How About Turn Over Your Pancake? Murtabak Manis or Apam Balik or 面煎饼

Posted on by

 

 IMG_5492

IMG_97471

UPDATED POST ON 9-9-2014

Prepare some of this pancake for breakfast. I have purposely made it thin instead of thick. It is easier to get cooked and serve that way. Recipe today is half the portion.

INTRODUCTION

This is a childhood snack that grew up with me! It is still commonly found in Singapore as there are chain stores that sell this type Asian turnover pancake. It comes with many different flavour, peanut, cheese, red bean and etc.… It can also thin and crispy or thick and chewy.. In English, at times, it was called “Turnover Pancake” but in Malay, it is called “Apam Balik” or Indonesian called it “Murtabak Manis”. It is believed that this is a snack of Arab influences..

IMG_5490

The recipe that i am sharing today is from an Indonesian friend of mine.. therefore it is an Indonesian version of Apam Balik. The filling is a bit difference with ground peanuts, condensed milk and cheese. However, filling is up to individual to tailor made to suit their taste buds. What is important is the preparation of the batter in making the snack.

IMG_5486

I am happy to have found the recipe and pleased with the results. However, as it is the first try for me, the pan frying still needs some practises. I have prepared two pancakes, one of which is not really successful as I have used the wrong pan and have difficulty to judge the doneness of the pancake. … However, for the second pancake that i prepared, I have changed to another  pan and the results was much better though it is still darker than what i wanted to..

IMG_5480

One thing good about this homemade peanut pancake is that one can have as much fillings as you wish.. You can also adjust the types of fillings, sweetness and the quantities of butter  used…

IMG_97741

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Recipe adapted from: MURTABAK MANIS FROM KARIN’S ACTIVITY

Servings: About two  9” diameter Peanut Pancake

IMG_9714

Part A

  • 250 grams of plain flour （普通面粉）
  • 15 grams of castor sugar （白糖）
  • 1 packet of yeast (about 10 grams) （酵母）
  • 350 grams of warm milk or water （温奶或白水）
  • 1 teaspoon of baking powder （发粉）

Part B

  • 2 eggs （鸡蛋）
  • 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda （苏打粉）
  • 15 grams of castor sugar （白糖）
  • 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract (optional and not in picture) （香精）
  • Pinches of salt (not in picture) (盐巴）

IMG_9733

Part C

  • Enough butter or margarine for oiling the pan （黄油）
  • Adequate sweetened peanut powder (I bought ready made peanut powder) （花生粉）
  • Some breakfast cheese slices  or cheddar cheese  （奶酪片-切小）
  • Some condensed milk for drizzling on the pancake.(not in picture) （炼奶）
  • Toasted white sesame seeds (白芝麻).
  • Additional castor sugar for sprinkling (optional) (白糖）

Others

  • A flat bottom stir frying pan.

IMG_5488

STEPS OF PREPARATION

IMG_9719

  • Put all the ingredients (except yeast) in a mixer and beat until the batter smooth and thicken which took about 10 minutes.

 IMG_9724

  • Put the yeast and use a hand whisk to whisk it until combined. Cover with a damp cloth and let it proof for about 45 minutes to an hour. At the end of one hour, you should start to see a lot of bubbles surfacing up.

IMG_9729

  • After proofing, put all ingredients in Part B and whisk until combined in a separate bowl. Pour the whisk eggs mixture to the proofed batter. Whisk until combined and covered with the damp cloth and let it proof for another 10-15 minutes. It is likely that more small bubbles will be formed.

PicMonkey Collage1

  • Heat a 9 inches flat thick frying pan over medium heat. Put some butter to melt and spread evenly on the thick frying pan. Put 1-2 ladles in the pan and swirl around to ensure consistent thickness. Reduce the heat from medium to low heat and cooked for about 5 minutes until bubbles/holes started to appear.  Sprinkle sugar and reduce to low heat and cooked for 15 minutes until the surface dries up. Add additional butter, cheeses, condensed milk and sprinkle with peanuts and additional sugar if desired. Flip over the pancake to cover the other side. Perform the same for the remaining of the batter. (Note: Another way is when the pancake is cooked, you can transfer the pancake to a flat surface, applied the butter and top the fillings instead of doing it in the pan). Cut into desired sizes for serving. Best served warm with a cup of tea or coffee.

IMG_97541

CONCLUSION

I am happy to have found the recipe and so that I can prepare it at home. It is not difficult except some time for the proofing of the batter. Hope you like the post day. Cheers.

IMG_97721

Hope you like the post today, cheers and have a nice day

IMG_5484

  • For more recipes, you can refer to my RECIPE INDEX (updated as at 28 July 2014)  here and you can follow me at PINTEREST or visit the blog’s FACEBOOK PAGE to keep abreast of my future posts.  

IMG_97561

IMG_5482

Four Seasons Blog Hop #39 (February 27 2014)

Posted on by

Four Seasons Blog Hop - Easy Life Meal & Party PlanningWelcome to the Four Seasons Blog Hop


A party where we can celebrate the greatness that each season brings to our lives.
 
Meet Our Hosts:

So Let’s Get This Party Started!!Let's Get this Party Started

Share your  food creations, gardening, clever projects, tablescapes, decorations, party themes, and inspirational knowledge … Ok, you get the point.  Join us every Thursday (opens Wednesday evening at 6:00 pm). Please stay for awhile and show some love to the guests, join us in the fun and grab a button.

Four Seasons Blog Button

We will share your posts in a variety of ways on Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus.  We will also have features of the week! Be sure to follow our Four Seasons Board on Pinterest!  By participating in this linky party, you agree to have your posts shared on social media and Pinterest and to receive email and Google notifications for reminders about the party. If you don’t want to receive notifications, please let us know.

FEATURED

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

Homemade “Bak Cheo”–Mushroom Bean Paste Minced Meat Sauce (香菇肉酱）

Posted on by

IMG_96611

INTRODUCTION

Since my father passed away about 30 years ago, our family, including my mum never cooked this dish. I cooked this dish based on my memories and “the ingredients” as stated in the canned mushroom minced meat sauce. : Pork, Bean Paste, Sugar, Mushrooms Oil, Chilli Powder, Food Additives (MSG), Spices… of course minus the food additives.. I should say that I am  rather pleased with this homemade minced meat sauce, possibly 80% like what is commonly sold in the market… 

IMG_9658

After my father passed away, we usually bought the canned minced meat sauce from the stores… We liked to have it with porridges as it has the perfect balance of sweetness and saltiness.. .. When I was a teen and if there was a picnic where we were required to bring food for lunch, we prepared sandwiches with this canned minced meat sauce.  As a growing teen, nobody ever complained about this simple yet delicious sandwich.

IMG_96631

Though it is a tasty condiment to go with porridges or rice, we seldom purchased from the stores  as it is generally not encouraged to have too much canned food..Therefore, I have decided to prepare it myself.

IMG_96691

Initially, When I prepared, I have used the traditionally method of chopping the meat into fine pieces. However, after my first round of cooking, I found that the meat is rather course as it was quite lean, therefore, I have used a food processor to blend the cooked meat and make it finer. However, if you wish, you can blend your mushrooms, minced meat, fermented soya beans and chilli separately rather than traditional way of chopping using a knife..

IMG_98021

 

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: 1 medium bowl of minced meat paste

IMG_9624

  • 2 winter mushrooms (soaked)
  • 500 grams of minced pork belly
  • 3 tablespoons of fermented soya beans 
  • 1 fresh chilli

Not in picture

  • 3 tablespoons of castor sugar 
  • 3 tablespoons of chilli oil ( I used sesame chilli oil)
  • 3 tablespoons of sweet dark soya sauce (for colouring purposes)
  • 2 tablespoons of cooking oil

IMG_97961

STEPS OF PREPARATION

IMG_9629

  • Remember for this step, you can either dice/chopped using a knife or using a food processor. In this illustration, no food processor was used and therefore there is a need to re-blend the cooked meat paste at the end of the illustration.

  • Chopped/blend the fermented soya beans,  and mushrooms separately until very fine.

IMG_9635

  • Mix the minced meat with water just enough to cover the meat. The purpose is to prevent the minced meat from forming lumps when cooked.

  • In a frying pan, put the cooking oil and stir fry the fermented soya beans, mushrooms and chilli until fragrant which took 3-4 minutes.

PicMonkey Collage1

  • Add in the minced meat and continue to stir fry. In this process, the meat will start to secrete the meat juices. Let it simmer for 10-15 minutes until it dries up. Before it dries up, add the dark soya sauce, sugar and sesame chilli oil. Stir fry until well combined.

IMG_9643

This is the minced meat without the use of blender. In order to make it finer, I have transfer it to a blender and blend until fine. As it can be rather difficult to blend without some water, I have added some water to facilitate the blending. Therefore, I have to transfer the minced paste back to the pan for further stir frying until it dries up. REMEMBER: IF YOU USED YOUR BLENDER TO MINCE THE MEAT, FERMENTED SOYA BEANS, CHILLI, AND MUSHROOMS, YOU WILL NOT NEED TO DO THE STEPS AS STATED BELOW. The cooked meat sauce will be the same as in the illustration picture below.

IMG_9650

  • Transfer the blended meat sauce back to the frying pan and stir frying under low to medium heat until the water dries up. Best served as an condiment to go with white rice and white porridges.

IMG_96521

CONCLUSION

I believed most readers have tried this type of canned meat sauce. As this is a savoury dish with a twang of some sweetness, the measurement is for your reference and what I have stated here is those that suit my family’s taste buds. I would encouraged readers to test some meat sauce, adjust accordingly to suit your family’s taste buds before turning off the heat. 

IMG_97981

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

IMG_96561

 

For more recipes, you can refer to my

 

RECIPE INDEX (updated as at 10th February 2014)  here and you can follow me at PINTEREST or visit this blog’s FACEBOOK PAGE .  

group-board-picture72222222222222222[1]

 

If you are a Pinterest user and you are interested to have more recipes, you can join or follow this Pinterest Board set up by me  where there are more than 1500 recipes worldwide and pinned by various bloggers:FOOD BLOGGERS AND FOODIES UNITED PINTEREST BOARD. You can also join the Food Bloggers and Foodies United Group Facebook Group to see more recipes

IMG_96651

EASY PEASY BASIC MUFFIN RECIPE

Posted on by

IMG_95971

INTRODUCTION

I am a bit embarrassing to issue this post as my blueberry sunk to the bottom of the cupcake and I do know exactly what is the cause of it. As I want to maintain the moisture of the cake, my batter was rather wet and hence can’t hold the blueberry properly. In addition, as I am using dried blueberries, that make it even worst.

IMG_96161

Out of my surprise,  when I posted in some Facebook Groups, the response was very encouraging. Members were requesting for recipes and obviously, they do not care much about the sunken blueberry but the basic recipe..

IMG_96091

Yes, this is a very basic simple, fast and easy peasy recipe.. It needs only 2 eggs to prepare 9 small cupcakes size muffins and it took me only 45 minutes to get everything done. Ingredients are simplest and most basic possible. Facebook Group members have commented that they need this type of simple down to earth recipe as time is precious. In addition,  it is just a nice bake for a small family. After long consideration, I have decided to share the recipe and readers can easily adjust to suit their own taste.

IMG_95931

If the readers wanted the blueberries to stay put on top of the muffins, it is recommended to use freshly mashed blueberries and will have to add another 50 grams of plain flour  but it will become less moist as compared to the version in the illustration.

IMG_96071

The ingredients are eggs, cooking oil, milk, sugar and self raising flour. I have purposely selected cooking oil for illustration because I wanted to cut short the timing of preparation. It will be much faster if I can just use the cooking oil in the kitchen. In fact, the flavour prepared using cooking oil is different from those made from melted butters. Each have its own uniqueness.. As cooking oil is quite flavourless, therefore, the plain muffins will be full of egg aroma…resembling some type of traditional cakes sold in the bakery.

IMG_96031

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings :  About 9 cupcakes size muffins

IMG_9572

  • 2 eggs
  • 120 grams of self raising flour (170 grams with fruits, chocolate chips etc.)
  • 100 grams of cooking oil or melted butter
  • 100 grams of milk
  • 100 grams of sugar
  • 100 grams of blueberry or other dried fruits (optional)
  • 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda – not in picture
  • 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla essence (optional)

IMG_96141

STEPS OF PREPARATION

  • Preheat the oven to 175 degree Celsius.

IMG_9577

  • In a big mixing bowl, crack eggs, put oil, milk and sugar. Use a hand whisk to whisk until well combined. Add in vanilla essence and sift in self raising flour. Use a hand whisk to whisk until well combined.

IMG_9582

  • Add in blueberry, if preferred. Transfer to the muffin tins  （at least 90% full) and bake in the pre-heated oven at 175 degree Celsius for 15-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

IMG_95861

SPECIAL NOTES

  • The batter is rather watery, therefore, if you want plain muffin, you can follow this recipe. If you want to add in chocolate chips or dried fruits such as blueberry, raisins and etc., you have to add at least additional 50 grams of self raising flour. It will be slightly drier than this illustration but still delicious with a cup of coffee. If fresh blueberries were used, it have to be mashed .

  • You can always adding 2 tablespoons cocoa powder or 1 tablespoon of coffee paste or other essences (such as strawberry essences) and etc. transform it into chocolate muffin, coffee muffins and etc..

IMG_96111

  • You can easily adjust the recipe. To add an additional egg, just add 60 grams of self raising flour and 50 grams each of sugar, milk and cooking oil. One egg should yield additional 5 cupcake sized muffins.

  • Depending on your liking, I have used cooking oil for this illustration as it coincides with the purpose of time saving for busy house chefs. Feel free to change it to melted butter, vegetable shortening or even margarine if desired.

  • If you don’t have milk, just substitute with plain water. To make it moister, whipping cream can be used to substitute.

  • For it to rise beautifully, you should have your cups at least 90% full so that the batter all rose to the height of the cup and all the other uncooked batters were pushed to the centre for it to get cooked..

IMG_96011

CONCLUSION

The purpose of this post is to share with readers the very basic muffin recipe. I encourage readers to change to suit your taste buds. This is very easy and a very fast way of preparation and may be you can consider trying it.

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

IMG_96191

For more recipes, you can refer to my RECIPE INDEX (updated as at 10th February 2014)  here and you can follow me at PINTEREST or visit this blog’s FACEBOOK PAGE .  

group-board-picture72222222222222222[1]

If you are a Pinterest user and you are interested to have more recipes, you can join or follow this Pinterest Board set up by me  where there are more than 1500 recipes worldwide and pinned by various bloggers: FOOD BLOGGERS AND FOODIES UNITED PINTEREST BOARD. You can also join the Food Bloggers and Foodies United Group Facebook Group to see more recipes

IMG_96051

It Is Better To Be Late Than Never–Radish/Turnip/Carrot/Daikon Cake （腊味萝卜糕）

Posted on by

IMG_0691

UPDATED POST ON 7-11-2014

Today, I have prepared some radish cake but the simpler hawker version. As we all know, hawker version radish cake will not have anything fanciful… Just very simple radish, flour and seasoning.. I believed that is the most basic of this cake.

IMG_0698

There is no changes in the recipe.. Just ignore the meat portion and proceed the batter portion. Steam and deep fry or air fry.

IMG_0687

IMG_0695

 

IMG_95141

INTRODUCTION

Some families in Singapore and Malaysia do prepare this snack during Chinese New Year and is considered as it is considered as an auspicious dish. I should have prepared this earlier, during the Chinese New Year period, but I have hold it until today because my house is full of “foods” from Chinese New Year festival. However, I believed that it is better to be late than never. Radish cake is not a difficult cake to prepare. In fact, it is very easy as you shall read in the instructions.

IMG_95121

As inferred from its name, the main ingredient is radish (or colloquially know as white carrot). It is also called turnip cake. Rice flour is added to bind the ingredients together. In order to have a better binding, a small quantity of corn starch or 澄粉 are added.

IMG_94961

There are many types of radish cakes and this post is sharing a Hong Kong version of radish cake, the type of radish cake that have minced meat, Chinese sausages, mushrooms, dry shrimps and etc. Unlike the Singaporean and Malaysian version of radish cake, the radish cake in Singapore and Malaysia are mostly plain (with only radish and flour) and usually served by stir frying with dried radish (菜脯 or cai poh), eggs and spring onions. Another type of serving is to stir fry the plain radish cake with black sweet dark soya sauce and dried radish.

IMG_95221

This radish cake is flavourful. It is considered as a complete cake after steaming. However, in order to make it more aromatic, at times, the cake was cut into thin slices, coat with eggs and shallow fry before servings. 

As per Wikipedia:

“Turnip cake (simplified Chinese: 萝卜糕; traditional Chinese: 蘿蔔糕; Jyutping: lo4 baak6 gou1) is a Chinese dim sum dish made of shredded radish (typically Chinese radish or daikon) and plain rice flour. The less commonly used daikon cake is a more accurate name, in that Western-style turnips are not used in the dish; it is sometimes also referred to as radish cake, and is traditionally called carrot cake in Singapore. It is commonly served in Cantonese yum cha and is usually cut into square-shaped slices and sometimes pan-fried before serving. Each pan-fried cake has a thin crunchy layer on the outside from frying, and soft on the inside. The non-fried version is soft overall. It is one of the standard dishes found in the dim sum cuisine of Hong Kong, China, and overseas Chinatown restaurants. It is also commonly eaten during Chinese New Year, since radish (菜頭, chhài-thâu) is a homophone for “good fortune” (好彩頭, hó-chhái-thâu) in Hokkien. In Taiwan, turnip cake is also commonly eaten as part of a breakfast.” (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnip_cake)

IMG_95061

For this illustration, since a lot of families have a lot of pork jerky left (bak kwa) from the Chinese New Year festivals, I have replaced half of the Chinese sausages quantity with the Chinese pork jerky. The taste is equally delicious. I  have also coated the radish cakes with eggs and also stir fry in a way that was commonly sold in the Singaporean and Malaysian hawker centre.

IMG_95161

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Recipe adapted from: Lok Bak Ko

Servings: A 10 inches diameter round steaming tin (at least 10-15 person)

IMG_9445

  • 1/4 cup of Chinese sausages （腊肠） (into small pieces)
  • 1/4 cup of Chinese pork jerky （肉干）(into small pieces) *
  • 1/8 cup of red carrot (julienned) （红萝卜） – for colouring *
  • 1/4 cup of minced meat （肉碎） *
  • 1/4 cup of winter mushroom （冬菇）(soaked and into small pieces)*
  • 1/8 cup of baby shrimps or dried shrimps （虾米）(soaked and pound)
  • 1/8 cup of white end of spring onion (or garlics) （青葱） (cut into small pieces)
  • Some green end of spring onion （青葱）
  • Some red chilli (cut into small pieces) （红辣椒）*

* Optional. For Chinese sausage and pork jerky, it is substitutable.

IMG_9449

  • 500 grams of daikon  （白萝卜）or radish julienned into thin and small pieces
  • 400 grams of rice flour （粘米粉）
  • 50 grams of corn starch /wheat starch（澄粉 或 玉米粉） 
  • 2 teaspoons of white pepper (胡椒粉）
  • 2 big tablespoons of chicken stock  （鸡精块）(or 2 cubes of chicken stock) – or other types of seasonings preferred
  • 1200 ml of water （清水）

IMG_95001

STEPS OF PREPARATION

IMG_9455

  • Pour the water into a big mixing bowl. Add chicken stock or chicken cubes. I have used one tablespoon of liquid chicken stock and another one cube of solid chicken stock.. Stir until dissolved. Set aside. In another big bowl, put rice flour, corn starch and 1 teaspoon of white pepper. Make a well in the centre. Pour the chicken stock into the flour, stir using a hand whisk until well mixed. Set aside.

IMG_9460

  • Lightly greased your preferred tin for steaming. As an extra precaution, I have put a piece of baking paper to facilitate unmoulding. In a frying pan, sauté the white portion of spring onion until fragrant.

IMG_9467

  • Add in the ingredients in this order : white pepper, mushrooms, baby shrimps/pounded dried shrimps, minced meat, red carrot. Stir fry until fragrant. Add in the julienned radish. Stir fry until well mixed.

IMG_9472

  • Add in the rice flour solution prepared earlier. Stir fry until well combined and the rice solution starts to thicken. It is considered as ready when you can put a spoon upright in the centre of the mixture. Be extra careful as the thickening of rice flour can be rather fast. Transfer the half cooked batter to the steaming tin. Press it as compact as possible and avoid trapping of air. Steam in a steamer for at least 45 minutes to one hour or when a skewer inserter into the steamed cake comes out cleaned. The batter will solidify when fully cooked though it can be still soft in the centre.

IMG_94761

Stir Frying the Carrot Cake

IMG_9491

  • Let it cooled completely before cutting into small pieces. It may not be easy to cut as the middle may still a bit soft. Therefore, it is best to leave it overnight in the fridge. For this illustration, I have cut it after 4 hours after preparation, it is still a bit soft and I have decided to coat it with eggs before shallow frying. It will give an extra aroma and also  facilitate the pan frying.

  • Crack some eggs, coat the radish cake in the egg mixture. Shallow pan fry until the eggs are set. Drained the oil and serve it with chilli sauce or sambal belachan. As an alternative, you can just stir fry a piece of carrot cake with some cooking oil, make it into smaller pieces, add in some dried radish (菜脯)，crack some eggs, stir fried until the eggs is set. Add in some chopped spring onions and it will become a hawker style of stir fried radish cake.

IMG_94981

CONCLUSION

Do give it a try. You will be surprised how the pork jerky complement the taste of the radish cake. Of course, don’t specially go and buy pork jerky for the dish, almost all the side ingredients are optional and substitutable. What I am showing is the method of preparation and what is most important is the type of flour used and the ratio of water to flour.. All others is up to individual readers to explore and come out one that suit your family’s taste buds.

IMG_0693

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

PicMonkey Collage1

 

 IMG_95181

  • For more recipes, you can refer to my RECIPE INDEX (updated as at 15 October 2014)  here and you can follow me at PINTEREST or visit the blog’s FACEBOOK PAGE to keep abreast of my future posts.  

IMG_0689

Easy Peasy Asian Heart Attack Burger–Teriyaki Pork Burger

Posted on by

IMG_92691

INTRODUCTION

As an Asian, I seldom eat burger. We basically have burger when we frequented worldwide fast food chains such as McDonald, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Burger Kings and etc. However, at times, I do have urge to have this Western comfort food. As I am not taking beef, therefore, it is hard for me to buy the ready made burger patties sold in the supermarket.

IMG_92631

In fact, I do not have much choices to choose from since most burgers are beef based. So I can only have burger made from chicken like KFC’s Zinger or Colonel Burger. I do not have the chance to eat pork burger since most Malaysian and Singapore fast food outlets are “Halal” outlets meanings no selling of pork related products because of Islam. Therefore, I have decided to prepare it my way… marinate the minced pork with some Japanese teriyaki sauce and come out my very own version of Teriyaki Porky burger..

IMG_92891

Preparation is extremely simple and I have used an oven to prepare the patties and eggs. Lots of ingredients are optional depending on your preference.  Not even a single drop of oil is used. Whether or not it can be termed as a healthy burger will very much depends on the dressing used.

IMG_92801

Being an Asian style burger, I have selected mayonnaise dressing for the burger. Therefore, this burger, in my humble opinion cannot be termed as healthy and in fact it had became a sinful burger. As the meat patties are rather big, I have termed this as a “heart attack” burger, a burger which is huge and sinful enough to trigger a heart attack. Haha.

IMG_92861

Just have a lighter moment, you may be interested to refer the following articles about burger before you proceed to the preparation.

IMG_92711

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: About 4-6 big size burger

IMG_9227

Meat Marinating Ingredients

  • 500 gram of minced meat (pork belly preferred, chicken and beef is substitutable)
  • 5 big tablespoons of Teriyaki sauce
  • 3 tablespoons of Japanese rice wine, Mirin (optional)
  • 2 teaspoons of chopped garlics (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon of white pepper (optional)
  • 2 tablespoons of white sugar (not in picture)
  • Salt to taste (not in picture)
  • 1 teaspoon of dark soya sauce (not in picture) – for colouring
  • 3 teaspoons of corn starch (not in picture) – for better binding and improve meat texture
  • 6 eggs (not in picture)

IMG_9246

  • 6 standard burger buns
  • Some lettuces
  • 2 tomatoes – sliced
  • 6 breakfast cheese slice
  • 1 cup of mayonnaise
  • 3 tablespoons of condensed milk (not in picture)
  • Some white/black pepper
  • Some butter (optional)

IMG_9297

STEPS OF PREPARATION

Preparing the burger patties

IMG_9232

  • Put all the meat marinating ingredients (except eggs) together in a bowl. Stir until well mixed. Let it marinate for about 30 minutes.

IMG_9237

  • Preheat the oven at 170 degree Celsius.

  • Lightly grease some muffin tins and put the minced meat . Press it hard to make it compact. Meanwhile, crack some eggs in another muffin tray. Put the eggs tray in the centre rack whereas the minced meat tray on the top rack. Baked in the oven for 15-20 minutes. For the eggs, after 10 minutes, take out the tray if you want some runny yolks. Otherwise, take out after 15 minutes. Meanwhile, the minced meats will start to shrink and become patties with lot of meat juices.

IMG_9242

  • After 20 minutes, take out the minced meat and placed it in a baking tray. Continue baking for another 5-10 minutes or until the surface dries up. If you like juicy and light colour patties, you can bypass this step.

IMG_9244

Burger Assembly

IMG_9251

  • In a bowl, place the mayonnaise, condensed milk and some black or white pepper. Stir until well mixed.
  • Cut a burger bread into half, spread with some butter both side, put some sliced tomatoes.

PicMonkey Collage2

  • Add a piece of lettuce and cheese and eggs on one side and on the other side, place the meat patty. Top the meat patty with generous amount of mayonnaise dressing. Put both sides of the burger bun together and the burger is done. Well, in my humble opinion, there is no right or wrong way of preparing a burger, do feel free to use your own ways to prepare it.

IMG_92841

CONCLUSION

The burger is very “Asian” taste and I should say, I like the teriyaki flavoured meat patties. It is easy to prepare and use very little oils in the preparation. It took me about 1.5 hours to prepare these burgers and I am sure you can do it even faster than me with a little planning..Do give this a try and let me know whether it suits your taste buds.

IMG_92591

Hope you like the post today. Cheers.

IMG_92731

For more recipes, you can refer to my RECIPE INDEX (updated as at 10th February 2014)  here and you can follow me at PINTEREST or visit this blog’s FACEBOOK PAGE .  

group-board-picture72222222222222222[1]

If you are a Pinterest user and you are interested to have more recipes, you can join or follow this Pinterest Board set up by me  where there are more than 1500 recipes worldwide and pinned by various bloggers: FOOD BLOGGERS AND FOODIES UNITED PINTEREST BOARD. You can also join the Food Bloggers and Foodies United Group Facebook Group to see more recipes.

IMG_92951

 

Four Seasons Blog Hop #38 (February 20 2014)

Posted on by

Four Seasons Blog Hop - Easy Life Meal & Party PlanningWelcome to the Four Seasons Blog Hop

A party where we can celebrate the greatness that each season brings to our lives.
Meet Our Hosts:

So Let’s Get This Party Started!!Let's Get this Party Started Share your  food creations, gardening, clever projects, tablescapes, decorations, party themes, and inspirational knowledge … Ok, you get the point.  Join us every Thursday (opens Wednesday evening at 6:00 pm). Please stay for awhile and show some love to the guests, join us in the fun and grab a button. Four Seasons Blog Button

We will share your posts in a variety of ways on Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus.  We will also have features of the week! Be sure to follow our Four Seasons Board on Pinterest!  By participating in this linky party, you agree to have your posts shared on social media and Pinterest and to receive email and Google notifications for reminders about the party. If you don’t want to receive notifications, please let us know.

FEATURED

Another Kueh Bahulu?–Cupcake Kueh Bahulu (2) – 烘鸡蛋糕

Posted on by

IMG_91811

INTRODUCTION

When I issued my post 2 days ago on the traditional Kueh Bahulu and macaroon look alike Kueh Bahulu (If You Don’t Have The Mould Try This Macaroon Looked Alike–Kush Baulk （蛋花糕）), a number of readers are asking if it can be baked in the muffin tin.

IMG_91761

In fact it can, purely using the recipe from that post with 3 simple major ingredients (eggs, flour and sugar), it will become an angel food cake like structure and fall under the category of unshorten cake (by ingredients categorization) or foam cake (by preparation method categorization). However, being put in the muffin cups, it will be a huge mass of sponge cake that can be rather dry. Therefore, in my humble opinion, to make it more palatable, some oils/fats have to be introduced to the cake such that it is easier to down the throat.

IMG_92181

What I am sharing is 2 side variants of Kueh Bahulu. one is with minimum amount of butter and another one is with enough butter to transform it into a butter cake alike Kueh Bahulu. They still falls under the sponge cake category due to its preparation method. For the first part of preparation, it is exactly like preparing the sponge cake for steaming or CNY snack, cue baulk, but with an additional step of added melted batter to the sponge batter. For the normal butter cake preparation, what is usually done is the creaming of butter followed by adding eggs one by one, fold in the flour and bake..  (REFER TO CONCLUSON for more details)

IMG_92161

Though the output can be rather similar, however, due to its preparation method, I will still called it Kueh Bahulu as traditionally, this method is prepared using an  animal, rectangular or oval shaped Bahulu mould.  The cake was cooked over the charcoal fire rather than the oven. Elders called in 烘鸡蛋糕 or bake Jidangao.. The picture from the Wikipedia shows that the shape of Kueh Bahulu commonly sold.

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: Prepare 9-12 muffin size Kueh Bahulu

IMG_9136

Recipe 1

  • 3 large eggs
  • 150 grams of castor sugar
  • 150 grams of self raising flour
  • 80 grams of melted butter /cooking oil

Recipe 2

  • 3 large eggs
  • 150 grams of castor sugar
  • 220 grams of self raising flour
  • 150 grams of melted butter / cooking oil

Note: if you use cooking oil, the taste will be more like traditional kueh bahulu

IMG_92001

STEPS OF PREPARATION

  • Preheat the oven to 175 degree Celsius

IMG_9161

  • In a mixer, beat the eggs and vanilla essence until foamy and gradually add in the sugar. Beat until the volume expands to at least twice to three times the original quantity. In this process, you will witness the egg volume starts to expand, getting paler and paler. It will also become stickier and stickier. Once ready, ensure that egg batter drips down rather than flow down towards the mixer. Carefully sift in 1/3 of the flour. Use a spatula to stir until well combined. Repeat the same for the other 2/3 of the flour.

IMG_9166

  • Gradually add in the melted butter, stir until well mixed. it is best to divide the addition of melted butter in three to five times. Ensure that no melted butter was settled down at the mixer.

PicMonkey Collage1

  • Transfer to the muffin cups at 3/4 full and baked in the oven at 175 degree Celsius at 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

CONCLUSION

These two versions of Kueh Bahulu is less dry. I gave some to my neighbour and my neighbour loves recipe 1. She said it the type that she looked for but in the traditional flower shape. Therefore, you can also use the recipe using a flower Bahulu mould. Personally, I prefer recipe 2. I found that it taste just like butter cake. As for the name, be it butter cupcakes or Kueh Bahulu is up for you to decide…. It go just nice with a cup of coffee.

IMG_92121

I know it is confusing and I am confused too, so I have my first draft of this simple flowchart to remind me where should this cake be categorized. This diagram is prepared based on preparation method and hence Chiffon category were not included yet. I will try to re-study and update it again. I am no cake baking experts and I hope somebody can highlight to me if this diagram is acceptable  and I will appreciate any feedback.

COMPARISON

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

For more recipes, you can refer to my RECIPE INDEX (updated as at 10th February 2014)  here and you can follow me at PINTEREST or visit this blog’s FACEBOOK PAGE .  

group-board-picture72222222222222222

If you are a Pinterest user and you are interested to have more recipes, you can join or follow this Pinterest Board set up by me  where there are more than 1500 recipes worldwide and pinned by various bloggers: FOOD BLOGGERS AND FOODIES UNITED PINTEREST BOARD. You can also join the Food Bloggers and Foodies United Group Facebook Group to see more recipes.

IMG_92091

Have You Ever Try These Breakfast Buns? Pork Floss Buns (肉松面包）

Posted on by

IMG_90351

INTRODUCTION

This is a rather trendy bun in Singapore without much history. It all started (pardon me if I am wrong) when the famous bakery chain (Bread Talk) started selling this. It is really a hit when it was first introduced in Singapore many years ago. Due to its popularity, more and more bakeries are selling these dinner rolls with coating of mayonnaise and pork floss.

IMG_90411

I have to admit I like this pork floss bun so do my kids. However, we only buy this once in a while as it can be rather costly. If I am not wrong, the current price of these pork floss buns is about SGD1.50-SGD2.00 depending on which bakery you are buying from. Knowing that it is very easy to prepare and that I have lots of pork floss left from Chinese New Year gift, I have decided to prepare this pork floss bun last week end.

IMG_90561

For the benefits of my international readers, pork floss is also termed as Rousong and as per Wikipedia:

Rousong, also called meat wool, meat floss, pork floss, flossy pork, pork sung, or yuk sung, is a dried meat product with a light and fluffy texture similar to coarse cotton, originating from Fujian, China. It also spread to Taiwan. Rousong is used as a topping for many foods, such as congee, tofu, and savoury soy milk. It is also used as filling for various buns and pastries, and as a snack food on its own. Rousong is a very popular food item in Chinese cuisine and Taiwanese cuisine.

Rousong is made by stewing cuts of pork in a sweetened soy sauce mixture until individual muscle fibres can be easily teased apart with a fork. This happens when the collagen that holds the muscle fibbers of the meat together has been converted into gelatine. The teased-apart meat is then strained and dried in the oven. After a light drying, the meat is mashed and beaten while being dry cooked in a large wok until it is nearly completely dry. Additional flavourings are usually added while the mixture is being dry fried. 5 kg (11 lb.) of meat will usually yield about 1 kg (2.2 lb.)  (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rousong)

IMG_90491

Preparation is extremely easy, have the normal dinner rolls prepared, spread with mayonnaise dressing and coat with pork floss.. Though simple preparation but the taste is just awesome..If you don’t like pork floss, you can easily substitute with chicken floss or even fish floss. I have used Hokkaido soft bread milk buns for the buns recipes. It a very soft bun currently very popular in Asia.. If you would like to read more about Hokkaido soft Bread Milk Buns, you can refer to this post: Hokkaido Soft Bread Milk Loaf. Most pictures and procedures of the buns preparation were reproduced from the above mentioned post.

IMG_90601

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Recipe adapted from: Hokkaido Soft Bread Milk Loaf

Servings: Make 9-12 buns depending on desired size

IMG_1039

  • 470 grams (4.5 cups) of bread flour
  • 63 grams (0.5 cup) of plain flour
  • 250 grams of milk
  • 200 grams of whipping cream
  • 50 grams (1 egg) of eggs
  • 2 tablespoons of milk powder
  • 4 tablespoons of fine sugar
  • 3 teaspoons of dry yeast
  • 0.5 teaspoon of salt

IMG_9027

  • 3 tablespoons of condensed milk
  • 9 tablespoon of mayonnaise dressing
  • Adequate pork floss for coating (about 1-2 cups depending on individual liking)

IMG_90461

STEPS OF PREPARATION

IMG_1044

  • Put in all dry ingredients together in a stand mixer whisking bowl, make a well and add in the wet ingredients. Use a spoon to lightly stir it until it form a paste, use the stand mixer’s dough hook to beat it using slow speed for 2-3 minutes and follow by high speed for 10-15 minutes. or when the dough did not stick to the wall of your mixing bowl and do not break when you pull the dough.
  • In the flat surface dusted with normal or bread flour, take out the dough from the mixing bowl and slightly knead it using hand for 1-2 minutes and shape it into a ball. Lightly oil you mixing bowl and place the ball in the bowl. Cover with damp cloth or cling wrap (to prevent moisture loss).Leave it to proof until almost double in size. This should be about 30-45 minutes depending on the day’s temperature.

IMG_9003

  • Take the dough out, punch into the dough to let any trapped air escaped. Knead for one minute and divide equally according to your desired ball size. (For this illustration, I have divided into 9 balls of 80 grams each which is slightly bigger). Place the balls into a lightly greased baking tray. Cover with wet towel or clingy wrap to prevent moisture loss.

IMG_9008

  • Let it proof until it double in size. It took me about 1 hour but you can let it proof slightly longer until you have the time to bake it. Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 190 degree Celsius.

  • Egg wash the buns and baked in the oven for 10-15 minutes or when the fragrance of the bread starts to permeates the house. If the top start to turn brownish too soon, turn off the top heat. For egg wash, crack one egg yolk and mixed with 3 teaspoons of water and 2 drops of oil, slightly beat and sift into a small container, use a brush to brush on top of the surface. The purpose is to let the buns looks shinny and golden brown. In this illustration, my buns appeared to be too dark as I have forgotten to take out the buns when the bell rang.

IMG_90621

To prepare the Mayonnaise Dressing And Spread The Pork Floss

PicMonkey Collage1

  • In a bowl, use a spoon to mix the mayonnaise and condensed milk thoroughly. Cut open the buns and spread some dressings inside the buns. Closed and spread additional dressing on the outside of the bun. Coat the buns in a bowl of pork floss and the buns is ready for serving.

IMG_90441

IMG_90371

CONCLUSION

This is a simple recipe and there is nothing much to shout about. I have used Hokkaido milk buns recipe for this post and it is in fact some very soft buns. If you like the pork floss buns commonly sold in Singapore, you can either use the buns recipe as in this post or your own buns recipes. You can then easily prepare it at home with the preparation of the special mayonnaise dressing and pork floss.

IMG_90511

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

For more recipes, you can refer to my RECIPE INDEX (updated as at 10th February 2014)  here and you can follow me at PINTEREST or visit this blog’s FACEBOOK PAGE .  

group-board-picture72222222222222222[2][2][2]

If you are a Pinterest user and you are interested to have more recipes, you can join or follow this Pinterest Board set up by me  where there are more than 1500 recipes worldwide and pinned by various bloggers: FOOD BLOGGERS AND FOODIES UNITED PINTEREST BOARD. You can also join the Food Bloggers and Foodies United Group Facebook Group to see more recipes.

IMG_90581

If You Don’t Have The Mould Try This Macaroon Looked Alike–Kueh Bahulu （蛋花糕）

Posted on by

PicMonkey Collage2

INTRODUCTION

Just before Chinese New Year, my cleaner helper asked me if I want a Kueh Bahulu mould. She said another household wanted to throw away the mould and since she knew I like baking, she offered to bring it for me. As I knew this type of mould is not commonly on sale now, I told her that I am more than happy to keep the mould. She brought me this mould just a few days before Chinese New Year and I did not have a chance to prepare this snack before Chinese New Year. Therefore, I have decided to toy with this bronze mould today. I am baking some Kueh Bahulu – a traditional Malay snack.

IMG_9092

IMG_91251

Kueh Bahulu essentially is a type of sponge cake or baked Kueh Neng Ko. Ingredients are very simple comprising only eggs, sugar and flour. It is the baked version of the steamed sponge cake that were usually used for praying ceremony but differ in size, shape and preparation method. If you are interested to understand more about the steamed version of sponge cake, you can refer to this post: Back To Traditional Recipe of 1egg：1sugar：1flour- Traditional Steamed Sponge Cake (古早味鸡蛋糕）. Preparation is almost the same, beating eggs to light and pale and fold in the flour as light and as swift as possible.

IMG_91331

Realizing lots of readers may not have the Kueh Bahulu mould which is rather difficult to get now, I have decided to experiment if it can be baked in other shapes. I just dropped some spoonful of the batter to a baking tray with parchment paper. I baked and it becomes very crispy like a type of thin biscuits. It is addictive and I finished all that I have prepared during the first bake. I love it so much that I have decided to specially prepare another 2 eggs for this macaroon looked alike Kueh Bahulu. 

IMG_91061

If you want the crispy version, you have to take into consideration the following hints:

  • The eggs have to be well beaten until when you hold it, it drips down rather than flow down;
  • You can go an extra step to stir fry or oven bake or sun dry the flour for a few hours before preparing the Kueh Bahulu.
  • You will also need to bake the bottom for additional few minutes to force out the moisture trapped at the bottom of the mould.
  • There is a need to completely cool the Kueh Bahulu before store in a container, otherwise, the water vapour will be absorbed  back to the Kueh Bahulu making it a bit chewy.

To make it crispy again, re-bake in the oven (at about 100 degree Celsius) or oven toaster for additional 3-4 minutes. It will become crispy again.

IMG_91171

IMG_91041

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: Prepare 30-40 Kueh Bahulu

Recipe adapted from: Kueh Bahulu from Kimmy Pleasures

IMG_9064

  • 4 eggs
  • 120 grams of self raising flour
  • 120 grams of sugar
  • Some vanilla essence (optional)

IMG_91141

STEPS OF PREPARATION

IMG_9069

  • Lightly grease a Kueh Bahulu mould and pre-heat the oven and the mould at 200 degree Celsius.

  • In a mixer, beat the eggs and vanilla essence until foamy and gradually add in the sugar. Beat until the volume expands to at least twice to three times the original quantity.

IMG_9074

 

  • In this process, you will witness the egg volume starts to expand, getting paler and paler. It will also become stickier and stickier. Once ready, ensure that egg batter drips down rather than flow down towards the mixer. Carefully sift in 1/3 of the flour. Use a spatula to stir until well combined. Repeat the same for the other 2/3 of the flour.

IMG_9079

  • Fill the Bahulu mould with the batter and bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes. If you want crispy version, Use a satay stick and take out the Bahulu and ensure that the bottom is facing up. Send back to the oven and bake for another 3-4 minutes (or until your desired texture). Let it cooled completely before store in the container.

IMG_91211

If you do not have the Kueh Bahulu mould, try the following method.

.PicMonkey Collage1

  • In a baking tray with parchment paper, drop a teaspoon of batter on top of the baking paper. Knock the baking tray against the table top to get rid of any trapped bubbles. (Note: A well beaten batter should not spread like liquids, it should spread rather slowly. In addition, like macaroons, you can draw some circle in the baking paper and transfer the batter to a piping bag. Pipe the batter inside the drawn circle.) Leaves adequate space for expansion (about 1 finger wide). Bake in the oven at 180 degree Celsius for 10 minutes or until the top part turn golden brown. To ensure crunchiness, turn the Kueh Bahulu and baked for another 3-4 minutes. (Note that like cookies, it will be slightly soft when hot). Cooled completely on a wire rack before transfer to an airtight container.

IMG_91121

CONCLUSION

This post came a bit late. It should be issued before Chinese New Year. However, since Chinese New Year is over and if you are still thinking of Kueh Bahulu, you may want to try baking it using the above 3 ingredient simple recipe. If you do not have a Kueh Bahulu mould, do try the macaroon looked alike version. It is equally tasty. Personally, I like the macaroon look alike version.. Remember the few points mentioned if you want your Kueh Bahulu to be crispy. If it become stale, send back to the oven again at low temperature (100 degree Celsius) and re-bake for 3-4 minutes, it will become crispy again..

IMG_91231

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

IMG_91021

For more recipes, you can refer to my RECIPE INDEX (updated as at 10th February 2014)  here and you can follow me at PINTEREST or visit this blog’s FACEBOOK PAGE .  

group-board-picture72222222222222222[2][2]

If you are a Pinterest user and you are interested to have more recipes, you can join or follow this Pinterest Board set up by me  where there are more than 1500 recipes worldwide and pinned by various bloggers: FOOD BLOGGERS AND FOODIES UNITED PINTEREST BOARD. You can also join the Food Bloggers and Foodies United Group Facebook Group to see more recipes.

IMG_91271