Glutinous Rice (Lo Mai Fun 糯米饭)

It's public holiday today. So made glutinous rice for tea-break and dinner. I'm sure it will end up as breakfast tomorrow too.


Ingredients

1kg glutinous rice
30ml olive oil
100g shallots, thinly sliced
100g dried shrimp, soaked till soft then drained
100g dried mushroom, soaked till soft, drained and thinly sliced
50g dried scallops, soaked till soft then drained
15ml light soya sauce
15ml sesame oil
15ml oyster sauce
15g sugar
salt to taste
pepper to taste
400ml water
100g roasted peanuts
2 stalks scallion, chopped
2 red chilli, chopped

Method

1. Soaked the glutinous rice in water for one hour. Drain and set aside.

2. To a heated wok, add olive oil and fry the shallots until golden brown.

3. Add shrimp, mushroom and scallops and stir-fry for five minutes.

4. Add light soya sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce, sugar, salt and pepper. Mix well.

5. Add glutinous rice and stir-fry for five minutes.

6. Add water, mix well and cook the rice for two minutes.

7. Transfer the rice into a container and place in a steamer for 30 minutes or until the rice is cooked.

8. Remove the rice from the steamer and top with roasted peanuts, scallions and chilli.

Serves 10. (Note: I made half the portion)

(source: Sunday Times on 15 September 2009 http://www.soshiok.com/articles/14174)

Chocolate Marble Cake 2

It's mum's birthday today!

It's been a long time since I last baked a cake. The fear of butter and sugar was enough to deter me from doing it more often. I should just say grace over the cake, sanctify it, cast out all the unwanted calories and believe that only the goodness and nutrients enter our bodies as we enjoy it.

I didn't succeed when I attempted All That Matter's Orange Chocolate Marble Cake recipe the last time and ended up with a modified version. Firstly, I did not use evaporated milk. Secondly, I used brown sugar to beat with the egg whites and it did not turn into the soft peak that ATM's recipe requires. Lastly, I did not use the orange zest.

Today, I tried to follow ATM's recipe closely, but without the orange zest.

One mistake I made today was that I forgot to wash the electric hand mixer clean before I beat the egg whites and sugar. After beating for a while, it could not turn into soft peak. Realising the mistake, I had no choice but to discard the mixture (because I really don't know what to do with it), wash the mixer and the mixing bowl, wipe-dry them, take out the measuring scale to measure more sugar, crack more eggs for the egg whites and re-do this step. Thankfully, it worked this time.

This is for mum's birthday...


Mum said that this cake is nice. It's not too oily and thus, not so "scary". She doesn't fancy oily cakes and cakes with too much cream. It tastes really nice when it's slightly warm.

Do check out ATM's blog. Rei has also made reference to the marble cake recipe at Aunty Yochana's Cake Delight. It is a pretty tri-colour marble cake. I may give it a try.

I really admire Rei's skill in making those mahjong tiles. They really look like the real thing. Amazing. See her mahjong tiles here....

Chwee Kueh 2

Have finally made chwee kueh using another recipe found at Icyelite's Life. This recipe is slightly different from Gina's recipe, which I used earlier. Icyelite has added wheat starch, tapioca flour and a little bit of salt, hence her chwee kueh is not completely bland. I like this better.

Icyelite has included one important suggestion on her post that we have as many chwee kueh moulds as we can if we are making a lot. Her recipe yields about 20-24 chwee kuehs.

Mum and H are happy with the chwee kueh, so this is the recipe that I will use next time. I think there are many ways to cook the preserved chopped radish (cai po). So I'm still in the process of trying out. And yes, I have bought my 12 chwee kueh moulds from Phoon Huat, and they are obviously insufficient. So I used some larger chicken pie moulds too.

Ingredients A

150g Rice Flour
1 tbsp Wheat Starch
1 tbsp Tapioca Flour
1 tsp Salt (I use 1/2 tsp)
280ml Tap Water

Ingredients B

550ml Boiling Water

Ingredients C

200g preserved chopped radish (Cai Po)
Sesame Oil
Pepper
Cooking Oil

Method

1. Grease the moulds with oil first to prevent sticking.

2. Mix Ingredients A evenly first.

3. Once A is even, mix Ingredient B into A well.

4. Once done, pour the mixture into the mould and steam for 10 minutes.

5. Dip cai po into salt water (note: I use sweet cai po).

6. Drip dry and fry the cai po.

7. Add oil, sesame oil to cook first.

8. Add sugar and pepper. Cook cai po until dark brown.

9. Let the chwee kueh cool down, dig it out from the mould and serve with cai po.

Sakura Chicken Rendang

It's been a long time since I last posted. Well, too much time has been spent on "farming" at Farm Town on Facebook, as well as researching on beauty products with my friend, Amy, who has just completed her beautician course and is going to start providing her home-based beauty services on a part-time basis. All the best to my dear friend.

After going to the new Safra Jurong gym two Sundays ago with H, we dropped by Jurong Point's NTUC Xtra. I bought Prima Taste's Rendang (Asian Dry Curry) paste as I have not tried it before and since it was on sale. We also bought the supposedly healthy antibiotic-free Sakura chicken that is only available at NTUC Fairprice supermarkets. At Chicken Rice Company's website, it mentions that Sakura chicken is a special breed of poultry originally from Japan that's known for its succulent and flavourful meat.

It's really very simple to cook and delicious. It was written on the pack that the recipe serves 5-7 persons. But H, mum and I almost finished everything, with H eating the MOST. So it must be really good.

Ingredients

Prima Taste's Rendang pack (it comes with 1 packet of paste and 1 packet of coconut premix)
1 Sakura chicken (chopped into small pieces)
180ml water (3/4 cup)

Method

1. Heat pot till hot. Add Rendang Paste and stir-fry for 2 mins on high heat.

2. Add chicken and stir-fry for 3 mins.

3. Pour Prima Coconut Premix and 180ml water into a bowl. Stir and mix well. Add mixture into pot and bring to boil on medium high heat. Stir occasionally.

4. Lightly boil on medium heat for another 12-14 mins. Stir occasionally while simmering. (Gravy should be slightly thick and glossy when ready.)

5. Serve with warm rice or bread.

(source: www.primataste.com)

Orange Chiffon Cake

It's Vesak Day today and Mother's Day tomorrow. Blessed Mother's Day to all the mummies!

Took the opportunity to try out Florence's orange chiffon cake recipe last night for today's breakfast and snack. It's soft, fluffy, moist and nice. Mum said the sweetness is just nice, not too sweet.

Ingredients

115g cake flour
3/4 tsp baking powder

85ml warm orange juice (I used freshly-squeezed orange juice)
finely grated zest of 1.5 large orange

5 egg yolks + 30g castor sugar + 1/4 tsp salt
5 egg whites + 50g castor sugar + 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

60ml corn oil
1/2 tsp vanilla essence or 2 tsp rum

Method

1. Sieve flour and baking powder

2. Use hand whisk to whisk egg yolk until creamy and light in colour. Add in corn oil, then warm orange juice and vanilla essence (or rum)

3. Add in flour mixture into yolk mixture lightly. Add in orange zest.

4. Beat egg white with electric beater until big bubbles formed. Sprinkle in cream of tartar and beat unitl it is white in colour. Add in 50g sugar 3 times and beat until stiff peak.

5. Pour 1/2 egg white into flour mixture in (3) and blend well.

6. Pour the flour mixture into the rest of egg white and blend well.

7. Bake at 175C for 45 minutes or until cooked.

8. Invert the cooked cake during cooling process.

Sago Pudding

It's Labour Day today! The packet of sago has been lying in the cabinet for quite a while. Thought of putting some into the green bean soup, but changed my mind. Found this sago pudding recipe at Irene's Favourite Recipes. It's a simple, easy-to-make dessert for a warm Friday afternoon.

Ingredients

200g Sago
Water, enough to cover sago
200g Gula Melaka
150g Water
250ml Coconut Milk

Method

1. Use a medium pot and fill 3/4 of the pot with water. Bring water to boil.

2. Pour sago into boiling water and stir continuously while cooking.

3. Boil with medium for 10 mintues.

4. Turn fire off and place cover over the pot. Let sago 'cook' in the pot for another 10 mintues.

5. Remove the cover and give sago a stir to check all had become transparent.

6. Pour sago over a sieve and rinse under cold water till cooled totally.

7. Scoop sago and place into moulds / bowls. Chill it till ready to be served.

8. Chop gula melaka into pieces. Place in a pot with water and bring mixture to boil till sugar dissolve. Leave to cool.

9. Serve sago pudding with cooled gula melaka syrup and coconut milk.

Steam Radish Cake II (萝卜糕)

I was on medical leave on Tuesday. Instead of idling at home, I tried out Lily's steam radish cake recipe. It's quite similar to the one that I tried earlier, but she added wheat starch flour and corn flour. I had a 1kg radish, so I just doubled the ingredients, but I used 750ml of water. So the cake was slightly firmer, which makes it easier to pan-fry. The cake was also soft enough to be eaten on its own. Brought some for my care group friends to try and they said it's nice. :-)

Ingredients

500g radish(白萝卜)
2 nos. shallots, sliced
40g dried shrimps
1-2 nos. chinese preserved sausages (腊肠)
4 nos. dried mushrooms
2 tbsp oil, for frying
A little oil for greasing

Batter:
150g rice flour (粘米粉)
15g wheat starch flour (澄面粉)
20g corn starch (太白粉)
500ml water

Seasoning:
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
pepper, to taste

Method

1. Shred radish. Set aside.

2. Clean and soak both dried shrimps and dried mushrooms until soften. Chop dried shrimps slightly. Cut mushrooms into small cubes.

3. Cut sausages into small cubes.

4. Grease a pan with some oil.

5. Place wheat starch flour, rice flour and corn starch in a mixing bowl. Pour water into flours and stir well.

6. Heat up 2 tbsp of oil in a pan/wok and fry these ingredients by order ,remove and set aside, first the sausages , then the shallots, lastly dried shrimps. Without removing the dried shrimps, add in the mushrooms and then the shredded radish.

7. Season with the seasoning ingredients.

8. Pour the flour mixture into the pan. Cook until the mixture thickens.

9. Place the thick mixture into the greased pan prepared earlier.

10. Steam at high fire for 1 hour.

11. Set aside. Slice when radish cake is cool.

12. Cake can be served as is or pan fried and best eaten with chilly sauce.