My Gastronomic Expedition

Variety of Bread

2010-01-16T19:52:00.002+08:00

Peach Mascarpone Cake

2009-12-14T09:47:00.002+08:00

Peach Cake for Godmother

2009-11-19T19:43:00.002+08:00

Alyssa and Arika's Birthday Cake

2009-11-06T12:41:00.000+08:00

Arika's 1st Birthday Cake

Alyssa's Mango Mousse Cake- Designed by herself.

Mrs Teh's Birthday Cake

2009-11-04T19:40:00.000+08:00

Strawberry Vanilla Cake

2009-09-27T14:38:00.000+08:00

Mango Cheese Cake

2009-09-10T19:37:00.000+08:00

Oreo Cheese Cake

2009-08-16T21:35:00.001+08:00

Farewell Cake for Neil

2009-07-09T19:32:00.000+08:00

Chocolate Ganache Cake

2009-07-05T19:31:00.000+08:00

Fresh Cream Fruit Cake

2009-07-04T19:29:00.001+08:00

Mother's Day Cake

2009-05-10T16:27:00.001+08:00

Mango Yogurt Cake

2009-04-05T16:19:00.003+08:00

BlackForest Cake

2009-03-20T17:14:00.000+08:00

Fruit Cake

2009-02-23T19:12:00.001+08:00

New Year Goodies

2009-01-26T19:01:00.002+08:00

PetiteFour

2009-01-24T18:59:00.000+08:00

Brother's Engagement Cake

2009-01-19T12:54:00.001+08:00

Mom's Birthday Cake

2009-01-09T18:51:00.000+08:00

Love Cupcakes

2009-01-08T15:38:00.001+08:00

Chocolate sponge with chocolate cheese topping

2009-01-08T15:21:00.004+08:00

Cute cake with strawberry chocolate netting

2009-01-08T15:17:00.003+08:00

Peach muffin and Sultana Muffin with Jam Filling

2008-12-31T17:41:00.003+08:00

Peach Butter cake

2008-12-31T17:40:00.003+08:00

Donuts of Various Chocolate Flavours

2008-12-27T18:24:00.005+08:00

Xmas Log Cake

2008-12-27T18:22:00.002+08:00

Chocolate Fudge Cake

2008-12-27T18:21:00.003+08:00

Chocolate Chiffon Cake

2008-12-27T18:20:00.003+08:00

Walnut cake with chocolate chips

2008-12-27T18:17:00.002+08:00

Chocolate Banana Cake

2008-11-13T08:17:00.006+08:00

Chocolate Chiffon Cake 6" Mini Cake

Ingredients
(A)
1 egg yolk (60g)
20g caster sugar
40g Self raising flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
20ml corn oil

(B)
10g cocoa powder + 60g hot water

(C)
1 1/2 egg white (60g)
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
50g caster sugar

Method
1) Put greaseproof paper at bottom of pan, do not grease side. Preheat oven at 175C.
2)Mix (A) together.
3) Add (B) into (A) and mix till smooth with a wooden spoon. (It should be thick but not lumpy)
4) Whisk egg white with cream of tartar till foamy, then add caster sugar gradually.
5) Whisk till egg white mixture is fluffy but not too stiff.
6) Fold egg white mixture into egg yolk mixture gently.
7) Do not overfold or else the batter will be deflated.
8) Bake at temperature 175 C for 50min or till cooked.
9) Invert the pan and wait till it cools to remove cake. When cooled, cut into 3 layers.

Fillings
Ingredient (chocolate mousse)
40g chocolate couverture (melted)
100g whipped topping cream

4 bananas sliced

Method
1) Melt the chocolate with a double boiler.
2) Whip of the topping cream till soft peak. Add the lukewarm chocolate to the whipped cream.
3) Mix till well combined.
4) Place a layer of cake at the base, cover with chocolate mousse, place banana slices around the cake.
5) Place second layer of cake on top, cover with chocolate mousse and banana slices and place the last layer of cake on top.
6) Cover the whole cake with chocolate mousse and refrigerate till mousse becomes more firm.
7) Cover the whole cake with the chocolate ganache and decorate as desired.

Ganache
Ingredients
80g couverture (melted)
50ml whipped topping cream
20g milk
10g cooking oil

Method
1) Melt couverture with double boiler.
2) Add in whipped topping cream, milk and cooking oil.
3) Stir till thicken.

Note: If you want a thinner consistuency add more milk or whipped cream.

Heart Shape Lemon Peach Mousse Cake

2008-11-11T09:31:00.013+08:00

Heart Shape Sponge (7")
Ingredients
(A)
3 Medium size egg yolks
10g sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract

(B)
3 Medium egg whites
50g sugar

(C)
55g cake flour

(D)
40g corn oil

Method

1) Whisk (A) till creamy and thick.
2) Whisk egg whites till foamy then add in the rest of (B).
3) Whisk till stiff peak.
4) Fold in egg white into egg yolk mixture till well combined.
5) Sift in flour and fold in till well combined.
6) Take out 1/3 of batter and mix with corn oil till well blended.
7) Add in batter blended with corn oil into the cake batter and mix well.
8) Bake at oven temperature 170 C for 30 min or till skewer comes out clean.
9) Remove from pan and cool it.

Lemon Peach Mousse
Ingredients
(A)
40g lemon juice
50g sugar

(B)
1 tbsp gelatine
50g hot water

(C)
1 egg yolk

(D)
150g Whipped topping cream
5 peaches sliced/diced

Method
1)Boil (A). Add into (B) and blend well. Cook on the stove a while till a little thicken.
2) Add in (C) and mix well.
3) Cool the mixture down to room temperature and add immediately to (D) and mix well.
4) Slice sponge cake into 3 layers.
5) Put one layer onto the base of a springform or cake ring. Seperate mousse into 2 portions. Pour in 1 portion of lemon mousse. Top with another layer of sponge cake.
6) Pour the rest of the lemon mousse onto the second layer and top it with the last layer of sponge cake.
7) Refrigerate till firm.
8) Use some whipped topping cream to ice the whole cake, add some roasted almond slices or chips at the side. Decorate as desired.

Italian Delights!

2008-11-10T19:11:00.006+08:00

Coffee and Almond Cookie

2008-11-06T21:02:00.003+08:00

Chocolate Rice Vanilla Swiss Roll

2008-11-06T21:01:00.003+08:00

Cheesecake Brownie B'day Cake

2008-11-06T20:59:00.004+08:00

Ingredients:
130 gm. Butter
150 gm. chocolate - chopped
1 egg
130 gm. sugar
100 gm. plain flour
35 gm. self-raising flour

Topping:
250 gm. cream cheese - softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
75 gm. sugar1 egg
125 gm. dairy cream

Method:
(1) Combine butter and chocolate in a saucepan and stir over low heat till smooth. Cool.
(2) Beat egg and sugar until thick and creamy. Stir in melted chocolate and butter mixture.
(3) Stir in sifted flours and spread mixture into an 8" square pan, lined with greaseproof paper.(4) Bake for 15 mins. at 175C.
(5) Meantime, prepare the filling. Beat cream cheese, extract, sugar and egg in small bowl with electric mixer untoil smooth.
(6) Beat in the cream then pour mixture over brownie and bake for another 15 mins. at 160C.
(7) Refrigerate for 3 hours, slice into 12 pieces before serving.

Orange Yogurt Cake

2008-11-02T11:22:00.003+08:00

American Carrot Cake

2008-11-02T11:21:00.002+08:00

Strawberry Shortcake

2008-10-25T23:29:00.003+08:00

Sandwich Bread

2008-10-25T23:28:00.003+08:00

Chocolate Banana Cake

2008-10-25T23:27:00.002+08:00

Pandan Kaya Layer Cake

2008-10-25T23:26:00.003+08:00

Ingredients for Pandan Chiffon

(A)
4 Egg yolks
70ml Coconut milk
45 ml pandan juice(45ml water blend with 5 blades of pandan leaves)
70ml corn oil
1/8 tsp salt
100g sugar
150g cake flour
1tsp baking powder
(B)
4 egg whites
70g Sugar
1/8 tsp Cream of tartar

Method
1)Mix egg yolks, sugar and corn oil in mixing bowl.
2)Add remaining ingredients in (A) into bowl and stir till smooth. Set aside.
3)Whisk egg whites in (B) till foamy then add in sugar and cream of tartar.
4)Whisk mixture till soft peak.
5)Mix (A) and (B) till well combined. Bake at 175C for 40mins. Remove from oven and immediately invert. Leave to cool. When cake is cold, remove from mould.
6)Slice cake into 3 layers horizontally.

Ingredients for Fillling
600ml coconut milk(from 2 coconuts)
½ tsp salt
400ml Pandan juice (400ml water blended with 5 blades of pandan leaves and strained)
100g caster sugar
85g Hoen Kwe flour (green bean flour)
1 tbsp instant jelly powder

Method for fillings
1)Mix all ingredients together and stir till well mixed.
2)Cook the ingredients at low heat until slightly thickened but not bring to a boil.
3)Divide into 3 portions.
4)In a 9” loose base tin or use a 9” cake ring, put one layer of cake at bottom.
5)Sandwich filling in between layers, ending with filling on the top layer. Refrigerate till set.

Recipe from "Declicious Cakes by Amy Heng"

Heart Cheese cookie

2008-10-25T23:22:00.004+08:00

Jammy Dodgers

2008-10-25T23:20:00.002+08:00

Almond Chocolate Cheesecake

2008-10-25T23:18:00.006+08:00

Ingredient for chocolate cheesecake
(A)
130g Butter
130g Cream Cheese
150g Brown Sugar
2 tbsps Honey

(B)
4 eggs

(C )
260g Plain Flour
30g Cocoa Powder
½ tsp Baking Soda
½ tsp Baking Powder

(D)
1 Orange zest, grated
50g Orange Juice

(E)
200g walnuts, chopped

Method
1)Cream (A) till light and fluffy.
2)Add (B) and cream until light and smooth. It would start to curdle which is normal.
3)Immediately add in ½ of (C ) and mix until well blended.
4)Add (C ) and (D) alternately in several times until the ingredients are used up. Mix until well blended.
5)Add (E) and mix until well incorporated.
6)Grease and line the bottom of 23cm square pan. Pour the batter onto the prepared pan. Bake at 180C for 40min. Remove it from the pan. Set aside to cool.

Ingredients for Cheese Topping
250g Cream cheese
50g Icing sugar
1 Orange zest, grated
2tbsps Orange juice

Method for cheese topping
1)Beat the cream cheese and icing sugar until light and smooth. Add in orange zest and juice.
2)Mix until well blended. Spread it on top of the cake.
3)Cut into bars and decorate with caramelized walnuts.

Note: You can change walnuts to almonds. For a 20cm pan please use ¾ portion.

Recipe adapted from "Alex Goh Baking Class Fantastic Cheesecake"

Pancakes

2008-10-11T08:55:00.001+08:00

Eggless Fruit Flan cake

2008-10-11T08:39:00.003+08:00

Banana Cupcakes

2008-10-11T08:35:00.002+08:00

Japanese cotton cheese cake

2008-10-07T19:09:00.009+08:00

Ingredients
(A)
160g Cream Cheese
25g butter
120g milk

(B)
40g flour
30g corn flour
(C )
4 egg yolks
(D)
4 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
100g sugar
pinch of salt

Method
1) Grease and lined the bottom of two 20cm oval pans. Wrap outside of pans in foil.
2) Place (A) in mixing bowl and stir over double-boiler until thick. Remove it from double boiler.
3) Add (B) and mix till well combined. Add (C ) and mix until well blended.
4) Whip the egg whites in (D) until foamy. Then add the remaining (D). Continue whipping until soft peaks. Add it into the cheese mixture from step (3). Mix until well incorporated.
5) Pour the cheese filling into the prepared oval pans. Bake in water bath at 160C for 40-45mins or until firm and golden brown.
6) Remove cake from the oven and remove from mould immediately. Set aside to cool.

Variation:
If you want it to taste more creamy, replace the milk with whipping cream.

Recipe adapted from "Alex Goh Baking Class Fantastic Cheesecake"

Fruit tarts

2008-10-07T19:08:00.004+08:00

Sweet pastry tart shell

Ingredients
100g butter
50g icing sugar
210g plain flour

Method
1) Cream butter and sugar till light and creamy.
2) Add in plain flour to butter mixture till well corporated.
3) Put into mould and bake at 190C for 15-20 min or till browned.

Filling
1 Cup Milk
1 Cup Custard Powder
1/4 Cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp corn flour

Strawberries and kiwi fruits diced.

Glaze:
5g Instant Jelly)
10g sugar) Boiled together till sugar and jelly dissoled, cool till lukewarm for brushing.
50g water )

Assembling method
1) Mix milk and custard powder, put into pot and boil.
2) Add in milk, vanilla essence.
3) Add some water to corn flour to dilute it, then pour into custard mixture to thicken.
4) Remove from stove and cool.
5) Pipe some custard into tart shell and add strawberries and kiwi fruits on top. Brush some instant jelly glaze on top of the fruits. Chill and serve.

Lemon Chocolate cake

2008-10-01T13:01:00.003+08:00

Vanilla with almond chips cream cake

2008-10-01T12:59:00.002+08:00

Chocolate cake

2008-10-01T12:57:00.003+08:00

Chicken Pot Pie

2008-10-01T12:28:00.006+08:00

Ingredients
2 cups Plain Flour
4 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp shortening

1/8 tsp salt

4-6 tbsp cold water

Method

1) Add salt into plain flour. Cut butter and shortening into flour, rub it in till crumbs like.

2) Add cold water into the flour mixture and lightly mix together into a dough. Test a small handful of mixture and press to see if the mixture can be pressed into a dough.

3) Pour the mixture into a piece of clingwrap, lightly push the

mixture into a dough and wrap the dough. Put the dough in the fridge for half hour.

4) Seperate into 16 balls of dough. Roll out each ball of dough between 2 parchment paper.

5) Put the rolled out dough into the pie mould leaving 2 cm overhanging. Press in the dough into the mold. Use a fork to poke a few times at the base of the pie shell.

6) Add the chicken fillings and roll out another piece of dough. Turn an empty mould upside down to cut the dough. Cover up the chicken filling with the dough, press the sides to seal. Use the knife to make some cutting on the top of the pie.

7) Bake at 200C for 20 mins or till brown.

Chicken filling
Ingredients
200g Chicken breast diced small, marinated with salt and corn flour
Half onion cut into small wedges
1 bowl Frozen mixed vegetables
Half bowl of milk
3 tbsp corn flour
1/2 tbsp salt

Method
1) Heat oil and fry onion till fragrant.
2) Add the chicken breast and fry for 1 min, then add the milk.
3) When the chicken is almost cooked, add in mixed vegetables and milk.
4) Add salt to taste, then mix corn flour with 1 tbsp water.
5) Bring chicken fillings to a boil, add in the corn flour mixture.
6) Stir and thicken the sauce, leave to cool before wrapping.

Strawberry Mousse Cake

2008-09-21T08:40:00.007+08:00

I love Alex Goh baking class recipe books. It's easy to follow for amateur bakers and almost fail proof. I strongly recommend his cook book for amateurs. :)Yesterday made a lovely strawerry Mousse cake successfully and felt so happy when I ate the fruit of my labour this morning :) Even my kids give the thumbs up and mind u, they will usually give me good criticism haha.

A basic 7" sponge cake

Sponge cake

Ingredients

(A)

60g sugar

9g ovalette (cake emulsifier)

(B)

2 eggs (medium)

50g cake flour/top flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

(C)

1 tbsp water

(D)

30g melted butter/corn oil

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Method

1) Pour (A) into mixing bowl and mix well.

2) Add (B) and whip till thick.

3) Stir in (C) with the batter.

4) Whip batter till light and fluffy.

5) Mix (D) till well blended. Pour into a 7" round mould.

6) Bake immediately at 180C for 30 mins.

7) Once baked, remove from mould immediately.

Strawberry Mousse

(A)

200g strawberry puree( around 7 big strawberries)

30g sugar

(B)

2 tbsp gelatine powder mix with 2 tbsp boiling hot water.

(C)

200g whipped cream(beaten to soft peak)

(D)

Strawberries

Method

1) When sponge cake cool, cut it into 2 horizontal layers with serrated knife.

2)Cook (A) till it boils, when sugar dissolved, switch off flame.

3)Pour (B) into (A) and stir well.

4) Cool mixture over ice water or wait till room temperature.

5) Immediately add (C) and blend well.

6) Cut strawberries into thin slices, about 2mm thick and place around side of 8" round ring mould.

7) Place 1st layer of sponge cake on the bottom of the ring. Put some 1/2 cut strawberries onto it and pour 1/2 of filling over it.

8) Top with 2nd layer of sponge cake and pour remaining 1/2 of filling over it and smooth it.

9) Refrigerate overnight or till firm.

10) Remove the cake ring, decorate as desired and arrange strawberries on top.

11) Serve.

Adapted from Alex Goh Baking Class "Creative Making of Cakes"

Meat Floss Bun/ Cheddar Cheese bun

2008-09-21T08:17:00.006+08:00

Made some meat floss bun and cheddar cheese bun yesterday. This is the basic recipe from Alex Goh Baking Class, "The World of Bread". I used half the portion and it yield around 9 buns in total.

Basic Sweet Bun dough
Ingredients
(A)
240g Bread Flour
60g plain flour
55g sugar
5g salt
10g milk powder
2 tsp yeast

(B)
1/2 egg
150g cold water

(C)
30g butter or shortening

Topping (Meat floss bun)
Mayonaise
Meat floss

Topping (Cheddar cheese bun)
Grated Cheddar cheese
Sugar

Method

1) Mix (A) till well blended

2)Add (B) and knead to form a dough

3)Add (C), continue to knead for around 10 to 15 min to form a smooth and elastic dough.

4) Cover dough with clear film or moist towel. Let it prove for 50-60min or till double in size.

5) Divide basic sweet bun dough into 60g portions. shape into balls and rest for 10mins.

6) Dhape dough into long shape and put them on a greased baking tray to prove for 45mins.

7) Brush with egg wash and bake in the middle of the oven at 190C for 12 mins.

8) For cheddar cheese bun, after putting egg wash put grated cheddar cheese and sprinkle sugar on top before baking.

9) When cool, for meat floss bun, put mayonaise and meat floss on top.

Simple Glazed Icing Cupcakes

2008-09-13T12:35:00.011+08:00

Ingredients
175g Self raising flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
60g caster sugar
150ml fresh milk
1 medium size egg
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp corn oil

Decorations: Chocolate hearts
Glaze Icing
250g icing sugar
2-4 tbsp water(according to preferance)
1 drop pink colouring

Method
1) Sift flour and baking powder together.

2) Add sugar into flour and mix well.

3) Mix milk, egg, oil and vanilla essence together.

4) Pour wet ingredients into flour and mix gently till all combined.

5) Bake at 200 C for around 15-20min or until skewer comes out clean.

Glaze Icing
1)Mix sugar, water together till well blended.
2) Add in pink colouring one drop at a time and mix till your preferred colour.
3) Clingwrap the container to prevent icing from glazing over.

NOTE: For chocolate flavour cupcake base, use 145g self raising flour and 30g cocoa powder.

Char Siew Pao

2008-09-10T22:01:00.001+08:00

This is a char siew pao that can be made within 3 hours. Recipe is taken from http://auntyyochanaindex.blogspot.com/, tested and verdict is the pao skin is fluffy and fillings is tasty. Thumbs up!

Ingredients
Dough:
(A)
300 gm. Hong Kong flour

2 tsp. Pau King double-action Baking Powder

(B)

60 gm. castor sugar
2 tsp. Instant Yeast
35 gm. Shortening

(C)

140 ml. water

Fillings

250 gm. Char Siew (diced)

1 shallot - diced

1 Tbsp. Oyster sauce

1 Tbsp. Soya Sauce

1 tsp. sesame oil

130 ml. water (combined with 1 1/2 Tbsp. cornflour)

Salt and sugar to taste

oil for frying

Method
Dough:
(1) Sieve (A)into a mixing bowl.

(2) Add (B) and mix, then pour in (C) and knead till a dough is formed.

(3) Knead the dough with your hands for about 15 mins.

(4) Let dough proof for about 30 mins.

(5) Weigh and scale into small dough of about 30 gm. each.

(6) Wrap with fillings and seal tightly.

(7)Place onto greaseproof paper and leave to proof for another 30 mins.

(8) Steam over high heat for 10 mins.

Fillings:

(1) Heat up oil and fry the diced onion until fragrant.

(2) Add in Add in char siew and the rest of the ingredients.

(3) Cook till thick.

(4) Leave to cool before wrapping.

Stuffed Glutinous rice Chicken Wings

2008-09-10T21:21:00.000+08:00

This is a very simple to made dish that is healthy and delicious too.

Ingredients

5 chicken wings with bone removed

Marinade

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp shao xing wine

Stuffings

Dry mushrooms soaked and diced

120g Glutinous rice rinsed

1 tbsp soya sauce

1/2 tsp salt

Pinch of pepper

Method

1) Marinate deboned chicken wings with oyster sauce and wine for half hour.

2) Mix the seasonings and ingredients for stuffings well.

3) Spoon 3 tsp of stuffings into chicken wings pockets.

4) Place chicken wings on a plate and steam at high heat for 50mins.

5) Serve hot.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-09-10T19:21:00.001+08:00

I got this recipe from this really interesting baking website http://auntyyochana.blogspot.com/ and did some amendments to the proportion of the sugar since i did not like pastries that are too sweet. I also made my cookies bigger as I prefer cookies of a bigger size.

Ingredients:

250 gm. Butter

1 tsp. vanilla essence

100 gm. castor sugar

90 gm. brown sugar

1 egg

320 gm. plain flour

1 tsp. bicarbonate of soda

200 gm. chocolate chips

Method:

(1) Beat butter, vanilla essence, sugar and egg with electric mixer until smooth.

(2) Add in flour and bicarbonate of soda and stir in chocolate chips.

(3) Pick up one heap tablespoon of mixture and roll into ball.

(4) Place the ball onto the tray and flatten it. Make sure you leave some spaces in between cookies as the mixture will expand a bit during baking.

(5)Bake at 180C for 15 mins or till golden brown.

(4) Cool on wire rack before storing in airtight containers.

Burger Bun

2008-09-08T20:47:00.002+08:00

Homemade burger bun is always healthier without any artificial preservatives and additive.

Ingredients
(A)
400g Bread Flour
20g Sugar
6g Salt
1 tbsp Milk Powder
2 tsp Instant yeast

(B)
250ml water

(C)
30g shortening

Method

1) Mix (A) well, then add (B) and knead to form dough.

2) Add (C) and knead for 10mins to form a smooth dough.

3) Let dough prove for 45 mins or till double in size.

4) Divide dough into 80g portions, mould into balls and put onto greased tray.

5) Let it prove for 15 mins, then flatten slightly and prove for another 30mins.

6) Brush with water and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.

7) Bake at 190C for 12-15mins.

8) Slice bun horizontally.

Mixed fruits Scones

2008-09-08T12:38:00.002+08:00

Some scones for tea!

Ingredients

(A)

250g Plain flour

1 tbsp Baking powder

1/2 tbsp Milk Powder

Pinch of Salt

40g Sugar

(B)

45g Butter

(D)

130ml Fresh Milk

(E)

Mixed Fruits

Method

1) Sieve flour and baking powder together. Then mix all ingredients in A well.

2)Add (C) into the flour mixture using rubbing in method.

3)Then add (D) and make into a dough.

4)Add (E) and mix well.

5) Let dough rest for 15 min then roll out to 2cm thick.

6) Use a 5cm round cutter to cut out rounds and put them onto lightly greased tray.

7) Brush with eggwash(optional) and bake at 200C for 15-20mins.

NOTE: Do not overmix the dough or else the scones will turn out tough.

Braised Pork

2008-09-04T19:11:00.003+08:00

Braised Pork or Lor Bak is a good dish to go with porridge, mantou and rice. It is very simple to make too.

Ingredients

500g pork belly or front thigh meat

Seasoning

3 cloves of garlic

1 star anis

1 stick of cinnamon

3 pieces of Danggui

1 tbsp dark sauce

1 tbsp soya sauce

120ml of water

1 small piece of rock sugar or 1 tsp of sugar

Method

1) Add in the water and seasonings into a claypot.

2) When the water boil, add in the pork.

3) Turn the fire to small.

4) Slowly simmer for half hour, turn the pork to the other side.

5) Simmer for another half hour. Switch off the fire.

6) Serve with rice or mantou.

Fried Carrot Cake ( Char Kway)

2008-09-04T18:41:00.006+08:00

I fried my own carrot cake today. It is really simple and the ingredients are cheap and easy to assemble.

Plain carrot cake

Ingredients

500g of radish grated

2 cups of rice flour

2 cups of water

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp oil

Method

1) Grease a 7 " round tin and heat up a steamer.

2) Heat the skillet and add in oil. When the oil is heated up pour in the grated radish.

3) Stir fry the radish for around 15min until the radish is soft and the fluid has dried.

4) Pour rice flour and salt into a mixing bowl and pour in the water. Mix the flour and water well.

5) Add the fried grated radish into the flour mixture and mix well.

6) Pour the mixture into the greased tin.

7) Put the tin into the steamer and steam for 50 min, or until the centre has solidify.

8) Leave the cooked carrot cake to cool down completely before covering the tin with a plastic wrap and chill in the fridge.

9) Leave it over night or at least 8 hours.

Ingredients for frying the carrot cake

2 tbsp chai bor ( preserved radish)

1 garlic chopped

2 tbsp oil

Spring onion chopped

2 eggs beaten

3 tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp sweet sauce

1 tbsp black sauce

some pepper

Method

1) Dislodge the carrot cake from tin and cut into cubes of 3 cm each.

2) Heat up the oil in a frying pan, add in the garlic and chai bor, stir fry till fragrant.

3) Add in the carrot cake cubes, stir fry for 3 mins.

4) Make a well in the middle of the carrot cake cubes and add in the eggs.

5) Fry the cubes and eggs together till well mixed.

6) Add in the fish sauce, pepper, sweet sauce and black sauce.

7) Make sure the carrot cake is well coated with the sauce.

8) Add in the spring onion, switch off the fire and stir the spring onion into the carrot cake.

Note: Make sure the carrot cake is almost ready before adding the sweet sauce and black sauce or else the carrot cake will become bitter. If you are replacing the fish sauce with soya bean sauce, you should mix it together with the black sauce and sweet sauce first before adding to the carrot cake. This should also be done only when you are sure the carrot cake is already cooked.

Snowskin Mooncake

2008-09-03T21:35:00.011+08:00

I had been doing alot of baking recently since I bought my first oven. However, I have not taken photo of any of my creation due to laziness haha. The next time when I take photo of my creation, I will also upload the recipe. Mid-Autumn festival is round the corner and I thought I will save some money and make some mooncakes. Being a fan of snowskin mooncakes, I decided to make these. I successfully made snowskin mooncakes, after 2 failures, which my mooncake skin turn out flaky and not smooth like those commercial ones. After doing quite a bit of troubleshooting, I finally made my first batch of decent looking ones.

Ingredients

Skin

90g Kao Fein
10g Tang Mien Fen (Wheat starch)
30g shortening

180ml water
4 tbsp sugar ( 80g sugar if you like it sweeter)
1 blade of pandan leaf
1 tbsp fresh milk

Filling

2 tbsp melon seeds
260g Lotus seed paste

Method

1)Boil water, add in pandan leaf and dissolve sugar. Cool the syrup then put in fridge to chill it.

2)Mix kao fein and tang mien fen together. Add shortening and use rubbing in method to mix in the flour into crumbly form.

3)Add in fresh milk and syrup into the flour mixture.

4)Knead into a soft dough, it should be mildly sticky. Do not overmix or else skin will be hard.

5)Mix melon seeds into paste.

6) Roll lotus seed paste into balls of 20g each. Set aside.

7) Roll the dough into balls of 30g each. Put a ball of dough between a transparent plastic wrap and roll it out.

8) Do not roll out too thinly or else the skin will break easily.

9)Gently pick up the rolled out dough and place one ball of lotus seeed paste in the middle.

10)Carefully press the opening shut and place the ball into the mould, making sure the opening is facing you.

11) Knock out the mooncake and chill it at least 1 hour before serving. Keep the mooncakes in container before storing in the fridge and the softness of the skin should last at least 4 days.

Note: All ingredients can be bought at Phoon Huat, including the lotus seed paste. But if you are free and adventurous enough, you could make your own, it's at least 2 times cheaper. Be warned though that it's tedious work and need alot of arm power since you need to stir the mixture for at least 1 hour. I spent around 5 hours altogether from cooking the lotus seed till it soften to having the end product. You could get the recipe of the lotus seed paste from the website given above, I have gotten the recipe for the snowskin mooncake from there too, but did some modification according to what I have experienced from my failures.

Vanilla Ice cream with almond slices and chocolate pieces

2008-08-11T09:59:00.008+08:00

Just learnt how to make ice cream from a nice book. The book is bilingual, in english and chinese, ingredients are simple and instructions easy to follow. I managed to make 2 batches of delicious and healthy ice cream ( ok ice cream are sinful but at least there is no preservatives and colourings from commercial ones :P). Today I decide to make one more batch of ice cream, to finish up the big packet of whip cream I bought from Phoon Huat. The big packet of whip cream cost me $6 plus and I made 3 big boxes of ice cream. Really worth it, it's great for a party!

Ingredients
(A)
3 egg yolk
60g sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence
150g dairy whip cream or 100g fresh milk

(B)
250g Non-dairy whipped cream

(C)
Almond slices
Chocolate chips

Method
1)Mix A well and double boil till slightly thickens. Leave aside to cool.
2)Whipped up the non-dairy whipped cream till stiffen.
3)Add in mixture A and (C) into the stiffened cream. Mix well.
4)Pour into a box and freeze overnight.

NOTE: 1) The non-dairy whipped cream has to be whipped up at degree between 5 to 7.
2) Non-dairy whipped cream can be bought from phoon huat, just ask for assistance.
3) Leave the mixture overnight so it will harden, preferbly for 1 and half day so the consistuency will be thicker and harder.

Cheese cake

2008-08-10T17:14:00.005+08:00

It's hubby's birthday tomorrow and I made a cheesecake for him. Strawberry cheesecake with jelly topping. :)

Ingredients
(Base)
1/3 block of butter
7 pieces of digestive biscuits mashed

(Fillings)
4 big strawberries pureed
125g philedelphia cheese
50g Condensed milk
4 strawberries chopped
3 tsp gelatine
1 tbsp hot water

(Jelly topping)
4g agar-agar powder (any colour)
350g water
2 tbsp sugar (or more if you like it sweeter)

Method
1)Oil a 7 inch pan with butter.
2)Cut the butter into the mashes digestive biscuit.
3)When the butter is well mixed with the biscuit, press the mixture onto the base of the pan.
4)Place the pan into the fridge to chill the base so it can be firmer.
5)Mix the cheese, pureed strawberry and condensed milk and mix it well.
6)Add in the chopped strawberries and mix well.
7)Mix the gelatine with the hot water and add into the cheese mixture.
8) Make sure the mixture is well mixed and pour into the pan mould, spreading the fillings well with a spatula.
10)Garnish the top with strawberries.
11)Put in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
12)Stir the agar powder into water of normal temperature.
13)Add sugar into the liquid and boil with low heat.
14)Leave the mixture to cool.
15)When the mixture is just slightly warm to the touch, pour gently on top of the cheese cake. It should be around 3 cm in thickness.
16)Cover the pan with a plastic cover and leave it for at least 3 hours.

NOTE: 1)Do not pour in the agar mixture when it is too hot. It will melt the cheese cake.
2)The pouring of agar mixture should be gentle, if not air bubbles will form on the surface.

Donuts to go with coffee or tea!

2008-08-10T16:46:00.008+08:00

I bought a fantastic book on baking bread, the title is "The World of Bread" by Alex Goh baking class. "Popular" bookstores carry the book, cost around $14. The ingredients are simple and instructions easy to follow. Today I decided to make donuts.

Ingredients
(A)
150g Bread flour
100g Plain flour
10g Milk powder
30g Sugar
5g Salt
1/4 tbsp baking powder
2 tsp yeast

(B)
1 Egg yolk
150ml cold water

(C)
25g Shortening

Chocolate Topping
50g chocolate
15ml milk
Roast almonds slices

Method
1)Mix (A) until well blended then add (B), knead to form a dough.
2)Add (C) to knead into a smooth dough.
3)Leave the dough to prove for 45 mins under a wet cloth.
4)Mould the dough into a ball and leave it for another 15mins.
5)Roll the dough out into 10mm thickness.
6)Use a doughnut cutter to cut out individual donuts.
7)Put the donuts onto lightly floured tray under wet cloth. Leave for 35mins.
8)Heat the oil and fry the donuts till slighly browned.
9)If you want sugared donuts, coat with fine sugar when it is still hot.
10)If you like chocolate coated ones, melt the chocolate by double boiling method, coat the top of the donut then sprinkle the almonds slices on top.

Healthy lunch

2008-08-10T16:07:00.009+08:00

Had disappeared for a long time, really busy at work, and felt rather tired after doing alot of baking recently. :) Dotter had to do a healthy lunch with my help as a project over the long National Day weekend, so she did the planning and managed to come up with a healthy and yet delicious dish.

Ingredients

Broccoli washed and cut into smaller pieces
Carrot julienned
Fishball 6 pieces halved
Mushrooms 4 pieces chopped
1 tbsp oil from fried onion
Egg white from an egg (optional)
2 tbsp soya sauce

1)Arrange the broccoli in the outermost ring.

2)Next place the carrots in the middle of the plate.

3)Place the fishball in a ring on top of the carrots.

4)Next add the chopped mushroom right in the middle.
5)Drizzle onion oil and soya sauce on the ingredients.
6)The ingredients are now ready for steaming.
7)Steam the ingredients for 10mins.

8)Add the egg white on top of the fishball and mushrooms and steam for another 5mins.

9)Remove from steamer and the dish is ready.

Fish Soup

2008-06-22T13:49:00.004+08:00

Ingredients
200g sliced batang fish fillet
some fish bone
1 tomato cut into wedges
Tofu cut into cubes(optional)
Local lettuce (optional)
spring onion chopped(optional)
Parsley chopped (optional)

Seasoning
2 tsp onion oil
500ml water
2 tbsp fish sauce/1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp chinese wine
pepper

Marinade
1 tsp salt
1 tsp corn flour
Sprinkle of pepper

Method
1. Marinade fish slices, leave aside.

2. When the water boil add in the fish bone. Turn to medium fire and boil the bone for 10min.

3. Remove the bone, add in onion oil.

4. Add tomato and when the water boils add in the fish slices.

5. Gently stir so that the slices do not stick together.

6. When the fish is 3/4 cooked, add in the fish sauce, chinese wine and sprinkle of pepper.

7. Let the water boil for 2 mins then switch off flame. Add in spring onion.

8.Serve hot with rice or pour on bowl of rice to make it into teochew type fish porridge.

Claypot Pork & Liver with ginger and spring onion

2008-06-22T12:47:00.012+08:00

Ingredients
300g pork
100g liver
4 slices of ginger
2 stalks spring onion cut into 4cm length
1 garlic chopped
2 tbsp oil

Marinade
2 tsp soya sauce
Sprinkle of pepper
2 tsp corn flour

Seasoning
2 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
Pepper

Method
1. Marinade the pork and liver separately with 1 tsp or soya sauce and 1 tsp of corn flour each.

2. Heat oil in claypot, add garlic and ginger. Fry the garlic and ginger till fragrant, add sliced pork.

3. Close the cover for 2 min, then stir the pork till 3/4 cooked. Add seasoning and mix well.

4. Add in the spring onion and the liver. Turn up the heat and close the cover. After 1 min, switch off the flame.

5. Open the cover and mix the liver and spring onion well with the seasoning and replace the cover.

Note:
1)The remaining heat in the claypot will cook the liver. Overcooking the liver will make it tough.
2)The liver can be replace with sliced firm bean curd (tau kwa).
3)You can also fry chicken or fish instead of pork, but in both cases you will not add dark sauce and for fish, you substitute the soya sauce with salt.

Fried Kway Teow ( No pork no lard version)

2008-06-22T11:49:00.010+08:00

Ingredients ( For 4 person)
500g Kway Teow noodles

300g Yellow noodles

3 Fish cake sliced thinly

100g prawns

1 Chinese wax sausage sliced (optional)

1 bowl of bean sprouts

1 garlic chopped

3 tbsp oil

1/2 bowl water

Seasoning

3 Tbsp soya sauce

1 tbsp dark soya sauce

1 tbsp sweet sauce

Method

1. Heat oil, add garlic. Fry for 1 min, add fishcake, kway teow and yellow noodles.

2. Add half of the water to the noodles and mixed evenly, while cutting up the noodles to shorter strands.

3. Fry for 2 min, then add the rest of the water and prawn fry till the prawn is almost cooked.

4. Make a well and pour in the egg. Scramble and mix with the noodles. Add in the bean sprout and fry for another 2 mins.

5. Add in the seasonings, making sure all the noodles get the seasonings, then switch off flame.

Note:

1)Use medium flame throughout so that the noodles will not get burnt.

2)Do not add in the seasonings too early or else the noodles will end up a little sour.

Fried Hokkien Mee (No pork version)

2008-06-20T09:04:00.016+08:00

This morning made hokkien mee （炒福建面）for breakfast. The whole process took me half an hour including cooking and cutting. For those people who do not know, Fried hokkien mee is a local delicacy. It is one hawker food you don't want to miss. Ok with no further ado, I will bring you the recipe.Ingredients( serves 4)
500g Thick Vermicilli
300g Yellow noodles
4 prawns or more deveined
1 squid cut into rings
1 fish cake sliced thinly
1/2 chicken breast sliced thinly
Chye Sim (optional)
1 garlic chopped
1 onion sliced thinly
1 egg beaten
1 bowl water/stock
3 tbsp oil
4 tbsp soya sauce

Marinade
Oyster sauce
Soya sauce
Pepper
1 tsp corn flour ( for chicken only)

Garnish
Chilli sliced thinly
Lime cut into half

Method
1.Marinade chicken with 1 tsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp soya sauce,pepper and corn flour. Marinade the squid and prawn with 1 tsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp soya sauce. Set the items aside for 5 mins.

2.Heat the oil and add the onion and garlic. Fry for 1 min, add in chicken and fry for 2 mins, add fish cake and fry for 1 min.

3.Add in the yellow noodles, then thick vermicilli. Add half a bowl of water and make sure the yellow noodles and vermicilli are well mixed.

4. Add in the prawn and squid and the other half bowl of water. Fry till all ingredients are cooked.

5. Add in 4 tbsp of soya sauce. Make sure the soya sauce are mixed well, make a well in the middle of the noodles and add the egg.

6. Scramble the egg and mix well with the noodles. Switch off flame.

7. The noodles can be served with some sliced chilli placed on top as garnish. The lime juice is to be added to the noodles before eating.

Note: The authentic hokkien mee version is not with chicken but with pork belly. But I decided to use the healthier version. This version of the recipe can be used by muslim considering it is cooked without pork.

Steam fish with garlic

2008-06-19T16:52:00.011+08:00

Ingredients

1 slice of threadfin 1 slice of ginger

3 tbsp soya sauce

2 tsp onion oil

1 garlic chopped

1 tomato cut into wedges

50ml hot water

Spring onion (optional)

Parsley (optional)

Method

1. Put a slice of ginger onto the plate.

2. Place the fish on top of the ginger.

3. Add chopped garlic on top of the fish.

4. Add onion oil and hot water on the fish.

5. Put the fish into the steamer and replace the cover.

6.When the steam appears, wait for 5 mins and switch off the flame.

7.Add spring onion and cover the cover.

6. The fish can be served now.

Note:

1)Water in the steamer must be room temperature when you start.

2)You can use any other kind of white fish if you can't get threadfin.

Chicken Feet & Peanut Soup

2008-06-19T16:25:00.011+08:00

Ingredients (Serves 4)

10 chicken feet

6 red dates with seeds removed

400g peanuts

2L water

Salt

Method

1. Boil water in a earthen pot/claypot.
2. Add red dates and peanuts.
3. Bring to a boil then simmer for 1 hour.
4. Bring the water to a boil and add the chicken feet, when the water boils, turn down to flame to low.
5. Cook for another 1 hour, add salt to taste and the soup is ready to be served.

Fish/ Fish Head Curry

2008-06-19T12:05:00.020+08:00

Ingredients

1 fish head/2 pieces of any type of fish/2 whole fishes
1 Brinjal cut into 4cm cubes
4 ladys Finger cut into 3 pieces
1 tomato cut into wedges
1/2 onion cut into wedges
3 tbsp fish curry powder mixed into paste
3 bowls of water
1 small stalk of curry leaf
2 tbsp oil/ghee
1 tbsp thick coconut milk

Method
1. Heat up oil in the pot and add in onion. Fry till fragrant, add in curry leaves and curry paste.
2. Fry the mixture for 1 min and add in water. Switch to strong fire.
3. Add in the brinjal and tomato.
4. When the water boil, add in the fish, then switch to medium flame.
5. After 5 mins, add in ladysfinger.
6. Simmer for another 10mins, add in salt to taste and 1 or 2 tbsp of thick coconut milk.
7. Mix the coconut milk well and switch it off. Serve with plain rice or Briyani rice.

Fish in coconut milk and tumeric

2008-06-18T12:21:00.013+08:00

I have some left over coconut milk from making nasi lemak previously. So I decided to try to finish it up. Today for lunch, I tried making "Fish in coconut milk and tumeric". The recipe was picked up from a cooking show. It is rather easy to make and not spicy which is just right for serving up for a family with kids.

Ingredient

3 slices of Mackerel, ikan tengiri or any white fish

1 tomato cut into wedges

3 tbsp of packet coconut milk diluted with 1 cup of water

3 tbsp thick coconut milk

Half onion sliced

2 slices of ginger julienned

1 green chilli julienned

1 garlic chopped

1 small stalk curry leaves

2 tsp salt

2 tsp tumeric powder

2 tbsp oil/ghee

Method

1. Marinade fish with 1 tsp tumeric powder, 1 tsp salt, some chopped garlic and leave aside for 10mins.

2. Heat oil and fry onion, ginger, chilli, garlic and curry leaves.

3. Add diluted coconut milk and 1 tsp of tumeric powder and bring to a boil. Add fish and lower heat and cook for 10 mins.

4. When the fish is ready, add tomato and 1 tsp of salt.

5. Cook for another 3 mins and add thick coconut milk. Switch off the fire after another 2 mins.

A Little Indian Flavour

2008-06-17T21:59:00.017+08:00

Feeling a little bit sick of the chinese food, so today made chicken briyani rice for dinner. The origin of Briyani Rice is said to be from the Indian army where the soldiers have to move from one place to another leaving no time for making meals. So they only have one main meal a day, which is dinner. The marinade chicken and rice layered on top of the chicken will be put in a pot. The pot will be tied to the side of an elephant together with a stove. By the time the army reach the camp site in the evening, the food will be ready.

The rice I am cooking is going to be the easy version. The original called for the rice to be cooked in a pot, but I will be using a rice cooker to save effort.

Briyani Rice

Ingredients
2 cups rice
Water or broth
4 cloves
4 cardamon
1/2 stick cinnamon
1/2 star anise
1 tsp tumeric power
1 tsp salt
half onion sliced
2 tbsp oil or ghee

Method

1. Heat the oil, fry the onion for 2 mins, then add in cloves, cardamon, cinnamon and star anise. Next add in the washed rice and mix the rice with the spices and onion.

2. Pour the well mixed rice and spices into the rice cooker and add water or broth to the 2 cups mark.

3. Add salt and tumeric powder then close the cover and cook rice.

4. You can add sultanas and cashew nut to the cooked rice too. As garnish you could add parsley and fried onion.

Briyani chicken

Ingredient

2 chicken legs

Half onion sliced

2 tbsp oil/ghee

Marinade

3 tbsp yogurt

1 tsp meat curry paste/garam masala

1 tsp salt

1/2 stick cinnamon

Method

1. Marinade chicken leg with marinade mixture for 1 hour.

2. Heat oil and fry onion until fragrant. Add cinammon stick and fry for another min.

3. Add the chicken and the rest of the marinade mixture and bring to boil then turn down to low fire and cook for half an hour.

4. Serve with the briyani rice.

Meditarranean Feast!

2008-06-06T18:20:00.012+08:00

Yesterday, I promised the kids a mediterranean feast tonight. I intend to make cusines from different countries at least once a week, and explain the culture and stories about that particular country where the cusine originated from while we sample it. Tonight I made Chicken casserole and tomato rice. Though tomato rice is not a particular dish originating from the mediterranean, the dish composition is close enough to what they eat.

Chicken Casserole

Ingredients

2 chicken legs

1 carrot cut into big pieces

2 potatoes cut into quarters

2 celery cut into big pieces

1/2 big onion sliced

Water

Half a lemon

1 tbsp Olive oil

1/2 tsp Black peppercorn

Parsley chopped

1 tsp salt

3 tsp corn flour

Method

1. Heat up the olive oil in a pot. Add the onion and fry for 1 min, add in the chicken, carrot, potatoes and celery. Add half a lemon of lemon juice and peppercorn.

2. Add water enough to cover 3/4 of the chicken leg. Bring to a boil then turn to low fire for 30 to 40 mins.

3. When the ingredients are cooked, add in salt to taste and pasley. Mix corn flour with some water. Turn up the fire to boiling point and add in the corn flour and stir to thicken the sauce. Switch off the fire and serve hot.

Tomato rice ( For 3 person)

Ingredients

2 tomatoes pureed

1/2 onion cut into quarter

1 cinnamon

salt

water

1 1/2 cup rice

1 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Heat olive oil in a pan and fry the onion and cinnamon. Add in the rice and fry till it crackles.

2. Remove the rice from the pan and put into a rice cooker.

3. Add in tomato puree and add in water. Remember to less the amount of water that we normally add to cook the rice according to the amount of puree added.

4. Close the cover and cook the rice.

5. Rice can be served with chicken casserole, or curry.

Pork and Liver Mee Suah

2008-06-06T17:52:00.011+08:00

This morning I made pork and liver mee suah（猪肝瘦肉面线）. Mee suah is a type of chinese noodle made from wheat flour. It's texture is soft and is a suitable for young children and old people who can't bite too well. The best mee suah are hokkien/Amoy mee suah. It is easily cooked and you can actually cook the noodles longer to make it abit soft and gluey. Since my pregnancy, that's the way I like all my noodles done, super soft hehe. This is a very fast to cook dish that can be ready in 20 mins including preparation and cooking. Ok here's the recipe.

Ingredients ( For 2 persons)

100g pork sliced

50g liver sliced

600ml water

2 slices of ginger julienned

1 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp soya sauce

2 tsp corn flour

1 tsp salt

Pinch of pepper

1 tsp of Shao Xing chinese wine

Mee suah 2 pieces

Garnish

spring onion chopped

parsley chopped

Method

1. Marinade pork with soya sauce, pepper and 1tsp corn flour. Marinade liver with 1 tsp cornflour.

2. Bring 300 ml of water to a boil and put in the mee suah. Add sesame oil and 1/2 tsp salt to the water.Cook till the noodle is soft, if you like it softer, boil it a little longer.

3.Drain the hot water, add 300ml water to the noodles and bring to a boil.

4. Add in the ginger and pork. Add salt, pepper and wine to taste.

5. Add in liver and boil for 1 min before switching off the fire.

6. Add in the spring onion and parsley to garnish.

7. Pour the noodle soup into a bowl.

A sumptuous and nutritious breakfast.

Note: Do not over cook the liver, or else the liver will turn tough. After the fire is switch off, the heat will continue to cook the liver.

Bittergourd and Pork ribs with black bean paste

2008-06-03T10:50:00.004+08:00

Ingredient
1 tsp of black bean paste with garlic
half a bittergourd
1 tsp cooking oil
300g Pork Ribs/Spareribs
1 garlic chopped
3/4 cup water
Marinade
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tsp chinese rice wine
1 pinch of pepper
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp corn flour

Method
1. Marinade the pork ribs with the marinade mixture. Set aside.
2. Clear the seeds from the bittergourd. Cut the bittergourd into long rectangular pieces around 6cm by 3 cm. Add 1 tsp of salt into the water and soak the cut bittergourd in it for 5 mins.
3.Heat the oil in a pot, fry garlic and add in the black bean paste.
4. Add in the pork ribs and bittergourd and stir fry for 2 minutes till the ingredients get all the bean paste.
5. Add water and wait for it to boil then switch to small fire.
6. Stew the pork ribs and bittergourd for 40minutes.
7. Remove from fire and serve hot with rice.

Note: 1)Soak the bittergourd in salt water to remove some of the bitter taste.
2)The bittergourd should not be cut into too small a piece because we are stewing it for long period of time, if it's too small, it will disintegrate into the sauce.

The smell of this dish just makes your appetite grows!

Pork & Century egg Congee

2008-06-03T10:49:00.046+08:00

Ok havent been in this blog for a long long time. Had been in hospitalised, then bed rest and finally able to walk around abit more. Anyway, morning sickness seem to have subsided some, so now I have more energy to think up some nice food for everyone. Today made "Pork and Century egg porridge" ( 皮蛋瘦肉粥） for Dh for breakfast.

Recipe for Pork and Century egg porridge(Congee)

Ingredients

1 century egg cut into cubes

50g sliced pork

half cup of rice

500ml water

1 tsp onion oil

1/2 tsp of salt

1 stalk of spring onion chopped

1 tsp of fried onion

Method

1. Put the washed rice in a claypot/pot, add water, onion oil, a pinch of salt.

2. Bring the water into a boil and turn to small fire and cook for half hour until the rice has turn soft and mashy.

3. Add the pork and salt to taste.

4.Scoop out the porridge into a bowl, add century egg, fried onion and spring onion to garnish.

5.Add some pepper if desire.

The finished product: tasty pork and century egg Congee

Vegetarian Bak Kut Teh

2008-06-03T10:49:00.045+08:00

Bak Kut Teh or Pork Rib Tea （肉骨茶） is a soup that is a local delicacy. It is said that this soup originate from the creation of poor coolies in Southeast Asia. They are very poor and whenever able will gather whatever herbs they could get hold of and make into soup together with pork rib. The herbal soup is delicious and is said to boost their constitution. There are many version of pork rib tea, herbal type and the teochew more peppery version. But here I will introduce the herbal version but vegetarian style. If you want you could substitute the bean items with pork ribs.

Ingredients

3 sticks of Tau Kee ( Bean Stick) soaked for half hour

1 can Button Mushrooms

Other Vegetarian ingredients like tau pok, mock meat (optional)

Soup Base

1/2 piece shu di (chinese herb)

1 slice danggui (chinese herb)

1 stalk of dang sheng (chinese herb)

1 piece of bei qi/huang qi(chinese herb)

1/2 stick of cinnamon

1 star anise

1 honey date

1 tsp of white peppercorn

1 tbsp of black sauce

1 tbsp soya sauce to taste

4 Cloves garlic (optional)

Method

1. Boil 800 ml of water, add in the ingredients for soup base and bring to a boil, then switch to small fire for 40 minutes.

2. Add in the tau kee and cook for another half hour, then add in the button mushrooms and soya sauce to taste, bring to a boil.

3. Switch off the fire and serve the soup hot with rice.

Note: 1)You can add in 2 cloves of garlic into the soup base if you want but garlic will not be added to strict vegan dish .
2) If want to use pork ribs instead, add the pork ribs into the soup base when it boils and cook at low fire for 45 minutes.

Love is pain

2008-04-30T19:27:00.004+08:00

Quoted from a korean TV serial

"Love is pain"

When Love just started, fear and hope makes it painful.

When in a relationship, trying to understand each other makes it painful.

When the relationship ends, not believing that it has actually ended makes it painful.

The Sims castaway stories

2008-04-30T18:39:00.008+08:00

Today on my way home after school, I bought "The Sims Castaway Stories" game and was happily going to install when I discovered..........

The game needs DVD ROM but my PC only has CD ROM!!!! +_+

Called hubby and he laughed at my muddleheadedness but promised to get me a DVD ROM. Well that's the good thing about having a husband who is in the IT engineering line :P But in the meantime, I can't play the game :(

The harem

2008-04-29T18:48:00.004+08:00

In the house, DH has a harem of 8 mistresses, 7 are golden and one is dark skinned. These enchantresses always move around in seductive motions and are always swarming together in one direction when DH comes close. They are very lucky, just gotten a bigger "house" last month so that they could live comfortably. Every night when DH comes home and every morning before he leaves the house, he will attend to them. *sigh* Below is their photo.

Why 8 fishes? DH likes to think that these "mistresses" bring him good fengshui and luck and so more fortune haha. Sometimes when DH makes me angry, I will threaten to make them into the likeliness of the creature below.

But of course me being a kind hearted soul, all are just mere talk and no action haha. As if the house is not crowded enough with 2 kids and 8 fishes, DH had to promised the kids 2 hamsters. And so one day the good mommie though reluctant, with the kids in tow went to a pet shop to get their hamsters. The shop keeper recommended a good house( better quality so cost more), a bath "tub", some vitamins and the necessities to make the hamster comfortable in their new home, the bill came up to $145!

The dark grey one was named Reynard(Alexis named it after one of her classmate +_+), the other one was named Simon by Alyssa as in the chipmunk. Anyway, Simon came as a pitiful looking small hamster while Reynard was fury and cute. But after a month, we can't say the same, Simon has grown to twice it's original size, having difficulting squeezing up and down the vertical tunnel. All because of it's greediness and its bad habit of snatching food away from Reynard. Still they are adorable and fun to hold them, but provided they don't decide to do their "big business" on the palms that are holding them. Simon and Reynard waiting for food, but too bad it's just me with the camera :P

Monday blue

2008-04-28T18:37:00.004+08:00

Still sick after so many days. Not having enough sleep is taking a toil on me, this morning I dragged myself out of bed to get to school because I have some uncompleted things to do. By the time I reach mid morning, I am almost fully drained.

I happened to meet my HOD outside the ladies on my way back to the staff room and she was concern on hearing my "sexy husky" voice and pale face. She is nice to suggest getting a helper when I go for class. I was lucky to have a fellow teacher to help me relay the instructions for the listening comprehension exam, of course when he finished, I thank him and told him he could go off, feeling bad that he had to sacrifice his free period to help me. My last 2 periods with my 3Ns were quite peaceful with the help of an adjunct teacher. However, after the whole day I am still left with a voice more hoarse than before :( Later on I left early with my HOD's urging.

Honestly, I am very thankful that my HOD and Principal had been very patient and kind with me. Considering I had been very sick with morning sickness for a few weeks and had to take mc almost once a week, then later on at the advice of my gynae, a week's rest at home, and now my flu *sigh* It's like never ending, really feel bad that I can't function very well. I only can hope that after I advance into the second trimester, I can put in more energy and effort into my work. But for now, I must beat this flu bug *argh*!

Pickled Vegetables

2008-04-27T12:59:00.004+08:00

Ingredients

Chye Sim or Spinach

Japanese vinegar

1 teaspoon
Sugar 1/2 teaspoon

Soya Sauce 1 teaspoon

White sesame seed

Method

1) Put pot of water to the boil, cut vegetables into short stalks.

2) Blanch the vegetables and when it turned dark green, remove from fire.

3)Drain the water and pour water in room temperature to cool the vegetables.

4) Place the vegetables onto a plate.

5)Mix all the items for the sauce together and pour onto the vegetables.

6) Last sprinkle some sesame seed on top of the vegetables.

Fried Fish with lime

2008-04-27T12:50:00.001+08:00

Ingredients

2 fishes (Ikan Selar)
Ginger
Salt
1 teaspoon
1 lime

Method

1) Grate the ginger to get juice.

2)Score the fish and squeeze ginger juice onto the fish to marinate.

3) Spread the salt all over the fish.

4)Prepare the pan with 1 tablespoon of oil for frying.

5) Pat the fish with some corn flour then slide the fish in.

6) When the fish are nicely cooked on both side, place on a plate.

7)Half a lime to be squeezed on the fish before eating.

Chawan Mushi

2008-04-27T12:36:00.016+08:00

I finally decided what to cook for lunch, and it's a spread of japanese dishes. This is what I made- chawan mushi, fried fish with ginger juice, pickled vegetables and miso soup.

Recipe for chawan mushi

Ingredients
2 small eggs
250 ml stock (made from 250ml water and 2 tablespoon ikan bilis)
2 teaspoons soya sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 shitake mushroom sliced
6 slices of japanese fishcake
2 pieces of crab stick cut into quarter

Method
1)Break the eggs into a bowl and mix up the yoke and white in a Z fashion with a chopstick without foaming it.
2)Add the soya sauce and salt into the stock.
3)Add the cooled stock into the egg gently and mix gently with the chopstick.
4)Divide the mushroom, fishcake and crabstick into 3 cups.
5)Pour the egg mixture into the 3 cups equally.
6)Use aluminium foil to cover the top of the 3 cups.
7)Put the cups into the steamer that has the water already boiling.
8)Switch on big fire for 1 or 2 mins, then switch to low fire for another 12 to 15mins.
9)Check if the chawan mushi is ready by poking a satay stick into the egg. If some broth comes out from the hole that is poked, it is ready. Do not overcook or else it will lose it's soft silky texture.

No Japanese teacup so used the old kopitiam coffee cup instead haha

Sunday Fiesta

2008-04-27T09:33:00.010+08:00

This morning woke up at 8 plus and can't go back to sleep even though I had been coughing the whole night and barely sleep a wink :( Poor DH had to tolerate my horrible coughing for the past 2 days, yesterday night he got woken up and tried to sooth my cough by using some old grandma method-rubbing vicks vapour rub onto the sole of my feet then wear socks. It seem to help for a while, but then the cough starts again *sigh* Anyway after brushing my teeth, I went downstairs to get some bread, eggs and a packet of Marigold Mixed Fruit Yogurt drink. Taste good! :)

Made myself a nice spread of egg and ham plus bread and the yogurt drink for breakfast. After having my fill, I decided to give DH a surprise by making breakfast for him.

Eggs and Ham in the pan!

The end product complete with some cafe style presentation :P

After that I got the kids to wake up their daddy. But poor guy, he must be really tired, nothing seems to be able to get him out of the bed. Well.....so what happen next is.........

The kids requested having the same breakfast as their dad (haha must be my food looks really appealing) with some variation. Alyssa wanted ham, egg and orange while Alexis wanted ham, bread and orange. Oh well, of course their requests were accepted because Mom got to be fair and satisfy every customer no matter how little they are. :P

Looking at the kids' faces, I assumed I did a fantastic job of satisfying their gastronomic needs! Now I have to think of what to prepare for lunch as the maid is off today! '=.= Be back later when I have an idea what to prepare for lunch .

Canon Powershot SX100 IS

2008-04-26T11:50:00.009+08:00

Finally learn how to use the timer of the camera after half of year of acquiring the item. *faint* Never like to read instruction manual, prefer to check it out through exploring (ya la I admit I'm lazy :P) Yesterday I was playing around with the camera and accidentally found out how to use the timer. I was so excited with the finding that I started taking photographs with the timer on! When Alexis came back from posting letter with the maid, she got interested too, and we both had a fun time setting timer to take photographs. Now finally I don't have to take self portrait that is so near that exposes all my fine wrinkles! eeks!

Me on my old rattan chair.

Me again!

Alexis joined me in this photo taking frenzy in the their room.

A photo in the study room.

Last but not least, in the living room with Alexis cute little feet facing the camera!

Udon noodles to start my first post!

2008-04-19T09:14:00.002+08:00

This morning got up at 7 plus and decided to make udon noodle soup for breakfast. Spent like 20 mins and viola! I have a nice piping hot bowl of japanese udon noodles. If you love japanese food and hate to pay a bomb for it, likes cooking but hate hassle, then maybe you can try out this simple receipe.

Ingredients
Instant Udon Noodles (1 packet)
Japanese fish cake (any number of slices you like)
vegetables
hard boiled egg (1)
Miso Paste (2 table spoons)
Bonito or Ikan Bilis (4 table spoons)
Water 400ml
Spring Onion sliced thinly

Method
1) Bring pot of water to a boil, then add in the bonito or ikan bilis. Boil for 5 mins, remove the ikan bilis.
2)Add in miso paste and mix well in the soup. When the soup boils, add in the instant udon noodles and japanese fish cake.
3) Add in the vegetables when the soup bubbles then lastly add in the sliced spring onion before switching off the fire.
4) The egg can be placed on top of the noodles after it is poured into a bowl.

Note: The instant udon noodles is much easier because you do not have to precook it before adding to the broth. The japanese fish cake can be purchased at NTUC, just bought 2 packet for 2 dollar plus the other day, there was a promotion going on. Other ingredients like mushrooms can be added too. But since I have an aversion to mushrooms at this present moment, I drop that from my ingredient. Happy Cooking!