Tazz In The Kitchen

It's time to quit blogging...

2006-07-11T10:15:00.000+08:00

Dear Readers and Friends,

I have finally arrived at the decision to quit blogging altogether, for reasons best known to myself and a few of my cyber friends.

I will, however, continue with my hobby to try new recipes for my three dear ones at home, post food photos in my photo album and MAYBE the food forums (with links to the sources only) - a hobby which will take up much less of my time, effort and most important of all - zero responsiblity.

The entries for this blog will be permanent for as long as blogspot doesn't forfeit my account.

Thanks for your support on this blog.

Lemon Cheese Cookies

2006-07-09T21:30:00.000+08:00

I love lemon and cheese, and the combination of these two ingredients in this Lemon Cheese Cookies recipe is incredible. The whole kitchen was filled with the aroma of lemon and cheese during baking. My two naughty ones popped so many freshly baked cookies into their mouths that I had to shoo them out of the kitchen, to prevent them from getting sore throat.

Recipe is from Joy of Making Cookies by Alex Goh.

Lemon Cheese Cookies

Ingredients:
100g cream cheese
60g Cheddar cheese, grated
200g butter
150g caster sugar
1/8 tsp salt
lemon zest from 1 lemon, finely grated
1 egg

Dry Ingredients: (sift together)
300g plain flour
20g corn flour
1 tbsp milk powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

100g flaked almonds (for coating)

Method:

Cream the cream cheese till smooth. Add in grated Cheddar cheese and mix till well blended.

Add in butter, sugar & salt and whisk lightly. Then, add in the grated lemon zest & egg and cream till smooth.

Add in the dry ingredients, mix till blended. Chill in the fridge for an hour to firm up the dough.

After an hour, take the dough from the fridge and knead lightly to become pliable.

Divide the dough into 4 portions. Shape each portion into 28cm long triangular log.

Coat all the sides of each triangular log with flaked almonds. Wrap it with plastic sheet and chill overnight.

Remove the dough from the fridge and cut into 3mm thick slices.

Place the slices into a greased tray or a tray lined with baking paper.

Bake in preheated over at 170 degree Celsius for 20 minutes or till golden brown.

Note: Do not cream the mixture till light and fluffy.

Sweet & Sour Pork Chop

2006-07-08T23:30:00.000+08:00

My children like pork chops cooked in this way and to date, I have tried with different ingredients for the sauce, but every time, they never failed to polish up the whole dish. This is no exception. I only ate a small portion because my appetite has not been in top form lately, but the two finished up every bit of it as well as the soup and stir-fry vegetables for dinner.

Sweet & Sour Pork Chop

Ingredients:
350g Pork Chops, cut into slices of 3/4" thick
1/2 onion, sliced
1/2 green capsicum, sliced
some pineapple cubes

Marinade:
1 tsp light soy sauce
1/4 tsp dark soy sauce
1/2 egg
1 tbsp potato starch
a dash of black pepper

Sauce:
3 tbsp tomato sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1-1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp vinegar
1/4 tsp salt or to taste
1/2 cup water

Thickener(optional):
some potato starch with water

Method:

Tenderise pork with millet or back of a cleaver.

Marinate pork for about an hour.

Deep-fry the pork with hot oil till golden brown. Drain and set aside. When slightly cooled, cut into bite size.

Heat wok with 1–2 tablespoons oil and sauté onion till softened. Add capsicum and pour in the sauce ingredients. Bring to boil.

Return pork chop pieces to the wok and add pineapple. Thicken sauce with potato starch mixture (optional).

Cook for a while before dishing out to serve.

Salmon Potato Rolls

2006-07-02T18:30:00.000+08:00

Made this simple Salmon Potato Rolls for dinner. Gene and Ni were delighted. This is a modified recipe of Salmon Potato Patties.

Salmon Potato Rolls

Yields 16 rolls

Ingredients:
400g potatoes
1 can salmon (185g), drained & flaked
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp garlic, chopped
75g big onion, chopped
2 tbsp spring onion, chopped
2 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped
1 red chilli, seeded and chopped
Oil for deep-frying

Seasoning:
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
½ tsp curry powder

Coating:
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup breadcrumbs

Method:

Boil potatoes till cooked. Peel and mash the potatoes.

Heat oil in a non-stick pan and fry garlic and onion till lightly brown. Dish out and leave to cool then add to the mashed potato. Add salmon and stir in the seasoning. Mix well.

Add spring onion, coriander leaves and chilli. Combine well and shape into longish rolls.

Dip into beaten egg and roll in breadcrumbs.

Heat oil till hot and deep-fry the rolls until golden brown.

Drain on absorbent paper. Best served hot.

Coconut Chick Peas Pudding

2006-07-01T15:00:00.000+08:00

This pudding recipe is from Adaw of Leisure Cat. The recipe is so popular among the forummers there. Cantonese name for this pudding is called 椰汁馬豆糕 , pronounced as Ye Chup Ma Dau Gou. I was told that 馬豆 Ma Dau is actually called Chick Peas in English, so I shall name this Coconut Chick Peas Pudding. A very tasty dessert indeed. I like the smooth texture of the pudding.

Coconut Chick Peas Pudding
椰汁馬豆糕

Ingredients:
100g chick peas
about 160g-170g evaporated milk
300g caster sugar
400g coconut milk
170g corn flour
5 cups (1250ml) water

Method:

Wash and soak chick peas with some water for about an hour. Boil to soften the peas and discard the water. Set aside.

Mix corn flour with coconut milk and evaporated milk. Blend well.

Bring 5 cups of water to a boil and add in the sugar. When the sugar has dissolved, stir in the corn solution gradually (I lowered the heat when I stirred in the corn solution). Keep stirring the mixture until the mixture comes to a rolling boil. Stir in the softened chick peas and mix well.

Pour into a mould which has been rinsed in icy cold water. Let it cool before putting in the fridge.

Note: Can substitute the chick peas with sweet corns or red beans. When substituting with red beans, use the red beans water to replace part of the water in the recipe. Must add sugar to red beans.

Bacon, Mushroom & Cheese Tarts

2006-06-24T22:00:00.000+08:00

Bacon, Mushroom & Cheese Tarts recipe is from Leisure Cat. Originally a Pie recipe, but I changed it into Tarts. The dough for the tart shells was very oily and not easy to handle, impossible to roll out. Even Bondycat, who shared this recipe, said she had had difficulty rolling the dough, hence she used fingers to press the dough onto the pie tin. But the oily dough actuallly yields tasty flaky pastry, which is my favourite. When the tarts were freshly out of the oven, Gene, Ni and I couldn't wait and we had two tarts each. Delish! Many who tried this recipe said that the recipe is sinful, but who cares when comes to occasional indulgence of the palate.

Bacon, Mushroom & Cheese Tarts

Ingredients for tart shells:
200g cake flour
1/5 tsp baking powder
100g butter, room temperature
60g caster sugar
1 egg
a drop of vanilla essence

Method:

Sift the cake flour and baking powder together, set aside.

Cream the butter with caster sugar until white and creamy.

Add egg and continue to beat until smooth, add vanilla essence.

Fold in flour gradually until well blended.

Wrap the dough in a cling wrap and chill for about 1 to 2 hours.

Divide the dough into small balls and press the dough into the tart moulds. Ensure even thickness of the dough.

Put the prepared moulds in the fridge.

Ingredients for filling:
80g bacon, sliced
1 garlic, minced
8 button mushrooms, sliced thinly
60g diary whipping cream
60g milk
1 egg, beaten
a pinch of salt
a dash of pepper
50g Cheddar cheese, grated

Method:

Beat the egg, milk and diary whipping cream till well combined(creamy white in colour), add salt and pepper.

Put bacon, mushrooms and garlic on the prepared tart moulds. Pour the egg mixture into the moulds.

Sprinkle grated cheese on the mixture.

Bake in preheated oven at 190 degree Celsius for *45-50 mintues. (*my oven temperature is low compared to other oven, so I actually took the same time, as the original pie recipe, to bake the tarts)

Tazz's Note: To make into Pie, use a 18cm pie tin. The recipe for the pastry yields 14 tart shells. I made 12 tarts but I would suggest pouring the filling into 10 tart shells to make puffier tarts.

Tips that I learnt from cooking programme on tv: Button mushrooms turn black easily. After washing, add lemon juice or venegar in a bowl of water, soak button mushrooms briefly. Drain and put in the fridge. Button mushrooms will not turn black easily.

Meme - 10 Things I Miss of Mum's Cooking

2006-06-19T11:30:00.000+08:00

I have been tagged by Angie to do this Meme on 10 Things I Miss of Mum's Cooking. Mum used to cook up a storm regularly, in the past, but not anymore, since she is old now. Tazz also cooks up a storm occasionally, but just a storm in the tea cup. *lol*

Mmm... on this topic, let me recall, let me recall..... Okay, here goes:

1. 十全大补汤 (shi2 quan2 da4 bu3 tang1) - a special Chinese tonic soup boiled with duck. She used to served this soup with Mee Sua during Chinese New Year long long ago.

2. Curry Chicken - served with hot rice or French loaf.

3. Ngoh Hiang - she only made this for Chinese New Year because she said too troublesome. Recipe can be found in my blog.

4. Hokkien Rice Dumpling - hers the best Hokkien Rice Dumpling that I have ever tasted. (Most people think that their mum made the best rice dumpling in this world. Tazz is no exception. *lol*)

5. Hae Bee Hiam - pounded dried shrimps fried with sugar and chilli, specially prepared for her Hokkien Rice Dumpling. Tazz used to pilfer when no one was watching.

6. Chilli Crabs - she cooked this when my ex-brother-in-law used to bring live crabs to our place last time. Mum was good in handling the armoured ones.

7. Rice Cake - made from left over porridge and flour, then soaked in water. Sliced the firm rice cakes thinly and stir-fry with pork, dried shrimps, chilli and vegetable.

8. Melt-in-the-mouth Kueh Bangkit - her little cookies business during Chinese New Year long long ago.

9. Home brewed Coffee with Raw Egg - I remember only my sister, Karen, and I tried this. Mum gave us this hot coffee with raw egg, and when I sucked the warm raw egg yolk, wow! the taste was fantastic. She only gave us a couple of times because someone told her it was bad to eat egg everyday. &%#@!&

10. Tang Yuan - the extremely sinful version that can be found in my blog.

Okay, task done! I shall pass the baton to:

Lin from Sinfully Yours
Sharon from Live Is Full Of Surprises

Reasons for choosing them?
Lin must have missed her mum's food badly, being so far away from Singapore.
Sharon seems curious about this Meme game that bloggers have been playing when she reads my previous Meme.

Chilled Yakult Yogurt Cake

2006-06-18T15:00:00.000+08:00

Gene and Ni told me to make something, on behalf of them, for Father's Day. While I was searching for a cake recipe, the two kept bugging me for chilled desserts. Hmm... I wondered whether they were really sincere about wanting to give their Dad something nice or just an excuse to savour in their favourite chilled desserts. Afterall, I didn't hear a single murmur of their Dad's favourite, but all the repeated reminders of "I like chilled cakes!" or "We like chilled desserts!!" from the two gluttons. See how naughty they are?! Haha..they take after Tazz for this instance. Tazz also doesn't take his preferences into consideration when comes to desserts. *lol* Poor hubby and miserable Dad! Happy Father's Day!

This Chilled Yakult Yogurt Cake is an adaptation from the same Chilled Orange Yogurt Cake that I made in the beginning of this year. Original recipe is from Leisure Cat.

Chilled Yakult Yogurt Cake
(7" cake pan)

Ingredients for the base:
crumbs from 7 pieces of disgestive biscuits
40g melted butter

Ingredients for the filling:
100g sugarless natural yogurt
150ml yakult (I used apple flavour)
1 tbsp lemon juice
150ml non-diary whipping cream
1 tbsp gelatin
3 tbsp sugar
150ml water
Grated lemon zest

Jello Topping:
1/3 pkt Jello
120ml hot water
1/2 tsp gelatin

Method:

Mix the digestive biscuits crumbs with melted butter, and press firmly to the base of the cake pan. Chill for later use.

Dissolve gelatin and sugar with water. Set aside to cool.

Beat yogurt, yakult and lemon juice until well blended. Add cooled gelatin solution and mix well.

Whip the non-diary whipping cream till mousse state.

Add the yogurt mixture to the whipped cream and mix well.

Pour the combined mixture onto the cake base.

Sprinkle the lemon zest on the surface of the cake.

Chill in the fridge to set.

Boil all Jello topping ingredients using very low heat until dissolved. (Not supposed to bring to boil.)

When the cake is set, spoon the cooled Jello solution on the cake and refrigerate again.

______________________________________________________________

Yakult is a fermented milk drink made by fermenting skim milk powder and sugar with the beneficial bacteria Lactobacillus casei Shirota strain. This bacterium helps to replenish the good bacteria in the small intestine, ensuring that our digestive system works efficiently and effectively.

More information on Yakult can be found here.

Looks like I am advertising for Yakult. *lol* Well, well, just extra information for those who have no idea of what Yakult is.

Braised Potatoes with Mid Wings

2006-06-17T13:00:00.000+08:00

This Braised Potatoes with Mid Wings recipe is an adaptation from here . Exact quantity of the ingredients are not stated in the original recipe. I just cooked this based on my intuition for the quantity of the respective ingredients. Not a bad job! We like this dish afterall.

Braised Potatoes with Mid Wings

Ingredients:
3 medium size potatoes, quartered
1 white onion, sliced
12 mid wings
about 1-1/4 cup water

Seasoning-1:
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp corn flour

Seasoning-2:
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar

Method:

Marinate chicken with seasoning-1 for about an hour. Do not discard the marinade after that.

Heat about 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan, sauté white onion till translucent. Dish up and set aside.

Add more oil into the pan and heat up. Fry potatoes till golden brown. Dish up and set aside.

Leave about 2 tablespoon of oil in the pan and fry the mid wings till fragrant. Add in the remaining marinade and seasoning-2. Stir-fry for a while. Transfer to a pot.

Add the potatoes and onion into the pot.

Add water into the pot. Bring to a boil and lower the heat.

Simmer for 45 mins.

Serve hot.

Mango, Pomelo & Sago Pudding

2006-06-11T15:30:00.000+08:00

I was searching Hong Kong sites for an eggless Mango, Pomelo & Sago Pudding or Chilled Cake recipe, and I found this recipe by Bakery Lover. Quite apprehensive to attempt this recipe at first because I preferred the measurement of mango puree to be in weight rather than number of mangoes (all mangoes differ in size and weight). I thought precise measurement is important in such recipes to yield the perfect consistency - neither wobbly nor hard pudding.

Finally went ahead with my attempt and made minor adjustments to the recipe based on my intuition. Kept my fingers crossed when the pudding was in the fridge. Haha... I was exhilarated when the pudding came out perfect and the taste was just right for my liking. Yes! I did it!!!!

I substituted the coconut milk with evporated milk; increased the amount of pomelo; reduced the castor sugar by 10g; used only 5 mangoes instead of 6 as stated in the recipe. For the quantity of gelatin, not very sure because I was having a jovial exchange with naughty Gene and Ni, and not concentrating with the measurement at that time. *lol*

Mango, Pomelo & Sago Pudding
楊枝甘露布甸

Ingredients:
550g mango puree
300g mango cubes
100g Thai pink pomelo, split into separate bits
50g sago
100g castor sugar (adjust according to sweetness of mango)
100g diary whipping cream
100g evaporated milk
150g drinking water
abt 35g-40g gelatin

Method:

Boil water in a pot. Add sago to boil until transparent. Pour the cooked sago into a sieve then place under running tap water. Drain well and set aside.

Mix drinking water with gelatin, then add in the castor sugar. Dissolve the gelatin and sugar in a double boiler and set aside to cool.

Put the gelatin solution in a mixing bowl. Add in diary whipping cream, evaporated milk and mango puree, mix well.

Add the cooked sago and pomelo. Stir well.

Add the mango cubes to the mixture.

Finally pour the mixture into the mould. Chill to set.

Fresh Milk Tarts

2006-06-05T15:00:00.000+08:00

Haha... I have been neglecting my blogs. Sorry for being MIA for so long. Yes, I said "blogs"! Infact I have two blogs, one is my main blog - Tazz In The Kitchen and another one is my Index Blog, not any cut and paste Chinese Soup Blog! Neither have I any Sushi making photos. *lol* Chill man!

Back to yaking about recipe again, which is the main objective of my humble blog. The following recipe is an adaptation from this Banana Tart from Leisure Cat. I have omitted the banana part, thus changing the name of the recipe to Fresh Milk Tarts, an idea suggested by the original recipe.

Fresh Milk Tarts

Yields 8 Tarts

Ingredients for tart shells:
60g butter, room temperature
40g icing sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp milk
120g plain flour
a drop of vanilla essence

Ingredients for filling:
236ml milk
60g icing sugar
2 egg whites

Stir the milk filling ingredients thoroughly till well blended. Filter and set aside.

Method:

Cream the butter and icing sugar till white and creamy.

Add in the egg yolk and milk and blend well with the butter. Add in flour and vanilla essence, then knead into a dough. Chill the dough for 25 minutes.

After 25 minutes, divide the dough into 8.

Press the dough into the tart moulds. Make sure that the edge of the dough is slightly taller than the mould . Ensure even thickness of the dough.

Place the tart moulds on a baking tray. Pour the milk filling into the tart moulds till 90% full. Bake in preheated oven at 180 degree Celsius for 25 minutes or till done.

Note: To make the original Banana Tarts, just cut one banana into think slices, add in 3/4 tablespoon of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of castor sugar. Then lay the banana slices in the tart shells before pouring in the milk filling. Another optional ingredient is a minute dose of banana essence, to be added to the milk filling.

You may also use other fruits besides the banana.

Nice Fluffy Pancakes

2006-05-09T11:00:00.000+08:00

Del aka Hulamom shared this Pancakes recipe in Nurkochen. According to her, she got this recipe from one of her son's story books, about a true story of Fannie Farmer who was credited with coming up with the first recipe book. True to her words, this recipe yields nice fluffy pancakes.

Originally known as Fannie Farmer's Famous Griddle Cakes, before they were called Pancakes. As I have another Pancakes recipe in this blog, I shall name this Nice Fluffy Pancakes to avoid confusion.

Nice Fluffy Pancakes

Dry Ingredients:
2 cups plain flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 tbsp baking powder

Wet Ingredients:
1 egg
2 cups milk
2 tbs melted butter

Method:

Mix and sift dry ingredients.

Beat egg, then add milk and pour slowly on first mixture.

Beat thorougly and add melted butter. Drop by spoonfuls on a greased hot pan or griddle, cook on one side.

When puffed, full of bubbles and cooked on edges, flip and cook other side.

Serve with maple syrup and butter or whatever floats your boat.

Tip by Del: Can also convert the recipe into waffles if you have a waffle iron.

Radish Cake

2006-05-06T21:25:00.000+08:00

I like to eat Radish Cake, be it hawker’s Fried Radish Cake or those that are cut into big slices and fried. There is one recipe that I have been very keen to try. The recipe was taken from a cook show featuring Heirloom Recipes. Alas, the family was not very forthcoming in sharing the actual recipe. All ingredients were given in brief estimations. To make matter worse, the measurement of water was given in bowl, an uncommon one that they had been using at home.

After studying a few Radish Cake recipes, and calculating the safe amount of water and flour ratio, I decided to whack one Radish Cake recipe using the same ingredients and method of the said recipe. Verdict? Very pleased with the result.

Those shown in the photo were coated with beaten egg and fried. Yum… I simply love the soft texture of hot fried cakes.

Radish Cake

Ingredients:
1 radish (abt 550g), shredded and strained (do not squeeze)
350ml water (radish water and some water to form this amount)
60g Chinese sausage, diced
25g dried shrimps, soaked, drained and chopped
abt 2 tbsp cooking oil
4 shallots, sliced thinly
1 tbsp and 1 tsp of light soy sauce
slightly lesser than 1/2 tsp salt
some pepper

Batter Solution (mixed and filtered):
175g rice flour
1 tbsp tapioca flour
350ml water

Method:

Heat oil in a wok and sauté the shallots till brown. Remove the fried shallots leaving the oil in the wok.

Add dried shrimps and Chinese sausage and stir-fry till fragrant. Add light soy sauce, salt and pepper.

Mix in the shredded radish.

Pour in 350ml water and bring to boil, and then lower the heat to simmer for a while.

Mix in the batter solution and fried shallot simultaneously.

Stir until mixture thickens.

Transfer the mixture to a square pan (size: 6.5").

Place the square pan in a steamer and steam for about 50 minutes or till done.

Cool completely before slicing.

Note: In the show, more fried shallots were added than this recipe. But then, Ni doesn't like strong fried shallot taste, so I daren't add too much. :P

The above recipe is considered small, if you double the recipe, I guess have to use a 8" square pan.

Fried Golden Pomfret

2006-05-05T21:10:00.000+08:00

I had wanted to update this post on Tuesday evening but then something went wrong with the internet connection and I couldn't surf for three days. Hubby made serveral calls to SingTel, the service provider, and after running a few tests, he was told that our modem driver was faulty and had to be replaced with a new one. So we took the opportunity to extend another two years broadband service contract with Singtel so as to get a free modem. Due to the coming election, we were told that delivery of the new modem would be delayed until next Monday or Tuesday. Thinking that we would have to go cold turkey without the internet until next week, how miserable?!

Hehe... then Gene comes back tonight and after a few key strokes by him, *Tada!* everything is running again. Hmm.... what faulty modem driver, SingTel?! &%#$@!#..... But then, now that all are home, Gene and Ni will be fighting over the PC with me eventhough the naughty boy has his own laptop. *Arghhhhh!* Poor me, still have to go cold turkey after this entry.

Enough ranting.... lets talk about food!

I like the sauce of this Pai Gu Wang recipe so I made minor adjustment to the ingredients and used it on my Fried Golden Pomfret. When I cooked this same dish for naughty Gene and Ni last week, they liked it so much. They told me to stick to this recipe for fried fish in future. Haha... my significant other also gave the thumbs up for this recipe after trying it on Tuesday.

Fried Golden Pomfret

Ingredients:
1 golden pomfret (or any large fish)
1 garlic, sliced
1 onion, sliced
some green pepper, sliced (Optional)
some yellow pepper, sliced (Optional)

Seasoning:
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp cornstarch

Sauce:
1 tbsp and 1 tsp tomato sauce
1 tbsp and 1 tsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
1 tbsp and 1 tsp HP sauce
1 tbsp and 1 tsp sugar
100ml water

Method:

Season the fish for 10 minutes.

In a heated wok with oil, slide the fish in and deep fry till golden brown.
Remove and put on a serving plate.

Leave about 2 tbsp of oil in the wok. Sauté the garlic, onion, green and yellow pepper.

Add the sauce and bring to a boil. (Can thicken the sauce with cornstarch and water if desired)

Pour the sauce onto the fried fish.

Serve hot.

Marble Pinwheels

2006-04-28T09:55:00.000+08:00

This recipe is from Joy of Making Cookies by Alex Goh. Haha… Thought this recipe was easy. Alas, when came to the part to stack the chocolate dough on the plain dough, it was a challenge for this butter-fingered Tazz. Some part of the chocolate dough broke off. After some manoeuvres, managed to mend the dough. *Phew!*

The name of these cookies is Marble Pinwheels. Look at the shapes of my cookies and you will see that I have not done a good job. Instead of round shapes like wheels, I have oval shapes and you can even see holes in the center of the cookies. Oh well, when I sulked over my poor skill, Gene said “Mummy, stop being a perfectionist!!!!”

Mmm…… @&#$!@#

Marble Pinwheels

Ingredients:
320g butter
170g icing sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
550g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
20g cocoa powder

Method:

1. Mix butter and icing sugar till well blended. Add in eggs and vanilla essence and cream lightly till smooth.

2. Add in sifted plain flour and baking powder and mix till well blended.

3. Divide the dough into two. Mix the cocoa powder to one part of the dough to form the chocolate dough.

4. Keep the doughs in the fridge for an hour. Roll both the chocolate and plain doughs in between sheets of plastic separately to a 5mm thickness.

5. Brush the plain dough with egg white and place the chocolate dough on top.

6. Roll it like Swiss Roll and wrap it with plastic sheet. Keep in the fridge overnight or till firm.

7. Slice it to a 3mm thickness. Place on greased pan.

8. Bake in preheated oven at 170 degree Celsius for 15-20 minutes.

Note: Do not overbake the first four ingredients. The cookies will be fragile and easily broken after baking.

Tazz’s Note: I baked for 20 minutes, the cookies were still quite pale, so I continued to bake until golden brown, like those in the book.

Hong Kong Style Chicken Rice

2006-04-25T11:00:00.000+08:00

This easy Hong Kong Style Chicken Rice recipe is from Jingle's Kitchen. This recipe is good for Tazz on a lazy day when Tazz doesn't want to do too much cooking and cleaning. I deboned the chicken and also discarded the chicken skin and excess fats. I halved the recipe to serve three.

Hong Kong Style Chicken Rice

For the rice:
Ratio of rice to hot water is 1:1

Put the rice with hot water into a square or round pan measuring about 8 inches.

Ingredients for the rice topping:
abt 500g chicken
3 big mushrooms, soak to soften
1 chinese sausage, remove the transparent skin and slice thinly

Garnishing:
2 stalk of spring onion, chopped
1 fresh chillies, slice thinly
4 small shallots, fried and collect the shallot oil**

Serving Sauce (for the rice):
100 ml of water
1 tbsp black soya sauce
1 tbsp light soya sauce
3/4 tsp sugar
2 tbsp shallot oil**

Seasoning-1:
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tbsp water
1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tbsp ginger juice
1/2 tbsp wine
1/4 tbsp light soya sauce
1/4 tbsp black soya sauce

Seasoning-2:
3/4 tbsp cornflour
3/4 tbsp shallot oil
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp pepper

Method:

Cut the chicken and mushrooms into pieces and marinate with seasoning-1 for 1 hour or longer. The chicken will be tastier if you marinate longer, but do not marinate for more than 3 hours because the ginger juice will break the chicken skin. (I discarded the chicken skin)

Steam the rice with hot boiling water for 10 mins then off the fire.

Add seasoning 2 to the chicken and mushrooms.

Cut the sausage into thin slices then add to the seasoned chicken and mushroom.

Put all on top of the cooked rice then steam for another 10 to 15 mins.

Once everything is cooked, add the the garnishing on top.

Add 2 tbsp of serving sauce to the rice before serving.

Ready to serve.

Joy of Making Cookies

2006-04-23T10:45:00.000+08:00

Went to Kinokuniya at Bugis last night and bought Joy of Making Cookies by Alex Goh. I had wanted to buy the same book somewhere before Chinese New Year, but there was blemishes on the cover page of the last copy available, so I did not buy it. When I saw this book, again the last copy there in English and Chinese, I was overjoyed.

Hmm... hope this book will be more useful to me, compared to the Fantastic Cheesecakes by the same author. There are many reasons for underutilizing that book:

1. My inability to resize some of the cakes from a 23cm square pan to a common 20cm or smaller round pans.

2. The large quantity of cream cheese calls for in some of the recipes which makes me shudder.

3. The egg calls for in the chilled cakes recipes which is unsafe in view of the rampant bird flu.

4. Unstated number of tarts the recipes yield which makes it hard to gauge the portion of each tart, so that I have neither balance of tart shells nor filling. (see Tazz is extremely fussy over such minor details? *hehe*)

5. still thinking.....

Tazz will think of ways to cross the hurdles. Enough said! This is the photo of Joy of Making Cookies by Alex Goh:

Interesting quote behind the book:

Who can resist the temptation of delicious cookies?

Light, crispy, flaky - the feeling is unforgettable. Baking cookies is a kind of double enjoyment.

Baking gives a warm feeling as the room is filled with the fragrance of cookies. Eating gives a carefree feeling as every taste bud is flooded with the perfect taste - especially when served with a cup of hot tea.

Alex shares with us the secrets of making cookies in this book, Joy of Making Cookies. Inspired by Alex, readers can create unique cookies of your personal style using your own imagination.

Pai Gu Wang

2006-04-17T19:00:00.000+08:00

Yesterday I tried another spare ribs recipe, tweaking the Pai Gu Wang recipe from Jingle's Blog. Spare ribs were used to substitute the pork chops in that recipe, hence, I added a tablespoon of ginger juice to tenderise the ribs. I also omitted the A1 Sauce called for in that recipe.

A very yummy dish, especially with the use of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, which made the sauce extra tasty.

Pai Gu Wang
排骨王

Ingredients:
550g of spare ribs

Marinade:
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp custard powder
1 egg
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp ginger juice

Sauce:
2 tbsp tomato sauce
2 tbsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
2 tbsp HP sauce
3 tbsp sugar
6 tbsp water

Method:

Cut the spare ribs into about 2 inches long. Wash and pat dry. Marinate for about 2 hours.

Mix the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Heat 2 bowls of oil, when you see tiny bubbles in the oil, put the marinated pork ribs and fry at high heat and reduce to medium heat until ribs are cooked (Use a wooden chopstick to poke the meat, if it is soft, the ribs are cooked). Dish and set aside.

Leave about 2 tbsp of oil in the wok, then pour in the gravy and bring to a boil, put in the fried spare ribs and stir to coat well. Once the sauce thickens, turn off the heat.

Serve hot.

Coffee Spare Ribs

2006-04-13T20:00:00.000+08:00

Cooked this Coffee Spare Ribs for dinner. Recipe is from Jingle's Blog. If you ask me about the verdict for this dish, hmmm... how should I put it? Okay, lets be frank. Hubby and I shared the same view. We are used to drinking coffee and eating coffee desserts. As for having a meat dish with coffee, it doesn't suit our palate.

Gene and Ni on the other hand, enjoyed this dish very much. They even mixed lots of gravy into their rice. Well, I know that coffee is just like opium to this two naughty fellas, something on which they got hooked few years back, when they acquired their "coffee drinking licences" from Tazz. *lol* Oh my god, Tazz was requested to cook this regularly.

Coffee Spare Ribs

Ingredients:
400g spare ribs (small spare ribs)

Marinade:
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp 3-in-1 instant white coffee powder
3 tbsp water

Sauce:
5 tbsp 3-in-1 instant white coffee powder
2 tbsp tomato sauce
5 tbsp water

Method:

Cut the spare ribs to about 3 inches long. Marinate for about 1 hour.

Deep-fry the marinated spare ribs in hot oil over high heat for about 6 minutes or until golden brown. Drain and set aside.

Leave 2 tbsp of oil in the wok, pour in sauce mixture and bring to boil. Add in fried spare ribs, stir to coat the fried spare ribs with the sauce. Dish out, sprinkle with some coffee powder on top. Serve hot.

Tazz's Note: The spare ribs that I used were not cut into 3 inches long, butcher's fault! :(

DIY BBQ Pork

2006-04-11T09:40:00.000+08:00

The craze of this 自製豬肉乾 DIY BBQ Pork, at Leisure Cat, has almost died down by now. Saw so many forummers made this last month. Out of curiosity, I also tried this. First trial was not very successful because I reduced the amount of sugar which was a great mistake. Eventhough I reduced the other seasoning ingredients as well, the taste was completely off the right track. On my second trial, I followed the amount of sugar called for in the recipe but reduced the other three ingredients further, namely dark soy sauce, light soy sauce and cooking wine.

Verdict? My three guinea-pigs and I agreed that there was a tinge of light soy sauce taste, so minute reduction of light soy sauce might be the solution. Nevertheless, they gave the thumbs up for this BBQ Pork. Not exactly like the BBQ Pork we used to eat but the taste and texture were very close, nice in its on way as compared to the store bought BBQ Pork.

If you are keen in this recipe, view the step by step photos here. She didn't use a baking tray although it was mentioned in her recipe. The recipe below has been tweaked, if you want the original recipe, view DIY BBQ Pork.

DIY BBQ Pork
自製豬肉乾

Ingredients:
1 lb. minced meat, with some fats
1-1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp cooking wine
1/2 cup sugar

Method:

Put minced meat in a big bowl. Add in the seasoning. Use Chopsticks and stir in one direction until minced meat becomes gluey.

Put some gluey minced meat on a *parchment paper. Cover with a big cling wrap (I think plastic sheet is better) and use a roller to roll the minced meat to 2mm thick. (*Do not use aluminum foil as it will stick!)

Put the parchment paper with minced meat, on a baking tray.

Bake in preheated oven at 125 degree Celsius for 20 minutes. **After that, increase the temperature to 180 degree Celsius and bake for about 20-30 minutes. Keep a close watch, as it burns easily at this stage.

Cooled and cut into pieces.

Tazz’s Note: ** For the last part, I baked the meat for 20 minutes at 180 degree Celsius. Then I removed it from the oven. Left it to cool and flip over on a fresh piece of parchment paper, then baked for an extra 10 minutes at 180 degree Celsius.

I think the time used to bake the BBQ Pork depends on the thickness of the meat.

P.S. I did a third batch on 15th April '06 for the BBQ gathering with my cyber friends. Adjusted the light soy sauce to slightly lesser than 1 tbsp and added 1/4 tsp of cooking oil. Bingo!! :)

A Foodblogger's Meme Around The World

2006-04-08T23:22:00.000+08:00

I have been tagged by Pusiva from Pusiva's Culinary Studio to write this Meme. Quite an easy task as compared to the previous two Meme(s) that I have done.

1. Please list three recipes you have recently bookmarked from foodblogs to try:
(a) Mango Pomelo Dessert at Jingle's Kitchen
(b) Kyoto Spare Ribs at Jingle's Kitchen
(c) Banana Pudding at Jingle's Kitchen

2. A foodblog in your vicinity:
(a) She bakes and she cooks by The Baker

3. A foodblog (or more) located far from you:
(a) Baking Sheet from LA, California, US
(b) Sweetnicks from New Jersey, US

4. A foodblog (or several) you have discovered recently (where did you find it?):
(a) If she can do it, so can you. by Rachel
(b) Jelly Jelly Jelly by wenyi198107
(c) Piggy's Cooking Journal by Piggy

5. Any people or bloggers you want to tag with this Meme?
(a) Angie's My Kitchen: My Laboratory
(b) Rachel's Tham Jiak

ABC Soup aka Luo Song Tang

2006-04-07T19:00:00.000+08:00

This ABC Soup aka Luo Song Tang is different from the ABC Soup that I have been cooking at least once a week. This soup uses chicken breast meat instead of pork ribs. Other ingredients like tomatoes, tomato sauce, pepper and sugar are seldom included in my regular ABC Soup.

Recipe is from Jingle's Blog. We like the taste of the tomatoes in this soup. Yum!

ABC Soup aka Luo Song Tang
4-5 servings

Ingredients:
2 potatoes, quartered
1 carrot, sliced
3 tomatoes, quartered
2 yellow onions, sliced
300g chicken breast meat, parboil in boiling water and cut into cubes

2000ml water

Seasoning:
1 tsp salt,
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp tomato sauce
dash of pepper

Method:

Put all ingredients into a stock pot and bring to a rolling boil.

Once boiling, lower the heat and cook for another 45 mins.

Finally stir in the seasoning and turn of the heat.

Serve hot.

Slow and Steady...

2006-04-02T16:00:00.000+08:00

I planned this Baked Chicken Wings Delight with Fried Bee Hoon for lunch today, because of my poor estimation of time and the small capacity of my 26 litre Tefal oven, we ended up eating Fried Bee Hoon without the chicken wings. Haha... by the time I finished baking all the chicken wings and the cleaning up, I had to serve the wings as snacks for our tea break.

Well, no regret for the hard work because this chicken wings tasted great with the special dipping sauce, which was actually the boiled marinade. Recipe was taken from Leisure Cat, the popular and friendly forum.

Baked Chicken Wings Delight

Ingredients:
3 lbs. Chicken wings

Marinade:
3 tbsp light soy sauce
3 tbsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
4 tbsp honey
2 tbsp tomato sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp chopped onion
1/2 tbsp salt
3 tbsp black pepper powder (more if desired)

some honey for glazing

Method:

Wash the chicken wings and dab dry, set aside.

Marinade chicken wings for a few hours (or over night).

Bake chicken wings in pre-heated oven at 190 degree Celsius for 30 mins or until cooked.

Glaze with some honey and bake for a while.

Serve with dipping sauce.

Note: Do not discard the marinade, boil it and use as the dipping sauce.

Sweet Corn Pudding

2006-03-27T11:20:00.000+08:00

Jingle shared a Banana Pudding recipe with us. I was so useless, I failed in my attempt. My first mistake was to cut the bananas too early, then the bananas turned dark brown before I added into the custard mixture. The second mistake was to add too early, instead of waiting for the mixture to thicken. The bananas disintegrated completely into the mixture and when the mixture thickened, I had difficulty stirring and some mixture at the bottom got burnt. Well, I didn't throw away at that stage, the colour of the whole mixture eventhough was not bright yellow like Jingle's, it was still presentable, so I poured the mixture into a big rectangular Tupperware tray. An hour later, when I checked the pudding in the fridge, haha... to my horror, the whole pudding turned almost black!!!!!! Hmm.. quite sad because banana is Ni's favourite and she was looking forward to the Banana Pudding.

I told Jingle about my mistakes and she suggested that I used half a can of creamy corn to replace the bananas, in my next attempt.

Well, I tried the recipe with creamy corn. As I did not have enough custard powder to do the whole recipe, I made adjustments to the ingredients. With the creamy corn, it was much easier. The pudding turned up fine but I think (just think, k?) with a little more water, say about 50ml, the pudding will be perfect!!

Sweet Corn Pudding

Ingredients:
1/2 can creamy corn
100g sugar
340ml water
4 pandan leaves, washed and tied into a knot
140g evaporated milk (carnation brand)

100 gm of custard powder + 180ml water

Method:

Bring water to boil in a pot with the pandan leaves.

Prepare 100g of custard powder + 180ml of water in a mixing bowl. Stir to mix well and set aside.

Once the smell of the pandan leaves is fragrant, discard the pandan leaves and add sugar into the boiling water.

When the sugar is dissolved, stir in the custard mixture gradually until it thickens.

Lower the heat and add in evaporated milk follow by the creamy corn, keep on stirring.

When the mixture bubbles, turn off the heat.

Rinse the tray/mould with cold water, then pour in the cooked mixture.

Leave it to set, serve as a cold dessert.

Kyoto Spare Ribs

2006-03-25T11:45:00.000+08:00

This Kyoto Spare Ribs (Jing Du Spare Ribs) recipe is from Jingle's Kitchen. When I first saw the photo of this dish, I was instantly attracted to it. I wanted to cook it at that time but was put off by the numerous types of ingredients used in the recipe, especially the various types of sauces, because I already had so many bottles of sauces in my fridge. Finally I managed to clear some and when I bought the HP sauce and plum sauce specially for this dish, I felt less guilty.

Before I cooked this, I was worried that the spare ribs might be tough, I remembered Jingle told me that the ginger juice would tenderise the spare ribs but I was a little sceptical, so I marinated the spare ribs for two hours instead of the one hour stated in the recipe. Wow! the end result was ichiban neh! The meat tasted juicy and tender and I could see the satisfying smile on the faces of my three gluttons. *lol*

Kyoto Spare Ribs
京都排骨 (Jing Du Spare Ribs)

Ingredients:
500g of pork ribs (small pork ribs)

Marinade:
1/2 tbsp of light soya sauce
1/2 tbsp of ginger juice
1/4 tsp 5-spice powder
1/2 egg
1-1/2 tbsp of cornflour
1-1/2 tbsp of custard powder

Gravy:
2-1/2 tbsp of water
1 tbsp of tomato sauce
1 tbsp of A1 sauce or HP sauce
1/2 tbsp of oyster sauce
1/2 tbsp of chilli sauce
1/2 tbsp of sugar
1/2 tbsp of plum sauce
1/2 tsp of sesame oil
3/4 tsp of cornflour

3/4 tsp chinese wine

Garnishing:
Chinese lettuce
Parsley

Method:

Cut the pork ribs into about 1-1/2 inches long each. Do not overwash as it will affect the absorption of marinade. *

Marinate the pork ribs for 1 hour. **

Mix the gravy ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Heat 2 bowls of oil, when you see tiny bubbles in the oil, put the marinated pork ribs and fry at high heat and reduce to medium heat until ribs are cooked (Use a wooden chopstick to poke the meat, if it is soft, the ribs are cooked). Dish and set aside.

Leave about 1 tbsp of oil in the wok, put 1/4 tbsp Chinese wine, then pour in the gravy to cook till it bubbles, put in the fried pork ribs and stir to coat well. Once the ribs are shiny, turn off the heat.

Dish the pork ribs and place on top of the lettuce, on the plate. Garnish with parsley.

Tazz's Note: * I dabbed the pork ribs with paper towel after washing. ** I marinated for 2 hours.

Cereal Prawns

2006-03-20T09:30:00.000+08:00

I got this recipe from M4M forum sometime ago. My three gluttons were very delighted with this dish. As per forummer's advice, I coated the prawns with potato starch before deep frying all.

One thing I need to mention here is the tip given at Jingle's Blog, I learnt that to prevent the prawns from absorbing too much oil, the oil has to be very hot. In the past, whenever I deep fried any prawns, I was always worried that the oil would splatter all over the place, so I tend to lower the heat and let the prawns take a longer time to cook. Thus, I ended with very oily prawns. Thanks Jingle for this enlightening post and not to forget the one who shared this recipe at M4M forum (sorry, can't remember the User Name of the forummer and it is impossible to trace because I got it from the old forum), thanks for the wonderful recipe!

Cereal Prawns

Ingredients:
300g big prawns (trimmed, washed and drained)
Some potato starch
4 cups oil for deep frying

A:
3 tbsp butter/margarine
3 egg yolks, beaten lightly

B:
1 tbsp chopped garlic and shallots
1/2 tbsp chicken stock granules
1/2 tsp sugar
2 sprigs curry leaves – sliced
6 chilli padi – sliced
Dash of salt & pepper to taste

C:
5 tbsp Instant Nestum Cereal

Method:

Coat prawns with potato starch.

Heat up oil, make sure oil is very hot, add prawns and deep fry for 1 minute. Dish and drain.

Leave 1/2 cup of oil in the wok, sauté A till fragrant, add B and continue to fry till fragrant. Add prawns and fry till aromatic.

Lastly, add C and fry till dry. Dish up and serve hot.

Mango Yogurt Cheesecake

2006-03-18T18:55:00.000+08:00

I have been so stressed by the happenings around me, so I made this Mango Yogurt Cheesecake to destress and at the same time, to treat those who are partly causing the stress. Funny right? Well, they have not done any harm to me except that I am stressed because they are stressed. That's Tazz, when they are stressed, I will be affected indirectly. But! If they are fine, then I will nag more and cause some stress for them. *lol*

Recipe is adapted from Fantastic Cheesecake by Alex Goh. His is with decorative sponge lining whereas I chose to use two pieces of vanilla sponge cakes.

Mango Yogurt Cheesecake
(8" cake pan)

Cake Base:
2 pieces of 18cm round vanilla sponge cake with thickness of 1.5cm each.

Filling:
250g cream cheese, room temperature
40g sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
150g mango, diced
150g plain or mango yogurt
1-1/2 tbsp gelatin
60g water (to dissolve gelatin)
150g whip topping cream, whipped

Method:

1. Dissolve gelatin with water over a double-boiler. Keep warm and set aside.

2. Cream cheese and sugar till smooth and creamy.

3. Place diced mango and lemon juice in the blender and blend it until fine. Add into (2) and mix until well combined.

3. Add the yogurt and mix until well blended.

4. Add the cooled gelatin solution to cheese mixture until well blended.

5. Fold in whipped topping cream and mix until well combined.

6. Pour half the cheese filling into the prepared spring form pan (or cake ring) over the sponge cake. Top with second layer of sponge. Pour the remaining half of the cheese filling and smooth the surface. Refrigerate for 3 hours or until firm.

For the Cake topping:
I used 1/2 pkt of Hollyfarms Mango Dessert mixture boiled with 250ml of hot water. When cooled, have to work very fast to spread on top of the cake before it sets. Goes very well with the cake.

Steamed Glutinous Rice

2006-03-14T13:30:00.000+08:00

Tried this Steamed Glutinous Rice by Lena(aka Ltan), at Edith's place and I liked it so much. So I requested the recipe from Lena and she was so generous to share her recipe, at Nurkochen, with me. A big thanks to Lena!! Hmm... I cooked this last Saturday but it took me so many days before I decided to post it here, think I am getting lazy nowadays. Maybe because the rest of my fellow food bloggers are slowing down, thus affecting my enthusiasm as well?

Steamed Glutinous Rice

Ingredients:
1 kg glutinous rice
50g dried mushroom (soak with water)
50g dried shrimps (wash and drain)
200g pork belly/lean pork
100g shallots (small onions)
350-400ml water
1 tsp chicken flavour seasonings
1 tsp salt or to taste
Cooking oil

Seasoning:
2 tsp oyster sauce
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp light Soya sauce
2 tsp dark Soya sauce
1 tsp pepper
3 tsp sesame oil

Garnishing:
Fried peanuts (optional)
Spring onions for garnishing
Fried shallots (smalls onions)

Method:

Wash the glutinous rice and soak in water. (No need to soak over night, 1/2 -1 hour will do)

Slice softened mushroom, pork and shallots thinly.

Use half of the seasonings to season the mushroom and the other half for the pork.

Fry the sliced shallots and set a side and do the same with the dried shrimps.

Fry the mushroom well then add the pork and fry for about 5 minutes.

Drain the glutinous rice and add into the mushrooms and pork.

Put in half of the fried shallots; keep the other half for garnishing add in all the fried dried shrimps, the chicken seasoning powder and salt. Fry for a few minutes. When it is well mixed, add in the 350 ml of water and turned off the flame. Stir well.

Put into a big pan and steam for 40 minutes or until done.

You may sprinkle some water on it if you find the glutinous rice is still hard or uncooked.

Baked Toffee Walnuts

2006-03-09T11:10:00.000+08:00

I spent my time reading Blogger Hacks and ended with no time to try new recipes, so, I thought I baked this simple snack to treat my three busy bees when they returned. This recipe is from Leisure Cat.

Baked Toffee Walnuts

Ingredients:
100g walnuts
30g sugar
20g honey
15g evaporated milk
15g butter

Method:

Bake walnuts in preheated oven at 180 degree Celsius for 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Put the rest of the ingredients in a pot and stir in low heat until thickens (colour will be the same as toffee). Turn off the heat.

Put all walnuts into the pot and mix until all are well coated with toffee.

Place all coated walnuts on baking sheet and when cooled, keep in an airtight container.

Spicy Salmon with Green Mango Salad

2006-03-04T14:00:00.000+08:00

Made this Spicy Salmon with Green Mango Salad for lunch today. Recipe is from AsiaOne Wine & Dine. I adjusted the ingredients to my preference, and served with Fried Bee Hoon (Vermecelli) instead of rice. The combination of this dish with my simple Fried Bee Hoon was great.

For the Fried Bee Hoon, I used the oil which was left from frying the salmon. Just fried with some chicken broth, light soy sauce, fish sauce and a pinch of salt. I also added some beaten egg and bean sprouts.

Spicy Salmon with Green Mango Salad

Ingredients:
250g salmon, cut into 12 strips
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tablespoon canola oil

For the salad:
2 green mangoes, skinned and shredded
2 red tomatoes, roughly chopped
Half a cup of roughly chopped coriander leaves
Half a cup of mint leaves
4 shallots, sliced

For the dressing:
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp lemon juice
3-1/2 tbsp sugar,preferably grated palm sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
3 chilli padis (more if you like it hot), finely chopped

For the garnish:
Extra mint and coriander leaves

Method:

Rub salt and turmeric all over fish pieces.

Heat oil and fry fish. Drain on kitchen paper.

In a large glass bowl, mix all salad ingredients.

In a separate small bowl, combine all dressing ingredients. Adjust seasonings to taste if necessary.

Pour dressing over salad and toss to mix.

Spoon salad onto plates, place fish on salad and garnish with extra mint and coriander leaves.

Gan Xiang Ji

2006-02-28T13:40:00.000+08:00

This Gan Xiang Ji 干香鸡 recipe was taken from Sunday Times. I only cooked 800g of chicken instead of 1kg as stated in the recipe, hence, I reduced the main ingredients and the seasoning ingredients proportionately. As for the sauce ingredients, I followed the recipe but omitted torch ginger flower because I could not find it that day.

As the note in the recipe states that "the secret to making a tasty Gan Xiang Ji is in frying the ginger and garlic till they are dry and brown", I fried the garlic and ginger till they were almost brown before adding the curry leaves and chilli. Then I fried the ingredients till fragrant, followed by the sauce and finally the cooked chicken. The smell of the curry leaves was wonderful and we enjoyed eating this. Yum!

Gan Xiang Ji 干香鸡 is briefly translated as Dry Fragrant Chicken in English.

Gan Xiang Ji
干香鸡

Serves 5

Ingredients:
800g chicken (cut into medium-sized pieces)
24g curry leaves
40g garlic (whole, remove skin and fry till dark brown)
40g ginger (retain skin and sliced)
2 fresh chilli, sliced

Seasoning:
4ml salt
4ml sugar
40ml ginger juice
1 egg
60ml water
40g potato starch
40g plain flour

Sauce:
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp Thai Chilli sauce
1/2 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp light soya sauce
some dark soya sauce (just to make chicken look slightly darker)
one-fifth torch ginger flower (finely sliced)

Method:

Marinate chicken with seasoning ingredients for one to two hours.

Heat oil to about 80 per cent hot (when you see small bubbles emerging from base of wok), put chicken pieces in and fry till golden brown. Remove from wok. Don’t use boiling-hot oil as the meat will end up burnt.

Heat some oil in the wok and quickly fry garlic, ginger, curry leaves and chilli over high heat.

Pour the sauce in, put fried chicken pieces in, mix well and serve.

Note: The secret to making a tasty Gan Xiang Ji is in frying the ginger and garlic till they are dry and brown.

Mango with Pamelo Dessert

2006-02-25T15:59:00.000+08:00

I had been trying to abstain from sweet desserts and was quite successful until I saw Jingle's Mango with Pamelo Dessert. Gosh! I was salivating over her dessert photo and finally, I told myself "Don't care! Must get the recipe from her!!!" After getting the recipe last night, I woke up very early this morning and went to gather all the ingredients. See how greedy Tazz is? Haha... after bustling in the kitchen for about more than an hour, the dessert was ready. I scooped up one bowl, snapped a few pics and *slurp* down went the dessert! Very satisfying!!! Thanks Jingle! *lol*

Mango with Pamelo Dessert

Ingredients:
600g mango (about 2 mangoes)*
250ml mango juice (use marigold brand or any packet mango juice)
125ml evaporated milk (carnation brand)
300g pomelo (split into small pieces)
250ml water (puree with some mango)
250ml water + 50g sugar (boiled & cooled water)

Thickener (in a bowl):
1 tbsp cornflour + 1 tbsp tap water

Method:

Bring 250ml of water and 50g of sugar to boil until sugar dissolves. Add in cornflour mixture, stir in low heat until mixture is smooth then turn off the heat and leave it to cool.

Cut mango from both sides, and cut the mango flesh into cubes. For the remaining mango, add 250ml of water and puree. Set aside.

Split 300g of Pamelo into small pieces.

When the boiled water in the pot is cooled, add mango puree, mango cubes, mango juice and evaporated milk, mix well. Finally add in pomelo and stir, if too thick, add water.

Serve as cold dessert.

Tazz’s Note: *I used 750g of mangoes.

Steamed Rice Delight

2006-02-22T11:32:00.000+08:00

Finally back to blogging now. First new recipe that I have tried after the break is this Steamed Rice Delight. Recipe is from Jingle's Blog. Hmm... everybody calls her Marg (short for Margaret) but Tazz likes to call her Jingle because it sounds more fun. This is one of her favourites. Very easy and yummy recipe. Suitable for the busy people or in my case, lazy and not busy. *lol*

Steamed Rice Delight

Ingredients:
3 cups of rice
3 cups of hot water
3 salted eggs
150g cooked chicken meat
50g ikan billis
ready-made sambal chilli
4 shallots, sliced thinly

Method:

Boil the salted eggs. Shell and mash the cooked salted eggs. Set aside.

Wash and drain the ikan billis. Heat up 2 tablespoons of oil, put in half a bottle of ready-made sambal chilli to fry. Add some sugar and sliced shallots. Then add in the ikan billis to fry until fragrant. Set aside.

Bring water in the steamer or wok to a boil. Wash 3 cups of rice and drain dry. Add 3 cups of hot water and put into a stainless steel plate or bowl.

Put the plate of uncooked rice into the wok. Steam for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Once rice is cooked, open the cover, put in cooked chicken meat, ikan billis and mashed salted eggs. Cover and steam for another 10 minutes.

Note: I just used this recipe as a guide to cook enough portion for three small eaters.

Share My Joy!

2006-02-07T12:30:00.000+08:00

I have this interesting news that I would like to share with all here. My mum’s Extremely sinful version of Tang Yuan that I have blogged about, on 18th December 2005, has been featured in the latest newsletter (Edition #36) by Diana's Desserts. Nothing great about the recipe, but to me, I am exhilarated to have my humble paw print in a well-known desserts site. A big thanks to Diana from Diana’s Desserts.

The newsletter is sent by email to all subscribers. To view the said newsletter, click here.

汤圆 Tang Yuan (Glutinous Rice Balls)

P.S. I will be taking a break from trying new recipes, blogging and visiting food forums. I would like to thank fellow food bloggers and all visitors to my humble blog. Adios!

Chicken Wings with Spicy Bean Sauce

2006-02-07T12:25:00.000+08:00

This recipe is from Fabulous Fried Chicken. I have omitted the 1/4 teaspoon chicken seasoning powder in the marinade, and made minor adjustment to the ingredients to suit my taste.

Chicken Wings with Spicy Bean Sauce

Ingredients:
6 chicken wings (abt 500g)
some corn flour
some chopped spring onion (for garnishing)

Marinade:
5 shallots, sliced thinly
5 slices ginger
1 tsp cooking wine
1/4 tsp pepper
1-1/2 tbsp light soy sauce (I used 1 tbsp only)

Sauce:
1 tsp minced garlic
1 red chilli, chopped
2 tbsp spicy bean paste
some water and sugar

Method:

Rub the chicken wings with some salt then rinse and pat dry. Add in marinade, mix well and set in the fridge for about an hour.

Dredge marinated wings with some corn flour.

Heat up half a pot of oil and deep-fry chicken wings over low heat for 3 minutes before switching to medium heat. Continue to fry and when they turn golden brown, remove and drain.

To make sauce: Fry chopped chillies and minced garlic with a tablespoon of oil till fragrant, add spicy bean paste and water then switch to low heat to cook briefly. Add sugar and bring to a boil. Put the chicken wings into the pan and coat well with the sauce. Garnish with chopped spring onion.

Note: Different brands of spicy bean paste vary in saltiness, so have to taste and adjust the amount used accordingly.

Green Mango Salad

2006-02-07T12:20:00.000+08:00

Had some Green Mango Salad at the foodcourt near my place, and I liked the taste of it. So I came home and tried to replicate the same thing in my humble kitchen. Did some search on the net and after some experiments, came out with this. Quite pleased with the result and would like to share here.

Green Mango Salad

Ingredients:
1 green mango, sliced thinly
2 chilli padi, sliced
2 shallots, sliced
some chopped coriander leaves

some grounded peanuts

Sauce:
2 tbsp Fish Sauce
3 tbsp Sugar
1-1/2 tsp lemon or lime juice.

Method:

Combine mango, chilli padi, shallots and coriander leaves in a bowl. Pour the sauce and toss to mix well. Chill in the fridge for about half an hour. To serve, sprinkle with some grounded peanuts.

Fried Nian Gao/Sticky Cakes

2006-02-03T09:00:00.000+08:00

Nian Gao /年糕 a must have for the Chinese New Year. If you are interested in reading about the origins of Nian Gao /年糕, can refer to 龙卷风, haha... the story is told in a very "humorous" way. I will only talk about food here.

There are many ways to cook Nian Gao /年糕. I chose to deep fry it, which is very common among locals here. This batter recipe is from Curryman from M4M. Very light and crispy texture.

Nian Gao (Sitcky Cakes)

Sweet Potatotes & Yam

Fried Nian Gao

Fried Nian Gao
煎年糕

Main Ingredients:
Nian Gao, sliced thinly
Yam, sliced thinly
Sweet Potatoes, sliced thinly
Oil for deep frying

Batter Ingredients:
1 egg yolk
100g bread flour
50g rice flour
1 tsp ammonia powder (also called ammonia bicarbonate)
1/2 tsp salt
water

Method:

Whisk batter ingredients with enough water * into a custard sauce like consistency.

Let rest for 30 mins.

Sandwich Nian Gao with Yam and Sweet Potato.

Dip the sandwiched Nian Gao into the batter and deep fry in hot oil.

Ngoh Hiang for Chinese New Year

2006-02-02T11:50:00.000+08:00

I learnt to make Ngoh Hiang last year. That recipe was an adaptation from both the one in KC and my mum's. For this Chinese New Year, I made Ngoh Hiang using my mum's recipe. The only extra ingredient that I had added was the shredded carrot.

Ngoh Hiang

Yields 12 Ngoh Hiang

Ingredients for the filling:
500g minced pork
500g prawns (shelled, deveined and diced, only 250g left!)
10 water chestnut, diced
2 chopped big onion
3/4 bowl of shredded carrot
1 egg (beaten)
corn flour

Seasoning:
1 tbsp light soya sauce (not too much, because bean sheet is salty)
Pepper
2 tbsp five spice powder
Bean sheet (clean both sides several times with a clean damp towel)

Method:

Put pork, prawns, water chestnut, big onion, carrot in a mixing bowl.

Add seasoning and mix well.Add the beaten egg and corn flour. Mix well.

Wrap the fillings in the beancurd sheets; compress the fillings to make it tight.

Deep fry in moderate fire till the Ngoh Hiang is golden brown.Serve with Chilli.

Coffee Cream Cheesecake

2006-02-01T09:40:00.000+08:00

This recipe is from Fantastic Cheesecake by Alex Goh. According to the recipe, this is supposed to be a 9” cake, using a 9” width by 1cm thickness vanilla sponge cake as a base. I used an 8” width by 1cm thickeness sponge cake (trimmed some away from the edge) as a base and made this into an 8” cake, no problem to fit in at all. I forgot to get an ornament for the cake, so hubby made this bunch of firecrackers on new year eve for me. Without counting, guess how many little firecrackers made up the bunch here? Hehe... it's a lucky number.

Coffee Cream Cheesecake
(8" cake pan)

For the base:
20cm round by 1cm thickness vanilla sponge cake

Ingredients for the cheese filling:
60g milk
1 tbsp instant coffee powder
1-1/2 tbsp gelatin
60g water
250g cream cheese, room temperature
200g condensed milk
2 tbsp Kahlua (Optional)
150g whip topping cream, whipped
70g ground almonds, toasted

Method:

1. Cook milk and instant coffee powder until it boils. Set aside to cool.

2. Dissolve gelatin with water, in a double-boiler. Add it into (1) and mix until well blended.

3. Beat cream cheese, condensed milk and kahlua until light and fluffy. Add the coffee gelatin mixture from step (2). Mix until well blended.

4. Fold in whipped cream and mix until well incorporated.

5. Place cake base onto the bottom of 20-cm cake mould. Pour the cheese filling over the cake and smooth the surface. Then sprinkle toasted ground almonds on top. Refrigerate for 5 hours.

6. Unmould and decorate as desired.

Happy Chinese New Year! 新年快乐!

2006-01-28T08:00:00.000+08:00

Time flies and tomorrow we shall usher in the year of the Dog. So it's bye-bye Rooster, and Hello Doggy! (not Hello Kitty *lol*) New year, new beginning... with this hongbao ecard, I send my best wishes to all my friends and readers here.

迎春接福賀新歲　萬事勝意慶吉祥

Wishing your days be filled with happiness & good health… all through the coming year!

Happy New Year!

新年快乐

Gold Fish Making

2006-01-25T14:06:00.000+08:00

As per request, I shall post different views of the Gold Fish here. I am not very good in giving the step by step narrative on how to make it, so I just dismantle one of the experimental fish and show here. Hope it helps!

Number of red packets used: 7
1 for Belly; 2 for Right & Left Side of the Head; 3 for Tail and 1 to cut 3 fins(from corners).

Size of red packet: 120mm x 80mm, hence measurement of drawing is also in mm.

Belly drawing:

Right & Left Side drawing (Mirror)

Fins drawing:

Belly (Exterior View)

Belly (Interior View):

Right Side (Exterior View):

Right Side (Interior View):

Head (Front View):

After taping with the belly.

Head (Hind View):

Do not seal the back until you have inserted the tail.

Tail:

Tail (Top View):

The three parts are taped together. The one in the centre must be slightly higher than those two at the sides.

Tail (Under View):

Tail (Side View):

Notice that the tip to join to the head is cut slightly at an angle? This is to ensure that when you join tail and head together, you can lift the tail at an angle to make it point up.

Gold Fish Belly:

After joining head and tail together.

Gold Fish Hind:

Notice that the tail is lifted up at an angle.

Gold Fish Side:

Gold Fish Front:

Note: For the Belly, Right & Left Sides of Head, there are thin cardboards inside the red packets. Use scotch tape to tape all parts together. For the eyes, just print and paste with glue.

Nian Nian You Yu

2006-01-25T00:01:00.000+08:00

Every Luna New Year, hubby and I would make some handicrafts to display. I liked to use red packets to make lanterns in the past, but not anymore. In recent years, hubby made fish. All fishes in the photos were made by him few weeks ago.

Why fish? Because the Mandarin pronunciation of fish 鱼 is "Yu" which has the same sound as 餘 - 剩餘 "sheng yu". The Chinese phrase 年年有魚/餘 (nián nián you yú, or "every year there is fish/leftover"is a homophone for phrases which could mean "be blessed every year" or "have profit every year".

Chocolate Mint Cookies

2006-01-20T15:00:00.000+08:00

This Chocolate Mint Cookies recipe is from Florence's blog. The colour of the cookie is lighter when it is freshly out of the oven, somehow when it cools off, the colour turns darker. I make 3 times the recipe and it yields about 58 cookies. Very addictive cookies.

Chocolate Mint Cookies

Melt-in-the-Mouth Pineapple Tarts

2006-01-18T16:52:00.000+08:00

I have been itching to bake this Pineapple Tarts since I saw Janny's photo. But I have heard and read numerous comments that it is an extremely tedious job. Since I love Pineapple Tarts so much and this particular recipe by Joshua have had rave reviews, with the encouragement from fellow bloggers like Ching and Judy, I thought why not.

After gathering all the ingredients and a brief consultation with Joshua, I embarked on my mission. The part about cooking the jam is a real killer!!! It took me two and a half hour, instead of one hour as stated in the recipe, to see the golden colour. Perhaps I did not squeeze the juice dry enough which resulted in that.

The second part was much easier. I chose to make the enclosed-type. Mixing the dough was easy and wrapping the pineaple jam with the dough was blissful. After the first tart was out of the oven and cooled, I popped it into my mouth and I was like "Oh my god!!! I need to spank Josh!" *lol*

In case you are wondering why spank Joshua, the reason is, I couldn't stop after the first tart. I popped quite a few and had to force myself to stop! *lol* No regret for the hard work. It is worth the effort.

Melt-in-the-Mouth Pineapple Tarts (2005 Version)
黄梨酥

Pineapple Filling:

Ingredients:
4 pineapples
9 cloves
caster sugar (I used 150g caster sugar and about 4 tbsp of honey)

Method:

Peel the pineapple.

Grate the pineapple using a grater or using a juicer (grater better).

Squeeze out the juice from the grated pineapple fibre.

In a frying pan, put the pineapple fibre and heat using low flame.

Add cloves and fry till water has dried up halfway.

Add sugar to taste. (Amount depending on how sweet pineapple was originally and how sweet you want filling to be)

Continue frying till filling starts to dry and turns golden in colour (abt 1 hr later)

Note: While frying, you have to stir continuously and remember to keep the flame small. Its easier to add sugar by dissolving it in some of the unwanted pineapple juice and adding this to the grated pineapple.

Dough:

Ingredients:
250g golden churn butter
170g cream (I used Nestle UHT cream in the can)
75g caster sugar
400g Top flour or Cake flour
30g Corn flour50g cream cheese (Using Kraft Philadelphia)
3 egg yolks
1 additional egg yolk + 1 tsp caster sugar (for glazing)

Method:

Sift Top flour and corn flour together.

Using a cake mixer, blend the cream, butter, cream cheese and sugar together till you get a creamy mixture. (10 mins on speed 2)

Add the 3 egg yolks and sifted flour into the creamed butter mixture.

Using the cake mixer's dough mixer, mix till it becomes a smooth dough that is oily enough to not stick to your hand

Allow the dough to stand for 10 mins. (Chilling helps if you are making the pineapple on top kind)

Divide dough into small balls and the pineapple filling into balls roughly 1/2 the size of the dough.

Wrap filling ball with dough ball and shape as desired.

Glaze with the glazing mix.

Bake at 180 degrees celsius for 15 mins in a oven. (If using convection oven with turbo fan, lower temperature to 160 degrees celsius)

Remove from oven and reglaze again before baking for another 5 mins till golden brown on top.

Tazz's Note: It yielded 110 Tarts. Totoal weight of the dough was about slightly more than 1 kg. I divided the dough into 10 equal parts, then subdivided into another 11 parts. My advice is to roll the jam into balls first before starting to mix the dough because if one is too slow, the dough will ooze oil.

Kueh Bangkit

2006-01-16T12:55:00.000+08:00

I had been following the discussion on this Kueh Bangkit recipe at Ching"s blog. With the step-by-step guide, it emboldened me to give this a try. Because I do not have a microwave oven to heat up the flour and was too lazy to fry the flour in the wok, I simply baked the flour and some cut pandan leaves in the oven at 160 degree Celsius for about 35 minutes, stirring with a wooden spatula at about 10 minutes intervals. My dough was quite dry and I had to add in some extra coconut milk and about an extra teaspoon of melted butter to knead into a pliable dough. After that, I followed Jaschin's example by letting it rest for 30 minutes before proceeding with the next step. The dough was very easy to manage and I only needed to flour the roller and the board lightly to roll out my dough. There was no difficulty in cutting with the cookie cutter as well. I ran out of parchment paper and I remembered my mum's method of greasing the cookie tray while baking her Kueh Bangkit last time, so I simply did that as well. I baked mine at 180 degree Celsius for 20 minutes. When it was done, I gave a light tap to the tray and all the cookies popped out swiftly.

Verdict? My Kueh Bangkit is the crispy and not exactly the melt in the mouth type. The smell is also not that fragrant compared to those my mum baked decades ago becasue she used fresh coconut milk. Though it might not be the melt in the mouth type, I am delighted with the taste. I will continue to follow all discussions on the baking of Kueh Bangkit so that by next year, I hope to perfect it. Hmm.. have to be next year because I have other plans in the coming days.

Note: If too lazy to cut the dough with cookie cutter, can simply roll into balls and flatten with a fork. See the round cookie in the centre? Not bad right? *lol* Naughty Tazz sharing lazy tip here.

Qi Ku Chips (Arrowroot Chips)

2006-01-14T18:57:00.000+08:00

The first photo below is what the Cantonese called Qi Ku. The English name is Arrowroot (thanks Josh for the information!). It is only sold in the market around the new year season. When placed in a shallow vase with water, after a couple of weeks, it will grow into a young plant, which is considered as an auspicious plant for the Lunar New Year. It is also edible. Some use it to boil with pork ribs soup or stir fry with dried shrimps and simmer till softened. The taste is like potato. It can be deep fried into chips and it tastes exactly like Potato Chips. My hair stylist gave me some Qi Ku Chips few years ago and that's when I learnt about turning these into chips.

Actual name in Chinese is called 塘菇 (pronounced as tang2 ku1), Cantonese called this 池菇 (pronounced qi ku) because 池塘 means pond. Therefore 塘菇 and 池菇 are the same.

Qi Ku Chips (Arrowroot Chips)

Ingredients:
Arrowroots, Qi Ku in Cantonese
Some salt
Oil for deep frying

Method:

Wash and peel the skin with a peeler.

Slice thinly and marinate with some salt.

Spread the slices in a big tray and place under the sun to dry. Alternatively can also air-dry it.

Deep fry the chips in hot oil till you are happy!

Drain and place on absorbent paper to soak up excess oil.

When cooled can be kept in airtight container.

* See the golden colour? Hehe... all the Lunar New Year goodies symbolise something auspicious, so I shall name this 黄金满满, meaning filled with gold. *lol*

Beer-Battered Chicken

2006-01-12T16:29:00.000+08:00

It has been raining continuously for so many days, and the cold weather is making me lazy and sleepy. To make matter worse, some kitchen tiles popped out yesterday due to the extreme change in weather, which really dampened my mood. My spring cleaning is half done and being a hygiene freak, I am feeling extremely uneasy if I don't give everything a thorough wash before the coming new year. The weather is wet and I hate to see wetness at home as well, so I have to KIV most of the washing until the sunny days are here again, *sigh* but don't know when!!!! New year shopping is also half done despite the fact that I have been running around like crazy. I am a fussy shopper and all the clothes and other accessories for my family are subjected to my approval, hence, I have to make every single shopping trip with them personally. Can't trust them to pick the correct designs and materials for every single item. *Aiyoh!* I am so fedup with myself for being such a control freak!!! That's why I have always asked hubby whether he feels like strangling me! *lol*

Enough ranting! Let's talk about food again.

This Beer-Battered Chicken recipe is from a cookbook - Fabulous Fried Chicken. I did not follow the recipe as I found the instructions quite ambiguous. I also reduced the amount of salt, for the marinade, from 1 tsp to 1/2 tsp and added some 1/2 tsp sugar so that the dish would not taste so salty. Verdict, my family likes this as it taste different from my past chicken wings recipes.

Beer-Battered Chicken

Ingredients:
500g mid-joint wings
6 tbsp self-raising flour
1 egg white
120ml beer
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp olive oil

Marinade:
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp wine
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar

Method:

Wash the mid-joint wings and pat dry. Add in marinade, mix well and set in the fridge for about an hour.

Combine flour and egg white. Then add in beer, salt and olive oil. Mix into a batter.

Coat the wings with batter evenly.

Heat up Half a pot of oil and deep-fry mid-joint wings over low heat for 3 minutes before switching to medium heat. Continue to fry and when they turn golden brown, remove and drain.

Note: The full-bodied flavour of beer helps to create a subtle aroma in the dish!

Nutritious Chicken Pot

2006-01-08T19:30:00.000+08:00

This is the third recipe that I have tried , after Fried Dry Mee Siam and Pork Chop Cutlet, using Jingle's recipes.

Nutritious Chicken Pot

Ingredient A:
3 chickens thighs

Ingredients B:
10 dried mushrooms, soak in water to soften
1 big yellow onion, cut into halves
1 tomato, cut into halves
1 carrot (about 150g), cut into cubes
2 potatoes (about 200g), cut into cubes

Marinade (for the chicken thighs):
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp cooking wine
1 tbsp ginger juice
1/4 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp pepper powder
1 tbsp cornflour

Stock:
500ml of chicken stock or water
1/2 tsp salt .

Method:

1. Wash and chop chicken thighs into pieces. Marinate for 2 hours.

2. Place ingredients B in a pot (claypot or stainless steel pot), add the stock and bring to boil.

3. Once boiled, lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

4. After 45 minutes, add chicken, then continue to simmer for another 15 minutes before serving.

Note: I have made minor adjustment to the marinade to suit my taste.

Egg Tarts

2006-01-05T23:32:00.000+08:00

I went to Leisure-Cat to drool over their festive food photos, all looked so awesome. Then I came across a number of threads with Egg Tarts photos and the forummers were so helpful, they pointed the link to this Egg Tart recipe. This recipe is said to be provided by the famous 聖安娜餅屋 Saint Honore Cake Shop Ltd. I have never tasted the Egg Tarts from this bakery, so I can't tell whether they taste the same. Anyway, I did not follow the exact method to make the tart shells. The original recipe said to roll the dough to 6mm thick and use a cutter to cut out the desired shape, but I just divided the dough into 10 and pressed into the tart moulds.

Egg Tarts

Yields 10 tarts

Ingredients for tart shells:
90g butter, room temperature
40g icing sugar
12g egg
170g cake flour
8g evaporated milk

Ingredients for egg filling:
160g eggs
80g castor sugar
50g evaporated milk
210g water

Stir the egg filling ingredients thoroughly till well blended. Filter and set aside.

Method:

Cream the butter and icing sugar, with a wooden spatula for 2 to 3 minutes, till white and creamy.

Add in the egg and evaporated milk and blend well with the butter. Add in flour and knead into a dough. Chill the dough for an hour.

After an hour, divide the dough into 10.

Press the dough into the tart moulds, trim the excess dought from the edge. Make sure that the edge of the dough is slightly taller than the mould . Ensure even thickness of the dough.

Place the tart moulds on a baking tray. Pour the egg filling into the tart moulds till 90% full. Bake in preheated oven at 250 degree Celsius for 15 minutes or till done.

Hello 2006!

2006-01-01T00:01:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year to all my friends here!

New year, new beginning yet again. Stepping into 2006, I know there will be some uncertainties awaiting me, in the second half of the year. I try not to think about it as there is no point worrying. I will deal with it when the time comes, or just sit back and let events shape my destiny. That has been my attitude towards life for the past two years, and so far, everything has turned up fine.

Okay! Lets talk about food again. I had promised the three unco-operative Food Tasters here that there wouldn't be any Chocolate or Cheese Cakes this week. True to my promise, I made this Chilled Orange Yogurt Cake. Recipe is from Leisure-Cat. A very refreshing cake and I could see the grins on the faces of my three Food Tasters.

Chilled Orange Yogurt Cake
橙香乳酪蛋糕(8" cake pan)

Ingredients for the base:
crumbs from 8 pieces of disgestive biscuits
40g melted butter (I used 50g)

Ingredients for the filling:
100g sugarless natural yogurt
150ml orange juice
1 tbsp lemon juice
150ml non-diary whipping cream
1 tbsp gelatin
3 tbsp sugar
150ml water
Grated orange zest (optional)

Method:

Mix the digestive biscuits crumbs with melted butter, and press firmly to the base of the cake pan. Chill for later use.

Dissolve gelatin and sugar with water. Set aside to cool.

Beat yogurt, orange juice and lemon juice until well blended. Add cooled gelatin solution and mix well.

Whip the non-diary whipping cream till mousse state.

Add the yogurt mixture to the whipped cream and mix well.

Add the grated orange zest.

Pour the combined mixture onto the cake base.

Chill in the fridge for 3 hours.

Note: I think can use a 7" cake pan to get a taller cake. If use other fruit juice can get Chilled Yogurt Cakes of different flavours.

Creamy Pork Chop

2005-12-31T15:50:00.000+08:00

Found Sunny's Creamy Chicken Pork Chop from Allrecipe. The first time I cooked that, the pork was a little tough and the gravy was salty. So I tweaked the recipe this morning.

Changes that I had made to the recipe were:
1. Substitute Cream of Mushroom for Cream of Chicken.
2. Additional ingredients: half a can of water, 1 carrot and about 2 tbsp of MasterFoods Honey Mustard.
3. Simmer pork chops in slow cooker.

The final result was tender and tasty pork chops. The gravy was great for the Whipped Mashed Potatoes.

Creamy Pork Chop

Serves 4

Ingredients:
6 pcs of pork chops
1 tbsp olive oil
1 white onion, slice
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 carrot, cut whichever way you like
1 can Cream of Mushroom
1/2 can water (use Cream of Mushroom can to measure)
1/2 can chicken broth (I used Swanson brand)
abt 2 tbsp of MasterFoods Honey Mustard
pepper

Method:

Heat oil in a non-stick pan, sauté garlic and white onion till translucent. Remove.

Add pork chops and brown abt 5 mins on each side.

In a large bowl, whisk together cream of mushroom, water, chicken broth and honey mustard to form a mixture.

Pour mixture to the pork chops in the pan. Add the carrot and pepper. Bring to boil.

Put all the above into the slow cooker. Simmer for about 2-1/2 to 3 hours in the slow cooker. (I used high heat for 2-1/2 hr)

Serve with rice, pasta or mashed potatoes.

Note from the original reciep: This dish can also be made with chicken instead of pork; either whole pieces, or chunks, simply adjust cooking time accordingly. Use Cream of Chicken when cook with chicken.

Tazz's Note: When cook with chicken, don't have to simmer in slow cooker, just simmer in the pan, like the original recipe.

Fantastic Cheesecake

2005-12-29T23:25:00.000+08:00

Went to Tampines Mall and there was a sale by Popular Bookshop. After browsing through, finally bought Fastastic Cheesecake by Alex Goh, which Jaschin has mentioned before in her blog. I got it at $13.40. So excited because like Jaschin, I am also a Cheesecake lover. There are so many Baked Cheesecake, Crispy Pastry & Chilled Cheesecake recipes in this book. The Cheesecake photos in the book really made Tazz drool. All so sinful yet irresistible.

Interesting quote behind the book: Cheesecake is sumptuously irresistible. "Wow" is the word when girls see a cheesecake. The exclamation shows their joyful surprise and above all, their yearning for a bite. Mild or rich, tender or flavourful, cheesecake appeals to anyone in the world. If you have not yet developed a liking for cheesecake, it is just because you have not tasted all the cheesecakes in this book.

Meme - You are what you eat

2005-12-27T15:50:00.000+08:00

I have been tagged by Rachel to write this Meme – You are what you eat. After racking my brain this morning, I have come out with a list of my top ten favourite food, though not necessarily in the following order.

# 1. Curry. Curry is so appetizing that it is impossible to resist. I like any curry cooked in coconut milk. Using evaporated milk as a substitute is a great no no in my opinion. Worry about cholesterol? Who cares unless the doctor gives the red light.

# 2. Chicken. I like chicken cooked in any form, be it fried chicken, roasted chicken, grilled chicken or chicken soup. I simply adore fried Chicken Wings. Who doesn’t, right?

# 3. Soup. Nutritious soup is what I have to cook for my family every other day. Just throw in all the ingredients or herbs into the slow cooker and few hours later, *Tada!* A nutritious soup that hydrates one’s system and makes one feel so satisfied with a complete meal.

# 4. Rice. Staple food for all Asians. Tazz, like most Asians, can’t do without rice.

# 5. Pork. When the Nipah encephalitis among pigs swept through some farms in Malaysia, our government banned the import of pork from our neighbour. I realized how important pork is when I started to crave for it just a week or two without pork on my palate. Lean pork or with some fats are fine for me, just don’t make me eat pig trotters.

# 6. Vegetables. I eat all kinds of vegetables. My family must have vegetables everyday. I had drilled the importance of eating greens into my children since they were very young.

# 7. Milo. A die-die must have beverage for Tazz. I drink about three half-mug Milo during the day time AND one half-mug in the middle of the night (if I have insomnia, that happens about twice or thrice a week) Hahaha.. Hubby reasons that all babies must have night feeding, so does his big baby. I like my hot Milo without milk or sugar.

# 8. Chocolate. I simply love Chocolate till death, especially the dark type. Can’t resist any food made of Chocolate at all. The only type of Chocolate that I hardly touch is the white chocolate. Don’t ask me why because I don’t even have the answer.

# 9. Cheese. I love cheese in Pizzas; Flies; Cookies and Cakes, especially Cheesecakes. I don’t really fancy cheese in buns; burger and spagetti. Pardon what I am going to say, cheese in spagetti tastes really awful to me.

# 10. Cake. I eat any cakes, but those cheap ones from the neighbourhood stores or frozen type from the Supermarkets.

*Ahem* Whom do I sabo now? Hehe.. Look at the list:
Ching - Little Corner Of Mine
Fonia - My Zest
Janny - Jan's Kitchen
Jaschin - Jas's Kitchen
Lin - Sinfully Yours

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!!

2005-12-24T11:55:00.000+08:00

Merry Christmas to all my friends and readers here! Christmas is not a religious occasion for my family since we are not Christians, but it is a time for us to soak up the festive spirit by feasting. For such a joyous festival, a sumptuous western spread would be terrific, so we will be dinning out this evening at one of the restaurants that serves western fare. Tazz has only made this Chocolate Cheesecake to mark the occasion.

Recipe for the Chocolate Cheesecake part is from Leisure-Cat. The recipe there is for a 6" cake with a biscuit base. I have decided to use a 7" Sponge Cake base and made it into an 8" cake, so I have modified the recipe to suit my need. We are very delighted with the end result as the Sponge Cake has balanced up the sweetness of the sweet chocolate cheese part.

For the Sponge Cake, I have used the recipe from Cookery Family. It is a Basic Sponge Cake recipe which is used as a base for any chilled cakes. The method used is separate egg method which is very easy even for a novice baker like me. So lazy to do the translation, if you are interested in this Basic Sponge Cake recipe, see here.

Chocolate Cheesecake
朱古力芝士蛋糕 (8" cake pan)

For the base:
7" Sponge Cake

Ingredients for the Cheese filling:
260g cream cheese, room temperature
130g dark chocolate
100g diary whipping cream
260g whipped cream (I used abt 275g diary whipping cream to whip till mousse state)
1 tbsp of gelatin
2 tbsp & 2 tsp of water (to dissolve gelatin)
100g castor sugar (I only used 70g castor sugar)

Method:

Melt dark chocolate with 100g diary whipping cream using the double boil method.

Dissolve the gelatin with water using double boil method.

Beat the cream cheese with sugar until creamy.

Add gelatin solution to dark chocolate mixture.

Make sure chocolate mixture is cooled, add into the cream cheese mixture. Mix well.

Add the whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture and mix well.

Put the cake base in the lined cake pan, pour in the cheese mixture. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Note: Adjust the castor sugar according to the type/brand of dark chocolate used.

冬至 Winter Solstice Festival

2005-12-22T14:25:00.000+08:00

Today is 冬至 or Winter Solstice Festival. I had already served one round of Tang Yuan(汤圆) on Sunday as I was worried that my significant other might have to travel overseas during this time. Thank god, my prayer has been answered! His trip is now postponed to early January. So, what do I do today? Of course I serve another round of my children's favourite Tang Yuan(汤圆). In this modern time, many Chinese, especially Singaporeans, have already stopped celebrating this occasion. But, I have continued the practice of cooking Tang Yuan(汤圆) because my children, especially Gene, like it so much. I even buy the frozen type from Supermarket to cook for them as and when we feel like eating.

The Chinese word tang (meaning 'soup') sounds like tuan which means reunion, while yuan means round, signifying "yuan man" (complete /圆满 ). The entire phrase tang yuan therefore symbolises "tuan yuan" (family reunion /团圆 ), and eating tang yuan on Dong Zhi represents family reunion and harmony, and also signifies family unity and family prosperity.

See the significance of Tang Yuan(汤圆) now? That's why I must have it on 冬至or Winter Solstice Festival, and also on Chinese New Year. Hahaha... Tazz isn't the very traditional type, but Tazz views the unity and harmony of Tazz's family as the most important thing in Tazz's life. Nothing matters, but my family!

The Tang Yuan(汤圆) that I have cooked today is the Spring Home Glutinous Rice Balls with peanut filling. I just boil some Red Bean Soup and serve with the cooked Glutinous Rice Balls.

Glutinous Rice Balls with Red Bean Soup

冬至 Winter Solstice

2005-12-18T20:05:00.000+08:00

Dong Zhi(冬至) falls on this coming Thursday, which is 22nd December 2005. Dong Zhi is called Winter Solstice in English. if you are keen to read up on the Chinese tradition of celebrating Dong Zhi or Winter Solstice Festival, see here. Tang Yuan(汤圆) is the special dessert served for this festival. As I have already said here that Dong Zhi falls on this Thursday, but I cooked Tang Yuan today as I couldn't wait till that day. Hubby might have to go overseas on Wednesday and hopefully be back by Christmas Eve. I just pray hard that things turn up well or there is a change in plans for the next three days, so he doesn't have to make the trip.

Alright, back to the topic of Tang Yuan. My mum has two versions of Tang Yuan. One is less sinful, whereas another one is extremely sinful. She used to serve the less sinful version many years ago until... (can't recall). I can't remember when was the time she came out with this extremely sinful version, which most of us couldn't resist, for Chinese New Year. Making Tang Yuan has always brought back fond memories of the past when my siblings and I helped my mum to roll the glutinous rice balls in the kitchen. It seems like yesterday yet so long ago... *sigh*

My mum's Tang Yuan is special in a way that it can be served at any time as desired without having the glutinous rice balls turning soggy in the soup. The cooked glutinous rice balls are coated with some sugar and set aside, only to combine with the hot soup or hot syrup and cooked beans, when served. She likes to use the type of orange sugar for the whole recipe. The sugar though orange in colour is actually called brown sugar. I chose to cook the extremely sinful version for my family today.

Tang Yuan (Extremely sinful version)

Serves 4 - 5

Ingredients for glutinous rice balls:
250g glutinous rice flour
water
15-20g brown sugar
food colouring (usually pink)

Method:

Add sufficient water to flour and knead into dough.

Divide dough into 2 parts. Add food colouring to one part. Knead each dough well.

Make balls from the dough.

Bring water to boil in a big pot and drop in dough balls to cook. When cooked, balls rise to the surface.

Drain balls and put in a big bowl. Add about 15-20g of sugar to mix with the balls. Set aside.

Ingredients for syrup:
300ml water
4-5 pandan leaves, washed and tied into a knot
2-inch knob ginger, crushed (more if desired to give a strong ginger taste)
abt 100g brown sugar

Method for syrup:

Bring water to boil in a pot with the pandan leaves and ginger.

Add sugar and cook till sugar dissolves.

Discard pandan leaves and ginger.

Ingredients for the beans:

Brown sugar (tho' orange in colour):

Brown beans:

Dried mandarin orange skin (Chen pi):

Ingredients for beans - the lighter colour type (Chia Dao in Hokkien) :
200g brown beans
600ml hot water
100g brown sugar
some dried mandarin orange skin (chen pi)

Method for cooking beans:

Simmer in the slow cooker for 2-3 hours. Add sugar when beans are cooked. Keep warm until served. The brown beans won’t break into bits when cooked, that's the reason for choosing it instead of the normal red beans. Brown beans look like red beans but lighter in colour.

To serve:

Put cooked glutinous rice balls into individual bowls. Add cooked beans and hot syrup as desired. As this is extremely sweet, we only eat the chewy glutinous rice balls and the cooked beans. The strong ginger taste in the syrup makes this special.

______________________________________________________________

For the less sinful version, the ingredients and method for cooking the glutinous rice balls are the same as above. The difference is the soup used instead of the syrup and cooked beans.

Ingredients for soup:
abt 600ml water
4 –5 pandan leaves, washed and tied into a knot
2-inch knob ginger, crushed
sugar to taste (preferably brown sugar)

Method for soup:

Bring water to boil in a pot with the pandan leaves and ginger.

Add sugar to taste and cook till sugar dissolves.

Discard pandan leaves and ginger.

To serve:

Put cooked glutinous rice balls into individual bowls. Pour hot soup and serve.

Note from Tazz as at 22nd January 2006: I have finally found the actual name for the orange sugar and beans. They are called brown sugar and brown beans respectively.

Ayam Percik

2005-12-18T20:00:00.000+08:00

Person who shared this Ayam Percik recipe was Jam from KC. This morning was the first time that I used my oven to grill chicken. After buying my oven this year, I couldn’t bear to grill any meat (other than ham and canned tuna) in it because I was worried that it might stain my oven. When I saw so many grilled chickens and turkeys photos in the forums, I couldn’t resist anymore. I told myself I had to start using my oven to grill meat, any meat, be it chicken, pork or beef. Finally I settled for this Ayam Percik recipe because I was curious after having read all the good reviews in KC. No regret after trying because the chicken tasted fantastic and most important of all, no oil stains in my precious oven. *lol*

Ayam Percik

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (about 2kg), cut into 4 pieces. Alternatively, can use chicken thighs
15 dried chillies
10 shallots
3 garlics
1 stalk lemon grass, sliced thinly first.
2cm ginger
2cm fresh turmeric (or 1/2 tsp turmeric powder)
2cm galangal (lengkuas)
1 tbsp meat curry powder
assam juice (2 tbsp assam mix with some water, strain and discard seeds)
1 cup water
200ml thick coconut milk
salt and oil

Method:

Grind chillies, shallots, garlics, lemon grass, ginger, fresh turmeric and galangal till fine.

Heat oil in a wok, then add in the ground ingredients. Stir fry for a while.

Add the assam juice, curry powder, coconut milk and 1 cup of water. Mix well and add in the chicken pieces and salt. Simmer till gravy has thickened.

Remove the pieces of chicken and place them on a tray. Pour some gravy over the chicken and grill them till the chicken is slightly crispy.

Serve hot with lettuce, shredded cucumber and slices of tomato. Ayam Percik is a dish by itself but also goes well with rice or bread.

Chendol Agar-agar

2005-12-15T18:28:00.000+08:00

Found this Chendol Agar-agar recipe in one of my old Lifestyle magazines. Thought it was quite interesting so I gave it a try. Verdict? We prefered to eat the agar-agar on its own because the gula melaka sauce was too sweet. I used coconut milk instead of evaporated milk, which was called for in the original recipe. I only made half of the following recipe and it yielded 10 Chendol Agar-agar.

Chendol Agar-agar

Yields 20 agar-agars

Green Jelly Ingredients:
7g agar-agar powder
400ml water
100g caster sugar
1 tsp green colouring

Method for Green Jelly:

Put all ingredients into a pot and boil until agar-agar powder and sugar have dissolved.

Pour into a shallow mould and let it set. Cool thoroughly in the refrigerator before grating. Refrigerate until needed.

Agar-agar Ingredients:
13g agar-agar powder
850ml water
200g caster sugar
200ml coconut milk (can substitute with evaporated milk)
1/4 tsp salt
5 pandan leaves tied into a knot
150g cooked red beans or whole kernel corn

Method for Agar-agar:

Put all ingredients (except the coconut milk) into a pot. Boil until agar-agar powder and sugar have dissolved. *

Add in the coconut milk and bring to boil. Turn off heat.

Arrange some grated green agar-agar strips in the mould.

Pour in the ‘white agar-agar’.

Let it set and then refrigerate.

Serve with gula melaka sauce.

Gula melaka sauce ingredients:
250g gula melaka
200ml water
3 pandan leaves, tied into a knot

Method for sauce:

Boil ingredients till the gula melaka dissolves.

Strain and cool thoroughly before serving with agar-agar.

Note: * If using evaporated milk to make the agar-agar, can add with the rest of the agar-agar ingredients to boil from the beginning.

In my opinion, for the agar-agar to go well with the gula melaka sauce, best is to reduce the quantity of the gula melaka for the sauce.

Pancakes

2005-12-12T15:31:00.000+08:00

Look at my Pancakes! I am so happy to get even-coloured Pancakes, at least for one side on each cake. I got the recipe from Allrecipe. After my failed Fried Apple Pie attempt, I learnt a lesson. This time round, I just followed the recipe by using cup measurement for flour. I suspected that it was my wrong conversion of ingredients that had caused the previous failure.

Back to the topic, to get even-coloured Pancakes, flip the pancakes over only when it has become brown (lift a little bit and peep). Refrain from oiling the pan after the first cake, or too often, when you are making more. As for the other side, I still can't achieve the same even-coloured tone. Maybe have to do more experiments next time.

Pancakes

Yields 8 pancakes

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 egg
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Method:

Preheat a lightly oiled frying pan over medium-high heat.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the centre.

In a separate bowl, beat together egg, milk and oil.

Pour milk mixture into flour mixture. Beat until smooth.

Pour or scoop the batter onto the hot pan, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake.

Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Don't laugh!!

2005-12-09T17:12:00.000+08:00

Don't laugh! I know I am a wacko when comes to cake decoration. First, the Japanese Koyo-design for my Non-Bake Tofu Red Bean Cheesecake (Gene said that *pout*), then the Agar-agar Leaves and Flowers design for my Steamed Moist Chocolate Cake, and now this. I name this Tazz design. This is my first successful baked cake, to commemorate this event, I choose this design. Haha... you must be thinking "Stop kidding! You don't know how to do proper frosting with cream!" Well, that's true because I have never attended any baking lesson.

My first attempt at cake baking was somewhere around August this year. I made a Sponge Cake. The name of the cake was Never-fail Sponge Cake, but, I failed flat. I was very stubborn, I stuck to the stated time on the recipe eventhough my cake was still quite pale. The end result was a soaking wet Sponge Cake (Oh! What a name?!).

My hubby has been suggesting that I should attend baking course since I am interested, but Tazz being an obstinate creature, will never budge, eventhough he has offered to join me in the lessons. I have managed to learn alot by reading and watching video clips on the net. So in the meantime, I don't think I need to attend any course yet.

Chocolate Cheesecake is my second attempt at baking. Kirsten made this for her gathering with her cyber friends. The cake was very well received by all and she shared the recipe at the forum. I was extra patient this time, the time stated to bake this cake was 45 to 50 mintues at 180 degree Celsius, but my cake took almost 2 hours to bake, despite the fact that I was using a black spring-form pan. The reason could be I kept opening the oven to check on the cake. I baked the cake for the first 15 minutes with a foil at the top to prevent burning at the top. Then I removed the foil. When I saw that the top of the cake was nice golden colour, I put the foil to cover the top again. After 50 minutes, I tested with a toothpick, it wasn't done yet. I put the cake in again with the foil covering the top and check every 15 to 20 minutes. Finally, the cake took almost 2 hours to bake. *phew!* I know my Chocolate Cheesecake doesn't look as great, but to me it is already an achievement. Haha... I am a novice baker, what else can I ask for?!

Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients for Mixture A:
250g cream cheese
60g castor sugar
1 egg

Method for Mixture A:

Beat cream cheese with sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in egg until well incorporated. Set mixture aside.

Ingredients for Mixture B:
180g butter
150g sugar
3 eggs
3 tbsp cocoa powder
120g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder

Method for Mixture B:

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in egg, one at a time until well incorporated into mixture.

Sift all the dry ingredients together.

Fold into egg mixture.

To assemble, pour half of mixture B, all of mixture A, then the remaining mixture B.

Bake in preheat oven at 150 degree Celsius for 45-50 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.

Once cool, chill in refrigerator. Nice eaten chilled.

Note: I greased and floured my 7-inch cake pan. I used plain flour and cocoa powder in the ratio of 1:2. Kirsten's recipe said to bake at 180 degree Celsius, but the recipe at KC said to bake at 150 degree Celsius in an 8-inch square pan.

Final update as at 14th December '05: Kirsten has confirmed that actual temperature for baking this cake should be 150 degree Celsius for 45-50 minutes.

Pork Chop Cutlet

2005-12-07T19:32:00.000+08:00

I used to cook Pork Chop Cutlet last time, but never so tasty like this particular recipe. Jingle26 shared this recipe at Nurkochen. She got it from her friend who had attended cookery lessons at community centre. It was the taste of garlic that made this Pork Chop Cutlet different from those that I had made in the past. Ni doesn't like garlic, when she bit into the Pork Chop Cutlet, I stole a glance at her from the corner of my eye ( *blush* I felt guilty for adding her most feared minced garlic without informing her) and asked her opinion, she said it was delicious. *Phew!* I was so happy when the garlicphobe chomped away unknowingly. Most of the time when I added garlic to my dishes, I had to slice thinly instead of mincing it so she could remove it from her food, otherwise she would take an hour to finish one meal. *roll eyes*

Pork Chop Cutlet

Ingredients:
1/2kg pork chop, cut into 8 slices
2 beaten egg
50-80g plain flour
50-80g breadcrumbs

Marinade for pork chop:
1 tsp of minced garlic
2 tbsp of light soy sauce
1/2 tbsp of sugar
1/2 tsp of salt
1 tsp corn flour
1-1/2 tbsp of cooking oil (add last)

Method:

Tenderise pork with millet or back of a cleaver.

Marinate pork for about an hour.

Smack the marinated pork on the plain flour, dip into beaten eggs and cover it with bread crumbs.

Deep-fry the pork with hot oil, till golden brown and crispy.

Cut into thin strips and serve with chilli sauce and LP sauce.

Potato Pancakes with Applesauce

2005-12-04T15:50:00.000+08:00

I failed in my Fried Apple Pie assignment yesterday, so I had the Applesauce sitting in the fridge waiting for me. I searched for recipes with Applesauce and finally found one, which was close to what I had in mind, at Allrecipe, but I couldn't use that recipe because my Applesauce wasn't entirely the same. Finally I found one Potato Pancakes recipe in an old Lifestyle magazines. The recipe of the Potato Pancakes said to serve with jam or on its own. I combined my Applesauce with the Potato Pancakes recipe and *Tada!* I had put my Applesauce to good use.

Applesauce

Applesauce Ingredients:
5 apples – skinned, cored and cut into small cubes (I used Granny Smith green apples)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
3/4 cup of water
a pinch of salt
1/2 lemon – take the juice.

1 tbsp corn flour with 1/4 cup water

Method for Applesauce:

Mix all ingredients (except corn flour with water) in a pot and cooked over small fire until apples soften.

Add corn flour mixture to thicken. Turn off the heat.

Potato Pancakes
Makes 10 Potato Pancakes

Ingredients for Potato Pancakes:
300g finely grated potatoes
3 medium eggs, lightly beaten
270g plain flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1-1/4 tsp salt
225ml water or milk
Oil to grease frying pan

Method for Potato Pancakes:

Squeeze excess moisture from grated potatoes until almost dry.

Place the grated potatoes into a mixing bowl.

Add the remaining ingredients and combine well into a thick batter.

Heat a frying pan and grease it lightly with oil. Drop 3 – 4 tablespoons of the batter on the frying pan and cook over medium heat for 4 – 5 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

Serve hot with warm Applesauce.

P.S. Both photos updated on 21st March'06

What a lousy day!

2005-12-04T09:30:00.000+08:00

I was so poor thing yesterday. I failed in my Fried Apple Pie assignment. I still have no idea what was the cause of my failure. The dough was quite sticky. After flouring my hands, rolling pin and board, I could roll normally, but!! I couldn't get my intended shape because of its elasticity. I lost my patience, dumped the dough into the rubbish bin and stormed off to cool down.

For dinner, I cooked Rendang Chicken using Brahim's Kuah Rendang. Just like what was said in the forum, Brahim's Rendang Mix rocks! Very yummy! But!! after the food was in my stomach, then I realized that my Rendang Chicken photo turned up so ugly. My temperamental camera (*sigh* just like me) threw tantrum because of the gloomy weather (insufficient light *roll eyes*) *Arggghhhh!!!* Now I have to reduce the size of the photo to camouflage the poor quality and use it in my blog.

Rendang Chicken

Recipe is on Brahim's Kuah Rendang sachet itself.

Sweet & Sour Fish

2005-11-28T10:52:00.000+08:00

I was inspired by Jadepearl's Thai Sweet & Sour Fish recipe at Nurkochen. In the beginning, I set out to replicate the same dish, but then lazy side of me took over. Instead of following strictly to the measurements of all the ingredients, I just followed my feel, easier this way because no need to measure accordingly, which I thought was quite troublesome. Another thing, Jadepearl's recipe doesn't have sweet chilli sauce, but the stubborn Tazz always likes to add sweet chilli sauce to any sweet and sour dishes, hence I can't call this Thai Sweet & Sour Fish anymore, so I think Sweet & Sour Fish is a more appropriate name for my recipe here.

Yum.... The three gluttons at home gave the thumbs up.

Sweet & Sour Fish

Ingredients:
2 large pieces of Dory Fillet (halve)

Marinade for fish (mixed together):
2 tablespoons rice wine
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons wheat flour
2 tablespoons rice flour

Sauce Ingredients:
1 onion, cut into pieces
1 green pepper, cut into pieces
sugar
Maggi tomato ketchup
Maggi sweet chilli sauce
rice vinegar
rice wine
some water
some pineapple cutes

Method:

Dredge the fish in the marinade, and leave to stand for about an hour so that the fish is infused with the flavor. Heat oil to deep-fry the fish on both sides. Put on a serving plate.

In a small pan sauté the onion and green pepper, add the remaining ingredients, except the pineapple, and simmer until water is slightly reduced, then add the pineapple and heat through.

Dish up sauce onto the fried fish. Serve.

Steamed Moist Chocolate Cake

2005-11-26T09:40:00.000+08:00

Made this yesterday. I was a little worried because it was the first time I had to do frosting. Eventhough I am not a Christian, I said a prayer before I started to do the frosting. I said, "Oh lord, please let my frosting go on smoothly." Thank lord, haha... smoothly it went and the final result was a smooth Chocolate frosting that made my cake look like a mirror.

Back to Steamed Moist Chocolate Cake. Forummer who shared this wonderful recipe was Dralion from KC. The cake was really moist. I did half the recipe and yet it yielded such a big cake. For the benefits of those non-members, I shall type the recipe here, but please bear in mind that this is the recipe for what you see in the photo.

Steamed Moist Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:
187.5g butter
1 cup castor sugar
1/2 can evaporated milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten with a fork
1 cup of plain flour
1/2 cup of cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract or 3/4 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

Combine castor sugar, evaporated milk, vanilla extract or essence and butter in a saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved and butter is melted, off fire.

Add the beaten egg into the slightly cooled evaporated milk mixture and stir till well mixed.

Pour eggs mixture over the flour and stir till well mixed (cake batter should be runny).

Heat up the steamer.

Line and grease baking pan.

Pour the batter into prepared pan, place the pan into the steamer and cover the top of the pan loosely with a piece of aluminum foil.

Steam over medium heat for 45 minutes.

Cool the cake in the pan before turning out for further decoration.

Chocolate Topping:

1/2 can condense milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extractor or 3/4 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 cup corn oil
20g cocoa powder, sifted
a pinch of salt

Method:

Combine the sifted cocoa powder, condense milk and oil.

Stir over low heat till thicken, stirring all the time. (I used the double boil method)

Add in salt and vanilla extract or essence.

Cool the chocolate topping a little before spreading on the cooled cake.

Note: Can use 8-1/2" or 9" cake pan.

Dory Fish with Chng Kee's Sambal Oelek

2005-11-22T19:50:00.000+08:00

This recipe is from my Sister. Very appetizing dish. I cooked this today but since the photo isn't nice, I have to use this, which has been posted in Nurkochen before.

Dory Fish with Chng Kee's Sambal Oelek

Ingredients:
2 large pieces of Dory Fillet, cut into slices
2 packets of golden mushrooms
pepper
Fish sauce or light soy sauce
2 Chinese spoonful of Chng Kee's Sambal Oelek (more if desired)
Some water
Oil
spring onion, chopped (for garnishing)

Methods:

Marinate Dory Fillet with pepper and fish sauce or light soy sauce.

Put oil in the cooking pan. Pan fry two sides of Dory Fillet till cooked. Set aside.

Put oil and stir fry golden mushrooms, add Sambal Oelek and some water. Bring to boil.

Pour the cooked dory fillet into the pan and mix well.

Garnish with spring onion. Serve hot.

Honeydew Sago Dessert

2005-11-20T09:20:00.000+08:00

This is a modified recipe which I came out with, after studying the one from Kuali and another recipe from M4M forum. Very yummy! Even my health conscious hubby couldn't resist, he had second helping. Thanks to the originator who invented such a wonderful dessert, though I don't know who, because there are so many Honeydew Sago Dessert recipes around.

Honeydew Sago Dessert

Serves 6

Ingredients:
Honeydew melon ( approx 1kg)
120g sago
100ml coconut milk

Syrup Ingredients:
3-4 pandan leaves
150g gula melaka
150ml water

Method:

Remove the skin from the honeydew melon, halve then scoop out the seeds. Shape the honeydew melon into small round balls using a metal scoop. Puree the remaining honeydew melon. Chill in the fridge.

To prepare syrup, put water, gula melaka and pandan leaves in a saucepan. Boil until gula melaka dissolves. Strain and cool thoroughly.

Boil water in a pot. Add sago pearls to boil until transparent. Pour the cooked sago into a sieve then place under running tap water. Drain well.

Combine sago, chilled honeydew melon balls, puree and coconut milk in individual bowls. Add syrup to taste.

Eggs with Minced Meat In Hot Sauce

2005-11-19T09:24:00.000+08:00

Tried this new recipe from an old cookbook. I think the dish would be better if eggs were replaced with tofu.

Eggs with Minced Meat In Hot Sauce

Ingredients:
10 quail eggs, hard boiled and shelled
200g minced pork (not too lean)
oil for cooking
2 red chilli, seeded and chopped
2-1/2 tsp brown soy bean paste
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp chopped onion
240ml water
1 tsp cornstarch blended with 1 tbsp water
Parsley (for garnishing)

Seasoning Ingredients:
2 tsp light soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp cooking wine
1 dash of pepper

Method:

Heat 3 tbsp oil in pan. Saute red chilli and soy bean paste till fragrant.

Add garlic, ginger and onion. Stir-fry till fragrant.

Add pork and fry till colour of meat changes.

Put in eggs and water and bring to the boil.

Stir in the rest of the seasoning ingredients. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.

Thicken sauce with cornstarch mixture. Dish up, garnish with parsley and serve.

Note: Adjust the seasoning as desired.

What kind of food are you?

2005-11-18T14:56:00.000+08:00

Went to Mike's blog and saw this. So I followed the link and this is my result:

You Are Thai Food

Trendy yet complex.
People seek you out - though they're not sure why.

What Kind of Food Are You?

Trendy??!! *puzzled* Complex??!! Yes, to a certain extend. Some who know me in real life say I have a very deceiving look. Well, have to be a little complex sometimes, when dealing with certain perople with hidden agenda. Right?

People seek me out? Yes, in real life, some sought me out all the time, in the past. They didn't know why? I knew and I had wised up, but too late! *lol*

Chilled Marshmallow Cheesecake

2005-11-14T11:00:00.000+08:00

This is the first year that I have started to make cakes for birthdays. My first birthday cake was Strawberry & Mango Marshmallow Cake for Ni, in August. This time round, I chose yet another non-bake cake – Chilled Marshmallow Cheesecake, for hubby’s birthday. (*whisper* I still can’t bake cake yet! *lol*)

Found this Marshmallow Cake recipe from Allrecipe. I substituted diary whipping cream for the heavy cream. I think the important point in this recipe is to make sure that the melted marshmallow mixture is cooled before stirring into the cream cheese.

P.S. The Strawberry & Mango Marshmallow Cake photo can be viewed in my Flickr badge at the sidebar.

Marshmallow Cheesecake

(8” cake pan)

Ingredients for Base:
200g digestive biscuits crumbs
80g melted butter

Ingredients for filling:
150g marshmallows
1/2 cup milk
226g cream cheese, softened (I used Philadelphia brand)
1 egg yolk
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 cup diary whipping cream

Method:

Mix the digestive biscuits crumbs with melted butter, and press firmly to the base of the cake pan. Chill for later use.

In a saucepan on low heat, combine marshmallows and milk. Cook until marshmallows are melted, and mixture starts to boil. Remove from heat.

Whip whipping cream till mousse state, keep chilled.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Stir in egg yolk.

Make sure marshmallow mixture is cold, stir 1/3 of the melted marshmallow mixture into the cream cheese, then quickly stir in the rest of the marshmallow mixture. Mix well.

Stir in lemon juice. Mix well.

Blend the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.

Pour the combined mixture onto the cake base.

Chill in the fridge for three hours.

Fried Dry Mee Siam

2005-11-12T13:53:00.000+08:00

I have always wanted to cook Fried Dry Mee Siam. Finally found this recipe shared by Jingle26 in Nurkochen. Very easy to cook. I used Woh Hup Instant Mee Siam Paste. I did minor adjustment to the ingredients for the portion that I was cooking, and followed the exact method in her recipe.

Fried Dry Mee Siam

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1/2 a bottle of Woh Hup instant Mee Siam Paste

50g chives
2 pcs taukwa, cut into cubes (I used normal type instead of the brownish kind stated in her recipe)
375ml of water (mixed with asam paste* and chilli powder*)
1-1/2 tbsp of asam paste*
10ml chilli powder* (my additional ingredient)
1-1/2 tbsp of sugar
some cooking oil

abt 150g bean sprouts
250g Vermicelli (Beehoon)

Garnishing:
2 small limes, cut into halves
2 hard boiled eggs

Method:

Preparation for Beehoon: soak in tap water for 1 minute then drain dry. Do not soak the beehoon for too long because water will be absorbed into the beehoon.

Heat oil, fry bean sprouts for 1 minute, set aside.

Heat oil, lower the heat, put the mee siam paste and fry for a while.

Add 375ml of water, sugar, add beehoon to cook in the wok, let beehoon absorb most of the mee siam paste.

Add bean sprouts, taukwa and chives.

While frying if beehoon is too stiff, try using chopsticks to go along, add oil if necessary.

Once the beehoon smell a bit fragrant, try to see if the beehoon is soft.

Serve with eggs and limes.

Note: Prawns are optional ingredient in her recipe, which I had omitted.

Curry Chicken

2005-11-04T19:23:00.000+08:00

Cooked Curry Chicken for dinner. I got the recipe from Lifestyle magazine, and changed it from Spareribs Curry to Curry Chicken by using chicken drumsticks and Earthen Pot Indian Curry Chicken Powder. Many of the ingredients like lemon grass, chillies, curry leaves and sugar were additional ingredients that I had added to the recipe. Another thing is, the original recipe called for ingredients like shallots and garlics to be sliced thinly instead of grinding. Haha.. enough said, otherwise you doze off while reading this!

Curry Chicken

Ingredients:
6 chicken drumsticks (abt 575g)
50g curry powder for chicken
2cm piece of ginger, cut into fine strips
4 medium sized potatoes, (cooked and halved)
1 cup of coconut milk or evaporated milk
3 cups of water
Oil for frying
2 lemon grass, crushed (top part only)
2 stems of curry leaves
salt to taste
sugar to taste

Grinded ingredients:
10 shallots
6 garlics
5 fresh chilies

Method:

Mix chicken with 3 tbsp of curry powder and marinate for 1 hour.

Blend remaining curry powder with enough water to form a paste.

Heat oil and fry the grinded ingredients and ginger till fragrant. Add the curry paste and stir fry till fragrant. Add chicken and curry leaves, stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes before adding water, lemon grass and salt to taste.

Bring to boil, and simmer the chicken gently for 30 minutes. Add the coconut milk and potatoes and simmer till chicken are tender and the gravy is thick. Add sugar to taste.

Mango Cream Agar-agar

2005-11-03T17:23:00.000+08:00

Made Mango Cream Agar-agar this morning. Recipe is from Leisure Cat. I could not get strawberries this morning, so had to make do with mangoes instead. I should have added a drop of colouring for the top layer to make it look nicer. Alas! I only realised my mistake after it was fully set in the fridge. Haha.. had a hard time arranging the slices of Agar-agar to make it more presentable in my photos. In the end, my nicely set Agar-agar layers went their separate ways because I was so careless in handling them when moving them from plate to plate for the photo session.

Mango Cream Agar-agar

Ingredients:
2 mangoes (cut into thin slices)
1 tbsp gelatin
10g agar-agar strips
100g castor sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice (more if desired)
100ml milk
200ml whipping cream

Method:

Soften the agar-agar strips by soaking in water, cut into short strips.

Add 1/4 cup of water to gelatin in a bowl. Dissolve by double-boiling in low heat.

Bring 500ml of water to boil. Dissolve the agar-agar strips in the pot of water. Add in the sugar and cook till sugar has dissolved, then stir in the dissolved gelatin. Pour one cup of the agar-agar mixture and set aside for later use.

Add milk and whipping cream to the remainding agar-agar mixture in the pot, stir to mix well. Remove from heat, sift to remove undissolved agar-agar strips. Pour the agar-agar mixture into the mould. Chill in the fridge. Before it is fully set, arrange the mangoes on top (else you get separated layers of Agar-agar at the end).

For the cup of agar-agar mixture that is set aside, stir in the lemon juice. Pour the agar-agar mixture on the mangoes. Chill to set.

Note: For the cup of agar-agar mixture that is set aside, put the vessel in warm water and keep stirring, prevent it from setting before the first layer is ready.

In my opinion, the Agar-agar will be better if slightly more water (maybe in the form of 1 tbsp lemon juice and 1 or 2 tbsp of water) is added to the agar-agar mixture for the top layer.

Small Bowl Fin

2005-10-31T09:34:00.000+08:00

(粉絲當魚翅) 「碗仔翅」盛行於八十年代的廟街，當時貧富差距較遠，街邊小販以碎肉、香菇絲及醬油等材料做成像魚翅羹的碗仔翅，這是當時一般平民滿足口腹之欲的方法之一。

(Vermicelli acts as Sharks Fin) 碗仔翅 originated from Temple Street, in Hong Kong, during the eighties. In those days, the gaps between the rich and poor were significant. The street hawkers used simple ingredients like minced meat, mushrooms, etc. and cooked them like Sharks Fin Soup, to satisfy the cravings of the common folks.

粉絲當魚翅 or Vermicelli acts as Sharks Fin is a well-known Cantonese phrase, used to mock at those who treat inferior quality as superior.

There are different versions of the “delicacy”. One example is from Leisure Cat and another one is from 掃街DIY.

I had wanted to cook my 碗仔翅 according to the recipe in Leisure Cat, but was unable to get hold of Japanese vegetarian fin. So what I did was to follow 掃街DIY, I used vermicelli instead of Japanese vegetarian fin. I also substituted other ingredients and fine tuned to the taste of my family.

Small Bowl Fin
碗仔翅

Ingredients:
30g Vermicelli, soaked and cut into short strands ( I used Glass Noodle/Tang Hoon)
Some black fungus, soaked and shredded
20g mushrooms (about 4pcs), soaked and shredded
150g chicken fillets, shredded
1 egg, beaten
1 liter Chicken Broth (I used Swanson)

Marinade for chicken fillets:
1/2 tsp light soy sauce
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp rice wine
3/4 tsp corn flour

Ingredients for starch mixture:
1/2 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
2-1/2 tbsp potato starch
3/4 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine
pepper
2 tbsp water
1/2 tsp salt (I omitted this)

Method:

Marinate chicken fillet for about 15 minutes.

Bring the chicken broth to boil. Add in vermicelli, black fungus, mushrooms and chicken fillets. Lower the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Add starch mixture. Bring to boil. When the soup thickens, add the beaten egg and turn off the heat.

Serve with black vinegar (浙醋).

I am the Indian Chief, I decide!

2005-10-29T16:45:00.000+08:00

I have come across many Bread Pudding recipes to date. When I saw Jaschin’s Bread Pudding photo, my fingers itched to give it a try. I got this Bread Pudding recipe from a popular site, it received great reviews from many who had tried it. Verdict? Only Gene gave the thumbs up, the three of us thought otherwise. When I told Gene that I would delete all the Bread Pudding recipes in my folder, he protested. I said, “I am the Indian Chief, I decide!” Wonder whether other families adopt the same rule like mine, in which the cook gets the final say.

Bread Pudding

Ngoh Hiang

2005-10-28T20:13:00.000+08:00

My family, especially my children, likes to eat Ngoh Hiang. My mum only makes Ngoh Hiang for Chinese New Year. I had to rely on her to give me Ngoh Hiang last time, but I can’t remember when was the last time she gave me that. When I chanced upon Ngoh Hiang recipe at the forum, I was overjoyed. I like both my mum's recipe and the recipe from a forum, so I just tweaked the recipe to my preference.

Ngoh Hiang

Yields 12 Ngoh Hiang

Ingredients for the filling:
500g minced pork
500g prawns (shelled, deveined and diced, only 250g left!)
10 water chestnut, diced
2 chopped big onion
1/2 bowl of shredded carrot
1/2 bowl of chopped spring onion
3/4 bowl of cream crackers, crushed
1 egg (beaten)
corn flour

Seasoning:
Light soya sauce (not too much, because bean sheet is salty)
Pepper
2 tbsp Five spice powder

Bean sheet (clean both sides several times with a clean damp towel)

Method:

Put pork, prawns, water chestnut, big onion, carrot in a mixing bowl. Add seasoning and mix well.

Add the spring onion and mix well.

Add the beaten egg and corn flour. Mix well.

Add the biscuit crumbs. Mix well.

Wrap the fillings in the beancurd sheets; compress the fillings to make it tight.

Deep fry in moderate fire till the Ngoh Hiang is golden brown.

Serve with Chilli.

Note: Ngoh Hiang 2 which is quite similar to this.

Homemade Chicken Rice Meal

2005-10-23T19:42:00.000+08:00

Cooked my first Homemade Chicken Rice Meal for dinner today. I got the idea from Lin when she posted her food photos at Rainbow Connection. All this while, I thought home cooked Chicken Rice was troublesome until Lin inspired me with her Chicken Rice cooked with ready made chicken rice mix and Fried Chicken Wings. I am so glad that from now on, I can cook this without worrying about cooking and chopping the whole chicken in my kitchen.

My meal consisted of Fried Chicken Wings, rice cooked with Chng Kee's hainanese chicken rice mix (added extra slices of ginger and crushed garlic as per Lin's method), boiled vegetable with oyster sauce, Glory chicken chilli sauce to go with the meal, and not to forget the Egg Drop Soup. The recipe for this soup was copied from Allrecipe and I changed the cooking method to my preference.

Egg Drop Soup

4 servings

Ingredients:
4 cups chicken broth, divided
1/8 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp chopped fresh chives
1/4 tsp salt
1-1/2 tbsp potato starch
2 eggs
1 egg yolk

Method:

Reserve 3/4 cup of chicken broth, and pour the rest into a large saucepan. Stir the salt, ginger and chives into the saucepan, and bring to a rolling boil.

In a small bowl, stir together the remaining broth and potato starch until smooth. Set aside.

In another small bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolk together using a fork.

Add Potato starch mixture to the chicken broth in the saucepan, and stir over medium heat till thickens.

Stir clockwise 2-3 times.

Pour egg in when soup is still moving. Turn off heat.

Lemon Tarts

2005-10-21T16:30:00.000+08:00

Made Lemon Tarts this morning. I got the recipe from Leisure Cat. Nearly failed in my attempt because I was too muddle-headed. When I was almost done with mixing the ingredients for the tart shells, I saw the bowl of egg yolks staring at me. Gosh! I had forgotten to add and beat up the egg yolks with the butter and icing sugar. I rushed to get it done and combine it to the mixture. Luckily I could still incorporate everything and knead into a dough. Phew ! The tart shells came out alright.

I found it tough to understand the recipe from the source because the instructions given were very brief. It is tedious to type in Traditional Chinese, so I have had problems putting forth my doubts at the forum. Hence, I had to study other similar recipes in this case. I have been captivated by all the beautiful food photos there, which explains why I keep going back to Leisure-Cat and other forums in Hong Kong. The recipe below is a translation from the original work with some details added for clarity.

Lemon Tarts
檸檬撻

Yields 25 Tarts

Tart shells

Ingredients:
210g butter
83g icing sugar
1-1/2 egg yolks
42g evaporated milk
300g cake flour
38g cocoa powder

Method:

Cream butter and icing sugar until white and creamy, add egg yolks and continue to beat until smooth.

Add evaporated milk, cake flour and cocoa powder. Knead into a dough.

Press into tart moulds. Bake at preheated oven at 190 degree Celsius for 15-20 mins.

Remove tart shells from moulds and leave it to cool on the rack.

Lemon Filling

Ingredients:
3 egg yolks
28g caster sugar
lemon juice from 2 lemons (I used Thai green lemons)
grated lemon zest from 2 lemons
3 egg whites
68g caster sugar
180g whipping cream
8.5g gelatin
20g water

Method:

Put the egg yolks and 28g sugar in a mixing bowl, beat until pale and thick.

Place egg whites in a clean, dry bowl. Beat up the egg whites, gradually add 68g sugar and beat until stiff peak.

Add lemon juice and lemon zest into egg yolks mixture. Mix well.

Dissolve the gelatin in water using the double boil method, add into egg yolks mixture. Mix well.

Whip the whipping cream till mousse state, add into egg yolks mixture. Mix well.

Add egg whites mixture to egg yolks mixture. Mix well.

Spoon the lemon filling into the individual tart shells and chill.

Note: When grating the lemon zest, avoid using the inner white part. Just grate the thin surface only as the white part is bitter. Then squeeze the lemon juice from the two lemons.

I did not add all the grated lemon zest into the lemon filling. I used some for garnishing.

Fast to cook, good to eat...

2005-10-20T12:03:00.000+08:00

I got this recipe from KC last night. The forummer, Sophie, who shared this recipe said “Fast to cook, good to eat!” Hehe… reminds me of Maggi Instant Noodle advertisement. Anyway, it is super easy to make. I think can even toast with an oven toaster. I have added Maggi chilli sauce and MasterFoods honey mustard before rolling up the Prata. Next time, I will be adventurous and try with other ingredients and wrap it another way, who knows I might end up with my favourite Apple Turnover from Delifrance!

Prata Sausage Roll

Ingredients:
Any brand Puff Prata
Chicken Cheese Sausages.

Method:

Thaw frozen Puff Prata for ONLY 3-4 minutes.

Put the Chicken Cheese Sausage on the Prata and roll.

Make a few cuts on the rolled Prata and then do egg wash.

Bake at 170-180 degree Celsius for 40-45 mins.

Note: Remove the Prata Roll from the oven in between baking to do egg wash, so the end result will be perfect.

Prata Ham Roll

Ingredients:
Any brand Puff Prata
Honey Baked Ham
Pineapple slices

Meme - Childhood memories of food

2005-10-17T21:44:00.000+08:00

Oh my goodness!! Jaschin has passed the baton to me, and now it is my turn to relate my childhood memories of food. Hmm… let me recall the long forgotten journey in my childhood.

* When I was very young, Dad used to da-bao lots of supper for the family every other night. Food like Satay, Fried Oyster Omelette, Hokkien Noddle, all sorts of Bao, and my favourite Durians!! When my late sister celebrated her 21st birthday, she also da-bao Satay and Stir-fry Ginger Liver for us. That supper from my late sister was the most unforgettable because I vomited and fell sick the very next morning. Thereafter, I hated the Stir-fry Ginger Liver until today. She was the one who taught me to enjoy Stir-fry Ginger Liver, and she was also the one who made me hate the dish!! Don’t know why I could forgive the Satay. *lol*

* Dad brought us to the road side stalls at the old Thye Hong Biscuits Factory to eat Satay Bee Hoon. That was the first time I ate Satay Bee Hoon, and I remember we went there on quite a number of occasions.

* Mum liked to experiment with various recipes every Sunday. She made Poh Piah, Soon Kueh, Bao, Rojak, Huat Kueh, Steamed Egg-Cakes, all kinds of Hot Desserts and her special Hokkien Bah-Chang. She was so good with the Bah-Chang that my late grandma ordered her to make for all the relatives. But then, she had refused to budge because she had to make so many, which was very tedious, to feed her own brood.

* Mum was not only good in cooking. She was also very good in baking. (Mum is still around, I used past tense because she is no longer good in her skills *lol*) She made Love Letters and used her improvised oven to bake Kueh Bangkit for Chinese New Year. She even made Kueh Bangkit to sell. Business was so good that she had to turn down lots of late orders.

* Mum and I liked to eat the famous Chinese Rice Pudding (Wan Kueh) in Bukit Merah. I used to walk to the HDB blocks near my Primary School to wait for the man who peddled his food on bicycle at that time. Ten years ago, when Mum and Dad moved to the present address, we discovered that the same man was selling the same Wan Kueh in the hawker center near their place. Dad used to bring my two naughty children to buy from the stall whenever we visited.

Nobody to tag because I am a new kid on the blog. :(

ABC Soup

2005-10-17T18:19:00.000+08:00

Feeling a little better than yesterday. The theme for this week at Nurkochen is Soup or Stew. No problem, since I boil soup every other day. Stir fry vegetable, fried some Chicken Nuggets and Breaded Scallops from NTUC Supermarket. Guess what? When everything is done and time to tuck in, then I realize that I have forgotten to switch on the rice cooker! Arrggghhhhh!!!!! Oh, never mind! This is not the first time!

ABC Soup. (Kris said it is Anion, Botato & Carrot Soup)

Salmon Potato Patties

2005-10-16T14:58:00.000+08:00

This Salmon Potato Patties recipe was taken from Lifestyle magazine.

Salmon Potato Patties

Yields 11 patties

Ingredients:
400g potatoes
240g salmon, steamed and flaked
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp chopped spring onion
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
1 medium egg, lightly beaten
1 red chilli, sliced
3/4 tsp curry powder
Oil for deep frying

Method:

Boil potatoes till cooked. Peel and mash the potatoes.

Place mashed potatoes and flaked salmon into a mixing bowl.

Add the remaining ingredients except oil and combine well.

Shape into patties.

Heat oil till hot and deep-fry the patties until golden brown.

Drain on absorbent paper. Best served hot.

Fruit Tarts

2005-10-10T12:30:00.000+08:00

Ta-da!!!! I have gotten over the traumatic failed cookies baking experience. The success of this Chocolate Chip Cookies was such a morale booster and it spurred me to try the Fruit Tarts recipe. The source for this Fruit Tarts recipe is M4M.

Fruit Tarts

Yields 13 Tarts

Tart shells

Ingredients:
125g butter (soften at room temp)
62.5g caster sugar
1/4 egg
250g plain flour

Method:

Cream the butter with caster sugar until white and creamy.

Add egg and continue to beat.

Fold in flour until it becomes dough.

Line the small tart tins with dough.

Poke holes using a fork on the tart shells.

Bake at 175C until edge slightly brown.

Slide tart out and let it cool down.

Creme Patissiere:

Ingredients:
500ml milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
5 egg yolks
125 g castor sugar
25g plain flour
25g corn flour

Method:

Heat the milk and vanilla essence gently until just boiling.

Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Beat the egg yolks and sugar until pale and thick, then stir in the flour and corn flour.

Gradually stir the milk into the egg mixture.

Pour the custard into the saucepan and heat gently, beating continuously until mixture thickens and boils.

Boil for 1 min, stirring continuously, remove from heat and cool.

If the custard is lumpy, just stir hard to break up the lumps.

Scoop the cooled custard into each tart shell, decorate top with fruits.

Quail Eggs In Seasoned Minced Meat

2005-10-10T12:21:00.000+08:00

Cooked this about a week ago. I got the recipe from KC, again I made some changes to it. I wanted to sabo the two naughty fellas for annoying me with their “not too spicy” request whenever I cooked spicy food. While I was preparing the ingredients, I sniggered to myself and I added two chopped chilli padi to the minced meat. I thought they would never suspect their favourite quail eggs to come with chilli padi. Alas!!!! The end result was not spicy at all!!! Never mind, there will always be the next time! *evil grin*

Quail Eggs In Seasoned Minced Meat

Ingredients:
13 quail eggs
250g minced pork
2 water chestnut (finely chopped)
chilli padi (Optional)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Meat Marinate:
2 shallots, crushed
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp light soya sauce
2 tsp starch
pepper to taste

Method:

Boil quail eggs and remove shell.

Marinate minced meat. Mix marinated meat and water chestnut.

Wrap quail egg with minced meat mixture. Coat with breadcrumbs.

Heat oil and deep fry quail eggs over low heat until golden brown.

Serve hot.

Salmon Fish Cakes

2005-10-09T21:41:00.000+08:00

Had Fried Bee Hoon and Salmon Fish Cakes for lunch. I made minor changes to the Salmon Fish Cakes recipe, which was taken from a forum. Hubby cooked the Fried Bee Hoon. Every time we want to eat Fried Bee Hoon, hubby cooks it because I have designated the special duty to him. Of course there is a reason, or rather a story behind it.

When I fried Bee Hoon the first time, Tazz was already looming when I had difficulty tossing the Bee Hoon. Hubby offered to help. He gave a light toss, and WHOOSH! Some Bee Hoon got stuck on the wall. Seeing that, Tazz stomped her feet and yelled in anger. Hubby was shocked and he kept saying, “Sorry! Sorry! I didn’t know it’s actually so light and why you had such difficulty.”

I always said I had heart attack when I first cooked Fried Bee Hoon. Actually, it was just arm and chest muscle pain due to lack of exercise.

Recipe here is for Salmon Fish Cakes and not Fried Bee Hoon, though.

Salmon Fish Cakes

Ingredients:
400g potato
3 tbsp milk
1 can 185g plain salmon, drained
60 gm onions, finely chopped
2 eggs, well beaten
1/2 tsp fish sauce (optional)
1/4 tsp salt
some grated carrot and spring onions
dash of black pepper
breadcrumbs, preferably fresh for coating

Method:

Boil potato (do not overcook) and mash with a little milk until fairly smooth.

Mash fish with a fork, add onions, fish sauce, salt, pepper, carrot and spring onion.

Add mashed potato and 1-1/2 tbsp of the beaten egg (this helps to bind the mix).

Form into balls, dip in beaten egg and roll in breadcrumbs.

Flatten slightly.

Let it sit in the freezer for 15 minutes or in the fridge for 1 hour. This will make the cake easier to handle when frying.

Fry each side in some oil until golden.

Serve with home-made tomato sauce or sweet chilli sauce.

Note: The above recipe makes about 14 fish cakes.

Macau Pudding

2005-10-09T21:30:00.000+08:00

Saw the same Macau Pudding recipe in Hong Kong forums and blogs. Seems that it is very popular there. Some said that it tastes like the original dessert found in Macau. I have never tasted the one in Macau, so it is impossible for me to comment. I think it tastes like Vanilla Ice Cream. The recipe here is not a direct translation of the original recipe. It is a description of my method.

Macau Pudding
木糠布甸

Ingredients:
200g Marie Biscuits
2 tbsp cocoa powder
500ml whipping cream (I used President brand)
100g condensed milk
1/4 tsp vanilla seeds
1 tbsp vanilla sugar

Method:

Use a blender to blend the Marie Biscuits until fine. Mix 100g fine biscuits crumb with cocoa powder. Set the other half aside.

Whip the whipping cream until soft, add in condensed milk, vanilla seeds and vanilla sugar, continue to beat till about 80% stiff. Transfer the mixture to a bag.

Spread the fine biscuits crumb onto the base of the cake pan, squeeze some whipped cream mixture on it. Spread another layer of fine biscuits crumb mixed with cocoa powder. Squeeze some whipped cream mixture again. Continue with the steps until the whipped cream mixture is used up. The last layer on top must be the fine biscuits crumb mixed with cocoa powder.

Put in the freezer to set.

Note: I made about one third of the above recipe. Substituted vanilla seeds with vanilla essence (1 drop only coz don’t like the taste of vanilla to be too strong). I substituted vanilla sugar with castor sugar. I didn’t use up the entire biscuits crumb. My layer of the fine biscuits crumb wasn’t very thick.

In my opinion, this recipe is best made into small individual cups.

Fish & Chips

2005-10-09T21:19:00.000+08:00

Participated in Theme Of The Week at Nurkochen, a fun game in which participants baked or cooked something based on the selected theme, and I came up with all these simple dishes. That's me, the type who looks for easy and simple stuffs to do, nevermind that others would laugh at me when they saw what I had produced!

First week, the theme was Lemon. I cooked Fish & Chips. Thought it would be easy but ended up spending so much time just shredding the cabbage for the Coleslaw. I sniggered when I saw the suggested theme because I was happy that I could kill two birds with one stone, as I had already planned to cook this for Ni’s (my naughty girl) birthday.

Fish & Chips

Method:

Marinate dory fish slices with generous amount of lemon juice, pepper, salt and fish sauce.

Smack on the plain flour, dunk the whole slice of fish into a bowl of battered egg, cover it up with bread crumbs and deep fry till you’re happy. Deep fry the fries too.

Don't need to buy tartar sauce for your Fish and Chips. Simply squeeze 1/2 lemon to the mayonnaise and mix them well. It goes very well as "tartar sauce" with fresh lemon smell!

Coleslaw

Serves 4

Ingredients:
350g green or white cabbage, shredded
1 medium carrot, shredded
25ml of sugar
25ml fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp distilled white vinegar
120ml mayonnaise (Best Foods)
salt & pepper

some fresh milk * (or sour cream)

Method:

Place cabbage and carrot in a mixing bowl and toss to combine.

In a small bowl, combine the sugar, lemon juice, vinegar, mayonnaise. Stir well.

Pour the mayonnaise dressing over the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. Stir until well coated. Chill in the fridge.

Can prepare overnight and put in the fridge.* fresh milk can be added to the chilled Coleslaw one hour before serving.

Note: For additional 2 more servings, may add another 115g red cabbage & 1 more medium carrot, and increase the mayonnaise dressing accordingly.

Egg-flower Water Chestnut Soup

2005-10-09T21:12:00.000+08:00

On the second week, the theme was Egg. I cooked Egg-flower Water Chestnut Soup. I experimented twice previously but was unhappy with the end results. When I tried the third time, I got it right! Close to my desired taste.

Egg-flower Water Chestnut Soup
冰花馬蹄露 (Bing Hua Ma Ti Lu)

Serves 4

Ingredients:
4-1/2 cups of water
1 bundle of pandan leaves
80gm-100gm rock sugar
250gm water chestnut, cut into pea-sized pieces
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn
pinch of salt to taste(optional)
1 egg (lightly beaten)
3 tbsp water chestnut powder mixed with 6 tbsp of water. (I used potato starch)

Method:

Boil water, pandan leaves with rock sugar until sugar melts.

Add water chestnut and bring to boil. Add corn.

Add water chestnut powder mixture and stir over medium heat till thickens.

Add salt (optional).

Stir clockwise 2-3 times. Pour egg in when soup is still moving. Turn off heat.

Note: Have to get about 500gm of water chestnut. After washing and cutting, only about 250gm left!

Sweet & Sour Crisp Tofu

2005-10-09T21:03:00.000+08:00

Orange was the theme for the third week. I had no idea what to come up with. Finally I picked the following recipe which I had learned from a Chinese Cooking Programme last year. The original recipe called for just 1 tbsp of orange juice, the cheat in me said to add some orange segments to justify my using this recipe for the theme. 辣脆豆腐 (Spicy Crisp Tofu) is the Chinese name for this dish but I think the more appropriate name should be Sweet & Sour Crisp Tofu because it isn't spicy at all.

Sweet & Sour Crisp Tofu

Ingredients:
1 big pc of tofu (cut into cubes)
some plain flour and 1 tbsp of cooking oil.

Salad Ingredients:
1 mango (cut into thin strips) * don’t choose yellow one coz it’s too ripe*
1/2 big onion (cut into thin strips)
1/2 cucumber (cut into thin strips, throw away the middle part with the seeds)
1 red chilli (discard the seeds and cut into thin strips)
Parsley (cut the leaves only)
1 orange (Optional)(cut the segments into 1/2 each)

Sauce: (Mixed well in a bowl)
8 tbsp Thai chilli sauce
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp fresh orange juice
1 tsp sugar

Method:

In a bowl, put plain flour. Add water little at a time and mix well until it’s runny. Then add a tbsp of cooking oil (so the tofu will be crispy!)

Dip tofu into flour mixture and deep fry in hot oil till golden brown. Drain and put them onto a plate.

Put all Cut Salad ingredients on top of the crisp tofu cubes.

Pour the Sauce mixture and serve while it’s hot.

Double Boiled White Fungus Soup

2005-10-09T20:52:00.000+08:00

On the fourth week, the chosen theme was Almond. I wanted very much to bake some Almond Cookies but realized that I had yet to recover from the trauma of my failed Chocolate Chips Cookies project. *lol* Searched high and low for Almond Jelly recipe but couldn't find one that I was satisfied with. Finally, I opted for this Double Boiled White Fungus Soup. I liked this soup so much in the past that I used to boil it about twice everyweek for my family. Now I only boil it occasionally.

The Ingredients:

Double Boiled White Fungus Soup

2 servings

Ingredients:
25g white fungus
25g north & south almonds combined
20pcs of red dates (seeds discarded)
rock sugar to taste
2 bowls of water (I used 500ml or water)

Method:

Soak the white fungus for half an hour or until it is soft and then trim off the thick, yellowish base.

Add north & south almonds, red dates, fungus and water into a double boiler. Double boil for 2 hours over medium heat.

Add rock sugar to taste. (Usually I’ll cook for 1 and ½ hour, then add rock sugar and leave it to cook for another ½ hour so that the rock sugar will dissolve.)

Medicinal uses: This soup is beneficial to the complexion and a tonic for the lungs. I read somewhere that regular consumption of this soup (minus the north & south almonds) is very good for your complexion.

Note: Never buy those white fungus that is pure white coz it could have been bleached with chemicals.

Non-Bake Tofu Red Bean Cheesecake

2005-10-09T20:32:00.000+08:00

The fifth theme was Tofu. Actually I didn't really feel like continuing in this theme thingy because I could see the dwindling response as the weeks passed by. Eventually I did again since I had planned to try this recipe which I saw at Leisure-Cat, a very dynamic food forum in Hong Kong. Alas, I didn't do so well for this dessert because I failed to dissolve the gelatin properly and I was also quite kiasu when I used more biscuits crumbs for the base instead of the quantity called for in this recipe.

Non-Bake Tofu Red Bean Cheesecake
豆腐紅豆芝士餅 (6” cake pan)

Base:
70g digestive biscuit crumbs
40g melted butter

Red Bean Layer:
50g cream cheese
10g sugar
90g diary whipping cream
125g red bean paste
1 tbsp boiling water
3g gelatin

Method:

Toss biscuit crumbs into melted butter and press firmly on to base of cake pan. Chill in the fridge for use later.

Whip whipping cream till mousse state, keep chilled.

Cream cheese and sugar till smooth and creamy.

Stir in the red bean paste. Mix well. Stir in the whipped cream. Mix well.

Dissolve the gelatin with 1 tbsp of boiling water, then add into the cheese mixture.

Pour cheese mixture onto cake base.

Chill in the fridge.

Tofu Layer:
52g cream cheese
18g sugar
85g whipping cream
155g silken tofu
1 tbsp boiling water
4.5g gelatin

Method:

Whip whipping cream till mousse state, keep chilled.

Cream cheese and sugar till smooth and creamy.

Stir in the tofu. Mix well. Stir in the whipped cream. Mix well.

Dissolve the gelatin with 1 tbsp of boiling water, then add into the cheese mixture.

Spoon cheese mixture onto the red bean layer which has set.

Chill in the fridge.

Decorate the cake when it is set.

Note: I sifted the silken tofu and the Japanese canned red bean to get smoother texture. The next time I attempt this recipe, I might want to increase the amount of gelatin and use the double-boil method to dissolve all the gelatin.