Steamed Egg with Shitake Mushrooms



Kiasu ...overloading with lotsa mushrooms!



Steamed egg is my Daughter's favorite egg dish second to the  fried "mata lembu" (sunny side up egg). She would request this dish for dinner at least once every week.

I used to have trouble attaining silky smooth texture for this steamed egg dish. It would come out holely and ugly and the texture rough. After much trial & error, I've finally found THE recipe for steamed egg. I've also found that that the fire MUST be low while steaming to help achieve that soft smooth 'glide-down-the throat' texture. I'm very happy with this recipe indeed. You can add whatever filling u wish.

Steaming in the wok.

Ingredients:

3 eggs

1 Tbs soy sauce

few drops sesame oil

a dash of white pepper

about 1 1/2 Cups water

sliced shitake mushrooms
salt to taste

Method:
1) Bring the water in the steamer to a rolling boil.
2) Lightly beat together all ingredients except mushrooms. Lightly oil  a heatproof dish and pour in the mixture. Sprinkle in the sliced mushrroms.
3) Lower down the heat, let steam for about 12 minutes.  

Chinese Winter Melon Soup

Another indispensable soup in the Chinese household. Winter melon soup is believed to be cooling for the body to counteract heatiness. This soup is refreshing and mildly sweet and very fragrant, is especially good consumed on hot humid days and is also beneficial for anyone who has lately taken in too much fried fatty food in their diet.

Ingredients:

about 1 kg Pork Bones

about 1 kg wintermelon

2 dried scallops

10 red dates

salt to taste

Method:

Remove skin and spongy seedy center of winter melon. Cut to large chunks. Place all ingredients in a large pot. and add enough water to fill pot about 3 litres. Boil for 1 1/2 hours on low heat. Every now and then, skim off any scum that surfaces to keep soup clear. 

Mini Crustless Quiche



Looks like a frittata, but wait... it's quiche without crust!

I've been wanting to make quiche for sometime already but the thought of making the crust put me off. It's not because I don't like eating the crust, I love it especially if it's buttery, it's just that I'm too lazy to put in the  effort in making it. Also my Hubby doesn't eat the crust anyway as he is on a strict 'no-carb' diet and my Daughter really doesn't need the extra calories as she herself has stored enough!

This crustless quiche recipe is perfect for a lazy cook like me, but I can't say the same for weight watchers like my Hubby! This recipe may  seem low-fat due to the omission of crust but mind you, it has cream as part of it's ingredient list (shhhh .... don't tell my Hubby!) which yields delightful rich morsels. My Hubby was still talking about it the next morning .... if only he knew, hehehe.  I suppose u can replace the cream with milk if u prefer a lower fat version.

Mini Crustless Quiche

Ingredients:

(I made 12 pieces  mini quiche using 12-hole mini muffin pan  and 6 pieces using  6-hole regular size muffin pan.)

6 fl oz or 180 ml milk

6 fl oz or 180 ml pouring cream

3 large eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt 
cracked black pepper
dried parsley

Filling:
(Use whatever you like. It's all up to your imagination!)
1 cup grated Cheddar Cheese
Leek, sliced finely
Onion, diced

Sausages, diced

Method:

1) Whisk milk, cream, eggs, flour, salt and black pepper in a jug until blended. Set aside.

2) Grease and lightly flour each muffin pans. Divide filling among muffin holes and pour the milk mixture onto

filling almost to rim. Sprinkle dried parsley on top and more cracked black pepper if desired.
3) Bake for 25 minutes or until knife inserted near centers comes out clean and tops are lightly browned. Cool in pans for 15 minutes. Run knife around edges and carefully remove quiches.

NOTE:

The number of quiches that you get will depend on the size of your muffin cups and baking time may need some adjusting.





Cute, eh?

Mini size perfect for kids and parties.

Let's eat!

Chef Tallyrand's Chocolate Cake

Can't resist a bite!

I have always wanted to try out this chocolate cake recipe among many many others that I have saved and printed and kept in a file folder. There are just too many  recipes  and I just never got around to try because I didn't have the time or I forgot or I didn't have the required ingredients or  I'm just too lazy.

This chocolate cake recipe was first discovered here. It is fuss free and simple to make, no special skills or techniques are needed for a successful result. This is a good recipe to try out for novice bakers. All you have to do is just mix everything in one bowl. No beating, complicated folding or separating egg whites. It's just so easy!
And the resulting cake, not too sweet and  moist moist moist!

Chocolate Cake Recipe by Chef Tallyrand

 

Ingredients: 

300 gm castor sugar
175 gm cake flour (hi-ratio)
50 gm cocoa powder
5 gm or 1 tsp baking powder
5 gm or 1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2  small eggs
100 ml olive oil
2 tsp vanilla essence
165 ml milk
165 ml boiling water

How to make:

1. Mix the dry ingredients together and sieve three times.
2. Combine all wet ingredients exept boiling  water.
3. Pour the wet mixture onto the dry mixture and combine together thoroughly using a balloon whisk
4. Add  in  the boiling water and combine well.
5. Pour into a prepared 22 cm round cake tin.
6. Bake at 160°C for  about 75 to 90 minutes until done.

Note: I used canola cooking oil for the olive oil and I divided and baked the batter in mini muffin pans instead of  22 cm round cake tin.

Pork with Sweet 'Mui Choy'

I was rummaging through my fridge for something and found this packet of Mui Choy (Chinese preserved Mustard Cabbage) hidden behind everything else. I have forgotten completely that I even had it in the first place and I cringed to think how long it has been sitting there. Luckily this Mui Choy is well preserved under thick layers of sugar & salt and looked fine to me so I was determined to use it before it is being forgotten again. I made 'Stewed Pork with Mui Choy', a rustic Hakka dish which is salty sweet and best served with plain rice or white porridge.


Ingredients:
600 gm Pork (Pork Belly is preferred but I used lean pork meat instead)
about 300 g Mui Choy
5  Dried Chilies (optional)
1 bulb Garlic (bashed to remove skin)
2 Tbs Kicap Manis (Dark Soya Sauce)
dash of sesame oil
salt to taste
sugar to taste

Method:
1) Take the Mui Choy, unfurl the leaves and wash under running water. Make sure sugar/salt  and other grit are washed off thoroughly from every wrinkle & creviches. Soak for 15 minutes, then squeeze dry and chop to small pieces.
2) Heat up some oil in a wok/deep pan and saute the garlic, chillies and Mui Choy and till fragrant. Add in the pork, stir fry  till slightly brown. Add  in the the kicap manis and mix well. Pour in enough water to cover the pork. Braise till sauce is a little  thicken. Taste and add salt and sugar to liking, if needed.

Soft Yoghurt Buns

One of the things I like to do is check out other people's food blogs and ooohh & ahhhh-ing over pictures of their gorgeous baked goods and this particular blog 'Cherry on a Cake' by Zurin really caught my eye. Her food styling and photography  is exceptionally beautiful and her writing light hearted & pleasant to read. I think her blog can already be a cookbook itself  if printed on paper and I would definitely want to own a copy if it ever got published and sold in bookshops.

This 'Soft Yoghurt Buns' recipe is taken from the same blog here. I was won over by Zurin's ravings and other readers' glowing comments on how cottony soft the resulting buns were. I just had to try it.



Divided & shaped into balls.



All puffed up proudly.



Glazed and ready to be baked.



Baking....... 20 minutes......




All gloriously golden fresh out of the oven.



Soft, soft, soft!


Soft Yoghurt Buns Recipe:
(makes 12 buns) (note: I divided the dough to make 16 buns)

500 g bread flour
30 g sugar
6 g  or 1 tsp salt
6 g  or 1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
200 gm plain yoghurt
120 gm milk
1 egg
60 g butter

Method:

1) Mix all dry ingredients in one large mixing bowl.

2) Heat up  the milk and butter  in a microwave until butter is melted. Remove and stir well. Pour into the dry mixture together with yoghurt and lightly beaten egg.

3) Stir the mixture with a spoon until a rough dough forms. Now use a stand mixer to knead dough on medium low speed until the dough is very smooth and elastic.

4) Place the kneaded dough inside a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp tea towel or cling film and let rest for an hour or until the dough doubles in bulk.

5) After the dough has risen take it out from the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Punch down the dough to rid it of air and knead it a little while for a couple of  minutes and then divide into 12 pieces (I dicived into 16 pieces instead). Shape each piece into a smooth ball and place in a greased pan slightly apart. Leave to rise until it doubles in bulk again. Brush the tops with egg wash (a beaten egg mix with a little milk) and bake in a 170 degree C oven for 20 minutes.

Yup I'm swooned by this recipe. Definitely a keeper!

Braised Herbal Chicken

This photo doesn't do this dish justice due to poor lighting. It's actually yummier than it looks.

This dish is inspired by my aunt, Aunty M, a bubbly & friendly person and who is a very good cook. Like most cookbooks  I've read, her way of cooking herbal chicken is by wrapping the chicken & herbs together with aluminium foil and then letting the parcel steam in the wok for about an hour. My way however is quite different. It is sorta like a stew, a lazy person's kinda cooking. But I must say, my family literally licked the bowl clean everytime I made this flavorsome dish. :)

Ingredients:

Chicken Thighs about 1kg (chopped to bite size pieces)

1 Bulb Garlic (smashed)

Marinade:

2 Tbs Oyster Sauce

2 Tbs Light Soy Sauce

1 tsp Sugar

a few drops Sesame Oil

a couple shakes of White Pepper

a dash of Tsao Tsing Cooking Wine (optional)

Herbs:

(quantity is approximate, about as much as shown in the pic on the right)

Dang Gui

Dang Shen

Bei Qi

Qi Zi (Wolfberries)

Yu Zhu

Chuan Xiong

Method:

Some pre-cooking is needed for this dish as follows:

1) Pre-boil herbs with 2 cups of water in low heat for about 1 hour to soften and extract their flavor. Set aside.
2) Marinade chopped chicken thighs with marinade for at least an hour.
To cook, brown chicken in a wok/deep pan heated with a little cooking oil (I usually cook my chicken without adding any oil as the chicken is fatty enough and I use a non-stick pan). Add the garlic and stir fry till fragrant. Pour in the left over marinade from the chicken and the boiled herbs mixture. Braise for about 15 to 20 minutes until sauce is a little thicken. Season with salt to taste. Done.