DRIED CRANBERRIES BUTTER CAKE

As I wanted to use up my fresh cream from my pumpkin cream soup, which was still kept in the fridge, I decided to bake this cake. It tasted as good as pound cake. It is moist, soft, and has a buttery taste.

Recipe:

Ingredients

~ 250 g butter
~150 g caser sugar
~4 large eggs
~300 g plain flour
~8 tablespoon milk
~4 tablsepoon fresh cream/whipped cream
~1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
~1 teaspoon baking powder
~1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
~50 g dried cranberries

Method:

1) Sift flour, baking powder, and baking soda together. Set aside.

2)Beat butter with sugar until fluffy.

3)Add in egg one at a time until mixture is well blended, then add in vanilla essence, mix well.

4)Fold in flour, milk and fresh cream, mix until mixture is well blended.

5)Pour 1/2 mixture into a paper cup, place few pieces of cranberries on top, then pour the remaning mixture.

6)Bake in pre-heated oven at 180° C for 20 minutes.

ENJOY

CREAM OF PUMPKIN SOUP

I have had this recipe for some time and now I have finally decided to test it out. It turned out to be fabulous! Although it was desceptively viscous, it was very smooth and fine and surprisingly easy to flow down the gullet (ask any bio student). There was hardly any hint of the taste from the pumpkin and yet it just tasted so wonderful! Even non-pumpkin lover would enjoy this dish! Garnished with italian herbs, the result was a succulent piece of work! If I had added some seafood such as crabmeat or scallops, i'm sure this would be worthy of the jade emperor! Serve this soup hot for maximum enjoyment! The recipe was taken from CAROUSEL, which is an award-winning restaurant situated in Royal Plaza on Scotts.

Recipe

Makes 4 servings

Ingredents:

450g pumpkin

50 g onions (peeled and diced)

25 g carrots (peeled and diced)

25 g Leeks (diced)

10 g garlic

30 g butter (soft)

650 ml chicken stock

40 ml fresh cream

10 ml olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Wash, trim and deseed pumpin. Cut pumpkin flesh finely and set aside.

2. Saute onions, carrots, leeks and garlic in a stock pot with a little olive oil, then add the pumpkin. Cook for another 5 minutes till flavours are well incorporated.

3. Add in the chicken stock and cook till pumpkin is soft.

4. Next, blend the ingredients in a food processor to puree. Pour the puree mixture back into the stock pot, add the chicken stock and cook over fire.

5. Add fresh cream and season with salt and pepper to taste. Whisk in the butter.

6. Serve hot.

Simmered Radish and Carrot in Clay Pot

This is another dish for my sister. Being a vegetarian dish, the simple ingredients and cooking methods give it a refreshing overall impression.

This recipe is taken from the magazine Famous Cuisine March/April 2007 issue number 43:

Ingredients
250g radish

100g carrot

8 fresh Chinese mushrooms

5 pieces vegetarian chicken ( I used 250 g)

6 fresh ginger slices

1.5 bowls (375ml) water

Seasoning

8 pepper corns

1 small piece dried tangerine peel

1 tsp salt

0.5 tsp sesame oil

(in addition, I used 1 tsp of mushroom extract powder)

Method

1. Peel the carrot and radish, rinse and cut into triangular pieces, keep them aside.

2. Heat up 1 tbsp oil in the clay pot to fry ginger slices till fragrant, add in carrot, radish and vegetarian chicken pieces, stir-fry briskly until aromatic.

3. Pour in water and seasoning, once boiled, reduce to low heat, simmer until the radish and carrot pieces are tender. Next, place in fresh mushrooms and comtinue simmer for further 10 minutes. Dish up and serve at once.

Sweet Potato Huat Kuay and Banana Huat Kuay

Banana:


Sweet potato:

I made these as offerings for my sister's 100-day death anniversary. The sweet potato version was not as fluffy as i would have liked. 吃起来很硬很结实，好像在吃娘惹糕。As for the banana version, it was also not spongy and the taste was not what i desired. Since they are not up to standard, i have decided not to post the recipes for these failure products which wasted my time and ingredients.

Baked Lemon cheese Cake (1)

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This is one of my favourate cheese cakes. It is simply soft, light and delicious.

Recipe:

Ingredient A:-

-250 g cheese

-38 g butter

-3 egg yolks

-70 g plain flour

-180 ml. UHT milk
-1 tablespoon lemon zest

-1 tablespoon lemon juice

Ingredient B:-

- 4 egg whites

-80 g fine sugar/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 150° -160° .

2)Beat cream cheese and butter until light and pale.

3)Use egg beater to mix egg yolks and milk. Fold in flour, mix well until u get a smooth mixture.

4)And flour mixture into cheese mixture, let mixing bowl sit on hot water,beat the mixture until they turn bubbly and sticky. Stir in lemon juice and lemon zest.

5)In another mixing bowl beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add sugar and beat until glossy and soft peaks.

6)Add 1/3 egg whites mixture into the batter. Mix well. Then very quickly and gently mix all the remaining.

7)Pour into a greased 8" round cake tin. Bake in a water bath for 1 hour or until cooked.

Easy Home Roast Spring Chicken

I bought this chicken holder about 20 years ago from C.K.Tang. Trying very hard to purchase another one, but in vain. If you have come across recently, please let me know.

See the difference before...........

See the difference after....Yummmmy! Very evenly coloured and well-roasted.

Recipe

Ingredients:

~ one spring chicken, wash and pat dry.

~ 2 teaspoon fine salt

~ 1 tablespoon light soya sauce

~ 1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce

~ 1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder

~1/2 tablespoon dark soya sauce

~ pepper

Method:

~ 1) Rub the chicken all over the body with the ingredients. Marinate for 4 hours or in the chiller over night.

~ 2)Roast in a preheated oven at 220°C for 30 minutes or until cooked.

~ 3) When cool, cut and arrange in the plate, garnish and serve.

STEAMED GLUTINOUS RICE

As I had to help out at a Mothers' Day event at 3 pm, I decided to come up with one-dish meal so that I would not need to rush home to prepare dinner for my family. I checked what I had available: chinese mushroom, glutinous rice, chicken breast, roast pork and Chinese sausage. What a coincidence! These are the exact ingredients I need for "steam glutinous rice".

Recipe

Ingredients A:
~ 1 kg glutinous rice (soaked in water for 4 hours, drained)
~ 1 1/2 tablespoon chopped garlic and shallots~ cooking oil 5 tablespoon
Note: keep 1/2  portion of chopped garlic n shallots for frying ingredients B.

Ingredient B:
~ 1 1/2 tablespoon chopped garlic and shallots
~ 5 tablespoon dried shrimps (soaked for 10 minutes and drained)
~ 300 g chicken meat (cut into small cubes)
~ 1-2 Chinese sausages ( cut into small cubes)
~ 6 Chinese mushrooms; (soaked and cut into cubes )
~ 4 tablespoon cooking oil
~ 200 g roast pork (cut into small cubes)

Sauce:
~ 1 tablespoon maggi stock
~ 1 tablespoon dark soya sauce
~ 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
~ 1-2 teaspoon salt
~ 1 teaspoon sesame oil
~ 2 teaspoon sugar
~3/4-1 cup water
~ pepper to taste

Garnishing:
fried shallots; ; red chillies; roasted peanuts;fresh coriander leaves; and chopped spring onions

Methods:

1) Heat up 5 tbsp. oil to fragrant the chopped garlic and shallots, add in the glutinous rice, stir fry until fragrant. Transfer the rice into a big dish. Steam at high heat for 45 minutes or until cooked.

2) Heat some oil in a wok over medium high heat. When hot , add dried shrimps and fry until fragrant. Add chopped garlic and shallots, fry till turns light brown, add in the remaining ingredient of (B). Stir fry till the chicken is cooked.

3) Add in the cooked glutinous rice, Stir fry until all mix in well.

4) Transfer  rice to a big serving dish or a baking tray. Steam for 15 minutes. Garnish and serve.

Enjoy !

梅菜扣肉 (Braised Pork Belly with Sweet Preserved Mustard)

这品牌的甜梅菜杂质很少，容易清洗 。 味道甘香。


梅菜扣肉 (Braised Pork Belly with Sweet Preserved Mustard) -

材料

1 公斤 五花肉

350 g 甜梅菜
6 粒 蒜瓣 （不去皮）

1500cc 清水

调味料

1 大匙 生抽

1 大匙 蚝油

1/2 匙 黑酱油

1 大匙 糖

做法

1） 把甜梅菜洗净，用清水浸泡20分钟，取出切幼。挤干水份，备用。

2） 五花肉放入沸水煮约 20 分钟。取出，抹干水份。抹上1 小匙黑酱油后，放入热油里炸成金黄色。取出后，马上浸泡冷水中约20 分钟。

3） 锅里烧热4 大匙 油， 爆香蒜瓣，注入清水和调味料。 加入花肉，及甜梅菜。同煮沸。加盖，用中火焖煮30 分钟。 后整齐排放入深碗中，大火蒸 60 分钟至肉软为止。

注： 梅菜的品质很重要。隔天蒸热后，更美味。

HOW TO MAKE RICE WINE

I read this article from The Sunday Times "Ask The Foodie- Chris Tan" of 2nd May 2010. I think it is very helpful for those who are interested and may want to learn how to make rice wine. So I copied it down to share with you.

The basic recipe :

Wash and soak white glutinous rice in just enough water to cover for 4 to 8 hours. Drain well and steam until cooked through, then let it cool completely. Finely crush "wine biscuits" (jiu bing or chiu piah, round dried yeast cakes sold at Chinese mediciine shops) to a powder, and combine with the rice in a large glass jar. Some recipes simply mix the two, others shape the rice into disc and roll them in the yeast to coat, others spinkle the two in alternate layers; all are fine as long as they are thorough. Fill the jar 3/4 full at moist. Cover the jar mouth with a layer of fine muslin, then with a loose stopper, to let fermentation gases escape.

Leave the jar to stand in a cool place, around 25 deg C, for 21 to 28 days. The yeast will quietly bubble and turn the rice into wine and wine lees. You should not need to stir it. I have seen recipe that add some ready- made rice wine to the mix after a few days, for increased flavour and alcohol content; others add a dash of sugar for more sweetness. The wine is ready when it smells rich and heady, but not sour. Strain it through two or three layers of muslin, saving the residual wine lees. If the wine is still cloudy, let it stand until the sediment settles, then pour or siphon off the clear top layer of wine; return the sediment to the lees.

To halt fermentation, bring the strained wine quickly to a full boil over high heat and simmer for several seconds, then let it cool, store it in clean airtight bottles and keep in the fridge. Cook and store the lees likewise, stirring to help them reach a boil.

Typical proportions are l kg of raw rice plus two to four jiu bing. Less yeast means slower fermentation; some recipes add more yeast as insurance against competing bacteria or moulds, or against unpredictable jiu bing quality. Some red yeast rice (angkak) is usually added - per 1 kg of glutinous rice, perhaps 2 to 3 tablespoons for a yellow wine, and around 100g for a rosy-red Foochow-style wine.

As for taboos: All I can surmise is that touching the rice with bare hands may cause our personal skin microflora (the populations of microorganisms naturally present on our skin) to interact with or influnce the yeast activity. Thus there may be a gain of truth in the belief that different people consistently make good wine or bad wine due to their "touch". Your kitchen's native microflora may likewise interfere, so it is wise to wash all the untensils and equitment with boiling water and let them air-dry before using. And wear gloves.

Both wine and lees can be used in marinades, braises and sauces.