Voon Chai Poh with Choy Poh, Non Halal

                    For those of us here in Malaysia if we want to eat Voon Chai Poh, we just need to hop to the market or hawker stalls and we can eat it to our hearts content and we can go to as many hawker stalls until we find the perfect Voon Chai Poh But for those who want to make them in the comfort of your own kitchen especially those of you who are overseas, this is a lovely recipe with an astonishing all purpose sambal which I will be uploading later :)

                    We start off by doing the Choy Poh filling :) and while waiting for your Voon Chay Poh to set, you make the Fried Shallot Oil so that you can drizzle the slightly hot shallot oil on the choy poh.

              Ingredients for Choy Poh filling

              200 gm                     minced Pork
              600 gm                     *Salty Choy Poh
                50 gm                     Dried Prawns
                  4 Tabsp                chopped Garlic

                                 * The Chef suggested to only use Salty Choy Poh and Not a combi of salty and sweet Choy Poh as it would then alter the measurements here :)

              Seasoning for Choy Poh filling

                   3 Tabsp               Sugar
                   4 Tabsp                Light Soya Sauce
                   2 Tabsp                Dark Soya Sauce
                   2 Tabsp                Lee Kum Kee Oyster Sauce
                   1 teasp                 ground White Pepper
              
                Thickening solution : 1 to 1 1/2 Tabsp corn flour + *some water
                                                        depending on how thick you want the filling
                                                        I would suggest Not too thick as it would be
                                                        nice to have a little flowing filling :)

                 Method for filling

1. Wash the Salty Choy Poh.  Then cut it.
2. Then soak the Choy Poh with water, the height of the Choy Poh, for 30 minutes.  The rationale here is that the Chef wants it to be still salty.
3. Wash the Dried Prawns then chop it quite fine.
4. Mix all the seasoning into a bowl and set aside.
5. Mix the thickening solution also into a bowl and set aside.
6. Heat 4 Tablespoon of oil in a wok then throw the chopped dried prawns & fry for about 3 minutes till it is fragrant.
7. Throw in the garlic & fry for 3 - 4 minutes; stirring.
8. Throw in the minced pork & stir it for 3 - 4 minutes stirring before adding the Choy Poh stirring for a while.
9. Add in water.  Water should be much higher than the level of whatever is in the wok [as technically it is going to be salty and you may have to add more water but do not put way too much water then there is no taste from either the meat or the choy poh] bring it to a boil.  Then add in the seasoning stir same then cover the wok & reduce fire to medium low & simmer for 20 minutes.
10. Check on taste if still salty, Adjust with some water; if not much taste as too much water added, add some salt.  Cover again & simmer for another 10 - 15 minutes.
11. Add in the thickening agent & bring it to a boil.  End result : it should be moist and not watery.  Very important note is whenever adding any corn flour solution to thicken any dish, you should Always bring it to a boil otherwise it would taste floury :)

                     Comment : After Choy Poh has cooled completely, you can freeze it in individual zip lock bags and for this filling, you can make the Voon Choi Poh three times.

               Ingredient for Voon Chai Poh
                     For all my cooking or baking recipe I use the cake measuring teaspoon/tabsp

               200 gm                       Rice flour [the best is the "3 Elephant Rice Flour"]
               240 ml                        Room temperature water
                   1 level teasp          Salt
                 1/2 level Tabsp       Sugar
                     1 Tabsp                cooking Oil

                 660 ml                      Boiling water

               Method for Voon Chai Poh

            Boil water first in a steamer.

1. Boil 660 ml of water [this boiling water is for Step No.4].
2. Sieve the Rice Flour into a big bowl.  Add the sugar & salt & give it a stir to incorporate same.
3. Then add the 240 ml room temperature water [ie water from the tap] then stir it manually with a whisk till combined, dont over mix just till it is combined.
4. Pour in the 660 ml of water gently altogether & stir till incorporate. Dont over mix.
5. Add in the 1 Tabsp of cooking oil & give it a stir to incorporate.
6. Straight away pour three quarter full into Ungreased mould & straight away put into the steamer on Medium Heat.
7. If you are using :-

                 (a) individual small moulds steam it for 17 minutes.  Check it after 17 minutes, quickly remove the cover Do not let the droplets of water on the Cover to fall onto yr Voon Chai Poh.  Wipe the droplets of sweat from the cover.  If Voon Chai Poh is opaque it is done if not steam for a further 3 - 4 minutes.  Once it's steamed enough, remove from steamer & *let it set before eating.  As I have not done it in small individual moulds, [lazy haha] I dont know how long it would set prob half an hour to one hour :)

                  (b) Another alternative you can steam in a bigger mould.  I used my 9" x 9" x 3" square tin and steam it for + - 1 hour [we were told by Chef that by steaming it for 1 hour, it would not stick to our teeth) but check after 55 minutes to see whether it is opaque again dont let the droplets of water from the cover drop onto the Voon Chai Poh.  Once steamed enough, remove from steamer and let it set for 3 - 4 hours for this big tin.

                   (c)  And now for those visitors who are very good and experienced in cooking and these sort of things, for this recipe there is no need to rest the batter before steaming.

                   Finally the Shallot Oil

                   100 gm               Shallots/small onions
                                              Adequate oil

                   Fry the shallots in the hot oil till golden brown.  You can either remove the fried golden shallots from the oil or you can leave it in the oil and then pour adequate amount on the Voon Chai Poh.

                   Bye for now, xoxo, Ophelia.  Look out for the all purpose sambal later as I have now to prepare my dinner. God bless.