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

  I made this porky dish over the weekend.  The meat was tasty and tender and it fell apart easily.  You can serve this with rice or on a bed of noodles or just with plain bread.  It's finger licking good! Recipe for Black Pepper Pork Belly Ingredients 650 gm pork belly, skin removed, sliced 1.1/2  Tbsp oyster sauce 1 Tbsp light soya sauce 1.1/2  Tbsp sugar 1/2  tsp freshly ground black pepper 3/4  tsp cornflour + 2 tsp water to thicken Method Marinate the pork belly  with the above ingredients for 4 hours or  more, preferably overnight. Place marinated meat in a pot with just enough water to cover. Bring to the boil, cover, and simmer under low heat till meat is cooked through. Take out the meat and place on a foil lined pan to grill for about 2 mins. on both side.  Place on serving dish. Thicken the sauce in the pot with the cornflour mixture.  Fine tune to desired taste. Serve with some greens and the sauce.

Inspired by Angie's  Gluten Free Green Pea Muffins with Poppy and Mozzarella   I made these to try out as I still have some  green pea flour.  I used a basic cupcake recipe but substituted plain flour with green pea flour and added more milk as the consistency was a bit stiff.  These cuppies taste like the Indian Vadai as the main ingredients for these two 'cakes' come from peas.   The only difference is that Vadai is savoury while these cupcakes are sweet.   These green cuppies are moist and soft, something different from the normal cupcakes. If you're game for a change, give this a try!   Recipe for Green Pea Cupcakes                                                      Ingredients 200 gm green pea flour 120 gm caster sugar 125 gm butter 150  - 160 ml milk 1 tsp vanilla 2 eggs 2  tsp baking powder 100 gm choc chips, nuts, etc., chopped Method  Beat butter and sugar till light and creamy. Add in the eggs one at a

I like to bite into these chewy rice cakes and I never fail to order this whenever I dine in a Shanghai/Szechuan restaurant.  As I managed to get this from the Asian Grocers on my last trip I didn't hesitate to whip this simple yet delicious stir-fry!  Incidentally, these frozen rice cakes are also available in Aeon supermarkets.   Recipe for Stir-fry Shanghai Rice Cake   Ingredients                                                                            500 gm frozen rice cake, thawed         250 gm  cabbage,cut 200 gm pork fillet, cut into strips 5 Shitake mushrooms, soaked, stemmed, cut into strips 4 pips of garlic, chopped 3 to 4 cups of water Seasoning  for pork fillet 1 tsp each of Chinese cooking wine, cornflour and light soya sauce 1/2  tsp oyster sauce and sesame oil 1/4  tsp each of salt and sugar A dash of pepper Method Fill a pot of water enough to cover the rice cakes.  Boil over medium heat, simmer for about 10 mins. dependi

As I've seen quite a number of Earl Grey Tea bakes on the internet so I thought I'll try to bake one with  Dilmah Tea instead.  I've been drinking Dilmah Tea for years and since it's on hand, I just used it in this bake.  To me tea is tea, only a different brand and a different flavour.  This is a very simple recipe, you don't need to cart out your mixer, all you've got to do is to just mix up all the ingredients in a mixing bowl, pour into a pan and bake.  It's that easy.   Minimum labour yet with a handsome reward ..... a delicious tea bread for your tea, breakfast or snack!       Recipe for Dilmah Tea Loaf Ingredients 175 ml Dilmah Tea   175 gm mixed dried fruits - dates, sultanas, prunes, dried pineapple, chopped 1 egg 135 gm plain flour 1  tsp baking powder 70 gm light brown sugar Demerara sugar + 1/2 tsp cinnamon to sprinkle on top Method Soak tea with the dried fruits, over

This is certainly heaven in a scoop, most welcome in this hot, crazy weather.   I can assure you that no one can muster the willpower to stop at  savouring just one scoop of this gooey, green tea flavoured ice cream!   Recipe for Green Tea Ice Cream Ingredients 3/4 cup milk 2 egg yolks 5 Tbsp sugar 3/4 cup whipping cream 1 Tbsp matcha/green tea powder 3 Tbsp hot green tea OR water A pinch of salt Method Mix hot green tea with matcha powder, set aside. Whisk egg yolks with sugar, till pale and light. In a saucepan, whisk cream and milk till smooth.  Cook on low heat till milk just begins to foam up.  Remove from heat. Pour milk mixture slowly into the egg mixture, stirring continuously so as not to cook the eggs.  Stir in the green tea paste, mix well. Pour mixture back into the saucepan, cook on low heat stirring with a wooden spoon till mixture can coat the back of the wooden spoon.  (Test by drawing a line through the middle of th

This recipe actually calls for Rhubarb and Orange but since I couldn't find Rhubarb here, I substituted with Pumpkin instead.  I was not disappointed as the bright orangish pumpkin helped gave the cake a more vibrant colour which made it attractive as well. This cake tastes best on the day it's baked.  Heat up any leftovers and you won't know the difference! Recipe for Orange & Pumpkin Cake Ingredients 300 gm plain flour 2  tsp baking powder 120 gm butter 130 gm sugar 2  tsp orange zest 1  tsp vanilla 2 eggs 1/2 cup milk + 1/2  tsp bicarbonate of soda (mix well) 50 to 100 gm pumpkin, peeled and sliced Icing sugar (optional) Method Sieve flour with the baking powder, set aside. Beat, butter, sugar, zest and vanilla till light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mix well. Combine milk and bicarbonate of soda in a small bowl.  Add this into the butter mixture, mix well. Fold in sifted flour

This is going to be the shortest post in my blog, with no recipe, nothing, just follow your heart!  Bought some fresh Salmon fillet from Victoria Market during my recent holiday in Melbourne, slice them up, arrange them on a platter of mixed salad tossed in balsamic vinegar and olive dressing and that's it, value for money .......  Salmon Sashimi !    Dip the succulent Salmon into some wasabi mixed with some light soya and you're on Cloud 9 ....... Yummy!

I'm back at my comp again after a short but relaxing vacation.  Wish that I could stay longer and enjoy the cool, fresh air instead of sweating it out in this awfully hot and humid weather.  These cupcakes were made some time back, can't really remember the source of this recipe but the method of making these little cuppies caught my attention.  Verdict ........ light texture. Tastewise ..... it's a cross bewteen a sponge and a cake but undoubtedly delicious! Recipe for Buttermilk Cupcakes Ingredients 8 oz cold butter, cut into cubes 12 oz plain flour 9 oz caster sugar      1  Tbsp baking powder 1/8  tsp salt 1 cup buttermilk, cold 1/2  cup water 1  tsp vanilla 1/2  tsp bicarbonate of soda 2 eggs 4 egg whites Method Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl, mix well. On low speed, add in butter piece by piece till well incorporated.  Mixture will be crumbly but not sticky.