒菜脯/萝卜干 。 因为自己晒的菜脯太香了，今年萝卜盛产的时候我又制作了第二批。既然有了上好的菜脯，我当然就忍不住开始计划各种菜脯美食了。

这个水粿是菜脯煎蛋之后我第二个想到的美食。水粿是一种潮汕小吃，是一款米浆蒸制的糕点，米糕本身味淡，所以吃的是纯粹的米香。因此铺在上头的菜脯碎非常关键，菜脯的咸香爽脆和润滑柔软的米糕相辅相成，是一款非常细致而又古朴的美味。

我之前尝试过网上传得比较久的一个水粿食谱，是混合澄粉和玉米粉制作的。口感比较接近台湾的碗粿，比较扎实，比较Q弹。该食谱用的是生熟浆的技巧，所以制作出来的水粿是平滑的，没有传统水粿应有的中间塌陷的碗状模样，颜色也偏黄。

潮汕人比较纯粹，做的水粿其实只有米和水按一定的比例磨成米浆蒸制而成，成品洁白如玉，入口即化。这款看似简单的小食在制作上却非常不简单，为了做出有古早味的水粿，我一共尝试了五种不同的米水比例才找到了我喜欢的口感。 非常喜欢成品的纯粹和简朴，喜欢水粿的朋友也希望你能尝试做做看哦！