HOW TO MAKE AUTHENTIC LEI CHAI: PART II (MOONCAKES AND CORAL GRASS JELLY RECIPE)

A family’s gourmet heirloom all the way from Johore Bahru

Mama Hung's Lei Chai or 'Thunder Tea'

Taught by Mama Hung and Written by Mrs. Money




Additional moon-cakes making procedure that I witnessed in Mama Hung's Chinese restaurant; her moon-cakes was the only one that I ate with peace in mind during every Mid Autumn Festival as Mama Hung used no additives but only the best ingredients. She made them with her loves cum passion and normally only her relatives and friends got such luck to taste her mooncakes.

This exceptional year she made the moon-cakes commercially to sell in her Chinese restaurant, but the quality has not changed, in an actual fact she bought a machine to prepare the lotus paste, she said or else that's the most time comsuming job.

The lotus paste ball covered by a very thin layer of dough




Usually there is either one or two salted egg yolks hidden inside lotus paste ball


The wooden mould used to shape moon-cakes

After lotus paste ball covered by dough ball, pressed it down to the mould, then hit the mould twice on each side, the newly formed moon-cake will be released.

Moon-cakes ready to send baking in the oven

Moon-cake inside the oven

The top has to be glazed by egg york when the baked moon-cakes got a bit cooler.

CORAL GRASS JELLY RECIPE BY MAMA HUNG

Mama Hung's used much freshy wild coral grass from Indonesia

Ingredients: Coral grass, little water, ginger, pandan leaves, gogi berries or longan and gula Melaka

Procedure: Soak the coral grass for at least two hours

Boil water with blended ginger and pandan leaves to get rid of fishy smell, get rid of sendiments.

Add coral grass to boil with the 'perfumed' water, add sugar, gogi berries and longan, put it in a blender to blend until smooth, boil again, make sure it is sticky enough to form jelly.

Store in small containers and leave them in refrigerator.

One of the healthiest desert in the world!