Kok Zai is one of the many Chinese New Year goodie.  It has flour cracker outside with crush peanut and sugar filling, made into a mini-puff like shape (that is now the name is derived, like a mini “horn”).   This recipe is from my mom.  She makes it every year.

Ingredients

For filings

1. 600 gms raw peanuts
2. 300 gms fine sugar

For dough

1. 600 gms wheat flour
2. 1 tablespoon sugar mixed with ½ cup water
3. 1 tablespoon margarine
4. 1 egg

For frying

1. Oil for deep frying

Method

Filing

1. In a pan without oil, stir fry peanuts with low heat, until fragrant (skin a little burnt). Refer to tips for more information.
2. Leave it to cool, and remove the skin.  Crush it with food processor. Mixed with sugar.

Dough

1. Sieve the flour on a mixing table, and make a heap.  Make a depression in the middle, and crack in the egg, and margarine. Mix in the flour slowly with fingers, and adding the sugar water slowly. 
2. Keep mixing and adding water slow until a soft dough is form.  If the sugar solution runs out, use plain water.  Cover with damp cloth for 1 hour.
3. Separate into smaller portion, roll out with rolling pin, and make mini-puffs filled with peanuts and sugar mixture. (either using fingers to fold, or you get some gadget to help you make the puffs)
4. Deep fry till golden brown.
5. Keep in air tight container when totally cooled down.

 Vegetarian (with eggs).

This is an auspicious dish for Chinese New Year! Lots of gold!

Sauce

Ingredients

1. 4 tablespoon of tomato ketchup
2. 2 tablespoon of plum sauce
3. 2 tablespoon of sugar
4. 1 tablespoon of soya sauce
5. 1/4 teaspoon of salt
6. 1 teaspoon corn flour
7. 1/2 cup water
8. 1 teaspoon of minced garlic
9. 1 tablespoon cooking oil
10. 1/2 cup of cube mix vegetables (peas, corn, carrots, pineapples) optional 

Method

1. Mixed ingredient 1 to 7 a bowl. 
2. Heat up sauce pan or work or frying pan, add oil and garlic, stir fry till fragrant and lightly brown. Add in the mix vegetables, and stir.
3. Add in the mixture and bring to boil, simmer till consistency is right.

Nuggets

Ingredients

1. 300 grams Minced Pork
2. 5-10 Water chestnuts
3. 1 teaspoon minced ginger
4. 10 mid size prawns (optional)
5. 1 stalk spring onion
6. 3 tablespoon light Soya sauce
7. 1 teaspoon sugar
8. 1 teaspoon cornflour
9. 1 tablespoon sesame oil
10. Wonton skin
11. Cooking oil for deep frying

Method

1. Peel the water chestnut and cut into very small pieces (about 2mm size approx)
2. Wash and cut the spring onion into small pieces (1mm thin approx)
3. De-shell prawns and cut into small pieces (1/2 cm approx).
4. Mix item 1 to 9 together.
5. Wrap 1 teaspoon in 1 piece of wonton skin.  Here is some trick to make it look like gold nuggets (those used in ancient china).  Lay the skin flat on the table, put the meat in the middle, fold the corner nearer to you forward to meet the furthest corner (ie folding into half).  Then press the sides down leaving the portion having the meat bulging up, fold this portion up halfway, and at the same time bring the left and right corner towards you and meet and touch.  Dab a little water (or corn flour mix with water) on the 2 corners and press firmly, they should stick together. 
6. Deep fry with medium heat till golden brown
7. Either use the sauce as a dip, or pour the sauce over the nuggets.
8. Serve while hot and crispy.

This is a nice Chinese New Year goodie, and very easy to make.

Ingredients

1. 1 table spoon honey
2. 3 table spoon sugar
3. ½ cm slice butter
4. 1 cup corn flake
5. 2 table spoon sliced almonds
6. any nuts or dried fruits can be added

Method

1. In a wok or pan (prefer non stick), put in item 1 to 3, heat up using low heat, until sugar melt and the whole thing turns creamy and bubbling.
2. Pour in item 4 to 6, and using 2 big spoon, very quickly toss it around until all coated. Off the heat.
3. Very quickly, using the 2 spoon, scoop up small portions and drop on a oiled (with butter) tray.  Leave it till cool, and keep in air tight container when cooled and harden.  Alternatively, you can scoop them into paper cups (those use for cup cakes) to cool and then keep (less messy, as it will still be slightly sticky after cooled down)
4. You can control the stickiness or crispiness by adjust the amount of honey.  More honey makes it stickier while less honey makes it crispier.

Note that you have to be quick in step 3.  Hence it is also not advisable to double the ingredients and do it in one go.  You may do it a few rounds.  A lazy alternative of doing a lot at one go is to fill them up on a oiled baking tray, and when it is cooled, remove the whole slab and cut into smaller squares.

Singapore and Malaysia always have this as a festive goodie for Chinese New Year.  I manage to get this recipe from my mom.  This is really very nice, from years of experience.

Ingredients (about 400-500 sticks)

1. 15 eggs
2. 1 kg wheat flour (面粉)
3. 1 tablespoon glutinous rice flour (糯米粉)
4. 3 tablespoon rice flour (尖米粉)
5. 1 kg fine sugar
6. 1250 ml thick coconut milk (about 5 coconuts if you are squeezing from grated coconut flesh or you can buy packet ones from supermarket)
7. 750 ml  water (approx)
8. Cooking oil

Method

1. In a mixing bowl, add in sugar and crack all the eggs in.  Using a mixer (motorized or manual), beat it till it rise and turn pale.
2. Mix the flour together and sieve.
3. Using a big spoon, stir in the flour bit by bit into the mixture, making sure it does not lump up.  When it is too thick, add in some coconut milk.  Repeat adding flour, stir and add coconut milk, until all the flour has been stirred in into smooth thick creamy mixture. 
4. Add in all the coconut milk and slowly add in water bit by bit and stir to dilute the mixture into a mixture that thick but not too thick, something close to how melted ice cream looks like.
5. Toast into love letters using the love letter toaster (you can get IONA brand for example, or you may use the tradition way of toasting with the love letters tongs on charcoal fire).  Each love letters only need about 1 table spoon of the mixture, press down and allow to toast till light brown.  Using a chop stick roll it up when it is hot as it will turn crispy and brittle when cool.  Wipe the toasting surface with cooking oil if it sticks.
6. When fully cool down, pack into air tight containers.  But don’t wait till you finish all and then pack.  While you toast new ones, keep monitoring those left to cool down and pack them at the same time once they are cooled.  This is because once cool down, it will start to absorb moisture in the air and turn soft again.

It is very common to get spicy shrimp mini spring roll in the stalls during Chinese New Year.  It is basically having minced dried shrimps fry with chilli and wrap with spring roll skin, and deep fry.  Here is an alternative, and not spicy, and I love it.

Ingredients

1. 1 packet of frozen spring roll skin
2. 300 grams pork floss (better to use crispy type that you can scoop with a spoon, otherwise the fibrous type you need to use fingers to pull them apart into small portions)
3. ¼ bowl Water for sticking (can also mix in some corn or wheat flour).

Method

1. Using knife, cut the spring roll skin into 4 small squares (cut as a whole stack)
2. Mix the water with the flour into a creamy mixture and set aside.
3. For each piece of spring roll, put it as a diamond shape on the table, scoop 1 teaspoon of pork floss in the middle, fold the corner nearest to you forward to cover the floss, then fold the 2 left and right corners inwards and then roll the whole thing forward into a mini spring roll.  Dab some flour water at the last corner and complete the roll.
4. After filling up all of the ingredient, deep fry in low heat till golden brown, drain dry and leave it on kitchen paper towel to absorb all the oil.
5. Keep in air tight container when cooled down.  (Can keep for 1 month)