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

The recipe for this soft and light Baked Egg Cake is derived from the original recipe for steamed egg cake or Ji Dan Gao  ( 鸡 蛋 糕). I like the texture of this cake which is not too sweet and it does pair very well with a hot cup of our local black coffee.    Baked Egg Cake ~   烤鸡蛋糕  (adapted from ' here ' ) Ingredients  (A) 3 egg yolks 1 whole egg 50 ml canola oil 65 gm self-raising flour 5 gm cocoa powder + 1 tsp water 1/2 tsp vanilla a pinch of salt (B)      3 egg whites           65 gm icing sugar Method In a mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks, egg with a handwhisk.  Add in canola oil and mix till well combined. Sieve in self-raising flour, mix well and set aside. In another clean mixing bowl, whisk egg whites till foamy, add in icing sugar in three batches and whisk till stiff peaks but not dry. Fold in 1/3 meringue into the flour mixture with a spatula, mix well.  Fold in the remaining meringue, mix thoroughly. Take out 2 tablespoon batter

Attracted by the new introduction of a salted paste mooncake, suppliers have ideas.  I bought this salted mung bean paste, added some melon seeds and churn out these mini rose shaped mooncakes.                   Salted mung bean mooncake ~ 咸绿豆月饼 2017 Ingredients 150 gm superfine flour 90 ml golden syrup 38 ml vegetable oil 2 gm alkaline water Egg glaze - 1 whole egg, beaten and strain Filling 300 gm salted mung bean paste (store bought) 8 gm lightly toasted melon seeds Method Use a  handwhisk to mix the golden syrup, oil and alkaline water till no oil surfaces.  Sift in the superfine flour.  Mix lightly to form a dough.  Cover and let rest for a few hours till it doesn't stick to the hands.  (I let it rest for 4 hours). Scale dough to 25 gm each, roll into a ball Mix the melon seeds with the lotus paste.  Scale filling to 27 gm each. Flatten the piece of dough with a rolling pin, wrap round a ball of filling, roll into a ball. Press the b

A very simple fuss-free and comforting  dish to come home to, especially on the current wet days.  This dish pairs well with both hot, steaming rice or gluey white porridge.  Enjoy with your loved ones... dig in! Taucu (bean paste) chicken  ~  豆酱姜鸡   Ingredients 650 gm chicken (I used 2 whole leg and 2 wings) 6 pips of garlic 20 gm ginger 1 Tbsp taucu 1 cup  water sugar and salt to taste oil for frying Method Season the chicken with a bit of salt. Pound the garlic and ginger, set aside. Heat up a wok with some oil, saute the garlic and ginger paste till fragrant. Add in the taucu, stir-fry.  Add in the chicken and stir-fry. Add in water and cook till chicken is cooked through. Add in sugar and salt to taste. Serve with rice or porridge.

Salted egg yolks have been added into traditional lotus paste mooncakes, for both baked and snowskin mooncakes.   So I believe that the salted egg yolks can be added to nutty mooncakes as well.  They do enhance the flavour of these nutty mooncakes and if you're a fan of salted egg yolks, you'll love these. Salted Egg Nutty Mooncake ~  咸蛋五仁什錦月餅 Ingredients for Dough 150 gm superfine flour 90 ml golden syrup 38 ml vegetable oil 2 gm alkaline water Egg glaze - 1 whole egg, beaten and strain Ingredients for Filling 30 gm wlanuts, toasted and chopped 30 gm whole almonds with skin, toasted and chopped 19 gm pumpkin kernels, toasted 38 gm kat paeng/candied lemon, chopped 75 gm dried winter melon, chopped 38 gm sesame seeds, toasted 30 gm caster sugar 60 gm kao fun 2.1/4 Thsp vegetable oil 2.1/4 Tbsp water 3/4 Tbsp rose concentrate 3/8 Tbsp golden syrup 1.1/4 Tbsp Brandy (optional) 1/8 tsp salt 3 kaffir leaves, shredded 3 salted egg yolks

The Mid-Autumn, Lantern, or Mooncake Festival comes once a year and this year it falls on 4th October, 2017.  There are various flavours of mooncakes nowadays and today  I'm sharing with you, a simple Longan and Lotus paste mooncake. Longan and lotus paste moncake  ~   龙眼莲蓉月饼  2017 Ingredients 150 gm superfine flour 90 ml golden syrup 38 ml vegetable oil 2 gm alkaline water Egg glaze - 1 whole egg, beaten and strain Filling 300 gm lotus paste (store bought) 15 gm dried longan (snipped to smaller pieces) Method Use a  handwhisk to mix the golden syrup, oil and alkaline water till no oil surfaces.  Sift in the superfine flour.  Mix lightly to form a dough.  Cover and let rest for a few hours till it doesn't stick to the hands.  (I let it rest for 4 hours). Scale dough to 25 gm each, roll into a ball Mix the snipped longan with the lotus paste.  Scale filling to 27 gm each. Flatten the piece of dough with a rolling pin, wrap a ball of filling

Indeed, Mrs' Ng's butter cake recipe is very versatile, one can tweak it and the result is  still a very moist, soft and fine textured cake.  What I am sharing with you today is a Kaffir lime and orange butter cake, baked in a 4 cup Bundt pan.   I substituted milk with juice from home grown Kaffir lime and orange juice and added in zest as well. Kaffir lime and orange Bundt cake ~  酸橙和橙子蛋糕 Ingredients (A) 230 gm unsalted butter 4 egg yolks 150 gm caster sugar 200 gm self-raising flour 60 ml orange and lime juice a pinch of salt  (B) 4 egg whites 50 gm caster sugar Method Sift the self-raising flour with salt, set aside. Using a hand-held beater, cream butter and sugar till thick, pale and fluffy. Add in the egg yolks, beat on low speed till well combined. Sift in the sifted flour in 3 batches, beat on low speed, alternating with the orange and lime juice, till well incorporated, set aside. In a clean bowl, beat egg whites till

These woven intricate bundles of rice vermicelli called Banh Hoi resemble our local 'string hoppers' or 'putu mayam', a South Indian snack of steamed rice flour noodles and eaten with a sweetened topping of grated coconut and palm sugar (gula melaka).   Vietnamese Banh Hoi can be rolled and served with a variety of meat and in my case I served them with pan-fried chicken, sauteed spring onions, salad and a dipping sauce. Vietnamese Banh Hoi Ingredients 200 gm chicken breast 8 pieces of dried Banh Hoi, prepared according to their instructions @ the back of the packet Spring onions, romaine lettuce, coriander and basil leaves Dipping sauce 3 tsp sugar lime juice from 6 calamansi 1 tsp fish sauce 2 tsp peanut butter dissolved with 1 Tbsp hot water Chilli padi/bird eye chillies Method Season the chicken breast with some salt, sugar, light and dark soya sauce. Heat up some oil and pan fry chicken till cooked. Sautee chopped sp

I spotted these cute Bageforme baking cups on my recent holiday and bought them without much hesitation.  Bageforme is Danish for bakeware.  A box of 12 costs two Euro.  Coming back to the cupcakes.  These orange zesty cupcakes are  soft and moist and to me they taste a bit like sponge cake.   I dressed some up with  butter icing and if you are not a fan of buttery icing, they are also delicious, even eaten on its own. Orange Cupcake ~ 香橙纸杯蛋糕 Ingredients 90 gm plain flour 3/4 tsp baking powder 1/8 tsp salt 1 'L' egg 55 gm caster sugar 85 gm butter, melted 1 tsp orange zest 1/2 tsp vanilla 1/4 cup milk   Frosting 80 gm butter  123 gm icing sugar, sifted Method Sift flour with baking powder and salt. Set aside. With a handheld whisk, on medium speed, beat egg with sugar till fluffy, pale and thick. Reduce speed, add in melted butter, zest and vanilla. Sift in the flour again alternating with milk ,whisk on low till just