Hi again.

Now that the cook book has been released, it appears that more are cooking now from my Mum's recipes.

It is a good thing that we are not done yet with paper and ink. There is something about that format which is more practical and connects better with the home cook. Good to know, as I had some doubts when the idea of a cookbook was first mooted.

The cookbook is best seen as a companion to this site or the other way round. From here, I can make reference to it. And yes, recipes do not need to be final when printed! There will alway be variations.

The recipes in the cookbook use limited photos due to constraints of space and design choices.  Here is where the blog can complement as photos of the process can be helpful for some recipes.

I want to talk a bit more about the home-made Tim Cheong Sauce (Sweet Sauce) which is used for many snacks like Steamed Yam Cake (Wu Tao Gao) and Chee Cheong Fun (lead photo). It is also used for Hakka Yong Tofu and Penang Rojak. A good companion sweet sauce do not need to be an after thought. The ones you buy off the shelf will be inferior. As you are using ingredients which you will likely to have in your larder, it is easy to prepare a batch.

Your home-made Tim Cheong will be tastier and you can also adjust the level of sweetness (amount of sugar), the viscosity (ratio of flour to water) and colour (type of brown soy bean sauce). For Penang Rojak you will want it to be thicker but for Hakka Yong Tofu or Chee Cheong Fun, it can be thinner.

This "roux" method can be applied to make other type of sauces including chilli-based, tomato-based and miso-based sauces etc.

If you have laboured over your Steamed Yam Cake (I will blog this recipe soon), don't serve it with inferior Tim Cheong. Make your own!

Stirring the oil and flour into a smooth roux

Home-made Tim Cheong Recipe
2 Tbsp of oil
2 Tbsp of plain flour
2 Tbsp brown soy bean sauce (tau cheong)
3 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp dark soy sauce