Kai Tung Gho (鸡蛋糕 )

Got this from quizzine. Not bad for the 1st attempt, altho I was a bit impatient at the end because I needed to leave the house, so the bottom middle of the cake wasn't totally cooked through. Next time will need the full 1 hr.

This is her recipe.

Ingredients/ Method:

300g plain flour
300g sugar (I used 270g but will try 250g next round)
6 eggs
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder

1. Sift the flour, baking soda and baking powder, and set aside. Prepare wok for steaming.
2. Beat the eggs till pale white and slowly add in sugar. Continue to beat the egg mixture till ribbon-stage.
3. Fold in the flour to the egg mixture gently.
4. Pour batter into cake tin or basket lined with 'glass paper' 玻璃紙. Steam for 45 mins to 1 hour. Check for doneness when skewer inserted into centre of cake comes out clean.

I just saw her new altered recipe. It uses a lot less eggs but replaces the air with old fashioned carbonated water. Will try that next time to make the cake 'smile' at me as it is supposed to.

Old-style 鸡蛋糕

Ingredients/ Method
3 large eggs
300gm plain flour
300gm sugar (will reduce to 200gm the next time)
170ml F&N orange juice

1. Sift plain flour and set aside.
2. Beat eggs and sugar until mixture turns pale and thick, about 20-25 mins using the mixer.
3. Fold in flour into egg mixture gently, until well mixed.
4. Pour in orange juice into the mixture and stir in one direction gently, and until well mixed.
5. Pour mixture into prepared cane basket with plastic suitable for steaming. Steam on high heat for 1 hour.

*To have your cake smile at you, sprinkle sugar across the mixture before putting into the steamer.

Found another recipe here. Can't wait to try it!

Updated: Updated with new recipes here

Blueberry Muffins

Finally, my first successful muffin, with the right dome! Actually I've done the more English muffin recipe before which is more bread like but it was never as nice as the American cake-like version. I got this recipe trawling through one of my favourite local food blogs, Noob Cook, and she in turn got it from Jordan Marsh.

Just for info, according to my Internet research, there are basically 2 ways of making muffins - the traditional muffin method, or the creaming method. The former is more British and yields a more bread-like texture. The latter is more American and yields a more cake-like texture.

Anyhow here's the Jordan Marsh recipe from Noob Cook, reproduced with my alterations (in red) based on some secret muffin tips I found off the Internet.
Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins
Credits: Recipe from ‘True Blueberry’ by Linda Dannenberg
This muffin recipe is that of the famous Jordan Marsh’s Framingham Store (which closed down in 1983).
Ingredients
(Makes 12 standard-size muffins) My recipe makes only 10 if you use the tall paper cups I did
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
110g lightly salted butter (or 1 stick), softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 1/2 cups fresh (or frozen) blueberries
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F). I preheated at 220 C as you;ll later see why 2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together into a medium bowl & set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and 1 1/4 cups sugar and cream at low speed until the mixture is smoothly blended. At low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, and blend.
4. Add the flour mixture and the milk a little at a time, alternating one with the other, and beat until blended, then remove the bowl from the mixer.
5. Add 1/2 cup of blueberries and gently fold them in with a wooden spoon or spatula. Add the rest of the berries and gently fold them in. I used half a jar or Dalfour blueberry jam as I didn't have any fresh blueberries. I like Dalfour because there is no added sugar and the fruit are almost whole.
6. Place paper muffin cups into the muffin tin, and fill each cup with slightly more than 3/4 of batter. (Note: if not using paper cups, grease the muffin tin).
7. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup sugar over the muffin tops, then bake in the center of the oven for 25-30 minutes, until the muffins are golden brown and puffy. I didn't sprinkle the sugar as I tasted the batter and it was sweet enough, probably because I used jam. If I did use the real fruit however, I probably would need this sugar. In addition, I found to my dismay that omitting the sprinkling of sugar meant no crispy top! I baked at 220 C for 6 minutes, before turning down to 180 C for 19 minutes. This is based on my oven and the number of muffins I had so may vary for a different or different muffin paper cups. I tested with a skewer to be sure.
8. Remove to a wire rack and cool in the tins for 1 hour before serving.

Sushi

I state categorically upfront - this is not an authentic sushi-making recipe. It is just a easy DIY at home simply because I'm nostalgic - I first made this in the UK and this is the first time in 9 years that I've done the recipe again. At that time, it was just something that reminded me of home. And at that time, I didn't have access to a lot of really Japanese ingredients, like I didn't even have the　のり (seaweed) and the bamboo mat, so I improvised by using a sheet of paper in place of the mat. And it worked remarkably well too! I also use smoked salmon which to the non-discerning palate isn't very obviously different from fresh sashimi. Altho we are able to get freshly sliced sashimi at the supermarkets nowdays, I do wonder at the freshness of it.

I did find however that the mat really makes making the square shape of the sushi roll very much easier. I also improvise by using brown rice since that's all I use at home and I must say it makes it very much harder to clump the grains together. It started to spill out.

Ingredients
のり(1 packet of seaweed)
1 packet of smoked salmon
わさべ (wasabe) paste
sashimi soya sauce (apparently there are many kinds of soya!)
1 cup of rice, boiled and allowed to cool

Method
1) Lay the mat out on a flat surface and place 1 sheet of のり on top.
2) Fluff up the rice. Spread the rice along the bottom of the seaweed. Pat down to clump the rice grains together. Place 2 strips of salmon along the centre of the rice.
3) Lift up the lower edge of the mat and slowly flip it over, ensuring that the edge of the seaweed is tucked in. Roll and flatten to ensure the rice is well packed. Continuing rolling until the seaweed is all rolled up.
4) Cut into squares and present but turning upwards. A little trick - wet the knife blade and you'll find it much easier to slice through and the blade won't get stuck to the rice.

5 spice 三杯鳮

This is a Taiwanese dish with my twist - adding the 5 spices. Traditional 三杯鳮 actually involves 3 things, chinese wine, soya sauce and sesame seed oil. You're not really expected to use 1 cup of each, but it does mean that you're supposed to include equal portions of each. In addition, it involves adding copious amounts of ginger and garlic. Since I wasn't in the mood to thaw and skin my ginger (yes, I freeze my garlic for easy storage) I substituted this with dried chilli. I learnt this tip from this stall we usually buy our zhu jiao chu - possibly because ginger is expensive, this uncle uses dried chilli. The taste is slightly different - it makes it slightly smokey taste. While this doesn't really work with zhu jiao chu, it may possibly work with 三杯鳮.

Again in the traditional method, the chicken is cooked in a claypot. For me, being the lazy person who wants minimal mess, I used my favourite casserole method.

Ingredients
9 chicken wings (including drumlets)
2 tbsp dark soya sauce
2 tbsp light soya sauce
2 tbsp chinese rice wine
2 tbsp sesame seed oil
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp garlic, minced (or you can use 10 cloves of garlic, smashed)
2 tbsp ginger (3 thumb sized ginger, sliced)
2 cinnamon sticks
5 dried chilli
2 star anise
3 cloves
1 tsp cumin seeds

Method
1) Marinate the chicken with everything.
2) Pop it into a casserole dish and into the oven and cover. I used 220 deg C for 10 minutes, and turned down to 200 deg C for 20 mins, giving the slightly scorched skin. You can also uncover for the last 10 mins to crisp the skin silghtly.
3) Serve with freshly steamed rice.

Honey mustard sausages

Thanks to the honey chicken recipe from Auntie Helen, I decided to improvise, simply because I wasn't about to fry chicken and oily up my kitchen!

Just for the record, her recipe involves marinating chicken in light soya sauce, then deep frying the chicken till cooked, then taking it out and putting it in another pan, pouring over honey and stir frying till the honey has melted but just before it burns.

My recipe is similar - except I grill my sausages, and just as they're almost cooked, I pour on 1 tbsp of mustard, and stir fry to incorporate. Next, I pour on the honey (about 2 tbsp for 1 packet of 10 sausages) and quickly stir fry to incorporate. Just as the honey melts (sizzles and turns a nice brown), I remove them from the heat and serve them up. Simple and delicious!

Foochow Ang Chow Chicken

Thanks to the 'goods' from my Aunt (kao mo), I finally got to make this beloved dish that my Gran used to make. Altho I can't remember exactly how it tasted when they made it (since she's left for almost 10 years now and wasn't able to make it for the last 8 years of her life), the smell of the frying chicken in ang chow was enough to invoke old memories and bring tears to my eyes (literally!) This recipe is taken off the Internet and I've added mushrooms and bamboo, because that's what Gran added, and further adapted to suit personal taste..one day I shall get the original recipe from my kao mo!

Ingredients
1 kg chicken or chicken parts (I prefer using wings and drumlets as I hate chopping chicken)
1 generous knob of ginger, sliced thinly in shreds
2 tbsp sesame seed oil
1 ltr chicken broth (this makes a very soupy dish, if you want the 'dry' gravy version, halve the liquid)
5 tbsp red rice residue (ang chow)
1/2 cup Foochow red rice wine (no other cooking wine will do, this makes all the difference!)
12 dried mushrooms (soaked in water until soft, and reserve the water), sliced into halves
1 can of bamboo shoot (I used the fresh packet type)

Method
1) With a bit of cooking oil, fry the ginger strips until fragrant.
2) Add the sesame seed oil and fry the chicken until browned.
3) Add the mushrooms and bamboo and incorporate.
4) Add the red rice residue and stir well.

5) Add the chicken broth (I also pour in the water used to soak the mushrooms, just ensuring that total liquid makes up to 1 litre)
6) Leave to simmer on gentle fire until cooked (about 20 minutes).
7) Add in the red rice wine, and bring back to a boil. Turn off the flame once you get a rolling boil. (I like a less 'wine-y' taste so I add the wine earlier on, around the 15 minute mark so that some of the alcohol will burn off)
The soup will have a slightly sourish taste, that's normal and it comes from the ang chow so don't be alarmed. I added about 1 tsp of sugar to offset the taste a bit and also 1 tsp of oyster sauce (which I read on some websites) but its also fine without these 2 additions. I didn't add salt but a bit of pepper, but you can always add salt and pepper to taste.

Red rice wine chicken (红槽鸡)

SIL just gave birth and somehow DIL got the idea to make red rice wine. This brings back so many memories of granny so I did some surfing and got these 2 links. Will try them out some time!

My gran's version includes fresh bamboo but this comes close.
红槽鸡
Here's how to make the wine:
红槽酒

In the western world, it is called red yeast rice and is being used as a TCM cure for cholesterol. Amazing what our forefathers knew!

I've never actually ever eaten this in my life before, and I think its actually Hakka:
红槽鸡面线

Wish me luck!

Andrea's Chicken Rice

Got this chicken recipe from Andrea.

Ingredients
1 whole chicken, cleaned
2 slices of ginger (1 slice whole and 1 slice shredded)
2 cloves garlic
2 chopped shallots
1 tbsp sesame seed oil
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 cup rice
Pinch of salt

Method
1) Pop a cleaned chicken into boiling water which has a slice of ginger.
2) Remove scum and turn down flame to a simmer.
3) Simmer uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes. Check for doneness by piercing a chicken leg in the thickest part to see if blood still oozes out. Reserve the water for later.
4) Dunk into a ice bath for about 5 minutes.
5) Once cooled, pat dry with kitchen towels. Use a mix of light soya sauce and sesame seed oil and rub into the skin.
6) To make a serving sauce, take a bit of the leftover sesame seed oil and soya sauce (dripping from rubbing the skin), add a bit of the water used to make the chicken.
7) Fry the ginger shreds, shallots and garlic until fragrant. Add the garlic last because it tends to burn fastest. Add the washed rice and stir fry until the rice grains turn a bit translucent.
8) Pour the rice into a rice cooker and add enough of the reserved water (used to poach the chicken) to cook the rice. Add a pinch of salt.
9) Any leftover reserved water can be used as soup e.g. add veggies like cabbage and tomato, and a bit of salt.

Kuih Bangkit

I used to make this with my Grandma on CNY eves after coming home from school. Till now, my deepest memories are of her frying flour in the wok, and then me cutting out shapes with the kueh bangkit cutters and crumping them. But what type of flour always escaped me...until now. (I always knew it was this particular small roll of flour and if you bring me to the supermarket I would be able to pick it out (if it is still in production that is) but I never knew what flour it was.

Thanks to my new ladies' forum, I finally got my answer - the humble tapioca flour!

Kuih Bangkit

Pineapple Tarts

This recipe came from today's Sunday Plus. Looks dead easy to make esp if u get the ready made pineapple jam from places like Phoon Huat. A work auntie once told me that the jam from Phoon Huat tends to be very sweet, so she'll dilute with her own unsweetened pineapple jam.
The words are probably too small to read so I've reproduced it here, but the pictures are useful.

FILLINGIngredients2 medium sized pineapples, skin removed and cut into quarters
150g sugar

Method1) Grate the pineapple finely.
2) Place the grated pineapple in a cheese cloth and squeeze to remove any excess juice.
3) Cook the grated pineapple in a saucepan over low heat, stirring continously to prevent the pineapple from burning.
4) After 5 minutes, add sugar to the pineapple gradually, stirring to ensure that it is well incorporated. Taste the mixture to determine if more sugar is required.
5) Continue stirring the mixture over low heat for about 1 hour until all the moisture has evaporated.
6) Cool the pineapple filling on a table top for about 30 minutes before placing it in the refridgerator for another 30 minutes.
7) Remove the pineapple jam from the refridgerator, scoop a teaspoon of it and roll between your palms to form a ball with a 2 cm diameter. Set the pineapple ball aside and repeat for the rest of the filling.

TART (Makes about 40 tarts)
Ingredients250g butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg yolk
440g plain flour
1 tbs milk powder
pineapple filling (above)
1 egg, beaten

Method
1) Preheat the oven to 165 deg C.
2) Cream the butter and vanilla essence with an electric mixer on medium speed for about 10 minutes.
3) Add the egg yolk and continue mixing for about 2 minutes until well incorproate.
4) Sift the flour and then the milk powder into the mixture. Mix on low speed for 2 minutes before increasing it to medium speed for 3 minutes, until a coarse, crumbly texture forms. (photo A)
5) Place the mixture in a large bowl and knead it for about 5 minutes until a smooth ball of dough forms. (photo B)
6) Leave the dough in the bowl, seal it with clear plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes.
7) Remove the dough from the refrigerator, pinch a small amount of it and roll between your palms to form a ball with a 2.5cm diameter.
8) Flatten the dough into a circle and wrap it around a ball of pineapple filling. Repeat steps 6 and 7 for the rest of the dough. (photo C)
9) Brush egg wash over the pineapple tarts and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes until the tarts turn golden.