Go on... Have a bite

Vietnamese Baked Banana Cake

2010-04-05T17:00:00.003+09:30

I haven't done this in a while but here goes.

Recipe obtained from Ellie of Almost Bourdain.

With the amount of bananas used, I still prefer my banana chocolate chip cake but it's an interesting try.

Chicken and Leek Pie

2010-01-20T13:54:00.002+10:30

Epilogue:

Cooking has been somewhat fun and it undoubtedly does bring people together. However, due to various reasons, I might give up this blog of mine. I'm not going to give up entirely on cooking or baking yet because I do have a passion for food and sharing good food with loved ones brings a inexplicable amount of joy.

There is a possibility that I may continue this blog again someday but currently there are no intentions of doing so. I hereby thank everyone- my family, my friends, my loyal readers, regular commenters, food bloggers and you(!) who have shared marvelous ideas, provided me with great support and believed in me.

Thank you for reading Go on... Have a Bite.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An old friend of mine has been aching for some pie time so we got up as early as 6am in the morning to satisfy this craving of hers and to provide some Baking 101 lessons. :P

Ingredients: (Makes a 9" pie)

2 1/2 cups + 1/3 cup plain flour
250g butter, cut into cubes
5 tbsp cold water
2 leeks, white part only, sliced into 1 cm intervals
2 cloves garlic, minced
1kg chicken, diced
500mL chicken stock
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

First prepare the dough by mixing 2 1/2 cups plain flour with butter using only your fingertips. Rub until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add just enough cold water until it becomes a dough.
Roll the dough into a ball and wrap in cling wrap. Chill in refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Brown the chicken in a generously oiled pan and set aside. Add oil to a pot and add in the garlic and leek until the leek softens.
Add in the chicken and stock. Gradually add in the remaining 1/3 cup of plain to thicken the mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper. When it starts to thicken, switch of the fire and prepare the pastry.
Divide the dough into two portions. Roll out the pastry on a generously floured surface until it is sufficient to fit a 9 inch pie pan. Lift the pastry and gently press onto the pie pan. Prick the base with a fork.
Place the chicken filling onto the pastry and top the pie with the other portion of rolled pastry. Press the edges together using a fork so that the edges are sealed. Cut holes in the middle to allow steam to escape.
Bake in 200°C and bake for about 30 minutes or until brown. Serve warm.

Oozing pie filling.

While my friend commented that the crust was good, the filling lacked a bit of seasoning. The top and side crust was yummy but the bottom crust turned out soggy (as always). I've tried blind baking it first and various other methods but that doesn't work either so next time I might just omit the bottom crust.

Soya Bean Longan Jelly

2010-01-16T18:39:00.001+10:30

Ingredients: (Makes about 20 cups)

1L Soya Bean Milk
12.5g Pearl Mermaid Agar-agar powder
250g castor sugar
1.5L water
400mL canned evaporated milk
A tin of canned longan or lychee
20 of 150mL plastic cups

Method:

Mix everything together in a large pot except the longan and bring everything to a boil. Stir to make sure everything is melted.
Let it simmer for a 3-5 minutes and scoop contents into the plastic cups.
Once the mixture starts to set, place the longans on top. Chill in refrigerator overnight.

This is the perhaps one of the easiest desserts you can bring during a party and from previous experiences, people do seem to like it. Please do not question me about placing hot liquid into plastic containers. I am fully aware of the hazard but perhaps you could provide a better suggestion?

Best enjoyed on a hot day.

Pumpkin Mee Suah Kueh

2010-01-12T16:34:00.003+10:30

Mee Suah or 面线 is a specialty of Xiamen, Fujian. It is a fine dried wheat noodle with a smooth texture & is used mainly in soup. I'm unsure of the origin of this dish but I always loved it whenever my sister cooked this dish. Finally took the chance to take down the recipe so that I can make it on my own.

Ingredients: (Makes 9 inch)

i) Pumpkin Kueh

300g mee suah or 面线
300g pumpkin flesh, shredded
6 shitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced
3 chinese sausages or lap cheong, diced
75g dried shrimps, ground
5 shallots, sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced
120g pork, diced
700mL water*

ii) Seasoning

1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp water
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper

iii) Garnishing

1 sprig spring onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, sliced
1 red chili, sliced

Method:

Soak mee suah in water until softened and keep aside. Heat oil in a wok and sauté shallots and garlic till golden brown. Reserve for garnishing.
Fry minced shallots, garlic till fragrant then add in mushrooms, dried prawns, minced meat, chinese sausages and pumpkin shreds.
Add in the softened mee suah, water and seasonings. Stir well and adjust to taste.
Keep frying until most water has evaporated and everything becomes very sticky or gooey.
Press mee sua firmly into a greased 9 inch tray and steam for 20 minutes.
Garnish with red chilies, spring onions and fried shallots.

*Note: Although original recipe calls for 700mL water, use 500mL water first and then adjust accordingly.

Close up.

Sliced kueh.

After garnishing. Yum yum.

Cold Soba Noodles

2010-01-08T12:58:00.002+10:30

Soba noodles, made of soba (buckwheat) are most popular during the hot summer days of Japan. This is a simple, healthy dish that is really refreshing. Even my daddy likes it too which is always a positive sign.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

400g soba noodles
2 sprigs spring onions, chopped
Nori seaweed, grated
Sesame seeds, toasted
1 cup tsuyu* sauce
2 cups of water

Method:

First make the sauce by diluting* 1 cup tsuyu sauce with 2 cups of water and keep in refrigerator to chill. This step can be made a day ahead.
Bring a large pot of water up to a boil. Place the soba noodles in the pot of boiling water and cook for about 7 minutes or until noodles are tender.
Drain the noodles into a colander and immediately rinse with cold running water for about 3 minutes or until water runs clear.
While rinsing, take handfuls and gently swish and rub them in the water to wash off any trace of starchiness or gumminess on the noodles.
After rinsing, soak the noodles in cold, icy water for about 5 minutes to ensure that the noodle is icy cold as it tastes best. Cold water kept in fridge or ice from freezer would come in handy.
Drain the noodles and divide them among 4 bowls. Garnish with sesame seeds, seaweed and spring onions. Pour previously made soba sauce over the noodles. Serve immediately.

*Note: Tsuyu sauce is made of a strong mixture of dashi, sweetened soy sauce and mirin and can be obtained from any Japanese grocery stores. Not all tsuyu sauce needs to be diluted. Read the label carefully or ask shop assistant if unsure.

Durian durian, KL

2010-01-04T20:01:00.001+10:30

Durian is also known as the king of fruits and has this pungent smell that many Caucasians are not able to stomach. To us, it definitely smells good but I've had Caucasian friends who compared the smell to that of a sewage. :s

Maybe it's because I've been deprived from good durian in Australia so lately I've been in this durian phase especially when it's incorporated into pastries. This year's durian harvest was really good and my sister bought me this gorgeous cream puffs from Petaling Street which tasted absolutely divine!

While walking at Pavilion, KL. I came across this shop which sells all durian incorporated pastry! Yummy! I managed to sample some of their products and the durian butter cake tastes good with really strong durian flavour. :D Apparently their durian mochi uses 100% pure durian without the addition of any cream, so it's something I'm eyeing the next time I'm there.

I bought home some durian macarons because I am still too afraid to attempt macaron making just yet. :P A box of 6 costs me RM8 and I was disappointed with how little durian cream they gave me. :( Despite the small box and miserable amount of durian cream, the smell and taste was still very strong. Quadruple the amount of cream would make me a very happy girl. :P

The products sold in this shop definitely has a very distinct and strong durian flavour in their pastries which is something I like. Durian mochi, I'm coming back for you. :)

Durian Durian
Lot P1.11.04, Level 1
Pavilion KL Shopping Mall
Phone: (03) 89949308

Beef Casserole

2009-12-31T19:05:00.003+10:30

After I came back, my mom has asked me to whip up some western dishes as Chinese food can be easily, not to mention cheaply obtained here. She is a hard one to please as she is usually very critical when it comes to food. Talk about pressure. I hope this one managed to suit her taste buds.

Recipe adapted from Super Food Ideas.

Ingredients:

cooking oil
500g beef shank (suggested by the butcher)
2 red onions, sliced
1 leek, white part only, sliced
1/2 bulb of garlic, sliced
4 sticks celery, sliced (I omitted this)
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 3cm chunks (I used 4 instead)
430g can of tomato puree
1/4 cup of red wine
1/2 cup beef stock

Method:

Pat the beef dry with a kitchen town to ensure that the beef browns. Heat oil in a large saucepan over high heat. Cook beef, in batches until browned. Transfer to a plate.
Reduce heat to medium. Add remaining oil, onions, leeks, garlic and carrots to pan. Cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes.
Return beef to pan with tomatoes, wine and stock. Bring to the boil.
Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 1 hour. Uncover and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes or until beef is tender.
Serve with crusty bread or with mashed potatoes as a side.

Four Angled Beans with Belacan

2009-12-27T17:43:00.001+10:30

Four angled beans is a type of vegetable that is rarely seen in Australia so I took this opportunity to ask my mom to buy a few. While people think that belacan (shrimp paste) stinks up the whole house, I actually adore this smell. Weird, I know.

Recipe adapted from Delicious Asian Food.

Ingredients: (Serves 5)

300g four angled beans, cut into 3cm slices
50g dried prawns
3 bulbs shallots
1 1/2 bulb garlic
4 fresh red chilies, seeds removed
1 tbsp cooking oil
1 tsp sugar
20g belacan/shrimp paste

Method:

Pound or blend dried prawns, shallots, garlic, chilies and belacan until a fine paste forms.
Heat oil in wok. Add paste above and fry on medium heat till fragrant and slightly brown.
Increase heat to high and add four-angled beans and stir fry for about 2 minutes. Whilst stir frying, sprinkle water to keep moist.
Add sugar to taste. Serve warm.

Yong Tau Foo

2009-12-23T17:22:00.004+10:30

If I'm not mistaken, Yong Tau Foo is a Hakka dish and being half-Hakka my mom taught me how to make this dish. Feel free to omit or add in any vegetables to your liking.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

300g fish paste
200g pork mince
50g salted fish, diced finely
6 lady fingers/okra
2 medium sized eggplant/brinjal
3 fresh red chili
1 medium sized bitter gourd
3 tbsp preserved black bean sauce
2 tbsp water + 2 tsp corn flour
1 tbsp minced garlic
oil
2 sprigs spring onions, chopped

Method:

Mix the fish paste, pork mince and salted fish together. Cut a single slit length ways down the chili and okra and remove the seeds.
Cut the bitter gourd width ways into 1 inch rings and scoop out the middle using a spoon. Cut the eggplant width ways into 2 inches and cut a deep slit in the middle without cutting through.
Stuff the mince mixture into the cavity of the vegetables.
Heat up the oil in the wok. Pan fry the vegetables in batches, mince side down until brown. Plate up and set aside.
To make the sauce, fry the minced garlic and add in the preserved black bean sauce and corn starch mixture. Drizzle sauce over vegetables and top with chopped spring onions. Serve immediately.

After stuffing mince mixture into vegetables.

After pan frying vegetables.

Drizzle sauce, top with spring onions and serve.

Cinnamon Twigs

2009-12-19T09:11:00.000+10:30

With Christmas just around the corner, this is the perfect recipe for those who are on a tight schedule but needs to whip up something yummy! After all, who doesn't like cinnamon sugar, right? ;)

Recipe adapted from Good Taste.

Ingredients: (Makes about 20)

4 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, just thawed
milk or egg for glazing

Method:

Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
Brush pastry with milk or egg and sprinkle with the sugar mixture.
Using a knife, cut the pastry sheet in half then cut the pastry into 1 cm thick strips crossways.
Gently twist strips and place on the lined tray. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and golden. Transfer to a wire rack for 30 minutes to cool.

Use a piece of ribbon to tie 3-4 twigs together to make a small bundle to make a lovely gift.

Asparagus with Sesame Oil

2009-12-15T21:13:00.001+10:30

I love my vegetables and I don't know about all of you out there but I absolutely LOVE sesame oil. There's something so fragrant and sweet that makes it so addictive. I add it to congee, salads, blanched vegetables, instant noodles and so much more. Not to mention it's has many health benefits as well! :D

Ingredients: (Serves 2 as a side dish)

2 bunches asparagus, woody ends trimmed
1/2 tbsp sesame oil
Sesame seeds, to sprinkle

Method:

Steam asparagus for 8-10 depends until green and tender.
Drizzle sesame oil over steamed asparagus and sprinkle on sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

Just how simple is that?

Tom Yum Cookies

2009-12-11T09:39:00.000+10:30

How exotic does these sound?! Everyone shot me a weird look when I introduced them during a gathering but hey, what's cooking or baking without being adventurous eh? ;) Trust me, I was equally skeptical when I stumbled upon the recipe.

Recipe adapted from Taste of Time

Ingredients: (Makes about 20)

325g plain flour, sifted
100g brown sugar
150mL canola oil
3 tbsp Tom Yum paste
8 pieces Kaffir lime leaves, shredded finely

Method:

Mix everything in a bowl until well incorporated.
Scoop out portions using a tablespoon and place on a lined or greased baking tray.
Baked in preheated oven at 180°C for 30 minutes.
Leave to cool completely before storing.

When I first bit into the cookie, my mind was utterly confused and some of my friends said the same. The flavours and texture are good but I probably need a while to get used to this exotic cookie. A few fell in love with it at first bite which is encouraging.

Can you stomach this? Guess you've got to try it to know it. ;)

Butter Chicken

2009-12-07T19:52:00.000+10:30

Every time when my family patronized a particular restaurant, I would insist that we order the 'Butter Chicken'. It happened so often that it reached a point where they got so sick of it. Fine, looks like I had to satisfy my own taste buds by tackling the kitchen then I can have the whole plate to myself.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

600g chicken breast, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
3 tbsp corn flour (extra for coating)
125g butter
6 sprigs curry leaves
5 bird's eye chillies
1 375mL can of evaporated milk
1 cup dessicated coconut

Method:

Marinade the chicken with garlic, soy sauce, pepper, dark soy sauce and corn flour for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
Coat the chicken with excess corn flour and fry until it turns golden brown. Set aside.
Melt the butter and add in the coconut, curry leaves and bird's eye chillies and fry until fragrant.
Add in the chicken and stir for 2-3 minutes. Dish up and serve.

You can also opt to put in salted egg yolk for better flavour.

Low Calorie Garlic Spread

2009-12-03T22:13:00.000+10:30

I'm guilty of being a huge fan of everything garlic. I love throwing minced garlic into everything imaginable. Being a garlic lover, it's pretty obvious that I will love garlic bread as well. The strong garlic taste that goes with the butter. Mmmm... Bliss.

Sadly, the butter doesn't agree with the waistline so here's an alternative and healthier solution to garlic spread.

Ingredients:

3 slices bread
2 tbsp low fat plain Greek yoghurt
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 tsp herbs of your choice

Method:

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Spread onto bread slice.
Grill bread slices until the top just turns brown.

There's your healthy alternative! Be warned that it will definitely taste different to your regular garlic bread. After all, there is no substitution for butter. ;)

Tiramisu

2009-11-29T13:05:00.002+10:30

In my opinion, this dessert is fuss-free which requires no baking and it's simple to whip up with short notice. I've always been partial to Tiramisu until I tried the one made by my aunt. I was hooked ever since.

Recipe adapted from Almost Bourdain.

Ingredients: (Makes 8)

2 tsp of strong instant coffee powder
2/3 cup of water
1/3 cup of Kahlua (can be substituted with Frangelico, Marsala or Baileys)
75g brown sugar + 2 tbsp brown sugar
2 eggs
250g Mascarpone cheese
300mL thickened cream
250g packet sponge fingers
Cocoa powder, for dusting

Method:

Mix 2 tbsp of sugar with coffee powder, water and Kahlua until everything dissolves.
Combine eggs and remaining sugar in electric mixer and whisk until thick and light. The mixture should be thick enough to leave a trail on the surface.
Put the Mascarpone cheese into a large bowl. Stir in a little of the egg mixture. Fold in the remaining egg mixture. Fold in the thickened cream.
Cut the sponge fingers to fit the size of the base of the wine glass.
Line the bottom of the glass with a layer of sponge fingers. Drizzle the coffee and Kahlua mixture over the sponge fingers.
Sprinkle over a thick layer of chocolate, then spoon Mascarpone mixture on top (3-4 tbsp, enough to cover the sponge fingers). Level the surface.
Repeat the layers until it reaches the top of glass.
Decorate with the remaining chocolate. Cover and chill for 4 hours.

A simple dessert that oozes class. :)

Sparrow, Adelaide

2009-11-25T13:14:00.003+10:30

I am awfully blessed to have friends who love eating as much as I do and are willing to join me in having a nice meal occasionally. Eating good food makes me happy. :)

On the numerous occasions we've passed by this place, it always seems to be packed and I've read some pretty good reviews about it so it's about time we gave it a try. The food did take a while to arrive but because it was a weekend and the place was packed, it is understandable.

Ocean Trout with Mandarin Jelly and Sliced Carrots

The trout was really fresh and when paired with the mandarin jelly, it felt like everything was melting in the mouth. The flower petal is actually dehydrated sliced carrot. A delicate touch to the dish and it turned out beautiful.

BBQ Rabbit Pizza

The house made barbecue sauce paired wonderfully with the smoked rabbit and with dollops of fontina cheese. The pizza crust was wonderfully crisp (just the way I like it). We wished that they would have been more generous with the portion of rabbit meat though because we kept wanting more.

Braised Duck Breast, Confit Duck Leg with Speck and Lentils

The meat from the duck leg fell off the bone beautifully and the duck breast was perfectly cooked to medium rare. The duck was so juicy and tender. In my opinion, although the lentils were nice, it didn't really complement the taste of the duck. However, I'll be glad to polish more of the duck!

Gnocchi with Gorgonzola Cheese and Celery Leaf

This dish was very rich and cheesy. Probably something I couldn't take if I had the whole dish to myself. The sauce was delightfully thick and creamy and the gnocchi was so fluffy and soft that it felt like a piece of cloud in the mouth. Slightly more celery leaves could have helped with the slight saltiness of the sauce.

Ginger Macaroon with Ginger Sorbet and Lemon Curd

I loved the macaroon! It was slight crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. The ginger sorbet was particularly refreshing and the lemon curd went really well with the other two elements.

Roasted Loquats with Orange and Thyme Ice Cream and Madeleines

Loquats were something new to me and the lady mentioned that it belongs to the same family to the apricots. I liked the way the loquats were roasted and how it provided some acidity and zesty, tangy taste to the tongue. All three elements provided different textures and flavours.

Service was not too bad seeing the overwhelming number of customers and waitress did help out with our selection of food which we're pretty happy about. Will I be back? You betcha. ;)

Sparrow Kitchen and Bar

10 O'Connell Street
North Adelaide 5006 SA
Phone: (08) 8267 2444
Website: http://www.sparrowkitchenandbar.com.au

Chicken Curry Buns

2009-11-21T13:12:00.005+10:30

Quinn is an excellent baker and I was really honoured when she offered to teach me how to make my very first batch of Asian buns using the infamous water roux starter otherwise known as 65°C Tang Zhong.

Seeing that it's my first time attempting to make buns, I'm pretty proud with the outcome and I'm surprised my arms didn't ache from all that kneading.

Thanks so much for the lessons Quinn!

Ingredients: (Makes approximately 11 small buns)

i) Water Roux (Tang Zhong) Starter:

25g bread flour or high protein flour
1/2 cup of water

Tang Zhong is one part of bread flour or high-protein flour to 5 parts of room temperature water, measured by weight. It is cooked until it reaches 65°C and cooled before added into any bread recipes.

Breads with Tang Zhong incorporated in it are softer and remain softer for a longer period without any bread softener added to it. It is the gelatinization of starch in bread flour that causes this when the mixture of bread flour and water is heated until it reaches 65°C. Starch gelatinization helps absorb more water to provide the soft and elastic texture bread. It's all about the chemical reaction, baby! ;)

ii) Bread dough:

195g bread flour
90g cake flour
1.5 tsp instant yeast (6g)
1 tsp salt (6g)
2 tbsp heaped castor sugar (30g)
1.5 tsp heaped milk powder (12g)
1 egg
1/4 cup water
75g Tang Zhong or water roux starter

iii) Filling:

2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp curry powder, mixed with 3 tbsp water
1 big onion, diced
1 sprig curry leaves
200g chicken meat, cubed
2 boiled potatoes, cubed
1 tsp chicken bouillon powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp water

iv) Glaze:

1 egg
1/8 tsp of salt

Method:

To make Tang Zhong or water roux starter, whisk the bread flour with water in a small pot until well combined.
Using low to medium heat, cook, stirring often until the mixture turns white, starchy or when it reaches 65°C.
For those without a thermometer like me, draw the figure 8 using a whisk. It is ready when it leaves a trail on the surface.
Remove Tang Zhong to a small bowl and cover it with cling wrap touching the surface to prevent skin formation.
This could be kept up to 3 days in the fridge before it turns greyish.
To make the dough, combine bread flour, cake clour, instant yeast, salt, sugar and milk powder in a large bowl and mix well.
Combine egg, water and Tang Zhong starter in a smaller bowl and mix well.
Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and whisk until it's no longer whisk-able then transfer onto a clean surface and knead the dough for a minimum of 20 minutes to develop the gluten.
Once it forms a smooth mixture, add in 45g softened unsalted butter and knead till a smooth glossy, satiny ball of dough is formed. Add bread flour only if necessary and very sticky.
Smooth out dough and place ball of dough, seams side down in a lightly greased bowl. Cling wrap it and let it rise until double in size which takes about 30-45 minutes depending on weather and climate.
While waiting for the dough to proof, prepare the filling. Stir fry curry powder mixture, onion and curry leaves in oil until fragrant.
Add in chicken, potatoes, chicken bouillon powder, salt and water and continue stir frying until dry.
Once the dough doubles in size, punch out all air bubbles from dough with your fist and knead it briefly. Weigh each portion of dough to approximately 50g.
Wrap up with the curry chicken filling and seal the seams well to prevent leakage.Very loosely wrap a strip of pandan leaf across the centre of the oblong shaped bun.
Place it on a greased tray. Repeat with remaining buns. Leave it for second proofing and allow it to double in size again.
When size doubles, bake it in a preheated oven at 200°C for 15mins.

Thanks to the Tang Zhong starter, the buns remained soft and fluffy for the next few days. That's the way I like my buns! Thanks for the amazing experience again Quinn!

Cotton Soft Japanese Souffle Cheesecake

2009-11-17T13:09:00.005+10:30

Cheesecakes are one of my weaknesses. Especially baked ones. This time, however, instead of the sinfully and luxuriously rich baked American style cheesecakes, I opted for a lighter, softer version of cheesecake which is the Japanese Cheesecake otherwise known as Souffle Cheesecake.

Recipe adapted from Diana's Desserts.

Ingredients: (Makes a 9 inch cake)

140g castor sugar
6 egg whites
6 egg yolks
50g butter
250g Philadelphia Cream Cheese
100mL milk
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
55g plain flour, sifted
20g corn flour, sifted

Method:

Melt cream cheese, milk and butter over a double boiler. Allow to cool. Fold in the plain flour, corn flour, egg yolks, lemon juice and vanilla extract until well incorporated.
Whisk egg whites with sugar until soft peaks form.
Fold the egg whites into the cream cheese mixture. Pour into a 9 inch round cake pan.
Bake cheesecake in water bath for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until set and golden brown at 160°C.
Allow to cool in oven with oven slightly ajar to prevent surface cracking.

Baked Turkey Drumsticks

2009-11-13T12:16:00.000+10:30

Turkey drumsticks are usually sold quite cheap in the supermarket and I managed to get an even better deal by grabbing hold of 2 large drumsticks for less than $3! Talk about a good bargain.

I've never cooked using turkey before and numerous sources have told me that turkey meat can be quite dry and tough but Google is gold when it comes to finding out about baking times and temperature for turkey drumsticks. The meat was tender and just cooked. No such thing about being dry or tough. :D

It reminds me of the famous 'Siew Ngap' or roasted duck I used to get from Petaling Street back in KL. Yum! Double thumbs up.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

2 turkey drumsticks (can be replaced with 8 chicken drumsticks or wings)
1/4 cup of soya sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp black pepper (I would use only 1/2 tbsp next time)
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp cornflour

Method:

Marinade the drumsticks with all of the ingredients above in a large bowl overnight.
Preheat oven to 160°C. Place the drumsticks on a baking tray lined with aluminium foil.
Bake the drumsticks for 2 hours to 2 1/4 hours, remembering to flip the drumsticks once.
Drain the marinade and slice the turkey for serving. (I chose not to reserve the marinade because it is too salty unless you're eating it with rice)

*Note: The baking time has been suited for baking turkey drumsticks, if substituting turkey drumsticks, baking temperature and time should vary.

Chicken Corn Soup

2009-11-09T11:51:00.000+10:30

Corn was never a favourite of mine as a child but as I grew up, I've allowed my taste buds to step into different territories and now there's almost nothing I don't eat except maybe perhaps for cilantro or coriander. I'm just not a fan of its' strong taste.

Anyway, here is a quick, simple and hearty soup in less than 10 minutes.

Chicken Corn Soup

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

1L of water
400g can of creamed corn
6 tsp of chicken bouillon powder
2 eggs, beaten

Method:

Bring the water with added chicken bouillon powder and the can of creamed corn to a boil.
Lower the heat to allow the contents to simmer for a minute or two.
Gently pour in the beaten eggs slowly.
Turn off the fire immediately and serve.

Enjoy!

Max Brenner, Melbourne

2009-11-05T22:01:00.000+10:30

You can't possibly go to Melbourne and not try out their famous chocolate cafes, right? Sure, we have Cocolat and Bracegirdle's at Adelaide but come on, it's Melbourne!

Food is supposed to taste better! The air is supposed to smell fresher! The toilets are supposed to be cleaner! LOL. Ok, I'm biased like that. :P

Latte. Average. Not the smoothest I've tasted but very much forgiven since I'm guessing coffee isn't their forte but rather chocolate.

Their signature hot chocolate in a hug mug. My sister requested for the milk chocolate and it was everything you had hoped for in a hot chocolate: milky, creamy, smooth and most of all: chocolate-y! :D

Belgian waffles! YUM! The drizzled chocolate is smooth and packed with richness of the chocolate. When the warm waffles were mixed with the cold ice cream, it created such an amazing feat for my taste buds. Beats the belgian waffles I had at Theobroma hands down.

Warning: For peanut butter lovers only

OH MY! OH MY! Their Peanut Butter Iced Chockie Frappe... Imagine Reese Peanut Butter Cups melted into one tall glass of frappe. Mmmm.... Freaking awesome! My sister laughed when she saw the way my face lit up and had the orgasmic look after having my first sip. I thought the peanut butter frappe at Bracegirdle's, Adelaide was good but apparently, I haven't tasted anything yet. I feel like having this drink everyday for the rest of my life. Does that say something?

Max Brenner
25-27 Red Cape Lane,
Level 2, QV Square,
210 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
Phone: (03) 9663 6000

Quiche Lorraine

2009-11-01T10:22:00.001+10:30

I have this thing for meat pies and quiches. There's just something very comforting about biting into pastry and allowing the savoury and pastry bits dance in your mouth and entice your taste buds.

Quiche Lorraine

Adapted from The Big Book of Baking.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

Shortcrust Pastry:

1 1/3 cup plain flour
100g cold butter, cubed finely
4-5 tbsp cold water

Filling:

15g butter
1 onion, chopped
4 lean streaky bacon rashers, diced
55g of cheese
2 eggs, beaten
300mL cream
pepper

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200°C.
For the pastry, sift the flour into a bowl and rub the butter with only your fingertips* until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Alternatively, process it in a food processor until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Stir in just enough water to bind the mixture to a firm dough. Roll the dough into a ball, place in cling wrap and chill it in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes to allow the pastry to rest and prevent shrinkage.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a round slightly larger than a 9' tart tin. Lift the pastry onto the tin and press it down into the fluted edge. Trim off excess pastry.
Prick the base all over with a fork and place a sheet of baking paper in the pastry-lined tin and fill with baking beans/rice to weigh it down*.
Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 10 minutes. This process is called blind baking.
For the filling, melt the butter in a frying pan and cook the onion and bacon over a medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened and lightly browned.
Spread the mixture evenly in the hot pastry case and sprinkle with half the cheese. Beat together the eggs and cream in a small bowl and season to taste with pepper.
Pour into the pastry case and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
Reduce the oven temperature to 190°C. Place the quiche in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown and just set. Cool for 10 minutes before turning out.

Before blind baking.

Out of oven.

* Notes:

- The fingertips are the coolest part of your hands. Using your palm will cause the butter to melt which will alter the texture of the pastry. You want everything to be as cold as possible to result in a short, crispy pastry.

- Blind baking is a method to prevent soggy crust and bottom especially putting in wet ingredients therefore the pastry is baked beforehand. Beans/Rice is used to prevent the pastry from puffing up during blind baking. Be sure to put sufficient beans to press against the sides as the sides may also puff up.

Definitely something I would remake over and over again. After all, you know it's pretty good when you receive thumbs of approval from your family. ;)

Timpana

2009-10-27T20:49:00.000+10:30

Timpana is a Maltese dish and it's basically a baked pasta pie. Pasta is cooked separately to under al dente and added to a rich bolognaise style sauce, originally and often with chicken livers. With the addition of eggs, the mixture is cooked in a pastry case in either a deep dish or baking tray until its golden brown.

Just imagine your spaghetti bolognaise topped with flaky puff pastry. :D

Recipe adapted from SBS Food. (Serves 8-10)

Ingredients:

2 frozen puff pastry sheets
500g penne
500g pork mince
300g bacon, finely diced
500g onions, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
300g cheddar cheese, grated
3 eggs, beaten
400g canned diced tomatoes in tomato puree
500ml chicken or beef stock

Method:

Preheat oven to 200°C. Sauté the onions and garlic for 5 minutes. Add pork mince, stirring well to separate and break up any lumps.
Add stock, mix well and bring to boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add canned tomatoes with purée.
While the sauce is cooking, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until just undercooked.
Drain and mix with sauce, adding tasty cheese. Stir in beaten eggs.
Spoon pasta into a baking dish and top with your puff pastry sheets. Making sure to cut some holes to allow the steam to escape.
Brush top of pastry with some beaten eggs. Bake in oven for 45 minutes.

Fresh out of oven.

Mine didn't turn out as red as it should be as I didn't use tomato paste. For a dish that requires star ingredients such as bacon and cheese, I'm quite disappointed with the outcome because I know I can create so much more lip smacking stuff with those key ingredients which consumes less time.

Fellini, Adelaide

2009-10-23T21:55:00.002+10:30

Upon listening to others telling me that not only does Fellini serve wood oven pizzas, they also make dessert pizzas! Of course, me being the adventurous one when it comes to food, we went there. :P

Mars Bars Pizza

Looks good? But.

The wait for the pizza was extremely long. It took 40 minutes after putting in the order before it actually arrived. The pizza itself was nothing to shout about. Obviously store bought chocolate, strawberry and vanilla ice cream was used. The best bit was the Mars bars and condensed milk which I easily could have gotten myself.

Doubt I'll be back anytime soon.

Fellini Cafe
102 O'Connell St
North Adelaide 5006 SA
Phone: (08) 8239 2235

Entree: $9.90-$17.90
Mains: $9.90-$32.90
Dessert: $15.90-$16.90

Basic chowder

2009-10-19T21:39:00.000+10:30

This dish was introduced to me by a friend and the ingredients are very similiar to ABC soup except with the addition of bacon and cream. My friend scolded me when I cut off the fatty part of the bacon because she believes it is the best bit.

I'm sorry but it is my arteries that will be ending up clogged. :P

Ingredients:(Serves 5)

5 bacon rashers, cut
5 potatoes, diced
3 carrots, diced
1 large onion, sliced
1.25L water
6 tsp chicken bouillon powder
200g meat
1 tbsp dried parsley
1/2 tbsp dried chives
300mL cream

Method:

Fry the meat and bacon until cooked then add in onions, carrots and potatoes. Stir fry for 3 minutes.
Pour in 1.25L of water and add in the chicken bouillon powder to make chicken stock.
Sprinkle in dried chives and dried parsley and simmer on low heat until the potatoes are tender.
Pour in cream and stir well. Leave for 1 minute then serve.

ETC, Adelaide

2009-10-15T11:36:00.000+10:30

The first and most frequent comment I hear about ETC cafe otherwise known as East Terrace Continental cafe is that they have "The Best Banana Pancakes Ever!" and mentioned by Delicious Magazine 2007 as "The Best Breakfast in SA". If people dare to dub it the best, I suppose you would agree with me that it's definitely worth a try?

Breakfast, here we come! :)

ETC works

A friend ordered this which is bacon, eggs of your choice, sausage, mushrooms, hash browns and roasted tomatoes served on sliced foccacia bread. Definitely very heavy for breakfast but the eggs were poached to perfection and every element on this dish is tender, succulent and definitely packed with flavour.

Of course, then there's the legendary banana pancakes. Their pancakes are moist and fluffy served with chunks of fresh bananas in between. I must admit that the secret lies within their banana syrup! I flooded every bite of pancake with the syrup and was compelled to lick it off the plate. From what I can tell, it tastes like a very good butterscotch cream with a hint of banana. Yum!

East Terrace Continental
6 East Tce
Adelaide 5000 SA
Phone: (08) 8359 2255
Website: www.etccafe.com.au

Entree: $7.50-$13.50
Mains: $8-$22.90
Dessert: $2.50-$5.50

Thai Sticky Glutinous Rice with Mango

2009-10-11T14:07:00.000+10:30

I remember my family and I used to visit the Thai Food Bazaar that was held annually at One Utama Shopping Centre, KL and we would feed ourselves with their lovely laksa and desserts. The Thai sticky glutinous rice with mango was definitely a must for my sister and I.

It has been a few years since I last had it but since I had the opportunity to stumble upon the recipe, I knew I had to give it a whirl and satisfy this dormant craving for this dessert. :P It's a pity I didn't use fresh mangoes as they were not in season, otherwise it would be perfect. Had to resort to canned sliced mangoes. :(

Thai Sticky Glutinous Rice with Mango (Khao Niaow Ma Muang)

Recipe adapted from Tan's Kitchen.

Ingredients: (Serves 2-3)

1 cup glutinous rice
3/4 cup coconut cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt + 1/2 tbsp salt
1/4 tsp rice flour
Sesame seeds, for sprinkling
1 mango, sliced

Method:

Wash glutinous rice, then soak it for two to three hours or overnight. Steam it for 30 minutes.
Heat, on low, half of the coconut cream needed in a small saucepan and add sugar and 1/2 tbsp of salt until all dissolved.
Remove from heat and pour into cooked rice. Stir to mix well and set aside to let stand for about 15 mins.
Heat the rest of coconut milk and add salt. Stir until the salt is dissolved. This makes the topping sauce.
To serve, place sliced mangoes on a side of a plate. Spoon some seasoned sticky rice on the other side.
Top the rice with 1 or 2 tsp of coconut milk, sprinkle some sesame seeds and serve.

Why must coconut cream taste so good?

Apple Crumble Bars

2009-10-07T10:45:00.001+10:30

Do not be intimidated by the long list of ingredients and methods, it isn't as hard as it looks. I was recipe hopping as usual and when I saw that all the ingredients are lying in the pantry, why not? ;)

The streusel topping is a winner! The apple filling is good as well. I'm not too sure about the crust but the streusel is amazing!

Recipe adapted from Dessert First

Ingredients:

a) Filling:

3 large apples, approximately 800g
50g butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp plain flour
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

b) Crust:

2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
100g butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg

c) Streusel:

1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup + 2 tbsp plain flour
1/8 tsp salt
100g chilled butter, diced

Method:

Preheat oven to 175°C. Peel, core, and chop the apples in 1/2-inch cubes. Set aside in a bowl.
Melt butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the apples and sauté for about 8 minutes until the apples are semi-soft.
Add sugar, lemon juice, flour, and cinnamon to the apples and stir to combine. Cook until mixture begins to bubble, then turn heat to low and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Allow filling to cool.
Line a 9 by 9 inch pan with aluminum foil, leaving enough to hang over the edge and act as handles to remove bars after baking. Grease foil.
Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl and set aside. In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together on medium speed for several minutes until light and fluffy.
Add egg and mix to combine. Add flour mixture and mix to combine.
Pour the dough into the prepared pan and gently press into the bottom of the pan and about 1/4” up the sides, making sure it is level. Set pan aside while you make the streusel.
In a stand mixer, combine sugar, flour, and salt and mix to combine. Add butter and mix until crumbly and the butter pieces are very small.
Spread cooled apple filling evenly over the crust, leaving about 3/4” between the pan sides and the filling. Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the filling.
Bake for about 35 minutes until the top layer is golden. Cool completely on wire rack before removing. Cut into bars.

Apple cinnamon filling

Pressing the crust onto the bottom of pan

In goes the filling.

Fresh out of oven.

I'm stubborn and impatient. I'm the one who opens the oven before time is up and always eager to pop it in my mouth and slice it up for serving immediately out of oven instead of allowing it to cool.

Which usually results in less beautiful presentation during slicing. :(

Steamed banana muffins

2009-10-03T10:56:00.000+09:30

Instead of the usual baking, I thought I'd give steaming a go. I admit I'm quite skeptical with steaming. After all, who doesn't like baked goods, right?

I managed to nab myself a good deal with a grocer trying to get rid of his overripe bananas. You can bet I was elated about that.

Recipe adapted from Amanda.

Ingredients: (Makes 6 medium sized muffins)

1 egg
45g brown sugar
2 overripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup plain flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
pinch of baking soda
30mL oil

Method:

Sift together flour, baking soda and baking powder then set aside.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar till ribbon stage.
Mix in mashed bananas, beat till combine.
Gently fold in flour mixture and oil, taking care not to deflate the eggs and sugar mixture.
Pour atter into muffin pan, lined with muffin cups.
Steam over high heat for 15mins or till an inserted skewer comes out clean.

It turned out very soft and fluffy. Definitely a good change from the normal baking. :)

Watermelon Sweet Drink

2009-09-29T11:29:00.000+09:30

I learned this nifty little trick from my friend where she would make the most out of her bought watermelon by making a sweet drink by boiling the watermelon rind. The mild and pleasant taste reminded me a little like winter melon. :)

Method:

Clean the watermelon skin thoroughly and place the watermelon rind in a big pot with enough water to cover the rinds.
Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and let it simmer for 2 hours.
Add rock sugar according to taste.
Serve it warm or cold.

You can choose to discard the rind after boiling but I actually ate the rind without the skin after boiling as well as it turns soft and it does taste like winter melon. I'm weird like that.

Strawberry Soufflé

2009-09-25T14:23:00.000+09:30

I've always wanted to know what soufflés taste like but I never got around to making it. When I came across this recipe which ingredients were all lying in the pantry, I knew it was time to give it a go.

Soufflés can seem pretty intimidating but I assure you that if I can do it, almost anyone can. There's an indescribable amount of joy and glee to see the souffles rise beautifully. To be honest, I was actually more concerned about it deflating before I could take any nice pictures. :P

Recipe adapted from Closet Cooking.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

250g fresh strawberries, hulled and diced
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
3 egg whites (room temperature)

Method:

Preheat oven to 175°C and grease 4 ramekins with melted butter then coat with sugar.*
Place the strawberries and vanilla extract into a food processor and blend until it forms a smooth puree.
Beat the egg whites and sugar until you get a soft peak.
Gently fold in the egg whites in thirds into the strawberry puree.
Pour the mixtures into the greased ramekins.
Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes until puffed and golden brown on top.
Dust with icing sugar and serve immediately.

*When greasing ramekins, using a pastry brush, brush the melted butter on the side of the ramekins upwards in one direction. This will aid the rising of the souffles. Pour some caster sugar into the greased ramekins and turn so that a thin layer of sugar coats the butter completely. Pour out the excess sugar.

Beating the egg whites. Thank goodness for electronic mixers.

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I think this is the texture of egg white that needs to be achieved.

Beautiful strawberry puree.

Folding in the egg whites.

It should look something like this after well incorporated.

Pour into ramekins and be careful not to drip some at the sides.

Beautifully risen.

Slowly deflating.

Mmmm... Just look at that.

Don't you just love the french for coming up with delicious desserts? :D

Mapo, Adelaide

2009-09-21T11:12:00.001+09:30

I've heard many good reviews of Mapo Korean Restaurant from peers and when I hear something is good, I've got to try it. So after much bugging and pleading for a friend to bring me there, I finally found myself sitting at their tables and having my senses in delight!

Entree platter (L-R): Chilli Mushroom Wontons, Mapo Money Bags and Yook Hwe.

The wontons were nothing to shout about but the money bags were filled with juicy, succulent prawns and the yook hwe is amazing! The yook hwe is the Korean version of steak tartare and it's basically seasoned julienne raw beef on a bed of fresh apple, with a raw egg yolk. I bet you're just as skeptical as my friend and I after reading that but trust me, it's oh so good!

Post-mixing 'Tender Duck Fillets'

My friend and I were too excited that we eagerly sliced it up and mixed everything before realizing I forgot to snap pictures! This dish is marinated duck breast, oven baked then chargrilled served on a nest of tempura vegetables with creamy basil sauce. The sauce is heavenly and it goes too well with the tempura vegetables. My friend and I were scraping every last bit of the sauce.

Coconut Tempura Prawns

Prawns coated in shredded coconut and cooked tempura style served with homemade Korean tartare sauce. When I first had a bite, the fusion of flavours delighted my tastebuds. It's definitely something out of the ordinary yet the flavours matched and blended well. However, the consecutive bites that follow weren't as exciting. It's good but it's not something I would scrape every last bit off.

Definitely a place worth going again! :D

Mapo Korean Restaurant
113 Gouger St
Adelaide 5000 SA
Phone: (08) 8211 6042
Website: www.mapo.com.au

Entree: $6.90-$19.90
Mains: $10.90-$19.90
Dessert: $5.50-$9.90

Apple Strudel

2009-09-17T12:10:00.003+09:30

I fell in love with it the first time I had it at Perth. The texture and taste is just so hard to describe yet they somehow harmonize each other so perfectly. My filo pastry, otherwise known as phyllo dough was quickly drying out in the refrigerator so I had to use it up quickly.

I tried to take pictures of the process but I had to work quick with filo pastry before it dries out. I omitted sugar in feeble attempt to be healthier.

Fresh out of oven

Ingredients: (Makes 2 rolls)

4 apples, peeled, cored and diced
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
12 sheets filo pastry
melted butter

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C and grease a large baking tray.
Place diced apples in a large bowl and drizzle with lemon juice to prevent browning. Add in cinnamon. Stir until well combined.
Place 1 sheet filo on a workbench. Brush with melted butter and top with another filo sheet. Repeat layers of filo and melted butter until you have 6 layers in total.
Spoon half of the apple mixture along one long edge of filo, leaving a 6cm border at both short ends. Fold ends in and roll up. Lift onto prepared tray. Brush top with butter.
Repeat with the remaining sheets and apple mixture to form the second roll.
Bake for 45 minutes or until pastry is crisp and golden. Allow to stand for 10 minutes. Dust with icing sugar.
Best served with vanilla ice cream or custard.

How do others wrap theirs so nicely? :(

I like the buttery layers of pastry but cutting the filo pastry resulted in a horrific mess with layers and shards of filo pastry flying everywhere! Anyone knows the solution to this problem?

Cream Puffs

2009-09-13T12:34:00.000+09:30

Recipe adapted from The Big Book of Baking.

Ingredients: (Makes 8)

200mL water
70g butter
100g plain flour
3 eggs, beaten

Method:

Preheat oven to 200°C and grease a large baking tray.
Put the water and butter into a small pot and bring to the boil.
Immediately add all the flour, remove the pan from the heat and stir the mixture into a paste that leaves the side of the pan clean.
Leave to cool slightly then beat in enough of the eggs to give the mixture a soft dropping consistency.
Spoon tablespoons of the paste onto the prepared baking tray and using wet fingers, smooth the top of the paste.
Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes and allow it to cool down.
Cut the pastry balls into half then pipe with whatever filling you desire. Custard and cream are great choices.

I chose to fill mine with previously made homemade kaya.

Ding Hao, Adelaide

2009-09-09T21:53:00.000+09:30

This is the favourite Chinese restaurant for my friend and her family to dine and they're sure to visit the place whenever her family is here for a visit. Since her bf came all the way, she thought it would seem appropriate for her to ask us along for dinner.

Spicy eggplant with minced chicken. Wasn't quite what I expected. Was a bit too sour for my liking.

Salted egg with minced chicken and tofu. One of my preferred dished for the night. Would have been better if there was more salted fish.

Stir fry chili garlic long bean. This dish was the hit of the night. Crunchy and packed with garlicky goodness.

Pork belly with preserved vegetables. Flavour was alright but was too stingy on the preserved vegetables.

Smoked tea duck. Your average roasted duck served with hoisin sauce.

Ding Hao
26 Gouger St
Adelaide 5000 SA
Phone: (08) 8211 7036

Entree: $4-$6
Mains: $11-$19
Dessert: $6

Banana chocolate chip

2009-09-05T22:53:00.000+09:30

Bananas are a fruit that I can't get enough of and it makes me wonder why some people don't like the taste of bananas. What's even better is baking using overripe bananas.

This is a recipe that I have done more than once and will definitely be doing over and over again. I love how the kitchen smells of banana! :D The mini ones are for taste testing and housemates. *evil smirk*

Banana bread. Banana cake. Call it whatever you want.

Ingredients: (Makes 2 loaves)

Melted butter, to grease
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
100g milk chocolate chips
3/4 cups brown sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 mashed ripe banana
1 cup milk
100g butter, melted
2 eggs, lightly whisked

Method:

Preheat oven to 200°C. Brush two 9 x 19cm (base measurement) loaf pans with melted butter to lightly grease.
Place the flour, chocolate bits, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda in a large mixing bowl. Stir until well combined.
Combine the banana, milk, butter and eggs in a medium bowl. Add to the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
Pour mixture evenly among prepared pans and use the back of a spoon to smooth the surface. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the bread comes out clean.

Banana and chocolate is a match made in heaven. I hope you'll love this as much as I do. :D

On a side note, I thought I'd throw in a picture of the most mutated strawberry I've seen in my life.

Do you have a mutated strawberry picture to share?

Loh Mai Kai

2009-09-01T12:13:00.003+09:30

One of my favourite small dishes is definitely the Loh Mai Kai or Glutinous Rice with chicken. In this instance however, I used pork. The final product came out a bit too wet and the rice didn't have enough flavour but the marinade for the meat was perfect. Well, it is after all my first try.

Recipe adapted from Kuali.com

Ingredients: (Serves 2)

125g glutinous rice

1/3 cup of water

75g pork meat

1 Chinese sausage (Lap Cheong), thinly sliced

2g black Chinese mushrooms, soaked

Seasoning (A):

1/2 tsp light soy sauce

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp oyster sauce

1/2 tsp ginger juice

1/2 tsp sugar

1/8 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp Shao Hsing Hua Tiau wine

1/4 tsp dark soy sauce

1/2 tsp oil

1/2 tsp cornflour

Seasoning (B):

1 tsp light soy sauce

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp dark soy sauce

1/4 tsp Chinese five spice powder

Method:

Wash glutinous rice, then soak it for two to three hours or overnight. Steam it for 30 minutes.
Cut pork meat into slices. Marinate with seasoning (A) for about one to two hours or overnight.
Heat oil in and stir fry quickly mushroom and lap cheong then dish up. Add cooked glutinous rice and seasoning (B) and water. Stir fry well for five minutes.
Grease two medium-size rice bowls. Add mushroom, a few slices of Chinese sausages and seasoned pork slices. Fill up with glutinous rice and press down with a ladle.
Steam for 30-40 minutes. Turn over the rice bowl onto a plate and serve Loh Mai Kai.

Hope this will turn out even more delicious for you. :)

Sweet potato

2009-08-28T19:49:00.000+09:30

This is the 3rd submission for the Merdeka Open House 2009 held by Babe in the City -KL.

I like the simplicity and versatility of sweet potatoes. Especially when it comes to making easy but yummy desserts. To prove my point on sweet potatoes' versatility, I'm posting 2 recipes that uses sweet potatoes. :D

I did not measure the ingredients so I'm writing this based on guess-timation so I apologize if the taste doesn't seem too good but you can always adjust the ingredients to suit your taste buds.

It was my housemate that got me hooked onto the sweet potato sweet drink or 'Farn Shee Tong Sui'. She said that her mom used to make it very often at home and it gave her very fond memories. Now she passed on this liking of this dessert to me. :P I like the strong ginger taste hence I added more ginger for the flavour.

Sweet Potato Sweet Drink (Farn Shee Tong Sui)

Ingredients: (Serves 1)

250g sweet potato, diced
2 cups of water
2 inch knob of ginger, crushed or sliced
Rock sugar, to taste

Method:

Bring the water to a boil in a pot and add the ingredients.
Simmer for 15 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender.
Serve warm or chilled.

The next one in line is Bubur Cha Cha. I didn't have yam or tapioca on hand so I made my bubur cha cha purely out of sweet potatoes. It still managed to satisfy my craving nonetheless. :)

Bubur Cha Cha

Ingredients: (Serves 1)

250g sweet potato, diced
2 cups of water
100mL coconut cream

Method:

Bring the water to a boil in a pot and add in the sweet potato.
Stir in the coconut cream and simmer for 15 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender.
Serve warm.

Feel free to add in some diced yam or tapioca pearls to further enhance the appearance and taste of this dessert. Hmm... Now I'm craving for another bowl. :P

Kuih Bakar

2009-08-25T21:36:00.002+09:30

This is the 2nd submission for the Merdeka Open House 2009 held by Babe in the City -KL.

If there's a size that I love, it's got to be anything mini. Mini cheesecakes, mini cupcakes, mini tarts... You get the gist. I'd like to believe the guilt and sin comes in mini size as well. :P So I've decided to whip up my own mini 'Kuih Bakar' otherwise known as 'Kuih Kemboja'

It wasn't very easy but I just made one mini kuih to feed my sweet tooth craving. This tastes just like eating a cripsy kuih with kaya filling minus the egg.

I didn't follow a recipe and just went with my gut feeling for this one. Easy peasy. Here goes:

Ingredients:(Makes 1)

50mL coconut milk
15mL of water
1/8 cup flour
1/4 tbsp butter
1/8 tsp sugar
pinch of salt
a drop of pandan paste
15mL of water
Sesame seeds, to sprinkle

Method:

Preheat oven to 175°C. Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl until well combined.
Pour the batter into a cupcake mould until almost full.
Sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.
Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when poked in the middle.

What it looks like in the centre. It is slightly under baked because I didn't want to poke it for photography purposes and I was too hungry to wait any longer. :P

Pineapple tarts

2009-08-22T14:32:00.001+09:30

Pineapple tarts are definitely one of my favourite Chinese New Year cookies. So, I've finally tried one on my own but I've actually added the wrong amount of ingredients. *slaps forehead*

Anyhow, here's the proper recipe:

Recipe adapted from Rasa Malaysia.

Ingredients: (Makes 12 tarts)

i) Pastry

5/8 cup of all purpose flour
1/4 cup of butter, softened
pinch of salt
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp icing sugar
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1 egg white (for egg wash)

ii) Pineapple filling

1 can (440g) of sliced pineapples
4 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1/2 tsp water

Method:

1. Drain the pineapple slices and squeeze the extra juice with your hands then blend them for 10 seconds in a mini food processor.
2. Cook the drained crushed pineapple and sugar on medium heat until most liquid has evaporated and filling turned golden. Stir constantly to avoiding burning.
3. Add cornstarch to thicken mixture. Set aside and let it cool in fridge.
4. Preheat the oven to 175°C and cream the butter with a mixer until it is light and fluffy. Add in egg yolk until well combined.
5. Sift in the flour, corn flour, salt and sugar into the butter mixture. Stir until just combined.
6. Divide pastry dough and pineapple filling into 12 equal rounds. Wrap/place the pineapple filling in/on the pastry with whichever method you prefer. Here are a few examples:

The amount of pastry listed in the recipe is calculated for the shortbread style (Pic 3). Doing it other styles would usually result in excess pastry. I did mine the Nyonya style (Pic 4).

7. Use a fork to make patterns on the tart and brush it with egg wash. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until light brown.

Enjoy! Here are some photos of the process.

Preparing the pineapple filling.

Creaming the butter.

Rubbing in the flour.

Before putting into oven

Final product.

I know mine looks pathetic. These are skills I definitely need to improve on. Especially when I might be making them again in the future. :)

Ban Jian Kuih / Apam Balik

2009-08-19T13:45:00.001+09:30

I've always loved visiting pasar malam or literally translated as night market with my sister to get our hands on all the yummy snacks and delights.

I finally had the opportunity to try making one of the snacks popularly sold.

Recipe obtained from Lily Ng.

Ingredients: (Makes about 6-10 depending on thickness)

1 egg
225 ml water
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp milk powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp baking soda

Method:

Whisk the eggs, pour the water and keep stirring until it bubbles.
Fold in flour, sugar, milk powder and salt until the ingredients are combined. Then stir in canola oil. Leave to rest for 30 minutes.
Heat fry pan on medium heat. Add in baking soda and whisk well to combine.
Pour batter into fry pan which has already been warmed. Pour less batter if you want it to be thin and crispy. (I made mine soft and chewy)
Using the base of the ladle to swirl the batter in a circular motion so that the sides of fry pan has a thin coating of batter which will be crispy when it is done.
Cover the fry-pan with a fitting lid. Cook it until the surface has pores. Melt some butter on the ban jian kuih and dust it with sugar, crushed peanuts and sesame seeds.
Cover the pan again until well done. Fold it into half and serve onto plate.

*Alternatively, you can use buttery sweet creamed corn as filling.

The key is to be VERY generous with your filling. From the picture you can tell I was being extremely stingy.

Extra, extra melted butter please! :D Oh, and I can imagine how yummy it would taste with buttery sweet creamed corn too.

Snickerdoodles

2009-08-17T16:46:00.000+09:30

I have never heard of snickerdoodles until recently. After all, they do not look like Snickers, neither do they look like any form of doodle.

Looking at the recipe, the steps are simple and I'm sure like everyone else, the ingredients are readily available in your pantry.

Recipe adapted from The Big Book of Baking.

Ingredients: (Makes 10)

55g butter, softened
35g sugar
1 small egg
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
100g plain flour
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt
1/4 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon

Method:

Preheat oven to 190°C and line a baking tray with paper and chill it in the fridge.
Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt into the mixture.
Slowly beat in the egg and add in the vanilla until just combined.
Wrap the dough in a clingwrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or more.
In the meantime, mix together the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
When the dough is ready, divide the dough into 10 and roll them into balls.
Roll each ball in the cinnamon mixture to coat and place on prepared baking trays, spaced well apart.
Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, until it is slightly firm to the touch. Do not overbake.
Leave to cool on baking tray for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Be sure to check the oven often as snickerdoodles are meant to be chewy, not hard which can result from overbaking.

This recipe should result in a crisp, firm edge with a soft, light filling in the centre. For me it felt like I was munching on a cookie on the outside and eating soft cinnamon doughnut on the inside.

Best of both worlds! :D

Shortbread

2009-08-15T10:16:00.001+09:30

I'm sure many of you grew up munching on these delicious butter cookies that we all know as 'butter cookies in the blue tin' simply because Kjeldsens Danish butter cookies sounds too complicated.

Now you can make your very own butter cookies or shortbread right at home.

Recipe adapted from Super Food Ideas.

Ingredients: (Makes 8 slices)

125g butter, softened
1/2 cup pure icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/8 cups plain flour
1/8 cup cornflour

Method:

Preheat oven to 160°C. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, icing sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy.
Sift flour and cornflour over butter mixture. Stir until a soft dough forms. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead dough until smooth. Do not overwork your dough as it will result it a tough instead of crumbly texture.
Wrap dough in a cling wrap and chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Remove dough from fridge and press onto a 9" fluted tart pan. Use the a flat surface of a glass to press and flatten the dough evenly.
Score 8 triangles in each shortbread round (do not cut through dough).
Alternatively, brush the shortbread with eggwhite and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until shortbread is light golden and firm to the touch.
Use a sharp knife to cut through markings and allow to cool down.

Best enjoyed with a cup of hot chocolate or coffee. ;)

ABC soup

2009-08-13T20:47:00.000+09:30

A healthy, nutritious soup that brings back so much fond memories of childhood. I'm not sure about you but I have this warm fuzzy feeling that reminds me so much of home whenever I drink this soup.

Ingredients: (Serves 5-6)

500g of bones
3 large potatoes, diced*
1 large onion, sliced
2 tomatoes, chopped
4 large carrots, chopped
2.5 litres of water
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

Bring a pot of water to boil and put in the bones and allow to boil for 5 minutes.
Pour away this pot of water and give the bones a quick rinse. This step is to remove any scum and is known as par boiling.
Bring the 2.5 litres of water to a boil in a large pot over large fire.
Once the water is boiling, place all the ingredients into the pot.
When the water comes to a boil again, reduce to small fire and let the contents simmer for a few hours.

The soup is ready to be served.

*Use waxy potatoes such as red rascal and kipfler potatoes instead of floury potatoes such as sebago (brushed) and golden delight potatoes. Waxy pototes are high in moisture and low in starch. They’re ideal for salads or stews as they hold their shape well when boiled or steamed while floury potatoes break up during cooking.

Kuih Dadar

2009-08-11T18:53:00.001+09:30

What better way to use up leftover dessicated coconut than to spoil yourself with luscious pandan pancakes with coconut filling. I have a fetish for pandan and gula melaka.

Recipe adapted from Lily Ng.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

i) Crepe:

1/2 cup of all purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 cup of pandan juice
1 tbsp of melted butter
1 tsp sugar
pinch of salt

ii) Filling:

A:
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
140g grated palm sugar (Gula Melaka)
1 1/2 tbsp water

B:
140g dessicated coconut
1/2 tbsp cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp water

Method:

i) Filling:

Boil A to dissolve sugar. Add coconut, lower heat, stirring till almost dry.
Add the cornflour mixture and cook for 5 minutes. Allow to cool.

ii) Crepe:

Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
Add eggs, melted butter and the pandan juice to the flour mixture and stir.
Strain mixture into a jug to remove any lumps.
On low heat, pour mixture into a non-stick pan and swirl the batter around until a thin layer of pancake is obtained.
Flip the pancake when it is cooked. Do not overcook it as you do not want the pancake to be browned.
Put 2 tbsp of coconut filling and roll like you would the spring roll.

Pardon the horrible wrapping skills as I am still trying to master it. The recipe should provide extra filling but my housemates and I had no problems devouring it. ;)

Onde-onde

2009-08-09T21:57:00.009+09:30

This is an event submission for the Merdeka Open House 2009 held by Babe in the City -KL. The theme for this year is 'My Sweet Malaysia' and selecting a dish to make was particularly difficult as there were so many things I wanted to try out.

I eventually settled with making the good ol' onde-onde that could almost never go wrong. The first time I made onde-onde I was racing against time and resulted in sloppy onde-onde with leaked out palm syrup. Argh!

This time was made with ample amount of time and they turned out perfect.

Looked less green because pandan juice was used instead of pandan paste.

The anticipation.

Palm syrup goodness!

I had a good time licking off palm syrup off the plate. Yum!

Ingredients: (Makes 8)

80g Glutinous Rice Flour
15g Tapioca Flour
Pinch of salt
60ml Pandan Juice
1 tsp Oil
35g Gula Melaka
Dessicated coconut, to coat

Method:

Mix together glutinous rice flour, tapioca flour and pandan juice until combined.
Pinch out a ping pong sized dough, flatten it and place it in boiling water.
When it floats, scoop it out and combine with the rest of the dough.*
Knead the dough until everything is incorporated and a smooth dough is formed. If dough is too dry, add in more juice and if dough is too sticky, add in more glutinous rice flour.
Divide the dough into 8 ping pong sized balls. Flatten each ball and put a teaspoon of gula melaka into the centre.
Enclose the filling and roll it up to form the onde-onde balls.
Drop the onde-onde balls into boiling water. The onde-onde balls floating is an indication that it is cooked. Cook for a further 2 minutes to ensure that the sugar is all dissolved and syrupy.
Remove the ready onde-onde balls and drop them into a bowl of cold water.*
Scoop up the onde-onde balls with a perforated ladle and toss in dessicated coconut to serve.

*This mixture of cooked and raw dough is meant to stabilize the dough. This additional processes will also helps the glutinous rice ball to be more chewier.

We did this twice. Once substituting tapioca flour for corn flour. The one with corn flour resulted in a harder texture while the one with tapioca flour produced a softer, fluffier feel. Now we know, no substitution. ;)

Despite everything that's happening in Malaysia, it will always be the place I call home. Happy 52th, Malaysia!

Ratatouille

2009-08-07T14:21:00.001+09:30

Bonjour! Ahhh, inspired by the famous Disney Pixar animation.

How true is that fact that 'Anyone can cook'. I wouldn't have believed it myself if I didn't try my hands out at cooking when I went overseas.

This is an excellent and simple recipe for all vegetable lovers and the health ~~freaks~~ conscious.

Recipe adapted from Delicious.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

3 tomatoes
3 tbs olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 red capsicum, diced
1 yellow capsicum, diced
1 eggplant, diced
500g tomato puree
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
2 tbs torn fresh basil leaves
2 garlic cloves, crushed

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat and add the onion.
Cook for 2-3 minutes then add the capsicum and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Transfer the onion and capsicum to a plate and set aside.
Add the eggplant to the pan and cook over medium heat for 5-6 minutes.
Return the onion and capsicum to the pan and stir in tomato puree.
Add thyme and tomatoes. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in the basil, thyme and garlic. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve warm either on its own or with roast meat or fish.

Carrot cake

2009-08-04T09:57:00.001+09:30

What do you do when you bought a kilo of carrots for $0.50 from chinatown? Why, you bake of course!

I remember I said that I will never use the same recipe for carrot cake again as my previous attempt resulted in a dense, heavy, un-carrot-y cake. However, all the reviews received for this cake were positive so I took the chance and made it again.

It turned out well! It was VERY moist (a little too moist perhaps) and smelled very fragrant. Maybe I should cut down the oil next time to reduce moisture. You could see generous amounts of carrots as well. :D

Give it a try and give yourself a Bugs Bunny treat!

Recipe adapted from Fresh Living

Ingredients:

6 small to medium sized carrots, coarsely grated
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 170°C and grease a 9 inch round cake pan.
Sift the flour, bicarbonate soda, baking powder and ground cinnamon in a large bowl.
Mix the brown sugar, oil, maple syrup, eggs and vanilla in another bowl until combined.
Add the oil mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Fold in the grated carrots.
Pour the mixture into the pan and bake for 1 hour until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Set aside for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.

You can opt to top it off with cream cheese frosting but the cake alone was good enough for me.

Bircher muesli

2009-07-28T17:42:00.005+09:30

Bircher muesli is a combination of raw, whole grain flakes such as rolled oats or wheat, soaked overnight in either water or apple juice which was developed by famous Swiss physician Dr. Maximilian Bircher-Benner.

When I was much younger I was never a fan of oats but after stumbling upon this, I think I might be hooked. I was actually amazed at how something so simple could taste so yummy.

You know it's addictive when you seem to sneak one bite. And then another. And another.

Ingredients:

2 cups of rolled oats
1 cup of fruit juice (I used apple juice)
4 tbsp of yoghurt
1 tsp of ground cinnamon
2 tbsp of dried sultanas or raisins
Chopped fresh fruits, to serve
Sugar or honey, to taste (optional)

Mix the oats, fruit juice, yoghurt, cinnamon and raisins together in a bowl. Leave in refrigerator overnight for the oats to soak up the juice. Add some fresh fruits or berries just before serving.

Oats can be soaked in advance and stored in the refrigerator up to 3 days.

I omitted sugar because I thought it tasted pretty sweet from the natural sugar of the juice and the raisins. The ratio of oats to juice can be modified to suit your liking. If you prefer something creamier like me, reduce the amount of juice. Add in more juice if you aren't into the creamy texture.

Now you've got yourself a healthy, delicious breakfast! :D

*Use rolled oats not quick cooking oats for this recipe.

My home the food haven

2009-07-24T21:17:00.003+09:30

KL food is being missed so much. :(

King's Portugese Egg Tart & Tong Kee Egg Tart

Wong Poh Claypot Butter Crab

Cheras Claypot Nam Yue Chicken Rice

Duck King's Lao Sa Bao

Pasta Zanmai: Soft Shell Crab Pasta, Unagi Pizza, Squid Ink Pasta

Pasta Zanmai's Macha Parfait

Klang Yao Yao Ping

SS2 Murni Ribena + Strawberry Special

MOF's Macha Gelati and to-die-for Macha Imo

Theobroma Hot Chocolate & Chocolate Fondue

I want a flight ticket back home already. T_T

Masterchef addiction

2009-07-24T21:15:00.001+09:30

I am so sad that Masterchef has finally come to an end. Now I no longer have 7.00 pm shows to look forward too. Boohoo. T_T It took Aus by a craze: People taking about it at work; Pastors talking about it at church...

Masterchef Australia gives amateur, budding chefs with no prior professional cooking experience the ultimate once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to develop their cooking skills, to be mentored by the best, and ultimately make a change in their lives. I'm usually not a reality show person but this is an exception because IT IS about food. :P

I have always been rooting for Poh (pic above) simply because she's from Adelaide and she's a Malaysian born Chinese. She has introduced otak-otak, century egg, abacus seeds and squid ink cubik noodles to field and has unleashed a whole new world of culinary experience to the Aussies. Her being crowned the first Masterchef would have made us as a Malaysian, Chinese and Adelaidian proud. Second place is pretty great I suppose.

After seeing these pictures, there's no way you don't want to watch the show. Please ensure your stomach is filled beforehand.

Paella a la Maestre

Vanilla Pannacotta with Macaroons

Stuffed Loin of Lamb with Pommes Gallette and Beetroot Glaze

Slow Cooked Pigeon with Perigord Black Truffles

Lobster with Russian Salad

Seared Scallops with Braised Pork Belly

Twice baked Gruyere Cheese Souffle

Chocolate Mousse Cake with 10 elements using 50+ ingredients O_O

Sticky Date Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce and Almond Praline

There's too many pictures to choose from. Season 2 come already! For more info and recipes, visit the Masterchef website.

Gastronomic trip to Malacca

2009-07-24T21:08:00.002+09:30

A road trip to Malacca for the lovely yummies!

Heritage city.

Lunch: Chicken Rice Balls

Let us in!

The queue for chicken rice balls. :(

Superb chicken rice balls.

Fanning the satays.

Pork satay

Teatime

Nyonya laksa.

Nyonya curry

ORGASMIC CENDOL!!!

Doused with gula Melaka. Possibly world's best. *drool*

Best thirst quencher for a hot day.

Dinner: Nyonya Food

Cincalok Egg.

Good otak-otak. Yum!

Asam fish.

Some chicken. xP

Supper: Satay Celup

The super long queue for satay celup. :( 45 minutes wait.

Crowded satay celup place.

Super excited!

The secret sauce. Not to mention dipped with everyone's saliva.

I have the urge to run to Penang to hunt for good food some time soon. Anyone with me?

Sam's guide to Chili Pan Mee

2009-07-24T21:05:00.000+09:30

Find the right store. Beware of unscrupulous competition that tries to look the part.

Order dried pan mee. About 30-45 mins wait.

While waiting. Sniff and savour the aroma of the key of the dish - dried chilli.

Make sure egg yolk isn't thoroughly cooked. Pour liberal amount of chilli depending on tolerance to spiciness.

Mix. Ensure that egg yolk and chilli covers every strand of noodle.

Clean it well. Done? Not quite.

With soup provided, pour some into bowl to wash the sides. Proceed to drink the soup from bowl.

Finally, exit the premises feeling utter satisaction from what RM5+ can bring you then live to remember what it tasted like in your mouth. Be certain that you'll be back for more. ;)

Cut those ribbons

2009-07-24T20:20:00.002+09:30

As the Germans say, "Wilkommen!". Welcome to my food blog.

Coming from Malaysia, food is my obsession. I'm just 20 year old student trying her luck at a series of kitchen experiments. Food bloggers inspire me.

Decided to start a new home for my constant food blogging and experimenting. Below is a showcase of my previous amateur projects and is likely to have more to come. ;)

Blueberry muffins with cinnamon topping

Honey sesame chicken

Char Siew

Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake

Portugese Egg Tarts

Tau Yew Bak

Vietnamese Cold Rolls

Mui Choy Kao Yuk (Braised Pork Belly with Preserved Salted Vegetable)

Hummingbird Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Siew Yuk / Roast Pork

Strawberry Meringue Tortes

Bittergourd Omelette

Quiche Lorraine

Pot pie

Wholemeal Scallion Pancake

Siew Pao

Pot Pie

Cinnamon Roll

Fried Rice

Coconut cake

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

Curry Puff

Wat Tan Hor

Luo Hon Guo

Cream cheese pound cake

Sticky Date Pudding

Potato Salad

Onde-onde

Blueberry crumble bar

Long Yuk / Bak Kwa

I have so much more to learn and is willing to if given a chance. For the moment, please bear with my feeble attempts. :)