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

I was mesmerised by the gorgeous colour of this Purple sweet potato bread made with purple sweet potato flour from Japan.   The purple colour is very intense for I thought that there will be some reaction with the yeast, colour wise, that is.  Although the dough did rise double in size on the two stages of proofing but once I removed the cling wrap, it 'deflated' and didn't rise much during baking.  As you can see this bread is of low loaf volume, but the texture is soft and you can taste and smell the sweet potato although it's dense and filling. Served with a spread of peanut butter! Purple sweet potato bread  ~   紫色番薯面 包 Ingredients 3/4 cup lukewarm water 1.1/4 tsp dry yeast 1/4 Tbsp sugar 142 gm high protein flour or bread flour 60 gm Japanese purple sweet potato flour  14 gm softened butter 1 tsp milk Method Combine lukewarm water with dry yeast and sugar.  Mix well, set aside for 10 mins. In a mixing bowl, mix hi...

Salmon En Papillote simply means wrapping a piece of Salmon in parchment paper, folding up the paper like a little parcel and then baked, bag and all.  This one-dish meal is not only easy to preprare, it's nutritious too. The Salmon is moist and tasty with some baked potatoes, just what you need for a complete one-dish meal.  Most important of all ..... less cleaning up :)) Recipe for Salmon En Papillote   ( adapted from an ASDA magazine with modifications) Ingredients 300 gm Salmon fillet 300 gm potatoes 150 gm French beans Some mixed dried herbs Seasalt, Black pepper, lemon juice and zest Method Cut 2 sheets of parchment paper, 12 ft square. Boil the potatoes util just tender.  Drain. peel off the skin and cut into quarters Blanch the French beans , drain and set aside. Divide the potatoes between  the two squares of parchment paper, add in some sprinkling of sea salt. Put a piece of Salmon on top. ...

This is a moist fudgy cake but with an unusual combination of chocolate and  raw beetroot.  The combination did complement each other and the cake is tasty, easy to make and it tasted much better the next day. Recipe for Beet Chocolate Cake Ingredients 20 gm Varlhona cocoa powder 230 gm plain flour + 2 tsp baking powder  OR 230 gm Self-Raising flour 120 gm brown sugar 100 gm dark chocolate 125 gm butter 250 gm beetroot, grated 3 eggs 1/4  tsp vanilla pinch of salt Icing sugar for dusting (optional) Method Melt the chocolate either by double boiling or microwave, leave aside. Sift plain flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa powder.  Set aside. Beat butter and sugar till light and creamy, add in the eggs one at a time. Mix in the melted chocolate. Fold in the sifted cocoa and flour.  Mix well. Stir in the grated beetroot, mix well. Pour batter into a greased and flour dusted 23 cm Bundt pan. Bake in a p...

After savouring a spicy meal, time for some  not overly sweet relaxing dessert.  The weather has been crazy these past few weeks, hot and humid which makes one feel sweaty, lethargic and irritable.  So this comfortable dessert is what we need right now to keep our heads and bodies Cool! Recipe for Beetroot Ice Cream       (adapted from Goodfoodchannel ) Ingredients 200 gm beetroot, peeled 150 ml milk 300 ml whipping cream 1 vanilla pod, split lengthwise, seeds scrapped 50 gm caster sugar 4 egg yolks   Method Boil beetroot till tender, drain, after cooling slightly, puree in a blender or food processor.  Measure out 75 ml, set aside. Using a ball whisk, whisk egg yolks with the sugar till smooth, set aside. Place milk and cream in a saucepan, heat gently, adding in the vanilla seeds.  Once milk starts to foam up, remove from heat. Gradually, pour this into the egg mixture, whisking continously n...

It's been quite a while since I made any buns.  Spotted some nice fresh looking yam at the market which gave me an idea for trying to make some yam paste.  Not so happy with the 'deceitful' nice looking yam as it wasn't that 'powdery' which resulted in my not so creamy yam paste.

I've a soft spot for yam and can't resist buying them from the market whenever I see fresh ones. Came up with this dish which I can easily have it on its own ....... I'll eat the yam first, the chicken is secondary.

This is the first time that I'm using sweet potatoes in a curry and was very eager to see how this would fare.  The curry turned out to be rich, not heavy with a slight sweet, creamy onion sauce that just melts in your mouth and most important, it was well received by my family members.

There are many streusel cake recipes on the internet but I'm not sure whether you've come across a Sweet potato streusel cake.  This cake is delectable, something different and I like the crumbly streusel especially  when the cake is served warm.

I'm a big fan of Taro ~ Yam and we were introduced to this dish when we dined at a restaurant just before Chinese New Year.  It became an instant hit with my family members and I didn't hesitate to stock up this baby kai lan and taro before the market place closed for the festive season.  Managed to replicate this dish to suit our palate and it was delicious.

' N ian Gao' ~ the sticky glutinous rice cake is regarded as an auspicious item during the Chinese New Year as its round shape signifies family reunion and harmony and its sweetness symbolises a rich, sweet life.  'Nian' sounds similar to 'year' and 'Gao' is 'high' in Chinese, thus Nian Gao implies promotion and prosperity year after year.  Hence it's a common practice that these glutinous rice cakes are piled up on the altar as an offering to the Gods with a wish for abundance in all aspects for the coming year!

T aro~Yam  is a versatile vegetable which has various derivative products after process.  It can be roasted, fried, grilled, boiled and here I'm presenting a bundt cake made with steamed and smashed yam.  Yes, I love yam served in any form and this tuber root is grown in semi-tropical and tropical climates all over the world.  Taro is high in dietary fibre, rich in vitamins E and B6, also an excellent source of potassium, some calcium, magnesium, manganese and copper.  This tuber is inedible raw and must be cooked through to leach out the calcium oxalate which is toxic.  In addition, because of its low caloric content, this makes it an ideal food for those who are conscious of their  waistline!

P urple sweet potato chiffon cake has been on my 'wanted' list for a long, long time.  I adapted the recipe from ' Do what I like ' but tweaked it a bit to suit my 23 cm chiffon cake pan.  I was delighted to be rewarded with a pinkish purplish cake with bits of potato cubes that didn't sink to the bottom! The highly nutritious purple sweet potato is the latest food item to be presented to the general public as a potential superfood.  The colour is the important part as it is this purple colour which is responsible for the amount of anthocyanim in the potato.  Anthocyanim which produces red, blue or purple colours in different types of food can also be found in blueberries, red grapes and red cabbage.  However,  the purple sweet potato has a higher concentration of the chemical than any other species of potatoes.  This is effective for lowering hypertension and is one of the best foods that one can eat to prevent cancer.

'Nian Gao' is a very auspicious item and a must-have during CNY.  Each year, we eat this sticky rice cake as it's symbolic ......'Nin Ko' in Cantonese which literally sounds like 'every year rising or prosper'!  Now tell me, who doesn't wish for achievement and promotion  in their career, prosperity in business, good luck, wealth and excellent health to usher in the New Year?  It's a unanimous Yes, we all do ............

This is another 'kar heong' or rather country style home-cooked dish.  Remember that my mum used to cook this for us which became a favourite amongst my siblings and now my children.

This dish is a simplified version of the 'Wu Tau Kow Yoke',  steamed pork belly sandwiched with yam.  I  tweaked it a bit too, because instead of pork belly I used pork ribs.  As I'm a yam or taro fan, I like yam  cooked in whatever fashion and I find this to be delicious too!

This is one of the must-have items whenever we go for have dim-sum ...... 'Wu Kok' or Yam dumplings.  Initially I had a hard time struggling with the soft and sticky dough in the hot and stuffy kitchen, but fortunately after chilling it in the fridge for 50 mins., it could be 'man-handled' quite easily!  Phew, not too bad as this is my first attempt!

We stopped by Tanjong Malim recently on the way to Kuala Lumpur and had dinner in this Son Wun Nam Restaurant.  Tanjong Malim is a small town, situated on the boundary between Perak state and Selangor state in West Malaysia. We ordered  3 dishes as there were only 3 of us and what struck me was the dishes were served on rather 'authentic', unchipped porcelain plates instead of melamine plates which are widely used in some restaurants. The restaurant's signature dish  ......'cooked' Garoupa fish fillet instead of steamed.  Actually, couldn't make out the difference whether it's 'cooked' or 'steamed'.  Quite a generous serving of fish fillet, tasted fresh and good.  Cost RM16.00 'Kau Yoke' ....... Braised pork belly with yam, not too bad, except that the pork belly was a bit fatty.    Cost RM15.00 Stir fry 'Kai Lan' or Mustard greens with garlic and oyster sauce  ....  not too oily but crunchy.  Cost RM7....

Cooked this Yam dish recently ...... the meat has assumed the colour of the yam, so it's pretty difficult to distinguish the meat from the yam pieces, but nonetheless,  this is a delicious dish, goes well with rice.

Has anyone seen green potatoes before?  I haven't and don't think anyone has.  But my cake turned out to be green!  There must be some metamorphosis in the baking process .......... purple plus brown sugar and egg which is yellow.  I used the purple sweet potatoes that I bought from Cameron Highlands and mistakenly used brown sugar which should have been caster. Before I put the cake in the oven, the batter was still purplish and voila I was pleasantly surprised to find a green cake staring at me upon opening the oven door.  Nevertheless, my neighbour savoured some and he said it was  unique and tastes good. topped with chopped walnuts Mmmm ..........  green with envy ................. but yummy Recipe for Purple Sweet Potato Cake Ingredients 13 oz mashed sweet potatoes (purple ones in this case) 12 oz Plain Flour 1 cup Canola Oil 4 eggs 2  Tsp Baking Powder 2  Tsp Baking Soda 1/2...

On a recent weekend trip to Cameron Highlands, I was surprised to find the various species of sweet potatoes that are grown in the highlands. Without much hesitation I picked up 3 kg of assorted sweet potatoes at a price of RM10.  It's not often that we can find different coloured sweet potatoes available at the same time in our lowland market. I used some to make this Sweet Potato 'tong sui'/dessert and must say that the colour combination is  beautiful. four types of sweet potatoes, purple, orange, white and yellow ....... the white one is quite rare, tastes a bit like tapioca so colourful .... the purple one is a cross of sweet potato and yam.  Soaked them in water to prevent them from turning brown while waiting for the water to boil pretty isn't it .................yummy Recipe for Colourful Sweet Potato Dessert Ingredients 2 litres of water Purple sweet potatoes  - 190 gm White sweet potatoes   -  180 gm Yellow sweet potatoes -...