Yin's homemade 盈盈巧手

Non-bake Lemon Cheese Cake 冰冻柠檬芝士蛋糕

noreply@blogger.com (Yin) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 13:21:00 +0000

My first order!

As mentioned in my previous post no bake cheese cake, during recent Raya lunch sharing session one of my colleagues shared with me that he brought back a slice of cheesecake for his little niece and she liked it so much that she wanted it for her birthday cake. I thought it was no more than a flattering compliment.

2 weeks later, to my surprise he really approached me to ask for the same cheesecake for his niece’s birthday celebration!

So here is another version of the no bake cheese cake with lemon.

Lemon Cheese Cake 冰冻柠檬芝士蛋糕

I was glad that the cake turned out nicely and the six years old birthday girl and family members liked it very much. She even made me a lovely little thank you card! J

Non- bake Lemon Cheese Cake

Crust

150g crushed Oreo Chocolate cookies

70g butter, melted

Fillings

250gm cream cheese softened

250ml whipping cream, whipped

105gm caster sugar

1 lemon, zest and juice (use half for the fillings)

3 tsp. gelatin powder

½ cup hot water

Toppings (Optional)

2 tsp gelatin powder

200ml water

2 tsp caster sugar

2 tsp or half of the balance of lemon juice

Few drops of lemon paste/yellow-colouring

Method:

Crust:

1. Follow the same steps as demonstrated in my previous No bake cheese Cake recipe.

Fillings:

1. Dissolved 3 tsp. gelatin powder into half cup of hot water.

2. Beat cream cheese with sugar till smooth.

3. Mix in lemon juice and gelatin and beat well.

4. Gently fold whipped cream into cheese mixture.

5. Pour into the cake pan and chill in the fridge for 3 hours before decorating with the toppings.

Toppings (Optional)

1. Heat gelatin powder in a small saucepan with water, sugar and lemon juice, till dissolved.

2. Remove and add in a drop of lemon yellow colour.

3. Cool slightly and gently spoon on top of the cheesecake.

4. Chill again in the fridge for 3-4 hours.

冰冻柠檬芝士蛋糕

材料：

饼底

150克Oreo巧克力饼干
70克牛油，融化

馅料
250克奶油芝士

250克生奶油（英文：whipped cream）

1 粒柠檬，榨汁，使用一半柠檬汁
300毫升鲜奶油

105 克砂糖
3茶匙鱼胶粉（粉状明胶）
半杯热水

装饰
2 茶匙鱼胶粉（粉状明胶）

200毫升热水
2小匙砂糖
2茶匙或适量柠檬汁
适量柠檬香精或黄色素

方法：

1．饼底按照我以前冰冻芝士蛋糕食谱相同的步骤。

2．用半杯热水，搅拌溶解3茶匙明胶，冷却后再使用.

3．将奶油芝士放入一个容器加入砂糖，用打泡器打到奶油粘膏状程度

4．加入冷却的明胶和柠檬汁搅拌，后加入生奶油搅拌均匀。

5．从冰箱中取出模型，倒入原料，在放入冰箱冷冻3个小时以上至成型

装饰（可选）
1。把2茶匙明胶溶于200毫升热水后添加糖和适量柠檬汁搅匀，待用。
2。添加几滴柠檬香精或黄色素。

3．一旦柠檬明胶降温倒入芝士蛋糕上，放回冰箱再冷冻3-4个小时。

Meat Floss Mayonnaise Buns 汤种肉松面包

noreply@blogger.com (Yin) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 03:14:00 +0000

Since I resumed working, I must confess that my passion in cooking, baking and blogging took a back seat in life. If you’ve following me, you would have noticed I was more lax in updating my blog posts than before. I have to apologise for that.

From my recent posts, you would notice I worked more on baking rather than cooking right. Frankly, with a full time job, juggling work life balance can be quite demanding. I am thankful to have our Auntie Lan to come back and stay with us and continue to be our master chef to relieve my burden of day to day cooking. J Having said that, I still try my best to explore new recipes at least once a week in the weekends.

Currently, the baking I continue to do nearly every week is the homemade water roux starter (Tangzhong) bread (汤种面包 ). Last Sunday, I decided to use part of the Tangzhong dough to make Meat Floss (肉松) Mayonnaise Bun.

If you are bread lovers in Malaysia and Singapore, you would have tasted this delicious Floss Bun which was introduced by famous Singaporean chain bakery shops Bread Talk. This signature floss bun once captured many bread lovers’ attention when it was first launched in Singapore and Malaysia, and I was one of them. That time whenever I came across a Bread Talk bakery shop, I would end up buying a few floss buns for breakfast or tea break. J

Pork Floss Mayonnaise Buns 汤种肉松面包

Ray with mouth full of pork floss mayonnaise bun

MEAT FLOSS MAYONNAISE BUNS

INGREDIENTS

Dough:
A

350 gm high grade flour (bread flour )

55 gm caster sugar

5 gm salt

10 gm milk powder (optional)

6gm instant dry yeast

1 egg

100-125 ml milk/water (slowly add in, stop adding if dough too gooey)

120 gm Tangzhong (refer here for making tanzhong)

30 gm butter ( softened at room temperature)

Topping:
300g meat floss (chicken/ fish/ pork)

1 bowl of mayonnaise mixed with
2 tbsp. condensed milk

Glazing:

1 egg, lightly beaten with

1/8 tsp. salt

METHOD:

1. Follow the same steps of Tangzhong dough making to knead.

2. Shape Tangzhong dough into oblong shape and let it proof on greased baking tray, separate them 5cm apart from each other.

3. Cover the rolls using damp cloth for another 45-60 minutes or until dough is double in size.

4. Glaze the tops with egg wash or spray with water.

5. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 degree Celsius for about 10-15 minutes until cooked and golden brown.

6. Remove from the oven leave the bread on a wire rack to cool.

7. Slit bun lengthwise, spread mayonnaise mixture inside and on top of the buns and coat generously with pork floss.

汤种肉松面包

材料：

面团：
A

350 克高筋粉

55 克糖
5 克盐

5至6克快速酵母（Instant Yeast）

10克奶粉 (增加香味，可不加)

B
56 克全蛋液（一粒蛋）
100-125毫升水/牛奶 (慢慢加入避免面团过湿）
120 克汤种 (做法参考此食谱)
C

30克牛油（奶油，置室温放软） (待面团起筋，即成团后，才加入)

上/内馅：

300克肉松（鸡/鱼/猪肉）
1碗美乃滋沙拉酱
2汤匙炼乳

上光：
1个鸡蛋，轻轻拌打 1/8 茶匙盐

方法：
1。面包外皮面团做法请参考: 汤种面包面团
2。第一次发酵完成的面团分割成等份滚圆(每个约50g)
3。橄成橄榄形餐包长形然后收口朝下间隔5厘米整齐排入烤盘中，盖上拧干的湿布再发酵45-60分钟直到两倍大。
4。烤箱打开预热至200度c ，发好的面团表面轻轻刷上一层全蛋液或表面喷些水
5。将烤盘放进已经预热至200度c的烤箱中烘烤10-15分钟至表面呈现金黄色即可
6。从烤箱中取出，面包烤好移到铁网架上放凉。

7。面包放凉后用刀在中间切开一道切口抹上美乃滋

8。表面抹上一层美乃滋

9．最后面包表面沾上满满一层肉松即可。

No bake Cheesecake 冰冻芝士蛋糕

noreply@blogger.com (Yin) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 02:44:00 +0000

Raya lunch Celebration

Last week, I received an invitation from my finance team members to join their pot luck lunch on Monday in the office in celebration of Raya Adilfitri (Muslim New Year). I happily accepted the invitation and even offered to bring one of my specialties to support their function. But later I realized that I would not have time to prepare fancy dishes in the morning, as I started work as early as 8am.

And so I struggled to think of what party food that could be easily prepared in advance, best the night before and its taste could be sustained when brought to the office the next morning for reheating or served cold during lunch time.

After cracking my head, I concluded dessert is the best answer. Yes, dessert could be prepared in advance and easily stored up to a day or two without compromising its quality. I came out with this simple no bake cheesecake, which was just ideal for this function.

Again, this recipe was shared by Helen in Auckland. I found this simple cheesecake recipe so versatile that different variation of cheesecake look can be produced by merely changing the toppings. Her original topping called for fruit jam; however I was no fruit jam lover. I ended up with gelatin lime topping instead as I wanted to go in line with the Muslim’s Raya colour – green. I used the juice of half a lime and one to two drops of green food coloring to come up with the lime green topping cheesecake J

The topping was not well turned-out as I expected to have a smooth layer of jelly looking topping. This might due to overnight chilled effect in freezer.

Nevertheless, the cake received great comments from my colleagues. I was overly flattered when one of my colleagues came to me the next day and wanted to place an order to make this cheesecake as birthday cake for his little nephew. He told me that he brought back a piece to his nephew and he loved it so much and asked to have the same for his birthday! J

Highlights of office lunch sharing

NO BAKE CHEESECAKE

INGREDIENTS A (BASE)

150g Oreo Chocolate cookies

60g butter, melted

INGREDIENTS B ( FILLINGS)

250g cream Cheese

Few drops of lemon/lime juice

300ml fresh cream

½ cup caster sugar

3 tsp. gelatin

½ cup hot water

INGREDIENTS C ( TOPPING)

1tsp gelatin

100ml hot water

2-3 tsps. fruit jam (or replace by other topping to your preference)

METHOD :

1. Put all the Oreo biscuits into a plastic food bag and crushed into fine crumbs.

2. Melt the butter and add to biscuits crumbs to form moist biscuits mixture.

3. Place a round greaseproof paper in the base of a 20cm/9in spring form cake.

4. Pour the crumbs mixture into the bottom of the cake tin. Using the back of a spoon, gently smooth and level to form moist biscuits base of the cheesecake.

5. Chill in the fridge for at least 10 minutes while making the filling.

6. Pour fresh cream and caster sugar together in a bowl and use hand mixer to beat until you have creamy mixture.

7. Use separate bowl and blend cream cheese with few drops of lemon/lime juice. ( I just use half a lime)

8. Use half cup of hot water and stir to dissolve 3 tsp. of gelatin, set aside to cool before use.

9. Combine both creams with cool gelatin mixture and use hand mixer to blend until smooth creamy mixture.

10. Pour and spread mixture evenly on top of the chilled biscuit mixture.

11. Chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

12. For topping, dissolve 100ml hot water with 1tsp. gelatin and add in fruit jam and stir well and set aside.

13. Once fruit gelatin cool down, pour on top on cheese cake and leave to set in the fridge for another hour until the topping has set.

冰冻芝士蛋糕

材料：

饼底

150克Oreo巧克力饼干
60克牛油，融化

馅料
250克奶油芝士

适量柠檬汁
300毫升鲜奶油半杯砂糖
3茶匙鱼胶粉（粉状明胶）
半杯热水

装饰
1 茶匙鱼胶粉（粉状明胶）

100毫升热水
2-3茶匙果酱

方法：
1。在塑料袋中放入饼干用擀面杖碾碎，移到容器中。加入熔化的牛油，搅拌均匀。
2。在一个20cm/9in圆形蛋糕模型底部先铺上一层烘焙纸。

3。倒入饼碎混合物，使用汤匙的背面，轻轻抚平填满蛋糕模底部。后在冰箱冷藏至少10分钟。

4。将鲜奶油放入一个容器加入砂糖，用打泡器打到奶油粘膏状程度
5。在另一个容器中放入奶油芝士加入柠檬汁，用手搅拌机搅拌搅拌均匀。

6。用半杯热水，搅拌溶解3茶匙明胶，冷却后再使用。
7。将3其一点一点地加入奶油芝士中，后加入冷却的明胶用手搅拌机打至无颗粒粘稠状态。

8。从冰箱中取出模型，倒入原料，在放入冰箱冷冻3个小时以上至成型。
9。约3个小时后取出冷冻芝士蛋糕来装饰。

10。把1 茶匙明胶溶于100毫升热水后添加果酱搅匀，待用。
11。一旦水果酱明胶降温倒入芝士蛋糕上，放回冰箱再冷冻一个小时。
12。美味的的芝士蛋糕就这样新鲜出炉了！
13。你也可随意放上自己喜欢的水果或者饼干、巧克力。

Taro/Yam Paste Fillings 芋头馅料

noreply@blogger.com (Yin) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 22:00:00 +0000

Happy Moon Cake festival !

Next Monday in lunar calendar is 15^th of the 8th month which marks a big day for the Chinese celebrating the Moon Cake Festival or Mid Autumn Festival 中秋节. For those Chinese who celebrate this big occasion, moon cake is the main bakery product not to be missed. Moon cake is analogous to turkey for the Thanks Giving day or Christmas Day.

Since two months ago, I started to see assorted moon cakes ranging from traditional flavor Lotus paste moon cake to western flavor Cheesy Choc Oreo flooding the local market. Rather than the wide variety of fillings of the moon cakes, I was more attracted to their elegant and stylish moon cake boxes instead. These gift boxes are getting so much more ornamental to the point that they now become the deciding factor for the purchase rather than the delicacy element! These moon cakes were not sold cheap in the market. I reckon a huge portion was attributed to the glossy packaging cost.

Stylish boxes

2 weeks ago, I started to make my first batch of homemade traditional baked moon cake 广式月饼. I used the same moon cake recipe given by Helen, one of my best cooking pals in New Zealand. She shared that recipe with us when she demonstrated the making of homemade moon cake at my ex-Auckland home last year. Do click here for the recipe I posted last year.

Traditional baked moon cake 广式月饼

I was glad that it was much easier to find the necessary moon cake ingredients and mould in Malaysia. I got these moulds cheaply from a bakery supplies shop just minutes away from my house.

Traditional mold and the press mold

Last week, I made another batch of moon cakes, this time I tried out snow skin moon cake冰皮月饼 . This type of chilled moon cakes was much easier to make, no baking required. I opted for an easy way out by using a pack of readily mixed snow skin flour and by merely adding water and shortening, the skin dough would be ready.

Snowy moon cakes with taro/ red beans fillings and melon seeds

Snowy moon cakes with Pandan, Coco and original flavaour

If you wish to make your own snow skin dough, click here for the recipe shared by Helen also. This time, I decided to make own moon cake fillings. The following was the taro/yam paste fillings adapted from moon cake making video by Agnes Chang.

I shared both types of my homemade moon cakes with my colleagues and I was pleased to receive good comments from them. The best voted mooncake was snowy moon cake with taro and melon seeds fillings ! J

I would like to dedicate this post to all my TWOA level 3 computing and cooking members: Alice, Doris, Helen, Jane, Jenny Wu, Jenny Yip, Julie, Lily, Linda, Vera, Penny, Julia and Ellen.

My TWOA level 3 computing cum cooking members

“I really miss those happy moments we had; taking turns to host the cooking and lunch sharing functions every Thursday. With this moon cake I would like to wish you all “

A Happy Moon Cake Festival! 祝你们中秋节快乐！

TARO (YAM) PASTE FILLINGS

Ingredients:

1kg Taro/Yam

400g sugar

180ml vegetable cooking oil

Method:

1. Discard taro skin, try to get rid of the hard skin else paste will not be fine and smooth.

2. Cut into pieces and steam until soft. Test the steamed taro by using a chopstick or fork if taro breaks easily, taro is cooked.

3. Mash or blend the steamed taro when hot. If Taro gets cool down, mashed taro has more particles texture not so smooth.

4. Blend until taro feels fine and smooth without particles feeling.

5. Add in sugar and vegetable oil into a pot and cook over the stove.

6. Stir and cook the mixture for about 15-20 minutes.

7. When the mixture turns into dough form and not so sticky, paste is ready.

8. Cool down and leave aside to serve as moon cake fillings.

Tips:

Choose bigger Taro, the bigger the better. Test freshness of Taro by scribing the bottom of the taro, if powdery feeling the Taro is good.

芋头馅料

提示：
选择大的芋头，越大越好。测试新鲜芋头底部，如果感觉粉状就是好的芋头.成份：

1千克芋头
400克糖
180毫升蔬菜烹调油
方法：
1。把芋头去皮，硬皮使馅料不会细腻。
2。切成片，蒸至软。用一根筷子或叉子测试。芋头易碎便是芋头蒸熟。
3。趁芋头还热时尽快捣碎芋头。如果等到芋头降温才捣碎，馅料便有更多的粒状，质地不那么细腻。
4。把蒸熟芋头捣碎直到细腻无颗粒的感觉。
5。捣碎芋头放入锅内加入糖和油不停搅拌，煮约15-20分钟。
7。当馅料成面团形和不那么粘时，馅料已好了。
8。待冷却下来，放在一边以用作月饼馅料。

Potato Buns 马铃薯面包

noreply@blogger.com (Yin) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 09:23:00 +0000

I’m one year old!

Time flies, I just realised that it has been a year since I started this blog in September 2009. Recalling the time when I experienced living overseas in Auckland, with the purpose of occupying my time and learning to blog as part of my Information Technology assignment, I created this blog. I had never expected to receive such warm acknowledgement and getting to know so many wonderful food bloggers who shared the same passion in food blogging. Thanks to all those who had visited my blog, some even signed up as followers to my blog.

I just wish to say a big Thank You to you all! I hope you will continue to check out my blog once in a while and I will try my best to share more cool recipes. I believe in the value of sharing. Every recipe I shared is treated as one good deed of the day J

“The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another's, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises. “

- Leo Buscaglia

For this anniversary post, I would like to share the recipe of this healthy potato buns. Many would have tasted these potatos buns commonly found in bread shelves in supermarket or bread store. These buns are made from a variation of sweet buns dough. To have better flavour, add a little butter cream as fillings or any fillings to your liking.

This recipe was adapted from Agnes Chang’s “ I can bake”. However I was not satisfied with the custard toppings suggested in the original recipe, where the custard topping was merely a mixture of custard powder with water uncooked. As a result, the topping that was too watery resulting in the poor cross shape topping. Furthermore, the custard topping was tasteless after baking.

In view of that, I found this creamy custard topping on the Net which I reckon should make a better alternative for easy pipping and nicer taste.

Ray can't wait to get his hand on the buns!

POTATO BUNS

INGREDIENTS ( Make a tray of 9 potato bread)

320g high protein flour (Bread flour) sifted

½ tsp salt

2 tbsp milk powder

1tbsp instant yeast

70g sugar

1 tbsp bread improver (optional)

150g boiled potatoes, peeled and mashed

1 egg

80ml water used to boil the potittes

75g butter, softened

Glazing:

1 egg, lightly beaten wtih

½ tsp salt

Recommended Creamy Custard topping:

2 tablespoon custard powder
3/4 cup fresh milk
3 tablespoons sugar

Method for Custard :
1. Put all the ingredients for custard in a small pot. Mix well.
2. Place the pot over low heat and keep stirring till the mixture thickens.
3. Set aside and pipe to make cross shape on buns when cool.

METHOD:

1. Mixed A into a mixing bowl. Add B and mix into a sticky dough and continue to knead until dough is semi-developed about 5 minutes (with dough mixer)

2. Add c and knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic and fully developed.

3. Form into a ball and leave to rise in an oiled mixing bowl covered with damp cloth or greased plastic wrap until dough doule the size.
4. Punch the dough down and knead for 3 minutes until smooth again. Divide the dough into 50g pieces and form into rounds.

5. Arrange 9 rounds on a greased and floured square baking tray in 3 rows of 3. Cover with a piece of clean damp cloth greased plastic wrap and leave to prove the second time until double in bulk.

6. Glaze the tops with egg wash. Pipe custard crosses on each round.

7. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 degree celcious for about 15-20 minutes until cooked and golden brown.

8. Remove from the oven leave the bread on a wire rack to cool.

Tips:

The boiled potato and water used for boiling, make a very good rising agent. Adding this into bread dough helps it rise better.

马铃薯面包

材料（9粒马铃薯面包）
A：
320G高蛋白质（面包粉）过筛
½茶匙盐
2汤匙奶粉汤匙即食酵母粉
70克糖
1汤匙面包改良剂（可选）

B：
150克煮土豆/马铃薯，去皮，捣碎
1个鸡蛋
80毫升水，烧开来煮土豆

C：
75克牛油，软化

上光：
1个鸡蛋，轻轻拌打
½茶匙盐

吉士奶油：
2汤匙吉士粉
3 / 4杯鲜牛奶
3汤匙糖

吉士的方法：
1。在一个小锅里放入吉士的所有成分。拌匀。
2。放在锅里用小火，并不断搅拌，直到混合物变稠。
3。待凉时在發酵面团上用管道挤出十字架的形状。
方法：
1。把A材料混合搅拌, 添加B成粘稠的面团，用面团搅拌机继续揉面团约5分钟。
2。加入C揉约10分钟，直到面团光滑，充分的发展有弹性。
3。形成球状，把球状面团放置在上油的搅拌碗盖上保鲜膜，，直到面团發酵两倍大。
4。把面团打下，再揉至光滑约3分钟。把面团揉成50克球状形。
5。把50克球状面团排列在3x 3抹油的方形烤盘。用一块干净的湿布或盖上保鲜膜，第二次發酵直到两倍大后擦上蛋汁上色。
6。用管道挤出十字架的形状在發酵面团上。

7。预热烤箱摄氏200度，烤约15-20分钟直到熟和金黄色。

8。把面包从烤箱中取出放在架上冷却。

煮土豆的水和土豆昰一个很好的面包發酵剂。添加到面团，这有助于它發酵更好。温馨提示：

BBQ Buns (Cha Siu Bao )叉燒包

noreply@blogger.com (Yin) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 09:37:00 +0000

I suppose those who love dim sum would agree Cha Siu Bao is one of the signature buns served among dim sum dishes. It is also a must order item whenever a family with kids visits a dim sum restaurant.

On 8th August, in commemoration of my late mother-in-law 3 years passing anniversary, we had prepared a hefty lunch featuring her favourite dishes. I made these buns and Auntie Lan helped to make fried noodles, and Kiam Chai Boey (Stew Salted vegetables). All these recipes are available in my blog, just click on them.

Initially, I was thinking of making own Cha Siu but when I went marketing that morning, the main ingredient, pork loin, had been sold out. Since in Malaysia ready-cooked Cha Siu was easily available, I decided to go for an easy way out instead. J However, if you wish to attempt making your own Cha Siu (BBQ pork), the simple version recipe is available here.

If you happen to have roast pork for dinner, you can use the left over for its filling too.

BBQ Buns (Cha Siu Bao)

INGREDIENTS:

1 portion of basic Bao Yeast dough - (Click link for my old post on Bao dough)

FILLING:

1 tbsp. oil

3 shallots, flatten

350g Char Siu (BBQ pork), diced

3 tbsp. roasted sesame seeds (optional)

SEASONING:

120ml water

2 tbsp. light soy sauce

1 tbsp. oyster sauce

½ tbsp. dark soya sauce

3 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. tapioca flour

1tbsp. corn flour

½ tbsp. plain flour

METHOD:

Skin:

1. Divide dough into portions of 40g each and shape into balls.

Filling:

2. Heat up oil, sauté shallots until fragrant.

3. Discard fried shallots and pour in mixed seasoning, keep stirring until thick and boiling.

4. Add in BBQ pork, Char Siu, sesame seeds and mix well.

5. Dish up and leave to cool before using.
6. Roll dough into round shape, add 1 tbsp. of filling and form into a pau.

7. Line Pau with a piece of white paper.

8. Steam with high heat for 10 minutes until pau is cooked. Serve hot.

叉燒包

材料：

1 份基本包子皮面团

馅料：

1汤匙油
3粒葱头仔，拍扁
350克叉烧，切小块
3汤匙烤芝麻（可选）

调味料：
120毫升水
2汤匙酱油
1汤匙蚝油半汤匙老抽
3汤匙糖
1汤匙木薯粉
1汤匙玉米粉半汤匙面粉

做法：

1。将面团分成40G1份，揉成球的形状。
2。热油，爆香葱头仔。
3。拿出葱头，倒入混合调味料，不断搅拌，煮至浓和滚。
4。加入叉烧，叉烧，芝麻，拌匀。盛起待冷后再使用。
5。面团擀成圆形状，包入1汤匙馅料，捏成包子形放在一张白纸上。
8。用大火蒸10分钟至熟，趁热吃。

ALMOND BUTTER COOKIES 杏仁牛油饼

noreply@blogger.com (Yin) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 09:29:00 +0000

There is a saying that baking can be a great bonding activity and I agree fully to it. Last Sunday, I had a fun cookies baking session with my son Ming Ray. He enjoyed his little master chef task assigned by me to cut the dough into assorted shapes that he liked with cookies cutter. Not only he gave a big thumb up to the taste of the cookies he made, the following day he proudly shared the cookies with his buddies at school too. J

This easy cookies recipe was adapted from Baking Made Easy by Agnes Chang (蓝赛珍，轻轻松松学烘焙); it was named Almond Cookies in the book. However I found the cookies were overpowered by the buttery flavor. To me it tasted more like butter cookies than almond cookies. Hence, I am renaming this recipe to Almond Butter Cookies. Having said that, the cookies are tasty to eat, not too sweet and it was really crunchy on the outside but soft from the inside.

ALMOND BUTTER COOKIES 杏仁牛油饼

ALMOND BUTTER COOKIES

INGREDIENTS A

180g butter

90g castor sugar

1/8 tsp salt

½ tsp Vanilla essence

INGREDIENTS B

(sifted together)

135g plain flour, sifted

90g rice flour, sifted

90g ground almond

DECORATION

50g almond flakes on top as decoration

METHOD :

Cream butter and castor sugar till light and fluffy, add salt, vanilla and mix well.
Fold in B: plain flour, rice flour and mix into soft dough.
Roll dough between 2 sheets of plastic into 3mm thick.
Using cookies cutter cut into desired shape.
Arrange cookies onto a greased baking tray.
Decorate top with almond flake. (I skipped this)
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C for 15-20 minutes, till lightly brown.
Remove and cool before storing into air-tight container.

杏仁牛油饼

材料A
180克牛油
90克幼糖
1 / 8茶匙盐
半茶匙香草精
材料B
（一起筛过）
135克低筋面粉，过筛
90克粘米粉，过筛
90克杏仁粉
装饰
50克杏仁片作为装饰
方法：
1。牛油与幼糖粉一起打至松发变白，加入盐，香草拌匀。
2。将低筋面粉、杏仁粉,粘米粉过筛，加入作法1中混合拌匀成软面团。
3。将软面团放在2张保鲜膜之间，将面团杆成约3毫米厚的面团。
4。使用饼干压模压出所需的形状。
5。把杏仁薄片装饰饼干面团顶部。（我跳过这部份）
6。烤盘铺上烤盘纸，将作法4排入烤盘中，再放进烤箱上层，以180℃烤约15-20分钟即可
7。取出，待凉才存储。

SUPREME PORK CHOP 猪扒王

noreply@blogger.com (Yin) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 05:47:00 +0000

Oriental Pork Chop

This is a Chinese style pork chop which I adapted from Hawkers’ Fair Simplified. This is one of my family’s favourite dinner dishes. The name is called pork chop but I found it tastes even better with pork loin,the meat is tenderer and juicier. If using pork loin I usually omit soda bicarbonate as tenderizer.

To keep the pork chop crisped, pork chop can be deep fried first and only have the source poured on it when serving.

SUPREME PORK CHOP 猪扒王

SUPREME PORK CHOP

INGREDIENTS:

600g pork chop/Pork Loin

1 onion – slices (optional)

MARINADE:

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sesame oil

1 egg

2 tbsp plain flour

1 tbsp custard powder

1 tsp soda bicarbonate - tenderizer (I opt out)

200ml water

200g corn flour (add in last)

SAUCE:

2 tbsp tomato sauce

1 tbsp chilli sauce

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp curry powder

1/2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp light soy sauce

3 tbsp water

METHOD:

1. Cut the pork chop into 1 cm thick and pound the pork chop with the back of a knife till tender.

2. In a bowl, add in marinade except corn flour, mix well and leave for 30 minutes.

3. Add in the corn flour to the pork chop and mix well.

4. Heat up oil for deep-frying.

5. Put in the pork chops and deep-fry till golden brown and cooked

6. Dish and drain on paper towel

7. In another small bowl, combine the ingredients for the sauce

8. Leave about 1 tbsp of oil in the wok, sauté onion (skip this step if no onion use)

9. Pour in the sauce and cook till you get a thick texture

10. Add in pork chops and mix well

11. Dish up and serve on a bed of lettuce

猪扒王

材料：

600g肉眼/梅肉

1 粒大洋葱 -切片 (可选)

腌料：

1大匙蚝油，1小匙糖，1小匙盐，1小匙麻油，1粒蛋，2大匙面粉，1大匙蛋黄粉，1小匙苏打粉（我没用），200ml水，200g栗粉，后下。

汁料：

2大匙番茄酱，1大匙辣椒酱，1小匙急汁，1小匙咖喱粉，1/2大匙糖，1/2小匙盐，1小匙生抽，3大匙水

做法：

1. 将肉眼切成1cm厚片，然后用刀背拍打至松，加入腌料拌匀，腌30分钟，再加入栗粉拌匀.

2. 烧热油锅，下肉片炸至金黄色及熟便可捞起，沥干油份.

3. 留1大匙油在锅，爆香洋葱片(假如没放洋葱，可省去这步骤)后倒入汁料煮至浓，加入炸好的肉片大火炒匀，即可上桌。

Steamed Buns (Baozi/Pao) 包子

noreply@blogger.com (Yin) — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 06:26:00 +0000

Supreme big Baozi/Pao, anyone? 大包？

Bread is the main staple food to Western Cuisine as in Baozi/Pao (steamed buns) is to Chinese cuisine. Baozi is especially popular in the Chinese breakfast serving. Baozi making shares similar process to bread making which requires yeast dough, kneading and proofing with the only difference in its cooking method - steam instead of bake. Hence, baozi can also be regarded as stuffed steamed bread.

There are various types of baozi ranging from plain buns to stuffed baozi with various fillings. What filling can be used in baozi? The classic fillings are meat (cha siu /BBQ pork/beef/chicken) or sweet fillings like red beans, lotus paste, kaya (coconut egg jam), peanut butter or even vegetables. I would say the list is too exhaustive to name and only imagination is the limit.

Having mastered the basic skill in Western bread making, I reckoned it was time to take up new challenges in learning up Chinese bread making J I had two fun experience with my cooking members back in Auckland in making Shanghai pan fried bao(上海生煎包). However, at that time I did not have the chance in making the yeast dough from scratch. The yeast dough was prepared and proof in advance and we were invited to go over to help in wrapping and pan fried.

Last Sunday, I decided to try out the steamed buns yeast dough recipe from Agnes Chang’s “Delightful Snacks and Dim Sum” cook book. With this yeast dough I had successfully made 4 big supreme big pao with shredded chicken breast, egg and yambean fillings and 6 small Kaya bao using my homemade kaya filling.

Steamed Buns (Baozi/Pao) 包子

I was delighted that the texture of the steamed buns was very soft and springy. However, hubby commented that the taste of the meat fillings could have been improved with longer marinating time overnight in the fridge to further tenderize the chicken breast and the seasoning more thoroughly absorbed.

Steamed Buns (Baozi/Pao) Basic Yeast Dough

INGREDIENTS:

500g pau flour,sifted

½ tbsp instant yeast

½ tsp salt

100g sugar

3 tbsp shortening

240g water

1 tbsp double action baking powder

METHOD:

1. Mix all the ingredients A together and knead into smooth and elastic dough.

2. Cover with a piece of wet cloth and leave to prove until double its size.

3. Sift B top of the dough and knead well to distribute the baking powder until the dough is smooth again.

4. Cover and allow dough to rest for 15 minutes before shaping.

Supreme Big Pao Fillings :

A slice of chopped ginger

500g shredded chicken breast/pork

200g yambean sliced into small pieces

6 mushrooms (soaked and sliced)

6 Hard boiled eggs (shelled and cut into ½)

Marinade for meat : （30 minutes）

2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp soya sauce

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp chicken stock granules (optional)

1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (optional)

1/2 tsp sesame oil

¼ tsp pepper, 1 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp corn flour

Filling:

1. Heat oil in a pan and saute the ginger till fragrant. Add in marinated meat and mushrooms and stir fry till aromatic.

2. Add in yambean (sengkuang) stir well and cook for 5 minutes until soft. Taste and dish up and leave to cool and chill in the fridge for 3 hours. Divide into 12 portions.

Chicken/Kaya filing

3. Divide dough 12 portions and shape balls.

4. Flatten, roll into a round shape and add 1 tbsp of filling and pleat the top into a pau.

5. Line pau with a piece of white paper and let it prove again for another 15 minutes.

6. Steam pau with high heat for about 15 minutes or until the pau is cooked.
7. Serve hot.

基本包子皮做法

材料：

A) 500克包粉（篩过），1/2 大匙速发酵母，1/2 小匙盐，100克细糖，3大匙白油， 240ml 水

B) 1大匙双倍发粉

包子皮做法:
1. 将所有材料(A) 混匀搓揉8-10分钟至光滑不黏手的面团。
2. 盖好发酵1小时或至两倍大。
3. 将发好的面团，加入(B)，再将面团揉至光滑，休息15分钟。

大包馅料：
一片切碎的生姜
500克鸡胸肉切丝/猪肉
200克沙葛切成丝
6香菇（泡软和切片）
6粒（去壳半切）煮鸡蛋

肉类腌料：
2汤匙蚝油
2汤匙酱油
2汤匙糖
1茶匙鸡精（可选）
1汤匙中国料酒（可选）
1 / 2茶匙麻油
¼茶匙胡椒粉，1茶匙糖
1 1 / 2茶匙玉米粉馅料：
1。爆香姜。加入腌制肉类和蘑菇炒直到芳香。
2。加入沙葛丝搅匀，再煮5分钟至软。试味盛起。放入冰箱冷藏3小时。分成12份。
3。将包子面团分成12份和形状球。
4。将小面团压扁，杆圆，包入馅料，捏紧。
5。底部垫不沾纸，再次发酵15分钟。
6。排入蒸笼内中大火蒸15分钟至熟。

食后感:
这包子很有外面卖的那种软绵弹性的口感。然而，老公评论说，鸡胸肉馅料的肉可加以改善。应放入冰箱腌过夜，肉才更松软。

Peninsula Malaysia East Coast Road Trip and the Underwater World of Redang Island

noreply@blogger.com (Yin) — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 15:01:00 +0000

Food, sea, sun, sand and underwater vacation

Our 2 years of oversea life in Auckland, made us miss the warm sea and beach in Malaysia even more. There were many nice beaches in New Zealand too but the water was too cold for us. Even during summer months, there was only 1 month (between February and March) when the water was warm enough for us to swim in but it was still pretty chilly as compared to the warm sea temperature in the tropical region.

After settling down, the very first plan we made was to go for warm island beach vacation during the upcoming school holidays which Ming Ray had been longing. We teamed up with my ex-colleague Jenny and her family to the East Coast of Peninsula Malaysia on a road trip covering Cherating and Redang Island trip from 6^th to 11^thJune .

A bunch of 4 adults and 3 kids had a blast. Not only the children got to enjoy the awesome snorkeling experience of seeing colourful underwater world, we also got the chance to taste the delectable Terengganu local delights, especially the seafood.

After 3 hours of driving from Kuala Lumpur, we put up at Cherating and checked in Holiday Villa for our first night. We had our first sumptuous seafood dinner at a renowned restaurant in a nearby town, Kemaman.

Early next morning we departed for Kuala Terengganu jetty to catch our boat to Redang Island. It took us just over 3 hours to reach there. We spent 4 days 3 nights at Laguna Redang Resort. The package offered by this resort was pricier than most other resorts but we found it quite a good value for money especially when we were travelling with children, comfortable lodging and well equipped facilities were our main priorities. In addition, the varieties of the buffet meals had made us come back with extra kilos J

After the return boat trip from Redang Island we took off around noon and we made an impromptu lunch stop over at Pantai Penarik when JS spotted a restaurant full of patrons.

We were surprised by another mouth watering meals at the restaurant specialty the batter-fried seafood and Terengganu local delicacies of keropok lekor (fish sausage) and Sata (grilled fish in banana leaves). Only when I got back home to search the Internet did I realize that this shop was one of the must tries seafood restaurant at Pantai Penarik.

The most tiring part of our journey was our return trip from East Coast to Penang Island via Gerik Highway. We traveled in 2 cars; it was a long hilly and dreadful 7 hours long distance drive. Gratitude should be extended to both drivers –our beloved husbands. Halfway thru the journey, the weather turned bad and visibility was down to less than 50 meters in foggy and rainy conditions in some parts. Along the way, we spotted more than 4 car accidents with the victims’ cars skidded into the side drain, really terrifying.

With the rainy weather we didn’t manage to get a good look at Tasik Temenggor which is another beauty along this highway. Due to the road condition with no lighting at night, our drivers decided to make best use of the daylight by driving non-stop till night fell so we skipped dinner and went straight to Penang. Finally at 9.30pm, we reached Penang and got to enjoy Penang hawker dinner delights albeit a tad late.

Food adventures

Kemaman specialty – Stuffed Crabs @ Tong Juan Restaurant

Eat all you can buffet meals @ Laguna Redang Resort

Lunch @ Pantai Penarik, Terengganu

During our stay in Penang, we put up a night at Jenny's house and the following day, she brought us to her brother in law's Hakka Mee Restaurant for lunch. Thanked to her that we got the chance to enjoy famous Kampar Hakka Mee, homemade fish balls and Yong Tau Fu.

Kampar Hakka Mee, fish balls, deep fried fu chok (bean curb sheets) and steamed herbal chicken

Beach

White sandy Pasir Panjang beach

Laguna Redang Resort beach front

Underwater world highlights

Yin the mermaid?

Close encounter with X'mas worms

Surrounded by a school of hungry fish

Ray: Let me hold the bread, I want to feed the fish!

Instant Oat Soya Milk Bread 豆浆麦片土司

noreply@blogger.com (Yin) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 06:10:00 +0000

Healthy Vegetarian bread

Ever since I successfully made my 1^st loaf of Tangzhong (Water Roux Starter) bread, I was addicted to its super soft and fluffy texture. Whenever I think of baking bread I would try out as many variations of Tangzhong bread recipes as possible. With ingredients such as instant oat and sugar-free soya milk, this one was a healthy and nutritious bread and especially great for vegetarians.

The original recipe also suggested adding raisins which I excluded as both Ming Ray and I do not like raisins in bread.

Instant Oat Soya Milk Bread 豆浆麦片土司

INSTANT OAT SOYA MILK BREAD

INGREDIENTS:

A: Oat Tangzhong（Water Roux Starter ）

50 ml Soya Milk (sugar-free)

15g Instant Oat

5g (1tsp) High grade flour

Method：

Mix all A ingredients in a small pot, stir well at low heat on stove until creamy.
Remove from heat and let it cool at room temperature (1 hour) before use or
Wrap mixture with plastic wrap and leave in refrigerator overnight.

210g high grade/protein flour (Bread Flour )

20g caster Sugar
3g (½ tsp + ¼ tsp) instant Dry Yeast

¼ tsp Salt

110 ml Soya Milk(sugar free)

C:
20g melted unsalted butter

D: (optional)

50g Raisins (chopped)

DOUGH MAKING METHOD: (HAND KNEADING METHOD)

Pour bread flour into mixing bowl; add in the rest of ingredients B. However, avoid having the salt come in direct contact with the yeast which might dehydrate and kill the yeast.
Add in ingredient A and use spatula to mix the dough until the dough is too sticky to move then start using hands to knead the dough in the mixing bowl.
Initially, you will experience very gluey dough, just continue to mangle the dough, after 10 minutes it will gradually firm up.
Once the dough firms up, you can start to knead the dough on a clean, smooth surface at your comfortable height. I did not flour the surface, the more I kneaded the dough the less sticky the dough became.
It took me at least another 10-15 minutes to knead to transform the initial glob of gooey dough into smooth dough which was ready for the final ingredient C.
Check to evaluate on the gluten development of the dough before adding in butter. The dough should be stretchy.
Place the dough back into mixing bowl and pour in melted butter, knead to combine.
Be prepared to deal with oily dough for another 5 minutes before the butter is totally blended in.
Once the dough is not so oily, move back to kneading surface and continue to knead until forming smooth and elastic dough. (It took me about 10-15 minutes)
Test by pulling the dough, it should be stretchable to form a thin sheet and does not easily breaks off. The dough is then ready for its first rise.
Once the dough becomes double in size (Finger test – Poke finger into center of the dough and depression does not rise up, dough fully proof) punch it a few times to deflate it (using hand knuckles). Cover and leave dough to rest for 15 minutes.
Roll dough into 20cm square shape; turn over and sprinkle with chopped raisins and press flat by hand. Cut into 3 equal length, place into a greased dish or toast bread boxes covered with plastic wrap and continue to proof for 2nd time. (I skipped the step 12 of sprinkle raisins as my boy dislikes nuts and raisins)
Preheat oven to 190 degrees. Brush egg wash, sprinkle with oatmeal and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Instead of using egg wash, I spray the bread dough with water before I place the loaf pan into the center of the oven.
To avoid over burnt crust, after 15-20 minutes of baking, I cover the loaf tin with lid, you can also lightly cover the bread and continue to bake until the required time is reached.

豆浆麦片土司

这配方也是摘自孟老师100道面包，十分健康的超软面包。

麦片汤种材料：

A：高粉1 茶匙 (5克)，无糖豆浆奶50克，即食燕麦片15克

将A材料放入锅内，用橡皮刀拌匀后，小火煮，边煮边搅拌，煮成团状，盛出让它在室温冷却（1个小时）后再使用。也可冷藏保存隔天使用。

吐司材料：

B：高筋粉210克，细砂糖20克，盐1克，豆浆110克，酵母粉3克（½ 茶匙 + ¼茶匙）

C：无盐牛油25克

D：50克葡萄干切细

做法：

將B材料放入攪拌盆，要把酵母和糖、鹽分開放。以免脫水。再加入材料 A，后用将面粉攪拌成团，直到面团太粘，才开始用双手揉面团。
最初5分钟，你将体验非常黏手的面团，只要继续揉，面团将逐步成形。
一旦面团成形，你可以开始把面团倒在干净光滑的台面继续揉。不需要在台面上撒粉。我花了至少10-15分钟才把面团搓成有弹性和筋膜的面团。
然后把面团放置回盆里，加入融化的牛油。这时你将面对很油腻很不像样的面团。
但坚持搓下去，5分钟后，一旦面团没那么油腻，回迁台面揉面至光滑，富有弹性可扩展阶段的面团。把揉好的面团放入干净的容器中，跟着用保鲜膜盖好，作第一次发酵，至面团发大两倍。（手指测试 - 将手指戳下面团中心起不来，就证明面团充分发酵）。
用手关节拍下排去面团内部的空气，分割成3份滚圆，松弛15分钟。
将面团擀成约20CM的正方形,翻面后撒上切细的葡萄干，用手压平卷成长柱体.切成等长的3份，切口朝上，依次放入排入抹油的面包盘或吐司盒用保鲜膜覆盖继续进行最后发酵。
把烤箱预热190度。刷蛋液，撒上燕麦片(我没在面团上塗蛋液我只用少量的水喷在面包团才放入烤箱中)烘烤30-35分钟。
为了避免面包过于上色，烘烤15-20分钟后我上盖，也可用铝箔轻轻盖上面包，继续烘烤，直到所需的时间。出炉后立即脱模。

Homemade Lo See Fun 自制老鼠粉/米台目

noreply@blogger.com (Yin) — Tue, 31 May 2011 20:59:00 +0000

Home-made authentic Hakka Cuisine- Part two

Writing the Hakka Lo See Fun (Rice Pin noodles) with Minced Pork post reminded me this great noodle making experience I had in 2009 when I first moved to Auckland.

When we first shifted to Auckland, we were blessed to have a group of Auckland based Malaysian friends' support to ease our settling down. Many of them were JS University mates who migrated years before us. With their help, our transition was painless and swift. I was especially thankful to build up good friendships with their wives. The wives gang had helped ease my anxiety. I was able to connect to a new social network in New Zealand in no time.

Among of them, Yenny was one of the warmest and most generous friends we made in Auckland. With her hospitality, we put up at her house as our initial accommodation until we moved to our rented house 2 weeks later. She was also the one who always came up with great ideas in celebrating big occasions and generously offered her house to host families gathering. I regarded her as wives' club Chairlady. :-P

This recipe was shared by her when she initiated a cooking gathering at our Auckland house in welcoming me to join the wives club. I had enjoyed so much in this noodle making process, not only we had great bonding time,

Yenny the Chef (in Pink) and her 3 kitchen helpers - Yin, WC and PY

I got to taste the homemade Lo See Fun which was not available in Auckland. Some other types of rice noodle like Hor Fun (Koey Teoh) 粿条, Lai Fun （濑粉）are easily available in Asian grocery shops in Auckland but not Lo See Fun (老鼠粉/米台目).

After some sweating out, it was time to sit down and enjoyed the noodles with my Penang Assam Laksa soup.

HOMEMADE LO SEE FUN

INGREDIENTS:

A
2 packets Rice flour (500g/packet)
1 packet and 1 rice bowl Tapioca starch
1 rice bowl wheat flour

B
1 rice bowl cooking oil
2 rice bowls hot water
2 rice bowls water (room temperature)

METHOD:

Place A in a large mixing bowl and mixed well.

Gradually add in cooking oil, hot water and cold water and stir well and knead to form rice dough.

With the help of JS's strong hands

Boil a big pot of hot water, using a potatoes press/ ricer press rice dough into rice pin shapes and add into the hot boiling water.

Once rice pin floats on surface, the noodle is cooked. Use a strainer to dish up and place into a pot of cold water.
Drain up the noodle from the cold water and mix with cooking oil to prevent the rice noodles from sticking together.
Separate into bags and refrigerator, it may last for a week. For longer storage, keep in Freezer compartment.

Tips:
To have fresh noodles texture, is ok to leave outside on the day made. If not consume within 24 hours then only keep in refrigerator.

自制老鼠粉

老鼠粉是大马与新加坡人喜欢的米粉面食之一，它也就是台灣人的"米台目"或香港人的"銀針粉

材料：

A
2包粘米粉（500g/packet）
一包和1碗木薯粉
1碗澄粉

B
1碗食油
2碗热水
2碗水（室温）

制作：
1。把干粉放置在一个大碗里搅拌和混合好。
2。慢慢加入食油，热水和冷水，搅拌均匀后搓揉成面团。
3。煮一大锅热水，用土豆挤压器/挤压面团成针形状。假如没有挤压器，就用手把面团搓成细长型，然后一粒粒的拉断它，让它看来有老鼠粉的样子后，直接挤到滚水里的锅内煮。传统方法是在锅上架置一块打满圆洞的铁皮或米台目枋，将粄团放在枋上，像搓洗衣服双手不断在枋上搓擦，粄脆便和钟乳石一样成细条状。
4。一边挤边搅动以防粘锅，一旦老鼠粉浮在水面上，面条煮熟捞出，倒入一盆冷水过冷河。

5。冷却后再捞出加入食油以防老鼠粉粘合在一起。
6。分隔成袋，放入冰箱可保持一个星期。也可放进冷藏室贮存，以保存较长时间。

温馨提示：
当天做的老鼠粉可在24小时内不需要放进冰箱，可以等到过了24小时才放入冰箱以保持更久。

Hakka Lo See Fun (Rice Pin noodles) with Minced Pork 客家肉碎老鼠粉

noreply@blogger.com (Yin) — Mon, 30 May 2011 12:46:00 +0000

Home-made authentic Hakka Cuisine - part one

Recently, I bought a new cook book by Agnes Chang – "Delightful Snacks and Dim Sum" and was happy to find some authentic Hakka dishes in it. One of them was this simple noodle recipe -Hakka Lo See Fun (Rice Pin noodles) with Minced Pork .

Lo See Fun, literally in Cantonese it means "Mouse Noodle", is a type of rice noodle. I guessed the pin shape noodle was named after its shape being similar to a mouse?

This rice noodle is easily available in South East Asia countries especially in Malaysia and Singapore. They can also be found in Taiwan known as "米台目"and in Hong Kong known as "銀針粉". However, I doubt they are available in the Western countries. When I was in Auckland I was not able to find them in shops. Thanks to a friend for sharing her homemade rice pin noodle recipe, we got to enjoy it while we were there. I will share this homemade noodle experience in my next post.

If you are not able to get this specific type of rice pin noodle, you can replace it with other types of rice noodles such as "Lai Fun" 濑粉 or Hor Fun (Koey Teoh) 粿条 or just any other types of noodles preferred.

Hakka Lo See Fun (Rice Pin noodles) with Minced Pork 客家肉碎老鼠粉

HAKKA LO SEE FUN WITH MINCED PORK

INGREDIENTS:

Minced Meat:

250g minced meat

1 tbsp chopped garlic and shallots

3 tbsp oil

200g bean sprouts/Bok Choy/Choy sum

500g rice pin noodles (Lo See Fun)

Optional ingredients:

Fish balls/fish cakes/meat balls

Garnish:

2 stalks of spring onion, chopped (optional)

SEASONING:

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp light Soya sauce

1 tbsp Oyster sauce

1 tsp dark soya sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

100 ml water

Dash of pepper

METHOD:

Blanch bean sprout/green veggie until cooked, dish up and set aside.
Blanch Lo See Fun until hot. Dish up and drain.
Heat up oil; sauté chopped shallots and garlic fragrant. Add minced pork, seasoning and stir-fry until cooked.
Add in Lo See Fun and stir well, dish up in serving bowl, add in bean sprout/Choy Sum garnish with spring onion and serve hot.

客家肉碎老鼠粉

材料：

肉碎：
250克肉末
1汤匙切碎的大蒜和青葱
3汤匙油

200克豆芽/白菜/菜心
500克老鼠粉

装饰：
2棵青葱，切碎（可选）

调味料：
1汤匙鱼露
1大匙酱油
1汤匙蚝油
1茶匙黑酱油
1茶匙麻油
100毫升水
少许胡椒粉

方法：

1。将豆芽/菜心灼熟，沥干备用。
2。将老鼠粉灼热，盛起沥干。
3。烧热油，爆香切碎的葱，蒜。加入肉末，调味炒至熟。
4。再加入老鼠粉炒匀，盛起，撒上葱和配上豆芽/菜心，趁热享用。

Eggplant with Prawns 香滑茄子虾仁

noreply@blogger.com (Yin) — Thu, 26 May 2011 07:51:00 +0000

Welcome to my Malaysian Kitchen
For years, I used to do my marketing at the neighbourhood weekly Pasar Malam (night market). I like to shop there as I can enjoy a variety of local foods while buying fresh and cheaper vegetables, fruits, fish, poultry and meats. Last Monday, I resumed my marketing routine there and was delighted to buy these young fresh eggplants.

For the past 2 years in Auckland we hardly ate eggplants. Not that eggplants were not easily available in NZ but the local eggplants found in NZ had a much firmer texture and not as tasty. Whereas the imported Asian eggplants were expensive in Auckland.

Initially, I was thinking of making steamed eggplants with minced meat. Once I had the eggplants washed and the skin peeled off, I recalled Ming Ray liked to eat deep fried eggplants. Therefore, I changed my mind to try out this stir-fried recipe from Yummy Yummy Hawkers' Fair.

In general, it is preferred to keep the eggplant skin for deep frying, but since I had already removed the skin, I proceeded with them skinless.

Eggplant with Prawns 香滑茄子虾仁 featured in Group Receipes 30/05/2011

EGGPLANT WITH PRAWNS

INGREDIENTS:

300g eggplant

100g prawns

1 tbsp chopped shallots/garlic

2 red chillies, removed seeds and chopped (optional)

2 tbsp chopped spring onion (optional)

Oil for deep frying

SEASONING:

1 tbsp light Soya sauce

1 tbsp Oyster sauce

Dash of pepper and sesame oil

3 tbsp water (more if prefer saucy)

1 tsp corn flour mixed with 1 tbsp water for thickening

METHOD:

Cut eggplant into strips and deep-fry until cooked. Dish and drain, place onto a serving plate.
Leave 1 tbsp oil sauté chopped shallots/garlic until fragrant. Add in chilli, prawns and stir well.
Add in seasoning and stir-fry until well mixed.
Thicken with corn flour water, garnish with spring onion and stir well.
Pour the sauce over fried eggplant and serve hot with rice.

香滑茄子虾仁

材料：
300克茄子
100克虾
一汤匙切碎的葱/蒜
2个红辣椒，去种子和切碎（可选）
2汤匙葱花（可选）
2杯炸油

调味料：
1大匙酱油
1汤匙蚝油

少许胡椒粉和麻油
3汤匙水
1茶匙粟粉，加入1汤匙水拌均打芡用。

方法：
1。茄子切成条状，然后放入热油炸至熟。捞起沥干油分，上碟。
2。留一汤匙油爆香葱头/蒜末，加入辣椒，虾，炒匀。
3。再加入调味料，炒至均匀

4。勾芡，撒上葱花，搅拌均匀。
5。把酱汁倒入炸过茄子，配上白饭享用.

Custard Fluffy Bread 卡士达超软土司

noreply@blogger.com (Yin) — Tue, 24 May 2011 09:32:00 +0000

Back in Action with my little desktop Oven

After 3 weeks of cleaning up and tidying up the house which we had abandoned for the last 2 years, I was relieved to announce that the house is now decent to stay in. At last I'm back in action and here I'm to introduce to you my Malaysian Kitchen! J

While housekeeping I was happy to discover a desktop oven from the store room which I got from a lucky draw some years ago from the annual dinner of my ex-company. This oven is so new and was hardly used at all. The oven was left in the storeroom as I was not into baking at all before I moved to Auckland. However, now it is time to put it to good use!

For the first few attempts, this desktop oven was not so pleasant to use. My first batch of bread and muffins were not well cooked. I deduced it was mainly due to the oven size and the power setting affecting the baking time. In addition, the aluminium baking ware which I bought here might also cause some minor difference. I was a bit disappointed with the results and was skeptical to use it again.

2 weeks ago, a good friend from Auckland helped to bring back some of my non-stick baking ware and cook books I had been using in Auckland. Last Sunday, Mother's day, I tried out Tanzhong whole meal bread with the loaf tin brought back from Auckland and took account of the longer baking time after learning from the first few failed attempts, I was thrilled that my second attempt of bread making with this small desktop was a success! I shared some of this whole meal bread with my neighbour and was given a thumb up J

With warm temperature all year round in Malaysia, baking bread is so much easier as the bread dough proof so much faster. Within an hour I had a beautifully raised dough. It could never be done in such a short time in Auckland. Looks like this little desktop oven is good enough for me to continue my baking interest!

Sharing below is another variation of super soft Tangzhong toast bread adapted from famous Taiwanese bakery Guru – 孟老师100道面包. This custard bread was so soft and fluffy beyond words to describe. Just give it a try it and I bet you will give a big thumb up for it too!

CUSTARD TOAST BREAD

Custard Fluffy Bread 卡士达超软土司 featured in Group Recipes 27/05/2011

INGREDIENTS:

A: Custard Tangzhong（Water Roux Starter ）
1 egg yolk
65 ml Milk
10g caster sugar
15g High grade flour

Method：

Mixed all A ingredients in a small pot, use egg beater to stir well, bring to stove at low heat, stir until form traces. Remove from heat and let it cool at room temperature (1 hour) before use or Wrap mixture with plastic wrap and leave in refrigerator overnight.

B:
250g high grade/protein flour (Bread Flour )
(I ran out of high protein flour, I had only 200g, I replaced with 50g whole meal flour)
30g caster Sugar
1tsp (5g) Instant Dry Yeast
½ tsp Salt
100 ml water

C:
25g melted unsalted butter

DOUGH MAKING METHOD: (HAND KNEADING METHOD)

Pour bread flour into mixing bowl; add in the rest of ingredients A. However, avoid having the salt come in direct contact with the yeast which might dehydrate and kill the yeast.
Add in ingredients B and use spatula to mix the dough until the dough was too sticky to move then start using hands to knead the dough in the mixing bowl.
Initially, you will experience very gluey dough, just continue to mangling with the dough, after 10 minutes it will gradually firm up.
Once the dough firm up, you can start to knead the dough on a clean, smooth surface that's at a comfortable height. I did not flour the surface, the more I knead the dough the less sticky the dough became.
It took me at least another 10-15 minutes to knead to transform the initial glob of gooey dough into smooth dough which ready for the final ingredient C.
Check to evaluate on the gluten development of the dough before adding in butter. The dough should be stretchy.
Place the dough back into mixing bowl and pour in melted butter, knead to combine.
Be prepared to deal with oily dough for another 5 minutes before the butter totally blend in.
Once the dough was not so oily, move back to kneading surface and continues to knead until forming smooth and elastic dough. (It took me about 10-15 minutes)
Test by pulling the dough, stretchable to reach the stage of thin sheet and not easily breaks off, the dough is ready for its first rises.
Once the dough double in size (Finger test – Poke finger into center of the dough and depression not rise up, dough fully proof ) punch it a few times to deflate it (using hand knuckles)
Divide dough into 3 equal portions and shape them into balls. Covered and leave them to rest 15 minutes.
Shape each into an oval shape. Place them into a greased loaf pan, covered with greased plastic wrap and leave dough to proof for 2nd time.

Preheat oven 180°C and bake for 30 minutes. Instead of using egg wash, I spray the bread dough with water before I place the loaf pan into the center of the oven.

To avoid over burnt crust, after 15-20 minutes of baking, I cover the loaf tin with lid, you can also lightly cover the bread and continue to bake until the required time.

卡士达超软土司
这配方是摘自孟老师100道面包，的确是无得顶的超软面包！

卡士达汤种材料：
A：高粉15克，蛋黄一个，鲜牛奶65克，细砂糖10克

将全部卡士达材料放入锅内用打蛋器混合搅匀，开小火慢煮，要不停的搅拌以防粘底，搅拌到面糊有纹路时离火，盛出让它在室温冷却（1个小时）后再使用。也可冷藏保存隔天使用。

吐司材料：
B：高粉250克，细砂糖30克，盐1/2 茶匙，干酵母5克（1小茶匙），
奶粉15克，水100克
C：无盐牛油25克

做法

將B材料放入攪拌盆，要把酵母和糖、鹽分開放。以免脫水。再加入材料 A，后用将面粉攪拌成团，直到面团太粘，才开始用双手揉面团。
最初5分钟，你将体验非常黏手的面团，只要继续揉，面团将逐步成形。
一旦面团成形，你可以开始把面团倒在干净光滑的台面继续揉。不需要在台面上撒粉。
我花了至少10-15分钟才把面团搓成有弹性和筋膜的面团。
然后把面团放置回盆里，加入融化的牛油。这时你将面对很油腻很不像样的面团。
但坚持搓下去，5分钟后，一旦面团没那么油腻，回迁台面揉面至光滑，富有弹性可扩展阶段的面团。把揉好的面团放入干净的容器中，跟着用保鲜膜盖好，作第一次发酵，至面团发大两倍。（手指测试 - 将手指戳下面团中心起不来，就证明面团充分发酵）
用手关节拍下排去面团内部的空气，分割成3份滚圆，松弛15分钟。
将3份面团擀成椭圆形；自上而下卷成圆筒状，收口朝下，依次放入排入抹油的面包盘或吐司盒用保鲜膜覆盖继续进行最后发酵。把烤箱预热180度。我没在面团上塗蛋液我只用少量的水喷在面包团才放入烤箱中烘烤30分钟。为了避免面包过于上色，烘烤15-20分钟后我上盖，也可用铝箔轻轻盖上面包，继续烘烤，直到所需的时间。出炉后立即脱模.

Salt Dough 自制黏土

noreply@blogger.com (Yin) — Sun, 15 May 2011 15:32:00 +0000

Let's bake for fun

This was a fun project that Ming Ray and I worked on in March just before we moved back from Auckland. He discovered this idea from a craft book that he borrowed from the local library. Talking about library, I was really impressed with the library facilities in Auckland. One could easily locate a well run library in nearly every suburb. Every resident with a proof of address could apply for a membership. Once registered as a member one could borrow up to 30 copies of books or magazines free of charge at any one time! This superb facility had cultivated strong reading interests among the local communities.

In the nearly 2 years I spent in Auckland, I must have read more than double the amount I read in the past decade in Malaysia. I was pleased to see my boy had also picked up this good habit. I hope he can continue this good habit in Malaysia but I foresee this might be a challenge as good library in Malaysia is essentially non-existent.

Shared here is the basic dough recipe which I extracted from the book. I halved the quantity as I was worried having too much dough to work with. Done right, the dough can be easily worked on to be shaped into any features. Below were 3 characters that we made following the book with the quantity of dough we made.

Happy feets - Penguin?

I helped Ming Ray to shape the figures while he painted them. We had great bonding time to work on these cute little figures.

Our little artist - Ming Ray

You can use this dough to make adorable little ornaments as birthday gifts or little Christmas ornaments to hang on Christmas tree. Be creative with the dough and have fun!

SALT DOUGH

Ingredients:
1 cup of fine salt
1 cup of flour (multi-purpose flour)
1/2 cup of water (may add more)

Instructions:

In a large bowl, combine the salt and the flour.
Make a well in the salt/flour mixture and slowly add the water (stop if you feel too gooey).
To get softer dough you can add more flour.
Knead until smooth and shape into a ball.
To make different color dough, you can use food coloring in the dough and knead to mix evenly the color.
When not in use, wrap in plastic or store in an airtight container.

Shaping the dough:

Once the dough is ready you can shape them into any figures that you like.
Place the shaped figures on baking tray with parchment paper/baking paper.

Pre-heat the oven into 150 degree Celsius and bake the dough until firm.
You may paint your ornaments and sculptures after they dry up using acrylic paint.

自制黏土

材料:
1杯幼盐
1杯面粉
1 / 2杯的水（可增加更多）
制作:
1。在一个大碗里，把盐和面粉混合好才慢慢加水（停止如果觉得太湿）。
3。如果要面团柔软，你可以添加多一点面粉。
4。揉至光滑，捏成一个球状。
5。你也可做不同颜色的面团，可以添加食用色素进面团后揉至色泽均匀。
6。当不使用时，用塑料包装面团在或存放在密闭容器中。
塑造面团：
一旦面团准备好，你可以塑造成任何你喜欢的摸型。把摸型排放在有烘烤纸的烤盘上。把烤箱预热到摄氏150度,烤面团直到坚硬。待摸型干燥后，你可以用丙烯酸树脂漆/来装饰和上色。

Mini Pumpkin, Feta and Buttermilk bread 迷你南瓜乳酪面包

noreply@blogger.com (Yin) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 14:44:00 +0000

Just realised I omitted to set auto schedule to publish this write-up before moving back from Auckland. This was the final episode of Pumpkins series demostrated by Cushla.

Pumpkins Series – Part three

Continuing on the pumpkin series, this was the third pumpkin dishes that Cushla had prepared for us. For this recipe, she used butternut pumpkin. This buff-coloured, pear shaped pumpkin has dense, dry, sweet-tasting flesh, making it the most versatile type for cooking. For this recipe, she has used about 350g, about ¼ of butternut.

You can also make this into gluten free diet by substituting gluten free self-raising flour. These delicious little loaves best served with soup and freeze well.

Pumpkin is a very versatile vegetable and it goes well with either sweet flavors or savory ones. When ripe, pumpkin can be boiled, baked steamed, roasted or even stir fry. Besides baking ideas, you can also check out these old pumpkin recipes that I had shared to blend into Asian cuisine, adding colour, flavour and nutrition to your fall table.

MINI PUMPKIN, FETA & BUTTERMILK BREAD

Mini Pumpkin, Feta and Buttermilk bread 迷你南瓜乳酪面包

INGREDIENTS:
2/12 cup self-raising flour
1 cup cooked mashed pumpkin, cooled
1 small onion (cut into thin wedges)
40g cold butter, chopped
150g feta, crumbled
1cups buttermilk (approx)
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Homemade Buttermilk:
Combine 1 ½ tbsp lemon juice or vinegar into a small jug, then topping it up to 1 cup with milk, stir until foamy.

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 200C Celsius.
Grease 4 mini loaf tins, or 8 large muffin tins
Heat oil in a small frying pan over moderate heat.
Add onion, sauté and stir for 5 minutes until soft
Sift flour into large bowl. Using fingertips, rub in cold butter.
Make a well in the centre add pumpkin and half each of the onion and feta.
Using a round bladed knife, stir in enough buttermilk until mixture forms soft sticky dough.
Turn out dough on to a lightly floured surface, knead briefly to combine (dough should be soft and sticky). Press into prepared pans.
Sprinkle tops with remaining onion and feta.
Baked bread for 25 minutes or until golden.

迷你南瓜乳酪面包

材料：

2 / 12杯自发面粉 (你也可以用免面筋自发面粉)
1杯煮熟的南瓜泥，冷却
1小洋葱（切块成薄片）
40克冷牛油，切碎
150克羊乳酪，切碎
1杯酪乳; 白脱牛奶（约）
一汤匙植物油
自制酪乳/ 白脱牛奶：
混合1个半汤匙柠檬汁或醋倒入一个小罐子，然后加入1杯牛奶，搅拌至泡沫状。

方法：

1）烤箱预热至摄氏200℃。
2）油脂4个小面包烤盘，或8个松饼烤盘
3）把平底锅烧热油至中热。
4）加入洋葱，炒约5分钟至软.
5）面粉筛入大碗中, 加入牛油碎使用指尖揉搓。
6）加入南瓜和一半的洋葱片和羊乳酪采用圆刃刀，倒入适量的酪乳搅拌，直到面团成粘软形式。
8）把面团倒在有面粉的台面轻轻揉搓至结合起来（面团要软又粘）。
9）按入烤盘准备，洒上剩余洋葱和羊乳酪。
10）放进预热了200C摄氏烤箱烤25分钟或至金黄色为止。

Missing In Action

noreply@blogger.com (Yin) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 00:13:00 +0000

Home sweet home - Malaysia

Just a short note to say hi. I'm back in Malaysia and now in transition to settle down. With the house in the mess, no landline for internet access and my boy schooling matters to settle, I will be missing in action for a while. But no worry once all these settled, I will have my new Malaysian Kitchen up and running soon.

Keep tuning in to check out my new recipes. See you again!

Milky Cinnamon Rolls 牛奶肉桂卷

noreply@blogger.com (Yin) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 22:08:00 +0000

This may well be the last blog post from Auckland. By the time this post was published (I set scheduled post), it would be our last day in New Zealand. Very heavy hearted to leave but with family commitments back home, we had to make our move. Farewell New Zealand, it has been a truly fantastic 2 years here, picturesque sceneries, pleasant weather and most importantly warm and friendly people especially the great friendships we had that made us felt so homely and cared for as if this was our first home. We will cherish all these for life!

E noho rā Aotearoa, Goodbye New Zealand! Till we meet again.

This was my last batch of homemade bread using our Auckland kitchen. As can be read from my last few posts, lately I was quite diligent in baking especially into bread making. This was partly because I needed to clear the baking stock in my pantry besides attempting as many bread recipes as I could knowing that I might not have the proper oven facility when I got back to my own Malaysian kitchen.

In my time here in Auckland, this small kitchen especially the oven stove meant so much to me. Not only did I expand my interest in cooking with it, it also helped to take me out of my cooking comfort zone into the baking world. Besides expanding my cooking skills, it brought me into the blogging world. Fingers crossed that I would have the time and opportunity to continue this baking interest.

This milky cinnamon rolls recipe was another Tangzhong recipe I adapted from 65度C汤种面包, 陈郁芬. After a few successful batches of bread making using Tangzhong starter with outstanding result, I was encouraged to try more.

For this recipe, I increased the quantity of the ingredients in proportion to the original recipe to make 15 rolls instead of 9 rolls. I made this last Sunday afternoon. Ming Ray was the first to taste the rolls. He devoured 3 rolls in one go and even ordered to reserve another two rolls for his Monday school lunch. After he had finished, he came to me and said “Mommy, do you know how many points I give to this roll?” “I give 8 out of 10 points”. When I asked him why and how to improve to perfect 10, he gave me these suggestions, “I will give 9 out of 10, if there is ice cream topping and 10 out 10 with chocolate chips in it too! “ J

Milky Cinnamon Rolls 牛奶肉桂卷

MILKY CINNAMON ROLLS

(makes 12-15)

INGREDIENTS:

350g High grade flour (bread flour)
55g Caster sugar
5g Salt
9g Instant dry yeast

B
40g egg, lightly beaten (1 egg reserve the leftover for egg wash)
110g Tang zhong (water-roux)*
110ml milk

C
22g unsalted butter

*Tang zhong (water-roux) starter

25g bread flour
125ml milk

(Refer here for making tanzhong, substitute water with milk)

Filling:

1 tbsp Cinnamon powder (to your liking )
30g Brown/Raw sugar ( I would add more)

80g raisin (optional, I didn’t add as my son doesn’t like it)
25g unsalted butter, melted

Hand Knead Method:

1. Mix all the A dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add in egg and Tangzhong mix well.

2. Slowly add in milk, mixture will really sticky, use spatula to mix for 5 min, dough will form rough dough.

3. Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Knead the dough till smooth. This should take about 10mins.It helps to have a dough scraper or butter knife on hand to scrape up the dough as your knead.

4. Knead in melted butter, be ready to deal with oily dough and be persevering to knead until dough becomes smooth and elastic. This should take about another 10-20 min (much depend on your kneading skill). Test doneness, if dough can be pulled into a thin membrane without tearing/breaking apart easily, dough is ready to set aside to proof.

5. Place dough in a lightly greased mixing bowl, cover with light greased cling wrap and let proof in room temperature or warm spot around 28 to 30 degree Celsius for about 2 hour, or until double in bulk.

6. Mix cinnamon powder and sugar together. Reserve about 1 teaspoon of the mixture.

7. Once dough double test doneness using finger test, slightly poke a finger into dough and if impression remained, dough has nicely risen. Remove and punch down the dough from the bowl.

8. Roll the dough into a rectangle, about 25cm by 40cm. Brush surface with melted butter.

9. Sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar mixture over the dough surface. Roll over the surface with a rolling pin; this is to make sure the fillings will stick onto the dough.

10. Roll up the dough to form a log shape. Pinch the edges to seal.

11. Place the log seam side down, trim off the two ends. With a sharp knife, cut the roll into 15 equal pieces.

12. Arrange the rolls cut-side up lined with parchment paper (or in a greased) square pan or any suitable baking tray.

13. Leave some space in between the rolls to allow further expansion. Cover with damp cloth or cling wrap and leave shaped dough to proof for the second time for about 45mins, or until double in size.

14. Brush top with egg wash (mix leftover egg with 1 tbsp water) and sprinkle the reserved cinnamon sugar mixture over the top.

15. Bake in pre-heated oven at 180 deg C for 15-20 mins or until golden brown. Remove from oven and once cool store immediately in an airtight container.

牛奶肉桂卷

香甜可口奶味浓的汤种肉桂卷，吃了齿留香！

A、面包粉 350克、细砂糖 55克、盐 5克、干酵母 9克

B、全蛋 40克、牛奶水 110克、汤种 110克

C、无盐牛油 30克

D、细砂糖 30克，1 大匙肉桂粉（份量随你的喜好）、葡萄干 80克（可选）

作法：

1、所有A料+B料入盆揉成面团，注意盐和酵母不能碰到，不然酵母会死掉。牛奶水最后慢慢加入揉约10分钟。

2、作法1中加C料继续揉到三光（面光、手光、盆光）到扩展阶段，盖湿布室温（室温26-28度）发酵至2倍大。

3、面团排气后拍平，擀成长方形（25cm*40cm），下面要撒手粉。用毛刷在上面刷一层牛油。

4、D料中的糖和肉桂粉拌匀，均匀撒在刷过牛油的面团上，将葡萄干均匀撒上（我没有用）。

5、面团由上往下卷起，收口处捏紧，分割成12-15等份，切面朝上将面团放在纸模中进行最后发酵。

6、发到2倍大后约45分钟，表面刷全蛋液，入预热180℃的烤箱，烤15-20分钟至表面金黄。

7．出炉后表面刷一层熔化的牛油。

Sweet Pumpkin loaf 南瓜疏菜面包

noreply@blogger.com (Yin) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 10:06:00 +0000

Pumpkins Series – Part two

As mentioned in my previous post, this is the second pumpkin recipe that Cushla shared with us at my last Healthy eating on a budget cooking class on Friday 18/03/2011.

With the weather turned wet and cooler, signs of fall are ushering into the Southern hemisphere. Hence, it is good time to start introducing some great fall's cooking recipes. Harvested in autumn, pumpkin is a seasonal vegetable widely available at a reasonable price during this time of the year. When pumpkins are abundant and cheap, you can to try making some pumpkin puree and freeze for use in soups, pies or healthy and moist Vegetarian loaf like this. The recipe used here is originated from a grated vegetable.

For this recipe we used cooked unsalted pumpkin puree instead. The amount of flour might need to be increased a little to compensate for the extra wetness. For a variation of this appetizing vegetarian loaf, one can use half pumpkin puree and half grated carrot. Adjustment to sweetness of the loaf much depends on the type of vegetable used. If grated carrots are used then use less sugar, however add more sugar if using courgettes.

To serve, slice and butter or ice with a fresh lemon or top with orange juice icing. You can also convert this pumpkin loaf into pumpkin muffins by baking in muffin pan instead. This tasty quick bread is great to serve in kids' lunch box. It is also a brilliant way to disguise vegetable to get veggie-hater like my son to eat veggie!

Sweet Pumpkin loaf 南瓜疏菜面包 -featured in Group Recipes 30/03/2011

SWEET PUMPKIN LOAF

INGREDIENTS:
A
1 cup grated pumpkin/pumpkin puree/ carrot or courgette
1 large or 2 small eggs
½ cup soya oil
½ to 1 cup raw sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence

B
1 cup each whole meal and white flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon or mixed spice
Pinch of salt
½ cups chopped walnuts, sultanas or other dried fruit (optional)

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 180C.
Whisk all ingredients A in a large bowl.
Shift flour in and then add all ingredients B into the bowl and mix well.
Baked in a greased loaf tin at 180C for 60 minutes or until test doneness with a skewer comes out clean.

Tips:
The Making of Pumpkin Puree
Cut pumpkin into even sized pieces and steam until tender. Drain, cool then remove skin and scoop flesh into processor or bowl. Purée or mash into a smooth puree. Freeze to store.

南瓜疏菜面包

容易，简单又健康的素食谱。

材料：
A
1杯磨碎的南瓜/南瓜泥/胡萝卜或青瓜
1粒大号鸡蛋或2粒小号鸡蛋
半杯豆油
半至1杯糖
1茶匙香草精

B
普通面粉和全麦面粉各1杯
半茶匙发酵粉
半茶匙小苏打粉
1茶匙肉桂粉或混合香料粉
少许盐
½杯切碎的核桃，葡萄干或者其他干果（可选）

方法：
1）把烤箱预热到180C摄氏。
2）把所有A成分搅拌在一个大碗里.
3）筛面粉进碗中后加入所有B材料拌匀。倒入抹油的烤盘.
4）放进预热了180C摄氏烤箱烤60分钟或直到用竹串测试取出来干净为止。

提示：
南瓜泥制作:
南瓜切成均匀大小块，蒸直到熟。沥干水后取出冷却，去皮取肉捣碎成泥。