DIY festive goodies for winter

Cooking demonstration

Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) Organ Donation Coordinator May Pong is passionate about cooking. On Organ Donation Day every year, she teams up with volunteers to make healthy cookies for QEH staff, patients and families not only to promote healthy eating, but to build up good relationship between patients and healthcare workers. As Chinese New Year is around the corner, HASLink has invited May to share tips on making two healthy and appetising dishes – fig pie with red wine and healthy Chinese sticky rice. Try out the recipes and share festive treats with your beloved ones.

Fig pie with red wine

Cooking tips

Q: How to make crispy pastry?

A: Butter is key. Do not use salted butter because water in it makes pastry less crispy. Butter at room temperature gives better pastry texture than liquid butter.

Q: How to roll dough to even thickness?

A: Put dough in a rectangular plastic bag and roll it. It is a clean and easy way to guarantee uniform thickness.

    

Q: How to make pastry look inviting?

A: Before baking, brush egg wash onto pastry to create golden colour. Cut the pie when it is hot to prevent pie crust from breaking.

Healthy Chinese sticky rice

Cooking tips

Q: How to avoid being surfeited with glutinous rice?

A: Use two parts of glutinous rice to one part of white rice. Adding white rice can prevent becoming surfeited with glutinous rice. Cooking glutinous rice in a cooker is healthier than frying it because less oil is used.

Q: What are the techniques of frying Chinese preserved meat?

A: Do not use oil because Chinese preserved meat itself is oily. Add Chinese rose wine to enhance flavour.