Popiah - The Art of Wrapping

On the rare occasions that I make Popiah I try to make a big a bash I could. But no matter how much I make, most is gone by the next day, at the very least! It's just how amazing how fast this easy meal goes. It's fun to eat as you make your own individual popiah and it's also heathly (well...at least I like to delude myself).



Popiah is simply an asian version of a wrap. It's filling is predominately vegetables and the rest of the wraps are mise en place. I've a love-hate relationship with Popiah. I love to eat it but I hate making it and cleaning after it! Just too much work involved and all the food's all gone before you can really enjoy it! LOL

And for the some weird mysterious reason, I can't wrap the popiah to save my life!! Each time I do it, the whole thing just either falls apart or starts to leak!! It's another reason why I hate making this, I can't get a relly nice wrap from it. My husband makes his like a giant burrito when it's supposed to look like a delicate little wrap! He tells me that's the way to prevent the "leakage" and besides you want to get as much you can inside! Totally gross-ness! In any case I try my best to present you the Popiah as close as the ones I usually see at the stores back home...oh well...at least I try... if any one has any tips on getting it "right", plz tell me....:)

Popiah Filling Recipe
Ingredients
-Jicama, 2 mediums
-Carrots, 3 mediums
-Garlic, 3 segments
-Dried shrimps, a handful, rehydrated and drained
-Belly Pork, diced (truly optional)

Method
-Julienne the jicama and carrots, minced garlic and dried shrimps and diced the pork into small pieces.
-Heat some oil in a wok, add garlic and shrimps, fry at medium heat till fragrant.
-Add pork at this point and fry a little bit.
-Finally add carrots and jicama and fry for a while. Add some sugar, salt and pepper to taste. If the mixture seems dry, add some hot water to start steamning all the vegetables. Both the jicama and carrots takes a while to soften. "Steamed" at low heat and covered for at least 15mins. If there's too much liquid at this point, scoop it out, if there's a little liquid, leave it uncovered and heated and the liquid will reduce quite a bit.
-Stirring constantly till the filling's softened but not breaking apart.
-Scoop and leave aside.

Mise En Place
Ingredients
-2 Eggs, Hard Boiled or Scrambled
-1 Chinese Sausage, Boiled, Skinned, and Diced
-2 TBPS minced garlic
-Bean Sprouts, Raw or Blanched lightly
-Letteuce Leaves, Washed and dried
-Popiah Skins, Buy those ready made ones for Spring Rolls (or make your own! :))
-Sweet Dark Soy Sauce or Kecap Manis (I used the ABC Brand)
-Chilli Sauce (I used the bottled Vietnamese Chilli Garlic Sauce)

Method
-Put each ingredient in individual plates or bowls for each person to make their own "speical" wrap.

Popiah (What I do)
-Putting everything together!
-First place 1-2 Popiah/Spring Roll skin on a clean dry plate.
-Add 1 dry letteuce leave on top, add about 1 1/2 Tablespoon of filling on that.
-Then add a little eggs, a little sausage, a little sprouts, one after another.
-Finally I add the sweet sauce, chilli sauce and wrap like you would with a spring roll.
-I omitted fresh minced garlic in MY popiah, coz that's the way I like it! :) It's pretty much do it your own.

Note: It's a great way for the health conscious coz it's pretty much raw or cooked veges. There are a few "meat" items in here but all in all, it's up to the individual to wrap their own. I wish I had taken pics of the steps in wrapping, unfortunately I couldn't do it coz I suck at wrapping and with all my focus on getting the wrap ready for the pic, I didn't have the time or the extra hands to take pics, throughly sorry. But hey...you learn by mistakes....:) Have FUN!

Texas Summer 2006

This is what happened when you mix water with a little boy!! Yah...you get a water monster!! This summer has been a real scorcher and there are days that it's even too hot to go to the swimming pool at the rec center. So in order to "cool" off, we got a little inflatable paddling pool for Ethan to play in!! Just look at him screaming in excitement!! Oh yah...water...it's the way to go!!

Chinese Barbeque Pork: Char Siew

I think I'm begining to turn into a real snob. If I know I can make a particular dish I would rather cook it than order it when I'm at a restaurant. Now tell me I'm not a snob??? :)

So I made Char Siew the other day and Ed made a passing remark of how surprised he was that I would make it since he didn't think I liked it! Ok.....it's not that I don't like it, I just don't like to order it that often when it's such an easy dish to make! Pretty much marinate the meat, and grill it to perfection! hehehe...easy enough right?? ;) And oh yah, slice it before serving!

Recipe
Ingredients
-Boneless Skinless Pork Hock, washed and patted dried
-Char Siew sauce, any brand but I use Lee Kum Kee (just use to it and easy to find)
-Sugar, preferably brown sugar
-Light Soy Sauce

Method
-Mix all the seasoning in a bowl, test taste it to your liking and then add in the pork.
-Marinate it overnight or longer in the fridge.
-When ready to cook, take the pork from fridge to bring it to room temp and preheat oven to 425F.
-Wrap the pork loosely in aluminium foil and stick it into the preheated oven for 1-1.5hrs (depend on the size of the pork though). The idea is to cook the meat through at this point.
-Then open up the foil to expose the pork to the oven heat and reduce the oven temp to 375F.
-Basting the meat at a 20mins interval till pork is completely cooked through and slightly tender to touch.
-When meat is slightly darkened or reddened (that LKK brand tends to give the meat a slight reddish color, probably due to it's coloring agent) then it's ready to be served.
-Before slicing, cover the pork in foil and wait for juices to "seal" before slicing or the moistness of the pork would just flow out if cut immediately out from oven!


Note: The method above is based on personal experimentations and experiences and all approximate. The pork hock used is roughly around 2lbs, more or less. Amount of seasoning is dependent on individual taste. Enjoy your BBQ pork...;)

Mother Nature

Just something I wanted to share from my photo collection. With all the negativity that we are having these days, sometimes it's good for the soul to look at something positive! I took these pics a while ago, I think in Spring, and just didn't want to post them for some unknown reason. I guess I was just forgetful! Hehehhe.. anyway, these flowers are compliments of the Dallas Arboretum. Ain't they beautiful? Enjoy and have a great week everyone!!! :)

Chicken Curry with Tomatoes and Coriander

This is a very fragrant dish! A great substitute for the regular chicken curry made with coconut milk instead. I'd seen this recipe at the The Star Online and was curious at how the taste would be. I love tomatoes, and although not too keen with one of the ingredients called, nevertheless I decided to give it a shot, thinking(or deluding) that it should be a healthier alternative. Presently I can only say this, this recipe is a defnite keeper!

I'd made this dish so often that my husband is starting to get a little bored with it! :) Too bad for him. My version is a little "soupier" than the original recipe, errrmm, coz I actually treats it like a soup/stew! It's really that good, plus it helps with any nasal congestion...:) You can find the recipe here .

Potato Stew

A simple yet delicious way of cooking potatoes. Potatoes are so underrated these days. It seems that there are so few ways of having potatoes with rice coz there's just too much starch at one setting. And with all those different varieties of potatoes out there, there's so much possibilities of sneaking in potatoes in one's meal without having to feel that there's too much starch intake.

I like this particular way of cooking it since it doesn't involve too many potatoes. Also it's so thinly sliced and savory that you really don't feel the presence of over starchiness! And for the rice eaters out there, this is a good compliment for any rice without it being too filling. A light delicious dish! Let's put it this way, both my husband and son hate eating potatoes unless it's deep fried (to death) and they both ended up inhaling this dish! Also it tends to take on a deeper bolder flavor when it's kept overnight. No kidding!

Recipe
Ingredients
-2 medium yukon gold potatoes, thinly sliced
-2 bacon slices
-Toasted Sesame Seeds
-Mushroom flavored Oyster Sauce
-Soy Sauce
-Sugar
-Black pepper

Method
-Slice potatoes thinly, rinsed till water is cleared and drained
-Julienne bacon into bits.
-Heat very little oil in a pan, add bacon bits and fried till bacon's done. Add those potatoes in and stir around to coat them with bacon bits.
-Seasoned it with some mushroom flavored oyster sauce, soy sauce and sugar. Stir that a bit and then add freshly ground black pepper, add a little more than usual (as in 1 tsp), it'll give it a little kick.
-Then in a little water to cook the potatoes through. Lower the heat to simmer till the potatoes are fork tender and the sauce reduced.
-Dish it onto a plate and sprinkle toasted sesame seeds on top.


Note: Dish can be served at room temperature. I'd previously tried with red (or new) potatoes, russet, and fingerlings. Russet turned out to be too mushy, new potatoes are just not as flavorful and fingerlings are not of the right texture and didn't quite absorbed the "right" flavors. I tried Yukon Gold and I like them best; the texture's right, not to mushy, not too hard. The absorption of the flavors is great and when left overnight, it's even better.

Fried Fish

So simple yet so complicated. Getting the right fish fried at just the right way is one of the toughest thing to master for me. Probably for some people is a breeze but for me is like attaining one of the highest level of cooking skills!! I know I know...might be exaggerating a wee bit here but just think about it, if you overfry a fish, it's nothing but a chewy fried bit of leather!

To get the fish all crispy on the outside and yet tender and moist in the inside is not an easy task! Most fried fish are either over-fried, where the fish is all fried to the point of no return and the fresh fish flavor is all gone, or under-fried, where the fish is not crispy but all soggy with oil! GROSS! I believe that the "right" way to fry the fish depends on the type of fish used, I usually get the best results with fresh catfish. Oily fish, I believe, works well fried too, altough I've yet to try any of those since they can get pretty pricy (at the market) and personally I feel it would be wasted to fry it!

I fried this piece of cod steak seasoned with some salt(sparingly) and black pepper. And also drizzled a little hot oil blended soy seasoning on top of the fish and green oinions to finish the dish. And since I was deep frying, I thought I could also used up some of the Holland red peppers that I had in the fridge. I sliced them up vertically and just put them in the oil before I fried the fish so to give the fish a little spice (at least I thought it would but it turned out that the peppers ain't even spicy at all, they were sweet peppers!!)

The results were pretty good...I came pretty close in achieving that crispy outside and tender moist inside! The main thing is to eat it while it's still hot!!! :) And as for those peppers, they were better left as it is, just looking pretty, coz they were rather chewy and pretty much tasteless! The soy blend was good coz it gave a little sweetness and "smoothness" to the fish and especially to the spring onions. I also added some thinly sliced matchstick fried ginger as garnish as well. I kinda cheated in this recipe coz I used a deep fryer instead of pan-frying it. I find that oil controling is a pretty essential part of getting the "right" fried fish. My temperature used was 275F-280F and that's after "experimentating with various fish, at different sizes and different temps, I find that this was the "best" one for this particular slice of fish that I was working with. I think it also depends on the deep fryer as well...;)

Recipe
Ingredients
-Fish, as fresh as you can get them
-Salt and Black Pepper
-Rice Flour, 1 TBS
-Plain Flour, 2 TBS

Recipe for Hot Oil Soy Seasoning
-2 TBS Oil, vegetable or peanut
-1 TBS soy sauce
-1 TBS sugar

Method
-Clean the fish and then pat it dry with some kitchen napkins.
-Seasoned the fish sparingly (coz additional soy will be added to it).
-Dust it with rice flour and plain flour combination and dip it slowly in the heated oil for deep frying.
-Fried till cooked, takes about 8-10mins, depending on the size of the fish (so I just set the timer just in case I forget!!)

Seasoning
-Heat oil in a separate pan and the rest of the soy and sugar in another. When the fish is done, place on a plate, and place green onions on top(if used) and then add heated oil followed by the soy mixture.
-Serve and eat while hot!

At the Zoo

This was about two weeks ago, on a Monday, it wasn't AS hot since we went there in the morning.......


Oh yah....he loved those huge carps!! He would gaze at them FOREVER!! And when I told him that we need to move on, he told me to sit there with him!! Errmmm....fish...not very interesting....on a plate....maybe tasty!! *sigh*


Still staring at those fish....*sigh*.....he wanted to hold and kiss them but I had to tell him that they can't stay out of water...and he decided that the best thing was to hop in with them to give them a hug!! Hence no picture of that, I was trying to pull him back before he got into that tank!!!! He was serious!!


He went into the goat compound and thought they were cows....mini cows??? LOL Ok...there were lots of them goats and he wanted to chat them all up!! Probably asking them about their daily routine and food supply??? He does that with our dog too, would sit next to the dog and gestured about, chatting away, dog cared less...


I think those goats are really tame or pretty much so used to human contact that they didn't even flinched when Ethan approached them and hugged them *YICK* (oh yah, when he got to the car, he had a serious wipe down and change of clothes....somehow goat naturelle doesn't appeal to me)


Ethan had a hard time leaving the petting zoo but I told him he could ride the merry-go-round and have some lunch at MacDonald's if he would move along!!


He loved the merry-go-round but I was really queasy after the ride (motion sickness!). He was still holding on to his little monkey and was a little upset that monkey didn't get to sit on one of the rides! Ermmm....


Oh yah, at MacDonald's, got his first Happy Meal! Didn't even know that it came with a toy!! Hehehe...that's how often I eat there!! All in all, he had a great time at the zoo, he was really focused on what animals he (and monkey) wanted to see. He loves the sneezing pony(who sneezed a couple of times on him *geez*), the boring elephants (who just kept on chewing and chewing on grass??) and those huge pretty carps (which pretty much kept swimming)...oh well...

However I'm totally impressed with how Ethan behaved! He was very well-behaved, he listened and he followed my instructions! I was kinda afraid to let him "loose" in the zoo, afraid that for some unforeseen incident that he might run off, get himself caught in a cage where he was lunch for some hungry animal or something (ok...paranoia talking but still). But Ethan was so sweet and disciplined! He was more or less by my side and was even a little playful while still being careful! It was great, wouldn't mind bringing him back there again. We had a totally great day..:)

Lemon Bread/Bun with Pure Lemon Oil

Leave me at the grocery store for longer than I need and I'm bound to end upwith more than what's intended on my original grocery list!! I saw this Lemon Oil on the same aisle as I was searching for my grapeseed oil. And I've read about lemon oil but thought I had to special order it, didn't know that my favorite store carries it too!!

Basically pure lemon oil is used for cooking and baking in place of lemon essence or zest. Of course, with pure lemon oil, the fragrance is more intense, more vibrant and more "lemony"! When I opened the bottle, the fragrance was so intense that it perfumed all over my kitchen!!!(also, small kitchen!) And when baking it, the whole kitchen was full of "lemony" goodness. The smell is UNBELIEVABLE!! Gives a new meaning to the word aroma therapy; it was all lemon heaven! As for the flavor, the lemon taste is so intense that I really can't help to think where I've been baking without this oil.



As you can see, I bake some lemon bead/buns (yah, still on my bun crusade) glazed with lemon and lime zested royal icing. This bread turned out wonderful! It was soft in the inside and crusty on the outside and with the glaze, it's a little sweet and a little tart. The amazing thing is that when you break the bun apart, you are immediately welcomed by that wonderful lemon smell! You can gobble a few buns down and not even realise it, it's THAT light and heavenly (self bragging!! hehehe...sorry...it was THAT good)



Must make it known that this is pure lemon oil used for cooking and not be mistaken with lemon ESSENTIAL oil used for cosmetic or cleaning purposes. Two different things, one is edible and the other's not!! So make sure if you do buy it, look for them in the oil aisle and read to make sure that it's for cooking/baking!!

Bibimpab : My version

It was one of days that you really ran out of ideas of what to cook and really don't want to eat out. I was totally tired of standing in the kitchen for too long, it was just too hot!!! I had some marinated chicken tighs (skinless boneless variety) in bulgoggi sauce that I had intended for some wraps but thought this is as good as anyday to cook that (erm...when laziness sets in!). So what else goes with Chicken Bulgoggi?? Can't think, brain too fried!

Ok, frankly I'd been craving for some good korean food. I always order Bibimpab when we go to a korean restaurant. I love it coz of the variety (yes, I'm also a very boring person...) and I believe that it's something that I wouldn't do it on my own, too much work. When I read the recipe for this dish, I was amzingly surprised at how easy to make...all you really need are the mise en place. Since I was making Chicken Bulgoggi, why not make Bibimpab, it will at least take the usual boredom of everyday dinners off the menu...:)

I read somewhere that this dish is supposed to be tri-colored but I just used whatever vege I had in my fridge which wasn't much since it was close to grocery day...hehe... yah....I'm not that picky as long as food's served and it tastes great! Ideally, carrots would have made my dish tri-colored...hehe..but really...I don't think neither Ed nor Ethan would really notice that!!! And I also used a plate to present this dish rather than the usual huge bowl that this dish is served in (didn't have one either).

All in all I think this turned out better than I expected, especially for a first attempt. Good for Friday night dinners...one dish meal...less cleanup, more time to relax...;)

For the individual vegetable sides
Ingredients
-Large Bean Sprouts
-Spinach, one bunch
-Cucumbers, 2 pickle cucumbers
-White Sesame Seeds, toasted
-Sesame seed oil
-Garlic
-Salt (I always use sea salt)

Method
-Bring a pot of water to boil, blanched the sprouts and quickly submerged into a ice bath (to arrest cooking), do the same for the spinach and with the spinach, squeeze out excess water with a dry towel and then chopped to bite-size lengths.
-For the cucumbers, cored the center and julienned them to thin slices, then get the excess water out from the cucumbers by marinating them in a little salt and sugar mixture. After a while, there would be water accumulated which to be thrown away. Wash, rinsed and squeezed excess liquid from the cucmbers as well
-Minced some garlic and toast the sesame seeds to release their aroma and oils.
-Now heat a pan with some vege oil and a little of sesame oil, toss in some minced garlic and stirred a little, add the sprouts and seasoned to taste. Dish it out and sprinkled with some toasted sesame seeds.
-Do the same and this time instead of adding the spinach, poured the heated oil onto the spinach, seasoned and mixed well. Again sprinkled sesame seeds on top to serve.
-Do the same, heat the oils and add the garlic and then add the drained cucumbers into it and give it a little stir till heated through. Seasoned, dish out and serve with sprinkling of sesame seeds.
-All the vege sides are ready to be place into individual bowls on the side of the rice.

To serve
-A large plate or bowl, place rice in the middle and place the sides plus chicken surrounding the rice. If adding an egg, heat a non-stick pan and pan fry on egg, sunny side up and quickly place it on top of the steaming white rice and sprinkle some sesame seeds. Serve it with Korean Hot Bean Paste (can always get them in a bottle from almost any asian grocery stores).

Result: Heathly, refreshing and easy cleanup! Can't be any easier!

Chocolate Glazed Hazelnut Mousse Cake

I thought I better post this before it's too late and one year had come and gone. And knowing me, IT"S POSSIBLE!

Well, for those who knows, last weekend was Ed's B-day and I decided to bake a cake for him since we're not doing anything big. I wanted something a little more sophisticated and not too mundane. After looking around my cookbooks and magazines, I decided to use one from Gourmet Magazine, Feb 2006.

The recipe was surprisingly easy (I mean, comparatively to others with similar end result!) and the overall final product was very pleasing. I did follow the recipe to the "t" and even toasted those hazelnuts and rubbed those darn skins off, just so I didn't mess up a good recipe!! Yah, I was that anal! The only problem I had was the ganache. I had never ever made ganache but I figured it was easy coz I make chocolate truffle cake all the time. Oh yah..I was wrong. The chocolate was not tempered right and didn't have that smooth glossy look...I could have re-tempered the chocolate but I was just too lazy that being the FINAL touch to the cake. Besides I was kinda running out of time! (ok...I was just lazy)

The cake was wonderful! It has all the different textures of chocolate and when I say it's simply heavenly, it's not even close to that. The shortbread base was so very good. It wasn't too dry and had a lot of hazelnut flavor in it and also bits of hazelnuts. And as for the mousse, oh boy, it was creamy, fluffy, light and so smooth!! Of course, there's mascarpone in it, and who can find fault with that, right??? :) Not forgetting, there's also Nutella in it!! Oh yah....all chocolatey goodness!! With the ganache, it's like a very much upgraded ice-cream cake without all that heaviness aftertaste.... WONDERFUL!!!

This is a definitely a must-try recipe for chocolate lovers who wants a sophiscated cake instead of those regular chocolate cakes out there!! It does take a little more patience than I'm used to but it was for a b-day..;) And luckily for me, I have a KitchenAid to help with that mousse job, I don't think I could have achieve that state of "mousse-ness" without that machine. It just made the mousse so much fluffier and lighter. The plus side to this recipe is that the only baking needed was just the base and that took all but 20 mins!! :) What a steal! Oh yah, we were too greedy to take pic of a single slice...Oh well....next time...;)

However, for all the "sophistication" of this exceptionally great chocolate cake...we ended up putting sparklers all over it for Ed and Ethan to blow them out!! Well...at least Ethan enjoyed the sparklers...he was too tired to have the cake, besides, we didn't want him to load up with sugar in the middle of the night.....hehehhe

Assam Pedas Pork

This is a family recipe for Assam (tamarind) Pedas Pork. Of course, I've trimmed out excess "calories" to make it a little more healthful...you know...for those who don't relish the thought of biting into a huge chunk of heart clogging piece of meat. The original recipe calls for pig trotters and I've replaced it with skinless pork hock (with this pic, I only "de-skinned" the parts that I could). The best part of this dish is that it can be "spiciless" till the end when you finish the dish with some green chillis! See, I've a little boy who's still not a chilli veteran. The chillis are added at the end coz it cooks real fast. I didn't have any green chillis (or jalepenos) at hand, so I used some Holland reds, but they didn't taste like the real thing or gave much kick, so I went and added some Thai chilli padi for some kick. But the fragrance that those green chillis gave was lacking...oh well...next time (when the moon's blue AGAIN!)

This dish is more like a stew and the gravy is thickened and reduced throughout the whole cooking process. The end result is a very succulent pork infused with all the flavors of the various ingredients. It sounds like a very heavy dish but it's not, it's light on the palate and also an appetite enhancer. Goes very well with white rice and some other small pickled side dishes, namely Achar. It also doesn't take a lot of work to prepare except for the pork, but can always get the butcher to do the "dirty" work. Thank heavens for Henckel knives!! ;)

And since this is a family recipe...I would keep it as such...;) All I can say is that it has tamarind in it with some other unexpected ingredients.....hehehe... Of course, as a stew, since pork trotters or pork hock (in this case), it takes some time to get the pork all tender yet not breaking apart into dry pieces when picked. This is a rather traditional Peranakan dish and like all Peranakan dishes, each family has their "secret" ingredient in addition to the general one that they give, never divulging that secret to anyone...LOL..except within the family.

Bun Galore: Something to proof about....

Pork and Vegetable Buns


Tuna Buns

Pork and Vegetable Bun

Chocolate Walnut Bun


Kaya Buns (yes, with Kaya Filling)

Pork Floss Buns


Yes, I went bun crazy but for a good reason!! The weather was so unseasonably and UNBEARABLE hot that the only thing that it was good for was yeast proofing!! Ok...I'm sure there are other good things too but can't think...(brain's fried!)

As I was saying, I decided to make use of the outdoor heat to proof some bread/bun dough (I got my recipe from Jo's Deli Bakery). It's a basic sweet bread dough which you can either make it sweet or savory with whatever you added to it. For me, I added Savory fillings for my pork and vegetable buns, homemade kaya for the filling of the kaya buns, canned tuna (in water) for my Tuna buns, chocolate emulco for the chocolate walnut buns with chopped walnuts for topping and pork floss for the pork floss buns. Wow, that was a mouthful!! hehe...I personally like the savory ones but then I'm always biased against the sweet ones.

The dough was easy enough to make coz I used my handy dandy breadmachine to knead the dough and did my second proofing outdoors before shoving them into the preheated oven! It was quick enough and provides a real tasty treat for everyone...even for picky eater like Ethan!

Recipe for Pork and Vegetable filling
Ingredients
-Ground Pork
-Frozen mixed vegetable
-Onion, chopped
-1 cinnamon stick
-Oyster sauce
-Salt, sugar and pepper for taste

Method
-Heat oil, add cinnamon stick and then chopped onion, cooked till onions lightly transparent. Then add pork, stir a little and add the vege. Finishing it with some oyster sauce, a little salt, sugar and pepper. Cooled before stuffing in buns.

Recipe for Tuna filling
Ingredients
-Canned Tuna in water
-Japanese Mayonise
-Salt

Method
-Drained tuna from water, place it in a bowl, add enough mayo and salt to taste and mix well. Fridge it if not using immediately.

Recipe for Kaya
-Check KitchenCapers for the recipe. However I cooked my a little longer than proposed (by accident) and it turned out custardy which was ok for filling but not as a spread!! LOL

Recipe for Pork Floss Buns
Ingredients
-Dried Pork Floss (or whatever floss you choose)
-Jap Mayo

Method
-Shape the buns as you want, bake it till done and remove from oven and spread jap mayo on top (as "glue" for the floss to adhere).
-Then sprinkle floss on the mayo and pat down lightly for the floss to stick a little.

Recipe for Choc Walnut Buns
Ingredients
-Chopped Walnuts
-Chocolate emlco
-Cocoa powder (SHOULD HAVE HAD ADDED)
-Honey (as "glue" for the walnuts)

Method
-Add the emulco with the dough ingredients in the breadmaker (as suggested by breadmaker instructions)
-When buns are done, take them out, paint the bun top with some honey and sprinkle chopped walnuts on the tops. Alternatively, you can do the same thing before baking those buns, kinda give the nuts a nuttier flavour.

The buns were done at different times and through "experimenting", I discovered more ways of "perfecting" them...:) Still need more practise! The "rough" skin bun you saw on the Kaya bun was coz I forgot to cover the dough and let it dried out, so when it's proofed, the skin stretched hence causing the "pimply" look!! Suggestion, spray the tops with some PAM or buttered them lightly before second proofing, it works.

Note: Using a egg wash on the buns before baking gives them a darker top, if the top darkened too soon before it's cooked, then loosely cover buns with aluminium foil tents. Using parchment paper on the baking pan helps with faster cleanup and prevents buns from sticking on the bottom of the baking sheet/pan. If adding cheese on bun tops, add them at the last 4-5mins of baking, it'll melt but it will not harden (when cooled) into a plastic like texture!!!! It'll still be all nice and cheesy and gooey...(as melted cheese SHOULD be!).

Doggie Dreams

Picture of my bro's doggie, took it when I was back home few months ago, she's sweet huh?!?! Well, this post will have nothing to do with this cutie though...hehehe.....

Each time I go back home, there's always some sort of "trend" that people will follow to the point of worship. You know those people...;) Sometimes they do it with so much fervor that it completely amuses me. Most will know that food is topic that you can't avoid when you're home, in fact it's the main thing that preoccupies one's mind at all time. And with people like this, it's pretty much all the time..;)

Ok...here comes the ranting....:) (promise I'll TRY to make it as short as possible...)

Ironically, when it comes to all those glorious food out there in Singapore, people I know, are just not that interested in it. To be specific, it's a battle for them, there's food, but they are so particular about cholestrol this, fat that, oil this, sugar that, it's just IMPOSSIBLE to eat ANYTHING without someone remarking "it's too fattening". Ok...I'm just tired of hearing that phrase. It's also rather amusing at the same time. Their concern is not moderate, it's what they live for, it's consuming their commonsense as well...it's basically, eating them up!!!! (ignore the puns :) )

Let me give you a short list of what's no-no back home. Anything fried, bad! Anything with coconut milk, really bad. Sugar, there's always some excuses of it being bad but will eat with "moderation" (saying this with tongue in cheek)..hehehe.. Rice, bad, coz we all "know" all white foods are bad (all thanks to those fad diets out there naming white foods as culprits). So more or less, EVERYTHING is bad!!

Look, you've got to eat some time or another....besides what a way to live...NOT EATING! I wonder if the word "moderation" is mis-interpreted somehow??? hehehe.. I believe that everything is ok to eat, it's not what you eat, is how much you eat. I mean, if you want to live a "healthy" life by simply eating raw vegetables only, I'm sure somehow that would seriously mess up your body. Everything in moderation is my motto. It really doesn't really matter what you eat, as long as you eat in moderation, and eating balance meals, I think that's the way to go. Not going around starving your body of so-called "bad" foods and condemning others who would venture to eat them..*winks*

With all those funky food fads and diets out there...it's really impossible to send out the message that it's alright to eat foods with oil, with butter, with sugar, with salt, with red meat, etc....just do it in moderation...that should be the key....;)


Note: No, I'm not a dietician nor a diet guru....just expressing my personal opinion on a constant amusing observation..:) Did I mention....I saw a square watermelon as well...;) Next post...ehehhe

Thai Mango Salad

I like making Asian Salads; they are easy and less fussy. With Asian salads, you usually get sweet, sour, spicy, salty in one dish. Also they are lighter on the palatte without all the oils. I espeically like Thai style salads (considering I'm not a big fan of Thai food), personally I think they are more like amuse bouche and gets the appetite going and enjoying the rest of the food. I guess I'm just partial to them coz they are convenient...hehe...

I made this salad using green unripe mangos and shredding them with my "magic" peeler. Yep, you heard it right, Magic Peeler. That's what they are called, at least that's what I was told by a Thai chef. This peeler is ususally used to shred the papaya in the Thai green papaya salad, I figured you could use it for mangos as well. Besides, it does have other functions other than shredding vegetables!! LOL! And yah, I got it from Thailand, I don't think they sell them here in Texas...;)

Recipe
Ingredients
-1 green unripe mango (choose a firm one)
-2 medium shallots
-1 cucumber (optional)
-1 carrot (optional)
-1 lime
-Fish Sauce
-Cane sugar or Brown sugar
-Small thai chillis (the spicier the better)
-Small dried shrimps (optional)

Method
-Shred mango, cucumber and carrot into matchstick size shreds and slice shallots thinly. Place them all in a bowl.
-Squeeze lime juice all over the vegetables, and add fish sauce (amount varies to your taste) and sugar (again, add as little or as much as you want). Mix it altogether and adjust taste.
-For those who wants it spicy! Chop the chilli finely and add them to the salad and mix.
-Now fry the small shrimps till crispy and use it as topping on the salad. Totally optional!!!

Note: This is a very "forgiving" dish...pretty much the taste will be good...;) You can just use mangos and it will be just as good...

Herbal Chicken

Eversince I tasted Dong Quai stir-fried Chinese Mustard Greens I'd always thought about creating simple day to day dishes that incooperate Chinese Herbs. That dish was simply exquisite; it was light, refreshing and so delicate tasting. I'd always thought that chinese herbs are only used for long period cooking such as soups or as sweet tonics, not with everyday dishes. So this really open up my mind to other possibilities.

However, all said, I'm never THAT adventurous to try various herbs in regular dishes. This dish is something I created based on a loosely interpreted recipe from my grams and something that is already commercially available, Emperor's Herbal Chicken package (although you can always get your own herbs instead of the pre-packaged ones). I didn't use Dong Quai here, for obvious reasons, it was just too "heaty" for summer consumption. I guess I'll just call this Herbal Chicken then...;)I made it AS a chicken dish so that the whole family can consume.

Recipe
Ingredients
-1/2 chicken (whole preferred but it was just too big for famiy of three)
-Wolfberries, a handful
-Dong Quai, 2 thin slices (usually comes pre-cut if you buy the sliced ones)
-Dang Shen, 2 pieces
-Scallions/Spring Onions, 2-3 stalks
-Ginger, 4-5 thin slices
-Seasame Oil, 2-3 tsp
-Benedictine Dom (herbal liquer) or ShaoXing wine, 2-3tsp
-Soy Sauce, 2 tsp
-Honey, 2-3 TBS
-Dash of sea salt

Method
-Rinse chicken and pat dry.
-Cut spring onions into batons, thinly slice ginger and set aside.
-Rinse all the herbs and set aside. If using Dong Quai and Dong Shen, blanch them quickly in boiing water first. (This will release their fragrance faster and also speed in the cooking process later)
-Then mix sesame oil, Benedictine Dom, soy sauce, honey and sea salt together and rub it on the chicken.
-Put the chicken and its marinade on a heat proof dish (ready for steaming).
-Place the ginger slices inside the chicken cavity or (in this case) under the half chicken.
-Place the herbs and the spring onions in the dish.
-Steam the chicken at medium heat for about 45mins-1hr.
-Ready to serve.

Note: I didn't add Dong Quai and Dang Shen coz I think they might be a little too "warm" for the body with this summer heat. The chicken, ginger, sesame oil and the liquer were already "warm" enough for the dish. You can add more wolfberries if you want, they are good for eye sight and can be eaten as it as a snack! Even for kids. I usually give my little boy a few to munch on. :)

Okra & Indian Fishhead Curry

I saw these wonderful organic okra/ladyfingers at the store and I knew I can't pass them up!! They are so green, unblemished and seriously tender!!! You have to love these little morsels! I bought them even though they weren't on my list, I just had too!!! hehehe...ok...the greedy me taking over! I know exactly what I was gonna use them for...;)



Oh yahhhhh....my all-time fav, Indian Fishhead curry. I didn't have a gigantic fish head but I did have a regular size whole red snapper. All I did was use the upper half of the fish and viola, fish head curry! It was close to my fav Indian restaurant back home but of course, it's never the same...heheh...

Recipe
Ingredients
-1/2 red snapper
-3 heaping TBS of fish curry powder (I used the Baba's brand)
-2 TBS tamarind (fresh kind and mix it with 1/2 cup of water to get solution)
-4 medium tomatoes, quartered
-Okra/ladyfingers, as many or as little as you like
-2 sprig Curry Leaves, just leaves
-2 cardamon pods, clightly crushed
-1.5 tsp fennel seeds
-1.5 tsp mustard seeds
-1/2 can coconut milk/cream
-2.5 cups of water

Method
-Mix Fish curry powder with some water to form a thick paste.
-Mix the fresh tamarind with some water to form a tamarind solution, discard seeds and pods, just use tamarind solution.
-Add some oil (I used vegetable oil) in a pot/wok and place the fennel seeds and
mustard seeds into it and heat it up slowly with medium/medium low heat till they popped.
-Then add the cardamon seeds and fry around till fragrant.
-Next, add the paste (if it starts to burn, lower your heat a little and add some coconut milk to it to prevent burning)till fragrant.
-Add the curry leaves and tomatoes and stir.
-Then add the tamarind solution with the coconut milk and let it come to a slight boil and add in the rest of the water (less if you prefer less gravy).
-Bring it all to a boil and then add the fish and season it with salt.
-When the fish is about done, add the okra (they cook pretty fast so always add them last).
-Now if you like it a little thicker still, add a little more coconut milk/cream
to finish the dish.


Note: For those who likes it a little more sour, just add more tamrind solution or even some lemon juice would do the trick. Again, everything is an approximate..:) enjoy playing with your taste buds!

Home Cookin' : Yu Sang

I've always love Yu Sang. I think it's one of the best recipes ever invented! You can pretty much add anything to it and create your own version. Traditionally eaten during the period of Chinese New Year, these days, people just eat it whenever they feel like it. It's comprises all the elements of a balance healthy one meal dish. Not only is it simply delicious, it's also healthy! Really, what more can you ask for.

This one in particular (the pic below) is one made by my grams, she's not very conventional when it comes to her Yu Sang garnishes, erm, she actually used potato chips in additional amongst many other unconventional items. Ed thought it was great and why didn't people just use that altogther...hehehe.. Doesn't it look just scrumptious!!






Yup, that's my little greedy boy pointing at the Yu Sang, he wanted to grab it and just stuff his face with that so he's asking his daddy to get some for him. I guess just the look of that dish can make anyone hunger for it!! hehehe...And he did enjoy eating it, I mean, who wouldn't right?!?! hehehe

Note: Oh yah, just for the non raw fish eaters, this Yu Sang was made with shredded chicken and jelly fish.

Simple Vegetable Curry

I've got all these little bits and pieces of leftover veges that I had in the fridge. On its own, can't really make a dish out of it so decided to do an everything-one-pot dish! So what else?!? Vegetable curry! I love Indian Curries; they are so simple yet so delicious!! Besides when you want to clear your fridge of all these odds and ends, might as well come up with something good..;)

It would have to "pure" vegetarian if I didn't add the fish paste tofu in but I also needed to "clear" that. It was just taking up useful space in the icebox!

Recipe
Ingredients(this is what I had)

Note: Almost any type of vege, I prefer not to use the leafy green ones since I don't think they contribute much, in terms of flavor, to the dish and also they tend to wilt real fast.

-Napa Cabbage
-Carrots
-Eggplant
-Cauliflower
-Okra
-Fish paste Tofu
-3 heaping TBS Baba's Fish Curry Powder/Vegetable Curry Powder (it's the one that I had)
-Tamarind liquid (made with some tamarind mixed with water and simply just used the liquid
portion)
-Curry Leaves, 2 Sprigs, remove stems (OPTIONAL)
-Indian Chilli Powder, 1 tsp (OPTIONAL)
- 1.5cups of coconut milk/cream
-6 cups of water

Method
-Mix the Curry Powder and chilli powder together with some water to form a soft paste.
-In a pot (preferably non-stick stewing pot coz it would be big enough), heat 4 TBS of oil when
hot add the curry powder paste, stir at moderate heat (you don't want to burn your paste, it
burns easily)
-Fry this paste till fragrant and add the Curry Leaves and stir some more.
-Then add a little of the coconut milk (if you see the paste sticking to the bottom
of the pot, add a little bit earlier)
-Wait till it's simmering a little before adding 1/2 of the remaining coconut milk.
Stir and wait till at boiling point, add 1/2 of the call for amount of water and
the tamarind juice.
-At this point, add in the vegetables. The ones that take the longest to cook, goes
in first, and for those that only need a short cooking time, add in at the end of
the cooking process.
-Now we need enough water (if the rest of the water ain't enough) to cover the
vegetables in the pot. If there's enough as stated, good. If too much, just use
enough of it and if too little, add more. Then cover the pot slightly and let it
come to a boil before lowering the heat to simmer it till cook.
-Then add the rest of the coconut milk to finish (this is to slightly thicken the
curry). Also add salt to taste. Garnish it with cilantro if wish.

Note: All the liquid amounts are based on the amount of gravy I want and the amount of vegetable used. Therefore amount varies. Remember that liquid tends to reduce when it's simmering for a while. Try not to overcook the vegetable coz that makes the stew a little mushy. Omit chilli powder if you want it less spicy, I added an extra whole dried chilli to give it an extra kick.

Banana CupCakes

Regular Cupcakes


Mini Cupcakes


Filled Cupcake

Recently I've been really into making cupcakes. For a person who doesn't really enjoy sweet goodies, I'm surely overenthusiastic about making them. I guess I love creating it coz they are just too pretty. They are literally mini cakes! I think I'm in this just for the aesthetic value of it!! Well, one thing about cupcakes is that they are very versatile and you can change even one batch of cupcakes into many different kinds simply with fillings, toppings and decorations. So you wouldn't have to stick with just one cake till you're done with it. Besides, it's easy to gift them away coz they are easy to pack. I made this particular one with CreamCheese frosting and added some molasses and honey instead of sugar from the recipe.

Recipe (8 regular size cupcakes and 12 mini cupcakes using muffin pans)
Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup really softened butter
2 large eggs
2 large bananas, mashed
Dash of nutmeg

Method
-Preheat oven to 350c.
-Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.
-In a bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt.
-in another bowl, cream suar and butter till fluffy. Then add in eggs one at a time.
Finally add in mashed bananas.
-Then mix in the flour mixture (I use my KitchenAid on low speed here)till just
combined.
-Pour batter into prepared liners and baked for about 18 minutes (regular ones) and
about 10-12mins for minis. Or till tester comes out clean.
-Take them out of the tins and lined them on wire racks to cool. Cool completely
before any frosting.
-With fillings, I cut a cavity with a small paring knife and fill the hole with
chosen filling and cover it back with the cut muffin top and just frost over the
top (you wouldn't be able to see the cut after that).

Note: This recipe was modified from another recipe that I've. You can omit the molasses if you don't like the taste. Personally I like it coz it reminds me of Gingerbread (except for the bananas). :) Enjoy playing with differnt decorative ideas.