Homemade Soya Bean Milk

Soya Bean milk is a nutritious drink but buying for a glass outside cost about $1.00 plus.  So why buy that much of price when you can make a whole pot of it for a packet of organic soya bean that cost a little extra more!!  And the whole family members can enjoy this nutritious drink.

Ingredients serves for 2 glasses :
100g soybeans, rinsed and soaked overnight

25g sugar or to your taste of sweetness

800ml water

1 screwpine leave, washed and tied into a knot

1.  Discard the soaking water and blend soya beans in an electric food blender with a little water. 
2.  Mix with the rest of the water. 
3.  Strain mixture through the muslin cloth. 
4.  Boil the soyabean milk and the screwpine leaves for 10 to 15 min over low heat.  Once boil, add sugar.
5.  Serve warm or cold.

Organic Soya Beans.  The beans are slightly smaller than the normal soya beans.

Braise Duck Wing (Mel's Style)

I'm cooking this Braised Duck Wing without a proper recipe.  It is just according to my "tongue" taste and overall it is still delicious.

 
  If you like to try my this recipe, it is just all based on my assumption.  The ingredients goes like this ;

Braised Duck Wing adapted by Mel
8 pieces duck wing
4-5 slices ginger
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
1 shallot, chopped finely
2 star anise
1 (about 2" long) cinnamon
1/2 cup of Shao Xing Wine
2-3 tbsp soya sauce
1/2 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup water
1 tbsp vegetable oil

1.  Bring a pot of water to boil and put in the duck wings to blanch for about 20 seconds.  Dish out and
     pick off any feathers sticking in the wings if there's any.  Usually there is.
2.  Put oil in a frying pan and put in the ginger slices.  Fry about 1 minute and put the chopped garlic,
     shallot, star anise and cinnamon in.  Fry for about 1 minute or till fragrant.
3.  Pour in all the duck wings and stir fry for about 2 minutes.
4.  Stir in the Shao Xing Wine, oyster sauce, soya sauce, dark soya sauce, pepper and water.  Once it is  
     boil, lower the heat to slow and let it simmer till the wings are tender.
5.  Serve hot with steamed rice.

My method of cooking this braise duck wings may not be in a proper way, but I think it is still taste to 80 points!  Care to join me for dinner for this dish?

Cherry Clafoutis

I have been craving to eat something sweet, something like dessert lately..........  and since I have just bought some cherries, why not make something out of it as a sweet dessert.  And here it is Cherry Clafoutis. 

This recipes adapted from Joyofbaking.

Well, what do you think of this?  Though it is yummy but I find it a little too sweet.  If I'm going to make this again for Blueberries Clafoutis, I think I will cut down the sugar content or should I go for different dessert for Blueberries Flaugnarde.

Dried Candy

Before I intend to make this Dried Candy, the weather/the sun has been scorching up to 36 degrees everyday!  So I thought, this is a good time of making this and might take a shorter days to complete drying the candy.  But instead, it end up more than 6 days of drying.  Right after I start putting out to dry, it has been raining everyday in the afternoon! This is why it took about 6 days of drying.

 Dried Candy adapted from Table for 2 ..... or more

25gm agar-agar strips
750ml water
200gm rock sugar
150gm sugar
food colouring to your desire

1. Put water and  the agar-agar strips into a saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil and cover with lid. With low heat, boil until all agar-agar strips have dissolved.
3. Throw in the rock sugar and sugar, cook until all sugar dissolves. The texture should be thick.
    Put in your desire food colouring in.
4. Pour into the pan and once it has solidified, cut with a serrated knife.
5. Arrange cut pieces, serrated side down on a large tray lined with non stick baking paper.
6. Sun dry until a whitish crunchy crust appears. Turn jelly pieces every other day for proper exposure to
    the sun.

                          Before the drying time........ ready to go under the sun!

Apple Yeasted Sugar Tart

When I have completed baking this, I wasn't really satisfied with the outcome.  Why?  I made a blunder on it as I didn't whipped the cream till it rise to soft peaks!   But anyway, this apple tart is delicious indeed when eaten when it is still warm!

Recipe adapted from Technicolor  and Table for 2.... or more

Great source of recipes from both of them.

Apple Yeasted Sugar Tart
245g all purpose flour, sifted
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp instant yeast
1 egg (at room temperature)
120ml warm whole milk
28g softened unsalted butter
2-3 Granny's Smith apples
67g demerara sugar
some ground cinnamon
120ml whipping cream

1) Place flour, salt, sugar and yeast into a bowl; make a well in the centre.  Meanwhile whisk egg with
    warm milk and pour into the centre of the flour mixture.  Using a spoon first to mix all well combined.
2)  Mix in the butter and knead to a smooth, thick batter.
3)  Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise in a draught-free place for 30 minutes.
4)  Knock back dough, then press it into a 22cm buttered pie pan or loose-bottomed flan pan, cover with
     plastic and allow to recover for 30 minutes.
5)  Preheat oven to 200°C with fan assisted.
6)  Peel apples, cored them and cut into eighths. Press apple slices into the dough, and sprinkle with the
     demerara sugar and ground cinnamon on top.

7)  Put pie pan on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 180°C.
8)  Spoon cream over apples and bake for 20 minutes.
9)  Serve slice tart warm.

"Chai Choy" (Mixed Vegetables in fermented red beancurd)

Usually on the first day of Chinese New Year, we go for a day if not half a day for vegetarian food and dishes.  Cooking this "Chai Choy" is easy. 

This big pot of Chai Choy dish I have adapted from here and here with some slight adjustment myself.

500g Chinese cabbage
1 carrot, sliced thin
4 cubes fermented red beancurd (nam yu)
3-4 dried mushroom, soaked and sliced thin
10 florets cloud ear fungus
a handful of lily bulbs
small bundle of glass noodle (tung fun)
2 tbsp oil
2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce
1 tbsp soya sauce
3-5 cups water

1.  Fry the red beancurd in oil till fragrant.
2.  Add in the cabbage and carrot and stir fry till its soft.
3.  Add in the sliced mushroom, cloud ear fungus and fry for about 1 minute and add in the water (about 1/2
     inch above the vegetables).
4.  Add in the sugar, oyster and soya sauce and bring to a boil.  Turn down the heat and let is slow simmer
     for about half an hour or till cabbage is limp.

Honey & Ginger Roast Chicken

If you want a fuss free of preparing what to cook for dinner, roast chicken is the easy way.  And, less plate and utensils to wash up after preparing the dish! 


Here it is Honey & Ginger Roast Chicken..........

Recipe adapted from here.

50gm fresh ginger, slice thinly
1 medium lemon (about 140g)
55g (1/4 cup firmly packed) brown sugar
1/3 cup (120g) honey
60ml water
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 fresh green chilli, chopped (optional)
3 or 4 (about 350g each) chicken drumsticks

1.  Cut ginger slices into thin strips.  Remove lemon rind thinly either using a zester or a peeler.  Cut rind
     into thin strips.
2.  Stir sugar, honey and water in medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolved; bring to a
     boil.  Add ginger and simmer for 5 minutes till the ginger is tender.  Transfer to a larger bowl and stir
     in the garlic, lemon rind and chilli.
3.  Cut deep slashes through the thick part of the chicken flesh at 2cm intervals; put into the honey ginger
     mixture.  Cover the marinade/refrigerate 3 hours or overnight turning chicken occasionally.

4.  Preheat oven to 180C.  Place chicken in single layer and roast uncovered for about 40 minutes or till
      chicken is browned and cooked.
5.  Top chicken with green onions and served with steamed rice.

I have put in 2 medium size potatoes (cut into big chunks) and 3 tomatoes in to bake together with the chicken.  Sprinkle some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper on top of it.

Delicious!!  Only bones left..............

Crispy Fried Fish with Chilli sauce

 I have fish almost everyday, if not, at least 5 times in a week.  One thing I dreaded of cooking fish is frying the fish.  No matter how I pat dry the fish before putting in the frying pan, it still splatter at me!  There was a time I was watching a cooking TV show, Kylie Kwong, and you know what, when she was about to put the whole fish into the wok to deep fried it, she will have one big scarf wrapped around the whole hand till near her finger first and only she put the fish in!  Should I follow her step like that?  Or should I just head on to Ikea to get the oil splatter utensils which is more convenient?

This dish looks a lot spicy but it is not, it is the ginger that makes it hot.  The taste overall is hot, sweet and sour.  Quite appetising for a change. 

Ingredients
1 whole fish (Red snapper or black pomfret or fish fillets)
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tbsp minced ginger
2 fresh red chillis, finely chopped
2 spring onions, chopped
1 tbsp rice wine
4 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/3 cup coriander leaves, roughly chopped (for garnishing)
1 small carrot, shredded (for garnishing)
Oil for deep frying

Method

1) Pat dry the fish with paper towels. Cut a few slits on both sides and season the fish with sea salt.
2) Heat a wok full of oil. Deep-fried the fish until it's crispy, golden browned and cooked. Remove the fish
    and drain on paper towel.
3) Heat a small saucepan with 1 tbsp of oil, fry the ginger, garlic, spring onions and chilli until fragrant.
4) Add soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, fish sauce, rice wine and white pepper. Bring to a boil and turn off the
    heat.
5) Place the fish on the serving plate. Scatter half of the coriander leaves and shredded carrot over the fish.
6) Pour over the hot sauce and scatter the remaining half of the coriander and carrot.
7) Serve with steamed rice.

 I run out of carrot and coriander leaves, so no garnishing on top.......... just shredded some green leaves vegetable on top.

Osmanthus Jelly 桂花糕

Ah....... dessert again!  Whenever I watch ancient Chinese series, this dessert seems to be served out to the emperor or shown and eaten by the high class people only.  So I thought what is so special about this Osmanthus Jelly 桂花糕 ?    And out of curiosity and the taste of it, I try it out.

The Osmanthus Flower does bring out the fragrant to this jelly.   But unfortunate, I think I didn't cook it till it thicken up and the overall still wobbly!  A little disappointment. 

Osmanthus Flower

115gm chestnut powder
250ml water
120gm sugar
500ml water
1 Tbsp osmanthus
2 waterchestnut (cut into fine small cubes)

1. Mix water chestnut powder with water until no lumps are seen.
2. Bring 500ml water and sugar to a boil. Turn off the heat and put in osmanthus flowers to infuse for 2
    minutes.
3. Pour osmanthus infusion into (1). Return flour mixture to saucepan/pot and cook until it thickens.
4. Pour into a lightly oiled 7 inch pan. Steam over high heat for 10 minutes and medium heat for another 10
    minutes.
5. Cool down totally before slicing.

Spongy Banana Cake

Thought of baking some light and easy cake to bring it over to my dad and sister.  When the cake is done baking, the whole house is smell of banana smell! The texture is so soft; like eating cotton!  Definitely will bake this again.  Really yummy!


Recipe adapted from here
3 Eggs (medium)
130g sugar
200g Banana (Ripe & cut into small pcs)
150g cake flour
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp Baking soda
100g Corn oil (or any vegetable oil, canola or sunflower oil)
1/8 tsp vanilla Rum, optional

1. Preheat oven to 160 degree C.
2. Grease & line a 8" round tin pan or loaf pan with paper .
3. Sieve flour, baking powder & soda together. Sieve twice and set aside.
4. Whisk eggs, sugar , rum & banana at maximum speed in a mixer till stiff/ribbon stage.
5. Fold in flour and mix well.  (You may use a spatula to mix it).
6. Add in corn oil and mix well till batter is shiny and flowing.
7. Bake for about 40 - 45mins till the skewer comes out clean.