iron chef!

Bruce Hall Iron Chef 2 competition
south wing kitchen
1300- 1700 hours
25 April 2006

Team Members: Veng Hoong, Loh; Eu Gene, Hong
Competition's Secret Ingredients: Honey and Ginger

Recipe Name: Ginger Honey Dumplings

well, actually was looking through recipe books trying to get ideas for the competition. thought that ginger will be a challenging ingredient to incorporate into a dessert. found recipes for common stuff like cakes, souffle' and other usual stuff... just itching to make something refreshing so in the end thought of making dumplings!

first, to make the dumplings.
you just need glutinous rice flour and candied ginger, and honey.
1. mix about 1 cup of flour to 0.5 cups of water... add more flour or water to achieve the desired consistency ( such that it is not too wet and sticky or too dry and breaks easily)
2. once the dumpling 'dough' is done, keep it aside. now, mix the honey and candied ginger(cut to appropriate dumpling-size) in another bowl so that you coat each of them with a layer of honey.
3. now, insert a piece or two of the honey-coated candied ginger into a small ball of dumpling dough. roll with your hands to make it into a round shape. make sure all open ends are closed so that the contents of the dumpling will not leak out when boiling.
4. place dumplings on a plate in preparation for boiling. (much easier and tidier this way)
5. now, put to boil a pot of water. include some chunks of fresh ginger ( and, if possible, some pandan leaves) to make the 'soup'
6. once the water is boiled, lower the temperature to mid-heat and carefully insert the dumplings to boil. DO NOT BOIL TOO MANY AT ONE GO. Also, you might want to check if there are no 'fractures' in the texture of the dumpling skin.
7. once the dumplings start to float - they're done!
8. transfer the dumplings into another bowl of water ( no preference if it's warm or cold) to store.

ginger drink
1. using the 'soup' from boiling the dumplings, add some honeydew and rockmelon and continue to boil for about 5-10 minutes. add some honey too.
2. serve chilled or warm.

honey-baked ginger and almonds
- this is mainly for garnish purposes but it makes a GREAT snack too.
1. finely chop fresh ginger into small strips
2. you'll also need almond flakes
3. cover the baking tray with baking paper, then spread evenly the cut ginger and almond flakes across the tray
4. drizzle honey all over the ginger and almonds. try to cover the entire tray. (the more generous you are with honey, the better)
5. put to bake in the over for about 160-180 C for 20-30 minutes. you might choose to bake longer for a different effect on taste and appearance.

serving instructions
1. drain dumplings of water and serve on a clean plate ( or on a fruit bowl, in the case of our competition)
2. drizzle honey over the dumplings and garnish with small pieces of the honey-baked ginger and almonds
3. serve with ginger drink

~bon appetit~

from top: 1. veng hoong and eu gene... the Iron Chefs, 2. top down view of our masterpiece 3. honey-baked ginger and almonds; 4. single photo of our masterpiece