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

This Chicken in Glutinous Rice Wine dish is an essential soup for women recovering from after childbirth, taken after the twelve day of delivery.  Usually a home-brew, this rice wine uses glutinous rice and Chinese yeast cake and left to ferment in an air-tight jar for about a month.  This is  healthy food for post-natal mothers, helps in blood circulation, helpts to get rid of  wind and warms the body.  It can be served on its own or with hot white rice or taken with noodles. Recipe for Chicken in Glutinous Rice Wine Ingredients half  free-range chicken 5 Shitake mushrooms, soaked, stemmed and cut 1 piece wood ear fungus/mook yee 1 small piece ginger, sliced 4 cups water 1 cup Chinese glutinous rice wine Sesame oil Salt and a bit of rock sugar to taste Method Saute the chicken with some sesame oil and ginger till fragrant. Add in the mushrooms and wood ear fungus, stir-fry. Add in 4 cups of wa...

Not too long ago, in many food blogs, there was a rave about this Ogura Cake aka 'Xiang Si  Cake' which in Chinese literally means 'lovesick' or  'pining for a loved one'.  'Ogura' is a common Japanese name.  This particular cake hails from a bakery chain called Family Bakery in Batu Pahat, Johore, a southern state in Malaysia.  I've no idea why this particular name is given to the cake, perhaps the bakery wanted to create a unique name so that customers will be curious about it and try this cake out of curiosity.... marketing strategy?  The texture of this cake is more or less like the chiffon cake, soft, light and cottony. Recipe for Greentea Ogura Cake Ingredients 70ml  water  5 gm Greentea powder 40 ml vegetable oil 1/4  tsp salt 55 gm plain flour 4 egg yolks + 1 whole egg 150 gm egg whites 1/4 tsp creamof tartar 70 gm sugar 1  Tbsp black sesame seeds, lightly toasted Method Mix water with the Gree...

I'm trying to make more use of my slow-cooker which has been in hibernation far too long and if you don't crank up your electrical appliances once in a while, they may decide to go on strike!  To make cooking a meal for my family more hassle free, I concocted this recipe for Mixed Spice Pulled Pork which pairs well with rice and some blanched vegetables on the side.  The spices and sauces that I dumped into the slow cooker were reduced to a rich and flavourful sauce in 5 hours on medium heat. Recipe for Slow Cooker Mixed Spice Pork Ingredients 800 gm pork shoulder 2 Tbsp brown sugar 2 Bay leaves 1 cinnamon stick 4 cloves 2 star anise 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper 2 cups water 1 Tbsp cornflour 1 tsp chicken granules Seasalt to taste Sauces :  1 tsp dark soya sauce and 2 tsp light soya sauce Method Season the pork with seasalt and freshly ground pepper. Heat oil in a pan, add pork to pan-fry, tu...

This is a moist fudgy cake but with an unusual combination of chocolate and  raw beetroot.  The combination did complement each other and the cake is tasty, easy to make and it tasted much better the next day. Recipe for Beet Chocolate Cake Ingredients 20 gm Varlhona cocoa powder 230 gm plain flour + 2 tsp baking powder  OR 230 gm Self-Raising flour 120 gm brown sugar 100 gm dark chocolate 125 gm butter 250 gm beetroot, grated 3 eggs 1/4  tsp vanilla pinch of salt Icing sugar for dusting (optional) Method Melt the chocolate either by double boiling or microwave, leave aside. Sift plain flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa powder.  Set aside. Beat butter and sugar till light and creamy, add in the eggs one at a time. Mix in the melted chocolate. Fold in the sifted cocoa and flour.  Mix well. Stir in the grated beetroot, mix well. Pour batter into a greased and flour dusted 23 cm Bundt pan. Bake in a p...

Pandan  Snow Skin or Ping Pei Mooncakes are one of my favourite in the ping pei range of mooncakes.  This time I added in some black sesame seeds to it.  I dare not take the plunge to toss in more sesame seeds as I was afraid that the tiny black dots will mar the design of these mini mooncakes. Recipe for Pandan Black Sesame Snow Skin Mooncakes Ingredients 100 gm koh fun/cooked glutinous rice flour 100 gm icing sugar 32 gm shortening 125 ml ice cold pandan juice 2.1/2 tsp lightly toasted black sesame seeds 60 gm or more Pandan/Screwpine leaves 150 ml or a bit more boiled water 500 gm Lotus paste 20 gm lightly toasted melon seeds.   Method Wash, cut the Pandan leaves into small pieces, add in boiled water, blend and squeeze out the juice.  Pour into a measuring cup, keep in the fridge for about 2 to 3 days to let the residue settle. Sift the koh fun and icing sugar into a mix...

Traditional Mixed Nuts Mooncake was my dad's perennial favourite.  At that time I couldn't understand why this festive traditional mooncake was most enjoyed by the older folks.  But nowadays, I too have slowly acquired the taste for this sweet, salty and nutty variety.  These cakes are best cut in  small wedges, savoured by small delicate bites and not by the mouthfuls, and they are best enjoyed with a pot of hot Chinese tea.   Recipe for Traditional Mixed Nuts Mooncake Ingredients (Dough) 150 gm superfine flour, sifted 90 ml golden syrup 38 ml vegetable oil 2 ml alkaline water Egg wash - 1 whole egg + 1 tsp water, mix well and strain. Method Mix syrup, oil and alkaline water thoroughly with a handwhisk. Sift in flour, mix well with spatula and let rest for 2 hours or more, till it doesn't stick to the hands. Knead lightly on a floured surface. Weigh out 55 gm of dough, roll into balls and set aside. Ingredients (Fillin...