Pandan Kaya

First Attempt!

It turned out slightly too much green (but I likey) and slightly curdled coz I left the pot for only 5 minutes. 5 Minutes!!! Geram (frustrated). Abit too sweet too, think I should reduce the sugar even more..

I reckon this is similar to making ice cream process but in opposite environment...I had to keep stirring and stirring and stirring. That is perhaps the art of making Kaya. In terms of colour, it pretty much indicates when it is ready. Ingredients are very straight forward but you can be creative. There are 3 main ingredients, and they also go by ratio so you won't go wrong.

Anyway, it makes really simple gifts if you're thinking of doing something different for a change :)

(In courtesy of thelazychef and Pickle&SpicesWorld's posts)

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Steamed Honey Cake

=)

This time it's the same attempt but with a proper cake tin! Though I think that bundt cake tin would do better now since the middle bit won't sink to the bottom. And I think I left it steaming at a low heat which took awhile for it to rise (yes it rose!)

This time this cake has a 'dark spot' aka a little crusty bit since honey burns quite quick.

Here's the recipe if you're bored! IT's quite simple, except that you have to take an extra effort to mix the batter together since honey is a chewy hard texture.

(Courtesy of MariasMenu's steamed honey sponge cake recipe)

Makes a 9" cake

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Herbal Chicken Soup

Mmmmm, another great alternative instead of soup. This time, cooking this way instead of the usual soup mix is much better in the sense that all flavours essentially do not escape through vapour because the aluminium foil actually keeps the flavour in.

The thing about making this dish is that if you thoroughly want to fully utilise the flavours and herbs, you need to keep the meat marinated for longer, and the cooking process more than an hour. But I did mine in 45 minutes.

This is hot off the pot that the camera lense started steaming up hehe

And like soup, you can always refrigerate the dish if unfinish and it typically tastes even better the next day :)

Usually this dish is accompanied by a simple green vegetable dish such as kailan.

I found the dish a tad on the sweeter side and the herbs are abit too strong for the number of chickens I used. I shall attempt to make this dish again!


makes a dish for 2 people

(Courtesy of Noobcook's herbal chicken post)

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Fish & Co.

Want a dish that comes with unlimited salad? Try this place...

The poster is good enough to grab your attention :P

Apparently this restaurant didn't get good reviews in general but this the the restaurant by far that had the best service. We ate at the Tampines branch where we were well greeted with a waitress who tells us that our table is being prepared and that she also told us today's specials, new meals, change of menu every month and the dessert section.

She also mentions that we've come at a late time where the salad has almost sold out but to specifically  request for more if we want to and that the chef will make it and bring it to us. Wow, talk about great service. As well as we had unlimited amount of water...

Salad buffet here consists not just salad but it's got salmon, seafood, crab sticks, apples, white fish and even mini tortellini's!!

And they are 'fresh'. When I mean fresh, the sweet corn does not come in a can...

The salad buffet has a standard price of SGD12.80 I think but for an extra SGD2, it comes with a whole dish so we went for that instead.

One of the 6 plates of salad I had haha. It's got baby spinach, squid, prawns, corn, chickpeas, green leaves, etc all hidden underneath 

I had white fish coated with bread crumbs, pepper, herbs and it comes with roast potatoes and tomatoes. I like my fish steamed ;)

D had deep fried fish batter, I think it's the restaurant' s specialty...

Verdict? Well, it averaged out about SGD15 after including the taxes and I find it kinda the average price but it's still a good value for your money since it comes with unlimited fresh overseas salad, what a healthy way of eating. I'd definitely come here again and would after a decent workout for a really good recover meal.

More information

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4 Tampines Central 5 #B1-02 Tampines Mall Singapore
Tel: +65 6787 3437
Opening Hours are Mon–Sun: 11.30am–9.30pm
www.fish-co.com

Steam Milo Cake

Righty ho, KV is without an oven so what does she do? She attempts to make a steamed cake! And not only that, she doesn't even have a cake mould, so she has gone to use a bundt instead =P

Yuuuummm, Milo aka Chocolate cake

And the verdict? It was sooooooooooo moist!! And it is rather healthy in a way too!

Trusty Bundt cake mould left by the landlord...

I was abit anxious in terms of whether the cake will rise, whether it'll get moist with steaming, whether or not it'll turn out as a paste, etc etc but it actually turned out better than I thought :) . Some say that theirs didn't rose and they had to add fizzy drinks to it. Others add evaporated milk, in which it does make sense, as you would want to have the sugar already dissolved and ready in liquid form if not it'll form a 'dense' base. But I used milk and icing sugar instead, as I know I won't be able to use up a can of evaporated milk. And one other used rice flour, which was rather interesting but it didn't rise unfortunately.

Hehe, and you think I'm crazy from coming up with these reasons even before attempting... :P

Anyway, after much reading blogs after blogs, I've come up with a simple ingredient that requires the least amount of effort to make...it literally took me 10 minutes to come up with the batter because it's an all-in-1 bowl mix. And to add an 'extra' taste, coat the cake with a layer of honey.

(Courtesy of Cake on the Brain's chocolate cake recipe)

Makes a 7" cake

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Ji De Chi

I've been walking pass this place (since it lies in a mall) ever since and have been meaning to try it out. Located in the Basement of Plaza Singapura, I've never come across the way the dessert was made...

The signboard that caught my eye

This dessert shop has it's ideas originated from Hong Kong, and uses a method whereby one places order on a piece of paper and off it goes to the waiter. The stall doesn't only do desserts but also savoury snacks such as 'bak kuah' or sticky rice with mince pork wrapped in a a pyramid shape and chee cheong fun.

Just like ice kacang, the way ice was shaven was more so smooth and it had a creamy texture like ice cream. But it's made out of ice!!!

Mango and Strawberry dessert with glutinous riceballs, sago, strawberries and mangoes

Smoothly shaved ice

Right, I do sound abit surprise and overly excited but this is something new that I have not come across before. The desserts are a tad more expensive than normal but the quality is there. Click here for more reviews and pictures posted by Jyoan in her positively nice blog :)

Heh, this dude is also doing the same thing :P

We couldn't really see how the machine had shaven the ice because it wasn't out in the open or the machine was so quiet that we couldn't hear a thing.

Our hot dessert, black sesame 'tau fu fa' or sweet toufu at the bottom.

Desserts on average costs about $5 but one thing that strikes out quite well is how healthy they actually are (well if you don't pick the deep fried and the durian ones that is). Our desserts had fresh fruits and we couldn't taste much coconut milk in our hot dessert.

I'd say this will be the next place to go to if I were to bring someone out to catch up for 'coffee'. The system is quite efficient in a way that you pay immediately after getting your dish and waiters don't rush you off too. Unfortunately this place was in the middle of the people footpath so unless you want a quieter area, you may either have to go further in or look for an alternative branch.

More information

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Plaza Singapura #B2-53, 68 Orchard Road, (S)238839
Tel: 63379828
Operating hours are 10am -10pm Daily
www.jidechi.com.sg

Dian Xiao Er

Righty ho!

Time for restaurant reviews and my oh my there are alot to review over here! So much that I am getting rather lazy but I must make the efforts so that I know where to go too when I feel like craving for something hehe.

In general, Singapore's seafood is kinda over rated. I tend to base good seafood on where a country lie and although Singapore is sort of an island, most of the beaches are used as ports. So no luck with good seafood and they are expensive in certain ways.

Anyway, I was told that the chilli crabs and snail porridge are the best as well as you can find restaurants which are close enough to it's best. And one of them is this restaurant, in which the duck is as yummy as the one in the UK and close enough to the origins of it's country: China

Dian Xiao Er

The duck dish comes in 3 flavours, as it's based on the herbs that they stuff each duck with. You can literally see it getting cooked / baked and cut and the whole meat is utilised right up to the oil that oozes out of it, which is used as the sauce. What makes this dish extra lovely is the herbs they put in. One of them has up to 10 different ingredients! As well as it has nutritional values too.

Not only the duck dish is delicious, the quality of the restaurant's other dishes are just as good. We had our 'kangkung belacan' (spicy water spinach), deep fried prawns with cereal and one of the restaurant's other specialty dish: wheat tofu with seafood. This is very very healthy as nutrition is one of the restaurant's specialty.

The restaurant takes no bookings and it's on a first come first serve basis. With unlimited chinese tea, customers are allowed to sit and relax while waiting for the food to go down or chat and catch up after a hearty meal. So far, there are only 2 locations that you can find this restaurant and fortunately, one lies very close to a tourist spot, Harbour Front linking to Sentosa Island :) . Price range is reasonable too, one can spend between $20-$30 per person to feel full. Click here for more reviews and pictures.

So if you're here for a short visit, pop by! This is my restaurant that I'll bring any of my guests / relatives over to try without a doubt!

More information

#02-137/8, 1 HarbourFront Centre Walk S(098585), VivoCity
Tel: 6376 9786
Opening Hours: Mon to Sun: 11:30am - 2:30pm, 5:30pm - 9:30pm
www.dianxiaoer.net


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Sticky Rice ball with Black Sesame

Another post! This is also what I am preparing for the fund raise from my previous post :)

This time, I manage to cut time down by making the balls at room temperature. Glutinous rice works in such an interesting way and I am not surprise that they work well in Asia or any other tropical countries. And apparently, if I mix Tapioca flour to it, it probably can increase the shelf life of these desserts as they don't harden to quick (yes, sticky rice ball can only be left out for 2 days before they turn hard and they can't be refrigerated)

But again, I seemed to still have air in them and they break after I boil them ><. Nyway, I think I would still prefer Lo Mai Chi (aka peanut filling) to this as I do find the sesame seeds a tad abit bitter. It doesn't really look as great (I think I made alien balls this round) but I do hope people will at least buy 1 to try...

(Thanks to Chow Time's and Thai Food About.com's helpful posts)

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Ondeh ondeh

And the dessert making continues in this lovely tropical country :). The weather is just as unpredictable regardless as when we were about to check out the zoo, it poured heavily but when it's time to make these lovely desserts, the sun was out.Oh well~

Anyway, this is another one of my first-time attempt and it turned out absolutely delicious! Not too uberly sweet as the salt really help enhance the flavour. Yummm, as well as I do appreciate my sis helping me because she has so much more patient rolling the dough into a ball. Reason for making so many? I'm actually helping out my company do a fundraising event at work and it's to raise funds for the Pakistan Flood Relief event.

The flood that devasted the country last month. Click on the pic to find out more

Yeah, glutinous rice flour is so adaptable that it dries up so quickly when the air conditioning is on but as soon as I bring the though into the wet kitchen, it becomes moist. As well as I keep having air bubbles in mine, so much so that it starts to float on top as soon as I pop it into the pot! Talk about being more impatient.

(Courtesy of thaifood.about.com's sticky rice ball's post )

Makes approximately 45 pieces

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Purple Ang Ku Kuih

Heh, not orange for a change. The colour is base on the colour of sweet potato and purple ones are abundant. And the inside isn't yellow but maroon on the inside instead as we used red bean paste.

Thanks to my wonderful sis, we manage to get this done quick and so well that we are so happy with the results!! Hehe, one of my flatmates was teasing that we were both doing a 'masak-masak' session which meant 'cook-cook' and it's related to the little girls playing with doll houses.

So helpful to have someone, specially when it comes to taking photos :).

Makes about 16 Kuehs

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Red Bean Paste (for pau)

Feeling rather discouraged without an oven, I have perhaps now moved into a new phase of dessert making: Steaming!

And thanks to the lovely flatmates of mine, they have all the utensils and pots available for steaming. Wee!!

And I am attempting to make bread for the first time....voila!

 

It's not exactly Tau Sar Pau (I don't think) as I think it was meant to be black beans instead (either that, we're suppose to use black colouring or something) and the 'paste' doesn't look as smooth coz I did not have a blender. So it was back to the good ole spoon against the pot mash tactic.

Anyway, taste: YUM. As well as I can make lots of fillings in the pau (bun)! I'm not really happy with the ingredients for the pau so I'll post up the recipe later when I get the portions right ;)

 Yield's about 2 cups

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Less ingredients = Healthy food?

Time to revive this space. I have started to settle much better in my new profound surrounding (and a larger kitchen, WOOHOO) and have already looked into what to cook.

Are you up for a 10-day challenge? Drinking 6-12 cups a day of this: Maple syrup,lemon juice and Cayenne Pepper mixed in water

In the mean time, this lovely Mei of mine is going through this interesting Detox programme called Master Cleanse. One morning, where I woke up, unable to sleep I read the whole article about it and it brought up alot of questions. One being about the title above. But before I go into further detail, I am rather tempted to try this Detox thing although it is going to be uncomfortable to start off with. Not a great idea when first day of work is on Monday...Anyway, Master Cleanse is a whole topic to discuss about so I better not run off the topic.

And btw...I'm not doing it to diet. I am rather more interested in getting rid of the detox in the body.

It seams that the great Stanley Burroughs mention that it takes extra effort to make a certain food unhealthy. This includes adding alot of extra ingredients or salt and pepper just to make it 'tasty'. It was described somewhat direct, in a way it had some truth in it, and in other ways it sounds just too good to be true. It make me wonder alot at this moment of time, as whilst reading this at the same time, I'm actually looking at asian recipes. They do have alot of spices involved (such as chinese 5 spices, soy sauce) in which I'm sort unaware of whether it does greater good to health or is merely just an added taste to the meal. Apparently soy sauce is a great replacement to salt (says my good food blogger aka friend the innovative baker and her latest article) and 5 spices are from herbs.....*the thoughts go on*

I found this article of making food much healthier. This is by replacing certain things that the body takes more time to break down such as dairy, cheese, white bread etc. Check this article on: Modifying a Recipe to be Healthier

Anyway, I have made my own conclusion. Dr. Stanely has some facts in his article and is abit of an extremist. As I kept reading, the more truth I take in, seems the harder I believe. But I'm glad I read it because it has brought to remind me to be health conscious once more. But hey, when one loves to cook, one always does want to know what goes into a meal and of course one tends to make cooking a pleasure, an art or nutritious.

Japanese Sponge Cheesecake

Yessss, I manage to bake something in the most busiest time of my life, muahaha. All thanks to my lovely Fiance who loves this cheesecake to bits. The fluffyness of this cake absolutely makes it so light to eat and of course tempts one to have a double the serving instead :P

What I was proud off was that I finally got over the anxiousness of whisking the egg whites with caster sugar. The last time I did, it didn't rise. Phew!

(Other reference's source: Diana's Dessert's cotton soft cheesecake)

 Makes 1 x 9" cake or 2 x 8" cake.

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Chaos

Yes yes, I have been neglecting my dear blog lately but I have got a good reason this time. I have to leave UK at such a short notice! It's a long story and I don't have time to even breathe. Nevertheless I finally manage to put some baking into place as well as research on the best baking books I want to take with me. Shipping costs are so reasonable right now so I better make the most of it. To those of you out there, I do recommend the book below:

It was either this lovely book or Bake by Australian Woman's weekly

In the mean time, I do hope to pursue my passion in Asia where dessert making is a whole different level! We are surrounded by 'wet kitchens' rather than a typical 4 season kitchen with an oven since this is a tropical terrain.

I will definitely miss this country so much. Aaah, life, it becomes stronger and better, yet more fragile and emotional.

Chocolate Truffles...

With training in the way, it took so long before I manage to post this up. But, it was soooooooo rewarding after making them!

As soon as you bite into this, you will definitely go all gooey inside. Literally. It was absolutely comforting ;).

Thanks to my fellow baker, Baking Addict, I was inspired to make them. It's pretty much chocolate ganache in a different form, which is quite interesting as the texture is soft this round, compared to the time I coated my cake with ganache. I find chocolate to be quite interesting and mysterious at the same time.

Coat me!

That's better ;)

She made the oreo and cream cheese version, but I decided to make the classic version with a tinge of Kirsch Cherry alcohol that I use for my blackforest cake and see which taste better. As well as I didn't use any oreos, heh. I made plain cream cheese and cocoa powder.

Shoulda put moree of zees cherri alcohol...

With a sweet tooth like me, I still love the classic truffle coated with white chocolate. An absolute bliss towards the end of a training session.

If you're keen to try oreos and cheese truffle, check out Baking Addict's post as that is definitely yummier than my plain cocoa and cheese truffle. Other than that, I shall post up the classic chocolate truffle for any of you who is keen to make this.

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Claypot-less Chicken Rice

Heh, it's pretty much claypot chicken rice but not cooked in a claypot :). I can't believe how the ingredients involved in making this are so similar to the other 2 savoury dishes in my last post (lo mai kai and tea eggs) and by changing the amount or adding a slight herb or spice makes it a totally different dish that has a different taste. So amazing.

Just like how it relates to life doesn't it...and I have no idea why I said that :P

Anyhoo, double post in a row goes to show that I have no plans this Easter besides more training and thinking of what to make in the kitchen. There is a dessert that I am really tempted to try but then again, the weather has gone much brighter these days and so I have succumbed to fresh air instead,heh.

This is dish is very easy to make if you have a rice pot. It's also nourishing and healthy, and all you need is a vege dish to complete your well balanced meal

Makes a meal for 2-3 person

(Recipes were referred to kuali's and rasamalaysia claypot chicken rice as a reference)

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