Wholemeal Loaf

Recipe taken from Carol Easy Life using straight dough method.

Ingredients:

170g bread/high protein flour
170g organic wholemeal bread flour
1 egg (about 40g)
3/4 tsp instant yeast
10g milk powder
3/4 tsp salt
1.5 tsp caster sugar
160g cold water

30g olive oil

• Place everything except olive oil into a mixer bowl fitted with a dough hook. Knead until well combined.  
• Gradually add in olive oil and continue to knead until dough is smooth and elastic and passed the window pane test.
• Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with cling wrap and let it rise until doubled in volume.
• Punch down to release trapped air.  Divide dough into three equal portions and rest for 10 minutes.
• Flatten the dough into rectangular shape and roll them up like swiss rolls, then place them into a greased loaf pan (20 x 10 x 10 cm).  Cover and let it proof again until almost doubled.
• Bake in a preheated oven of 180 deg C for about 35 minutes or until golden brown.
• Remove bread from the pan immediately and let it cool on a wire rack.

Pork Shogayaki (Ginger Pork)

This is another simple yet delicious recipe adapted from Japanese Cooking 101  It is said that Pork Shogayaki is the second most popular Japanese pork dish after tonkatsu and it is usually served with shredded cabbage.

Ingredients:

250g pork loin, thinly sliced
2 tbsp grated ginger

2 tbsp grated garlic

3 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tbsp Sake

2 tbsp Mirin

dash of pepper

1.5 tbsp cooking oil

1/2 cup water

• In a small bowl, combine grated ginger and garlic, light soy sauce, Sake, Mirin and pepper.  Set aside.
• Heat a frying pan under medium-high heat and add in oil.  Pan fry the pork slices until brown on both sides.
• Add the sauce mixture to the pan to coat the pork.  Bring to the boil.
• Serve immediately with steamed rice.  

Smoked Salmon, Avocado & Cucumber Sushi

A simple and delicious lunch!  


Ingredients to make sushi rice:
[Makes 5 sushi rolls]
3 cups sushi rice
water
6 tbsp sushi seasoning
3 tbsp sugar
1.5 tsp salt

You can refer here on how to make sushi rice.  However, I cooked the sushi rice like I would normally cook rice in the rice cooker.  Just combine the seasoning, sugar and salt and mix into the rice using a pair of chopsticks to fluff up the rice at the same time.

Ingredients to make Sushi Rolls:

smoked salmon

half a cucumber, deseeded and cut into lengthwise

avocado

rice seasoning (Nori Komi Furikake)

nori (roasted seaweed)

Refer here on how to make sushi rolls and you can use whatever ingredients you fancy.  

Baked Chilli-Lime Chicken Drumsticks

This roast chicken drumsticks was inspired by Lorraine's super-delicious Lime & Chilli Butter Roast Chicken.  It is so easy and quick, and you'll love the sweet lime flavour of this absolutely delectable roast. 

Ingredients:

2 kg chicken drumsticks
65g butter, softened
zest of 2 limes
2 1/2 tbsp lime juice
2 bird's eye chillies
5 cloves garlic (30g)
20g ginger
10g coconut sugar
3 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
dash of pepper
half a punnet of cherry tomatoes
coriander leaves for garnishing

• Wash chicken drumsticks and pat dry with kitchen towels. Score underneath the skin by making two slits on the meat with a sharp knife.
• In a mortar and pestle pound ginger, garlic and chilli into paste. Add in all the ingredients and mix to combine.
• Place drumsticks in a large baking tray and pour marinade over the chicken. Coat well, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
• Scatter some cherry tomatoes together with the chicken and bake in a preheated oven at 220 deg C for about 40 minutes, basting halfway through with the juices.
• Sprinkle coriander leaves over the chicken and serve hot.

Banana Sponge Cake

Do you like bananas?  Do you like light and spongy cakes?  If your answer is 'Yes' and 'Yes', this is just the cake for you!  I've added lime zest into the cake for a fresh and citrusy flavour.

Recipe adapted from Bakericious, original recipe by Richard Goh

Ingredients:

3 eggs, at room temperature

100g light brown sugar

200g mashed bananas

zest of 1 lime

150g self-raising flour

1/4 tsp soda bicarbonate

20g lime juice

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

100g Rice Bran oil

• Preheat oven to 160 deg C.  Grease and line an 8" round pan.
• Sift flour and soda bicarbonate together.  Set aside.
• Whisk eggs and sugar with an electric beater on high speed until it is pale and thick and reaches ribbon stage (when whisk is lifted, the batter should falls back slowly onto the surface leaving a trail).
• Beat in mashed bananas and vanilla extract.  
• Fold in flour mixture and lime juice.
• Drizzle oil around the edges of the mixing bowl and fold gently and thoroughly.
• Pour batter into the prepared pan and drop the pan on the benchtop to eliminate any large air bubbles.
• Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
• Drop the pan from a height of 20cm (this is to prevent the cake from shrinking).
• Cool cake in the pan for about 10 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs up 

organised by Doreen from my little favourite DIY and 

Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, 

hosted by Faeez from Bitter Sweet Spicy 

for March 2015 theme - BANANA

Kuih Pulut Tai-Tai Pandan (Glutinous Rice Cake with Pandan Coconut Jam)

Ingredients:

400g glutinous rice

280g coconut milk + 1/2 tsp salt

pandan leaves

a few drops of pandan paste

banana leaves (since I don't have any, I used bamboo leaves)

• Soak glutinous rice for about 2 hours. Drain well.
• Place rice, coconut milk and pandan leaves into a tray lined with bamboo leaves.  Steam over boiling water for 10 minutes.
• Fluff the rice with chopsticks to mix well. (More coconut milk can be added if needed).  Add a few drops of pandan paste to a small portion of the rice.  Steam for another 5 minutes.
• Line a loaf pan with cling wrap.  Spoon in the rice and press down until well compact.  Cover with cling wrap and weigh it down with another loaf pan filled with water. Leave to cool completely.
• Cut rice into pieces and serve with Pandan Coconut Jam (Pandan Kaya).

This post is linked to Best Recipes for Everyone March 2015 Event Theme:  My Favourite Traditional Kueh organized by Fion of  XuanHom’s Mom and co-hosted by Joceline- Butter， Flour & Me

Pandan Kaya (Pandan Coconut Jam)

I have never make Pandan Kaya before and since I have some frozen pandan leaves sitting in my freezer, I decided to make some for my Pulut Tai Tai.  Blended with coconut milk, the pandan leaves impart such a lovely green hue and lovely aroma to the kaya.  I adapted this recipe from Sonia's Homemade Pandan Kaya.  My kaya however didn't turn out as smooth as Sonia's.

Ingredients:

5 eggs
390g caster sugar
585g coconut milk
9 pandan leaves, cut into small pieces

• Blend pandan leaves together with coconut milk in a blender.  Strain and discard the pulp.

• In a mixing bowl, lightly whisk eggs and sugar together using a balloon whisk, until sugar dissolves.

• Pour coconut milk  mixture into the egg mixture and stir to combine. 
  

•  Strain the mixture into a double boiler set over low fire.

• Stir kaya mixture constantly until it thickens (or reach the desired consistency).

after cooking for 15 minutes

after cooking for 1 hour 10 minutes

• Store kaya in a dry and clean container and keep refrigerated.

Choc-Chip Hot Cross Buns

delicious slathered with butter 

I must say this is by far the best bread recipe I've ever tried.  Thank you Victoria of Victoria Bakes for sharing this wonderful Soft & Fluffy Cranberry Bread recipe which delivers a really soft and fluffy bread.  

I've doubled the original recipe to make 24 hot cross buns.

Cooked starter dough:  [Prepare this the day before]

60g bread flour

5g caster sugar

42g hot water

24g butter

• Place water into a small saucepan over low fire.  Add butter into the hot water and stir until butter has melted.
• Bring to the boil and turn off the fire.
• Mix in flour and sugar and stir to form a soft dough.
• Transfer into a container and keep it covered.
• Chill for 18 - 24 hours.

Main dough:

400g bread flour

100g cake flour (I used plain flour)

90g sugar

8g salt

15g Dutch processed cocoa powder, sifted

8g instant dry yeast

60g egg

50g whipping cream (I used thickened cream)

250g fresh milk

125g starter dough (all of the starter dough)

50g butter, softened

150g dark chocolate chips

Flour paste for crosses:

35g plain flour

2 tsp caster sugar

2 tbsp water, approx.

1/2 tsp cocoa powder

Glaze:

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp water

• In a mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine all ingredients (except butter) together.  Knead until well combined and a soft dough is formed.  Add in butter and continue to knead until dough is smooth and elastic and passes the window-pane test. 
• Place the dough in bowl and cling wrap it.  Allow to proof until double in size.
• Punch the dough down and add choc chips.  Knead lightly to combine.  
• Divide dough into 24 pieces. Rest for 10 minutes.  
• Then shape dough into balls and place close together onto a greased  and lined baking tray (32 x 25 x 5 cm).  Cover and proof until double in size.  * [I could only fit 20 buns into the tray.  The remainder 4 buns had to go into another small square pan.]
• To make crosses:  Sift flour and cocoa powder into a small bowl. Add in sugar and water and stir to make a smooth paste. Spoon the paste into a piping bag and snip a very tiny hole off the bag.
• Preheat oven to 200 deg C.
• Pipe crosses onto the buns.  Bake for 10 minutes (200 deg C).
• Reduce oven temperature to 160 deg C and bake for 20 minutes or until golden.
• While the buns are in the oven, make the glaze:  Place sugar and water in a small saucepan and stir over low fire until sugar dissolves. Simmer until glaze thickens.
• Transfer buns onto a wire rack.  Brush glaze over hot buns.  Set aside to cool.

Note:  My crosses came out very very hard so I took them out and piped melted chocolate over instead.  I believe my paste was too thick.

see how hard the crosses are ...

replaced with melted chocolate crosses

Chicken Karaage (Japanese Fried Chicken)

Coated with only tapioca starch gives a crispy coating with a crumb-like texture

Coated with only tapioca starch gives  a crispy coating with a crumb-like texture

Coated with mixture of  plain flour & tapioca starch

I made two batches of Chicken Karaage (the Japanese version of crispy fried chicken) - one coated with only "tapioca starch" and the other a combination of plain flour and "tapioca starch".  I personally prefer the one with "tapioca starch" only coating as it stayed crispy longer.  The "tapioca starch" I used is actually sweet potato starch -  地瓜粉 as indicated on the packaging although it says Tapioca Starch in English.

Tapioca Starch - 地瓜粉 (by Sunright Foods Corp, Taiwan)

Recipe Source:  Japanese Cooking 101

Ingredients:

4 boneless chicken thighs, cut into pieces
2 tbsp Sake
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp grated garlic
2 tsp grated ginger
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup corn starch (I used the Taiwanese brand of tapioca starch - 地瓜粉)
salt & pepper
enough oil for deep frying
lime wedges for serving

• Marinate chicken pieces in Sake, soy sauce, salt, pepper,  grated garlic and ginger in a bowl for at least 1 hour.
• In a plate, mix flour and tapioca starch together (or just tapioca starch).
• Coat marinated chicken pieces with the flour mixture; and deep fry in hot oil until golden brown.  
• Drain well on paper towels before serving with wedges of lime or lemon on the side.

Tapioca Starch - 地瓜粉 (by Sunright Foods Corp, Taiwan)

地瓜粉 (meaning sweet potato starch/flour) - with a coarse texture 

as compared with ...

the Tapioca starch (from Thailand)

normal tapioca starch - with a smooth texture 

Strawberry Génoise with Whipped Cream

[Genoise recipe adapted from an old recipe card collected more than twenty years ago]

For the Genoise:
4 eggs
80g caster sugar
110g plain flour
5g corn flour
50g melted butter, cooled

• Preheat oven to 180 deg C.  Line the base of a 20cm (8") round pan with baking paper.  
• Sift plain flour and cornflour together.  Set aside.
• Put the eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl and set over a saucepan of simmering water, ensuring that the base of the bowl does not touch the water.  Beat the egg mixture for about five minutes until warm to the touch. 
• Remove bowl from the saucepan and continue to beat until thick and pale, has tripled in volume and reached "ribbon stage" (when whisk is lifted, the batter slowly falls back onto the surface leaving a trail).  The mixture should now cooled down to room temperature.
• Fold in half the sifted flours, then drizzle in the cooled melted butter around the edges of the mixing bowl (not in the centre which would cause too much air to be lost). Fold in gently but quickly; followed by the vanilla extract. Add in the remaining flour and fold gently.
• Pour batter into the prepared pan and drop the pan on the benchtop twice to eliminated any large air bubbles.
• Bake (on the lower bottom rack) for about 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Drop the pan from a height of 20cm (this is to prevent the cake from shrinking).
• Cool cake slightly before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Beat eggs and sugar over simmering water ...

until tripled in volume and "ribbon stage"

Syrup: 

20ml water
1/2 tbsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• In a small saucepan, combine water and sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves. 
• Add in vanilla extract.  Remove from the heat and let the syrup cool to room temperature. 

Cream:
380g thickened cream, chilled
30g icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp powdered gelatin
4 tsp cold water

250g strawberries, hulled and cut into halves

• Sprinkle gelatin over the cold water in a small saucepan.  Let it stand for 5 minutes.
• Place the saucepan over low heat, stir constantly until gelatin dissolves. Remove from heat.  Cool.
• Whisk the thickened cream with icing sugar until slightly thickened. Add in gelatin.  Whisk until stiff.

To assemble the cake:

• Slice the cake into 2 equal layers.  
• Brush the cake with the syrup then pipe or spread whipped cream over. Place cut strawberries on top of the cream.  Pipe or spread more cream over strawberries.
• Brush the second layer of cake with syrup, and place over the cream, cut side up.
• Pipe or spread remaining cream on the cake, then place strawberries on top for decoratioin.
• Chill the cake before serving.