Soft and Moist Butter Cake

Thank you, Mrs Ng SK for sharing your well known butter cake.  Using Mrs Ng SK's butter cake recipe, I try it on my new baking tin but think I need to bake it slightly longer to have a darker brown layer.  Also for the method, I did not use the egg separation method instead use the normal cake baking method.

Recipe adapted from Mrs Ng S K's butter cake

Ingredients:

I am using half recipe portion

115g unsalted butter

2 eggs (100g)

100g castor sugar

100g self raising flour, sifted

30ml milk

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Method:

1. Beat butter and sugar in mixer till fluffy

2. Add egg one at a time. Then add vanilla bean paste and milk.

3. Add in sifted flour and beat till incorporated

4. Pour batter into 6" cake tin.

5. Bake at preheated oven at 160 deg for 30 mins.

Ham & Cheese Toast Bread

Made these for breakfast today. Even the kids loves it.  Thank you Dino Kwek for sharing the tips on making the nice yummy toasted bread.

Ingredients:

2 pieces bread

2 slices of cheese

1 piece of leg ham

some butter or margarine

Method:

1. Spread some butter or margarine on one side of 2 pieces of bread.

2. Heat pan. Place the breads on pan. The side with butter spread should be facing down on the pan.

3. Place the cheese on the breads. Then place the ham on top of 1 piece of bread.

4. Using a wooden spatula, try to lift the bread and check the bottom of bread is nicely toasted.

5. Once done, take out both pieces of bread and assemble like a sandwich. Sliced into 4 parts and serve.

ABC Pork Ribs Soup

A simple yet delicious healthy soup for family.  This soup should be very familiar in every household but I still share it here in my blog.

Ingredients:

200g pork ribs

1500ml water

1 potato

1 carrot

1 sweet corn

1 tomato, cut into quarter

1 yellow onion, cut into quarter

12 seedless red dates

2 pieces 海玉竹

1 dried scallop

salt to taste

Method:

1. Blanch meat in a small pot under boiling water.

2. In a big pot, put in all the ingredients include the blanched meat, except onion and tomato.

3. Bring it to boil. Once boil, simmer under medium low heat for 2 to 2.5 hours. 

4. Add in the onion and tomato 30 mins before the soup is done.

5. Add salt to taste if needed.

6. Serve

Teriyaki Chicken with Assorted Tempura

Yesterday I decided to have japanese meal for dinner after seeing my friend, Jo, made teriyaki chicken for her dinner on previous day.  For the teriyaki chicken, I used the recipe shared by my friend, Annie K Soh.  For the tempura, I used the recipe from go-japanese.com

Teriyaki Chicken with Homemade Teriyaki Sauce

Ingredients:

1-2 chicken thigh, boneless

1 tbsp sake

2 tbsp japanese light soya sauce

3 tbsp mirin

1 tbsp sugar

Method:

1. Wash and pat dry chicken thigh.

2. Mix sake, soya sauce, mirin and sugar well and marinate the chicken for at least 30 mins. 

3. Heat pan under medium low heat.

4. Place chicken with skin side facing down. Cover pan for 2-3 mins.

5. Then flip the chicken to cook the other side for 2 mins with pan covered.

6. Open pan and drizzle more marinates sauce over the chicken and flip chicken again with skin face down.

7. Once the sauce start to dry up and skin nicely glazed, it is done.

Recipe for Tempura:

Ingredients:

1 Sweet potato

1 Egg plant

6 Prawns, removed head and shell.

Tempura batter:

1/2 cup plain flour

1/2 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup cold water

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp potato starch

Method:

1. Mix flour, baking soda, potato starch together.  Sift all together in a big bowl.

2. In another bowl, add cold water to the beaten egg and mix well.

3. Put 1/3 of mixed sifted flour into the egg mixture and gently mixed with chopstick.

4. Then add another 1/3 flour mixture and mix.

5. Finally add the last 1/3 flour mixture and mix.

6. Important: Lumps in the batter is completely fine. Do not over mix as you will get lot of gluten which makes it heavy and un-crispy tempura batter.

Pork with Potatoes

Cook this dish for my kids as they love it.  Simple home cooked and yet delicious.

Ingredients:

1 potatoes, remove skin and cut into small pieces,rinsed

150g sliced pork

2 cloves garlic, minced
Some knorr chicken powder

Dark soya sauce, for colour

Salt to taste

Sesame oil or cooking oil

some water, about 100ml

Marinate for pork:

1 tsp Corn starch

Dash of sesame oil

1 tsp light soya sauce

Few dash of hua tiao wine

Method:

1. Heat pan with oil. Put in garlic then potatoes and stir fry for few mins.

2. Add in marinated pork and quickly stir fry to separate the pork.

3. Pour in water, chicken powder and add in dark soya sauce for colour and salt to taste.

4. Dish up and serve.

Japanese Green Veg with Oyster Sauce

With half pack of japanese green veg to clear, I simple stir fry it with oyster sauce.   Portion just nice for 2 adults.

Ingredients:

1/2 pack of japanese green veg from NTUC, washed and drained

2 slice of ginger

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp of oyster sauce

Cooking oil

some knorr chicken powder

some salt

some water

Method:

1. Heat pan with oil. Fry ginger and garlic till fragrant.

2. Add in vegetables, chicken powder and salt.

3. Add in oyster sauce and water and stir fry the vegetables.

4. Once vegetables is cook, dish up and serve.

Si Chuan Vegetable with Pork

This is an appetising dish that you can have it with few bowls of rice.
I saw my friend cook this in a Facebook group and tempted me to cook it too.

Ingredients:

1 pack of Si Chuan Veg

150g sliced pork

2 cloves garlic, minced

Few dash of dark soya sauce for colour

Some water

Salt to taste

Cooking oil

Marinates for pork:

1 tsp Corn starch

Dash of sesame oil

1 tsp light soya sauce

Few dash of hua tiao wine

Method:

1. Heat pan with oil and fry garlic till fragrant.

2. Add in the si chuan veg and marinated pork. Stir fry to separate the pork and si chuan veg.

3. Once the pork is cook, add in dark soya sauce and fry till all pork n veg is well mix with dark soya sauce.

4. Add some water in and let it cook. Taste test. Add salt to taste if needed.

5. Serve

Winter Melon Pork Ribs Soup

All my homecooked soup does not have msg in it yet still can taste the sweetness of the soup with the use of red dates and 海玉竹.

Ingredients:

1 pack of pork ribs from NTUC 

1 pack of cutted/sliced winter melon from NTUC

1 dried scallop

3 pieces 海玉竹

12 pieces seedless red dates

2 litres of water

salt to taste

Method:

1. Blanch pork ribs in a small pot. Throw away the water after blanching.

2. Slice off the winter melon skin and cut into big chunk pieces.

3. Wash the winter melon, dried scallop, 海玉竹, red dates and blanched pork ribs in a big pot.

4. Add water into the pot and let it boil.

5. Once boil, lower the heat to medium low and boil for few hours. I boil for almost 3 hours. Do top up water if water reduce.

6. Add salt to taste before you off heat.

Chocolate Chips Cookies

Chocolate Chips Cookies definately well likes by many people so do my kids.  I bakes this for my kids this week for their teabreak in school.

Coffee Extract I used

Recipe adapted from website with minor adjustment I made.

Ingredients:

85g castor sugar

85g brown sugar

115g unsalted butter, softened

1 large egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

255g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup semisweet hershey chocolate chips

1/4 tsp coffee emulco

Method:

1. Preheat oven at 190deg C.

2. Mix castor sugar, brown sugar, softened butter, vanilla extract, coffee emulco and egg in a large mixing bowl using spatula.

3. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt using spatula until well mixed.

4. Stir in chocolate chips until they are evenly mixed.

5. Drop dough by using a teaspoon onto baking tray with parchment paper on the tray leaving 2 inch apart between dough.

6. Bake for 8-10 mins or until light brown.  You may even think the cookies are undone but they will finish cooking through out of the oven.  

7. Let cool completely then remove from baking paper.

Note: Different oven, temperature and timing varies.

Chouquettes

Another yummy French Sweet Treat that I made today. It is so nice that I can pop two to three pieces at one go.  Special thanks to Derek Woo for sharing this super yummy sweet treat.

This is the piped out batter

Recipe for choux pastry and Method adapted from Derek Woo with some adjustment I made:
75g unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp castor sugar
140g plain flour
240ml water
4 eggs
(Personal note: You do not need to use up all the eggs stated in recipe. Once you reach the correct consistency(not too runny), stop adding more eggs)

Pearl sugar for sprinkle (generous amount)

Method:
1. Combine the butter, salt, sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
2. Make sure the butter has melted. Take off from heat then put in the flour at once and stir quickly with a wooden spoon until well blended.
3. Return the pan over medium low heat and keep stirring until the mixture forms a smooth ball that pull off from the side of the pan.
4. Remove from heat and let cool 3 mins. Add the eggs one by one, stirring well after each addition.
5.Preheat oven to 200 deg and line baking sheet on tray.
6. Use piping bag, cut a opening then squeeze batter out onto the baking paper to form small balls.
7. Do leave space in between each batter balls and sprinkle pearl sugar generously.
8. Bake for 20 mins until puffed up and golden brown.
9. Turn off oven, open the door just abit and leave the chouquettes in oven for another 5 mins to prevent temperature shock.

Pan Fried Cod Fish

Sharing with all of you the simplest way to enjoy eating cod fish.  Using the minimal ingredients needed and at the same time enjoy the natural sweetness from the flesh of the cod fish.  This recipe is suitable for those who is not able to consume any brown sauce for health reason.

Ingredients:

1 piece of Cod Fish

Salt

Corn flour

Cooking oil

Method:

1. Wash and pat dry fish. Marinate fish with salt and coat thoroughly with corn flour.

2. Heat pan with oil.

3. Place fish on pan and pan fry under med heat till both side is golden brown or lightly brown till your preference.

4. Dish up and serve