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

I had posted a Cranberry Raisin Bread using the 'gelatinized' method, quite a while ago.  But this time, instead of using custard filling, I chose to use marmalade.  I must admit that making bread is quite tedious and time consuming, as it entails proving the dough, twice.  It was no joke sweating out in the kitchen, kneading the dough but the plus point is that the dough doubled in size in a pretty short time, because of the hot weather.   Time to relax and enjoy the fruits of my labour with a cup of hot tea!



Almond Flakes Raisin Loaf  ~  杏仁片葡萄干面包 
Ingredients for gelatinised dough
50 gm high protein flour35 ml boiling waterMethod Mix the above with a spatula to form a dough. cling  wrap and keep in the refridgerator for about 12  hours or overnight.Ingredients for bread dough 200 gm high protein flour37.5 gm sugar10 gm milk powder1.1/8 tsp dried instant yeast1/2 tsp salt85 ml cold water1/2 cold grade 'A' (65 gm) egg.  Balance to apply egg glaze37.5 gm cold butter  (cut i…

Fish maw 鱼鳔 is the dried form of fish air bladder.  The male fish bladder has a thicker body and is soft and smooth while the female fish bladder has a thinner body and more tender to bite.  Fish maw is nice in soups or stews and since it has a rich gel content, high heat and prolong cooking can melt the fish maw.  Cooking it on its own is bland and needs to be cooked in some sauces like braised or stewed or in a soup accompanied by other ingredients.  My post today is Braised Pork Ribs with Mushroom and Fish Maw, braised in low heat and I added the fish maw once the pork ribs are tender.  The braised gravy is good with rice and this is a delicious dish to be enjoyed on any occasion.


Braised Pork Ribs with Mushrooms and Fish Maw   ~   冬菇鱼鳔焖排骨 Ingredients600 gm pork ribs cut into bite size3 slices ginger20 gm piece sugar or rock sugar1 Tbsp oilSpring onions, white part only1 Tbsp light soy sauce or more to taste1/2 Tbsp dark soy sauce3 Bay leaves3 star anise2 dried chillies, hydrated8 sh…

This is a comfort dish and can be easily found in economy rice stalls.  Quick and easy to prepare, it's versatile as it marries well with either rice or plain porridge.  I ran out of ideas of what to cook and since I had the ingredients, thought of just putting them to good use.



Minced Pork with Potatoes  ~  马铃薯焖肉碎
Ingredients
350 gm potatoes, sliced100 gm minced pork1 tsp chopped garlic2 tsp tau cheong/bean paste1/2 tsp sesame oil2 tsp cornflour + 1 Tbsp waterBit of light soy sauce and sugar to tasteMethod Season the minced pork with the sesame oil and a bit of salt.Saute the chopped garlic with a bit of oil in a pan, add in the tau cheong and fry till fragrant.Toss in the seasoned meat, stir-fry.  Add in the sliced potatoes and water.  Let it simmer for a while, close the lid and let cook till the potatotes are soft.  Consistency of sauce is as desired.Add in cornflour thickening, fine tune to taste, dish out.Serve with rice or plain  porridge.

These no butter orange muffins are soft, slightly dense in texture but full of orange flavour and fragrance.  Yoghurt took the place of butter or oil and the crumb is like a sponge cake and it's a bit chewy.  I kept some in a container at room temperature and they stayed soft and delicious even on the  third day.





Orange Muffins without Butter ~  无油版香橙玛芬 (adapted from 'here') 

Ingredients (A)

3 'L' egg yolks30 gm caster sugar35 gm fresh orange juiceZest from 1 orange70 gm plain yoghurt80 gm plain flour10 gm cornflour1/2 teasp baking powderpinch of salt(B)     3 egg whites           70 gm caster sugar
Method Whisk the plain flour, cornflour and salt, mix well and set aside.Beat egg yolks and sugar till thick, creamy and pale, add orange juice and yoghurt.  Mix till well incorporated.Using a ball whisk, mix in the flour mixture and orange zest.  Mix well.In a clean bowl, beat till egg whites till frothy and gradually add in the sugar in batches.  Continue beating till s…

This time, I experimented with Chai Tea to act as a flavour for the dough skin of this 'Bing Pi',  冰皮 mooncake.  These non-baked snowskin mooncakes are soft, slightly chewy and can be referred to as mochi mooncake too.  Nowadays snowskin mooncakes are gaining popularity and like their baked counterparts, they can house different flavours of lotus paste as well.



Chai Tea Snowskin mini Mooncake 2020  ~  柴茶冰皮月饼 Ingredients65 gm Kao Fun (fried glutinous rice flour)18 gm wheat starch18 gm superfine flour50 gm icing sugar25 gm Crisco shortening60 ml water1 Tbsp Chai Tea240 gm lotus paste for fillingMethod Mix wheat starch and superfine flour thoroughly, steam on medium heat for 3 minutes.  Let cool.  Sift into a mixing bowl.Sift in kao fun and mix well.  Steep Chai Tea bag in about 1/4 cup hot water.In a pot, boil water with shortening and icing sugar.  Once shortening and icing sugar have melted, pour this into the flour mixture.  Add in a tablespoon of Chai Tea.  Using a spatula, mix…

These mini  mooncakes are made with white lotus paste, supposedly there is less sugar in this lotus paste.   For pure lotus paste, I was told that the sugar is cooked longer, thus the paste is more brown but for white lotus paste, the sugar content is lesser and the sugar is not cooked so long, hence the colour is lighter.  As these are 50 gm mini ones, I only managed to add in a quarter of salted egg yolk.  Nonetheless  they do taste good especially paired with a cup of piping hot Chinese tea of your choice.

White Lotus Paste with egg yolks mini mooncakes ~ 2020  ( 白莲蓉蛋黄小月饼 )Ingredients for dough150 gm superfine flour90 ml golden syrup38 ml vegetable oil2 gm lye waterEgg wash - 1 whole egg + 1 tsp water, mix and strainIngredients for lotus filling 280 gm white lotus paste4 salted egg yolks, steamed and cut into quartersMethod for dough Mix syrup, oil and lye water thoroughly with a handwhisk.Sift in flour, mix well with spatula and let rest for 2 hours or more, till it doesn't stick…

The Mid-Autumn Mooncake Festival is here again and it falls on 1st October, a Thursday this year.  But I have seen some mooncakes already on sale, maybe they want to catch up on sales during this Recovey Movement Control Order.  I have shared quite a few mooncake recipes on my blog and this time I'm sharing with you this Purple Sweet Potato Mooncakes.  Give it a try if you prefer something different from the norm.



Purple Sweet Potato Mooncake 2020  ~   紫薯月饼  (adapted from 'here')
Ingredients700 gm purple sweet potatoes (only 500 gm required)5 Tbsp honey65 ml oil440 gm lotus pasteKoh fun (fried glutinous flour)Method Steam the sweet potatoes, remove the skin and weigh out 500 gm to mash till fine.  (You can use the food processor or with a fork), I used the food chopper.Add in honey, oil and blend till fine, knead lightly.Divide into 25 gm dough, roll into a ball, wrap in cling wrap and chill in the fridge for about 30 mins.Meanwhile, prepare the filling, roll into balls of…