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

I've frequently made this mung bean sweet soup or 'tong sui' during this crazy, hazy weather but this is the first time that I'm serving it with freshly shredded jackfruit or   大樹菠 蘿 .      An Indonesian friend gave me the idea for she said that it was the normal practice in her kampong.  I was a bit skeptical at first but I believe that there's no harm in trying some thing new.   The jackfruit did add some fragrance to the sweet soup and made it more delicious! Recipe for Jackfruit Mung Bean Sweet Soup ~   绿豆糖水 Ingredients                       300 gm mung beans Jaggery powder to taste 2.1/2 litre water 5 pieces screwpine/pandan leaves, slit and tied like a bunch Jackfruit, shredded Method Wash the mung beans and boil in a pot of water.   Add in the pandan leaves and boil till the beans have softened. Add in the jaggery powder, mix well to taste. Before serving, top the sweet soup with some shredded jackfruit.

This is a delicious, fast and easy dish which can be prepared for lunch or dinner.  The chicken has a slight tinge of sweetness and the added herbs lent a sweet smelling fragrance to the dish.  Serve with rice or plain white porridge. Recipe for Herbal Soya Sauce Chicken ~ 药材酱油鸡  Ingredients 800 gm free-range chicken, chopped 1.1/2 Tbsp light soya sauce  1/2 Tbsp dark soya sauce pinch of salt 3 pcs Star Anise 1 bulb of garlic 2 pcs Dong Quai/Angelica sinensis 3 pcs Pak Kei/Astrgalus root 4 cups water Rock sugar to taste 2 to 4 pcs of  fried bean curd (optional) 2 hard boiled eggs  (optional) Method Heat up a wok with a bit of oil and lightly fry the garlic and star anise. Add in the water, sauces and once the water starts to boil, add in the chicken pices. Add in the dong quai and pak kei, salt and some rock sugar. Let it simmer for a while, then add in the bean curd and hard boiled eggs. Once the chicken is cooked, fine tune to taste. Dish out a

I love red bean, be it  in kuih, mooncakes, rice dumpling or other pastries with red bean paste filling.   This was my first attempt at making the red bean paste from scratch and had to admit that it was really very time consuming.  Nonetheless this sticky rice cake or glutinous rice cake with red bean paste, was indeed very delicious especially when taken fresh from the pan.  I like it that it was not deep-fried but pan-fried with very little oil when using a non-stick pan.  Great to snack on with a good old cup of hot Chinese tea! Recipe for Sticky Rice Cake with Red Bean Paste ~  芝麻豆沙饼 (adapted from 'here' ) Ingredients 250 gm glutinous rice flour and extra to dust 200 to 230 ml water 360 gm red bean paste, homemade 1/2 cup sesame seeds Oil for frying Method Put glutinous rice flour into a mixing bowl.  Gradually add water to mix into a soft, pliable dough that doesn't stick to the hand. Cover dough with a wet piece of cloth and l

This is a 'cheat' version of chicken puff as I didn't make the rough puff pastry dough from scratch.  It was store-bought, Kawan puff pastry to be exact.  Why Oriental?   Simply because the chicken filling was cooked the Chinese way with soya and oyster sauces, plus a drizzle of sesame oil with onions and frozen peas thrown in.   They were indeed delicious and was perfect to snack on. Recipe for Chicken Puff ~ Oriental  (鸡肉千层酥皮) Ingredients 350 gm chicken breast, cubed 2 onion, cubed 100 gm frozen peas 3 sheets of Kawan puff pastry Egg glaze Seasoning 1 Tbsp light soya sauce, 1/2 Tbsp each of dark soya sauce and oyster sauce, 1/4 tsp salt, 2 tsps sugar, a dash of pepper, sesame oil and 3 tsp cornflour + 2 Tbsp water to thicken. Method Season the chicken with the above seasoning.  Lightly fry the onions, then the chicken.  Once cooked, add in the frozen peas.  Mix in thickening and fine tune to taste. Thaw the puff pastry.  Cut a sheet

This is another delicious yet super easy dish to prepare.  Not only does this dish goes well with rice, you can use this pork fillet as a sandwich filling as well.  I made my sandwich with these and enjoyed it tremendously. Recipe for Panfried Lemon Grass Pork Fillet  ~   香茅煎猪肉片 Ingredients 350 gm pork fillet 4 calamansi Marinade 6 pips of garlic, minced 2 Birdeye chillies, chopped 2 Tbsp fish sauce 1 Tbsp light soya sauce 3 tsp brown sugar 1/4 tsp dark soya sauce 3 stalks lemon grass, crushed and chopped Method Mix all the ingredients for the marinade. Rub the marinade evenly on the meat, set aside for a few hours, preferably overnight. Heat oil, pan-fry on both sides till golden brown. Remove and arrange on serving plate.  Drizzle on the calamansi juice before serving.

This post has been sitting on my desk for quite some time as I've been busy making mooncakes and posting the recipes on my blog for the mid-autumn mooncake festival.   This Nigella Lawson's mother-in-law's Madeira cake does not need much introduction as many fellow bloggers have made and posted the recipe in their respective blogs.  This lemony flavoured cake is soft and moist and is great for breakfast and double up for tea! Recipe for Madeira Cake ~  马德拉蛋糕  (adapted from 'here' ) Ingredients 240 gm butter 150 gm caster sugar Zest of 1 lemon 6 Tbsp lemon juice 3 large eggs, lightly beaten 210 gm self-raising flour 90 gm plain flour Raw sugar for topping Method Sift flours, set aside. Cream butter and sugar till light and creamy, add in lemon zest. Add beaten eggs in three batches, with a tablespoon of flour for each addition at low speed. Gently mix in the rest of the flour in a few batches. Add in the lemon juice. Pour batte