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

I was introduced to this Hawaiian Biscuit by a friend who bought this for me to try.  I was curious about the name and was wondering what's so 'Hawaiian' about these biscuits.  I understood, after the first bite of a Macadamia nut.  So the 'Hawaiian' thing is the Macadamia nut.  Since I have some lotus paste left after the mooncake festival, thought I'd give this a try.  I used the recipe for the pastry from my 'Lo  Por Paeng/Wife Biscuit ' post and just wrap up some lotus paste with some Macadamia nuts.  This is a yummy biscuit to be enjoyed at any time of the day and the biscuits stayed crispy even on the fourth day, kept in an air-tight container. Hawaiian Biscuits  ~  夏威夷饼 Ingredients Oil dough 80 gm plain flour 50 to 60 gm shortening Water dough 100 gm plain flour 40 gm shortening 30 to 35 ml cold water  300 gm lotus paste (divide into 8 portions, approx. 35 gm each and wrap each portion with 4 Macadamia nuts) 32 M

Whenever I want to make a butter cake, Mrs. Ng's butter cake recipe will come to my mind.  Her recipe is foolproof and you can use it as a basic recipe and play around with variations of flavours to your liking.  Today, I'm sharing with you a Pandan Ombre Butter Cake.  I've used pandan paste instead of pandan juice as I need to have a distinct green colour to bring out the 'Ömbre' effect, which is from a darker to a lighter shade of green.  I'm pleased with the result and the texture of this cake is soft and moist and it still stays in this manner even after the third day, kept in an airtight container. Pandan Ombre Butter Cake ~  班蘭牛油蛋糕 Ingredients (A)                                                  230 gm unsalted butter 140 gm caster sugar 200 gm self-raising flour  4 'L' egg yolks 60 ml milk 1/4 tsp vanilla (to be added into the plain batter) 1/4 tsp pandan paste to one portion 1/8 tsp pandan paste to another portion pi

Taucheo or fermented bean paste is salty but when sauted with fresh ginger and garlic, the gravy makes a perfect combination with steamed fish.  If you like the gravy to be slightly spicy, toss in some  birdeye chillies and add in a bit of sugar to taste.  This steamed fish is quick and easy to prepare and is extremely appetising.  But do bear in mind that steamed fish must be eaten straight from the steamer as the taste differs when the dish is cold. Steamed ikan kembong with bean paste ~  豆酱蒸鱼 Ingredients 400 gm ikan kembong 4 tsp garlic and ginger, chopped 1 Tbsp fermented bean paste (taucheo) 2 birdeye chillies 1/2 tsp cornstarch + 2 tsp water Spring onions to garnish Method Clean up the ikan kembong, season with some salt. Heat up some oil in a pan, saute the garlic and ginger till fragrant, add in the bean paste.  Add in 1/2 cup water.  Fine tune to taste with some sugar.  Add in cornstarch thickening. Set aside. Arrange the fish onto a plate.  Steam o