Sponge Cup Cake

Wanted to make a soft and quick cake, saw this recipe in a book, so try it with a little change.

Ingredients:
A.
100g egg yolk
65g caster sugar
½ tsp vanilla essence

B.
125g egg white
50g caster sugar
¼ tsp cream of tartar

C.
70g cake flour
30g corn flour

D.
40g milk
75g melted butter

Method:
1. Beat egg white till bubble, add in cream of tartar, beat till form then add in sugar over two time and beat till soft peak, remove into another container and set aside.

2. Beat egg yolk and sugar in A till pale yellow in color ( should be double in volume).

3. Mix some egg white to egg yolk mixture, mix lightly till combined, then add the egg yolk mixture to the rest of egg white and mix lightly till well combined.

4. Sift C and mix into egg mixture. In order to avoid flour sinking to the bottom, flour should be add over a few interval.

5. Warm the milk and add into melted butter. Mix D into step 4. Pour mixture into grease tart mould or lined muffin tray.

6. Bake at 180°C for about 20min.

Kuih Dadar

This is the 2nd recipe I tried and have made adjustment to the liquid, still the pancake was a bit on the chewy side, not sure is it due to the control of the fire or the flour used, I used the orchid brand flour bought from NTUC, will use Prima plain flour next round.

Ingredients:
180g plain flour
1 egg
1/3 tsp salt
200ml coconut milk
170ml water
1 tsp pandan paste

Filling:
200g palm sugar, roughly chopped
140ml water
2 pandan leaf, knotted
200g grated coconut


Method:
1.Sift flour and salt into mixing bowl. Pour in the eggs, coconut milk, salt and pandan paste. Using a balloon wisk, gradually incorporate the flour into the liquid, making a smooth batter free from lumps. Cover the bowl and allow the batter to stand for 20-30 minutes.

2.To make filling, cook palm sugar and water in a pan and cook until sugar dissolves. Simmer for 10min until liquid start to thicken and become syrupy. Add the pandan leaf and grated coconut and continue cooking over low heat for 10-15 mins until the coconut fillings is thick and glossy. Most of the liquid should be evaporated. Remove and set aside to let it cool.

3.To fry pancakes, heat a small frying pan (preferably one with a non-stick surface) over medium heat. Dip kitchen towel with a little oil and brush the pan with it. Ensure the pan is sufficiently hot.

4.Stir batter. Pour a tablespoonful of it into the pan and immediately rotate the pan so that the batter covers the base in a thin layer. Allow batter to set and just begin to brown. Flip the pancake over and allow the other side to cook, just for a few seconds.

5.Turn the pancake out onto a plate or tray. Continue making the pancakes till batter is finish, you might need to thin down with a table spoon or two of water as you go.

6.Place a spoonful of filling in the center of the pancake, fold both sides towards the middle and roll the pancake away from you, neatly enclosing the filling and creating a parcel.

Wasabi Mayo Prawn

Have been quite reluctant to try this dish because am afraid that Kenny and the kids may not like to taste of wasabi. Was quite careful when mixing the wasabi and mayonaise, adding the wasabi bit by bit to avoid making it too hot, Kenny said that such dish taste nicer with the big prawn and luckily I choose the right type of prawn...

Ingredients:
500g of prawn
dash of salt and sugar
1 egg white
5 tbsp corn flour
2 tsp wasabe
200g mayonise
sesame
oil for deep frying

Mehtod:
1. Shell and de-vein prawn. Marinade it with salt and sugar and egg white for half and hour.

2. Heat oil in wok, coat each prawn with corn flour, shake off any excess flour. Deep fry the prawn till prawn is cooked, remove and drain.

3. Mix wasabe and mayonnaise together in a bowl.

4. Add the cooked prawn into the 3) and mix well, remove on plate and sprinkle some sesame on it.

Braised Pork Ribs with Mushrooms and Chestnuts

Bought some ribs over the weekend but not sure what to cook with it, didn't want to deep fry the ribs so do a simple braise dish with it...


Ingredients:
300g pork ribs
6 dried mushrooms – soaked
12 dried chestnuts – soaked
6 tau pok – deep fried bean curd
some ginger slices
1 tsp minced garlic
6 shallots – peel and sliced
3 cups of water

Seasoning
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp wine
1 tsp sesame oil
a little light soy sauce

Method:
1. Heat 2 tbsp of oil, fry ginger till fragrant then add in shallots and garlic and stir fry a while. Add pork ribs and fry a while then add in oyster sauce, wine and some water. Stir well.
2. Transfer pork ribs and the rest of the ingredient except tau pok into a pot. Braised over medium heat for 15min. Lower the heat and simmer for another half an hour. Add in tau pok and simmer for another 15min.

HEART Strawberry Cheesecake

Tried this cake last weekend, its very easy to make, and all like this cake very much...

Steam Bake Chocolate Pudding

Learn this dessert at Phoon Huat a few weeks ago. This is the second time I tried cos the first time I failed as I didn't know that the batter is not suppose to fill the whole mould, my friend S help to find out that the batter only fill half the mould. This pudding is taste best when serve warm with ice cream.

3x 8 ½ inch savarin mould

Ingredients:
175 gm unsalted butter
A) 90gm caster sugar
8 egg yolks
150g dark chocolate couverture – melted

8 egg whites
B) 90gm sugar

175gm ground hazelnut
50gm bread crumbs

Method:
1. Cream the butter with sugar A until creamy.

2. Add in egg yolks and melted chocolate, mix till well combined.

3. Whip up egg white and sugar B until soft peak, add into step2.

4. Lastly mix in ground hazelnut and bread crumb.

5. Pour into savarin mould and steam bake at 200°C until set.

Note:
-Fill the batter till half the mould.

Homemade Braised Duck

First attempt on braised duck, didn't cook a whole duck partly because I haven't master the skill of chopping a whole duck or chicken, so I just bought those ready chop and packed fresh duck from supermarket. Kenny help me to add the dark soy sauce so the amout in the recipe is my estimation. The recipe was combination of a few of the similar dishes and the taste was pretty up to my expectation.


Ingredients:
½ duck – chopped
1 tsp dark soy sauce
6 dried mushrooms (soaked)
few slice of ginger
2 tsp chopped garlic
6 shallot – peel and slice

B)
2 slice of dang gui
1 piece of cinnamon
1 piece of star anise
4 cloves
2 pieces dried orange peel

Sesoning:
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
pinch of salt
2 tbsp rock sugar
500ml water

Method:
1. Blanch duck into boiling water for 5 min, dish and drain. Rub duck with dark soy sauce and set aside.

2. Heat oil in wok, sauté chopped garlic, ginger and shallots until fragrant. Add in duck, mushrooms, seasoning, ingredients B and stir-fry until well mixed. Lower heat and simmer for 1 hour.

Braised Beancurd with Prawn

This dish was from another tofu dish from a book with a little change on the ingredient to make it non-spicy...

Ingredients:
1 roll egg beancurd
1 tsp chopped garlic
200g prawns

Seasoning:
½ cup water
1 tbsp spoon oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp shaoxing wine
pinch of pepper

Method:
1. Trim and shell the prawns leaving tail intact. Devein the prawns, wash and drain. Season with a little sugar and set aside.

2. Cut egg beancurd into pieces. Pat dry the tofu with kitchen towel. Deep fry in hot oil till fragrant.

3. Heat some oil. Add chopped garlic and stir fry till fragrant. Add in prawn and stir fry for about 1 min.

4. Add seasoning and fried beancurd. Bring to boil and let it simmer till the sauce is thick. Dish and serve.

Steam Raisin Cake

Wanted to use up the raisins in the fridge so make this cake, recipe from Alex Goh's book. I reduce the sugar according to my own taste, but think the sugar plays an important part in the texture of the cake...


Ingredients
A)
5 eggs
2 egg yolks
150g sugar
¼ tsp salt

B)
½ tsp vanilla essence

C)
230g Flour
1 tsp baking powder

D)
2 tbsp milk
21/2 tbsp corn oil

E)
100g raisins

Method:
1. Whip A) till light and fluffy. Add B) and mix till well blended.

2. Fold in sieved C) and mix till well blended.

3. Add D) and mix till well incorporated.

4. Add E) and mix till well blended.

5. Place cup cake papers in patty tin.

6. Pour batter into the cup cake moulds and sprinkle some raisins on top.

7. Steam it for 20min. Serve.

Grill Chicken with Pickle Onion

Recipe was from Chef Yong's class but I alter it to my taste and the available ingredient I had at that moment. Kenny don't really like onion unless its well cooked in certain manner, but suprisingly he like the pickle onion after tasting it.

Marinade:
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Paprika
1 tsp course ground black pepper
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tbsp sesame oil
3 pcs boneless chicken leg
oil for cooking

Pickle Onions:
1 large Brown Onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp sugar
1 red chilli – remove seed and chopped

Method:
1. Mix all the ingredients for the marinade together. Use it to marinade the chicken meat for at least 1 hour.

2. Toss onions with lime juice and sugar. Allow to steep for an hour, tossing at the intervals.

3. Heat oil and pan fry chicken till just cooked, about 10-12 min.

4. Drain the pickles and toss in the chopped red chilli and mix well. Serve chicken with pickle onion.

Sambal Chilli

This recipe was from Danny Cheok's Nasi Lemak Class. I didn't want to waste the chilli paste, so I add in the whole packet of chilli paste and end up its a bit too spicy for my taste. As it was bit too spicy for everyone, so I tried ground some dried shrimps and fried with half portion chilli paste, end up the hae bee hiam was perfect and everybody like it.

Ingredients A:
100g shallots
50g garlic
3 buah keras (soak in water and cut)
10g belacan (Pulau pinaug) from Penang
2 ½ tbsp chilli boh (Rabbit brand)

Ingredients B:
5 tbsp sugar
Salt to taste
50g assam paste mixed with 150 ml water and strain

Method:
1. Blend ingredients A together into paste. Add cooking oil for easy blending.Heat oil and stir fry chilli paste till fragrant. Add in ingredients B and bring to boil. Use small fire and cook until oil separated from chillis.