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

  This is a fuss-free  recipe to try at home and no greasy kitchen to clean.  All you need to do is to season the spare ribs and dump them with all the ingredients into a pot to cook till the ribs are tender and the sauce slighly reduced which of course is up to personal preference.  You may like to retain more sauce which will be tasty and delicious with plain white rice. Easy Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs ~  甜酸小排  Ingredients 500 gm spare ribs 1 Tbsp tomato sauce 1 Tbsp chilli sauce 2 tomatoes, chopped 3 cloves of garlic   ) 3 slices of  ginger  )  chopped 5 shallots               ) 2 tsp sugar or to taste 1/4 tsp dark soy sauce 1/2 tsp bean paste  (tau cheong) 1 tsp light soy sauve 1 tsp cornflour + 2 tsp water to thicken Method Season the ribs with some salt. Place the chopped garlic, ginger and shallots in a pot. Add in the ribs, all the sauces, sugar, bean paste and enough water to cover the ribs. Cook on medium heat and then on low.  Simmer till the ribs are tender and cooked throug

  I stumbled upon this post on how to achieve "Tall Bakery Style Muffins'' from 'Handletheheat' blog which aroused my curiosity and I was very eager to give it a try.  The batter is chilled for a few hours or overnight and can be baked straightaway.   Thus the muffins can be baked in a jiffy and you can serve warm freshly baked muffins for breakfast.  Yes, I noticed that the muffins rose fairly high and they were fluffy and moist. Overnight Almond Orange Muffins  ~    隔夜杏仁橘玛芬 Ingredients 143 gm plain flour 30 gm caster sugar 30 gm brown sugar 1/8 tsp salt 1/2 Tbsp baking powder 1/2 cup buttermilk (add 1 tsp vinegar or lemon juice to make up 1/2 cup) 57 ml oil 1 large egg 2 tsp orange zest 1/2 tsp vanilla Almond slivers to sprinkle Method Sieve and whisk flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. In another mixing bowl, whisk egg, oil, vanilla and buttermilk. Pour the wet ingredients (2) into the dry ingredients.  Add in orange zest.  Mix till just combine and do not ov

  This is a mouth-watering dish of tender pork belly with a hint of chilli and spices, enveloped in a sticky sweet sauce.  This is cooked with a flavourful blend of garlic, ginger, brown sugar and topped with Shaoxing wine before serving over plain white rice. Sticky Pork Belly Ingredients 750 gm pork belly cut into 1 inch cubes 7 slices of ginger, julienned 4 pips of garlic, chopped 1 onion sliced 1 or 2 red chillies, sliced 1.1/2 to 2 Tbsp dark soya sauce 2 Tbsp light soya sauce 2 cinnamon sticks 2 star anise 4 cloves 1.1/2 Tbsp brown sugar or to taste Shaoxing wine (optional) a dash of pepper Method In a wok with some oil, saute the ginger, garlic, onion, spices till fragrant.  Add in the pork belly and stir fry till slightly brown. Add in the sauces to coat the pork belly.  Add in water to cover the pork belly, let it simmer and cover with lid.  Cook on medium low heat.  Check on the pork belly after about 20 mins.   Add in the sliced chillies and a dash of pepper.  Add in more wat

  I made  this bread using the Wool Roll bread recipe and just substituted milk with coconut milk, added a bit of pandan paste and instead of melted butter, I used cooking oil.  Feel free to use coconut oil if you have it at hand.  This bread is soft and light and it stayed fresh till after the third day in a container, at room temperature.  You can eat it on its own accompanied with a cup of hot kopi O or slathered with butter and in my case, peanut butter. Pandan Coconut Milk Bread   ~    香兰椰 奶 面包 Ingredients  80 ml warm milk )    Yeast  1 tsp dry yeast      )   mixture 300 gm high protein flour 1 tsp seasalt 30 gm sugar 1 egg,  55 gm 80 ml coconut milk (I used Ayam brand coconut milk) 25 gm cooking oil or coconut oil 1/2 tsp pandan paste cornflour to dust Method Prepare the yeast mixture and let it rest for 10 to 15 mins. to become frothy. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add in the high protein flour, seasalt and sugar.  Mix well.  Then add in coconut milk, cooking oil, egg, yeast mi

  Sang Ji Sheng or Taxilli twig is also known as mulberry mistletoe. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) recommends this tea as it has many health benefits, like lowering blood pressure, strengthening bones and tendons, increasing coronary blood flow, suppressing tumour growth amongst many others. This Sang Ji Sheng tea is an inexpensive but healthy tea and you can serve it as a dessert or to enjoy at any time of the day.  The concoction of Sang Ji Sheng tea is easily available from Chinese medical shops.  Some of the coffee shops here do have this tea on their menu but homemade is more authenic and affordable. You can also take a peep  'here'   if  you are keen to know more about this tea. Mulberry Tea (Sang Ji Sheng Tea) with Lotus seeds  ~   莲子桑寄生茶 Ingredients 100 gm Mulberry tea 10 seedless red dates 40 gm lotus seeds  1.1/2 to 2 slices piece sugar or to taste 4 hardboiled eggs 6 to 7 cups of water Method Wash and soak the lotus seeds in hot water.   They will  puff up.  Rem

This matcha red bean chiffon cake has a slightly bitter taste of matcha, which perfectly complements the sweetness of the red beans.   The beans provide a touch of texture in an overall lightweight and soft cake.   I was a bit disappointed that all the beans sank to the bottom of the cake but their appearance on the top, once the cake is inverted, is surprisingly decorative - how about that, a self-embellishing cake! It's one thing to enjoy cake after dinner, but when that cake is homemade and absolutely delicious, you've just definitely upped your game! Matcha Red Bean Chiffon Cake  ~   抹茶 红豆 戚风蛋糕 (adapted from 'here' with modification) Ingredients (A) 5 egg yolks 40 gm caster sugar 50 ml oil 100 ml milk 120 gm superfine or plain flour 100 gm cooked honey red beans + some flour to absorb moisture 1.1/2 Tbsp matcha powder + 1.1/2 Tbsp hot water (B) 5 egg whites 80 gm caster sugar 1 tsp lemon juice or white vinegar (C)  How to prepare red beans. 120 gm red beans, wash a

  During  this Covid 19 pandemic, I notice that there are many shops mushrooming in my housing area selling frozen food, meat and an assortment of sauces, noddles etc.  I happened to walk in to one very near to my house and I was looking for Korean vermicelli which was not available.  Instead the salesgirl introduced me to this Sweet Potato Flat Noodles, from Fujian, China which she said was a new arrival.  To help and stimulate the economy I picked up a packet and some other groceries.  The noodles taste somewhat like our 'kway teow' but I notice that it tends to harden a bit once cooled, so best to eat it immediately. Sweet potato flat noodles stir-fry  ~   炒红薯扁面条 Ingredients 150 gm sweet  potato flat noodles 120 gm pork fillet 3 mushrooms, soaked till soft, stemmed and sliced Some cabbage 1 small carrot, julienned 1 red chilli 1 onion, sliced 4 pips of garlic, chopped (divided) 1 egg light brown sugar, soy sauce, white and black pepper, sesame oil and toasted  sesame seeds M