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

A lot has been said about the nutrients and health benefits of adding turmeric to our diet.  Not only is turmeric a good source of manganese and iron, it also helps to lower blood triglycerides after a meal.  Moreover it helps to add more colour to a dish as you can see from this Turmeric Chicken dish which I'm sharing with you today. Turmeric chicken (2) ~ 黄 姜 鸡  Ingredients 650 gm chicken (3 whole leg of chicken cut to preferred sizes) 2 tsp turmeric powder 1 big onion cut into wedges 2 Tbsp coconut milk 1.1/2 cups water curry leaves salt, sugar, light soya sauce to taste Method Marinate the chicken pieces with the turmeric powder, a bit of salt and sugar for a few hours or overnight, Heat up some oil in a wok, shallow fry the chicken pieces, add in water and let cook till chicken is tender and cooked through.  Toss in the onion wedges followed by the coconut milk and curry leaves. Fine tune to taste with sugar, salt and ...

One can't  be tired of chiffon cakes and this goes for my family as well.  Chiffon cakes are light, soft and not overly fattening that will add unsightly inches around the waistline.  So, here, I'm sharing with you today, an Oreo chiffon cake which can be enjoyed any time of the day. Oreo Chiffon Cake ~  奥利奥戚风蛋糕 (adapted from  ' here'  and  'here' ) Ingredients (A) 5 egg yolks 58 gm caster sugar 75 ml canola oil 1/4 tsp salt 129/130 gm plain flour 1 tsp baking powder 92 ml milk 1/2 tsp vanilla 4 Oreo cookies, cream removed and crushed coarsely 6 whole Oreo cookies to place at the base of the pan (B)  5 egg whites        58 gm caster sugar        1/2 tsp cream of tartar Method Place 6 whole Oreo cookies onto the base of an ungreased 23 cm chiffon pan. Using a handwhisk, whisk the egg yolks, vanilla and sugar till well combined.  Add in oil, milk and mix th...

This is a 'cheat' version of curry puffs.  Why do I say 'cheat'?  Because the puff pastries were store bought.  It's very much easier to make these curry puffs snack with instant pastry for if I were to make the pastries from scratch it's going to be very tedious.  Also, shaping and baking them in a muffin pan is less time consuming.  Enjoy! Curry Chicken Puff  ~   咖哩鸡角 Ingredients 1 packet Kawan puff pastry (store bought) 300 gm chicken breast, diced into cubes 1 potato, peeled and diced into cubes 2 red onions, chopped 2 tsp curry powder (or more if you prefer it more spicy) 1 lemon grass, smashed curry leaves salt to taste 1 egg + 1 tsp water for egg wash 1/4 tsp chicken granules Method for the filling Marinate the chicken cubes with the curry powder and some salt. In a pan, saute the onions with some oil, then add in the smashed lemon grass, curry leaves, then the marinated chicken cubes. Add in the potat...

As the name implies, these snowskin mooncakes have a hint bit of orange liqueur and I used a different recipe this time.   I adapted the recipe from Ah Tze  (only made a quarter of the recipe) as I was curious to steam the wheat starch and plain flour and whether the flours will be wet and difficult to sift.  But no, after cooled, just sift through.  This is a keeper recipe for the mooncakes stayed soft and nice even after the fifth day, stored in an airtight container, chilled.  A great thank you to Ah Tze for sharing this recipe. Have a pleasant and enjoyable Mid-Autumn Festival! Cointreau liqueur snowskin mooncake ~  橙酒莲蓉冰皮月餅 Ingredients 65 gm kao fun (cooked glutinous rice flour) 17.1/2 gm wheat starch flour 17.1/2 gm ssuperfine flour 60 gm icing sugar 25 gm Crisco shortening 60 gm water 15 ml/3 tsp Cointreau liqueur Pandan/screwpine leaves (optional) Filling 250 gm lotus paste (store bought) some dri...

The recipe for this soft and light Baked Egg Cake is derived from the original recipe for steamed egg cake or Ji Dan Gao  ( 鸡 蛋 糕). I like the texture of this cake which is not too sweet and it does pair very well with a hot cup of our local black coffee.    Baked Egg Cake ~   烤鸡蛋糕  (adapted from ' here ' ) Ingredients  (A) 3 egg yolks 1 whole egg 50 ml canola oil 65 gm self-raising flour 5 gm cocoa powder + 1 tsp water 1/2 tsp vanilla a pinch of salt (B)      3 egg whites           65 gm icing sugar Method In a mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks, egg with a handwhisk.  Add in canola oil and mix till well combined. Sieve in self-raising flour, mix well and set aside. In another clean mixing bowl, whisk egg whites till foamy, add in icing sugar in three batches and whisk till stiff peaks but not dry. Fold in 1/3 meringue into the flour mixture with a spatula, mix well...

Attracted by the new introduction of a salted paste mooncake, suppliers have ideas.  I bought this salted mung bean paste, added some melon seeds and churn out these mini rose shaped mooncakes.                   Salted mung bean mooncake ~ 咸绿豆月饼 2017 Ingredients 150 gm superfine flour 90 ml golden syrup 38 ml vegetable oil 2 gm alkaline water Egg glaze - 1 whole egg, beaten and strain Filling 300 gm salted mung bean paste (store bought) 8 gm lightly toasted melon seeds Method Use a  handwhisk to mix the golden syrup, oil and alkaline water till no oil surfaces.  Sift in the superfine flour.  Mix lightly to form a dough.  Cover and let rest for a few hours till it doesn't stick to the hands.  (I let it rest for 4 hours). Scale dough to 25 gm each, roll into a ball Mix the melon seeds with the lotus paste.  Scale filling to 27 gm each. Flatten the piece of dough with ...

A very simple fuss-free and comforting  dish to come home to, especially on the current wet days.  This dish pairs well with both hot, steaming rice or gluey white porridge.  Enjoy with your loved ones... dig in! Taucu (bean paste) chicken  ~  豆酱姜鸡   Ingredients 650 gm chicken (I used 2 whole leg and 2 wings) 6 pips of garlic 20 gm ginger 1 Tbsp taucu 1 cup  water sugar and salt to taste oil for frying Method Season the chicken with a bit of salt. Pound the garlic and ginger, set aside. Heat up a wok with some oil, saute the garlic and ginger paste till fragrant. Add in the taucu, stir-fry.  Add in the chicken and stir-fry. Add in water and cook till chicken is cooked through. Add in sugar and salt to taste. Serve with rice or porridge.

Salted egg yolks have been added into traditional lotus paste mooncakes, for both baked and snowskin mooncakes.   So I believe that the salted egg yolks can be added to nutty mooncakes as well.  They do enhance the flavour of these nutty mooncakes and if you're a fan of salted egg yolks, you'll love these. Salted Egg Nutty Mooncake ~  咸蛋五仁什錦月餅 Ingredients for Dough 150 gm superfine flour 90 ml golden syrup 38 ml vegetable oil 2 gm alkaline water Egg glaze - 1 whole egg, beaten and strain Ingredients for Filling 30 gm wlanuts, toasted and chopped 30 gm whole almonds with skin, toasted and chopped 19 gm pumpkin kernels, toasted 38 gm kat paeng/candied lemon, chopped 75 gm dried winter melon, chopped 38 gm sesame seeds, toasted 30 gm caster sugar 60 gm kao fun 2.1/4 Thsp vegetable oil 2.1/4 Tbsp water 3/4 Tbsp rose concentrate 3/8 Tbsp golden syrup 1.1/4 Tbsp Brandy (optional) 1/8 tsp salt 3 kaffir leaves, shredded 3 salted egg yol...