No-Frills Recipes ... cooking, baking & excerpts on travel

  This is a simple dish of braised pork belly with beancurd sticks and during braising, the beancurd sticks will absorb the flavours of the braising liquid and will become soft and slightly velvety.  But first the brittle sticks have to be reconstituted in water to soften, before cooking.  Serve this with steamed rice alongside some quick blanched or fried greens. Braised Pork Belly with Beancurd Sticks    ~     腐竹焖五花肉  Ingredients 600 gm pork belly cut into bite size 90 gm dried beancurd stick 1 Tbsp light soya sauce 1/2 Tbsp dark soya sauce 2 Tbsp oyster sauce 1 tsp sugar and rock sugar to taste 1 tsp salt a dash of pepper 4 to 5 slices of ginger 4 pips of garlic, crushed 2 star anise 2 cloves 1 cinnamon stick 2 Bay leaves 1 Tbsp Shaoxing wine Spring onions to garnish (optional) Method Soak the dried beancurd stick till soft, may take about 30 to 45 mins.  Once softened, rinse and cut into 2 inch lengths.  Set aside. Marinate the pork belly with light and dark soya sauces, oyster sau

  It's Chiffon cake again.  I never get tired of baking chiffon cakes and am still looking for new flavours of chiffon cakes.  This is a coffee chiffon with added Kahlua liqueur.  I have shared Coffee chiffon with cocoa layering and Coffee Marble chiffon cake on my blog before and if you are interested feel free to take a peep.  Again as with all chiffon cakes, this Coffee Kahlua chiffon cake doesn't disappoint, it's soft and moist with a tinge of Kahlua liqueur. Coffee Kahlua Chiffon Cake  ~   咖啡戚风蛋糕 (adapted from 'here' with adjustment)   Ingredients (A) 6 egg yolks 90 gm caster sugar 75 ml hot milk 2.1/2 Tbsp coffee granules 1 tsp vanilla 3/4 Tbsp Kahlua 60 ml oil 90 gm plain flour 30 gm cornflour 1 Tbsp cocoa powder (B) 6 egg whites 75 gm caster sugar Method Sift flour, cornflour, cocoa powder, set aside. Dissolve the coffee granules in the hot milk.  Once cool, mix in the Kahlua and vanilla extract. Whisk the egg yolks with sugar till creamy.  Add in the coff

  I had been surfing the internet for easy bread recipes since my breadmaker decided to call it a day and I found many interesting breadmaking videos on Youtube.   Some recipes do not even require a mixer and the dough had to be mixed and kneaded by hand.  I managed to get tips from here and there and managed to make this Matcha Marble Red Bean Loaf and I'm quite satisfied with the result.  The current hot and humid weather is ideal for breadmaking and anything that requires yeast and proofing. Matcha Marble Red Bean loaf  ~    抹茶红豆面包 Ingredients 300 gm high protein flour 30 gm sugar 3.1/2 tsp milk powder 18 gm butter cut into cubes 1 tsp salt 1.1/2 tsp green tea powder  )   Mix into a  8 ml water                           )   paste Sweetened red beans (can or homecooked) 2 tsp  dry yeast           )   170 ml warm water    )   Yeast mixture 1 Tbsp sugar               ) Method Add yeast and sugar to warm water, stir and let it set for about 5 to 8 mins. till foamy. Pour yeast mixtur

  This Coffee Walnut Butter cake recipe is adapted from my Marble Butter Cake which I posted some time back.  I tweaked it a bit to accommodate blended walnuts, added some coffee and Kahlua liqueur.  As always, Mrs. Ng's butter cake recipe never fails and this cake is soft and moist and indeed yummy. Coffee Walnut Butter Cake  ~   咖啡核桃牛油蛋糕      Ingredients (A) 230 gm butter 150 gm caster sugar 200 gm self-raising flour 4 egg yolks 40 ml milk 20 ml coffee + 2.1/2 tsp coffee granules 1 tsp Kahlua liqueur (optional) 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp vanilla 50 gm walnuts, lightly roasted and ground Whole walnuts for topping (B) 4 egg whites 20 gm caster sugar Method Prepare an 8 inch springform pan.  Line the base with parchment paper, grease and flour the sides of the pan. Dissolve the coffee granules with 20 ml hot water, set aside. Sieve the flour with salt, set aside. Beat the butter and sugar till creamy.  Add in the egg yolks, one at a time.  Add in vanilla.  Mix well. Fold in the sifted flou

  As an alternative to making a Thai Tomyam soup, I cooked a simple stir-fry pork fillet with Tomyam paste.  This is a quick and easy stir-fry with sweet and sour flavours which is so appealing to pair with a bowl of soft and fluffy white rice.  Or you can opt to have this with bread or buns. Tomyam Pork Fillet  ~    泰式酸辣猪肉片 Ingredients 500 gm pork fillet, sliced 1 tsp turmeric powder 1/2 tsp salt 5 cloves garlic, chopped 5 bird eye chillies, chopped Kaffir lime leaves 2 onions, sliced 2 Tbsp Tomyam paste 1 tsp fish sauce 2 tsp sugar Calamansi juice Method Season the pork fillet with turmeric powder and salt for a few hours. In a wok, with some oil stir fry the chopped garlic with chopped bird eye chillies and kaffir lime leaves till fragrant. Toss in the seasoned pork fillet, stir-fry and add a bit of water.   Add in the Tomyam paste, fish sauce and sugar and simmer till meat is tender.  Toss in the sliced onions, mix well. Fine tune to taste, dish up and serve.

I made these 'Baked matcha sponge cake' using my recipe on 'Traditional Chinese baked sponge cake' but this time I added in some matcha powder.  These sponge cakes are bouncy and moist and they taste good when served with a drizzle of honey as they are not too sweet. Baked Matcha Sponge Cake  ~     烤抹茶鸡蛋糕 Ingredients 5 'L'eggs 150 gm plain flour 1.1/4 tsp baking powder 100 gm caster sugar 5.1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil 1.1/2 tsp Matcha powder pinch of salt Method Spread out about 130 to 140 gm plain flour to dry in the sun.  Once cooled, measure 120 gm, add baking powder,mix well and sift thrice.  Set aside. Break the eggs into a stand mixer mixing bowl.  Beat till frothy, gradually add in sugar.  Add in a pinch of salt.  Beat till creamy up to 'ribbon' stage. Sift half the flour mixture and beat on the lowest speed.  Continue to sift in the remaining flour and also the Matcha powder.  Add in the oil and mix on the lowest speed for a few seconds.  (Do not over

  Wool Roll Bread ... its popularity is booming and bursting the seams of Facebook and Instagram.  Every day you see new posts of it, with different ways of making it as well as an endless assortment of fillings to experiment with.  I too have been browsing the internet to research these various methods and their outcomes.  What is it that makes Wool Woll Bread so crazily popular?  To satisfy my curiosity, I tried my hand at making it and was very happy with the results.  I love seeing the bread strands when I pull apart the bread to reveal the meat floss filling and I enjoy how soft and chewy the bread is.  Jump on the bandwagon, folks, you won't regret it! Wool Roll Bread ~  毛线球面包 (adapted from 'here' with adjustments) Ingredients 300 gm high protein flour or bread flour 30 gm sugar 1 tsp seasalt 1 egg  (55 gm or 65 gm) 70 or 80 ml milk 25 gm melted butter Egg wash (1 whole egg + 1.1/2 tsp water to dilute) Meat floss or whatever you wish to use as filling 80 ml warm mil