Banana Cake

This is an impromptu baking just to consume the leftover ripe bananas. I was hesitating whether or not to decorate the cake a  little bit so that it could look prettier. So, I sacrifice one banana for the toppings. Well,  the whole banana cake doesn’t really look outstanding... however, the individual slices of banana cake looks lovely. The cake tastes good too with my own measurement of ingredients. Everything is just nice, the taste, the texture and the look. It was my first attempt of baking a banana cake. Overall, I’m quite satisfied with this fruitful baking session.

Hmm...yummy! This is my breakfast for the next day. I gave some to my parents and hubby gobbled up the rest.

Banana Cake

Yields for a 8" diameter cake

Ingredients:

3 eggs
200gm self raising flour
1tsp of baking powder
120gm fine sugar
120gm salted butter
200gm of bananas, mashed
1tsp vanilla essence

Steps:

1. Preheat oven at 180C.

2. Line the 8" diameter cake tin base with baking paper.

3. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

4. Add egg one at a time, and continue to beat until well combine. Add vanilla essence to mix well.

3. Sieve in flour and baking powder to the wet ingredients. Fold it in the wet ingredients.

4. Fold the mashed banana into the batter.

5. Transfer the batter into the baking tray. Decorate the top with sliced banana (optional).

6. Bake the cake under 180C for 40 minutes or until cooked.

7. When it's done, leave it cool before cutting.

Assam Curry Fish

Assam curry is the type of spicy tamarind soured curry. This Nyonya- style curry is suitable for seafood like fish, prawn and squid. It does not contain coconut milk or condense milk. But with the taste of assam (tamarind), this curry is very appetizing. This is the type of curry that my mum used to make for the family. I learned from mum on the steps, and I made my own version of assam curry. 

See my bowl of mouth-watering assam curry fish?

Assam Curry Fish

Serves 3 to 4

Ingredients:

2 thick slices of fish fillet, sprinkled with salt and set aside
6-8 lady's finger
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 tomato, diced
2 stalk of lemon grass, get the white portion bruised
6 Kaffir lime leaves
1/2 of ginger flower, halved
fresh curry paste (bought from market)
belacan (optional)
450ml water
cooking oil

Seasonings:

Light soy sauce or salt
sugar
2 tbsp of tamarind pulp with half cup of water (mix and strain the juice)

Garnishing:

Mint leaves

Steps:

1. Heat up the wok with enough oil. Stir fry the onion, Kaffir lime leave, lemon grass and curry paste for few minutes until fragrant.

2. Add water and bring to a boil. Add ginger flower, lady's finger, tomato and fish to simmering for about 5 minutes. Add tamarind juice, salt and sugar to taste.

3. When everything is cooked, turn off the flame. Dish out and serve hot with rice.

Steamed Eggplant With Dried Shrimp Sauce

I didn't really plan on how to cook the eggplant which was stored in the fridge for the last few days. Then suddenly an idea came across my mind to cook it in this way....by steaming it. Yup, that's right. Steaming it retains it's original texture and color, and with a touch of homemade sauce, you'll have a healthy veg dish to go along with rice. Can you see the nice original purple color of the eggplant? I just love it!

Steamed Eggplant With Dried Shrimp Sauce

Ingredients:

1 eggplant, cut into 1.5cm x 8cm strips and soaked in salt water
2 tbsp of dried shrimps, soaked and drained
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 tbsp of oyster sauce
1 1/2 tbsp of light soy sauce
1 tsp of dark soy sauce
dash of pepper
75ml of water
1 1/2 tbsp of corn flour mixed with 4 tbsp of water
1 tbsp of vegetable oil

Steps:

1. Drain the eggplant strips and arrange it on a heat proved plate. Steam it over high flame for 5-6 minutes.

2. Heat up oil in another wok. Saute garlic till fragrant. Add dried shrimps and fry it for few minutes. Stir in the sauce and bring to a boil. Add corn starch mixture until the sauce is thickening.

3. Pour the sauce over the steamed eggplant. Serve hot with rice.

Meat Patties

Meat patties is definitely easier to make compared to veggie patties. Unlike the veggie patties, meat patties can be shaped nicely and shallow-fried to perfection. To clear up some of my minced meat stock, I made these patties to go with some bread and green corals and it turned out great! Hubby is loving it :)

Meat Patties

Makes 3 patties

Ingredients:
200g minced pork/chicken/beef
vegetable oil

Marinate the minced meat with:

1 tbsp of light soy sauce
half tsp of white pepper powder
1 tsp of sesame oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peel and finely chopped
1 small egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp of corn flour
3 tsbp of bread crumbs

Steps:

1. Marinate the minced meat for 30 minutes.

2. Divide the minced meat with marinade into 3 portions. Shape each portion into patty. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

3. Take out the meat patties from fridge and re-shape it.

4. Heat enough oil in a pan or wok. Shallow-fry the meat patties until golden brown at both side. Serve the meat patties with bun and veggies as burgers.

Braised Pork Belly In Soy Sauce (Tau Eu Bak)

Although my mum has been cooking this dish for us since my childhood days, I still have no idea how my mum did it. That was until last week, when I finally asked my mum on the cooking steps and seasonings.  Today I cook the dish for the first time and tada......it tastes as good as my mum's version. Yummy :)

I love all the ingredients added to the dish, like pork belly, hard-boiled egg, pork skin, fried beancurd, mushroom and dried cuttle fish (I omit this). Serve it with rice or porridge, and I'm more than happy.

Braised Pork In Soy Sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients:

300g pork belly, cut into bite-size
10" x 2" pork skin, cut into bite-size, excess fat removed
2 hard beancurd, cut into 4 each and shallow-fried till golden brown
4 hard-boiled egg, shelled
3 dried shiitake mushrooms, hydrated, stalk removed and quartered
5 cloves of garlic, peeled
800ml water
2 tbsp of dark soy sauce
4 tbsp of light soy sauce

Steps:

1. Marinate pork belly with dark soy sauce and light soy sauce. Let it stand for 30 minutes.

2. Bring water to boil in a pot. Add the pork skin and garlic and leave it simmers for 20 minutes. Pour in the pork belly and marinade. Bring to a boil. Add fried beancurd and leave it simmering for 35 minutes. Stir from time to time.

3. Add hard-boiled eggs and mushrooms. Simmers for another 10-15 minutes. Best serve with rice or porridge.

Note:

This dish should have some soy sauce gravy. You can top up water from time to time and adjust the saltiness based on your preference.

Blueberry Muffins

I came across this blueberry muffins recipe in Noobcook. I was drooling over the yummy looking muffins with juicy blueberries oozing out. Unfortunately, it was not easy to get fresh and cheap imported blueberries in Penang. I'm so disappointed until last few days when hubby brought back a tub of 125g blueberry. :) Hurray, finally I can hands on to make my own blueberry muffins.

I'm not good in baking. The muffins that I made in the past were either too hard or without the "dome" shape. I was lucky enough to have Food 4 Tots pointed out the possibilities of my mistake. She told me it could be due to the measurement, the pan, the mixing method and the baking temperature. This time, I take note all the above and follow on trust-able recipe by Noobcook, I can now announce that I've successfully baked a batch of fluffy and nice looking muffins! Can you imagine how happy I am? :D

Blueberry Muffins (Recipe adapted from Noobcook)
Yields for 5 big muffins and 4 small muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (190g) plain flour
1 1/2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1 cup (225g) caster sugar
125g blueberries
1/2 cup (125 ml) milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
65 grams melted butter at room temperature

Steps:

1. Sift flour, baking powder and sugar together, and mix well.

2. Add in milk, vanilla extract, eggs and butter and stir until just blended (and lumpy). Be careful not to over mix as it will result in a tough texture.

3. Fold in the blueberries into the mixture. Place baking cases in muffin tins. Spoon the mixture into the cases till almost full.

4. Bake for 20 minutes in preheated oven of 200C (400F) or until slightly golden brown. Allow to rest for several minutes before serving.

A note from Noobcook:
Store for a day in an airtight container. Freeze extras in ziplock bags and whenever you need a muffin or two, toast them for a few minutes in the oven till they are warm.

Roast Pork Loin

This is a very simple recipe to follow. With just few steps and what you'll get is a tender and scrumptious roast pork loin. I stumbled upon this recipe in Halogen Oven Recipe Book and I can't resist to try it. The original recipe calls for garlic stuffing, but I modify to marinate the pork loin with grated garlic instead.

Marinated with black pepper, salt, grated garlic and Worcestershire sauce, the roast pork loin is bursting with indulgent flavors. My next target is to cook stuffed pork loin. :) 

Roast Pork Loin

Ingredients:

300gm of fresh pork loin
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and grated
2 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
salt and black pepper

Steps:

1. season the pork loin with salt, pepper and grated garlic. Leave it for half an hour.

2. Sprinkle it with Worcestershire.

3. Place it on a rack and roast it in a preheated oven at 180 deg C for 1 hour.

4. Remove the roast from the rack and leave it cool a little bit before slicing.

Eight Precious Decoction (Crock Pot Recipe)

The ingredients of Eight Precious includes Polygoni (首乌), Angelicae Sinensis (当归头), Astragalus (北芪), Codonopsis (党参), Ligusiticum (旱前胡), Radix Paeoniae Alba (白芍), and Radix Rehmaniae Preaparata (熟地黄).

It is a traditional Chinese Medicine commonly used for nourishing the body, improving the blood circulation , replenishing the vital essence and enhance the body resistance to diseases.

The soup can be taken on its own, with rice or with flour vemicelli.

Eight Precious Decoction (Crock Pot Recipe)

serves 2

Ingredients:

Half of free range chicken, skinned and cut into 2 pieces
1 packet of Eight Precious Decoction ingredients, rinsed
1 liter water
light soy sauce or salt to taste (optional)

Steps:

1. Blanch the chicken in boiling water. Drain and set aside.

2. Bring a pot of water to boil. Pour it into inner pot of slow cooker.

3. Add in chicken and Eight Precious ingredients. Simmer under high heat for at least 3 hours.

4. Skim off the scum and oil from the soup surface. Serve hot.

Lotus Root and Peanut Soup (Crock Pot Recipe)

Lotus root is the root of waterlily. The root is embedded in the mud, hence you can see the skin of the raw lotus root still contain the mud stain. It is a wonderful ingredients in Chinese cuisine. It is commonly found in savory soup boiling, but now it's widely used in stir-frying and deep-frying too.

This soup taste delightful with just lotus root and pork ribs. But, with the existence of peanut and red dates, it tastes superb. Hmm...I love it!

Lotus Root and Peanut Soup (Crock Pot Recipe)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

250gm of lotus root
300gm of pork ribs, washed and blanched in boiling water
10 red date
2 handful of peanuts
1.5 liter of water

Seasonings:

Light soy sauce or salt to taste

Steps:

1. Bring a pot of water to boil. Pour it into slow cooker.

2. Add in lotus root, red dates, peanut and pork rib. Simmer under high heat for at least 3 hours. Add light soy sauce or salt to taste.

3. Skim off the scum and oil from the surface. Serve hot.

Chicken Stew

I adore the traditional way of preparing chicken stew. But, I do not have patience with the long hours of simmering. So, this is a short-cut in making a pot of chicken stew. It can be done is just 20 minutes! If you are looking for a healthy and balanced diet, this is a good dish to serve with rice.

Chicken Stew

Serves 3

Ingredients:

Half of chicken breast, skinned and cubed
1 potato, peeled and cubed
half carrot, peeled and cubed
1 broccoli stem, cubed
5 dried shiitake mushroom, soaked, drained, stalk removed and quartered
2 baby corn, sliced horizontally
1 onion, peeled and diced
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
1.5 tbsp of corn starch, mixed in 4 tbsp of water
1 liter of water
2 tbsp of cooking oil

Seasoning:

2 tbsp of oyster sauce
1tbsp of light soy sauce
1 tbsp of sesame oil

Steps:

1. Marinate chicken cubes with sesame oil and light sauce and leave aside.

2. Boil broccoli stem, baby corn, carrot and potato until soft. Dish out and leave aside. Retain 300ml of the water for use later.

3. Heat up oil in a wok. Saute garlic and onion until slightly brown.

4. Stir in chicken and fry until half cooked.

5. Add veggies and stir fry for 2 minutes.

6. Add oyster sauce.

7. Pour in 300ml water from step 2. Bring for a boil and leave it simmering for 2 minutes.

8. Add in corn starch mixture to thicken. Dish out and serve hot with rice.

Tri-Colors Stir-Fry (Chayote, Carrot and Shiitake)

Stir-fried vegetables is never absent from the dining table if we had oriental rice meal at home. I like simple vegetable dish with just garlic and vegetables. I love the original taste of fresh veggies. Tri-colors stir-fry is a new dish that I serve after the mix and match experiment. Surprisingly, each of them contribute a delectable flavor to the dish. Ended up, we pretty enjoyed this simple dish. It has the sweet taste and is packed with nutrients.

Tri-Colors Stir-Fry (Chayote, Carrot and Shiitake)

Ingredients:

1 small Chayote, peeled and cut into match-stick
1 small carrot, peeled and cut into match-stick
5 Shiitake, cleaned, stalk removed and sliced thinly
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp of cooking oil
150ml water

Seasonings:

Light soy sauce/ salt to taste

Steps:

1. Heat up the oil in a wok. Saute garlic till fragrant. Add carrot and stir-fry for 1 minute.

2. Add chayote. Stir-fry for 1 minute and pour in water. Leave it simmering for 2 minutes and stir in the Shiitake. Stir-fry until the water reducing. Add light say sauce or salt to taste. Dish out.