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

I've bought this set of ice popsicle moulds quite some time ago and had totally forgotten to put them to good use until lately.   We have had some durians for dessert and I used the leftover to make this yummy frozen popsicle.  Well, enjoying durians is a much acquired taste, it's either you like it or you don't.  Some people just adore the smelly fruit while others are simply repulsed by it!  Which category are you? Recipe for Durian Ice Popsicles Ingredients                                              250 gm durian flesh            5 Tbsp caster sugar 250 ml full cream milk a pinch of salt Method     Put all the above ingredients into a blender and blend till thick and creamy. Pour the mixture into the ice popsicle moulds. Freeze till firm, preferably overnight.     ...

This is a very simple pork belly dish cooked with fermented bean curd and young lotus root.  I like that the lotus root stays crunchy and blends well with  the equally crispy wood ear fungus.  A comforting dish to serve with a bowl of hot white rice! Recipe for Braised Pork Belly with Lotus Root Ingredient 300 gm pork  belly, cut into bite size 150 gm young lotus root, sliced 4 pips garlic, smashed 20 gm wood ear fungus, soaked, stemmed, cut into strips 2 pices of Nam Yue (fermented bean curd) 1 tsp dark soya sauce 2 tsp Shaoxing wine 3 cups water Salt and sugar to taste Method Saute the garlic with some oil till fragrant, add in the pork belly, stir-fry. Add in the mashed fermented bean curd, mix well and toss in the wood ear fungus. Add in water, dark soya sauce, simmer till meat is tender and cooked and sauce slightly reduced. Toss in the sliced lotus root, ...

I haven't baked mini chiffon cakes before and  with this 4 egg recipe, I managed to get 2 mini chiffon cakes.  These orange chiffon cakes were soft, moist, fluffy and the colour was of a striking bright orange.  I was totally pleased with these 'products' and yes, they were indeed yummy! Recipe for Orange Chiffon Cake  (Adapted froml  Anncoo Journal with modification) Ingredients  (A)                                           4 egg yolks 15 gm caster sugar 50 gm corn/canola oil 70 ml orange juice 90 gm plain flour 10 gm cornflour Zest of 1 orange (B) 4 egg whites   65 gm caster sugar Method Sift plain flour and cornflour into a bowl. Beat egg yolks and sugar with a hand whisk till pale.  Add in oil, orange juice, zest and stir as you add. Sift the flour mixture again into the egg yolk mixture.  ...

I took the opportunity to try my hands at making puff pastry from scratch when I was on vacation as the weather was quite cooling and I assumed that the dough wouldn't be sticky and messy to handle. I could make both oil and water dough easily and there were no 'sweat and tears', LOL!  The pastries turned out nice and flaky and everybody gave their thumbs up for this dim sum, especially my dear grandnephew who asked for more! Oil dough - Sieve the plain flour into a mixing bowl, add in the cold, cubed butter, mash with a fork and slowly combine to form a soft dough.  Wrap up with clingwrap and keep in the fridge for 30 mins.  (You can do this with a food processor if you wish), Water dough - Sieve the plain flour into a mixing bowl, add in the slightly  beaten egg yolks, mix well, add ice cold water gradually ,( you may not require the whole amount of water as too much water can make the pastry tough), mix well and form into a dough.  Wrap up ...

Hi folks!  I'm back.  Had a wonderful and enjoyable holiday with so much good food, good company and laughter.  Today, I'm going to share with you a simple stir-fry veggie dish..... a light and refreshing mixed veggie dish with cloud ears and pine nuts.   Not only is it nutritious it's also very easy to prepare.  I didn't fry this dish too long as I prefer the veggie to be crisp and crunchy.   You can serve this with white rice or can enjoy it on its own! Recipe for Stir-fry mixed veggie with cloud ears Ingredients 50 gm cloud ears, soaked and stemmed 100 gm celery 50 gm carrot 200 gm cauliflower some goji berries pine nuts, lightly toasted 2 tsp oyster sauce seasalt to taste oil Method Heat up some oil in a wok and stir-fry the cauliflower. Toss in the celery and carrot, add in the oyster sauce, mix and continue to stir-fry. Add in the cloud ears, goji berries. Sprinkle on some water if the dish is too dry. Fine ...

Muffins again!  I happened to make these recently and since Pumpkin is the October theme for LTU,  I took the opportunity to join in the fun.   Not only are these muffins moist and delicious with the cranberries and choc chips, I just can't help admiring the golden hue of the pumpkin in these quick tea bread! Recipe for Pumpkin Choc Chip Muffins   (adapted from 'here' with modification) Ingredients 9 oz plain flour 1.1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1.1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp salt 6 oz butter 6 oz caster sugar 3 large eggs 1 tsp vanilla 9.1/2 oz pumpkin puree 100 gm black choc chips 50 gm dried cranberries Method Peel off the pumpkin and cut it into chunks.  Steam and mash the pumpkin while still warm.  Set aside. Sift flour with salt, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon.  Mix well. Beat butter with the sugar till smooth. Add in the eggs and...

This Magic Custard Cake has been very popular in the blogosphere recently and many bloggers have successfully made this 'wonder' cake.  Why is it called magic cake, many people will ask?  The answer is that with only one batter you can get to enjoy three different layers of cake.   It has a soft sponge top, the middle layer is custard while the bottom is a dense layer of cake.  This is my second attempt.  The first attempt, I only managed to get two layers and not to be put off, I persevered and tried again. I stumbled upon a video by Yellowsaffron which you can watch at the end of this post and I followed Anncoo's version of adding in some orange zest.   I was so happy when, after trimming the sides of the cake, I saw three layers and I was on cloud nine! Recipe for Magic Custard Cake Ingredients 125 gm butter 500 ml milk 4 large eggs 1 Tbsp caster sugar 140 g...

Recently I tried  another version of making BBQ pork (Char Siew) ....... with honey and maltose.  As it was my first encounter with maltose, I had a hard time measuring it out with a tablespoon as it was indeed very, very sticky.  Then it dawned on me to try dabbing the tablespoon with some oil before measuring out the sticky liquid and it certainly did the trick :)   As for the Char Siew, it was good and fragrant as I drizzled on some Shaoxing wine before slicing it up to serve. Recipe for Honey Maltose BBQ Pork (Char Siew) ~ 2 Ingredients 1 kg pork belly without skin 4.1/2 Tbsp honey 4.1/2 Tbsp maltose 2 Tbsp dark soya sauce 3.1/2 Tbsp light soya sauce 1.1/4 tsp five spice powder A dash of pepper 3 Tbsp Shaoxing wine Method Combine honey, maltose, dark and light soya sauces, five spice powder and pepper in a saucepan.  Keep stirring and heat up lightly.  Let cool. Pour the cooled sauce over the pork belly and let it marin...