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

Chinese New Year is not too far away from now, in 2018, it falls on 16th February and we usher in the year of the Dog.  This is a very addictive crispy snack and it's different from my previous post of Orange Sesame Almond Crisps for I used almond walnut powder instead of almond meal.  It tastes just as good. Pumpkin almond crisps  ~  南瓜杏仁片脆饼  Ingredients 45 gm caster sugar 23 gm plain flour, sifted 16 gm almond walnut powder 100 gm almond flakes 30 gm pumpkin kernels 20 gm sesame seeds 1.1/2 eggs 2 tsp chia seeds 1 tsp vanilla Method Beat eggs and sugar till sugar has dissolved.  Add in vanilla, mix well. Stir in the sifted flour and the rest of the ingredients. Mix till well combined and let the mixture rest for about half an hour. Drop 1/2 teaspoonfull mixture onto a parchment lined baking tray and using the back of the spoon, spread out the mixture, thinly. Bake in a preheated oven @ 150 deg.C for 8 to 10 mins. till light golden brown. Let co

Both the Red bean sweet soup or  糖水  and Green bean sweet soup  糖水  dessert are very common in Chinese households and we serve them for breakfast, tea, snack or even supper.  There's even a 'Sweet Soup Street'   糖水 街 here in Ipoh which has become a tourist spot as well. Normally this  綠豆沙 糖水 i s cooked with mung beans but I've chosen to cook it with split mung beans devoid of the skin and blended them as well.  Consistency and sweetness are up to your personal preference and I have kept some in ramekins, chilled and they were superb as pudding.                                      Luk Tau Sar  (Mung Bean sweet soup)  ~  綠豆沙 Ingredients 300 gm split mung beans 180 gm piece sugar or granulated sugar 1/8 tsp salt Pandan leaves 1.1/2 tsp cornflour +  2 Tbsp water (optional) Method Wash the split mung beans a few times, soak them with 600 ml water, leave it overnight. Next day, rinse the mung beans and boil it with enough water

This is a super comforting home-cooked dish which requires only a few ingredients.   An easy to go recipe, I added minced pork to give the dish more volume.   Kids as well as adults will love the silken smooth egg interspersed with bits of juicy meat.   Great to serve over hot rice! Steamed egg with minced pork  ~   猪肉蒸水蛋 Ingredients 150 gm minced pork 2 chicken eggs -  100 ml without shell 150 ml boiled, cooled water  (Ratio is 1:1.5) 1/4 tsp salt sesame oil, pepper light soya sauce to taste Method Season the minced pork with some salt. Whisk the eggs with water, strain it onto a plate. Mix in the seasoned minced pork.  Remove any air bubbles. When the water in the steamer is boiling, place the plate of eggs onto the steamer plate, close lid and turn the heat to the lowest. Steam for about 14 to 15 mins., check after 5 mins.  Jiggle the plate, if centre is wobbly, it's done. Remove from steamer, garnish with some spring onions, light soya sauce,

The recipe for this Biscoff Butter Cake is similar to my earlier post of Marble Butter Cake , just that I added an extra ingredient which is, crushed Biscoff cookies.    Instead of mixing the crushed cookies into the batter, I just sprinkled them on top of the first layer of batter and then cover with the remaining batter.   This cake is soft and moist with good texture ..... definitely a recipe for keeps! Biscoff Butter Cake ~ 牛油蛋糕  Ingredients   (A) 230 gm unsalted butter 4 egg yolks 120 gm caster sugar 200 gm self-raising flour 60 ml milk 120 gm Biscoff cookies, crushed 1 tsp vanilla a pinch of salt (B)   4 egg whites         50 gm caster sugar Method Sift the self-raising flour and salt, set aside. Line an 8 inch square pan with parchment paper, set aside. Crush the Biscoff cookies with a rolling pin, set aside. Beat the butter slightly, then add in the sugar and continue beating until creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time.  Add in the vani