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

Siew Bao is among the many items that I'll order whenever I have dim sum in the restaurant but not all dim sum joints serve this pastry.  I chanced upon a post by My Kitchen Snippets for this favourite pastry and decided to give it a try.   The Siew Bao turned out great and I had Gertrude to thank for!   They were indeed yummy more so if teamed with a hot cup of Chinese tea. Recipe for Siew Bao (Baked BBQ Buns)    Ingredients for Oil Dough 240 gm plain flour 120 gm shortening Water Dough 240 gm plain flour 60 gm icing sugar 60 gm shortening 90 to 120 ml water Egg Glaze - 1 egg + 1/2 tsp honey Sesame seeds Filling 400 gm chicken or pork, diced. 1 big onion, diced 3/4 cup green peas 1 Tbsp oyster sauce 2 tsp dark soya sauce 2 tsp light soya sauce 1/2 tsp seasalt 2 tsp sugar or to taste A dash of pepper 1/2 cup water 1 Tbsp cornflour + 2 tsp water to thicken Method   for the Filling (best prepared overnight and keep refrige

Wedding Dresses 2015 UK I was on the phone with my daughter the other day and she told me that come 2015 she’ll have quite a fair bit of travelling to do.  Oh, I asked her whether it’s work related or otherwise and she revealed that there are two weddings to attend back home in Malaysia.  That sounds great to me as I’ll get to see more of her next year. Weddings… how sweet to see two lovebirds tying the knot in matrimony.   Then I reminisced that decades ago we have had to get our bridal dresses or gowns tailored or rented and according to Chinese customs, brides had to wear the ‘Qun Kua’ a traditional two piece attire, with a black embroidered top and a red embroidered skirt for the customary tea ceremony.   But nowadays the  whole attire is in red.   These ‘Qun Kua’ were rented as well. Now in this era of modern technology, have you ever heard of purchasing wedding dresses on-line?  This sounds interesting, doesn’t it?  I for one have never thought of buying anything on

Sorbet i s a refreshing dessert to cleanse your palate after a  meal.   I've made mine with some mangoes given by a friend from her orchard and it's fruity and fresh.  Yum is the word and it's perfect to snack on more so on a hot and humid day! Recipe for Mango Sorbet    芒果沙冰  (adapted from 'here' with modification) Ingredients                                2 ripe mangoes, about 1 kg, peeled and pitted 130 gm sugar 160 ml water Juice from 1 lime, about 4 tsp 1 Tbsp Rum or more to taste pinch of salt Method Cook the sugar and water till sugar has dissolved, let cool. Cut the mango into chunks, put them into a food processor.  Add in salt and lime juice and puree till smooth. Sieve the puree and discard any pulp. Mix in the sugar syrup, test for taste. Pour into a large bowl, cover with cling wrap and keep refrigerated overnight. Just before churning in

I've seen a Watermelon Bread post on Facebook not long ago but couldn't recall the website.  I was intrigued by the artistic creation and set off to google for more images and recipes for Watermelon Bread.   I was so pleased and happy when I finally discovered a Watermelon Look-a-like Raisin Bread recipe from Veronica's Kitchen.    Thank you so much, Veronica.   The bread was soft, freshly baked and I had toasted watermelon bread for breakfast the next day.  They tasted great, laced with a layer of chunky peanut butter! Place all ingredients except butter and raisins into a mixing bowl.  Beat till a dough is formed, then add in the cubed butter.  Continue to beat till an elastic and smooth ball of dough is formed. Transfer the dough onto a floured surface, lightly knead for a while.  Divide into 2 portions and divide 1 portion into 2, thus making 3 portions.  Lightly knead a small piece of plain dough, form into a ball, place in a lightly greased

I've bought this set of ice popsicle moulds quite some time ago and had totally forgotten to put them to good use until lately.   We have had some durians for dessert and I used the leftover to make this yummy frozen popsicle.  Well, enjoying durians is a much acquired taste, it's either you like it or you don't.  Some people just adore the smelly fruit while others are simply repulsed by it!  Which category are you? Recipe for Durian Ice Popsicles Ingredients                                              250 gm durian flesh            5 Tbsp caster sugar 250 ml full cream milk a pinch of salt Method     Put all the above ingredients into a blender and blend till thick and creamy. Pour the mixture into the ice popsicle moulds. Freeze till firm, preferably overnight.         

This is a very simple pork belly dish cooked with fermented bean curd and young lotus root.  I like that the lotus root stays crunchy and blends well with  the equally crispy wood ear fungus.  A comforting dish to serve with a bowl of hot white rice! Recipe for Braised Pork Belly with Lotus Root Ingredient 300 gm pork  belly, cut into bite size 150 gm young lotus root, sliced 4 pips garlic, smashed 20 gm wood ear fungus, soaked, stemmed, cut into strips 2 pices of Nam Yue (fermented bean curd) 1 tsp dark soya sauce 2 tsp Shaoxing wine 3 cups water Salt and sugar to taste Method Saute the garlic with some oil till fragrant, add in the pork belly, stir-fry. Add in the mashed fermented bean curd, mix well and toss in the wood ear fungus. Add in water, dark soya sauce, simmer till meat is tender and cooked and sauce slightly reduced. Toss in the sliced lotus root, stir-fry for a whil

I haven't baked mini chiffon cakes before and  with this 4 egg recipe, I managed to get 2 mini chiffon cakes.  These orange chiffon cakes were soft, moist, fluffy and the colour was of a striking bright orange.  I was totally pleased with these 'products' and yes, they were indeed yummy! Recipe for Orange Chiffon Cake  (Adapted froml  Anncoo Journal with modification) Ingredients  (A)                                           4 egg yolks 15 gm caster sugar 50 gm corn/canola oil 70 ml orange juice 90 gm plain flour 10 gm cornflour Zest of 1 orange (B) 4 egg whites   65 gm caster sugar Method Sift plain flour and cornflour into a bowl. Beat egg yolks and sugar with a hand whisk till pale.  Add in oil, orange juice, zest and stir as you add. Sift the flour mixture again into the egg yolk mixture.  Stir well till smooth and mixture becomes a thick paste. Beat egg whites till foamy, add in sugar and continue to beat till stiff but no

I took the opportunity to try my hands at making puff pastry from scratch when I was on vacation as the weather was quite cooling and I assumed that the dough wouldn't be sticky and messy to handle. I could make both oil and water dough easily and there were no 'sweat and tears', LOL!  The pastries turned out nice and flaky and everybody gave their thumbs up for this dim sum, especially my dear grandnephew who asked for more! Oil dough - Sieve the plain flour into a mixing bowl, add in the cold, cubed butter, mash with a fork and slowly combine to form a soft dough.  Wrap up with clingwrap and keep in the fridge for 30 mins.  (You can do this with a food processor if you wish), Water dough - Sieve the plain flour into a mixing bowl, add in the slightly  beaten egg yolks, mix well, add ice cold water gradually ,( you may not require the whole amount of water as too much water can make the pastry tough), mix well and form into a dough.  Wrap up with clingwr

Hi folks!  I'm back.  Had a wonderful and enjoyable holiday with so much good food, good company and laughter.  Today, I'm going to share with you a simple stir-fry veggie dish..... a light and refreshing mixed veggie dish with cloud ears and pine nuts.   Not only is it nutritious it's also very easy to prepare.  I didn't fry this dish too long as I prefer the veggie to be crisp and crunchy.   You can serve this with white rice or can enjoy it on its own! Recipe for Stir-fry mixed veggie with cloud ears Ingredients 50 gm cloud ears, soaked and stemmed 100 gm celery 50 gm carrot 200 gm cauliflower some goji berries pine nuts, lightly toasted 2 tsp oyster sauce seasalt to taste oil Method Heat up some oil in a wok and stir-fry the cauliflower. Toss in the celery and carrot, add in the oyster sauce, mix and continue to stir-fry. Add in the cloud ears, goji berries. Sprinkle on some water if the dish is too dry. Fine tune to taste