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

Whipped up this simple dish for dinner  -  braised fish with bean curd puff and bean paste, bean curd puff is one of my favourites in any form.  It's simply delicious when it's steeped in the bean paste sauce....... Recipe for Braised fish with bean curd puff and bean paste Ingredients 220 gm Red Snapper block 150 gm Bean Curd Puff - cut into half 3  Tsp Black Bean 2  Tsp  Bean Paste ( Tau Cheong) 10 gm young ginger  - chopped 10 gm garlic - chopped 1  Tsp Oyster sauce 1/2  Tsp Dark soya sauce 1  Tsp Light soya sauce 1  Tsp Salt 1  Tsp Sugar 1.1/2  cups water 1.1/2  Tsp Cornflour mixed with 3 Tbsp water 1.1/2 Tbsp oil for frying Garnishing  -  Sliced red chilly and chopped spring onions Preparation Marinate the fish block with some salt, set aside Heat up the pan with oil and when it's hot pat dry the fish and lightly fry on both sides, dish out Saute the choppe...

Cameron Highlands is a highland resort located 121 km east of Ipoh and about 214 km north of Kuala Lumpur.  The journey up to the highlands from Ipoh takes about 1.1/2 hours after the Simpang Pulai toll exit. The roads here are wider and not so winding like the old road from Tapah town and the journey is much shorter.  Travelling time can be shortened by approximately 1 hour. The highlands is about 5,000 feet above sea level, climate is cool with temperature ranging from 12 deg C to 25 deg C.  Because of its luscious, peaceful scenery amid cool fresh air, it's a very popular holiday destination for locals as well as tourists.  The place can be crowded during weekends and more so during school and public holidays. We stayed at the Equatorial Hotel, Kea Farm, Brinchang which is strategically located.  The location is good and the view amazing.  The strawberry farm is just round the corner of the hotel and visitors can pick and choose the strawberries a...

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 -...

A popular restaurant in Ipoh has recently introduced Mango Pudding as dessert in their menu.  It has received very encouraging response from its customers.  This dessert has to be pre-ordered as it's not readily available daily.  Much depends on the availability and quality of this tropical fruit from their suppliers. This is my second attempt as the first time, the pudding didn't set at all even after being chilled overnight.  Fortunately, I stumbled upon this recipe from  redcook  and I'm very satisfied with the result.  I tweaked it somewhat and substituted evaporated milk with soymilk. Recipe for Mango Pudding Ingredients 1 cup hot water 1 cup evaporated milk/soymilk  ( I used this) 3/4 oz gelatine 1.1/2 cups mango puree (from 2 to 3 medium size mangoes) 2 oz granulated sugar 1/4 cup fresh mangoes  -  optional (cut into 1/4 inch cubes) Preparation Skin the mango, cut the flesh about 1 inch sq. put in bl...

This is a very simple, common dish which most children will like.  I used to make this for my children and they loved to mix the rice with the sweet and sour gravy. Recipe for Sweet and Sour Black Pomfret Ingredients 300 gm Black Pomfret 1 Tomato - sliced for decoration Oil for frying the fish Sauce 1 Tbsp Chilly sauce 1 Tbsp Tomato sauce 2  Tsp Sugar 1/4 Tsp Salt 1/2 Tsp Balsamic Vinegar 1.1/2  Tsp Cornflour mixed with 6 Tbsp water Preparation Wash and clean the black pomfret Lightly make 2 slits on the fish Marinate with some salt, inside out Heat up a non-stickpan with 1 Tbsp oil Once the pan is hot, put in the fish Fry till slightly  brown on both sides, dish out on plate Mix up all the ingredients for the sauce Thicken it with the cornflour mixture Pour onto fish, decorate with tomato slices Serve

Prepared a foundation dough with the help of my Breadmaker and made this.  It  did take a bit of effort to coil up the dough as it was fairly long and was not so adept at it as this was my first try.  Nonetheless, it turned out quite well and was lovely, especially eaten warm. the crunchy topping of chopped almonds and honey...... mmm... especially when your teeth sinks into it, beautiful.... picture on the left, before proving, and picture on the right, after proving and topped with a mixture of honey and nibbed almonds, just before going into the oven just out of the oven and the sweet smell of freshly baked bread, fills the air a bit of a heart shape ? Recipe for Honey Twist Ingredients for Dough, using a Breadmaker 1 egg + water to make up 1 cup  -  250 ml Butter/Margarine  -  3 Tbsp Salt  -  1/2  Tsp High Protein Flour  -  410 gm Skim Milk powder -  2...

Tried this tea bread with the balance of pumpkin after cooking pumpkin rice.  The squash helps the loaf stay deliciously moist and the cinnamon blends well with the pumpkin flavour. Yummy ....... easy to make, yet easier to eat Recipe for Cranberry Pumpkin Tea Bread Ingredients 9 oz Plain Flour 2  Teasp. Baking Powder 1  Teasp Cinnamon 1/2  Teasp Salt 2 eggs 4 oz Brown Sugar 15 oz Pumpkin Puree 1/2  Cup Canola Oil 60 gm dried Cranberries - chopped  and coated with a bit of flour from above 1  Teasp Vanilla Method Grease an 8.5 x 4.5 x 3 inches loaf dish Sift the flour with the baking powder, salt and mix in cinnamon Cream eggs and sugar till fluffy, light and creamy Add oil, vanilla and mix well Add pumpkin puree, mix thoroughly Fold in sifted flour, mix well Fold in dried cranberries, mix thoroughly Bake in preheated oven @ 180 deg C for about 1 hour Test with skewer till it comes out clean Note :  Any excess pureed pumpki...

Steaming preserves the vitamins and minerals in foods and healthy as you do not need to add any oils or fats. Also, steamed food has a stronger, more flavourful taste, more so with foods steamed with herbs...... Simple, quick and easy to prepare, nutritious too Recipe for Steamed Herbal Chicken Ingredients 3 free range chicken drumsticks, cut into bite size pieces 3 slices Dong Quai/Chinese Angelica, break into small pieces 2  Teasp Kei Chi/Wolfberries Seasoning 4  Teasp Fish Sauce/Nampla 1/2  Teasp Sugar 1/8  Teasp Pepper 2  Teasp Cornflour mixed with 3 Tbsp water 2  Teasp Shaoxing wine (optional) Garnishing Spring Onions, chopped Preparation Marinate the chicken pieces with the above seasoning together with the Dong Quai pieces and kei chi for about 2 to 3 hours, or preferably overnight Steam over rapidly boiling water for about 10 to 15 mins. or till chicken pieces are cooked Turn off heat Drizzle 2  Teasp of Shaoxing wine Gar...