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

  It's the durian season again and I'm sharing with you a simple yet fragrant Durian Butter Cake.  This recipe does not use the traditional butter totally, in fact there is oil too.  Liquid oil tends to make the cake softer and stays moist longer as it does not solidify at room temperature.  This cake is soft and moist with a tinge of durian flavour and aroma.  A breakfast or Tea time snack for durian lovers. Durian Butter Cake ~  榴莲牛油蛋糕 Ingredients 150 gm unsalted butter 190 gm plain flour 2 tsp baking powder 30 ml vegetable oil 85 gm caster sugar 3 'L' eggs 130 gm pureed durian flesh 4 Tbsp milk a pinch of salt 1/4 teaspoon vanilla Method Sift flour with baking powder and salt.  Set aside. Beat butter with sugar till well blended, add in oil and continue beating till pale and fluffy. Add in eggs one at a time, mix well. Add in pureed durian flesh, mix till well incorporated. Sift in again the sifted flour in 2 batches, alternating with the milk....

  Three Cup Chicken is a very popular Taiwanese dish and it gets its name from the recipe which calls for a cup to measure the sauces, namely sesame oil, soy sauce, and rice wine together with some dark soy sauce, garlic, ginger, chillies and basil leaves.  This is indeed a very flavourful dish and certainly goes well with a bowl of  plain white rice......a keeper recipe for sure!  Three Cup Chicken ~ 三杯鸡 Ingredients 900 gm free-range chicken, chopped into bite size 6 Tbsp + 1 Tbsp Shaoxing wine  (the 1 Tbsp is for seasoning the chicken) 4 Tbsp light soya sauce 3 Tbsp sesame oil 1/2  Tbsp dark soya sauce 2 Tbsp sugar 12 pips garlic, chopped 10 gm ginger, sliced thinly 1 red chilli, sliced Fresh Thai Basil leaves a bit of salt Preparation Season the chicken pieces with 1/2 tsp salt and the 1 Tbsp wine for about 2 to 3 hours. Heat up a wok with 1.1/2 Tbsp sesame oil, stir-fry the seasoned chicken pieces till light brown. Push the chicken aside and add in...

  The recipe for this Ginger Nut Chiffon Cake is adapted from my earlier post of Biscoff Chiffon Cake . As always, chiffon cakes are soft and fluffy and the crushed ginger nut cookies gave the cake an added crunch.  This cake can be enjoyed as a dessert or for an afternoon tea. Ginger Nut Chiffon Cake    ~  姜饼戚风蛋糕                        Ingredients (A) 6 'L' egg yolks 60 gm caster sugar 90 ml vegetable oil 155 gm plain flour 1 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 115 ml milk 1/2 tsp vanilla 60 gm ginger nut cookies, crushed (B) 6 'L' egg whites 1 tsp vinegar or lemon juice 60 gm caster sugar Method Sift four with baking powder, salt.  Set aside. Using a handheld whisk, whisk egg yolks with sugar till creamy.  Add in oil, milk and vanilla, whisk till well incorporated. Sift in the flour mixture, fold in and add in the crushed ginger nut cookies. In a clean mixing bowl, beat the egg whites till f...