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

  Bak Kwa or Pork Jerky is a popular gift during Chinese New Year and Ann's post of  Bak Kwa Chiffon cake gave me an idea to make use of my homemade bak kwa .    All the bak kwa bits sank to the bottom in my cake, maybe because I tapped the pan on the worktop thus causing the heavy bak kwa bits to fall to the bottom, gravity.  Nonetheless, it does serve as a decoration after all.  This cake is soft and moist and it's really delicious. Bak Kwa or Pork Jerky Chiffon Cake  ~  肉干戚风蛋糕  (adapted from 'here' with adjustments) Ingredients (A) 6 egg yolks 100 gm caster sugar 75 ml fresh milk 75 ml oil 75 gm plain flour 3 Tbsp cornflour 1/2 tsp vanilla 75 gm Bak Kwa bits a pinch of salt (B)   6 egg whites         75 gm caster sugar Method Sift plain flour and cornflour together, set aside. In a mixing bowl, use a hand whisk to mix the egg yolks and sugar till well incorporated.   Add in vanilla, milk, mix well....

Today is the  S eventh Day of Lunar New Year which is traditionally referred to as 'Renri' or  (  人 日 ) or human day, the birthday of mankind. So this is the day for everyone to celebrate their birthdays. I didn't prepare a big feast for the family and since I had some frozen mini abalones from Tesco, I attempted to steam them instead of cooking them in a soup. The tedious job is the cleaning of the abalones and also the shells but after that, preparing them for steaming is rather quick and easy. The result? Reaping the fruits of labour, these mini abalones are crunchy and yummy ! Steamed Mini Abalone  ~   蒸小鲍鱼 Ingredients 6 mini abalones (frozen) ginger, chopped or julienned spring onions light soya sauce garlic oil Method Thaw the frozen abalones.  Clean by brushing them with a toothbrush and salt.  Remove the abalone from its shell with a spoon.  Discard the entrails and trim off the sides.  Wash the abalone. Brush and clean the...

  I was mulling over the idea of what type of pineapple tarts to make for this coming Chinese New Year  and was thrilled when I came across Audrey Goh's post in Bake the Talk on FB.  A great thank you to you, Audrey.  I had some dried Sakura flowers idling in my fridge for the longest time and indeed I was most glad when I saw her pictures of Sakura pineapple tarts.  What an inspiration! To make things easy for myself, I just wrapped the balls of dough with the pineapple paste and then happily placed a hydrated flower on top.   I only 'created' ten Sakura pineapple balls as that was all the flowers I had.  Sakura Pineapple Balls ~   樱花菠萝球   (adapted from  'here' ) Ingredients 250 gm butter  50 gm icing sugar 2 egg yolks 1 tsp vanilla 380 gm plain flour 2 Tbsp cornflour 1/4 tsp salt 600 to 700 gm pineapple paste Egg glaze (1 whole egg, sieved) Dried Sakura flowers, hydrated (optional) Method Sift the plain flour, cornflour...

Old fashioned Chinese walnut biscuits or  Hup Toh Soh brings back fond memories of my childhood.  I remember they were quite big or maybe because I was little so whatever I saw seemed to be 'big''.  Strange enough those biscuits had no walnuts in them whatsover and no one knew why.  I just remember that they were sweet and very crunchy.  So I decided to make some 'jumbo' ones.  In olden days lard was used to make these biscuits to make them crunchy and fragrant but I opt to use vegetable or cooking oil instead.  I did blog on 'smaller' Hup Toh Soh some time back and another recipe void of Hup Toh but if you wish you can use this recipe to make smaller ones for the coming Chinese New Year. Jumbo Hup Toh Soh   ~    核桃酥 Ingredients 600 gm plain flour 210 gm caster sugar 200 to 250 ml vegetable oil 1/4 tsp salt 2 tsp baking powder 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 150 gm slightly toasted walnuts, chopped Egg glaze Method Sift flour, baking po...