Kitchen Experiments Update: Part 1 (Cooking)

This blog was initially started to keep track of my baking/cooking experiments, a hobby that I picked up about 3 yeas ago. In those days, I was baking non-stop almost every other day if not everday, until the intervention of my mother who told me that she couldn't sleep at night because the smell of baking that permeated the air and seeped into her bedroom was distracting her from falling asleep (on weekdays, I could only bake after 9pm). Nowadays, my baking/cooking posts had become almost none-existent. But anyway, here are 2 fairly recent cooking experiments (fairly in a sense that it occurred this year, not last).

I am not a fan of noodles in general, but I do like cold noodle dishes quite a lot, the Japanese cold soba or cha soba included. This noodle dish always seems to me as being pretty simple so I thought to myself why not recreate it at home. So here is my first try (pictured above and recipe below) and I am proud to say that it was a success. Don't worry about cooking too much. Noodles and broth can be kept in the fridge for a few days and can be conveniently consumed straight from the fridge. I usually pack them for lunch at work.


Easy Japanese Cold Soba Recipe (based on recipe found here)
200g soba
Optional: sesame oil and toasted black sesame seeds
Method:
Cook soba in boiling water for about 4 mins or until al-dente. Drain and immediately put the noodles under cold running water (or plunge them into ice cold water). Drain (give it a slight toss in the colander) and chill them in the fridge.
Optional: For a smoother taste, you can toss with a few drops of sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds.
Dipping Sauce/Broth
° Some dried kelps (look like large dried tea leaves in dry form and green algae-like/gelatinous sheets when soaked in water)
° 2 pcs dried Chinese mushroom (rinsed with water to remove dirt)
° 2 small pcs of ginger (sliced thinly to about about 1 inch in length)
° 375ml water
° 1T sugar or more (according to taste)
° 2T (30ml) light Japanese soy sauce
° 1T (15ml) Chinese rice wine or use 2T mirin if this is available
Boil water with the dried kelps, mushroom and ginger. Lower fire and add in sugar, soy sauce and rice wine. Let it simmer for a minute. If not sweet enough at this stage, add a little bit more sugar. Strain the liquid into a bowl and let it chill in the fridge. You can slice the leftover mushroom and dried kelps into thin slices to be used as condiments later.

Garnishing (to serve): Spring onion (chopped thinly), toasted sesame seeds, mushroom and dried kelp slices (leftovers from cooking the broth), shredded roasted seaweed (nori) and wasabi paste. You can also add some cubed soft tofu for added protein.

Another time, I was in possession of a bottle of home-made Chinese rice wine, courtesy of a colleague. She even gave me a simple and easy recipe to cook Rice Wine Ginger Chicken. I tried the recipe and sure enough, it was easy and most importantly, the dish tasted great. The best part is obviously the broth. *slurps* Here's her recipe.

Home-cooked Chinese Rice Wine Ginger Chicken Recipe
1 chicken chopped into pieces (preferably free-range with head, feet and skin removed)
1 palm size "Bentong" old ginger (peeled and julienned)
Some dried chinese wood (black) fungus, pre-soaked
1/2 to 1 bottle of Chinese rice wine
1+1/2 bowl of water (not rice bowl but those slightly larger than rice bowl, think size of normal serving of asam laksa at kopitiam)
Seasoning: salt, sugar and sesame oil
Method:
1. Dry fry the chopped chicken to remove moisture. Careful not to cook it. Remove and set aside.
2. In a clean wok, stir fry ginger in a little corn oil until fragrant (slightly golden brown) or until crispy (this is even more fragrant but maybe more heaty).
3. Add in wood fungus and stir fry a little.
4. Add chicken and stir fry until chicken is just cooked.
5. Add water and bring to boil. Lower fire and add in rice wine.
6. Simmer for about 5 mins. Lastly add a little sugar, salt and sesame oil (optional) to achieve preferred taste.

Notes:
- For better taste, it is important to use good quality "Bentong" ginger. If you do not want the dish to be "too fiery" in taste, reduce or halved the ginger portion but you should be aware that ginger is what will make or break this dish.
- Frozen chicken can also be used. Thaw thoroughly. Also note that they cook faster than free-range chicken so be careful not to overcook.
- You can adjust the qty of rice wine used. Don't worry, the alcohol effect will evaporate during the cooking process so do not worry about getting drunk from this dish. If you do prefer a milder wine taste, you can reduce the portion by half.

Look out for Part 2 of Kitchen Experiments Update (baking & desserts)

Accidental Sunday (Acar, Balsamic Chicken & Grilled Tumeric Chicken)

Accidental - yes. And I mean it in a "literal" way.

Sunday afternoons call for testing of new recipes. After all, Sunday evenings are (un)officially family dinner night. Mom gets a day off from the kitchen while SIL and I slave away to prepare dinner (although most of the time, she cooks and I bake).

These are my picks for today.

Healthy Acar (Pickled Vegetables) Salad
Ingredients:
Garnishing:
- Roasted white sesame seeds
- Fine or coarsely chopped roasted peanuts
(Either dice or cut it length-wise into 1" length) the following:
1 cucumber
1 carrot
1 small head of round cabbage
200g or 8-10 ropes of long beans
Diced canned pineapples
(optional) any other suitable vegetables of your liking
Method:
1) Mix carrots and cucumber with some salt. Put aside for 1 hr. Drain.
2) Blanch cabbage and long beans in boiling water. Drain.

Sauce:
1) Juice of 2 lemons mixed with 2T of sugar (or more) and a pinch of salt
2) 2 stalks of lemongrass (diced)
3) 1/2 stalk of bunga kantan (diced)
4) 5 red chillis or more (seeds removed and diced)
Method:
Pulse (2, 3 & 4) in a blender or food processor until fine. Combine with juice mixture. Set aside.
Salad Method:
In a large bowl, toss all the prepared vegetables with the sauce. Add handfuls of sesame seeds and peanuts (or you can opt to add this upon serving). Transfer to a contained and chill in fridge overnight.
* If you want it sweeter, than just add more sugar when tossing the salad.

Also, I tried out 2 recipes by Gina from KC. Oven-baked Balsamic Chicken and Grilled Tumeric Chicken.

Oven-Baked Balsamic Chicken (family size serving)

Oven-Baked Balsamic Chicken (small serving)

And then, the 'accident' happened. I was re-heating up some of the marinating sauce in the microwave. Only wanted to heat them up a wee-bit but I forgot the time and over-heated them so by the time I removed it, it was steaming hot. I brought it to the dinner table and was standing behind my SIL when she suddenly turned, bumped into me and caused the sizzling 'sauce' in the bowl to spill onto my left hand. My left wrist was scalded. For the next 30 minutes, I was seeing 'stars'. Oh, man..., it was painful even though the burnt area was small. Within hours, blister the size of a 10-cent coin formed on my wrist. Ouch! Not to mention I now bear discoloured burnt marks on my wrist...*boo-hoo*

This picture was taken 'post-accident'. I was still in pain, hence my hands were shaky. Couldn't be bothered with the lighting too.

Back to the chickens, I prefer the Tumeric to the Balsamic Chicken. Nicely crisped skin with juicy meat, highly fragrant and delicious. The Balsamic Chicken was alright too but I was already taken with the flavour of the Tumeric Chicken.

So there you have it, my 'accidental' Sunday.

Let's Go Green (Pandan Custard Red Bean Buns, Pandan Chiffon & Kiwi Apple Jam)

Theme of the day - the colour green! As in pandan leaves and kiwi fruits. Get it???

Ok, bad joke aside. All I wanted to make for today was the Pandan Custard Red Bean Buns. But since my maid plucked additional pandan leaves from our garden, I used the extra to make one of my family's all-time favourite, the Pandan Chiffon Cake.


Pandan Custard Red Bean Buns
Rather simple to make. Just use your favourite 'sweet dough recipe'. After the first proofing, divide into 50g rounds. Rest for 10 mins.

Wrap each with about 30g ready-made red bean paste. Arrange in a greased pan and let it proof for about 45 nins. Prepare some custard with pandan juice. Pipe onto the buns. Brush 'un-piped' area with egg wash. Sprinkle top with dessicated coconut. Baked in pre-heated oven at 180-190c for about 18-20 mins, or till done.


Pandan Chiffon cake.
I usually reduced the sugar from the qty stated on the recipe for my chiffon cakes. But this time, I accidentally forgot to add the portion reserved for the egg yolk mixture. That is like 50% of the total sugar portion required for the recipe! I was screeching like a mad woman when I saw the bowl of sugar sitting on my counter about 5 minutes after I put the cake into the oven to bake. Was half-tempted to just dump the entire load in but then I thought - what the heck, let's just give this severely sugar-reduced attempt a try. And surprise! It was good. The lack of sweetness was evident but only subtly so. I think from now on, I would bake my chiffon cakes with this sugar ratio.


I had some extra time to kill so decided to make this simple & easy Kiwi Apple Jam, using the microwave. The jam can be done in less than 15 minutes. Recipe found from this cute blog.

More Pumpkins Please! (Golden Pumpkin Marbles)

Not satiated with the recent pumpkin dish and dessert I created, I made this savoury dish for dinner today. Something like the traditional Hakka dish called "Abacus Beads", this one uses pumpkins instead of yams.

Golden Pumpkin Marbles (based on this recipe by Gina at KC)
Not until someone asked me, "Why they don't look like typical abacus beads?", I remembered that I was supposed to shape them (by flattening them a little in the center to look like abacus beads). Then again, I think they look kinda cute the way they are. Small and round...., like marbles.

Simple, Gorgeous (Oven-roasted Pumpkin & Pang Da Hai Tongshui)

Simple, gorgeous oven-roasted pumpkin,

Recipe in "Comments"

and simple, gorgeous Pang Da Hai Tongshui with honey dates and longans.


Simple to make; taste-wise, gorgeous. How could I not love them?

Three Desserts and A Dish (Choc Chip Walnut Butter Cake, Egg White Tarts, Crystal Dumplings & Foil-Wrapped Baked Salmon

Hear, hear, the weekend is here. Time for another baking frenzy in the kitchen.
This time, I made "three desserts and a dish". Well, not exactly 3 desserts for one of them is a savoury snack but nevermind....


Forgot to dust the walnuts and choc chips with flour first, hence they tend to sink to the bottom of the cake.
Chocolate Chip & Walnut Butter Cake
Got an idea for this after tasting a similar one made by an ex-colleague. Sometimes, simple cakes like this really rocks!


Overbaked the pie crust a little.
Instead of the usual Egg Tarts that I normally made, this time I attempted a "healthier" version (Egg White Tarts) using egg whites only and low-fat milk. I like this version a lot; they kind of reminded me of the smooth "tau-fu-fa" (soybean pudding). Silky smooth and milder in taste. But somehow, the kids prefer the normal version, with the yolks and other rich stuff although I didn't tell them about the change in recipe used. They seem to have a in-built 6th sense to repel any "healthy" food stuff given to them.


Asked my maid to wrap the dumpling and the next thing I know, she wrapped them into the shapes of curry puffs! LOL!
My SIL cooked copious amount of "pang kaun chai" (a shredded carrot and yam beans dish) to be made as popiah fillings. Previously, we talked about using this filling to be wrapped with crystal dumpling skin. Ta-da! We finally achieved what we planned -

as modelled by my eldest nephew who in real-life loathes anything vegan. Sadly, this proved to be no exception either.
Crystal Dumplings filled with stir-fried shredded carrot, yam beans, dried shrimps and dried cuttlefish.

Lastly, for a good dose of Omega-3, I also prepared this simple salmon dish -

Foil-wrapped Baked Salmon.
Simple dish with simple and healthy ingredients such as lemon juice, plump tomatoes, onions, spring onions and olive oil. Most importantly, it tastes good!

That wraps up today's kitchen frenzy.

Busy Saturday (various)

I was so free this afternoon. No gym classes to go and no other appointments. Naturally, I did what I like to do best, that is making stuff in the kitchen.

Here's what I churned out:

Cheat Chinese "Lo Bak Kou" aka Steamed Radish Savoury Cake (Chinese Bread Pudding Cake)
Cheat as in the dough is made entirely from day-old white bread soaked in slightly salted water. Tasted quite like it as well except that I think I over-steamed it a bit and the texture was a bit too hard for my liking.


Also boiled some Walnut Cream Sweet Soup (tongshui). Recipe is by Betty Saw in one of her Kitchen Recipes book but it was not similar to those really thick and creamy type found in Hong Kong. But still decent though.

Recipe:
About 1 full cup of whole walnuts (or about 125g)
1/2 can of evaporated milk
400 ml water
1/2 cup sugar (or to taste)
1. Blanch walnuts in boiling water. Strain and let dry. Then roast them in the oven till golden brown.
2. Add walnuts and water into the blender and puree till fine. If you want a smooth mixture, strain it. I prefer mine with un-strained.
3. Put puree and evaporated milk into saucepan. Bring to boil. Then simmer for 1-2 minutes before adding sugar to taste.
4. Stir till sugar dissolve and bring to boil again. You may want to stir it constantly.
5. Simmer for another minute. Serve warm.

The night before, I marinated some guava slices. Original recipe can be found here. (FAVOURITE RECIPE). These are seriously good. I can't stop snacking on them. Highly recommended! Well, at least they are healthy snacks.

Guiltless Pleasures, or Not (Fuits & Nuts Cake & Oven Baked Fried Chicken Wings)

In my continued quest to look for healthier alternatives and yet, get to indulge in my favourite food (aka desserts in general), I decided to try these 2 fat-free recipes. And I am very glad that I did.

I call this Fruits & Nuts Cake (or so-called Wallpaper Loaf as found here). As mentioned in the recipe, I was initially pretty apprehensive when I prepared the batter. There seems to be less than sufficient batter for the mixture and fruits & nuts. If it wasn't for the pre-warning in the recipe, I would have thought I did something wrong somewhere. Also, I told myself to have confidence in the cake, convinced that I would love the final result. And I did! Very much so. It's just like eating a Fruits (I used a mixture of dried apricots, red dates & golden raisins) & Nuts (toasted walnuts and almonds). Obviously, the cake (un-cut) was far from the prettiest that I'd baked but I have to say, taste-wise, they are one of my favourite! Then again, once sliced, they are quite a sight to behold too.

Guilt-free Fruits & Nuts Cake

The second recipe is from KC. Another much-raved about recipe. Its novelty lie in the fact that this is basically an oil-free fried chicken wing. How can this be, you may ask. But it is true. Not 1 drop of oil was used. It's simply baked in the oven. Moreover, during baking, more fat were drained out from the chicken (to make it even healthier, if that's possible). Taste-wise, let me just say that they were "fingers-licking-good" (to quote Colonel Sanders) when paired with sweet chili sauce. I walloped 3 in 1 go. And that must surely say something about these delicious morsels.

Oil-free Oven-baked Fried Chicken Wings

Happy Mother's Day (Dinner Spread)

Happy Mother's Day. We celebrated it yesterday at the West Lake Garden Chinese Restaurant in Sunway Lagoon Resort yesterday. Anyhow, I felt that tonight's dinner should be somewhat special than an ordinary day. So although last minute, I proposed to make a special dinner for my mommy tonight.
Because it was a last-minute plan, I was quite frantic in deciding what to cook. My interest lies mainly in baking, I am what you would call "the occasional cook". My interest in cooking is only piqued when I come across interesting recipes. The recipes have to be relatively easy and not too complicated with tons of ingredients.
So finally, here's my menu for the night.

Wu Xi Spare Ribs (recipe from here)
No deep-frying involved. Braised/boiled for 1.5hrs. Result is a very tender and tasty ribs dish.


Healthy Lemongrass Fish baked in foil
(Based on this recipe)
Very nice too. I agree to another reader's description. Almost like a tom-yum base without the spiciness.


Braised Sweet Beancurd
(Recipe can be found in Kitchen Capers: See side link)
Full of aroma!


Broccoli & Mushrooms (contributed by my SIL)


Superior Chicken Soup with Scallops and Fish Maw (contributed by my SIL)

Dessert: Didn't prepare any because we bought our favourite pandan layer cake from a bakery.

Overall: Not too bad for a beginner, I think. ;-)

What's For Lunch & Dinner? (Healthy Vegan Burger, Roast Pork, Choc Tofu Pudding, Pumpkin Custard)

What's for lunch? Let's have something healthy, simple and fast. How about Vegan Burger? Here's what you do:
Slice a plain sesame burger bun into 2. Lightly butter each side and toast. In the mean time, defrost and microwave a vegan chicken burger patty. Assemble on buns with some sliced tomatoes. Top with some fresh watercress. Sprinkle balsamic vinegar on watercress. Garnish with some chilli sauce, light mayo or cheese, and freshly ground black pepper. Ta-da...


Since lunch was healthy, let's indulge for dinner. How about some Roast Pork, Chinese-style? (aka "Siew Yok")?


Can't forget desserts too. Take your pick between
Healthy Chocolate Tofu Pudding


or Steamed Pumpkin Custard?


Now, this is what I call "a fruitful day"!

Need a Healthy Fix? (Angel Muffins, Chewy Walnut Squares, Homemade Protein Bars, Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Chowder

Sometimes, I would the occasional guilt from having over-indulged on desserts. This was what happened to me recently so rather than putting a total stop to desserts, I set about looking for healthier dessert recipes and here’s what I found (and made):

Angel Muffins (Fat-free, primary ingredient: Egg whites)


Chewy Walnut Squares (Fat-free and yummy! Recipe found from Comfort Food blog page. I used a mixture of molasses sugar and light brown sugar)

Updated: I have posted the recipe here.

Homemade Protein Bars (Main ingredients: Yoghurt, Wholemeal flour, toasted almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, dried cranberries and golden raisins – yum)

Updated: I have posted the recipe here.

Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Chowder (so good….! Particularly with some plain bread or Pumpkin Seed Sandwich Bread)
Note to Malaysian readers: Recipe found in complimentary recipe booklet by HL Milk together with latest issue of Appetite Magazine

Sunday Roast (Roasted Sesame Chicken)

My first attemp in roasting chicken. I used Gina's Roasted Sesame Chicken recipe found here.

I love it! Definitely a keeper in my books!

Lor Mai Fan (Steamed Glutinous Rice)

Lor Mai Fan with sliced cucumbers and sambal chili

Recipe from the ever-reliable Kitchen Capers. This recipe is easy to follow (trust me, I am an absolute klutz when it comes to chinese cooking) with simple ingredients. I find it yummy but I think I might have been overly heavy-handed with the thick black soy sauce for the rice turned out to be rather dark. I have no problem with it but my mom commented, "wah, charcoal dark ya...." *lol*

Fancy a Black Chicken? (Braised Black-Sauce Chicken)

I like baking but I seldom cook. Well, yesterday was one of the rare incidents where I actually cooked a dish for my family's Sunday dinner.

Braised Black Sauce Chicken buried under a bed of eggs and beancurd.

When I first saw a photo of this dish here, my first thought was what a delicious-looking chicken it is. And when I saw that the recipe wasn't too difficult, I decided to give it a try. The only near-mishap was much to my frustration, I discovered that the jar of "sweet sauce" (aka tim cheong) in the fridge was in fact "sweet hoisin sauce". I contemplated on using it but in the end, took the author's 2nd option that is to substitute the sweet sauce with some liquid molasses and brown sugar.

The entire cooking time was close to an hour. The end result? Well, it was nice although different from our usual dishes. You see, my mother almost never used spices (such as clove, cinnamon and star anise) in her cooking. It took my family some time in getting used to the taste. But overall, I would say it was worth the effort.

Cooking Up A Storm on Christmas Eve

That's right. This year I have been put in-charge of my family's Christmas dinner which we have decided to hold it on Christmas eve. I have to admit it took me a while to finalise on the menu for the night. There were many recipes which I considered but then in the end, I have to find the ones that sound yummy, but not too task-demanding. After all, except for baking, I am relatively alien to the kitchen in terms of cooking...

After 2 weeks of recipe contemplation, 2 hours of ingredient shopping, 4 hours of preparation in the kitchen prior to dinner (with the help of 2 maids and my good ol' sister who arrived early for the dinner), here are my (ahem) pride and glory:

Starters:
1. Prawn Salad (this is contributed by my niece. Simple & nice, go girl!)

2. Broccoli, Cauliflower, Crabstick & Mushroom Salad in Creamy Wild Mushroom Sauce topped with "longan" fruit. (A case of "dump all leftovers here"...)

3. Sausage & Pineapple Cocktail.

4. Coca-cola Pork Ribs (this is the family's favourite, it seems)

5. Oven-Fried Cucumber & Zucchini Sticks


Mains: Choice of the following with sides of Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Honey Glazed Carrots.
1. Swiss Steak

2. Fish in Lemon Parsley Butter sauce


Kid's menu:

1. Fried Chicken cutlets
2. Sausage/Crabstick Cheese Bruschetta
3. Garlicky Mash
4. Chocolate Milkshake

Desserts:
1. Chocolate Tartlets

2. Creme Caramel

3. Lemon Pudding Cheesecake with Kiwi Fruits


I have to declare the dinner to be a success except for a minor accident. Moments after cutting slices of the cheesecake and when I was about to return it to the fridge, somehow the slippery pie dish slipped out and fell to the floor. Oh no!!! And just when I thought I could have it for breakfast the next day as I like this cheesecake very much. :(


Here's the cheesecake, seconds from disaster!

Nevertheless, it was a fun evening. Tiring yes, but fun! We ended the night with gifts-exchange under the Christmas Tree.


Merry Christmas to All! Good tidings and Peace!