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

This moist Chia Seed Banana bread makes a great snack or a quick breakfast.  Loaded with chia seeds and lots of banana flavour, one can enjoy it with a cup of steaming hot coffee or tea. Chia Seed Banana Bread ~   香蕉种子蛋糕 Ingredients  150 gm plain flour 90 gm wholemeal flour 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 2 'L' eggs 3 Tbsp Chia seeds 1/8 tsp salt 55 gm caster sugar 55 gm brown sugar (I used Muscovado sugar) 300 gm over ripe bananas, mashed. (about 3 bananas) 1/2 cup canola oil 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/3 cup Buttermilk (1/3 cup milk + 1 tsp vinegar or lemon juice) 1 banana, slit into half Method Line a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan with parchment paper, set aside. Mix the  buttermilk and let it sit for about 10 mins. or more. Whisk the plain flour, wholemeal flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda thoroughly. Add in the chia seeds and cinnamon.  Mix well. In another bowl, beat the eggs, caster sugar, muscovado sugar, oil, buttermilk and v

These steamed cakes are delicious, aromatic and full of coconut flavour.   They are refreshing and can be enjoyed at any time of the day. Gula melaka/Palm sugar steamed cake ~   椰糖蒸蛋糕 Ingredients 150 gm plain flour 100 ml coconut milk 60 gm palm sugar 2 Tbsp canola oil 2 tsp baking powder 1 egg pinch of salt Method Sift plain flour, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl. Roughly crumble the palm sugar and mix into the flour mixture. Blend coconut milk and oil, then pour into the flour mixture. Lightly mix till free of lumps. Let batter rest for 10 mins. Divide batter into paper lined cups. Steam on medium heat for 20 mins. Test with a skewer till it comes out clean. Yield : 4 steamed cakes

Today, I'm going to share with you a soup, suitable for confinement ( 坐月 ) mothers.  Postpartum confinement is practised by the Chinese and other East Asians for mothers to recover their health after giving birth.  Lemon grass is beneficial to new mothers who are breastfeeding as it helps to increase milk production.  I'm no expert in this field but I had the opportunity to pick up a few recipes of confinement food and I will post them up from time to time. Lemon grass and onion soup  柠檬草和洋葱汤 Ingredients 5 stalks of lemon grass, crushed 5 whole onions, smashed 2.5 lt water 900 gm pork shoulder and bones 1/2 tap peppercorns, smashed seasalt to taste Method Blanch the pork bones in hot water, drain and rinse with tap water, set aside. Bring to the boil, 2.5 lt of water and once boiling, add in the lemon grass, onions, peppercorns and pork bones. Let it simmer till the meat is tender and add seasalt to taste. Serve hot.

It's Time To Travel! What To Bring And What To Leave? The ultimate travel help is here to keep you in check with all your travel preparations. Every now and then, one needs to travel to rejuvenate oneself. It is important too to make sure that before you start your flight search phase, the things you bring with you are the things you need to bring and the things that you should keep away at home are right at home. We don’t want unnecessary stuff that will just add pounds to our luggage. Here are the things that can help you narrow down the stuff you need and your stuff you need to leave behind.  Oh, heads up on the news of the day, Traveloka is throwing great deals including cheap  AirAsia ticket price online.   Air Asia flies to many destinations and one of them is Hawaii and 'quote' from their CEO  ….“By connecting Asean and North Asia to the US our world-class low fares offering, we will make it possible for those who could only dream of a vacation across th

These chocolate orange muffins are fragrant and yummy.... just what you need to boost up your day at breakfast! Dark Chocolate Orange Muffins ~  巧克力碎片橙玛芬 Ingredients 125 gm plain flour 70 gm caster sugar 1.1/4 tsp baking powder 1 large egg 38 ml canola oil 1/4 cup milk 60 ml orange juice 1/2 Tbsp zest 50 gm dark chocolate chips 1/2 tsp vanilla pinch of salt icing sugar to dust (optional) Method Sift flour, baking powder, salt, mix well.  Mix in the chocolate chips and zest.  Set aside. Whisk egg with oil, milk, sugar and vanilla.  Mix in the orange juice. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture, pour in the wet ingredients, mix till just combined.  Do not overmix. Use an icecream scoop and spoon batter into a lined muffin pan. Bake in a preheated oven @ 180 deg.C for 20 to 25 mins.  Teste with a skewer till it comes out clean.  Let cool and serve warm. Yield :  6 muffins.

There are many ways of cooking this Hakka dish of  'Long Bean Rice'.   My old Hakka neighbour used to cook this one-pot meal dish and I didn't realise it is their clan's dish until recently.  From what I gather from other bloggers, the common ingredients are roast pork and Chinese sausages and of course, the star of the dish which is long beans or  '豆角'.  My version is pretty simple and I used homemade char siew instead.   So, here's my take on 'Long Bean Rice'......... Long Bean Flavourful Rice  ~  豆角有味饭 Ingredients 100 gm long beans, cut into 1 inch 100 gm char siew, cut into cubes 150 gm (1 rice cooker cup) Brown rice, washed and drained 6 pips garlic, chopped 25 gm dried shrimps 3.1/2 tsp light soya sauce 3 tsp dark soya sauce 2.1/2 cups water Sesame oil and Shaoxing wine to drizzle Method Saute half the chopped garlic with some oil till fragrant, add in the dried shrimps, stir-fry.  Add in the char siew and co

I was pleasantly surprised when these mini Dragon fruit mini bundt cakes didn't change colour upon  baking.  Well, at least there was still a tinge of pink on the top of the mini bundts.  The texture of this cake is more or less like sponge cake, soft and light and they taste wonderful, freshly baked.  If they are not finished on the day they are baked, store them in an airtight container and best eaten, lightly warmed up in the oven toaster. Dragon fruit mini bundt cake  ~  火龍果小蛋糕     (adapted from 'here' )   Ingredients 3 'L' eggs 60 gm caster sugar 1 tsp vanilla 1 tsp lemon juice 20 ml milk 50 gm dragon fruit 30 ml corn oil 120 gm plain flour, sifted twice Method Blend milk, dragon fruit till smooth, add in corn oil and blend well. Sift the plan flour, set aside. Whisk eggs, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla on high speed till thick and creamy, till the ribbon stage. Sieve the flour onto the egg mixture in 2 batches and mix on low sp