Potstickers (Guo Tie, Jiao Zi, Gyoza or Yaki Mandu)

Potstickers...now, this is one snack which everyone loves. I came across so many other names for this little babies ~ gou tie, jiao zi, gyoza, yaki mandu...the list goes on for the same old thing. Hub was pestering me to whip up some gou tie as he wasn't too keen to buy it outside. He said its too expensive - 6 pieces for $7.50

So...I went into the kitchen, ransack my fridge and voila!....made my gou tie skin with plain flour and water, marinated my minced pork with napa cabbage, chives, sesame oil, soy sauce, seasonings, ginger and chinese cooking wine. I let the dough and my marinate sit for an hour before I begun.  I really am not good in plaiting the gou tie but I guess it really does not matter as its for my family...ha!ha!

After an hours, I rolled out the skin. As you can see from the photo below, my skin is not as round as the commercial bought ones. Then I seal the edges with some water and plait it. Gou tie has a thicker skin and its chewy. After that I shallow fry and followed by steaming  the gou tie.

When I was a child, gou tie was only eaten during festivals like Chinese New Year. My Grandma will even hide a clean coin into one of the gou tie for the lucky one. However, these days, gou tie can be found in spring, summer, fall and winter. Aren't we lucky...ha!ha!

Here's some photos to share:

The verdict from my hubby - DELICIOUS!!!

Sweet Buffet Showpieces

I was very excited when I started my showpieces class. We learnt how to use sugar, chocolate, pastillage and marzipan to build our showpieces.

The sugar base is made with sugar and vinegar. If we want it to look better, we can add in some black sesame seeds. As for pastillage, its a sugar dough. Its like playdough but it hardens really fast. When its hard and you drop it, it shatters like glass. For chocolate, we use modelling chocolate and it made out of chocolate and light corn syrup.

When I was trying to put together my very first showpiece, the sugar base broke into few pieces...(really wanted to cry!!!) and then my pastillage broke into 2 pieces (definitely gonna cry)...things really not going my way....Oh well, in the end, my first showpiece turned out like this.

Here's some photos which I took at my showpiece class:

Really hope that I will do well for my practical exam...fingers cross!!!

Happy Halloween 3D Cake

I have been pretty busy this Halloween....firstly, my little Prince wanted cupcakes with spiders. Then, my hub wanted a cake for the boys as they were working on Halloween night. So, the boys decided to have a small potluck. Hub volunteered to bring a Halloween cake...that means, little old me will be baking one.  Oh well, since its for the boys, I decided to make a witch....he!he!he!

For the cake itself, I used the mud cake recipe. I also made some chocolate ganache for the filling. Then I covered the cake with fondant.  Here's a photo of my Halloween Witchery Witch Cake.

That's all for now....

Happy Halloween, big boys!!!

A Family of Whales Cake

I was walking around the neighbourhood with my 2 kiddos and met our neighbour on the way home.  She was looking at the cakes and stuff.  She was so excited...ah, I remember when I was planning for my prince's first birthday.  That's what she was doing today...planning, wanting to make it perfect.

She was looking a little upset and I asked her how was her day. She kept saying that she has been asking several bakeries if they could make a 3D cake for her with a family of whales.  She kept saying that her boy loves whales as he has a collection of them for his bath time play, etc, etc, etc.  I know how important the "1ST" birthday is for every Mom.  I told her that it might not be perfect but if she doesn't mind, I would love to bake her little boy that cake.  Its my gift to him.  When we got home, my hub told me that he just received an invitation from our neighbour, inviting us to their son's 1st birthday.....ha!ha!

So, here's the cake I baked for this little boy.  The cake is a vanilla sponge cake with strawberry cream fillings, wrapped with fondant.  We brought the cake to the little boy and he was screaming with joy...kept on screaming...whallllllle, whalllllle, whallllllllle.  His Mom kept saying "thank you".  I am so happy that I made the little boy and his family so happy!

Here's the cake which I made for the little boy!  Its something simple but did catch the eye of the birthday boy.

Till next time..happy baking!

Cupcakes with Love

We were planning a nice day out with the family but I received a phone call asking if I could bake some cupcakes.  An old friend of ours is down as someone broke her heart. My whole bunch of girlfriends wanted to sent the message across - WE LOVE YOU! We are here for you! I told them that I could come out with something simple as I really do not have much time to bake and decorate...especially if I only have 2 hours max.

So...with a simple chocolate cake recipe, I baked the cupcakes. While I was baking it, I made the buttercream with 1 shot of espresso. I also wanted to send the message that we LOVE her!  So...here's what I came out with....something SIMPLE.

Brought over the cupcakes and when I saw her face... I knew she got our message!
My dearest friend....we are here for you!!!

Happy Halloween Cupcakes

We don't really celebrate Halloween in our family but my little prince wanted to bring some Halloween cupcakes to school to celebrate with his friends.  He asked me what is Halloween and I had to read about it before explaining it to him...me bad, right? It seems that its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain. This is the time where the 2 worlds - living and the dead overlaps. Wow...that sounds so much like our 7th Month (Ghost Month). It seems also that the masks and consumes were worn in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or appease them. This is indeed so interesting. To read more about it, please visit http://www.halloweenhistory.org/

These are the cupcakes which I made for my little prince.  I used a simple chocolate cake recipe which my kids love and iced it with orange buttercream and spiders which I bought from the neighbourhood shop.
Verdict - they loved it!

Pirate Ship Cake

My Little Mermaid cake was a hit in the birthday party and one of the ladies at the party approached me and asked me if I could do a cake for her son. Since she is the sister of my friend, its hard to say no. Furthermore, her son is just so cute. I asked this little guy what he wanted and he said "Grrrr...a pirate ship, yo mattey!"  His Mom asked for a small cake as the children will be eating the cupcakes. So, my mission is to do a small 8 inch cake and surround the pirate ship with cupcakes.

Boy oh boy...I didn't know that its so tedious to do the pirate ship.  It took me ages but thank goodness I finished it just in time. The birthday boy didn't want any pirates or anything on the ship as he wanted to put his own lego pirates or something.  So, it has to be empty.

Here's a couple of photos of the pirate ship cake...

I was so worried that the birthday boy would not like it but....phew!!!! He was so happy when he saw it!  Just had to remove some things for his pirates to sail on it!

Till next time...happy baking, everyone!!!

Edible Chocolate Box

Have you ever eaten a chocolate box? I have never eaten one before as it is so expensive. However, this semester, I had a chocolate subject and boy oh boy did we eat all the chocolate we wanted. I really gained quite a number of kilos due to this class...ha!ha!  Chocolate boxes are a perfect give to anyone, actually. I thought it was hard to do but actually, its pretty easy.  Its the waiting time which is hard. We just had to temper the chocolate, spread it out and cut the shapes for the chocolate box. Once its harden, we will then assemble the chocolate box and lastly decorate.  Here's a chocolate box which I did.

Little Mermaid Cake

I am still a novice when it comes to cake decorating.  However, when a friend of mine came and asked me to do a birthday cake for her daughter, I gladly said yes! Furthermore, she is a darling and I don't want to break her heart as she came with her Mom to ask me. My friend told me that something simple will do as its so last minute. Her daugther wanted Little Mermaid...as she said "Just Ariel will do" but  must have my name on it, Aunty! And that's what I did..."just Ariel" and her name...ha!ha!  I didn't had much time as they only gave me 2 days warning (as I call it)...ha!ha!

The cake which I made is from my Grandma's recipe - Fruit Cake. I covered it with a layer of buttercream and then wrapped it with fondant. Ariel is from gumpaste and the rest is piped with buttercream. I was worried that her daughter will not like it but when I got a call from my friend telling me that everyone was asking for my contact and how happy her daughter was (MMS-ed me a photo of her daughter and the cake)...I could breathe again...:)

Here's a photo which I took before my buddy came and took the cake for the birthday party.

That's all for this post...nothing much to add! Just so glad that I didn't ruin a girl's birthday!

Till next time....happy baking!!!

White Bread Loaf

My 2 precious were asking me if they could have some white bread and there was only 1 piece left. Hence, I decided to bake another 2 loaves of bread. My Prince has begun to request for egg sandwiches, chicken nugget sandwiches (made from home, not deep fried, baked), etc. However, he did say that he wants the bread to be as soft as those commercial ones. For me, I am trying my best not to let them eat too much chemicals add-ons (preservatives).

I have been trying quite a number of recipes...somehow, when I give it to my kids, they will immediately know its not from Breadtop. This is my quest...to make homemade bread and its similar to the commercial ones and my kids will not be able to tell the difference immediately. Gosh...this is just so hard for me.

Made another 2 recipes for white loaf bread...
It was OK for the 1st two days (very soft, just like the commercial ones)...but on the 3rd day.......... :(

Onwards...my quest for the homemade bread which is like the commercial bread continues....
Till next time...happy baking!!!

Bak Kut Teh, Pig's Trotter in Sweetened Vinegar and Salted Vegetable

I remember those nights when DH and I went out and ate bak kut teh, chee keok chou, salted vegetables and yau char kway when we went back to our homeland.  These BKT stalls open till wee hours and as we were in a way "tourists"...we can neglect our sleeping time and makan all the way. When we got home, we missed those times as 99% of the shops close after 11pm.  Now and then, we will make our own version of bak kut teh  and chee keok chou. However, we never made 2 of the dishes together.

This week, we were talking about it and was thinking of whipping up these 2 dishes together...trying to re-capture those memories of the good old days. We made both...Chee Keok Chou and Bak Kut Teh.  Here's the 2 photos which I managed to take before a group of us (including our peng yu) ate it all up...ha!ha!

We also made steamed veggies with oyster sauce to go with our rice...must have our veggies!!!

Till our next food adventure....ta-daa!!!

Mee Goreng

Whenever I mentioned Mee Goreng, my friends tend to think its an Indian dish. However, mee goreng is a famous 1-dish meal from Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. Each race (Chinese, Indian, Malay and Eurasians) have their own version of this humble dish.

For me, I have my own version too which is passed down by my Grandma. I firstly prepare the mise-en-place which consists of garlic, shallots, fishballs/fishcakes, cubed potatoes, cubed chicken meat, beansprouts (taugeh), eggs and the sauces (dark sweet sauce, chilli paste, tomato sauce, chilli sauce, soy sauce and seasonings). Once I get my mise-en-place, its cooking time. Heat up the wok with some oil, and fry the garlic and shallots till fragrant. Add in potatoes, fishballs/fishcakes, cubed chicken meat and goreng (fry) till the meat is cooked. Add in the yellow noodles, fry for a minute or two, make a well and add in the eggs.  Scramble it and mix it with the noodles. Add in the sauce and lastly the taugeh.  Serve it hot (that's the best) and top some fried shallots, a squeeze of lime and red chilli.

Here's a photo of the mee goreng we had tonite....

One word... S E D A P !!!

Oh...before I forget, remember the soft buns which I made...its still pretty soft today!!! :)

Till next time....

Happy cooking!!!

Soft Buns

My 2 precious just love Breadtop breads and I am trying so hard to bake it at home and I found another recipe  from Alex Goh and here's how it went. Even though its Spring now, the weather has turn cold....its 15 degrees C now.

As always, I used my mixer with the dough hook to knead the dough. I don't have any expensive, arty farty equipment...just my humble Sunbeam Mixmixer and a desktop oven. I kneaded the dough for 12-13 mins and once I was able to see the window (window test), I let the dough proof till it doubled in size in the bowl. It took me more than 2 hours for my 1st proof. Once its doubled in size, I punched down,divide and roll into 40g dough balls.  Then, allow it to proof till it double in size again.  The weather turned colder, down to 13 degrees C and I decided to proof it with my MV. Finally, I eggwash and bake it in the oven at 200 degrees C till its golden in colour which took me about 12-15 mins.

What's the verdict? Who are my testers? My 2 precious and of course my DH.  It was really soft and fluffy but I am really not sure it will be so tomorrow and the following day.  My little Princess loved it and asked for seconds. Will update this post in a few days time.

Here's a photo or two of the little buns:

Happy baking, everyone!!!

Wat Tan Hor

Now...this is my another all time favourite 1-dish meal. Wat Tan Hor is a really popular dish is South East Asia countries like Malaysia and Singapore. I even found this dish in Thailand. Some places even sell is with ngau yoke (beef slices).  However, we don't eat beef due to our religion. Therefore, instead of beef, I tend to use chicken and other meat as a replacement.  It a simple dish to prepare...

Firstly, fry the hor fun (flat rice noodles) with oil and sesame oil. Add in some soy sauce and dark caramel sauce to give it some colour.  Fry it till the corners get a little burnt. Scoop and set aside.

Next, prepare the gravy. Just heat up the wok, add is some oil, garlic and ginger.  Add in the meat and stir-fry till its cooked. Add in the stock and bring it to boil. Throw in the fishballs, fishcake and other veggies. Add in cornflour mixture (to thicken the gravy) and seasonings. Once its cooked and just before dishing it out, add in the egg and stir till its cook. Pour the gravy over the hor hun and serve. Sedap!!! (Yummylicious!)

Here's a photo of my humble wat tan hor.

Till next time... Happy wat tan hor-ing!!!

Rice Cooker Chicken Rice with Veggies (new style of Claypot Chicken Rice)

I guess some of you know "Claypot Chicken Rice" very well.  This was one of my favourite dinner dish and I could only eat in on weekends as my family were free to bring me out and makan.  This 1-dish meal is normally served with lap cheong (chinese sausage) and vegetables like pak choy, dried mushrooms, etc. There will also be hum yu (salted fish) on the side. This dish is cooked in a claypot where the rice is cooked first.  Then, the marinated chicken, lap cheong and other ingredients are added in few minutes before the rice is cooked.  One thing I remembered...I had to wait very very long for this dish.

When I was younger, I often urged my Grandma to teach me how to cook this dish and when I grew older and were allowed to use the kitchen, I made this dish each week.  The "adults' always asked me if I jelak or not...since when will I be jelak of my own cooking...ha!ha!

When I got married, I still cooked this dish with a claypot. But, now, with my 2 precious, I take short-cuts. I also add in more vegetables...got to ensure they have their servings of veggies.  So, I ended up using my humble rice cooker.  So, here's my version of the this yummy dish that I don't get jelak with.

That's all for now...
Till my next cooking adventure....
Happy makan-ing!!!

Thin Butter Cookies

Butter cookies especially the ones in the big round blue tin (Kjeldens Danish Butter Cookies) was a favourite when DH and I were young. Once we finish eating those cookies, those big tins will be as boxes to store countless of stuff. Whenever I came across any butter cookies recipes, I begged my Grandma to try it, hoping that I could eat those yummy cookies whenever I wanted, not when the "adults" felt like buying it for me. However, I could never ever find any recipes which taste like Kjeldens.

Just few days ago, a friend of mine e-mailed me with a recipe with huge words stating that this is THE recipe which I was looking for since I was a young girl. I could not wait to try the recipe and as always, my tester is my DH...ha!ha!  The request was to have thin cookies...reminds me of thin mints....maybe I should find a recipe for that too... :)

The verdict...the cookies is not Kjeldens but its good enough for the whole family to finish it within the same day...cookie monsters!!!

Here's a photo of the cookies....

Till next time...keep munching, cookie monsters!!!

Mooncakes...

I am on a roll today...ha!ha! Its another post about my rumblings..my nonsense as my DH calls it. The mooncake festival has gone..its over. So, why in the world am I writing about it?  My little Prince was given a piece of mooncake at the temple and he said that the old uncle told him that this mooncake comes from the moon and there is a story behind it. My little Prince kept pestering me to tell him the story about the mooncake and I told him this version and it goes like this (my version, anyway):

There's a beautiful Goddess named Chang-Er who lives on the moon. That's why when the moon is full, if you try hard enough, you will see this beautiful Goddess. She lives there with her only companion which is the Jade Rabbit. Whenever you see the full moon, you know that Chang-Er has visitors and she is doing a wonderful dance for them and chatting with them. During the mid-Autumn festival, a lot of families will set up an altar facing the full moon and worship Chang-Er. Mooncakes are placed on the altar for her blessings and she will blessed her worshippers with good health.  That's why we have mooncakes during the mid-Autumn festival as these mooncakes resembles the moon, in honor of her.  I am not a good storyteller...I just wanted him to associate the moon with Chang-Er and the Jade Rabbit. When he is bigger, I will tell him the real version.

I wanted to make some mooncakes this year but since DH's friends were giving us boxes of it, I decided not to. We tried several brands and I must say that this brand tastes like Kum Lun Tai (our all time favourite)...yummylicious!!!

Here's a photo or two of the mooncakes which we really love eating this year. Its from Hong Kong Elegant Flower. This is called the double yolk mooncake.

Here's the real version of the Chang-Er story from http://www.travelchinaguide.com/essential/holidays/mid-autumn.htm

The story of Chang E is the most widely accepted tale regarding the origins of the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is said that in ancient times, ten suns existed and the extreme heat made people's lives very difficult. It was the hero Hou Yi who, owing to his great strength, shot down the nine of the ten suns. On hearing of this amazing feat and the hero who performed it, people came from far and wide to learn from him. Peng Meng was among these people. Later, Hou Yi married a beautiful and kind woman named Chang E and lived a happy life.

One day, Hou Yi came upon Wangmu (the queen of heaven) on the way to meet his old friend. Wangmu presented him an elixir which, if drunk, would cause him to ascend immediately to heaven and become an immortal. Instead of drinking the potion himself, Hou Yi took it home and presented it to Chang E to keep. Unfortunately, Peng Meng secretly saw Hou Yi give the potion to his wife and three days later, while Hou Yi was out hunting, Peng Meng rushed into the backyard and demanded that Chang E hand over the elixir. Knowing that she could not win, she took out the elixir and swallowed it immediately. The moment she drank it, she flew out of the window and up into the sky. Chang E's great love for her husband drew her towards the Moon, which is the nearest heavenly body to the earth.

On realising what happened to his wife, Hou Yi was so grief stricken that he shouted Chang E' s name to the sky. He was amazed to see a figure which looked just like his wife appeared in the Moon. He took the food liked by Chang E to an altar and offered it as a sacrifice for her. Hou Yi's neighbours also burned incense and prepared food to express their good wishes to the kind Chang E. This became a custom later every year.

Till next time....take care, folks!!!

Meet The Dinosaurs...Explore-a-saurus

To continue with my previous post about school holidays....
Besides bring my 2 precious to Fairy Park, we also went to the zoo and to Sciencework where we brought them to Meet The Dinosaurs.  I really had to do some reading up before the trip as I know nuts about dinosaurs except from all the movies I watched.  I ended up reading a simple book about dinosaurs (Meet The Dinosaurs by DK Readers) to my kids and they really enjoyed the trip to Sciencework.  So, who did they meet there?
Apatosaurus
Maiasaura
Muttaburrasaurus
Stegosaurus
Triceratops
Tyrannosaurus Rex

When my little Prince commented that its hard to pronounce the names of the dinos, I remembered The Doodlebops and searched for the DVD and played it for him. After several days of watching The Doodlebops, I am proud to say my little Prince can now call the dinos by their names...wohoo!!!

Here's some photos to share:

And I will end this post with the Doodlebops song -


If your having trouble
And you can't remember
How to say certain things
All you've got to do
Is sing a little tune and
Make it like a little game

Tricera cera tops tops Triceratops
Tricera cera tops tops Triceratops is the name

Hey, that works really well
What do you think?

Veloca loca raptor raptor Velocarapoter
Veloca loca raptor raptor Velocarapoter is the name

Wow, I like it, it really goes work

Lets try one more time
Here we go

Stego stego saurus saurus Stegosaurus
Stego stego saurus saurus Stegosaurus is the name

All right
Now you try it
With Stegosaurus

Stego stego saurus saurus Stegosaurus
Stego stego saurus saurus Stegosaurus is the name


I think we should do it one more time

Stego stego saurus saurus Stegosaurus
Stego stego saurus saurus Stegosaurus is the name

School Holidays...

This is not a post about food...its about a Mum's roles in a family.  How did I ended up talking about this? Well...as you all know, school holidays have started and I have to put on my planner hat to plan activities for my 2 precious. I chatted with a friend of mine and she was amazed that I had so much energy even though I have 2 active kids. Boy, oh boy, she doesn't see me all tired out, dying to crawl into my warm bed...

I never knew before I got married that being a married woman needs to wear so many hats - Wife (to my DH), Mother (to my 2 precious kids), Daughter (to my parents), Friend (to my friends), Teacher, Artist, Chef, Chambermaid, Cleaner, Taxi Driver, Police Officer cum Detective, Counsellor, Nurse (to my family)....the list goes on, I tell you.  24 hours a day is just not enough and no matter how hard you try, even though you neglect your precious "sleeping hours", somehow, something is just NOT done...like folding the laundry, vacuuming the carpet, etc. There's no more "Me" time once you are a Mother.  So, when DH gives me this precious gift "I take care of the kids and you do what you want to do", I will take it without a single thought as its a seldom thingy. But, DH is my rock...he helps whenever he can and I really appreciate and love him for it.

Spring is here and we finally decided to bring our 2 precious to Fairy Park as we felt that they know the fairy tales pretty well now. So, we head off to Fairy Park at 8ish and we got there within 2 hours.  We had fun there and I was really happy to hear my 2 precious telling us the stories about Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, etc. I am so proud to hear my 2 precious being our personal storytellers of the day. :)  We walked through the Fairytale Land, went to the Model Trains room, went up the Summit and after lunch, went down to the Camelot Playground.

Here's some photos of our trip to Fairy Park

We really had a wonderful time at Fairy Park.  Will definitely go again...

And they live happily ever after....

Whistling Pasta

Remember when I was talking about the whistling pasta the other day...my little Price kept asking me to cook it for him and his sister and I finally got my DH to buy some Penne pasta and we made this for dinner yesterday. My little Prince stood at the gate between the kitchen and the living room and watched me cooked it. So, I became his "Master Chef" for the day as he puts it.  He wanted the creamy pasta instead of the tomato base ones. He also told me that he wanted ham, cheese, this and that in his whistling pasta. My little Prince is growing up... *teary eyes*

So, here's a photo of our humble dinner...

What will my little Prince wants for dinner tomorrow?

Till then...tadaa!!!

 

Almond Meal Egg Tarts

A friend of mine was dying to have some egg tarts but she is gluten intolerance. We were talking about how she could tahan for so long, etc, etc... I did some research and came out with a recipe using almond meal. Called her to ask if almond meal is OK with her and she said, do the egg tarts please!!!  So, that's what I did and she was all ready to drive to my house..ha!ha!

Almond meal flour is totally different from our usual flour. Its made from ground almonds and it feels like corn meal flour.  Firstly, I made the tart casings with the almond meal, butter and egg yolk and place it in the fridge for 30 mins. I then made the egg custard with eggs, sugar, evaporated milk and vanilla essence. When its ready, I took out the almond meal dough, roll the pieces into a ball and flatten it on my palm. I then slowly, place it into the moulds and lightly flatten it with my fingers. Mind you, the dough is soft and crumbly. Then I poured the egg custard and baked at 200 degrees C for 15 mins.

The tart casing turned out very crumbly but it tasted really nice. Here's a photo or two of the almond meal egg tarts.  My friend came over and had 3 pieces... :)

Mission accomplish! Wohoo!!!

Chocolate Cake

My little Prince was singing this little rhyme...My Mummy is great, My Mummy is better than chocolate cake and I asked him where he learnt it and he said its from The Cat In The Hat DVD..ha!ha! That made my DH yearning for a piece of real chocolate cake!

I have been dying to try a recipe given by a friend of mine. She said that its out of this world. So, since there's a request in the house, I decided to bake myself a chocolate cake with ganache icing.  Instead of just adding hot water, I added 3/4 cup of cappuccino. The only that I did not have enough was the chocolate for the ganache....meh, its alright! It would still taste yummylicious!!! What can be more fabulous than chocolate cake since it makes you happy!  Scientists have mentioned that eating chocolate makes you happy because it contains phenylephylamine (the same hormone the brain triggers when you fall in love). I don't mind falling in love with my DH and my 2 precious kids every single day...yes-siree!!!

Here's a photo or two of the chocolate cake.

Bate, bate, chocolate...
Happy chocolate-caking!!!

Mun Yee Mee (Braised Yee Mee Noodles) & Rice Cooker Chicken Rice

Mun Yee Mee (Braised Yee Mee Noodles) is an all favourite 1-Dish Meal in my family.  Its a really easy dish to do. Firstly, I will just "mun" which is a Cantonese word for braised the dried mushrooms with a stock made of chicken broth, oyster sauce, soy sauce, chinese cooking wine and seasonings. Once its ready, just add in the meat of your choice, fishcakes, fishballs, etc. Then add in the yee mee and vegetables. Lastly, break 1-2 eggs into the noodles and braise for another 1-2 mins. Voila...that's it! Lunch is ready!!!

Here's a photo of the Mun Yee Mee.

Hainanese Chicken Rice...this is another 1-Dish Meal which my family won't get jelak with. I can tell you this...they can eat chicken rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner if you allow them to.  Whenever I cook chicken rice for my friends, they will always associate it with Singapore. Hmm..I always wonder why they do that since there's also chicken rice in Malaysia and Thailand.
If you follow the old fashion way of preparing this dish, you will have to boil the whole chicken in a broth made from chicken bones and pork bones (optional).  After its cooked, it will be dipped into ice water and this type of chicken is known as "white chicken" (pak cham kai). According to my Grandma, to maximize the oil extraction, I should use old and fat (plump) chicken. This stock will be for the rice preparation besides garlic, ginger, lard (chee yau char) and pandan leaves. We also have to prepare the chicken rice chilli sauce which consists of red chilli, ginger and garlic with squeezes of lime juice. Some places will have cucumbers, tomatoes and even oyster sauce kai lan vegetable to complete the dish.  This is the method which I followed when I was younger. However, now, I will use any short-cut method I can find or come out with as I am always so busy with my DH and my 2 precious kids. It seems like 24 hours a day is just ain't enough.

How do I do it? Simple...just marinate the chicken with sesame oil and soy sauce for at least 1 hour. Prepare the rice like the old fashion way - fry garlic and ginger with oil and sesame oil. If you want to use lard, by all means. Then I will fry the chicken for a minute or two, scoop up the chicken and fry the washed rice till its coated with the oil in the pot. Pour in your chicken stock, some seasonings and place the chicken on top of the rice. Add in your pandan leaves and cook it in your rice cooker as normal. I am happy to say that this method works well for my family and my friends (they did try it at home and their families loved it).

Here's a photo of the rice cooker chicken rice:

Till next time, happy makan-ing!!!

Spaghetti in Creamy Sauce

My little Prince is growing up and these days, he will come up with a list of things he wants for lunch or dinner :) In the late afternoon, he was asking his sister if they should have the whistling pasta for dinner tonite.  He called the penne pasta as the whistling pasta as he found out that he could whistle with it..ha!ha! However, we were out of penne pasta. So, I told him that we will become Cow-boys & Cow-girls tonite and have lasso pasta...ha!ha!....that's spaghetti to us adults.  He was a little disappointed but since I had time, I played Cowboys and Red Indians with him and that worked...phew!!!

I made a simple pasta for dinner as I was kind of down...might have caught a cold or something. I just boiled the pasta and while it was boiling, I chopped some garlic, ham, cauliflower (must hide this babies or my 2 precious will not eat it) and got ready the mixed herbs, thickened cream and cheese. Made dinner within 30 mins...wohoo!!  Here's a photo of our dinner:

Addio fino alla prossima volta!!!

Thai Fried Rice

My little Prince was asking why we don't go to any restaurants to eat like his friends in school. I guess at his little age, eating at home means eating healthier means nothing to him. So, DH decided to bring all of us to a chinese restaurant in Chinatown for some "restaurant" food. My little Prince fell in love with their Thai Fried Rice and was urging me to cook it again today. So, I came up with a version close enough for my prince to say "Mummy, Mummy! Its just like the one in the restaurant!!!"

Its a simple fried rice with garlic, onions, fishcake/fishballs, eggs, pineapple, kicap manis, Thai sweet chilli sauce and seasonings. Here's a photo of my version of Thai Fried Rice.

Laaeo phohp gan mai!!!!

Sugarworks

Sugarworks or Sugar Sculpture is really where you get your creativity juices flowing.  One really needs to get the techniques right first though - cast sugar, pulled sugar, straw sugar and blown sugar. Rock Sugar, Pressed Sugar, Spun Sugar and Pastillage are also in the list. It really takes time and lots of patience to do this...trust me on this as I cursed a few times under my breath in my sugarwork classes. If you have watched Kings of Pastry, you will know that it gets really emotional too. My heart broke when I watch the beautiful sugar piece broke and shattered and I really salute the Chef who continued finishing his art piece....yes siree!!!

Cast Sugar is the easiest as you just need to pour the sugar into mold or you can even do free hand.  You use this as a base. Here's a piece which was made from cast sugar only.

In the 2nd week, we made Pulled Sugar in class. Once the sugar is cooked, we had to pour it onto the silpat mat and we had to fold, twist and pull. This traps air and gives it a fantastic shine.  Mind you, its really hot and we had to rest our hands on the bench after 2-3 twists and pulls. We can make ribbons, flowers, leaves, etc with pulled sugar.  Here's a piece which was made from Cast Sugar (base) and Pulled Sugar.

In the 3rd & 4th week, we learnt Straw Sugar and Blown Sugar.  We made Straw Sugar from the Pulled Sugar. As the name stated, its sugar that looks like straw. You can even use it as a straw and drink from it...tried it and it worked..ha!ha!  As for blown sugar, you have to take a piece of Pulled Sugar and place it onto the tip of the bronze pipe which is attached to a hand pump. You really have to pump it slowly or it will burst and slowly shape it into anything you want. Here's two photos of Straw Sugar and Blown Sugar.

So...here's the few basic techniques and once you have mastered these techniques, you can create a wonderful sugar sculpture. It seems that sugar sculptures are becoming more and more popular and maybe, just maybe I will find it on a wedding cake one of these days.

A Family Of Four in a Purple Hot Tub Cake

Boy oh boy...I was excited and nervous when one of my buddies requested for a 3D cake. She said that it must be a purple hot tub, it must have her whole family in it, etc, etc, etc. Its just for a small family gathering, nothing big. She gave me all the details and here is what I came out with.  I was nervous, anxious, etc, etc, etc....coz I do not want to spoil her special day.  When she saw the cake, she hugged me...phew!!!  All good!!!  Here's the cake I made for her.

Another order coming in...cupcakes this time!!! All ready to B A K E and D E C O R A T E !!!