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Bright and sparkly. Gemstones came to my mind when I was removing this Dragon Fruit and Orange jelly from the mould. Like a combination of gemstones...rubies, amber and diamonds, all in one!

Dragon's Eyes

The literal translation for the name of a small brown, juicy exotic fruit from the lands of Asia, known as Longan in Chinese, packed into these muffins

Nostalgia

A taste from the humble beginnings, the Long Bean Rice brings back beautiful memories of the yesteryears

Light and Fluffy

Lemon, Yogurt and Cranberries~a nice blend of flavours in a light and fluffy chiffon cake

Bread Stories

Asian style buns ~ Popular as breakfast food or snack, sweet/savoury fillings wrapped in soft, cottony bread

Sunday 16 November 2014

My 5K Bread

Greetings to all my friends out there!  It has been months since my last post, if you still drop by once in awhile, i am thankful :)  

This is one of those that has been collecting dust in my draft folder.   If you are one who haunts recipe blogs (particularly Asian ones), you would not have missed a 5K bread dough recipe that went viral somewhere around middle of this year.   Apparently the name came about because someone paid 5000 RMB for it and if the story is true, we should consider ourselves lucky to find it shared on the web.  You will find many variations out there apart from the original and this was my take of it :)   
If you like cottony soft bread and don't mind putting a little extra effort (and time), try this out.   It follows a starter dough method but it doesn't require the dough to be left overnight which is good because one doesn't need to much planning ahead.  

You can make a plain loaf out of it but i missed a Kaya (coconut milk jam) loaf that i made a very long time back.  It was a cute looking loaf shaped by pilling up little bread balls on top of each other and it tasted really good with kaya slathered in between the layers.  And the cheese toppings?  The inspiration came from a Filipino cake known as the Taisan cake which a few of my blogger friends tried out around the time i made this loaf when Philippines was the featured country for the Asian Food Fest blogging event.  I was smitten by the look of the cake :))

Recipe
Reference: Baking Diary/Vivian Pang Kitchen

Ingredients
Starter dough
  • 105g bread flour
  • 45g cake flour (low protein flour)
  • 12g sugar
  • 3g instant yeast 
  • 120ml water

Main dough
  • 105g bread flour
  • 65g cake flour (low protein flour)
  • 35g sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 12g milk powder
  • 1 egg (weight 57g without shell) my egg is exactly 57g without shell
  • 10 ml water (add 1 tsp add a time if the dough is dry)
  • 36g butter, room temperature
  • Store bought small tub of kaya 
Method

Starter Dough
  1. Add in all the ingredients and use a spatula/stand mixer to combine all the ingredients into a dough.
  2. Cover the dough and let it rise for 2-3 hours at room temperature
Main Dough
  1. Add the ingredients for the main dough except butter into the starter dough. Knead well.
  2. Add in butter and continue kneading till form smooth and elastic dough. It should pass the window pane test at this point.
  3. Cover the dough and let it rise to just about double in size. 
  4. If you want a simple loaf, divide the dough into 3 pieces and shaped into rosettes or braid it.  For a kaya loaf, take 15g of the dough, press it flat and put in 1/2 tsp of kaya into the ball before wrapping it up.
  5. Place dough into a greased loaf pan.  
  6. If kaya loaf is made, lay the balls in a layer and try to close the gaps between the layers best possible.  In between the layers, drop blobs (around 1 tsp) of kaya on the dough for added kaya flavour.
  7. Leave the dough to rise  till doubled in size. 
  8. Bake in preheated oven at 170C for about 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
  9. Remove from the pan and leave to cool on wire rack.When it's slightly cooled, brush with some butter and sprinkle grated cheese on top if you like.
Note: I used my breadmaker to handle steps 1 to 3 (with butter thrown in at step 1)

Monday 28 July 2014

Ribs, The Pinoy Way

Hello there my blogging friends, it has been awhile, my apologies for not visiting.  I hope to catch up soon.   Life has been busy after going back to full time employment.  Hats off to my friends who are working full time yet find time to blog constantly and beautifully while i am struggle to find a right rhythm!

Asian Food Fest blogging event moves on to the Philippines this month and I am quite glad that i managed to complete my 'homework' early but yet i am rushing to post this unfortunately  :(

Don't know much about Pinoy cuisine and have not had much opportunity to savour them except those had during a brief trip to the beautiful Cebu island a few years back.

The only Pinoy dish that i can claim i know how to make would be the Adobo which they say is the unofficial national dish.  I learned how to make this a few years back and i make it occasionally ever since.  It's easy to make (no. 1 criteria to make it into my house menu)  and it's delicious, can't be better...

Adobo is a simple stew like meat dish made by braising the meat in essentially soy sauce, vinegar and garlic. One can make it with chicken, pork or even seafood (i read) but i chose pork of course since i wanted to add this into my collection of Asian Pork Ribs dish :)  Apart from the variation in the choice of meat, other extras like potatoes and eggs can be added into the dish too.  I tried with potatoes since they can never go wrong in stews.

The meat is tender with a unique mix of savoury, sweet and tangy flavors.  Flavors are more intense if left to marinade longer (i left it overnight and made it for lunch).  I like mine with a little sweetnes hence the addition of  a little brown sugar.  A comforting dish that goes well with rice.

Recipe
Source: Pansalang Pinoy

Ingredients
  • 2 lbs pork belly (850g) 
  • 2 tbsp garlic, minced or crushed (4 tbsp)
  • 5 pieces dried bay leaves (3 pieces)
  • 4 tbsp vinegar
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce (1/3 cup)
  • 1 tbsp whole pepper corn
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • 2 russet potatoes skinned and cut into quarters
  • salt to taste
Method
  1. Combine the pork belly, soy sauce, and garlic then marinade for at least 1 hour (I left it the fridge overnight and made it for lunch the next day)
  2. Heat a heavy based pot and put-in the marinated pork belly to brown the meat.
  3. Add water, whole pepper corn, and dried bay leaves then bring to a boil. 
  4. Simmer for 20 minutes.  
  5. Add in vinegar and simmer for another 10 minutes or until meat is tender.
  6. Add in potatoes and simmer for another 15 minutes or until potatoes is soft.
  7. Add sugar and salt to taste.
Notes: My variation in blue


I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest – Philippines hosted by The Sweet Spot.

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This post is linked to the event Little Thumbs Up (July 2014 Event: Potato) - organised by Zoe (Bake for Happy Kids) and Mui Mui (My Little Favourite DIY) and hosted by Jasline (Foodie Baker

Sunday 13 July 2014

Super Soup Bowl Sunday


Happy Sunday everyone!  Hope you are having a great time with your loved ones.

I made this dish 2 Sundays ago.  I am at a loss as to what to name this dish.  Listing down all the ingredients will make it long and boring.  Since it's a big bowl of goodness, Super Bowl came to mind :)  Or maybe Super Soup Bowl to be technically correct.  After all that's what it is literally, not American football :)

This dish was inspired by Sonia's claypot luffa gourd, black fungus and fish maw dish that she shared not long ago.  I like this kind of dish with lots of ingredients braised in supreme stock.  Something that one could eat on its own or at the most some rice to go with it for die-hard rice fans (which i have in my house).

Sonia made hers using the traditional Cantonese way of cooking. She used dried sole fish to make the stock which is a widely used seasoning in Cantonese style cooking.  I don't have any of those so i made do with anchovies instead.  To make up for the flavors, i threw in fish, prawns and some meatballs.  I also used a chayote instead of luffa.

It turned out delicious!  Lots of tasty ingredients and soup to go with it too, a typical chinese home style meal that was really comforting.

Recipe
Inspiration: Nasi Lemak Lover

Ingredients
  • 1 medium size chayote, peel and cut into wedges
  • 40g fish maw, soaked in water for 30mins
  • 1 medium size carrot, peel and cut into thick slices
  • 10g dried black fungus, soaked in water till soften, tear into small pieces
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 slice white flesh fish
  • 1 cup meatballs
  • 6 medium size prawns, deveined 
  • Salt to taste
Stock ingredients
  • 1 cup dried anchovies
  • 1000ml water
Method
  1. Rinse and wash anchovies in some water.
  2. Heat one tablespoon of cooking oil in a stock pot then fry anchovies until fragrant.
  3. Add water then allow it to come to a boil and simmer for around 15 minutes until soup becomes whitish.  
  4. Strain broth, discard anchovies and set aside.
  5. Heat one tablespoon of cooking oil in a claypot, sauté garlic until fragrant. Add in carrot, black fungus and chayote.
  6. Add in stock and let it come to a boil.
  7. Add in fish maw, continue to cook for 5-10mins till fish maw soften.
  8. Add in prawns for 2-3 minutes then add in meatballs followed by fish slices the last.
  9. Turn off heat once fish is cooked.
  10. Remove from heat, serve hot.

Wednesday 2 July 2014

A Very Berry Good Morning!

I was on a berry buying frenzy the other day.  Isetan Kuala Lumpur was offering every other type of berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, cherries and raspberries) at a bargain in conjunction with the Mega Sales event.  Yippee! If you visit me often enough, you must have read about me lamenting how expensive berries are on this part of the world.  So, you can imagine how crazy i went when they were going at a discount.  I bought at least a punnet of every other berries that they had.  Very berry happy i was :)


I couldn't wait to lay my hands on something that has lots of berries in it :))  I ended up making this swirl bread by Joy the Baker.  This recipe is one of the challenges for a Baking Bootcamp in which she is partnering with King Arthur flour.  The many photos of this beautiful bread  of those taking part in the challenge was just captivating. 

The biggest challenge is the braiding and then the transferring to the baking pan.  The dough was really soft, berries falling off here and there when you braid it and added to that some berries started to bleed after the dough is cut.  It's doable but not easy!  The key to this is to do it fast!  I must admit i didn't do too well :(

We had it for breakfast the next day, the bread was still soft without any need to reheat it.  Buttery, moist, cinnamony, bursting with berries and their juices.  Just delicious!  I am thinking a scoop of ice cream will go very well with it too :)

Recipe
Reference: Joy the Baker and Bryony Cooks

Ingredients

Dough
  • 2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast (2 tsp)
  • 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup whole milk, warmed to a warm lukewarm
  • 1 large egg yolk (1/2 medium size egg)
  • 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted (28g)
  • 2 1/4 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour (280g)
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • Olive oil, for greasing the bowl (omitted)
Filling
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (56g)
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar (45g)
  • 3 tsp. ground cinnamon (2 tsp, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp ground ginger)
  • 2 cups fresh berries (sliced strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries)
  • 1 large egg, beaten, for egg wash (1/2 medium size egg)
Method
  1. In a medium size bowl, heat milk until warm.  Stir in yeast and sugar. Add in the egg and melted butter. Whisk together until thoroughly combined. Allow mixture to rest until it becomes foamy, around 10 minutes.
  2. In a large bowl whisk together the flour and salt. Pour the milk mixture over the dry ingredients and bring everything together into a rough dough.  Place dough on a lightly floured counter and knead by hand for about 10 minutes more. Dough ball should be soft and smooth after kneading.   Shape dough into a ball.
  3. Place the dough in a bowl that has been lightly greased with olive oil and cover.   Allow to rest in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
  4. While the dough rises, whisk together the butter with cinnamon and sugar for the filling. Set aside.
  5. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).  Grease a 10-inch cast iron skillet (I used a 9-inch springform cake pan). Set aside.
  6. After the dough has doubled in size, place it on a lightly floured counter and knead twice. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough to a rectangle of about 18×12 inches.
  7. Spoon the cinnamon filling over the top, spreading evenly, leaving a clean 1-inch border around the edges. Sprinkle the fresh berries over cinnamon filling. Start by rolling the longest side of the dough. The roll will be a bit lumpy because of the berries. Using a sharp knife, cut the log in half lengthwise leaving 1-inch of the edge uncut.
  8. Start braiding the two pieces by lifting the left strand over the right strand. Repeat this motion until you reach the bottom of the dough. Press together to seal. Join the two ends, creating a circle with the dough and press together.
  9. Using two swift hands, transfer the dough ring to the prepared cast iron skillet/pan. Brush the wreath with the beaten egg.
  10. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.  Allow to cool for about 30 minutes before slicing and serving. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired.
Note: 
  1. I followed through Step 1 but i let my breadmaker handle the kneading using the Dough program.  
  2. For Step no. 3, i left the dough the dough to rise in the breadmaker.

Saturday 28 June 2014

Orange is the Happiest Color


It is not very often that i bake cheese cakes.  The problem is they keep calling out to me whenever they are in my fridge.   I love them so it's easier to refrain from baking than to refrain from eating! 

I had this block of cheese leftover after i made a cake for my son's class party, just the excuse for me to make myself one :)  I didn't have that much left, only 250g, so i thought a Japanese style cheese cake would suit it well.  And i was craving for something orangey. Orange is my favorite fruit and i like its bright sunshiny color. I must agree with Frank Sinatra to a certain extent, "Orange is the happiest color" so he said :)

I did a search and landed on Ann's recipe which she posted in 2010. I know Ann bakes gorgeous stuff but when i saw this cake of hers, i was like 'wow' she was baking gorgeous cakes even way back then :)  I absolutely love this cake.  It has a very fine texture that was light and airy and the orangey tang is just heavenly for orange lovers like me.

 Light, airy and tangy!

I substituted corn flour with potato starch and i am wondering if it had a hand in making the cake lighter, hmm...any thoughts my friends?

Recipe
Reference: Anncoo Journal

(A)
  • 250gm Cream Cheese, soften
  • 250ml Milk
  • 120gm Butter
(B)
  • 50ml Fresh Orange Juice
  • 2 nos Orange Rind, grated (Zest from 1 big orange)
(C)
  • 6 nos Egg yolks (Medium size eggs)
  • 60gm Sugar
(D)
  • 70gm Cake / Plain Flour
  • 20gm Corn Flour (Potato Starch)
(E)
  • 6 nos Egg Whites
  • 1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar (omitted)
  • 60 gm Sugar
Method
  1. Melt cream cheese and milk over a double-boiler, strain using a wire mesh sieve to get a smooth mixture.
  2. Remove from heat and add in butter, stir until butter melted.
  3. When mixture is cool, add in ingredients (B) and (C). mix well.
  4. Mix ingredients D and sieve into mixture in 3 batches.
  5. Mix well until mixture becomes thick.
  6. Whisk egg white and cream of tartar till frothy.
  7. Add in sugar (2 batches) and continue whisk until peak foam.
  8. Mix egg whites to cheese mixture with a spatula (in 3 batches).
  9. Pour batter into a 10" lined square cake tin (8 inch round removable base pan plus a 3 inch paper liner).
  10. Bake at preheat oven 150'C with water bath for 1 hour 10 mins.
  11. Leave the cake to cool in the oven with door ajar for 30 minutes- 1 hour.  This is to prevent the cake from shrinkage with sudden change of temperature.
Notes
  1. My variations in blue.
  2. For water bath effect, place 4 tart moulds filled with hot water in 4 corners of oven.  You do not need to wrap the pan with aluminium foil with this method.
  3. Tent the cheesecake by covering it with aluminium foil loosely when half way baked (about 20-30 mins) to prevent cheesecake from over browning.

Friday 27 June 2014

Ribs the Vietnamese Way

Yes, that's pork ribs you are staring at in case you can't make out what it is!  Unfortunately that is the best photo that i can find for this dish even after changing plates, with garnish, without garnish, this angle, that angle etc, etc, etc and yet this is what i got.  I am sure fellow bloggers can relate to this.  Must have been my bad photo day.  Sometimes it's just so hard to get one nice photo.  I was contemplating whether to post it.   The good thing is it tasted delicious, it's just the photo that isn't doing it justice.  So, since i did do my homework, I will add it to my Asian Pork Ribs collection (if you have been following me on this) for good or for bad :)

This is really another simple recipe to add to the other 2  equally simple Vietnamese recipes (not that all Vietnamese dishes are simple, difficult ones are just not within my territory).  I think grilling is the more popular method with ribs but i am not doing the grill in this hot weather.  This recipe requires the meat to be marinated then pan fried for awhile before adding in water to braised the dish for the meat to be tender.

The addition of lemon grass and ginger made it really fragrant, good enough to  pique hubs' interest to  ask what was for dinner.

Recipe
Adapted from: Wandering Chopsticks

Ingredients
  • 800g pork ribs
  • 2 stalks lemongrass, finely minced
  • 6 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 1-inch knob ginger, finely minced
  • 1 chili pepper, finely minced (omitted)
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 2 tbsp Nuoc Mam (Vietnamese Fish Sauce)
  • 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp salt  
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 cup water 
Steps
  1. Combine lemongrass, garlic, ginger and chili pepper and finely mince everything in a food processor until a rough paste is formed.
  2. Add honey, fish sauce, rice wine vinegar, salt and ground black pepper to the paste. Then slather the marinade all over the pork ribs.  
  3. Leave the ribs in the fridge to season for 1-2 hours.
  4. In a large sauce pan on high heat, drizzle a bit of oil and quickly sear the ribs. Add 1 cup of water, cover the pan, turn the heat down to medium-low, and let simmer for about 30 to 45 minutes.
  5. Check from time to time and make sure nothing's burning, stirring occasionally and make taste adjustments or add water if necessary. The marinade will gradually thicken into a rich sauce.
Notes:
  1. The original recipes calls for pork chops which i substituted with pork ribs.
  2. I reduced the amount of water from 2 cups to 1 cup and adding about another 1/4 cup when the gravy starts to thicken.
  3. I used Thai fish sauce instead since it was on hand.

"I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest - Indochina hosted by Kelly Siew Cooks."


Tuesday 24 June 2014

Wu Pao Chun Loaf with a Japanese Twist

Some of you might have come across the Wu Pao-Chun milk loaf by now.  A recipe that has been popular with quite a few Asian food bloggers recently.  I caught the bug too and gave the original recipe a try here.  The results are satisfying and I like the recipe for its simplicity.  One that you can rely on when you realised too late that there's nothing for breakfast tomorrow.  Pop everything in the bread maker and you will wake up to a freshly made loaf the next morning!

This one here is a variation of the original recipe.  The inspiration came from Baking Taitai who spiced up the plain milk loaf with matcha (green tea) and white chocolate chips.  I didn't have any white chocolate chips on hand but i had white chocolate Toblerone, and yes you can guess what happened :))  Apart from that, I added some craisins for the color and tang to cut through the entire sweetness.

Quite an enjoyable breakfast it made even when eaten on its own. The bread was creamy from the addition of chocolate, lightly scented with a fresh green tea fragrance which reminded me of green tea latte and the cranberries provide some bite and a tangy flavor.  

I noticed the dough took longer to rise than the original recipe, just have some patience and wait until it doubles its size.  The other thing that puzzles me is there was some shrinkage, i suspect it was because i removed the loaf immediately after i took it out of the oven,  i am wondering if its because the loaf was still very soft when it was hot and it got a little compressed when the pan was inverted!

Recipe
Inspired By: Baking Taitai

Ingredients
  • 290g bread flour
  • 10g matcha powder
  • 14g sugar 
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 15g unsalted butter
  • 1 tsp instant dry yeast
  • 198g milk
  • 1/2 cup craisins
  • 3 triangular pieces of Toblerone 400g
Steps
  1. Mix all ingredients (except butter, chocolate and craisins) into a dough using low speed, then use medium speed to knead it into a shiny and smooth texture.
  2. Add in the unsalted butter, then knead it using medium speed until it forms dough that can be stretched into a thin, translucent membrane.
  3. Mix in white chocolate and craisins.
  4. Proof the dough for about 60 minutes. (Until about double the size)
  5. Punch dough down and allow dough to rest for 10 minutes.
  6. Roll into a rectangular shape with one side not longer than length of pan/tin that will be used for baking.  Roll up dough like a swiss roll from the shorter side.
  7. Turn dough 90 degrees.  Roll it into a rectangular shape again as in step 6.  Roll up dough like a swiss roll again.  Seal seams and place in pan.
  8. Place it on the baking tray and go for final proofing for another 50 minutes. (I used a Pullman tin for a 450g loaf and put it to bake when it was 90% full .  I baked it uncovered)
  9. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 30 – 35 minutes
  10. Remove the bread from the pan after 5 minutes and cool on rack to prevent sweating.  
Note:  I combine all the ingredients (except chocolate and craisins) and let my breadmaker handle steps 1, 2 and 3 using the Sweet Bread program.  The Sweet Bread program will beep signalling the point to add in ingredients like raisins or nuts.  Add in chocolate and craisins at this point.  I stopped the program once its reaches the Rise stage.

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Friday 20 June 2014

Bread Basics~ Buns with Chicken Floss

Here's another variation from a basic bun recipe that i love using.   I have been using this same recipe for so many times that it comes naturally without having to make any reference.  Sounds boring? Hey, but they say repetition is the root of many great things like perfection, reputation, fashion, believe etc, etc, etc! 

I remember going crazy about chicken floss buns.  These buns were made popular by a particular bakery chain in Singapore.  At that time before the bakery chain hit our shores, hubs will bring some back occasionally when he goes down south to Singapore on business.  They don't come cheap though when we take the currency exchange into consideration, roughly around RM4 per bun at that time.  Now that they are in town, they are not any cheaper though.  So, the best brand is still in the house, cheaper and filled to the brim with floss :))

It really is something achievable at home.  All it takes is a good milk bun as the base, spread on some condensed milk/mayonnaise before wrapping/topping it with some chicken/pork floss.  I like doing it both ways, wrap some floss into the buns before baking then top them with more floss when they are out of the oven.  That way you get a double dose of floss and it makes the buns so, so tasty!

Bread Dough recipe here

Chicken Floss Buns

Ingredients
  • Chicken/Pork Floss
  • Condensed Milk/Mayonnaise 
Method
  1. Divide dough into 70g portions.  Set aside and let dough rest for 10 minutes. 
  2. Flatten dough then spread on a thin layer of condensed milk. Sprinkle a layer of chicken floss then roll it up and seal the seams tightly.
  3. Arrange on greased tray.
  4. Cover and rest buns until double the size again.
  5. Glaze with egg mixture (refer Part D of bread recipe) or if fresh milk mixed with water on 1:1 ratio. 
  6. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 17 minutes until golden brown.
  7. Remove buns from tray and let them cool on a wire rack.
  8. When buns are cooled, make a cut in the centre of the bun.  Spread on some condensed milk into the slit and on top of the bun.  Sprinkle more floss to coat the buns.

Tuesday 17 June 2014

Let's Chill It

The weather is just scorching hot these days where we are.  To combat this discomfort (preparing, eating and after eating), i make simple meals and chilled Japanese meals is one good option. Hiroshi Chuka, a cold ramen all in one meal is one that we enjoy a lot.  It is a very attractive dish with vibrant colors, healthy, light, delicious and easy to prepare.  A sesame-vinegar-soy dressing which is tangy and savoury is poured over the noodles and all the toppings before giving it a good mix. 

My son can never get enough of this :)  He doesn't mind having it for all meals in a day.

Recipe
Source: Just One Cookbook

Ingredients
Noodle Dressing 
  • 6 Tbsp. soy sauce (4 tbsp)
  • 4 Tbsp. sugar (2 1/2 tbsp)
  • 3 Tbsp. rice vinegar (2 tbsp)
  • 2 Tbsp. sesame oil (1 tbsp)
  • 2 Tbsp. water (1 tbsp)
  • 1 Tbsp. roasted sesame seeds
  • ¼ tsp. grated ginger (omitted)
  • ½ – 1 tsp. La-yu (Japanese Chili Oil) (omitted)
Shredded Egg Crepe
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 2 tsp. sugar
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • Oil
Other Toppings
  • 6 shrimps + 1 Tbsp. sake
  • 1 Japanese cucumber (1/3 English cucumber), julienned (1/2 Japanese Cucumber)
  • 1 iceberg lettuce, shredded (1 head romaine lettuce)
  • ½ tomato, cut into wedges (1 tomato)
  • 3-4 slices hams (2 slices)
  • 4-6 imitation crab sticks (or crab meat), shredded
  • Kaiware radish sprouts (omitted)
Noodles
  • 3 6-oz fresh ramen (chukamen) noodles (2 noodles)
For Garnish
  • 1 Tbsp. roasted white sesame seeds (sprinkle to hearts content)
  • Karashi hot mustard (optional) (1 tbsp chilli flakes)
  • Pickled red ginger (beni shoga) (optional) (omitted)
Method
  1. Combine all the noodle dressing ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk all together. Keep it chilled in the refrigerator.
  2. Whisk together the eggs, sugar and salt. Heat the oil in the pan over medium heat. Pour the egg mixture into the pan and cook on both sides.
  3. Cool the crepe and cut it into thin strips.
  4. For shrimps, bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add sake and shrimp and cover with the lid. The alcohol in the sake will help remove the smell and tender the meat. Turn off the heat when the color of shrimp started to change and let it cook with remaining heat. Do not overcook otherwise shrimp will become hard. Transfer shrimps to a plate and let them cool. 
  5. If you are using uncooked ham, pan fry it.  Cool and cut into thin strips.
  6. I blanched the crab sticks in a pot of boiling water to cook it. Cool and cut into thin strips.
  7. For the noodles, bring a pot of water to a boil and add the noodles, separate the noodles before dropping into water. Cook according to package directions. Drain the water and rinse the noodles to remove starch. Soak the noodles into a bowl of ice water to cool. Drain completely and divide the noodles on plates/bowls.
  8. Place all the toppings and pour the dressing before serving. 
  9. Serve with karashi hot mustard and pickled ginger on the side, if desired.
Note:
Other topping options (as suggested by Nami) include shredded steamed chicken tender, blanched bean sprouts (blanched), wakame seaweed, nori seaweed strips, etc.

Sunday 15 June 2014

The Boss in Our House

It's Father's Day today.  Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful dads out there!  Have you  pampered yours yet?  We decided to do it on a lighter note this year.  Here's the teaser that we made for the Dad in our house for the record :))

The 'boss' in our house was grinning from ear to ear when presented this to him.

Since he loves light and simple cakes, i decided not to go with heavy frosting but just to dust it with some icing sugar using homemade stencils.  I chose to make a chinese style sponge cake which was traditionally steamed but made popular recently in the blogsphere with a baked version. 

I love the taste of this cake, soft but slightly chewy and mildly sweet.  The dusting didn't impact its overall sweetness, fortunately. This cake is made using the egg separation method in the same manner chiffon cakes are.  My only fear for this type of cakes are cracks and true to murphy's law it did!  Not a big deal for this time since it was for the family, i turned the cake upside down and got a smooth top to continue with my plan for the decoration.  I will have to give it another try with a lower temperature to find the right temperature that will not be too hot and cause the cake to crack.

Recipe
Source: Baking Diary who adapted from Anncoo Journal

Ingredients
  •  3 Egg whites
  •  65g Icing sugar
  •  3 Egg yolks
  •  1 Whole Egg
  •  50g Corn oil
  •  65g Self raising flour
  •  5g Cocoa powder + 1 tbsp hot water
Method
  1. In a mixing bowl, mix egg yolks and whole egg together with a hand whisk. Add in corn oil and mix till combined. Sieve in self raising flour and mix well, set aside.
  2. Whisk the egg whites to bubbly at medium speed and add icing sugar into it in 3 batches and whisk to stiff peaks.
  3. Add one third of meringue to egg yolk mixture and fold well with a rubber spatula.  (I used the whisk)
  4. Pour all the egg mixture into the meringue at low speed and mix well. (I used the whisk and spatula to mix)
  5. Pour mixture into a 5 x 8 inch lined cake pan (or a 6 inch square cake pan), leaving 2 tablespoon of plain mixture and mix with the cocoa paste (I used a 6 inch round pan)
  6. Drizzle the cocoa mixture on top of the plain batter and use a skewer to draw lines or create your own pattern.
  7. Bake in preheated oven at 170C for 35 minutes. (I baked mine at 160C for 35 mins)
  8. Invert the cake immediately once cake is out of the oven. Leave to cool before cutting into slices.  
Note:
Do hop over to Jeannie's to check out her cake, hers look really pretty with the chocolate pattern and no cracks were visible (although she mentioned that there were).  She baked hers at 140C for 45 minutes.

Saturday 14 June 2014

Mesmerizing Swirls

I have been wanting to make this loaf after being mesmerised by the one that i saw at Jeannie's.  I couldn't get the beautiful swirls out of my mind :) Healthy ingredients make the push for making the loaf greater.  And as they say, the rest is history!

I couldn't wait to cut the loaf to check how the swirls turned out the moment it was ready.  Hence, the reason behind the why there is a different shades between the 2 photos.  The first one was taken immediately after the loaf was ready and it was already late evening by then whereas the one below was taken the next morning when there was plenty of light. If you can, have some patience, don't do what i did, one should only slice a loaf when it has cooled down :)) 

 
Mine was a little dry because it was a little over baked, i didn't realized the oven had beeped while i was yakking away on the phone but it tasted good overall.  I will definitely make this again whenever i miss those beautiful swirls!


Recipe
Source: Baking Diary

Ingredients
  • 1 cup (250 ml) milk
  • 1/4 cup (62 ml) lukewarm water (1 large egg) 
  • 2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter or margarine (32g unsalted butter)
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 3 cups (381 grams) bread flour
  • 3/4 cups rolled oats
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Chocolate layer
  • 30 gm chocolate
  • 1 tbsp cocoa powder

Method
  1. Prepare the chocolate layer - melt the chocolate in a microwave by zapping it for about 40 seconds on high.  Then stir in the cocoa powder until mixture is smooth and has no visible lumps. Set aside until ready to use.  (I melted it using a double boil method)
  2. If using a bread machine, put in all the liquid ingredients first before adding the dry ingredients.  Use the dough mode to knead. (I used the bread machine)
  3. If kneading by hand, pour the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until it comes together to form a soft dough.  Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. 
  4. If the dough is still very wet and sticky after 5 minutes of kneading, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough is barely tacky.  If the dough is too dry, add water, 1 teaspoon (5 ml) at a time, to soften it up.
  5. Once the dough is smooth and elastic, remove about 1/4 of the dough into a separate mixing bowl.  Knead in the chocolate mixture.  
  6. Place each portion of the bread dough separately in lightly oiled bowls, cover, and allow to rise until doubled, about 1-1 1/2 hours.
  7. Once doubled, place the plain dough on a lightly floured surface.
  8. Gently punch the plain dough down and with a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a rectangle approx. 9”x12”. 
  9. Do the same for the chocolate dough, but roll out into a smaller rectangle approx 7"x 10".  Place this on top of the plain dough.  The chocolate dough should be well inside the plain dough.
  10. Fold over the plain dough (top, sides, bottom) to cover the chocolate layer.  Pat it flat so that it's easier to roll out next.  (Letter fold the plain dough over the chocolate layer)
  11. Roll the dough into a rectangle shape, and fold the dough in three lengthwise.
  12. Turn the dough 90 degrees and repeat step 10.  Roll the dough out into a rectangle and fold over into threes.  Turn.
  13. The more turns you made, the more layers and marbling you'll get.  I turned it about 5 times only as the layers were becoming quite thin.  (Keep turning and letter folding until the chocolate layer becomes very visible, lost count of how times i turned it)
  14. At the final rectangle, roll the dough up like a swiss roll into a loaf and tuck in the sides neatly.  Place the shaped dough into a loaf pan, cover with a clean towel and allow to rise until doubled, about 1 - 1 1/2 hours. 
  15. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C).
  16. When the shaped loaf has doubled, place the bread in the oven and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until the bread is deep golden brown and the internal temperature is about 190F (I set mine to 35 minutes)

Wednesday 11 June 2014

Pork Corn Anyone?

This is another very simple Vietnamese recipe.  After looking at quite a few recipes, i realised that Fish Sauce is a common ingredient in many Vietnamese dishes and it is quite amazing how this sauce brings out the umami flavor.

I decided to give this dish a try because i find this combination of pork and corn quite unique.  The contributor of the recipe mentioned that the inspiration for this dish came from a trend to include sweet corn in steamed rice.  All it takes is to marinade thin meat slices with some salt and pepper then stir fry it with corn kernels and some seasoning.  The contributor also suggested that the dish will go well with prawn crackers but i didn't have any on hand to try out unfortunately.

 
 A sweet and savory combination that went well with rice.  

Recipe-Fried Pork Belly with Sweet Corn Recipe (Thịt Ba Chỉ Xào Bắp)
Source: Vietnamese Food

Ingredients
  • 1 – 2 sweet corns (1 cup corn kernels)
  • 200g pork belly (160g pork belly)
  • Fish sauce,  (2 tbsp)
  • Spring onion (omitted)
  • Purple onion (3 shallots, sliced thinly)
  • Maggie Seasoning Powder (omitted) 
  • Onion (omitted)
  • Chili powder (omitted)
  • Salt 
Steps
  1. Remove kernels from corn cob or use readily available kernels.
  2. Clean pork belly, slice thinly then marinade with ½ teaspoon salt and a some freshly ground black pepper.  Set aside for 15 minutes.
  3. Heat a little oil, stir fry shallots until fragrant.
  4. Add in pork belly slices and fry quickly over medium heat.
  5. Add some chili powder if favoured.
  6. When meat is cooked, add in corn kernel and fry for another 5-7 minutes or until corn is cooked.  
  7. Season with fish sauce and salt to suit preference.  It is ready when it smells fragrant.
  8. Garnish with sliced spring onion.
  9. Serve hot.

          Note: 
          The addition of cherry tomatoes was a personal touch from me to use up some that i had on hand, making it healthier and to brighten up the dish a little.  If used add in after sweet corn is cooked and just give it a quick mix.


          "I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest - Indochina hosted by Kelly Siew Cooks."

          Saturday 7 June 2014

          Now Everyone Can Cook Vietnamese!


          Asian Food Fest blogging event is featuring Indochina this month. It is a path that i have never treaded on, both real land and in the kitchen except for one Vietnamese style chicken dish that was really popular in the blogsphere some time back.  I found this really simple and homey type of chicken dish to start rolling out some vietnamese flavor for this month.  This is something everyone can make, i assure you :)

          Easy peasy stuff, just throw everything in a pot and you are in for a delicious chicken dish in 30 minutes.  Just make sure you keep an eye on it and not burn the dish.   I find the taste quite similar to the chinese version of chicken braised with ginger.  Tasty, went well with rice.


          Recipe-Ga Kho Gung (Vietnamese Braised Chicken with Ginger)

          Ingredients
          • Nuoc Mau (Vietnamese Caramel Sauce) - Replaced with 3 tbsp Indonesian Kecap Manis
          • 4 pieces of chicken, preferably thighs, cut into two-inch chunks if you wish - half a medium size chicken
          • 2 shallots or 1 small onion, diced small
          • 4 to 6 cloves of garlic, finely minced
          • 2-inch knob of ginger, sliced
          • 1 tbsp Nuoc Mam (Vietnamese Fish Sauce), or more according to taste - 2 tbsp 
          • 3 tsp sugar
          • 1/2 tsp salt
          • 1 tsp ground black pepper
          • 1 cup water
          Steps
          1. Put all the ingredients in a pot and mix everything up.
          2. Cook on medium heat until chicken is cooked, the liquid starts reducing and a thick caramel sauce is formed.
          3. Serve hot!
          Note: 
          I did not make Nuoc Mau which is essentially a thick caramel sauce and said to be a basic ingredient for many Vietnamese braised dishes.   I chose the option of using Kecap Manis since i have it on hand.  Here's the link for making Nuoc Mau if you would like to make the dish more authentic.


          "I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest - Indochina hosted by Kelly Siew Cooks."

          Thursday 29 May 2014

          Bread Basics ~ Buns


          I am going back to the basics these days (plain laziness in disguise actually) when it comes to bread making.  Instead of trying out the more sophisticated methods, i went back to good straight dough method recipes.  I shared a  simple straight dough method milk loaf recipe recently and this one here is a recipe from Chef Alan Ooi for making buns which i use regularly.  Once you get the dough right you are on a roll, fill them as you wish.

          If you are new to bread making, this could be the recipe to try. Easy and not too big lest you mess up and feel guilty about the wastage. A recipe that is just nice for a small/medium size family like mine. With 300g of flour, it yields around 10 53-55g buns which is enough for my family over 2 days.

          This one here has some butter and cheese wrapped in it with cheese toppings too.  When the cheese inside melts, it will cause the top to cave in and look wrinkled which i find kinda cute :)

          Beautiful soft texture from a simple method.  Good enough for something homemade, don't you think?

          I apportioned out the dough for 6 butter cheese buns and turned the rest into 3 of these.  I was being adventurous instead of the usual pair of raisins and cinnamon, i paired it with candied nutmeg strips. I have tried adding nutmeg strips in cakes and i found that i like them a lot so i decided to try it out with buns.  Call me bias but i swear by Penang nutmegs specifically the Bell brand ones, i have tried another but they turned out looking bluish after baking which made them look gross and i stayed away thereafter.  

          I took a cue from a William Sonoma's classic cinnamon buns that i saw a few of my blogger friends made for a Bake Along event.  I adapted the sticky sugary glaze which i tend to leave when making cinnamon rolls.  This glaze was applied on the pan before putting the bread dough into the pan.



          Just a few strips of nutmeg here and there, aromatic, sticky sweet and spicy all in one.  A word of caution though they say nutmeg can cause hallucinations for some :))

          Bread Dough recipe here

          Butter Cheese Buns

          Ingredients
          • 6 slices of cheddars cheese, cut into small strips
          • 6 small 1/2 inch cube of butter
          • 3 tsp sugar
          Method
          1. Take a portion of dough that has been previously shaped into a ball.
          2. Flatten dough then wrap in cheese strips from 1/2 slice of cheddar cheese, a cube of butter and 1/2 tsp sugar.
          3. Arrange on grease tray or place in paper liners.
          4. Cover and rest buns until double the size again.
          5. Glaze with egg mixture (refer Part D of bread recipe) then top with cheese strips from the other 1/2 piece of cheddar cheese. 
          6. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 15 minutes until golden brown.
          Nutmeg cinnamon buns
          Reference for Syrup Paste/Cinnamon Sugar: Her Frozen Wings

          Ingredients
          Syrup paste
          • 30gm brown sugar
          • 20gm melted butter
          • 3 tbsp golden syrup/ light corn syrup
          Method
          1. Mix the sugar, melted butter and the syrup together to a smooth paste. 
          2. Scoop or pour into the base of the baking tin, spread over. Set aside.
          Cinnamon sugar
          Ingredients
          • 1/4 cup of sugar mix with 1tsp ground cinnamon
          • 6 tsbp nutmeg strips
          •  Soften butter
          Method to make buns
          1. Take a portion of dough and roll it into a flat rectangular.
          2. Brush with some butter and sprinkle the dough with cinnamon sugar mixture and top with 2 tbsp nutmeg strips. 
          3. Starting at short edge, roll the dough tightly into a cylinder. Cut the cylinder into 3 pieces and place them into the prepared baking tin. Cover and let the dough rise until double.
          4. Preheat the oven  to 180C, brush the rolls with some melted butter, bake for about 15 mins, place a wire rack over each pan and invert the rolls. Let cool.
          This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen from My little favourite DIY, hosted by Tze of Awayofmind Bakery House.

          Photobucket

          Other buns using the same recipe

          Apple Buns - recipe here

          Kaya Cheese Buns - recipe here

          Monday 26 May 2014

          From Incredible India

          Asia Food Festival blogging event moves on from Korea to India this month.   My family and I are more familiar with the spicy side of Indian cuisine although there's a whole kaleidoscope of diversity that we have yet to experience.  Very limited exposure i must say but we have always enjoyed this side of it.  Breakfast items like the various indian breads are almost a weekly event too. 

          Although hubs and i love Indian food, i seldom make it at home for two reasons.  Firstly, my son's heat level tolerance is relatively low compared to us and secondly i am intimidated by the many types of spices used.    I tend to forget and get confused about which is which.   Cumin and fennel for example, they look very similar and it does not help that their Malay names are very close, Jintan Putih for Cumin and Jintan Manis for Fennel, now how's that to add to the confusion?

          So, i set out to look for Indian recipes that would be simple enough for me to tackle.  Simple as in not too long list of ingredients and most importantly spices that are not foreign to me.  I was glad to find Swapna's Cuisine.  She had this pork recipe named Nadan Panniyearchi Ularthiyathu/Kerala Style Pork Fry.  I thought I could try this with pork ribs instead to add to my collection of pork ribs dishes from the various Asian countries alongside this event.  If you like pork ribs, you may want to check out these delicious ribs recipes from ThailandJapan and Korea too.

          This Kerala version turned out delicious and i am now convinced that one doesn't actually need coconut milk to make it so.  Our localized version of curries almost always have coconut milk in them turning them into something that is not the healthiest food to take often.

          The other thing that i like about her recipe is that she included a recipe to make a meat masala from scratch which were a combination of some spices that i had on hand, so instead of running to the store to get a bottle of meat masala (which does not come cheap), i could just put it together myself.


          When the meat dish was successful, i got more confident and started looking for more on Swapna's blog to make it a complete Indian meal.   And this was the Indian meal we ended up with on that day.   Best eaten with hands!  Garlic Naan bread to go with spicy ribs and a yogurt based salad to balance the meal and cool down the heat :)


          I find this naan recipe quite unique, credits to Swapna again for the recipe.  Yogurt and honey was in its ingredient list and based on my experience so far, even when used separately yogurt and honey are ingredients that gives us soft fluffy bread.  I couldn't wait to try the results when both of them are put together.  It was crisp on the outer layer but fluffy soft inside when eaten hot.  I could just eat them like that :).

          As for the salad, it was just a simple recipe that i made up inspired by the cucumber salad that is frequently served as a side dish for banana leaf rice at Indian restaurants.   

          Recipe - Kerala Style Spicy Pork Ribs

          Ingredients
          • Pork – 1 kg, cut in to cubes and cleaned (800g pork ribs)
          • Coconut slices / Thengakothu – ½ cup (omitted)
          • Onion-2 big, sliced (used only 1 since the onion was quite big)
          • Pearl onions / Chumannulli – ½ cup sliced (omitted)
          • Ginger, minced – 1 ½ tbsp 
          • Garlic minced – 1 ½ tbsp
          • Green chillies -3 or 4 sliced (omitted)
          • Homemade Erachipodi / Meatmasala -3 to 4 tbsp (OR you can add 1 ½ tbsp chilly powder, 1 ½ tbsp Coriander powder, ½ tsp- Turmeric powder, 2 tsp- Pepper powder, 6 cardamoms, 6 cloves, 3 x 1” piece cinnamon sticks all powdered together) (1 tbsp chilly powder, 1tbsp Coriander powder, ½ tsp- Turmeric powder, 1 tsp- Pepper powder, 4 cardamoms, 4 cloves)
          • Curry leaves – few
          • Mustard seeds – 1 tsp (1 tsp mixed spice with combination of mustard seeds, fenugreek, cumin, fennel) 
          • 1 2” piece cinnamon stick
          • 1 medium size tomato, cubed
          • Oil- 2 to 3 tbsp
          • Salt to taste 
          Method
          1. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pressure cooker and splutter mustard seeds.
          2. Add coconut pieces / thengakothu and stir fry until coconut pieces are light brown (omitted)
          3. Add sliced onion, pearl onion, ginger, garlic and curry leaves; stir fry until onions become limp.
          4. Add in tomatoes, mix well and stir fry until tomatoes soften.
          5. Reduce flame and add erachi podi / meat masala and sauté making sure not to burn the powder.
          6. Add cleaned pork pieces and continue stirring until masala coat pork pieces and meat turns opaque and smell fragrant.  
          7. Add ¼ cup of hot water and pressure cook the pork for 3-4 whistles on low flame or until the meat is cooked well. (3/4 cup of water and pressure cook for 10 minutes)
          8. Once the steam vents out open the lid and check if the pork is cooked well.
          9. Now on medium heat, cook the meat pieces until the oozed out water is completely dry, stirring in between. Turn off the flame. (As we prefered some gravy to it, i didn't  cook until it was completely dry)
          10. Serve hot or you can cool the pork and store it in the fridge and stir fry it when required. You can store this up to 1 week.
          11. For stir frying, heat remaining oil in a non-stick pan add cooked pork pieces and stir fry well until pork is browned. If needed drizzle oil while stir frying. (I would reheat by adding some water to it)
          Note:
          1.  My variations in blue.  Variations were made mainly to adjust to taste and heat level tolerance.
          2. The assumption made for this recipe is that a pressure cooker is used for to cook the dish.  Although it is possible to cook it over a stove i am not sure if the taste will be diluted as more water will be required due to a longer time to get the meat to be tender, more so if ribs is used.  Perhaps it advisable to stick to meat or add another 10% to the amount of ingredients.

          Recipe - Garlic Naan

          Ingredients
          • 280 gm/10 oz/1¼ cups Strong white flour plus extra for dusting (can use All purpose flour/ Maida) (All Purpose)
          • 1 tsp Salt
          • 2-3 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
          • 1 tsp easy-blend dried yeast
          • 2 tsp Honey
          • 100ml/3½ fl oz lukewarm water
          • 4 tbsp Yogurt
          • 1 tbsp Vegetable oil, plus extra for brushing (I used Ghee) (Canola oil)
          Method
          1. Sift the flour and salt together into a bowl and stir in the garlic and yeast. Make a well in the center and pour in the honey, water, yogurt and oil. Stir well with a wooden spoon until the dough begins to come together, and then knead with your hands until it leaves the sides of the bowl. Turn out on to a lightly floured surface and knead well for about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
          2. Brush a bowl with oil. Shape the dough into a ball, put it in the bowl and cover with a damp tea towel. Leave to rise in a warm place for about 1-2 hours, until the dough has doubled in volume.
          3. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knock back with your fist. Divide the dough into 6-8 equal sized balls. Cover the balls with a cling film for 5-10 minutes.
          4. Roll out each ball into a teardrop shape.
          5. Heat grilling tawa / skillet and cook both sides of Naan on a medium heat. Brush with butter / ghee and serve with your favorite side dish. (I used a frying pan brushed with a little canola oil during frying as i didn't have a tawa/skillet.  I omitted the step to brush with butter/ghee before serving since oil was already used during the frying)
          Note: 
          1. I sifted the flour then let my breadmaker handle steps 1 and 2 using the Dough programme.  I then left the dough in the breadmaker until the it doubled in volume.
          2. I made 8 pieces out of it.
          Recipe - Cucumber Chickpea Salad
          Source: LiteHomeBake

          Ingredients
          • 1 medium size japanese cucumber
          • 6 tablespoons of canned chickpeas 
          • A handful cherry tomatoes
          • 3 tablespoon plain thick yogurt
          • Salt
          • Black pepper 
          Method
          1. Cut cucumber into thin half slices.
          2. Half the tomatoes.
          3. Mix cucumber, tomatoes and chickpeas in a bowl then top with yogurt, a dash of salt and some freshly ground black pepper.

          "I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest - Indian Subcontinent hosted by Chef and Sommelier."

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