Cinnamon Buns March 23, 2007

I almost gave up. The dough didn’t seem to rise as much as I expected it to be. I kept the dough for almost 24 hours in the fridge and it didn’t seems to improve and it was too getting too late to bake anyway. Need to nurse Rico too. But before I chuck them into the bin, I took a small piece and baked it in the bread toaster, just to see what happens. The dough, believe it or not, rised and was quite fluffy. So, what the heck, I’ll just sprinkle cinnamon and butter and bake them anyway. Whoa la ……. I got a batch of beautiful cinnamon buns! Taste fantastic. Who need the overly sweet ones from Cinnabon anymore?

Ingredients

2 cups of milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup sugar

1 sachet of dry active yeast

4 1/2 cups of flour

Cinnamon powder + sugar for dusting
Melted butter

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 tablespoon salt

Verdict : Heavenly when fresh from the oven. Bun is soft even after a day. What can be better than a warm bun with a cup of coffee. Hmmm ………….

Watermelon & grass jelly March 21, 2007

This is so refresingly new.  Great for a hot day, but it rained today. Oh well, it’s still nice on a cool day.

Fried Luffah with Sweet Potato Flour March 21, 2007

This is really an old family recipe. My mom and aunt told me it was my late grandfather and late granduncle’s favourite dish. I vaguely remember eating it so, was really excited 6th aunt reminded me of it. You see, I’ve eaten it so long ago that I can vaguely remember how it’s suppose to taste like or look like. Anyway, that didn’t stop me from trying it. This is how my version looks like, which I don’t think what my late grandfather would be proud of.

Ingredients

Luffah

Sweet potato flour

Prawn

Minced garlic

Verdict : Nostalgic

Steaming is the healthy way of cooking? March 21, 2007

Really? If it’s so, indeed this is a healthy dish. Kong bak (stewed pork) with buns, where both the meat and the buns are steamed. Had this for dinner yesterday. So, now, what do I do with the leftover buns in the freezer? My freezer’s getting too full and the fridge seems to be complaining by making weird noise. Oh oh.

 

Verdict : Meat is tasty and very fragrant. The gravy is watery and not thick like those in West Lake restaurant

Going Bananas March 21, 2007

My quest for steamed cakes continues with steamed banana cake. Again, I searched the internet and found a recipe for steamed banana cake at Food Network. Someone has tried it before and said that it tasted good, so, I tried it, feeling confident after the successful steamed chocolate cake.

I would say, the cake turns out alright, not fantastic and more like a bread than a cake. So, if I have had set my expectation that it would be a bread, I suppose I would be more thrilled.

And then, what do I do with the leftover banana? This time, I want a real banana cake. Again, I found a well reviewed banana cake at Yochana’s Cake Delight. This time, the cake is really yummy and complete with decoration on top. It’s moist, the way I like it. The only set back is, it takes so long to bake, more than an hour for me!

Verdict : Very yummy, difficult to stop at just 1 piece. Banana on the topping is very sweet and soft after baked. So, don’t skip toppings, they’re not just for show.

Phad Thai March 16, 2007

 

 

The first time I ever made phad thai was a disaster. The noodles were all sticky and it turned out almost like a pancake instead. When I cooked this last weekend, it was kinda impromtu because I happened to have kuay teow, bean sprouts and bean curds in the fridge.

 

And since I have not tried it since learning this dish at a Thai cooking class I attended with Sonny, I thought I’d give it a go. Turned out quite good, but I over-cooked the beansprout a little. Would be better a bit crunchy. Will attempt this again soon.

 

Verdict :  Smells like the real thing in Bangkok and quite tasty.  Beansprouts should be left crunchy or even raw.

Precious Pandan March 16, 2007

 

My pandan plant is so precious and is almost overused. You see, it’s not growing fast enough for me. I should start to propagate or plant it on the ground instead of a pot.

This plant has served me very well especially through my pregnancy. How? I used to make soy bean drinks weekly when I was pregnant with Rico last year and a piece of pandan leave is a must. I became so efficient in making soya bean drinks that I could do it in 10 mins.

Good old plant, I shall take care of you.

Passion Fruit Passion March 15, 2007

The entire family seems to have gone into passion fruit craze lately since the discovery of fresh and yummy and not to mention cheap (I hope not to sound like a Singapore bird that goes cheap cheap cheap cheap) passion fruits from Batu Pahat. It seems like this is a new crop and it’s popularity has not really caught up yet.

 

Since mom has bought so many of these lovely fruits, I have been surfing the internet to look for recipe that uses passion fruits. All I’ve found are desserts like cheesecakes and pavlova, which I am not so interested in. And so, I’ve cutting them into half and sucking out the juicy and fragrant pulp. This beautiful fruit is also rich in vitamin A, C and pottassium.

Huat Kueh from 5th Aunt March 15, 2007

Or-teng-kueh or Black Sugar Kueh is a type of huat kueh that uses black sugar and is one of 5th Aunt’s specialty. I’ve learned to make it, but my result is not always consistent.

The batch that I made impromtu on the eve of Chinese New Year turned out to be quite nice. I actually got Huey Gok, our newly wedded sister-in-law, to make the second batch and they turned out good too. Welcome to the family, Huey Gok.

Recipe :

150g black sugar

300g plain flour

1 cup water (medium hot)

1 teaspoon soda bicarbonate

The joy of making this huat kueh is seeing them blossom right in front of your eyes when you steam it, so, use a glass cover if you have one.

Verdict : Family favourite … need I say more?

Chwee Kueh (Steamed rice cakes with pickled radish) March 15, 2007

I only thought of making chwee kueh after 4th Uncle mentioned that he’s now making and selling chwee kueh. He wasn’t very specific in his recipe and so, I looked up the internet and found this tried-and-tested recipe by a blogger. Went to Phoon Huat and found these small chwee kueh mould. I would have just make a giant chwee kueh in a bigger plate but what’s chwee kueh if they’re not small and cute, as I’ve always remembered it.

 

I remember eating chwee kueh since kindergarten days. Mom would pass me a pack of chwee kueh for break when I was in Dawning Kindergarten which is just next door to our “old” house in BP. However, I remember chwee kueh in BP to have some kind of red sweet sauce which is unlike the way it’s served in Singapore.

So, this is my healthier version of chwee kueh. I understand now why the chai por is always so oily. I’ve already put quite a lot of oil (by my standard) but it’s still quite dry. But taste wise, it’s still quite tasty despite the chai por not swimming in oil. This way, you can have more chai por with the rice cake.

Had 3 pieces for breakfast this morning. Feels good especially after a tiring night tending to Rico as he’s still running a fever.

Recipe :

180g rice flour

25g corn flour

800ml water

2tbsp oil

pinch of salt

Instruction

1. In a pot, combine 400ml water, oil and salt.  Bring to almost boiling point
2. In another bowl. combine rice flour, corn flour and remaining 400ml water.  Mix well.  Make sure there are no lumps
3. Pour flour mixture into the hot water and mix well.  Mixture will thicken
4. Scoop thicken flour into chwee kueh moulds and steam for about 10-15 mins
5. Cool down and remove kueh from the moulds
6. Serve with pickled radish (chai por)