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

  This mango butter cake is soft, spongy and not too sweet.  It has the flavour and aroma of mango and the buttery taste is not too dominating.  Butter can be replaced with oil but consistency will be a bit runny.  This cake can be enjoyed at all times of the day, be it for breakfast, tea or as a dessert to round off a hearty meal. Mango Butter Cake Ingredients 115 gm butter 80 gm caster sugar or brown sugar 2 eggs 100 gm mango puree 120 gm plain flour 1 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp baking soda a pinch of salt 1 tsp vanilla essence Method Puree the mango till smooth and set aside. Sift the flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Set aside. Beat butter and sugar till creamy, light and fluffy. Add in eggs one at a time on low speed.  Incorporate thoroughly. Add in the mango puree, mix well. Sift in the flour mixture, mix well. Scoop the batter into a lightly greased 8.5 inch by 4.5 inch dish or loaf pan. Level the surface.  Bake in a preheated ...

Since I have recently acquired an Air Fryer I wanted to make use of it to try various recipes.  I like to use the Air Fryer as it makes clean-up very much easier and I don't have to deal with a greasy kitchen when deep frying in a pot of oil or even panfry.  Also it's more healthy as only a little oil is used and the chicken is not submerged in oil.  The crust of the Airfried Shrimp Paste Chicken is crackly and tasty and the meat is juicy too.  I kept them in the Air Fryer for about half an hour before serving and the crust was still crispy. Airfried Shrimp Paste Chicken ~空气炸锅 虾酱鸡   Ingredients 460 gm from 2 deboned whole leg of chicken (you can use bone-in chicken too) Seasoning for chicken 3/4 Tbsp shrimp paste 1 Tbsp shaoxing wine 1/2 Tbsp sugar 1/2Tbsp sesame oil 1/4 Tbsp oyster sauce A dash of white pepper Flour mixture 1/2 cup plain flour 1/2 Tbsp cornflour (helps to make the chicken skin crispy) 1/2 tsp baking powder (helps to dry out moisture before...

  Ginger Nut biscuits have a unique blend of taste, sweet and spicy at the same time and I made my version of Ginger Nut cookies with crushed Arnotts Ginger Nut biscuits.  Ginger Nut biscuit on its own is a hard biscuit and needs to be dunked in milk to soften and enjoy it.  No mixer is required in this recipe and the cookies can be made in a relative short time.  This cookie is crunchy at the sides and slightly chewy in the centre.  You can also make this cookie with other biscuits like Biscoff or Digestive biscuits. Ginger Nut Cookies ~  姜饼曲奇 Ingredients 115 gm vegetable oil 70 gm caster sugar or soft brown sugar 1 'L' egg 185 gm plain flour 1/2 teasp baking soda 1/8 teasp salt 110 gm Arnotts ginger nut cookies, crushed 1/4 teasp vanilla essence Method Sift the flour with baking soda, salt, set aside In a mixing bowl, beat the oil and sugar with a hand whisk till creamy. Break in the egg, beat and mix well.  Add in vanilla essence. Sift in the f...

  A Fish Maw soup, nutritious and nourishing for the body and only requires 4 main ingredients.  Fish Maw is basically dried fish bladder is rich in collagen which helps to give a smooth complexion and also high in calcium, helps in blood circulation as well.  This Fish Maw soup with mushrooms and beiqi is delicious and versatile and can be served with rice, noodles or one can just enjoy it on its own. Mushroom Beiqi Braised Fish Maw Soup Ingredients 30 gm mushrooms (to soak till soft and discard the stem) 20 gm fried fish maw 10 gm astragalus slices (Beiqi) 300 gm chicken leg, cut into 2 (seasoned with some salt) 6 dried scallops (soaked in water for a few minutes) 4 pips of garlic, sliced 1.25 lt of water Salt to taste Method Saute the sliced garlic till fragrant.  Add in the mushrooms, saute for a while, then add in the astragalus slices, water and let it simmer for half hour.  Add the chicken, dried scallops and let it simmer for another 20 minutes. Meanwhil...

  The batter for these muffins was chilled overnight in the refrigerator as I wanted to experiment with achieving taller muffins.  They were baked in a jiffy and ready for breakfast.  The muffins were soft, moist, crumbly and deliciously infused with some strawberry jam.  Chilled batter jam muffins       Ingredients 286 gm plain flour 80 gm caster sugar 40 gm brown sugar 2 'L'eggs 1/2 tsp salt 1 Tbsp baking powder 1 cup buttermilk (milk + 1 Tbsp white vinegar or lemon juice to make up 1 cup) 113 ml oil 1 tsp vanilla Strawberry jam or other jam as desired Method Sieve and whisk the plain flour, baking powder, salt, caster and brown sugar into a mixing bowl.  Set aside. With a ball whisk, whisk the eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla till well combined.  Pour this into the dry ingredients.  Mix till just combined. Cover with cling wrap and chill in the fridge for a few hours or preferably overnight. Next day, divide the batter into the ...

    Chinese New Year marks the beginning of the lunar new year and for 2023 it is the year of the water Rabbit which falls on Sunday 22nd January.  Sumptuous food is served in Chinese households and I believe that this Emperor Herbal Chicken dish can be added to your menu of glorious food. Emperor Herbal Chicken   ~  药材皇帝鸡 Ingredients 600 gm (1/2 a full range chicken) 8 seedless red dates 2 pieces Dang Gui (angelica root) 2 pieces Bei Qi 15 gm Huai San 15 gm Dang Shen 20 gm Yuk Zhu 5 gm wolfberries (to add on after chicken is cooked) 2 Tbsp Shaoxing wine 1 Tbsp sesame oil 1/2 Tbsp seasalt 1 tsp light soya sauce Method Rub the chicken with seasalt and a bit of light soya sauce.   Place the chicken on 2 pieces of parchment paper. Wash the red dates, dang gui, bei qi, huai san, dang shen, yuk zhu and  spread them on the chicken.   Pour in the Shaoxing wine and sesame oil. Wrap the chicken and place it on a plate. Heat up a steamer and ...

  These Almond Sable Cookies are a must try during this holiday season, it's a Christmas Butter Time Cookie.  I have posted a simpler recipe before, French Butter Cookies , but this recipe that I am sharing with you today has almond meal and I added in Cointreau to give some oomph to the flavour. Almond Sable Cookies  ~   杏仁奶油曲奇饼 (adapted from 'here' ) Ingredients 160 gm butter 80 gm icing sugar 2 egg yolks 2 tsp Cointreau 200 gm plain flour 50 gm almond meal 1/4 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1 egg yolk for egg wash   Method Cream the butter and sugar till well incorporated.   Add in the egg yolks, one at a time. Sift in the plain flour, baking powder and salt.  Mix well with a spatula. Mix in the almond meal, followed by the Cointreau. Dough is sticky.  Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick, in between two plastic sheets and place in the freezer to harden, about 30 mins. Cut out the dough with a cookie cutter (4.5 cm dia.)...

  This dish of steamed chicken with slightly chewy and crunchy cordycep flowers (scientific name Cordyceps Militaris), also known as   虫草花   is delicious with added aroma from the Shaoxing wine and sesame oil.  This dish can also be served as confinement food and I have posted a Cordycep flower chicken soup quite a while back.  You can check it out 'here' . Steamed Chicken with Cordycep Flowers Ingredients 450 gm chicken, cut into bite sizes 8 gm Cordycep flowers 3 thin slices of ginger, cut into strips 10 red dates, deseeded 15 wolfberries (to sprinkle after chicken is cooked) 1.1/2 Tbsp Shaoxing wine 1.1/2 Tbsp sesame oil 1.1/2 Tbsp light soya sauce 1.1/2 Tbsp cornflour 1/2 Tbsp oyster sauce 2 Tbsp water Method Marinate the chicken with wine, light soya sauce, sesame oil, cornflour and oyster sauce for a few hours or overnight. Wash and rinse the cordycep flowers and red dates. Mix into the marinated chicken, add in water and steam chicken on hight heat f...