TGIF EVERYONE! Last month, I attended Nuffnang Lovin event which is a monthly get-together planned specially for Nuffnang’s bloggers! At Nuffnang Lovin’, there are lots of fun and exciting activities every month. So in the month of December, we learn to make Christmas party snacks at Food Playground. You must be wondering why am I writing about Christmas when everyone is excited about CNY now. But I have got awesome recipes to share with you and you can use it anytime anywhere, doesn’t have to be Christmas lah!

So on one lovely Saturday morning, Valerie and I gathered with other bloggers at Food Playground to cook! Cooking is no longer a chore at here. We are put into teams to learn how to create 3 Christmas snacks using Ayam Brand products. There is a team competition to create the “Best Christmas platter”. It is highly stimulating, interactive and an enjoyable process.

Chilli Tuna Curry Puffs (Recipe Credit: Food Playground)

One of the social objectives of Food Playground is to provide employment for stay-at-home mums and active seniors who can contribute to the team, either as cooking instructors, kitchen helpers, or simply a member of their administrative team. And one of them is Noei, who is a stay-at-home mum. Noei taught us how to make Chilli Tuna Curry Puffs which is very yummy. She used to help her mother make curry puffs for sale. So you can see how pretty are the edges of her curry puffs. For me, I have fat fingers lah, all my curry puffs turn out like a ball. LOL

Ingredients
Dough (makes 12-14 mini puffs)
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup lukewarm water
20g margarine, melted
130g plain flour

Filling
1 can of chilli tuna, drain out most of the oil and remove chillies
1 yellow onion, peels & diced
1 medium potato, boiled and diced
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp sugar
pinch of salt

Method:
1. Prepare filling. Heat wok with oil, saute onions on medium to low heat until translucent. Add in turmeric and continue to fry for 2 minutes. Take care not to burn the mixture.

2. Add in drained chilli tuna (with about 1 tsp of chilli oil for extra flavour) and diced potatoes. Stir fry for another 2 minutes. Add sugar and salted to taste. Set aside to cool.

3. In a small mixing bowl, stir salt and sugar into lukewarm water until dissolved. Add melted margarine.

4. Measure flour in a large mixing bowl. Add water and margarine mixture a little at a time until mixture comes together. Continue to knead until dough is smooth and no longer sticks to the fingers (approx 10 mins).

5. Cover dough with damp cloth or cling wrap. Rest for about 10 mins.

6. Separate the dough balls measuring about 14g in weight for each ball.

To make pastry
Flatten the ball with a rolling pin into a circle of about 9cm in diameter. Add filling into the centre adn fold into a semi circle to enclose the crimp the ends to seal before frying the puffs in a pot of hot oil to crisp perfection.

Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls (Recipe Credit: Food Playground)

Ayam brand has become a household name in Asia for quality food products, particularly canned fish. Do you know, their first import was SARDINES! The only way we eat sardine at home is to cook it in tomato sauce and pair it with rice. Boring right? Chef Lena has created a Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls using sardines instead of prawns! With fresh vegetables and sardines wrapped in rice paper, these Vietnamese spring rolls are a refreshing appetizer for an Asian-inspired meal. This is really good for any time of the day. Plus, we learn how to make the Thai sweet and sour and spicy sauce from scratch ok! Any way you want, and any way you like!

Ingredients:
Rice paper
Mix of fresh herbs – Thai basil, vietnamese mint, coriander
Romaine or local letture
Sweet potato noodles, cooked, brained and cooled under running waer
Canned Sardines in olive oil, sliced lengthwise
Carrot
Cucumber

Ingredients for dipping sauce (based on proportion):
2 parts Thai lime juice
1.5 parts sugar
1-1.5 parts fish sauce
2.5 parts hot water
1-3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 lemongrass, tender part and finely minced
1 red chilli minced

Method:
1. Juice the lime. Mix with sugar, hot water, fish sauce, minced garlic, chilli and lemon grass. Set aside to let flavours develop.

2. Dip a piece of rice paper into water to wet it. Lay the rice paper flat on a plate, place a piece of lettuce and some sweet potato noodles on top on the first third of the rice paper.

3. Put shredded carrots, cucumbers and herbs onto the second third of the rice paper.

4. Place prawn/sardine on the final third of the rice paper. Roll the rice paper by folding it like a spring roll, tuck the sides in like an envelope. Serve with dipping sauce.

Barley Salad (Recipe Credit: Miss Tam Chiak ME ME ME! LOL)

Besides the above 2 recipes, Valerie and I also demonstrated how to cook a dish. I was tasked to come up with a recipe using any of the Ayam brand products. It was Christmas season then so I wanted my dish with red and green elements. Then I suddenly recalled eating barley risotto at an Italian restaurant a few weeks back. We weren’t given much time so I created a barley salad! It was very simple because all you have to do is to mix. This flavour-packed, unusual salad is quick to serve and definitely a good meal replacement.

Ingredients (serves 4):
1 cup Ayam Brand White Pearl Barley
1/2 cup Ayam Brand Whole Kernel Corn
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup combined red and green pepper
1/2 cup parsley
10 cherry tomatoes
5 pcs red onion

Seasonings:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Method:
1. Cook barley with water till soft. Let it cool to room temperature.
2. Mix barley with remaining ingredients. Mix lemon juice, salt, pepper and oil till well combined.

Now the fun part arrives where we have to prepare the dishes and plate them up. Sounds simple? Not exactly leh! We had some props to help and Amantha was the one in charge of the plating in my team. We wrote the words “XMAS” on our curry puffs and I think that helps to pull lots of marks. Strangely, we were also given 2 pandan leaves. I wanted to use them in our plates and so I just rolled it into two roses. CREATIVE ANOT! LOL

We won! YAY! So happy! *dances around* Each of us got a nice hamper from Ayam Brand!

EVERYONE IS HAPPY! Thank you Nuffnang and Ayam Brand for organizing this event at Food Playground! I had lots of fun and now I can make curry puffs and spring rolls already! Try the recipes ah, very easy one!