Japanese Roll Cake - 2nd Attempt

I am the joke in this household at the moment...sigh!!! How can I call myself a baker if I can't even bake a simple swiss roll / roll cake perfectly. *Embarrassing siah!!!*  I was telling my Chef about it and he said, no one is perfect, girl. Even he himself who has 40 years of experience still cannot do some items. But, he told me not to give up ever...yes-siree...am NOT going to give up.

This time around, am going to make a simple roll cake...just with cream. My little prince complained that the jam which I spread on the roll cake the first time wasn't his "favourite".  He would prefer to have roll cake with cream only.  So, this time around, its roll cake with cream only for my little prince.  I tried a new recipe for my 2nd attempt. Since its hard to get cake flour here, I used plain flour and cornflour.

Here's a photo of my roll cake, rolled and ready to be placed in the refrigerator. This will be chilled for at least 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, I kept my fingers crossed, opened it up and cut the roll....took a deep breath and "phew!!!"....I finally able to say, I did it.  Not as perfect as I would like it to be, but, its good enough for me. My other half and my little prince and little princess ate it happily.

Till next time....ta-daa

Beef Hor Fun

Beef hor fun is a hawker delight which is a favourite to all beef lovers.  However, my Grandma often said that even though it looks easy, it isn't really that easy to cook. For example, the hor fun must be loose, like one piece by one piece and not in clumps. Also, the hor fun must be brownish with a hint of burnt on it. Even though one can pass this stage, the beef itself may be a problem...too tough, no taste, etc. Lastly, the gravy...it must have the oomph!!! Aiyoh...its pretty leceh but whenever I cook this, my family seems to love it.  So..here's a photo of my humble beef hor fun.

That's it for now...till next time...happy wok-ing!

Basic Japanese Roll Cake

My little prince wanted to have swiss roll for his morning tea and I am one person who is just pretty hopeless in rolling up a swiss roll / roll cake. However, since my little prince asked for it, what can a mother do but to bake it for him.  Since its only for my little prince, I decided to make a small roll with 2 eggs, sugar, cake flour and milk. He also wanted jam and whipped cream as filling.

I was really hoping that my roll cake will be a success this time, however.....haiz!!!....it wasn't.  Alas, my little prince still ate it and said ...."Mummy, its still yummy!!!"  I will try harder the next time.  Here's a photo of my failed roll cake.

Till nex time....happy baking!!!

Budae Jjigae - Korean Army Stew

Budae Jjigae or Korean Army Stew is a one dish meal which is loved by my other half and myself. Since I have 2 kiddos and they are not into hot chilli pepper, I often cook this is a claypot without kimchi and gochujang.  Once I have taken out their portion, then only will I add in the kimchi and the gochujang.  From the stories which I have heard personally and which I have read in the internet, it seems that this dish was created after the Korean war when food was scarce and limited. The can food which the US Army left, the local made use of the cans of spams and hotdogs and incorporated it into their soup which consists of kimchi, gochujang, etc and the locals will boil it in a huge pot and place it at the centre of the table and share it with everyone in the family.  Till today, budae jjigae is still very popular.

Here's some photos of my budae jjigae.

Once can really get creative when you whip-up the budae jjigae.  Sometimes, I even add in all the ingredients which I use for steamboat when I do this one-dish meal.  Seriously...this is awesome!!!