Food Momento

Homemade Kaya w/o Pandan

2021-02-09T15:00:00.010+08:00

Here's a quick and easy guide to make your very own homemade kaya without using any fresh pandan leaves or any other essence using the Thermomix machine. We prefer to have it slightly thick kaya paste and with a more eggish taste.

Ingredients:
1. Caster Sugar (160g)

2. 5 Eggs

3. Coconut Milk (180g)

4. Pandan Leave Juice (20g) / 1 tsp pandan or vanilla essence (Optional)

Steps:
1. First insert 160g of caster sugar into the Thermomix..

2. Followed by 5 eggs grade A sized eggs.

3. Insert the mixing cover and have it mixed at 30s / speed 3

4. Insert butterfly whisk before inserting the coconut milk and pandan juice (optional). You may replace the fresh pandan leave extract with 1tsp of pandan or vanilla essence.

5. Cook it for 90mins / 90C / Speed 2.
(Note: If you wish to have a more watery type of Kaya, cook it for 40mins / 90C / Speed 2)

6. Once completed, allow the kaya to cool to room temperature before transferring it into the container.

Sample of the end product, brownish green kaya which is approximately the size of a 350g peanut butter bottle.

Healthy Arrowhead Chips (Ngaku)

2021-01-20T14:00:00.436+08:00

Chinese New Year is around the corner and definitely with this MCO2.0 we're looking into having much more fun activities at home for the family. This time around we shall try to bring out the CNY festive mood a little bit by getting everyone participate in a little pre-CNY snacks preparation activity. We'd start it off by making our very own ngaku a.k.a arrowhead chips.

These crunchy arrowhead snack is rather popular during the CNY ..trust me, once you have a bite...you can never stop crunching on them. No doubts that this definitely is an addictive snack to binge during this festive season and it is also found much easily at the hypermarkets during this period. Personally, it's a much healthier snack to have during this time, as we can personally have it made with strictly no salt and preservatives added.

To have these chips homemade is rather straightforward, all you need to do is to follow the instructions below and you can enjoy your very own arrowhead snack!! If you're still wondering what's an arrowhead bulb...here's a picture of it right after purchasing them and before it's being cleaned and sliced.

Ingredients:
1. 1kg of arrowhead bulbs
2. Clean cooking oil

Instructions:

1. Wash and cut off both ends of arrowhead bulbs.
2. Then, use a peeler to slice off the skin.
3. Once step 2 is completed, use a mandoline slicer to get thinly sliced chips. Preferably 1-1.5mm
thickness.

4. Wash the sliced bulbs and put them aside to dry before frying.

Thinly sliced arrowhead bulbs, ready to be fried.

4. Next, heat up the oil in a frying pan/wok once step 3 is completed.
5. Throw in the sliced chips into the hot oil & let it fry over medium heat till it turns golden brown.
(PS: Ensure that the chips does not overlap too much as it would stick to each other)

6. Take note once the bubbling of the oil starts to die down, the chips are now ready to be retrieved from the frying pan/wok.

7. Place them onto a rack to cool before keeping it into an air tight container.

Based on the above steps, we managed to get slightly more than 2 average sized plastic containers of fried Ngaku chips. Not forgetting that there were some tiny teeny yummy bits that went into our tummy along the process.. 😂😂

Oh well, it looks like we've gotta go grab more arrowhead bulbs this weekend as these would definitely finish within less than an hour.

Sausage-Ham Pizza With Thermomix

2020-11-13T18:57:00.001+08:00

Special request to have pizza once again today.

Thus, this time around, we're gonna go with the conventional pizza. No more manual kneading of pizza dough for this round BUT we're gonna have the dough kneaded by using the Thermomix. Having used this machine, the time needed for kneading the dough had definitely reduce immensely and no more sticky dough on hands ..tsk tsk.. All in all, it takes about 1 and 1/2 hours to get the end result.

Pizza Dough Recipe with Thermomix:

Dry Yeast
Room Temperature Water - 400g
Sugar - 1 Tsp
Bread Flour (High Protein Flour) - 400g
Olive Oil / Sunflower Seed Oil (3 Tbps)
Salt - 1 Tsp

Instructions for Thermomix

Insert ingredient 1 to 3 and mix for 30sec/ Speed 2
Next, insert ingredient 4 to 6 and let it knead for 2 mins.

You would get a nice, soft non-sticky and soft dough mixture as per picture below. Pour the dough out onto a tray and make it into a ball size. Cover the dough up and let it rise till double in size for approximately 30 - 45mins.

Once the dough had doubled up, press it out onto a tray. It's gonna be square pizza for us 😁😁

Then, add your favourite toppings. Get as creative as you can for your love ones. Here we're gonna add our favourite ingredients tomato paste, ham, mushroom chicken sausage and Mozzarella Cheese.

Once you finished decorating your pizza toppings, put the tray into the oven and bake it at 200degrees for 25mins.

And...here's our result after 25mins ... Homemade yummilicious sausage ham pizza for dinner 😋😋

Japanese Stir Fried Noodles - Yakisoba

2020-11-10T14:30:00.000+08:00

Yakisoba a.k.a Japanese stir fried noodles are yellow noodles made from ramen noodles. Similar to the chinese yellow noodles but it's slightly thinner and faster to cook when stir frying.

Ingredients:

Ramen noodles - 300g
1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
2 Tbsp Peanut Oil
250g pork thinly sliced
Beans Sprout
Fish Cake
3 Shiitake mushrooms sliced thinly
1 Medium Sized Carrot - thinly sliced
Eggs
Spring Onions

Steps:

Boil a sufficient amount of water in a sauce pan and boil the noodles for 1 minute.
Drain and sprinkle sesame oil over the noodles and mix until all noodles are coated. This is to prevent the noodles from sticking to each other.
Heat oil in a wok or a large frying pan over medium high heat. Add the pork and saute untill the pork is almost cook. Approximately 3-5mins, depending on the thickness of the pork slices.
Then, add the fish cake and carrots. Stir fry the ingredients for 30second before adding in the bean sprouts.
Next, add in the noodles and mix it well with the ingredients.
Add the sauce and mix quickly to ensure that all the noodles are coated with the sauce, and the colour of the noodles is consistently light brown.
Finally, transfer the noodles onto the plate, ready to be served.

"Itadakimasu" 😋

Homemade Taiwanese Sausage-Ham Pizza

2020-11-05T13:00:00.001+08:00

It's Pizza Family Day today!! Woo-hoo!!

We decided to try out a quick and easy thin crust pizza recipe which which we hope would be a rewarding one. Today, we're gonna have the pizza topped with our very own ingredients such as Ham, Sausages, and Mushroom with the traditional tomata paste and Mozzarella cheese. Oh well, these mixture of ingredients would make it sound like the Pizza Hut's or Domino's pepperoni pizza but what's gonna make it somewhat different is, we're gonna tweak it by using Taiwanese sausage.

Pizza Dough Recipe:
1/ 2 cups of High Protein Flour
2/ 1 cup of Wheat Flour

3/ 1 Egg

4/ 3 Tbsp of Oil

5/ 1/2 tsp of Salt

6/ 3/4 cup of Water

7/ 1 Tbsp of Dry Yeast

8/ 1 Tbsp of Sugar

Ingredients used:
1/ Ham
2/ Taiwanese Sausage
3/ Mushroom
4/ Mozzarella Cheese
5/ Tomato paste

Steps:

1. First mix the the yeast, sugar and water. Set them aside for 5-10mins.

2. Once the yeast is ready, mix the high protein flour, wheat flour, egg, salt and oil together to form a dough. Knead for 10-15mins.

3. Form a round dough as picture below and let it rise until double in size. Approximately 15-20mins.

4. Repeat step 3 before pressing it out in a tray.

5. Once ready, cover the pizza dough with spagethetti sauce and put all your favourite ingredient toppings before sprinkling the Mozarella Cheese.

In the below picture, you'd see that we had spread out favourite Taiwanese Sausage, ham, mushroom and Mozzarella Cheese...

Finally, put the tray into the oven to bake at 200 degrees Celsius for 15 to 20mins - until the crust is golden brown and the centre looks done.

And...Ta-DaaaAAA...here it is... our very own delicious looking homemade "Taiwanese Sausage-Ham" pizza which takes about one and half hour to complete.

Honestly, this pizza taste more on the sweet side, less tomato flavor - thanks to the sweetness from the Taiwanese sausage. Probably next time we'd go for the conventional ingredients which I think would taste much better. 😅😅

Heart Shaped Banana Cake

2020-08-26T17:26:00.002+08:00

It's been a while since my last baking adventure. Today, I've decided to try bake my very own moist banana cake for tea time. This entire process took me barely 10 minutes only to prepare the cake batter and overall baking time was less than 1 hour.

The list of ingredients used for this banana cake was pretty straightforward and not much steps to achieve the final cake mixture.

1. Flour (150g)

2. Bananas (200g)

3. 3 Eggs

4. Sugar (130g)

5. Canola Oil (100g)

6. Cinnamon (Optional)

7. Baking Powder (1/2 tsp)

8. Baking Soda (1/4 tsp)
9. Salt (1/4tsp)

Preparation Steps:

1. First, preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius for 10mins. Then, grease your baking tray and lined with baking paper. Have all your ingredients ready before starting your machine.

2. Sieve your flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt beforehand.

3. Next, it's time to use the thermomix as shown in video above:
(a) Step 1: Place sugar and eggs into mixing bowl. Set time to 1min @ Speed5
(b) Step 2: Add in the bananas. Set time to 8s @ Speed 5
(c) Step 3: Add in cinnamon. Set time to 5s @ Speed 5 (Optional)
(d) Step 4: Add sifted flour into mixing bowl. Set time to 8s @ Speed 5
(d) Step 5: Add in 100g of Canola Oil into mixing bowl.
(e) Step 6: Transfer the cake batter into the baking tray and bake at 180 degrees for 40minutes.

Note:
1. You may skip step 3 if you do not wish to have cinnamon in your cake.

2. This recipe can be modified to have raisins, walnut or any other ingredients you wish to add on easily.

Watch how to prepare the banana cake batter below:

Based on those very simple steps above...TAAAAA---DAA!! You'll get your moist banana cake ready for tea time !! 💕💕

Salted Caramel Bliss | Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

2020-08-17T12:24:00.001+08:00

Salted Caramel Bliss cake from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf that has chocolate curls and mini chocolate bites in it courtesy of my SIL. It was nonetheless a very satisfying and BLISSFUL slice indeed!!😍😍

You may purchase a whole 1.5kg Salted Caramel Bliss cake for your special occasions from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf at https://www.coffeebean.com.my/online-store/cakes-to-go/signature-classics/salted-caramel-bliss

Antipodean | Atria

2020-08-17T11:53:00.005+08:00

It's been awhile since we had the chance to hang out during this pandemic period. Thus, it was a nice quick catch up over lunch at Antipodean, Atria. The restaurant had quite a number of people visiting it during this time, but of course everyone was observing strict social distancing.😷😷

The beauty of this restaurant is they have their menu written on a whiteboard which reminds me of the good old days where the teacher would write down all our assignments to be copied into our exercise books. 😂😂 However, during this visit, it looks like they had upgraded it's service since dunno when... by having their very own online menu. Thank goodness for this, else you would be squinting your eyes from your table or joining the crowd around the blackboard just to make an order. LOL..for those shoppers who are not aware of this new way of ordering, they tend to wonder from far expecting some kind of shop out there is having some special promo when they see the crowd 😅😅

Big Breakfast Set which comes with artisan toast, bacon (our choice based on the selection available), fluffy scramble egg, medium sized home made hash brown and mushrooms. The bacon is undeniably delicious something not to be missed when you visit Antipodean. Cost for this set meal is at RM28

Pizza Chorizo - Crispy thin crust rich with cheese and tomato base. Very well done and the cost is at RM30.

Note: *Price mentioned are excluding tax

Please stay vigilant & practice strict social distancing during this period if you all want to go out for a satisfying meal!! STAY SAFE !! 😷😷

Japanese Kitsune Udon

2020-08-16T21:42:00.004+08:00

Kitsune Udon which is one of the most popular, classic Japanese noodle dish which can be easily found in the menu list at any of the Japanese restaurants that you visit in Malaysia. Today, we decided to try making our very own home cook version of Kitsune Udon, topped with fried tofu pok, fish cake and Shimeji Mushroom.

Our very own ingredient preparations are as below. Portion is suitable for 2-3 persons.

1. Japanese Udon Noodles

2. Dashi Powder

3. Shimeji Mushroom

4. Fishcake

5. Fried ToFu Pok

6. Soy Sauce

7. Pepper (Optional)

Watch how to make Kitsune Udon.

Preparation Steps:

(A) Main Ingredients
1. Cut the fish cake into thin slices and set aside.
2. Cut the fried tofu pok into halves and set aside.
3. Prepare 50g of Shimeji mushrooms.
4. Set aside 2 packets of Japanese Udon noodles.

(B) Dashi Broth Soup
1. Prepare 800ml of water over medium high heat in seperate pot. Once water is boiling, pour in 1
packet of the Dashi powder and stir well.
2. Add in 2tbps of Soy Sauce for additional flavoring.

(C) Udon Noodles and Shimeji Mushroom
1. Boil seperately 800ml of water over medium high heat. Once the water is boiling, add in the
Japanese Udon. Stir the noodles occasionally to break them apart. Boil approximately 5-10mins
until the noodles are soft and can be seperated easily.
2. Pour the noodles into the colander to drain the water away and seperate the noodles accordingly
into individual servings.
3. Next, boil the Shimeji mushroom quickly for 3mins before adding it into the meal.
4. Finally, add in the fishcake, fried tofu pok, Shimeji Mushroom to the Japanese
noodles and pour the dashi broth over.

Note: You may add in pepper based on your preference.

With all the quick and easy steps above completed, the meal is ready to be serve in less than an hour 😋😋 ~ ITADAKIMASU!! 💗💗

Chinese Fried Rice (Non-Halal)

2020-08-15T23:14:00.003+08:00

On some days we wish for some quick and easy cooking which takes less than 30 mins to prepare. Here's sharing a quick cheat sheet for my favourite non-halal Chinese Fried Rice

Ingredients (Portion for 2)

Main Ingredients:
1. French Beans (100g)
2. 2-3 Eggs
3. Chinese Sausage
4. Carrot (50g)
5. Garlic (20g)
6. Onions (20g)

7. Soy Sauce (1-2 Tbps)
8. Oil (30g)
9. Rice (Preferably overnight rice)

Optional:
1. Pepper (Optional)
2. Oyster Sauce (1 Tbps) - Optional

Cooking Steps:
1. First, chop your garlic and onions followed by cutting your french beans, carrots and chinese sausage
accordingly.

2. Next, heat up your wok over medium heat for 2mins & pour in your oil to heat up.

3. Once the oil is reasonably hot, insert your chopped garlic and onions. Fry the garnishing for
approximately 2-3mins.

4. Next, pour in your chinese sausage, carrot and french beans to fry for another 5mins before you
insert your rice.

5. Once the rice is reasonably hot, add in the eggs and soy sauce for flavour. For additional flavouring,
you may add in pepper, oyster sauce or any stock based on your preferred flavour. Stir fry the
mixtures with a wooden spoon to break it apart.

6. Ensure that the eggs are reasonably cooked & rice texture is not too dry before the flame is turned
off. Serve hot.

Note:
1. Rice - preferably to use overnight rice as the texture is easier to fry & doesn't stick to the pan.

2. You may replace the Chinese sausage with any other types of meat (Eg: Chicken, Beef or Pork)
based on your preference.

Korean Watermelon Dessert (Subak Hwachae)

2020-08-11T18:13:00.002+08:00

Recently the weather has been rather hot and dry in KL. On some days, we just wished we had the luxury to just drop by the "tong sui" shop to grab something cooling to chill. Due to RMCO period, we decided to try out a Korean dessert after we chance upon it over a Korean movie. It's called the "Subak Hwachae" but only with WATERMELON itself.

Turning back time with a little dessert history to this "Subak Hwachae" ...This is a traditional Korean dessert made out of Watermelon mixed with sugar water or honey that is particularly popular during summer.

However, we're going with a little twist by following what we saw on TV.....we're gonna have Watermelon punch with Sprite. (PS: Minus the act of digging directly into the watermelon itself) 😅😅 ...Thus, our ingredients are as follow based on an average soup bowl size.

1. 1/4 watermelon cut into small cubes

2. 150ml Sprite
3. Ice cubes

Mix all 3 ingredients in the list above in less than 10mins and you get to enjoy your refreshing watermelon dessert on a hot day.