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

This moist and delicious Banana Loaf is a quick bake with loads of banana flavour. While it is baking in the oven your home will be filled with tempting banana aroma and before long you will be rewarded with a slice of your very own freshly baked banana bread.  This is also a great way to use up your overripe bananas. Banana Loaf  ~  香蕉蛋糕 Ingredients 150 gm plain flour 90 gm wholemeal flour 1 tsp baking soda 1/8 tsp salt 100 gm caster sugar 3 overripe bananas, about 300 gm (mashed) 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1 tsp vanilla 1/3 cup buttermilk (milk + 1 tsp vinegar) 2 eggs 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1 to 2 bananas, cut raw sugar to sprinkle on top Method Sift plain flour, baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl.  Mix and whisk in wholemeal flour and cinnamon, set aside. In another bowl, whisk sugar, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and add in the mashed bananas. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Do not overmix. Scoop batter into a...

This is a very refreshing stir-fried dish of Capsicum, Onion and some Pacific Clams.  Easy to prepare with a few ingredients and great to pair with white rice. Stir-Fry Pacific Clams with Capsicum ~    燈籠椒炒鲍贝 Ingredients 10 Pacific clams 1 medium size yellow capsicum (green or red, personal choice) 1 medium size red onion cut into wedges 4 pips of garlic, chopped 1 tsp Shaoxing wine 1 tsp oyster sauce 1/2 tsp cornflour + 1.1/2 tsp water to mix Salt to taste Method Heat up some oil in a wok, saute the chopped garlic till fragrant. Toss in the capsicum and onions, give it a quick stir.  Add in the pacific clams. Mix the oyster sauce into the cornflour mixture and add to the stir-fry.  Test for taste.  Turn off the fire. Drizzle in 1 teaspoon of Shaoxing wine and give a quick stir. Dish up to serve immediately.

This Citrus and Oil Bundt Cake tastes very much like a sponge cake and a little bit chewy too.  It is delicious, the oil makes it moist and the addition of Cointreau makes the cake all the more flavourful and fragrant. Citrus and Oil Bundt Cake Ingredients 240 gm superfine flour 3/4 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda a pinch of salt 4 large eggs 2 Tbsp fresh zest (orange and lemon) 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup squeezed citrus juice (3 Tbsp juice + 1 Tbsp Cointreau) 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 cup milk 150 gm caster sugar Method Whisk or sift flour with the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.  Set aside. Combine the eggs, sugar, zest in a bowl and beat till light and  pale. Add in juice and vanilla, mix well. Fold in flour in 3 batches alternating with milk, till fully incorporated.  Batter is runny. Pour batter into a greased and flour dusted 10 cup bundt pan, tap lightly to expel any air. Bake in a preheated oven @ 180 deg....

This is a copycat dish from Old Kingdom Chinese restaurant in Surrey Hills, Melbourne.  When we saw 'Fantastic Chicken' dish on the menu, all of us were curious and yes, we agreed to give it a shot.  When the dish was served, there's nothing 'fantastic' about it, it's just chicken fillet fried with black bean sauce.  Nonetheless, it was a delicious and tasty dish to pair with a plate of steaming hot white rice. Fantastic Chicken/Chicken in black bean sauce ~   豆豉鸡 Ingredients 270 gm chicken leg, deboned 2 onions, sliced or cut into wedges 1 medium size capsicum, sliced 1.1/2 tsp black bean  Salt and a bit of sugar to taste 1 tsp cornflour + 3 tsp water Method Slice up the chicken and season with some pepper, pinch of salt and a bit of sugar.  Set aside. Heat up a wok or pan with some oil, add in the black bean , saute till fragrant, add in the seasoned chicken and stir-fry till cooked.  Add in some water if  it'...

There is a huge variety of cookies come every Chinese New Year and this time I'm sharing with you a very simple and easy to make Nestum Raisin Cookies.  The ingredients are very basic for any cookie recipe but the star ingredient is of course, Nestum.  Crunchy and crispy Nestum Raisin Cookies to serve your guests this Chinese New Year and I hope you will like it! Nestum Raisin Cookies ~  CNY 2020   麦片葡萄干饼干 Ingredients 250 gm butter 140 gm caster sugar 280 gm self-raising flour 1 egg yolk 40 gm Nestum 60 gm raisins 1/2 tsp vanilla a pinch of salt More Nestum to coat Method Beat butter and sugar till creamy, add in the egg yolk and vanilla, mix well. Sift in the flour, add in the nestum and raisins.  Mix well. Pinch some dough about the size of a 20 cent coin, lightly roll onto some Nestum to coat and place onto a parchment lined baking tray, about an inch apart. Bake in a preheated oven @ 180 deg.C for about 10 to 15 mins....

These Hup Toh Soh (Chinese Walnut Biscuits) are without hup toh/walnuts.  I do remember from young that the traditional Hup Toh Soh that I ate those days were quite big, around 4 inches in diameter or because I was small and to me everything looked big!  They were made with lard and were very crunchy but there wasn't any trace of hup toh in them and nobody asked why.   Although these biscuits are without walnuts, they are still crunchy and yummy.  If you are allergic to nuts, this is a recipe for you.  Give this a try for the coming Chinese New Year. However, if you would like to have a recipe of  Hup Toh Soh with walnuts, do hop in 'here'. Hup Toh Soh  (Chinese Walnut Biscuits)  ~   CNY 2020  核桃酥 Ingredients 300 gm plain flour                                                    ...

A Very Happy New Year to one and All  All the Very Best in 2020 This is my first attempt at baking with spelt flour and I was quite skeptical at the beginning for I do not know how the texture of the cake will turn out.  But after reading through the recipe which calls for about half spelt and half self-raising flour, I have more confidence to give it a go.  Spelt is low in gluten and perhaps that's the reason why the recipe calls for only half spelt flour.  The cake turned out swell and the texture was good, soft and moist. Carrot Walnut Cake with Spelt Flour ~   胡萝卜核桃蛋糕 Ingredients 115 gm wholemeal spelt flour 113 gm self-raising flour 140 gm soft or dark brown sugar 4 large eggs 70 gm walnuts, chopped 70 gm sultanas, chopped 300 gm (about 2 medium size) carrots, grated Zest from 1 orange 1 cup vegetable oil 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp cinnamon a pinch of salt Icing sugar for dusting (optional) Method Line an 8 in...

This simple yet delectable and soothing Matcha Pudding is a delicious sweet treat to round up a meal.  I adapted the recipe from  'Justonecookbook.com' ,  reduced the sugar, tweaked it but doubled the recipe. It was well received by members of the family and the pudding were finished in a jiffy! Matcha Pudding  ~  抹茶布丁  Ingredients 2 Tbsp matcha/green tea powder 10 gm gelatine powder 4 Tbsp hot water 2.1/2 cups milk 70 gm mixture of caster and raw sugar Method Sift the matcha powder into a bowl. Put the gelatine powder into a bowl and pour in the hot water to mix. Heat up a cup of water in a saucepan and place the bowl of gelatine on top.  Once the gelatine powder dissolves, remove and set aside. In another small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil (when bubbles are seen at the side of the saucepan), turn off heat. Add in the sugar mixture and whisk till dissolved. Take 6 Tbsp of milk mixture from (step 5 above) and add into...