Game for Stinky Food?

Thanks for dropping by, i am curious to know if stinky stuff appeals :) By stinky I mean strong smelling food that some people love but others can't even stand a whiff of it.  Any within your palate?? I am sure some of them would come to mind by now.  I always wonder how they ended up as something edible.  It amazes me how the penchant for stinky stuff is something universal as one can find so many types of stinky food across the globe.  Back home, durians the king of fruits would be on top on list.     There would be other seafood based ones like the belacan (dried prawn paste), cencaluk (shrimp sauce) and salted fish etc.  The Asians (Chinese/Korean/Japanese) would have fermented stuff like tofu, eggs and beans albeit fermented/preserve in their own unique ways.  In the west cheese and fermented fish like those in Sweden or Norway would come to mind.  

Come to think of it, I am quite a 'stinky' person too, I have quite a few favourites, i adore durians and i love the Chinese fermented yellow beans and tofu (aka fu-yee in cantonese).   They are really good as seasoning.  It gives such an exotic flavour to food.  The fermented tofu that i am talking about here is not the one made popular in Hong Kong, which are mostly eaten deep-fried and dipped in sauce.  Now, that one is stinky brought to the next level...this one is a no-no for me :)  The one that i am talking about is little cubes of tofu that is soaked in brine and bottled. When mashed it has a creamy texture.

So, allow me to share this chicken dish that is made with a tiny bit of stinky stuff.  Give it a try, it's not that stinky. Actually it smells and taste good with a combination of some chinese wine, soy sauce and honey to give it a nice blend of flavours. Enough to say little one had 2 bowls of rice with this :)

Recipe

Source : Christine's Recipe (with changes to liking)

Ingredients

600 gm chicken pieces

1 piece fermented beancurd, mashed into paste (chili fermented)

1 tsp Shaoxing wine

1 tbsp honey

3 slices ginger

Seasoning

1 Tbsp light soy sauce

1 tsp dark sauce

1 tsp sugar

100 ml water

Steps

1. Heat oil over medium heat. 
2. Add ginger and fermented beancurd paste, saute to fragrant. 
3. Add chicken. Stir to combine and cook until both sides are light brown. 
4. Pour in wine and quickly stir to combine. Add seasoning. 
5. When it boils, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until chicken is cooked and sauce thickens. 
6. Stir in honey (use enough to liking).
7. Enjoy!

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All my Love with a scoop of Mocha Ice Cream?

Literally lovely breakfast it was that morning, a heart shaped muffin (yup, it's a muffin not cake) topped with a scope of mocha ice-cream!  Imagine coming down to a table which has been beautifully set with this or even being served in bed (in my case, i will have to be the one serving and not the one being served unfortunately), romantic huh?  

The idea came from my little one, he was helping me in the kitchen when i made this.  I asked him to help me get some muffin cups, he came back with this heart shaped mini cake pan and suggested using them, reason being it's more environmental friendly, no wastage of the paper cups.  I wasn't too sure about baking muffins in cake pans, never done it before.  I thought it would not go terribly wrong, at the most it won't rise up so much  From the way it turned out, it doesn't look bad, does it?

This was also a healthy treat, orange blueberry yoghurt muffin.   Nice fruity flavour and with the addition of yoghurt it was soft and moist, topping it with some ice-cream (also little one's idea) made it even more delish!  

Give it a shot, it's simple, all you need to do is a simple mixing of wet and dry ingredients.  No beating required as the recipe uses oil.  All done within 45 minutes (includng baking time) and i bet it will touched the hearts of the ones being served :)

Orange Blueberry Yoghurt Muffins
Recipe
Source : Anncoo Journal  (adapted from Food for Tots)
Note : My variation in blue, i like it a little less sweeter, but you can stick to original, i think it won't be too sweet either)

• 250g Plain flour (cake flour)
• 3 tsp Baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 120g Castor sugar (100g)
• 2 Large eggs (at room temperature)
• 4 tbsp Fresh orange juice
• 2 tsp Orange Zest
• 180ml Extra light olive oil/sunflower oil (canola oil)
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract (1/2 tsp)
• 160g Greek yogurt or plain yogurt
• 125g Frozen bluerries (1 punnet) (fresh blueberries)

Method

1. Sieve flour and baking powder in a mixing bowl.  Add in sugar and salt.  Mix well.  Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs,  add in yoghurt, vanilla extract, orange juice, zest and oil gradually and mix until it just combined. Be careful not to overbeat the mixture. 
3. Add the wet mixture into the dry ingredients. Use a spatula, combine the ingredients with fold in method until they are well combined and no traces of flour. Stir in blueberries and mix well. Do not over-mix the batter. The batter should be thick ("spoonable" not "pourable").
4. Use a spoon to scoop batter into muffin cups until 80% full.
5. Bake at preheated oven 190C for 20-25 mins.

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Simple Chinese Pork Ribs Stew

A classic dish among us Chinese with many variations among the clans.   Essentially a meat dish (pork, chicken or duck) but sometimes one get extras like hard-boiled eggs, tofu puffs or shitake mushrooms thrown in.  This is one dish that I am sure many of us grew up with.    The choice of meat stewed in a combination of soy sauce and spice makes it very aromatic and tender. It goes very well with steamed rice or congee.   The steps to make this dish are easy and manageable plus one can make a bigger portion to keep for more than 1 meal as the flavor gets more intense when left overnight.  This makes it a good choice for busy mums who want to prepare some good home-cooked dish despite their busy schedules. Add a green to this and you will have one complete and balanced meal for the family. 

Although this is a familiar dish, I referred Ann of Anncoo Journal's recipe for it, simply because she has good recipes for everything, never failing me! Do hop over to her blog for a more exact recipe, I didn't follow everything to a T.  A good choice indeed, it tasted really good. Thanks, Ann!

Recipe
Source : Anncoo Journal

Note : I used 500g of pork ribs with the same amount of other ingredients and the flavour was just nice for our family

Ingredients:

• 1 Star anise
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 2 shallots, chopped
• Ginger, 3 slices
• 2 Dried chilli - remove seed (optional)
• 400-600ml Water
• 600g Pork Ribs (Ann recommends with some fats in it although I trimmed off most of it) , cut to about 4" length

Seasoning:

• 1 tbsp White vinegar
• 1 tbsp Light soy sauce
• 1 1/2tbsp Dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Pepper
• 1/4 tsp Five spice powder
• 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (Hua Tiao Chiew)
• 1 tbsp Corn flour + 2 tbsp water

Method

1. Marinate pork ribs with seasoning for 2 hours.
2. Heat wok with about 2 tbsp cooking oil.  Add ginger, garlic, shallot, star anise and dried chilli, fry till fragrant.
3. Pour in the pork rib together with seasoning sauce, fry well and add about 400ml water.
4. Bring to boil and simmer at low heat for about one hour or cook the pork rib till tender (add a little more water when pork rib dries up a little).

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When the Vikings come marching in...

Steamed Buns are popular favourites among us Chinese for our breakfast. Typically they can divided into 2 categories, the round shaped ones with fillings in them are known as Pau while the non-filled ones, traditionally rolled in a log shape and cut into pieces before steaming are known as Mantau.   However, the line differentiating them has gone blurry, paus can come without fillings and vice versa for mantaus.  They come in various flavours and shapes never imagined too!  Like this one that I saw at Wendy's, a little like the Vikings' helmets to me,  I thought they look cute :)

These steamed buns are not filled.  They had a nice sweet fragrance and natural sweetness from the sweet potatoes making them pleasing although eaten plain.  You can cut them up and spread some jam or dip them in gravy.

Verdict? They were really yummy! They rose beautifully and were soft but chewy.  They stayed soft until the next day!  I saved half the portion in a ziplock after shaping them and steamed them for freshly steamed and piping hot buns the next morning.

This was the first time I steamed them in a bamboo steamer basket which I have been planning to get for awhile.  I have read that they give the best  results for paus and other steam cakes.  After finding one the right size which I bought for RM30, I couldn't wait to try it out.   This basket sits on top of another pot of boiling water, steam then enters through the open slates at the bottom of the basket and contained in the basket by its lid.  Bamboo absorbs condensation ensuring water does not drip back onto the buns which allowed them to rise so beautifully without any crinkles! I love the effect, I am really convinced that these baskets do make a difference, well bought indeed!

Take a closer look at these babies :)

Recipe
Source : Table for 2 or more... (this is 1/2 the portion which gave me roughly around 16 buns...can't remember exactly)

• 250gm pau flour (cake flour)
• 125gm steamed orange sweet potato
• 50gm sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp double action baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 20gm shortening, melted
• 6gm yeast 
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 75ml water

If like me, you are using a machine to knead, skip steps 1-7 but follow through step 6.  I used my breadmaker to knead the dough, I put everything in the recommended order, i.e. liquid (water, melted shortening), sugar, salt, followed by flour (sifted and mix with baking powder), mashed sweet potato and lastly yeast.  

1. Proof yeast with 1/4 tsp sugar and water until it froths.
2. Mix flour, baking powder, sugar and salt together. 
3. Knead in steamed sweet potatoes. 
4. Flour mixture will look crumbly. 
5. Pour in frothy yeast mixture and combine to form a dough. Knead until dough no longer sticky and turns smooth. 
6. Add more flour if it's too sticky or more water(by the teaspoon) if it's way too dry, (if unable to gather all the flour into a dough).  
7. When dough is smooth, knead in melted shortening, until dough no longer feels oily.
8. Leave to proof until double, about an hour.
9. Punch down and knead for another minute. Divide dough into 35gm pieces, and shape as u like.  For these helmets, roll the dough flat in a triangular shape, roll them up and pinch two ends together tightly to make sure they don't open up.  Hop over to Wendy's for a pictorial guide on how to shape.  Other easier methods would be making them into round balls or just rolling them up without trying to pull it into a triangular shape.  
10. Leave to proof until shaped bun doubles. 
11. Steam on high heat for 12-15 minutes.

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Say Peace!~Ginger Cupcakes

This post is dedicated to Aspiring Bakers theme for November.  Wanted to take this opportunity to learn something new and hopefully interesting enough to share with others.    I settled for this although I knew this would be something I would like but the boys wouldn't fancy :)  But we deserve to act selfish at least once in awhile, don't we?

I have never tried baking with ginger although I love ginger cookies.   No, not those little men that come marching out around this time of the year but those small round ones with cracks all over them.  I love them with my coffee.  Ginger makes one warm and fuzzy, which I thought would be good at this time of the year, wintery or rainy.

So, I had a go at this one.  Verdict?   Nice, I love the spice in them.  It was soft and moist too.  Although it has 3 forms of ginger in it (ground, fresh and crystallized), I would have preferred it to be more intense, will spike up the amount of ginger powder the next time around.  The other thing that I  I would change is to cut down on the amount of sugar, it was a tad too sweet for me.

Recipe

Seen on Alpine Berry with recipe from Fine Cooking issue #64  
(Half the recipe yielded 12 cupcakes)

• 4 ounces (1 cup + 3 tbsp) sifted cake flour
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp baking powder
• 6 tbsp (3 ounces) unsalted butter, softened at room temp.
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
• 1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
• 1-inch cube fresh ginger, finely grated (plus any juice) (Took juice only)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350F. 
2. Sift together cake flour, ground ginger, nutmeg, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.
3. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the lemon zest, grated fresh ginger, and vanilla extract and beat for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and beat until smooth, about 1 minute. 
4. Using a rubber spatula, fold in one-third of the flour mixture. Fold in half of the sour cream. Repeat ending with the last third of the flour mixture. Fold in the chopped crystallized ginger.
5. Fill the cupcake liners approximately three-quarters full. Bake until light golden brown and cupcake springs back when lightly pressed, about 16-20 minutes. 
6. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

• 6 ounces Philly cream cheese, softened at room temp.
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened at room temp.
• 2 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar (1/2 cup)

1. Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. 
2. Mix in the lemon zest and lemon juice. Gradually mix in the confectioners’ sugar. 
3. Continue to beat until frosting is smooth and fluffy.
4. Frost cakes as desired.

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #13: Enjoy Cupcakes(November 2011) hosted by Min of Min's Blog.

Update : I was pleasantly surprise to see these feature on Cupcakes Take the Cake :)

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A Small Fortune Perhaps?

This post was supposed to be for Traditional Kuehs, Aspiring Bakers' theme for the month of October but as it is, I missed the boat.   Here's the story behind what inspired it...

Fortune is very much a part of the Chinese culture.  Doubts? Most of you would have heard about the Chinese fortune cookie to begin with.   In our culture, so much is being centred around ways to ensure good fortunes get ushered into our lives...colors that we wear, words that we utter,  where and how we place stuff around.  Even the food that we put in our mouths are not spared, we make them in auspicious  colors, shapes and top it all with an auspicious sounding name in hopes for more fortunes to come.    It is amazing how every aspect of our lives can be tied it.   Somehow or rather, I feel a materialistic mindset or if i were to put it on a lighter node, it's this constant reminder of the importance of money/fear of insufficiency is subconsciously nurtured because of this culture.  It is a good motivating factor, but the i think the key is finding the balance.  When do we draw line?? I have no answer to this myself, striking a balance is a challenge.  Because there are things that we sacrifice in the pursuit for more fortunes, we can't have them all.   Is it worth the sacrifice?  I may not know or choose to belittle the price that I pay for now but would it be too late when I realise it?  Do I sound like a lost soul? I hope not :)

This is one little cake that got itself caught in the fortune culture.  It is known as "Huat Ker" in my dialect, of which Huat means 'Prosper'.    This little steamed cake is suppose to bring good luck, to the ones making, giving and of course to those eating them too.  One thing that this little thing is sure to bring is ...inches if not fortune!   For those making them, there is no better reward then opening up your steamer to see a tray of beautifully  bloomed cakes, a sign of good fortune to come, so they say....

Unfortunately, this was what greeted me when I opened mine.  Bloomed they did but they looked like buds rather than flowers to me!   Maybe God was trying to remind me, a small fortune was all that I need, don't get too caught up with it! Yes, that must be it! Good excuse to hide from the real reason why they didn't bloom as well as they should!  Actually, i am not too sure why too, it would be good if any of my dear friends could enlighten me.  Recipe says double action baking powder, mine does not have the word double, could this be the reason??

Anyway, this was made with some sweet potatoes, giving it a nice yellow orangey color, gold like in auspicious lingo:).  It was soft, moist and sweet smelling, pretty yummy.

Recipe

Source : Cherry's Kitchen (hop over to her blog to see her blooms and variety of flavours)

A Ingredients - Yeast dough

• Plain flour 50g
• Water 50g
• Yeast, 1tsp (7.5gm)

B Ingredients 

• Sweet potato (steamed), 200g 
• Coconut milk, 120g 
• Water, 40g 
• Orange sugar, 140g (Fine Sugar)
• Egg, 1 
• Plain flour, 200g
• Double acting baking powder, 1dsp (1 dsp = 2 teaspoons, probably the culprit)

Method

1. Mix yeast dough (A) ingredient together. Leave aside for ½ hr until it has proofed.
2. Combine mashed sweet potato, coconut milk, water together and blend it. Add in flour, double acting baking powder, yeast dough and mix evenly (Mix quickly in one direction, do not overmix). 
3. Pour mixture over cups. Dip a spatula in oil and make an “X” across the batter. Leave it aside to proof for 10 minutes. Steam over high heat for 15 minutes.

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Happy Birthday Papa

Happy Birthday Papa! I am so happy that I managed to make you a cake for the second time.  I was tempted to buy this time around as I was still finding it a little difficult to adjust to some new changes in life leaving me without the mojo and limited time to squeeze in a bake.  Contemplated but I didn't want to break the tradition that I started only 1 year ago.  Like the previous year, I stayed away from creamy cakes simply because Pa was never fond of them.  Chose this fruit bake that I saw at Angie's.  Her photos were simply beautiful.

Angie used Damson plums, I bought a mixture of 2 types of plums that were available in the wet market on that day. I love how it turned out looking so pretty.   It was heavily loaded with plums, all beautifully arranged in circles, it was almost a pity to cover them with streusel.   It smelled so wonderful even when it was still in the oven.  

The taste?   If you like a fruity bake, you would love this one.  The fragrance from the plums itself was already captivating.   Every bite is laden with thick plum slices. The cake was infused with the juice that flowed from the plums.  The streusel toppings gave a crunchy finish to the cake.

All in all, it was a choice well made, a great looking cake with a taste to match which was also a taste of something new to the family.

Hop over to Angie's for the recipe.
   

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