Raisin Muffins

I am in the mood of baking~I choose muffins today because it is easy, fastest and less messy. It only takes around 1 hour from preparation to baking these muffins. I have all the ingredients required and most important of all, I really feel like baking for everyone. :) I am in a very happy mood today and getting very excited as tomorrow I will be going back to my hometown in Malaysia. I just got to bake to release some of my excitement!

Hmm...I think I baked Raisin muffins before but the other version did not yield me a very very satisfying results. May be it is because I do not really like cinnamon and nutmeg which is in the recipe.

This time around, the ingredients are very simple and the steps are even more simpler. Nutmeg and Cinamon is not used too:

Ingredients:

(yields 12 muffins)

1 3/4 Cup Self Raising Flour

1/4 Cup Sugar

1/2 tsp Salt

3/4 Cup Raisins

1 Cup Milk

1 Large Egg

1/4 Cup Butter (melted)

1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence

Method:

1. Preheat the oven at 200 degree Celsius.

2. Grease the muffin moulds or use paper cups to line the muffin tins. This way, you will not get the crust on the sides but cleaning will be easier.

3. Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.

4. Lightly beat the egg in a bowl. Mix with other wet ingredients.

5. Pour the wet ingredients (beaten egg, vanilla essence, milk & butter) into the dry ingredients.

6. Stir lightly a few times until combined. Do not overmix. Lumps are ok in the batter. If the batter is too dry, add a few tablespoons of milk.

7. Scoop the batter into the cups.

8. Bake for 18 - 20 minutes.

9. Leave on the rack to cool down for 2-3 minutes before unmould if tin is not lined with paper cups.

Results:

The smell of the muffins are really good. Vanilla Essence is very important too add some fragrance to these muffins! Well, it is great and I had it in the morning as breakfast!

Red Bean Twist Bun

I had a great day today. I got myself busy and productive since 10 am this morning making some red bean buns. I came across this cute little red bean twist buns from a recipe book I borrowed from the library last night.

I prepared the dough in 2 ways. I chose to knead half of the dough and I let my breadmaker knead the other half. I wanted to compare the differences between the man-made vs machine made buns.

I was perspiring heavily after 30 minutes of kneading. I guess it is a good exercise for me after all but I found the dough a bit unmanageable as it was very sticky. I kept adding flour and I have no idea how much I have added. Luckily, they turned out fine when they were out from the oven.

I also found the dough from the breadmaker very sticky but at least it did not create a mess on the table as it did for the dough that I hand-knead earlier on. It was so much easier too compared to the hand-knead method as I dump in all the ingredients into the machine and let it do all the hard work!

Ingredients:

(yields 16-18 mini buns)

500 g Bread Flour (sifted)

70 g Sugar

5 g Salt

10 g Active Dry Yeast

30 g Butter

50 g Egg

250 ml Water

Filling:

Red bean paste (as desired)

Garnishing:

Sesame seed (as desired)

Method:

Dough by Manual

1. Mix the egg and water in a bowl.

2. Pour the egg with water mixture into a bowl of yeast, salt & sugar. Mix well.

3. Blend in the flour in 3 batches with a spatula/ wooden spoon. Blend until the mixture form a ball of dough.

4. Take out the dough and knead on a pre-dusted flat surface until the dough is not sticky. The dough is ready when the dough does not break easily when pulled.

5. Put the dough into a well-oiled bowl, covered with a moist cloth or cling wrap and let the dough rise until double in size. The time should be roughly about 1 hour to 1 1/2 hour.

6. After the first rise, take the dough out to release the gas from the rise by lightly kneading it.

7. Let the dough rest 5-10 minutes with a moist cloth covered on top before using it.

Dough by Machine

1. Put all wet ingredients first into the baking pan followed by the dry ingredients.

2. Load the baking pan into the breadmaker and start the "Dough" function.

3. Take the dough out after the rise cycle completes.

4. Take the dough out to release the gas from the rise by lightly kneading it.

5. Let the dough rest 5-10 minutes with a moist cloth covered on top before using it.

Filling & Shaping:

1. Switch on the oven at 200 deg C.

2. Divide the dough into 50 g per piece.

3. Fill in red bean paste and seal the dough.

4. Flatten the dough with a pin roll.

5. Slice 3-4 strips elongately into the flatten dough.

6. By holding the dough end with both hands, twist inwardly with one hand while the hand twist outwardly.

7. After twisting, form a circle and twist a knot. An example is shown below:

8. Dip the twisted dough into the sesame seed.

9. Rest the doughs on top of parchment paper on a baking pan for around 30 minutes. Cover the baking pan with moist cloth or oiled clingwrap.

10. Put the baking pan into the oven and bake for around 15 minutes.

11. Take out the baked buns and let cool on a rack immediately.

12. Brush the surface with butter to enhance the taste and to achieve softer crust.

Results:

It turned out great! The machine-kneaded dough yields a better texture and taste in the end but both tasted good. However, I still need to improve my twisting and shaping skill. None of the buns were great looking as shown in the book after the bake. It tasted very nice when it was fresh from the oven. After a few hours, they did not maintain its softness but otherwise still taste great! This is a keeper. I personally think that a breadmaker is a must for those who loves baking but want to skip the messiness and tardiness of kneading process :)

Chocolate Bread

I have not venture much with my bread maker. Other than using it very frequently for the successful normal basic white bread and pizza dough, I've never really use it for other choices of breads.

I am going to try out the Chocolate Bread recipe and see if this will be as successful as the basic white loaf and the pizza dough. After the kneading process, I found the dough slightly wet; as seen from the picture below. I am hoping that it will turn out fine later. I love the smell of the dough already, slightly chocolatey. I simply could not wait how it will turn out later. :)

Ingredients:

(yields 1 lb loaf)

2/3 cup Water

1 3/4 cup Bread Flour

1/2 tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

1 1/2 tbsp Sugar

1 1/2 Dry Milk Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

1 1/2 tbsp Butter

1 tsp Active Dry Yeast

When beep sounds, add:

1/4 cup Chocolate Chips

Method:

1) Put ingredients accordingly (liquids first followed by dry ingredients) into the baking pan or follow breadmaker's manual/ instructions.

2) Load the baking pan with ingredients into the breadmaker.

3) Choose "Basic" cycle and let the breadmaker performs the kneading. During the last 5 minutes of the kneading cycle, it will beep to indicate the time to add in the Chocolate Chips.

4) Let it continue to knead followed by rising and baking automatically.

5) At the end of the baking, immediately unload the bread from the breadmaker and let it cool down on a rack before cutting it.

Tips:

It is very important to measure the exact amount of ingredients when baking a bread. Slight change in the ingredients might tremendously affect the texture, quality & the outcome of the bread.

Results:

The lingering aroma from the baking bread was so nice; some of my housemates commented that it reminded them of Famous Amos Cookies. I could not wait until morning to cut the bread. After an hour or so of cooling time, I sliced the bread. The texture is soft; the taste of chocolate is subtle but just nice for the bread. Nothing is as satisfying as seeing a successful recipe and having a great breakfast for tomorrow morning! I love my breadmaker!

Cooling Chinese Pear with Honey Soup

This drink/ soup is good for those people who works very late into the nights and for someone as heaty as me. It is cooling and thirst quenching. It has medicinal effect too as the ingredients below are known to treat coughs and beneficial for the lungs system. As it is a sweet soup, you can also treat it as a dessert.

I came across this recipe at this website "Cuisine Paradise" and the blogger did a very good job in describing the function/ benefit of each ingredient. I had boiled this soup a few times and the following yields the best tastes and results:


Ingredients:
(yields 2 litre of soup)


2 litre of Water
2 Chinese Pears
6-8 Red Dates
1 tbs Wolfberries
1 tbs Sweet Almond
1 tbs Bitter Almond
12 strands "Sha Shen"
10g White Fungus
3 tbs Honey


Method:

1. Pour the water into the crockpot/ slowcooker and switch to 'HIGH'.

2. Wash all the Ingredients.

3. Soak White Fungus in water until it is soft. Remove unwanted areas after soaking.

4. Peel, core and cut the pears into chunks.

5. Put all ingredients except Honey into the slow cooker and boil for 3 hours.

6. At the end of 2nd hour, pour in honey.

7. At 3rd hour, switch the crockpot/ slowcooker to 'OFF'

8. Serve hot or cold. Strain the drink as desired.


Results:

Both of us love the drink and normally it is finished within few hours. I have always served it hot or warm. I have never tried it cold. May be it would be as nice if it is cooled for a few hours in the fridge.

Steamed egg (Chawanmushi)

I've been searching for all kinds of steam recipe as I want to try out my latest gadget, the "Magic Thermal Pot". One thing that I really would love to try for quite sometime now is steamed egg. Furthermore, I have a bunch of eggs sitting in the kitchen which I have to clear of as soon as possible before they turn bad.

I am not really familiar with steam dishes and as I will be having this alone, the following recipe is modified to be as simple as possible so I do not need to buy too many ingredients that I could not finish later.

Looking at the ingredients & methods below, it is not complicated at all.

Ingredients:
(yields 4 small cups)

8 small dried scallops (soaked until soft, water reserved)

4 Shiitake mushrooms (stalk removed, thinly sliced)
4 eggs

Stock:
2 cups water
1/2 tsp sugar
3/4 tbsp light soy sauce

Pinch of salt
Dash of pepper

Garnishing:

1 stalk spring onion (chopped)

Method:

1) Wash the dried scallops and soak until soft. Reserve the water.

2) Add additional water to the reserved water to make 2 cups of water. This will be used as the stock.

3) Bring pot/ wok of water to boil.

4) Divide the scallops and mushrooms into 4 cups.

5) Mix Stock ingredients to the eggs and beat the mixture lightly with chopstick. Do not overbeat as this will create unsightly bubbles later on.

6) Strain the egg mixture into the cups.

7) Cover the cups with clingwrap.

8) Steam under low heat for 20 minutes or until the egg mixture sets.

Results:

The first attempt failed; the taste was great but the texture of the egg was not smooth. I guess it was my fault as I cooked under high heat and let it boiled away for around 5 minutes before transferring the pot to the outer pot. This taught me a lesson that I should follow the instructions carefully!

I made a 2nd attempt and this time I made sure I only put the cups in after I remove the pot from heat. It turned out really smooth and very very delicious.

Huat Kueh (Prosperity Cake)

I recently bought a so-called "Magic Thermal Pot" at a pot demonstration on the street after lunch break. I stood there for more than 30 minutes watching how amazingly the food was cook within the pot itself without gas or electricity. The demonstrated cook food tasted great too. Without much hesitation or how much it could be a burden to me if I shift house the next time, I bought the pot.

It comes with 2 pots; the inner and the outer pot. This magical pot claims to cook food by just placing the food in the inner pot, let it boil for 10 minutes and later transfer to the outer pot which act as the insulator to reduce heat dissipation from the inner pot to continue its cooking. 

For all the lazy cook out there, here is a simple recipe that I followed and tested on my newly bought pot for my breakfast this morning:

Ingredients:

(yields 4 muffin size Huat Kueh)

125 g Huat Kueh mix (I bought from NTUC)

125 g Self raising flour

150 ml water/ coconut milk (I used water)

1 tps butter

Method:

1. Pour sufficient water into the pot/ wok and place on the stove with high heat. 

2. Place the steamer stand and muffin moulds into the pot. Cover the pot/ wok. 

3. While waiting for the water to boil, sift the Huat Kueh mix into a bowl.

4. Slowly pour the water and butter into the mix and stir until it is incorporated.

5. Pour the batter into muffin cups until 90% full.

6. Place the muffin cups into their respective moulds and steam for 20-30 minutes.

7. If using magic pot, after placing the batter into the pot/ wok, cover and wait until steam appears before transfering to the outer pot.

Results:

They looked really pretty, just like blooming flowers. Nice to eat when it is hot. I actually added self raising flour here just because I think it is way too sweet if I just use the Huat Kueh Mix alone. It turned hard quite fast after it is cold and I think I need to improve on its fluffiness the next time I make this. However, I have no complain because it's a very easily prepared breakfast and I could have it freshly made :)

 

Yokoso Japan

Last month, I had been travelling to Japan due to business as well as for a personal trip. We went to Kyoto & Osaka and had a great time there. The scenery was majestic with sakura aka cherry blossoms blooming everywhere in Kyoto. And the food there ooh la la.... is simply delicious!

Almost everyday I ate ramen. The texture of ramen, the soup, the tofu, beancurd skin is so nice...so yummy. I never got bored eating the same thing again and again. Thanks to a good guidebook "大阪京都達人天書" I ended up indulging in lots of heavenly food and goodies. All the food that we tried following the guidance from the book was super nice and worthed every penny of it.

The following are some of the food that we had for 9 days we spent in Kyoto & Osaka:

KyotoRamen at Gion District (Tea House - 茶屋)

It is not recommended in the book but that was the first ramen we tried in japan. I remembered how soft and yummy the egg was!



This is a '390' yen (about SGD 6) bento we loved so much. Comes in variety combination of different food and dishes. These are filling and yet yummy fast food bentos can be easily obtained in any of the Japan convenient stores!

First fast food breakfast - Lotteria


Vegetarian meal at Kiyomizudera Temple - yummy with its simplicity


Gion District - This green tea ice cream is recommended in the book


There is a Kyoto Ramen Alley within Isetan at Kyoto Train Station where all the shops serve ramen in various regional styles, from Sapporo to Kumamoto. This place is highly recommended for the Ramen lovers. We had 2 meals here. Simply delicious!

Our first Chinese dim sum buffet also recommended in the book. The dishes are always changing and topped up fresh from the kitchen. Very nice with lots of varities to choose from.

Osaka

Foodcourt in Tempozan Market - These are mini 'Dons'. Even I can finish 2 bowls of these.

Golden Dragon Ramen - 金龙拉面 at Dotonburi. Too much 'cha siew' for me but otherwise a good choice recommended in the book.

Last meal in Osaka. Food court in one of Osaka's shopping mall. May be the moody mood (leaving Japan soon) caused this meal to taste so-so only.

Results

Very very satisfied to have discovered and tasted so many good food in Kyoto & Osaka. I will definitely go to Japan again!

Revitalising DangShen Tea

Tea, tea and more tea. I've browse through my friend's website and she introduced this revitalising tea using just a few chinese herbs. This tea is of warm nature and suitable for those who fatigues easily, with low blood pressure and this tea is good to nourish blood and energy.

For those not familiar with Dangshen and would like to know more about it, please browse through this website: http://www.foodsnherbs.com/dang_shen.htm

Again, this tea is very simple to prepare. Just dump in the ingredients and let it boil in the crockpot/ slowcooker for 3 hours. It is advisable not to cook chinese herbs in stainless steel pot as there might be reactions between steel and the chinese herbs.

Ingredients:

2-3 sticks of Dangshen

4-5 Black Dates (Nan Zao)

2 tps Wolfberries

Longan Meat (optional)

1 1/2 litre Water

Method:

1. Wash and drain the ingredients.

2. Fill water into the crockpot/ slow cooker and switch to HIGH.

3. Dump in all ingredients and boil for 3 hours.

4. Serve hot or warm.

Results:

I realize that I am not as easily fatigue after taking this drink but I also can feel it is quite heaty. Hence, I only have this drink 1 week once or 2 weeks once. It is advisable to drink lots of water along with this tea.

Orange Sweet Tea

This is by far one of the easiest soup/ tea I have ever cook. You will immediately feel the effect after drinking it. This tea is very effective for people who lost their voice due to heat. It is cooling and believed to nourish your skin especially for women.

This has been my favourite drink for the past few weeks. I boil this tea/ soup once or twice every week. This can be taken cold or warm. 

Ingredients:

(yields a pot)

2 big/ 3 small Oranges

2 pellets/ bags Tea leaves (I used Pu Er pellets)

White rock sugar (as desired)

2 1/2 litre Water

Method:

1. Wash the oranges thoroughly.  Cut the oranges into chunks. Do not remove skin. Tips may be removed. Skin also serves as medicinal nutrition in this case.

2. Fill Crockpot/ Slow Cooker with water and switch to HIGH.

3. Dump all ingredients in and boil for 3 hours.

4. If you are using tea pellets, it is recommended to put them in tea filters (similar to tea bags) so that you do not have to strain later. I bought the filters from Daiso.

6. Switch OFF at 3rd hour.

7. Serve the drink hot or cold.

Results:

It is easy, yummy and nutritious. What can you ask more? :)

Black Fungus Gingered Soup

The ingredients can be easily purchased from any of the Chinese Medicine Store. Some sundry stores may have these ingredients as they are considered very common. I, personally prefer to buy them from Eu Yan Sang, a trusted brand & store in Malaysia and Singapore.

This soup is very easy to prepare and it can be treated as drinks throughout the day. I just dump all the ingredients to a crockpot/ slow cooker and let it simmer for 3 hours.

Ingredients:

(yields a pot)

Appx 10g or 1 handful Black Fungus

8-10 slices ginger (peeled)

4-6 red dates (deseed)

2 litre water

Dried Longan Meat (optional as desired)

Method:

1. Soak the Black Fungus in water until soft. Cut and throw the unwanted hard portion.

2. Meanwhile, pour water into the crockpot/ slow cooker and switch to HIGH.

3. After washing the ingredients, dump all into the slow cooker and boil for 3 hours.

4. Strain soup and treat as tea or drink.

Results:

The original recipe does not call for Dried Longan Meat but I just add it in as I think a slight sweetness to this tonic is much more delightful. I also prefer this tea with stronger taste of ginger in it.

As I grow older, I am more and more health concious. I try to eat healthier food and avoid fried stuffs in diet as much as possible. Recently, I received some recommendations on a few tonic drinks that I drink frequently (1 or 2 times weekly). One of them is Black Fungus Gingered Soup. It is believed to be able to lower the cholestrol level.

Basic White Loaf

I've only chosen the easiest and most convenient recipe, a white basic bread using the breadmaker. Basic ingredients and not much fuss :)

For my past experiences with the breadmaker, it did not yield me very soft bread when I was following the recipe from the breadmaker. The bread normally dried up after only a few hours eventhough I have clingwrapped it. Most of the loaf always ended in the bin and I hate wasting food like this.

I've done some read up recently and found that the main reason of bread drying up too fast can be due to insufficient butter/ oil used. This time around, I modified the original recipe a little bit by adding additional of 1/2 tbsp of butter to the ingredients.

Ingredients:

(yields 1 1lb loaf)

2/3 cup water

2 cups bread flour

1 1/2 tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tbsp dry milk (I used full cream milk powder)

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tbsp butter

1 tsp yeast

Method:

1. Put in ingredients into the baking pan according to the list above or follow breadmaker's instructions.

2. Select "basic bread regular" and press "Start"

3. Unmold immediately from the baking pan once it is done.

4. Cool the freshly baked loaf on a rack completely or at least for half an hour before cutting.

Results:

I am very satisfied with the outcome. The bread does not dry up so easily. The texture is still soft even after 24 hours. I just stored the slices of bread in an airtight container after it has cooled down. Actually, it is best stored with ziplock bag. Previously, I did try adding butter up to 2 tbsp in the ingredients but I found it a little too dense. 

I've successfully made wonderful loaves following this modified recipe. Now, I do not have to throw away bread that is unfinished within few hours!

Homecook food finally~

It has been a few months since my last post. I have been adapting to the new room and new housemates. Since I have been downgrading my life style now (no more having a house to myself), it is hard for me to do or cook what I like since I am sharing the kitchen with others.

I have come to know that my housemates also cook once in a while. Out of spontaneity, I proposed to cook during this weekend and have an eat-in day. I promised them pizza while one of my housemates will be cooking Chinese dishes for dinner.

So, here it goes for today. It started off with my pizza and it was well received by them. I am very glad but it is a pity that I did not capture a few shots!

For dinner, my housemate cooked for the night:

a) Chye Sim with fried silver fish

b) Braised brinjal (I helped to do the dressing)

c) '9 chye' with fried tofu and preserved egg

d) Fried chicken with salty egg yolk

e) Fried capsicum, onion and carrot with olive oil (I cooked this using the remains from the pizza!)

Outcome:

It was great! I like the atmosphere in the house. People getting together, communicating and most important of all, having fun and enjoy the meal. We had a great time and a good meal.