Instant Noodle with Cheese

If you watched Korean drama or Korean variety shows, you would probably noticed that they added a slice of cheese in their instant noodle or Korean rice noodle.  At first when I saw it, I was like what was that that they put into the instant noodle, then I realized that it was a piece of cheese.  That was mind blowing for me, cheese in spicy kimchi soup??  I was really curious especially those who tasted it all said it was good.  So, my curiosity got better of me and I bought Korean kimchi instant noodle and my American cheese and decided to give it a try.

To increase nutrition, I added seaweed and an egg.  By the way, the Korean instant noodle was like Taiwanese instant noodle made without preservatives and with all natural ingredients.  So, after I finished cooking, I pour it into a bowl and then top with a piece of American cheese.  When the cheese started to melt like the above picture, I stir to mix it well into the soup.

My verdict:  it actually tasted delicious, the soup when mixed it well together was richer and thicker with the fragrant of cheese.  Thumb up from me!  Try it yourself to believe it!  :-)

Brown Sugar Glutinous Rice Cake (Kuih Pulut Gula Hitam)

I made this Malaysian cake or kuih to bring to a friend's house.  I won't be sharing the recipe because I didn't make a good job of it.  The glutinous rice turned out too soft and I think I picked the wrong method to do this.  Since I made this without measurement, just estimation, I also found it not sweet enough.  Since lots of people know how to make this, I won't be telling you how.  Just that I added brown sugar and sweeten coconut flakes into the coconut fragrant glutinous rice before putting it into a container to shape.

Surprisingly my hubby liked it and I thought he hardly eat any Malaysian cake.  I would definitely try this again and this time with another method of doing it.  This cake is best eaten on the same day.  It is not recommended to put it in the refrigerator as this will harden the glutinous rice.

I tried to arrange it like a snowflake, haha... does it look like a snowflake?  :-P

Chinese Cashew Cookies

This year I made Cashew Cookies instead of my usual Peanut Cookies.   I have a can of salted cashews and I thought I would use that to make my cookies.  First, I toasted my cashews until golden brown and then I processed it in my food processor until fine.  After that, I used it to make this cashew cookies.  I decorated the top with a half cashew just to identify it (if not it would look like peanut cookies).  This cookies is the soft and melt in the mouth type.  So, very fragile.  Once you pop into the mouth, it dissolves and melts.

The sweetness is just nice and very easy to make as well.  Through my blog, all beginner can at least make a few delicious CNY cookies on their own.  Such as peanut cookies, cashew cookies, sugi cookies, cornflakes cookies, etc...

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #3 : My Favorite CNY Cookie (Jan 2011) hosted by Jess of i3ss kitch3n.

I used my Sugi/ Sugee Recipe and play with it to make this.

Ingredients:

(A)

1 1/3 cup of unbleached all-purpose flour (or plain flour)
2/3 cup of icing sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda

100gm ground toasted salted cashews

(B)

1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup + 2 Tbp. canola oil

(C)

Extra half cashews for decorating
1 egg for egg wash

Method:


1. Add (A) into a mixing bowl.  Whisk well.  Add (B) and use a fork to stir it. Mix well, and use your hands to work it into a soft dough. Knead the dough a few times so that the vanilla extract can distribute evenly.


2. Use your hands and roll the dough into small balls (about 1 tsp. size). Place on parchment lined baking sheet.


3. Lastly, place a half cashew in the middle of each cashew ball and press it down.  Brush with egg wash.


4. Bake at preheated 350'F oven for 15 mins.

~Yields about 65-70s small cookies, depended on the size of your cookies.

Chinese Sesame Cookies

I remembered when I was a child, I heart a type of Chinese sesame seeds cookies.  It had been so long that I could hardly recall the texture of this cookies anymore.  I only remembered if I saw it being served, I would certainly had some.  I did a search on the web and found one recipe from About.com and the picture of the sesame seeds cookies resembled the one I remembered.  So, of course I got to give this recipe a try.  But not sure why my cookies turned out looking different (mine had flat top)?  The one thing I changed was used all butter instead of half butter and half shortening.

I wanted contrasting colors so I tried a few with black sesame seeds.  This cookies is delicious, fragrant with the smell of sesame seeds and very crispy.  But not quite like the one I remembered.  Nevertheless, we were all in loved with this cookies, my girls couldn't stop snacking on it.  I don't think this batch can last through Chinese New Year.  The longer it kept, the smell of sesame seeds grew stronger.

If you are looking for a new CNY cookies to bake this year, this can be it.  :-)

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #3 : My Favorite CNY Cookie (Jan 2011) hosted by Jess of i3ss kitch3n.

This recipe was adapted from About.com Chinese Food with slight modification.

Ingredients:

(A)

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

3 tsp. toasted sesame seeds

1 cup or 2 sticks of butter, soften

3/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp. almond extract

White sesame seeds, as needed

Method:

1.  Sift (A) in a bowl.  Add toasted sesame seeds, whisk well.

2.  In a large bowl, use an electric mixer and beat the butter and sugars until incorporated.  Add egg and almond extract and beat until blended.  Stir in flour and mix well with a spatula until a dough is formed.  The dough will be soft.

3.  Divide the dough into four and form each into a logs.  Wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or until harden.

4.  Preheat oven to 325'F.  

5.  Take out the log, one at a time and cut the log into pieces.  Dip each piece into a plate of sesame seeds and place on a parchment lined baking sheet 2 inches apart (as the dough will spread during baking).  After you finish with a tray, you take one more log out and do as previously mentioned until you finish all the dough.  If you find the sesame seeds hard to stick, just dip the piece in water first before dipping into the sesame seeds.  But I don't find this as a problem, the white sesame seeds stick very well (this step needed if black sesame seeds is used). 

6.  Bake for 15-17 minutes.  Cool completely on wire rack before storing in an air-tight container.

Note:  My dough shape before baking is about the size of the Quarter coin.  When baked, it expanded.  For this size, it yields about 110 cookies.

Dong Quai Soup (當歸汤)

 

Dong-Quai or female ginseng or Angelica sinensis or 当归 is a Chinese herb widely used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat gynecological ailments, fatigue, mild anemia and high blood pressure. It has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity.  It is believed to be a uterine tonic and hormonal regulator.  My mom used to boil this soup for me when I was living at home.  Usually this soup was served after each menstrual cycle.  This herb is a little bitter but once you are used to the bitterness, it is actually a tasty soup.  This soup is not advice for pregnant women and if you are on any medication, consult with your doctor first before consuming.

This herb is used in soup and in making Emperor Chicken.  It is also found in dishes that were prepared in the restaurant in powder form.  You can buy this herb in most Asian supermarkets or Chinese Herbal Shops.  It usually sold as dried herb either in thin slices (like above) or in pieces.

The link of this recipe can be found here.  I have a picture of the raw ingredients too.  I am submitting this post to Weekend Herb Blogging and this week host for this event is Min from Honest Vanilla.  Check it out on Sunday for the full roundup.  Thanks!

BoBoChaCha 2

I made BoBoChaCha before but this time with the added tapioca strips.  I steamed the cubed yam for 25 minutes and set aside.  Then, I cooked the cubed sweet potatoes in a large pot with water.  Boil in low heat for 20 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are soft.  Then, I add in the Chinese bar shape brown sugar or you can use Gula Melaka or gula Jawa.  Dissolve those sugar to taste.  Lastly, stir in the cooked sago pearls/tapioca pearls, cooked tapioca strips, cooked yam and stir to mix well.  Add in some coconut cream to increase the overall fragrant of this dish.

In the next page, I will show you what the dried tapioca trips package looks like.  You should be able to buy this in any Asian or Vietnamese market store.  Instruction to cook this will be provided as well.

I found this Tapioca Strips at my Asian market and knew that it would be perfect for my Bobochacha.  It goes well with any of the Vietnamese dessert too.  In fact, it is a Vietnamese product but goes well with our Malaysian sweet dessert soup too.  Boil this in low heat for 15 minutes and then turn off the heat and let it sit in there, covered for 10 minutes.  Test one strip to see if it's completely soft.  Then, rinse with cold water to serve.

Boiled Fruit Cake

I adore fruit cake and it is one of the cakes that I wanted either to bake my own or buy from the store during the Christmas holidays.  As you know, I skipped any recipe that seem too troublesome to make for example too many different steps that ended out with lots of dishes to wash.

I saw this Boiled Fruit Cake recipe at JoyofBaking and decided to read through the recipe and it was surprisingly fairly easy with minimal dishes to wash.  I only need to clean the saucepan and since I already have all the ingredients at home, I was eager to try it out.  It was named Boiled Fruit Cake because half of the ingredients were boiled on the stove and mixing in with the rest of the ingredients.  I modified the recipe by adding Brandy.  The only downside of this was it tasted better after three days and longer.  I read that if wrap nicely, it can be kept for up to six months.

My verdict is I find this fruit cake a bit dry, I would prefer it to be more moist.  So, the next time I make this, I would substitute the water with milk.  Hopefully then it will make this fruit cake better.  

I adapted this recipe from Joy of Baking with slight modification.

Ingredients:

(A)

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 cup water minus 2 Tbsp.

2 Tbsp. Brandy

1/4 cup or 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup raisins

(B)

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

(C)

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup candied pineapple

Method:

1.  Spray a nonstick buttery spray in a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.  Preheat oven to 350'F.

2.  In a large saucepan, over medium heat, bring to a boil (A).  Boil for 5 minutes, remove from heat and let it cool until lukewarm.  Stir into this mixture (B) in order listed.  Lastly add in (C) and stir to mix well.

3.  Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Remove from oven and let it sit in the pan for 5 minutes.  Turn over the cake and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

4.  Wrap with foil and store, if possible keep it at least after three days before serving.  It can be frozen as well.

Oyster Mushroom Chicken

 

I couldn't resist myself when I see fresh oyster mushroom in the Asian market.  I loved to serve variety of mushrooms for my family.  Oyster mushroom is said to be able to lower the cholesterol levels as it naturally contains lovastatin.  All I know is mushroom is good for us so I am trying to cook it often.  However, my Evy is not a mushroom lover which makes it hard for me.  Because I am trying to give her food that is good for her but she just won't touch it.  The only mushroom that she would eat is Enoki mushroom which I will also get whenever I am in the Asian market.

This is one easy stir-frying dish with oyster sauce.  If you have a bottle of oyster sauce, you can make lots of Chinese dishes with it.  There is even a vegetarian version of oyster sauce which is made from this oyster mushroom. 

Ingredients:

Fresh oyster mushroom, washed and cut off the bottom of the mushroom stem

One skinless and boneless chicken thigh, slice and season with a little dark soy sauce, sugar and cornstarch

3 cloves of garlic, minced

Oyster sauce

a touch of sugar

Method:

1.  Heat up a wok.  When heated, add in oil.  Stir-fry the oyster mushroom until soften.  Dish out and set aside.

2.  With the same heated wok, add in oil.  Then, garlic and chicken.  Stir-fry until chicken is cooked through.  Add in oyster mushroom, oyster sauce and sugar.  Add a little water for sauce.  Stir-fry well and serve.

Green Tea Pudding without Eggs

I called this green tea pudding without eggs because this pudding was not made with eggs and baked in a water bath.  I used gelatin to harden it.  I got the inspiration from Nasi Lemak Lover's Soymilk Pudding and a commercial I watched on youtube.  That commercial featured vanilla pudding, coffee pudding and green tea pudding and it just caught my eyes.  Since I have one last packet of powder gelatin to use and all other ingredients at home, I set to work.  I revised the recipe using my Reduced Fat Panna Cotta that I made earlier.  The difference was no heavy cream was used in this pudding.

If you loved green tea, you would love this.  Just make sure you use a good quality green tea powder or matcha so that the color will come out green and the taste of green tea will be strong.  It does makes a difference so don't buy a cheap green tea powder for baking or making dessert (I had learned my lesson).  I recommend Redman's green tea powder for baking if you live in Malaysia.

This pudding is delicious and all of us loved it.

Ingredients:

7g powder gelatin + 1/4 cup water

(A)
2 cups 2% milk
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. good quality matcha or green tea powder

Method:

1.  Mix water and gelatin together, let it set.

2.  In a medium saucepan, add in (A) and bring it to a boil and stir to dissolve the sugar.  Remove from heat and add in 1.  Stir until the gelatin is dissolved.

3.  Sieve into prepared cups and let it cool at room temperature.  It is normal to have some matcha that won't be completely dissolved and pass through the sieve and sink at the bottom of the cup.

4.  Move to the refrigerator to let it set completely.  About 2-3 hours.  Bigger cups take longer time.  Preferably overnight.

Pumpkin Sweet Potatoes Sago Dessert

What to do with extra pumpkin on hand?  Make this!  This idea was suggested by one of my readers and I couldn't agree with her more, so easy to make and so tasty especially with lots of tapioca pearls or sago pearls.

You have to use fresh pumpkin for this.  Just cut it into small pieces along with the sweet potatoes.  You can either steam to soften and cook it or just boil them together in a pot for 20-30 minutes.  Add Chinese brown sugar pieces to taste, add in cooked tapioca pearls and lastly coconut cream.  Stir to mix well.

Good either serve warm or cold.  My hubby loved it cold with crushed ice.  Keep any leftover in the refrigerator and enjoy it cold straight out of the fridge.  This method of cooking is just like BoBoChaCha actually.  So, of course you can add in yam or tapioca strips or plantain or red bean or whatever you think is suitable.

Baked Chicken Fries

 

Evy's school cafeteria was offering chicken fries as a menu one day.  So I let her had her lunch at school.  She came back and told me it was baked and the chicken was cut to resemble fries.  She requested me to make it for her at home because she liked it.  I liked the idea that it was baked and not fried.  So, I told her I was going to make it for her but mommy version.  She said she liked mine better than the school.  Haha... I was not sure she said that to make me happy or what, but she certainly confirmed that mommy version was better.  Perhaps she liked the crunch that the panko gave.  If you don't have panko at home, you can use crushed cornflakes for the coating as I did here.

Do enjoy this healthy chicken fries!!

Ingredients:

Skinless boneless chicken breast, slice into long thin strips

EVOO (extra virgin olive oil or any cooking oil)

Salt and pepper

Poultry seasonings

Large eggs

Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

Method:

1.  In a bowl, add in sliced chicken strips.  Mix in EVOO, poultry seasonings and salt and pepper.  Mix well.

2.  Break eggs in a bowl (one or two eggs depending on how many chicken strips you have), beat well.

3.  Spread panko in a plate.

4.  Preheat oven to 400'F.  Lined a baking sheet/pan with foil for easy clean up.

5.  Take one piece of chicken strip, dip in egg and then coat with panko.  Then place it on the foil baking sheet.  Finish the rest.

6.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until chicken is cooked.  You can broil it for 3 minutes to brown it a little.