Crispy spare ribs

I have been trying to find a good recipe for crispy but baked spare ribs and watching some of the Nigella programmes gave me an inspiration.

I used back my usual char siew sauce recipe, but tweaked it a bit. I added in cinnamon and cumin, which are Morrocon influences, seem to go well with this predominantly Chinese dish.

Both the cinnamon and cumin give a kind of sweetness to it and also a certain earthy heat. But avoid putting too much, especially cumin, which are very potent spices and could easily overpower everything else.

Ingredients

350g spare ribs

1 tbls oyster sauce

1 tbls dark soya sauce

1 tbls light soya sauce

1 tbls chinese rice wine

1 tbls sesame seed oil

1 tbls sugar

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp ginger powder

1 tsp cinnamon

corn flour for coating

Method

1) Pour the spare ribs into a bowl with all the ingredients for marinading. Marinade overnight if possible, or at least for 3 hours in the fridge.

2) Take the spare ribs out of the marinade and squeeze each rib dry to get rid of all excess liquid. Set aside the marinade. This will be used as the sauce later.

3) In a baking tray, oil the bottom of the tray. Put in the oven (set at 180 C) to warm up the oil.

4) Coat each spare rib with corn flour. Ensure proper thorough coating all over. Put straight into the hot oil.

5) Put back into the oven and bake at 180C for 30-40 mins or so (depending on how thick the meat and bone are. The thicker, the longer!) Turn halfway through the cooking time and brush over a thin layer of oil.

6) At the last 5 minutes, turn up the heat to 200C to crisp the outside.

7) For the sauce, simmer on low heat to reduce until thick and syrupy. Add a bit of water to dilute if too salty. This can be the dipping sauce or drizzled on top.

7) Serve with oven baked vegs (I laid these at the bottom of the pan) or steamed rice, or both!

Almond Croccante

As seen in David Rocco's Dolce Vita, here's a simple recipe for a sweet that he used for trick or treatin' during Halloween.

Ingredients:
4 cups almonds
3 cups sugar
1/2 cup water (120ml)

Directions:
1) In a saucepan, add sugar and cook on high heat. Continue to stir until sugar begins to sweat and liquefy. Add a bit of water to help if necessary. Continue to cook until sugar turns into a deep rich brown colour.
2) Add almonds and mix well. Cook for a few minutes, making sure your almonds are fully coated.

3) Remove from heat and quickly spread the hot almond/sugar mixture on a cookie sheet to the desired thickness.
4) Let cool for a half an hour before breaking it into smaller pieces.

Cornflake cookies

Here is the traditional recipe for cornflake cookies. Very easy to do and very crunchy! Courtesy of a very good old friend and a very good cook who started me out on all the basics of cooking, Cynthia!

Ingredients
350g self raising flour
1pc butter (250g)
7oz fine sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg
1 box cornflakes, use rolling pin to crush half ,and reserve half for coating

Method
1) Beat butter and sugar with mixer till soft.
2) Add 1 egg.
3) Fold in flour slowly.
4) Add the crushed cornflakes.
5) Scoop one teaspoon of the above and roll on the remianing cornflakes.
6) Place the cookies in the small paper cup for baking.
7) Bake at 130 C for approx 30-45 min and ensure that inside and outside of cookies are cooked.

Starch

Got this from Sunday's Taste section today. Something I've been wondering for a long time and presto, here's the answer!

Q: I find that when you use corn flour to thicken a dish it becomes watery after a while. Some suggest the use of sweet potato flour, especially if you need to thicken lor mee. May I know what type of flour I shoudl use as a common thickener?

A (Chris Tan): The pure starches commonly used for thickening in Asia have different properties, and each does different things well.

Corn starch is popular as it thickens quickly and efficiently. However, corn starch-thickened sauces are cloudy and, if over-stirred or over-cooked, become watery, as you've noticed. Hence, corn starch is most ideal for dishes that are quickly cooked and promptly served.

Flavour-wise, it's also the most compatible thickener for dairy-based sauces and soupls.

Potato starch and sweet potato starch make clear, beautifully glossy sauces that start out very thick, but thin out as simmering continues. They are good for lor mee, mee rebus and other gravies that need to be creamy-smooth but are not boiled at length.

Arrowroot starch is similar to corn starch, but is less cloudy and more stable. It's also less concentrated, so you need slightly more of it. Arrowroot-thickened sauces do not become gluey or jelly-like as they cook. Unlike other starches, arrowroot isn't affected by acidic ingredients, so it's great for dishes like hot and sour soup, or fruit pie fillingss. It doesn't mix well with diary products though.

Tapioca (cassava) starch has the most neutral flavour of all, suitable for both sweet and savoury dishes. It's wonderful for fruit pie fillings or bright, shiny fruit tart glazes. Cold soups and sauces are a no-no though, as tapioca yeilds stringy, gel-like consistencies when cool.

Water chestnut starch is expensive and has a slight but distinctive flavour. however, it gives sauces a lovely shine and less heavy texture than corn strach. It's often gritty so pulse it in a food processor to break it up. You have to stir it energetically to dissolve it in water.

Cornflake and coconut biscuits

Thanks to Mag's recipe for Anzac biscuits, I'd thought I'd modify it a bit considering I don't really like oats and don't want to have a big bag of it hanging around after I've done baking! I leant the hard way about parchment paper - you still have to oil it otherwise it will still get stuck to the biscuits! To be extra kiasu, I recommend dusting on some flour on top as well.

Ingredients

3 cups cornflakes, crushed (put it into a ziploc and use a rolling pin to bash it up...great for working out frustration!)

1 cup plain flour (150g)

1 cup packed brown sugar (200g)

1/2 cup dessicated coconut (45g)

125g butter

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp water

1/2 tsp bicarb of soda

1 tsp vanilla essence

Method

1) Combine the dry ingredients (cornflakes, sugar, flour and coconut) well in a big mixing bowl.

2) Combine the wet ingredients by melting the butter in a microwave bowl with sugar, water, and vanilla. Once the butter has melted, stir in the bicarb.

3) Pour the wet ingredients into the mixing bowl and mix well.

4) Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. Oil/butter the parchment paper well and dust on a thin layer of flour. Shake off excess.

5) Use a spoon to form rounded tsp of the mixture, and put them approx 5 cm apart. I used my hands to really crush and pack the mixture together into a tight ball, patting it down only slightly to get the flat biscuit shape. If it's too dry, add a bit more water or use milk.

6) Bake in a 160 degree oven for approx 15 to 20 mins until firm to the touch.

Fishball soup

This is a simple dish but honestly, do you know how hard it is to make the soup base? Most hawker stalls I go to, the soup ends up tasting like dishwater - the 'soup' is literally the stuff they use to 'wash' the noodles in before serving it in your bowl, with lots of MSG and salt added. Blech.

Thanks to my new cube mate and mother of a toddler, she cued me in on the use of yellow soya beans and ikan bilis. I've often seen soya beans end up in my niang dou fu so her idea can't be too far wrong! I've added my own ginger and other stuff and wow - a dark earthy MSG-tasting soup without any MSG!

Ingredients (feeds 2)

For stock

1.5l water

3 handfuls of soya beans

3 handful peanuts

2 handfuls of ikan bilis (the ones with heads on)

1 thumb-sized ginger, sliced

1 tbsp chinese rice wine
1 star anise

salt to taste

For fishball soup
1 pkt fishballs
3 tbsp dong chai
1 bunch tang-o

Method1) Put in the stock ingredients to boil for 1 to 1.5 hours. Add salt and pepper approx 5 min near the end.
2) Drain the stock (this step is very important, unless u like eating all that stuff. This step affects the enjoyment of the soup!)
3) Put in the fishbals and dong chai and boil briefly until the fish balls float.
4) Before serving, throw in the tang-o. The heat will slightly wilt the vegetable.
5) This can be served with plain steamed rice, or add noodles(I like using dong fen or bee hoon) at this point

Nigella's Triple Chocolate Brownies

I've always been looking around for the right brownie recipe - my brownies are nice right after baking but tend to get hard as the days go by, as hard as biscuits! I had this prefect recipe off the Hershey cocoa tin years ago but haven't been able to find it since. I'm told the secret to the gooey-ness really lies in sour cream.

Anyhow this look like another good recipe to try. Thought I'd copy and paste it here before it disappears from cyberspace forever.

Recipe courtesy Nigella Lawson
Show:
Nigella Feasts
Episode:
Chocolate Heaven

Ingredients
3 sticks plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
12 ounces best-quality bittersweet chocolate
6 eggs 1 3/4 cups superfine sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup white chocolate buttons, chips, or morsels
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate buttons, chips or morsels
Approximately 2 teaspoons confectioners' sugar, for garnish
Special equipment: Baking tin (approximately 11 1/4 inches by 9 inches by 2 inches), sides and base lined with baking parchment.

Method
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
1) Melt the butter and dark chocolate together in a large heavy based pan over a low heat.
2) In a bowl or large measuring jug, beat the eggs together with the superfine sugar and vanilla extract.
3) Allow the chocolate mixture to cool a little, then add the egg and sugar mixture and beat well. 4) Fold in the flour and salt. Then stir in the white chocolate buttons or chips, and the semisweet chocolate buttons or chips.
5) Beat to combine then scrape and pour the brownie mixture into the prepared tin.
6) Bake for about 25 minutes. You can see when the brownies are ready because the top dries to a slightly paler brown speckle, while the middle remains dark, dense and gooey. Even with such a big batch you do need to keep checking on it: the difference between gooey brownies and dry ones is only a few minutes. Remember, too, that they will continue to cook as they cool.
7) To serve, cut into squares while still warm and pile up on a large plate, sprinkling with confectioners' sugar pushed with a teaspoon through a small sieve.

Nigella's Quadraple Chocolate Loaf Cake

Saw this super duper easy and yet superbly sinful choco cake recipe recently. Done just the way I like it - using a food processor! More of Nigella's chocolate recipes can be found in her episode "Chocolate Heaven".
Cake:
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 1/2 sticks soft unsalted butter
2 eggs
1 tablespoon good-quality vanilla extract
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or morsels

Syrup:
1 teaspoon cocoa
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar

1-ounce dark chocolate (from a thick bar if possible), cut into splinters of varying thickness, for garnish

Special equipment: 2-pound loaf tin (approximately 9 1/2 by 4 1/2 by 3 inches deep), lined with greased foil, pressed into the corners and with some overhang at the top. Alternatively, substitute a silicon loaf tin, no foil lining necessary.

Method

1) Take whatever you need out of the refrigerator so that all ingredients can come room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F, putting in a baking sheet as you do so.

2) Put the flour, baking soda, cocoa, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream into the processor and blitz until a smooth, satiny brown batter. Scrape down with a rubber spatula and process again while pouring the boiling water down the funnel. Switch it off, then remove the lid and the well-scraped double-bladed knife and, still using your rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate chips or morsels.

3) Scrape and pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and put into the oven, cooking for about 1 hour. When ready, the loaf will be risen and split down the middle and a cake-tester will pretty well come out clean.

4) Not long before the cake is due out of the oven (when it has had about 45 to 50 minutes), put the syrup ingredients of cocoa, water and sugar into a small saucepan and boil for about 5 minutes, to give a thick syrup.

5) Take the cake out of the oven and sit it on a cooling rack, still in the tin, and pierce here and there with a cake tester. Pour the syrup over the cake.

6) Let the cake become completely cold and then slip out of its tin, removing the foil as you do so. Sit on an oblong or other plate. Sprinkle the chocolate splinters over the top of the sticky surface of the cake