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

Recently I tried  another version of making BBQ pork (Char Siew) ....... with honey and maltose.  As it was my first encounter with maltose, I had a hard time measuring it out with a tablespoon as it was indeed very, very sticky.  Then it dawned on me to try dabbing the tablespoon with some oil before measuring out the sticky liquid and it certainly did the trick :)   As for the Char Siew, it was good and fragrant as I drizzled on some Shaoxing wine before slicing it up to serve. Recipe for Honey Maltose BBQ Pork (Char Siew) ~ 2 Ingredients 1 kg pork belly without skin 4.1/2 Tbsp honey 4.1/2 Tbsp maltose 2 Tbsp dark soya sauce 3.1/2 Tbsp light soya sauce 1.1/4 tsp five spice powder A dash of pepper 3 Tbsp Shaoxing wine Method Combine honey, maltose, dark and light soya sauces, five spice powder and pepper in a saucepan.  Keep stirring and heat up lightly.  Let cool. Pour the cooled sauce over the pork belly and let it marinate overnight in the fridge.  Cove

Think I'm hit by the Muffin bug again.  For breakfast I made these Choc Chip Muffins and added in some orange zest for a fruity fragrance.   There were some leftovers for afternoon tea as well and I just heated them up in the oven toaster as I like to have my muffins warm. Recipe for Choc Chip Orange Muffins Ingredients 9 oz plain flour 4 oz caster sugar 2 eggs 1/2 cup Canola oil 125 to 150 ml plain yoghurt 1 tsp vanilla 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 100 gm choc chips 2 tsp orange zest a pinch of salt Method Sift flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a mixing bowl.  Mix in sugar thoroughly. Whisk eggs, oil, vanilla and yoghurt till well combined Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Toss in the choc chips and orange zest, mix till just combined. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop mixture into the  muffin liners till 3/4 full. Bake

Making Apple Strudel from scratch can be a laborious task because it's difficult to make the Filo pastry and obviously I don't know how.  However, making the apple strudel with store bought Filo pastry is quite easy to master.  This flaky pastry with a mildly sweet apple and raisin filling can be served in many ways.  You can simply dust it with icing sugar like what I did, or  serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream,  whipped cream or custard.  But if you do not have these at hand, you can always fall back on the good old cup of hot coffee or tea. :D   Recipe for Apple Strudel Ingredients 5 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced thinly 12 sheets Filo Pastry, about 1 pound.   (4 sheets for 1 roll of Apple Strudel) 1/2 cup melted butter/vegetable oil (I used canola oil) 1/2 cup raisins 1 egg lightly beaten 1/3 cup sugar 1/2 tsp cinnamon Method Soak the sliced apples in some salt water to prevent browning,  Drain. Mix th

As the name suggests, these cuppies taste more or less like a carrot cake but in the form of muffins.  They are yummy especially with a hot cup of tea for breakfast or to snack on. Recipe for Carrot Apple Muffins Ingredients 60 gm lightly roasted chopped walnuts 300 gm raw carrot, grated 1 small apple, peeled and grated 175 gm plain flour 230 gm caster sugar 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp cinnamon 2 eggs 1/2 cup canola oil 1/2 tsp vanilla Method Whisk flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and cinnamon.  Stir in the nuts and sugar. Whisk eggs, vanilla and oil.  Mix well.   Fold the wet ingredients into the flour mixture.  Add in the grated carrot and apple. Mix till just moistened. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop the mixture into the paper lined muffin pan. Bake in a preheated oven @ 180 deg.C for 20 to 25 m

Baked Chocolate Mooncakes seem to be  'The' mooncake this year and after looking at all the other blogposts by fellow bloggers, the temptation is just too great to resist.  So here are my Chocolate Moonies!  I'm also taking the opportunity here to wish all my readers and friends a very Happy Mid-Autumn Festival.  Do have a wonderful time and enjoy the day with your family, loved ones and friends!   Recipe for Baked Chocolate Mooncakes   (adapted from 'here' ) Ingredients 113 gm plain flour                                                                   18 gm Valrhona cocoa powder 85 ml golden syrup 25 ml peanut/vegetable oil 1/2 tsp alkaline water 480 gm lotus paste 20 gm lightly toasted melon seeds Method Mix golden syrup, oil and alkaline water with a ball whisk thoroughly till the oil is fully incorporated. Sift plain flour, cocoa powder

Just want to share with you pictures of the moonies that I made during the weekend.  I'm not going to type out the recipe for it's the same recipe using the skin dough for the traditional baked mooncakes.  As for the filling, it's store bought pandan lotus paste and I just mixed in some lightly toasted black sesame  and melon seeds.  You can click  'here' for the recipe and method of assembling this mooncake. I'm linking this post to Best Recipes for Everyone August 2014 Event Theme :  Mooncake hosted by  Fion of  XuanHom's Mom Kitchen Diary

This is a homey dish which I'm sure many of you can easily whip up for lunch or dinner.  This dish consists of only three ingredients namely minced pork, lean or with a bit of fat, a few fresh water chestnuts and a salted egg.  A dish that can  pair well with a bowl of white rice or just plain congee. Recipe for Minced pork steamed with water chestnuts Ingredients 300 gm minced pork 3 water chestnuts 1 salted egg 2 Tsp cornflour 1/2  Tsp light soya sauce 1/8 Tsp drop of dark soya sauce 2 Tsp water Sesame oil to drizle Method Peel and chop up the water chestnuts. Mix the minced pork with the salted egg, then add in the water chestnuts, cornflour, water and sauces, mix well. Put the pork mixture onto a plate and steam for about 10 mins.  Test to see if the meat is cooked. Serve with a bowl of rice.