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

The lady boss of a restaurant recommended this dish to me.  She said it's something different, the chicken is steamed for a while and then lightly panfried to give it a crispy effect, so the skin is crispy and the meat is tender.  It has become a popular dish in the restaurant and because it's rather time consuming to prepare this dish, it's only available during weekends.  True to what she said, this dish is tasty and delicious. Steamed  & Panfried Chicken  ~  蒸炸鸡 Ingredients 2 whole leg of chicken, about 450 gm 1 tsp salt Method Cut the leg of chicken into 4 pieces each Season with salt, set aside (preferably overnight) Steam the chicken under high heat for about 8 mins.   Remove the chicken but keep the juice Panfry the chicken with some oil, turning them from side to side Add in the juice  Dish out onto a plate with fresh greens  Serve immediately 

These mini flower chiffon cake moulds were a present from a good friend of mine.  They do look very cute and for the two cakes, I only used a 3 egg recipe.  But since I'm used to baking my chiffon cakes in a 23 cm mould, I must admit that I had some difficulty scooping the mixture into these mini pans.  This cake is soft and moist and being mini, they vanished in a relatively short time wihtout any leftovers! Mini Green Tea Marble Chiffon Cake  ~  迷你绿茶戚风蛋糕 Ingredients (A) 3 egg yolks 40 gm caster sugar 25 ml milk 35 ml vegetable oil 50 gm plain flour ) Mix and sift together 15 gm cornflour   ) 1.1/2 tsp Green tea powder (B) 3 egg whites 35 gm caster sugar Method Sift the plain flour with the cornflour, mix well, set aside. Whisk the egg yolks with sugar, then add in oil, milk.  Mix well.  Sift in the plain flour and cornflour mixture.  Mix till well incorporated. In a clean bowl, beat egg whites till foamy, add in the sugar gradually and

This aromatic Garam Masala Turmeric Chicken is tasty and easy to prepare. I cooked it semi-dry so that the chicken will be infused with the flavours from the incredible sauce and  makes the chicken more delicious.  It looks spicy but it's not and kids can also partake in this.  You can serve this with bread or white rice and I chose to serve this with roti paratha. Garam Masala Turmeric Chicken  ~  印度香辛料黄姜鸡 Ingredients 8 drumsticks 1.1/2 tsp garam masala 1 tsp turmeric 1 tsp smoked paprika 1/2 tsp salt 3 tomatoes, diced 2 medium size red onion, chopped 4 pips of garlic, chopped 10 gm ginger, chopped 4 cloves 2 to 3 bay leaves  (optional) Bit of sugar, salt and light soya sauce to taste Curry leaves (optional) Method Make a slit on the drumsticks, and season with garam masala, turmeric, smoked paprika and salt, for a few hours or preferably overnight. Heat up some oil in a wok and saute the garlic, ginger, onions, cloves till fragrant and add in

I have posted a Blue pea chiffon cake before but this time I tried making it into a two-tone chiffon cake and the recipe is slightly different.  Although the recipes are different with the former adding cornflour and the latter adding rice flour, the end result is about the same, yieldig a soft, moist and light cake. Honey Blue Pea Flower Chiffon Cake  ~  蜜糖蓝豌豆花戚风蛋糕 Ingredients (A) 6 'L'egg yolks 70 gm caster sugar 1.1/2 Tbsp honey 45 ml milk 75 gm plain flour 30 gm rice flour 53 ml vegetable oil 70 blue pea petals + 100 ml water to  boil and strain  out 20 ml tea Add a pinch of baking powder into the blue pea batter (B) 6 'L'egg whites 45 gm caster sugar Method Boil the water with the blue pea petals, discard the petals, strain out 20 ml tea, let cool and set aside. Sift the plain flour twice, stir in the rice flour, mix well. Whisk the egg yolks with honey, then add in oil, milk.  Mix well.  Sift in the flour and rice mi

I cooked this simple Herbal Chicken Rice during one of the days of the Lock Down.  I have a penchant for Chinese herbal food, be it herbal soup or herbal chicken.  This is a very simple recipe and doesn't call for a lot of ingredients and I'm sure most of you will be able to prepare this for your family. Herbal Chicken Rice  ~  药材鸡饭  Ingredients 450 gm whole chicken leg, chopped 1/2 cup rice Chinese cooking wine Light soya sauce Seasoning for chicken  3 pieces Tong Kwai (Chinese Angelica Root) 3 pieces Pak Kei (Astragalus Root) Salt Light soya sauce Method Season the chicken for about a few hours or preferably overnight. Wash rice, add a little less water than normal for the 1/2 cup rice. Place seasoned chicken on top of the rice.  Press the 'cook rice' function. Once rice is cooked, remove the chicken, fluff up the rice. Add a dash of cooking wine, light soya sauce to taste. Dish out and serve with the chicken.

A light and soft Pandan Swiss Roll made with fresh pandan juice.  Rolled up with a filling of kaya or coconut egg jam, chilled in the fridge and it is so refreshing to enjoy over a cup of steaming hot coffee or tea. Pandan Swiss Roll ~  斑兰蛋糕卷 Ingredients A)  4 egg yolks       30 gm caster sugar       20 ml coconut  milk       10 ml Pandan juice       30 ml vegetable oil       50 gm plain flour       20 gm rice flour       1/4 tsp Pandan paste       Pinch of salt       Kaya or egg jam for filling B)  4 egg whites       40 gm sugar       1 tsp vinegar or 1/2 tsp cream of tartar Method Line a 10" x 10" square pan with parchment paper. Mix egg yolks, sugar, coconut milk, oil, pandan juice and salt with a ball whisk till well incorporated.  Sift in plain flour and rice flour, mix well.  Set aside. In a clean bowl, whisk egg whites with vinegar till foamy, add in sugar in batches and beat till stiff peaks but not dry. Fold in 1/2 meringue

This is one dish that kids would love to go with rice or noodles.  The braised pork belly is soft and tender and the fat literally melts-in-your-mouth.  Simple to cook yet delicious and appetising. Shanghai Braised Pork Belly  ~  上海紅燒肉    (adapted from  'here' )                    Ingredients 1 kg pork belly cut into about 1 inch thick 4 Tbsp oil 1 piece  (about 45 gm) piece sugar sugar 6 Tbsp Shaoxing wine (I used Rose wine) 2 Tbsp light soy sauce 1.1/2 Tbsp dark soy sauce 4 to 5 cups water Method Wash and blanch the pork belly in a pot of boiling water for about 5 mins. This helps to get rid of impurities.  Take out the pork, rinse it and set aside. In a wok, melt the piece sugar in the oil and once the sugar is melting, add in the pork, stirring to cover the pork with the caramel.  Lower the heat. Add in the wine, sauces and water. Cover and let the pork simmer under medium low heat for about 50 mins. to 1 hr till pork is tender. Dish

'Chai' is the Hindi word for 'tea', which was derived from 'cha', the Chinese word for 'tea'.  The traditional ingredients for 'chai' tea is a mixture of black tea with spices and cinnamon, cardamon, cloves, ginger and black peppercorns.  Unlike other teas which are brewed with water, 'chai' tea is brewed with milk, and sweetened with sugar or honey.  I brewed the 'chai' tea with soy milk in today's recipe for a chiffon cake.  The kitchen was full of sweet aroma while the cake was baking in the oven.  If you want more information on 'chai' tea, continue from  'here' . Chai Tea Soy milk  Chiffon Cake  ~   柴茶豆奶戚风蛋糕 Ingredients  (A) 5 'Chai' tea bags   (10 gm) 12 Tbsp unsweetened soya milk 6  large egg yolks 75 gm caster sugar 6 Tbsp vegetable oil 150 gm plain flour 2 tsp baking powder 3 tsps of 'chai' tea leaves, taken from the above 5 tea bags (B) 6 large egg whi