SUBSCRIBEChinese New Year is just around the corner and we’re all busy with the preparations! Spring cleaning? Later lar…now busy making Chinese New Year cookies – fried ngaku being the easiest to make CNY cookies! Ngaku is known as arrow head in English and I just got to know this when I saw the label on the ngaku I bought from supermarket. The price is decreasing as CNY comes nearer I wished I hadn’t bought so early :(
Forget about the shopping part. Let’s look at Chinese New Year Cookies Recipe. This CNY cookies recipe is a piece of cake. BUT easy as it seems, there are tricks in getting nice and crispy ones.
First tip: cutting ngaku into slices. Some people love thin slices and some prefer thicker slices. Well, I prefer thicker slices. Either way, you can use a peeler to cut the ngaku instead of using knife. Use a long peeler that can slice through a ngaku horizontally (else pick smaller ngaku). Hold the ngaku on its head, upside down (as if you would hold an ice-cream cone) so you can easily peel from the top (the buttock of the ngaku is now on top lar).
Second tip: make sure the wok is hot and the oil is hot before you deep fry the sliced ngaku. Otherwise ngaku will absorb too much oil and will not be crispy. This is common rule in deep frying.
Third tip: keep stirring to prevent the ngaku slices from sticking to each other causing uncooked of soft parts (not crispy). After a while, when ngaku starts to cook, they will curl a little and no longer sticks to each other so you can leave them till cooked. But must watch the fire lar…to prevent burnt.
Fourth tip: when ngaku turns a little yellowish, start scooping them up! They’re more cooked than they seemed. This is actually because they will continue to cook in themselves until they cool down.
Fifth tip: scoop up and drain off the oil. Then place on NEWSPAPER. I know some may think this is not hygienic but…it really works better than kitchen towel. Kitchen towel somehow made several batches of my ngaku too soft…not sure why. Remember not to stack the fried ngaku slices. Let the fried ngaku cool down.
Then, put the fried ngaku in container and sprinkle some salt (optional – some people prefer original taste without salt…me? nope, I LOVE salty food!).
Last tip: seal the container tightly with 2 layers or cellophane tape! Lol! I know it sounds funny but this tip is passed on by a Fried Ngaku expert so you better follow the tip closely :) Sealing the container this way shall ensure the container is really air-tight and keep your fried ngaku crispy until Chinese New Year!
Happy cooking and Happy Chinese New Year~~
P/S: How I wished I had better Ngaku photos for this post.
P/S 2: Ngaku, if planted in water in a nicely decorated pot grows into a nice indoor leaf plant. You’ll love them!
Update: Made more NGAKU CRISPS this year (2011)!! And very successful *grin. Frankly I forgot about the tips myself (making Ngaku crisps is a yearly occasion, not unusual to forget the tips when next year came! lol!) but luckily I blog this step-by-step guide in making successful Fried Ngaku. This year, I learned another new CNY cookies recipe I’m about to share…er…probably later when I those photos pop up somehow (not sure where I saved them). The new CNY cookies recipe is another easy recipe of the common CNY peanut cookies. Btw, I’ve got new and clearer photos of fried Ngaku this time…er…or did I? Geez…getting more forgetful…and where is my camera…