Hed Chef extra: Seafood kueh pie tee

Here's a dish that is not difficult to put together and will please your guests.

Kueh pie ti (or tee, depending on who you ask) doesn't take much skill if you follow the steps here - that is, use ready-made kueh pie ti cups.

There's no need to break your back and spend precious time painstakingly frying the kueh pie ti cups one by one, especially when they are so easily available around the festive period.

I went pork-free for this year's kueh pie ti and used a combination of seafood instead.

I got good quality frozen seafood and that solves the problem of hunting for fresh ingredients during the Chinese New Year holidays.

The crab meat added an incredible sweetness to the filling.

The only tricky part is getting fresh coriander leaves, which is a must-have garnish.

Also, I included bean sprouts, sometimes called "silver sprouts" in Chinese, in the filling as they symbolise a good start to the year.

But if you can't get hold of bean sprouts, I don't think it will make the dish any less tasty.

This week, I am sharing an extra Hed Chef recipe for garlic chilli. This is a condiment that you absolutely must have when you serve up kueh pie ti.

Watch this space next week where I share my secret recipe for a chilli paste with dried scallop and find out how to use the dried scallop sauce as a topping for steamed scallops.

INGREDIENTS

1 box of 30 kueh pie ti cups

50g dried prawns, soaked and chopped

100g crab meat

150g prawns

5 Canadian scallops, sliced into little pieces

60g bean sprouts

2 medium-sized carrots, shredded

400g jicama, shredded

3 garlic cloves, chopped

5 stalks fresh coriander, torn

2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

2 tbsp cooking oil

SEASONING

2 tbsp oyster sauce

A few dashes of white pepper

METHOD

Heat oil in wok and fry the garlic until fragrant. Add in the dried prawns. Fry for two minutes. (A)

Add in the carrots and fry for two minutes. (B)

Add in the jicama.

Add in one tablespoon of the oyster sauce and a dash of pepper.

Add in the prawns, scallops and crab meat. (C)

Add in the remaining oyster sauce and some pepper.

Once the prawns are nearly orange in colour, throw in the bean sprouts and stir-fry for two minutes.

Fill the kueh pie ti cup with the filling and garnish with chopped egg and a coriander leaf. Top it off with some garlic chilli.

[embed]https://studio.brightcove.com/products/videocloud/media/videos/5212218253001[/embed]

INGREDIENTS

12 red finger chillies 3 chilli padi 5 garlic cloves 50ml fresh lime juice 1 flat tbsp sugar 1 tsp salt

METHOD 1. For easier grinding, slice the red finger chillies. 2. Grind the red finger chillies, chilli padi, garlic and lime juice together. 3. Add in the sugar and salt. Grind for 30 seconds. 4. Store in an air-tight container, refrigerated.