Pandan Coconut Chiffon Cake

My sister brought back a very delicious Pandan Coconut Chiffon Cake from Singapore.  Since it's from half a world away, don't get to eat it too often.  I thought I'd give it a try to make it.

Pandan is a tropical plant that yields a very sweet and fragrant favor.  It is used in many South East Asian cuisines, both desserts and savory dishes.  It can be found in many Asian supermarket in the frozen section.  If not available, you can look for Pandan extract or paste as well.

Ingredients:
5 eggs (white and yolk separated)

20 grams sugar
100 grams cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
55 grams coconut milk
3 tablespoons pandan juice
3 tablespoons oil
5 egg whites
60 grams sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar

Directions:
1.  Defrost the frozen pandan leaves, and juice them through the juicer.
2.  Preheat oven at 350° F
3.  In a large bowl, mix egg yolks and sugar until white.
4.  Mix in oil, pandan juice, and coconut milk, one item at a time.
5.  Add flour (1/2 at a time), mix well and set aside.

6.  In another CLEAN large bowl
7.  Beat egg whites until foamy, then add sugar and continue to beat
8.  Add lemon juice or cream of tartar, and continue to beat until stiff peak is formed.  To test, when lift up the beater, the egg white will not drop and will remain still on the beater.
9.  Gently fold in a third of the egg white into the egg yolk mixture.
10.  Then pour the mixture into the bowl of the remaining egg white, and lightly fold together until completely blend together.

11.  Pour the mixture into a chiffon cake pan with the tube in the middle.
12.  Bake in oven for 15 minutes, and then lower the temperature to 325° F for another 20-25 minutes.
13.  Insert a knife all the way to the bottom.  If the knife comes out clean, it's done.
14.  Turned the cake pan upside down on a rack until completely cool down before taking the cake out.  This will prevent the cake from shrinking.

Tips:
1.  I like to juice the pandan leave with a juicer.  If you don't have a juicer, you can grind it in either a blender or a food processor with a little water to get it going.  Then squeeze out the juice.
2.  Save the remaining pandan juice for later use.  It can be freeze into ice cubes, in 1 tablespoon each.
3.  When beating the egg white, make sure both the bowls and the egg beater is clean and dry.  There should not be any trace of yolk or oil in the mix.

Enjoy!

QQ Sweet Potato Balls

I was watching a travel show on TV featuring the night markets of Taiwan, one of the foods that the host tried looks really appetizing. It's called "QQ黃金地瓜球" , literally translated to be "QQ golden sweet potato ball".  QQ means chewy but doesn't stick to teeth.  I searched the web for the recipe.  There were quite a few recipes, and I tried a couple of them.  Unfortunately, they are came out really chewy and sticky, not very good.  With the remaining sweet potato available, I decided to experiment and create my own recipe, and to my surprise, it worked!  Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, yum!

This is a great recipe to do with your kids, so give this great snack a try!

Ingredients:
100 grams of Cooked Sweet Potatoes
20 grams of granulated sugar or brown sugar
40 grams of Sweet Rice Flour
20 grams of Tapioca Flour
1/4 teaspoon of Baking Powder
2 cups of oil (for frying)

Directions:
1.  Sliced the sweet potatoes and steamed for 15 minutes until soft.
2.  In a large bowl, first weight the sweet potatoes and then the sugar.
3.  While the sweet potatoes still hot, finely mashed together with the sugar.  Then add in the remaining ingredients.  Continue to mixed until it became a dough. The dough should be very smooth and quite firm, not sticky.
4.  Divide the dough into 1/2 inch pieces and roll into small balls, size of a glass marble ball.
5.  Pour oil into a wok or deep frying pan, depending on the size of the balls, they should be completely submerge beneath the oil.
6.  Add the balls into the pan at low to medium heat, about 150°F, let it fry for 3 minutes, when they start to flow, use a large slotted ladle to gently press on them until they double in size, about 3 minutes.
7.  Turn the heat on high and let them continue to fry for another 1 minute.  Remove from oil and drained over paper towel.  The balls should have a crispy crust and not greasy at all.
8.  I know you can't wait to try but let them cool for 5 minutes before serving.  You don't want to burn your tongue with it :-)

Strawberry Ice Cream

This Summer has been an exceptional season for Strawberries.  They are sweet and juicy.  I have been having it for breakfast either with cereal or in juice.  The harvest has been so abundant, they are selling for as low as 50 cents a pound at the local markets.  So, I decided to uses them to make some homemade strawberry ice cream.  It's a hit for both children and adults.  The recipe is very simple.  So, if you happen to have an ice cream maker, do give it a try.

Ingredients:
2 cups of fresh strawberries (cut in quarters)
1 cup of sugar
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
2 cup of whipping cream
1 cup of milk

Directions:
1.  Follow your ice cream maker's instruction and freeze your freezer bowl ahead of time.
2.  Add all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.
3.  Pour mixture into the pre-frozen freezer bowl and turn on the machine.
4.  Let the turn until the mixture is thicken, approximately 20-25 minutes.
6.  Pour the ice cream into a box and put in freezer for 4 hours to set before serving.

Variations:
Some great fruit variations in flavor are mango, peach, raspberry, avocado, pineapple, and of course, the king of fruit, Durian!!!  Simply substitute the strawberries with the fruit of your choice.

Enjoy and stay cool!

Bread Pudding

One of my favorite dessert is bread pudding.  Whenever I have week old leftover toast and don't know what to do with it, I would use it make a wonderful bread pudding.  I hope you will like it too.

Ingredients:

5 thick slices of toast (shredded into small pieces)

5 large beaten eggs

15 teaspoons of granulated sugar

1 ½ cups of milk

1 tablespoon of Cognac (optional)

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

½ cups of strawberry cut into quarters (or fruits of your choice)

For the Toppings

¼ cup (½ sticks) butter soften

10 teaspoons of brown sugar (save 4 teaspoons for later use)

¼ cup of raisins

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven at 350 degrees F.  

2.  Grease a 8x8 baking dish.  

3.  Mix the eggs, sugar, milk, vanilla extract and Cognac together, then add in the shredded toast and strawberries.  Pour mixture into the greased baking dish, and let it seat for 10 minutes.

4.  Spread the crumbles on top of the pudding mixture and sprinkle the remaining brown sugar on top.  

5.  Bake for 35-45 minutes or until set.

6.  Dust a layer of powder sugar before serving.  Serve warm or cold. 

Serves 9

Tuna Rolls

What do you do when you bought too much hot dog or burger buns for a BBQ and you don't want to do another BBQ the following week?  That's exactly what I got in my fridge, a bag of hot dog and burger buns. Opened the pantry door and found a couple of cans of tuna, and I thought, tuna rolls would make a great yummy lunch!

Ingredients:

8 hot dog buns

3 large eggs

2 cans of tuna (10 oz)

1/4 cup of finely chopped yellow or red onion

2 tablespoons of mayonnaise

2 tablespoons of sour cream

1/4 teaspoons of salt

1/2 teaspoons of white pepper

1/4 teaspoons of paprika

Directions:

1.  Boil and chop eggs.

2.  In a medium bowl, mixed all ingredients together.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

3.  Lightly toast buns before filling it with the tuna mix.

4.  Sprinkle some paprika on top for garnish.

Variations:
To make a lobster or crab roll, simply substitute the tuna with lobster or crab meat.

Japanese Cheese Mushi Cake

Unlike the New York Cheese Cake which is thick and creamy, this is a very light and fluffy cheese cake. The taste and texture are quite different, but just as good.  Give it a try!

Ingredients: 
5 ounces of fine granulated sugar
6 large eggs (yolks and whites separated)
1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar
2 ounces of butter
9 ounces of cream cheese
3 ounces of fresh milk
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
2 ounces of cake flour

1 ounces of corn starch
1/4 teaspoon of salt

Directions:

1.  Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Cool the mixture. Fold in the flour, the cornflour, egg yolks, lemon juice and mix well.

2.  Whisk egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add in the sugar and whisk until soft peaks form.

3.  Add the cheese mixture to the egg white mixture and mix well. Pour into a 8-inch square or round cake pan (lightly grease and line the bottom and sides of the pan with parchment paper).

4.  Bake cheesecake in a water bath for 1 hours 10 minutes or until set and golden brown at 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

5.  Remove the cake from the pan to let cool.

6.  Sprinkle some powdered sugar before serving.

Tofu with Soya Sauce

This is a very versatile dish that can be served either hot or cold.  Great to serve with rice.

Ingredients:

1 box of Silken Tofu

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoons of sesame oil

1 teaspoon of sugar

1/4 teaspoon of Hondashi

1/2 teaspoon of corn starch

2 tablespoon of water

1 stalk of green onion (finely chopped)

Directions:

1.  Remove the tofu from box and put in a deep dish.  If to serve hot, steam it over water for 15 mins or microwave it for 1-2 minutes.  Remove the water when done.

2.  Heat up a sauce pan, add in the soy sauce, sugar and hondashi.  Stir until sugar is disolved.

3.  Mix the corn starch and water.  Add to the soy sauce mix when its boiling.  Stir until the sauce has a slight thickness.

4.  Pour the sauce over the tofu, and drizzle in sesame oil.

5.  Garnish with the chopped onion and toasted sesame (optional)

Tips:

Hondashi can be find at any Japanese or Asian supermarket.

Minced Sundried Shrimp

I first tried this side dish at a porridge shop in Singapore.  I don't usually like the taste of sun dried shrimp, however, the way they prepared it, tasted really great especially with the porridge.  It's a bit salty with a hint of tartness, perfect pairing with the plain or sweet potato porridge.

Ingredients:
4 oz of medium dried shrimp
2 tablespoon of oil
2 tablespoon of minced garlic
2 tablespoon of dried shrimp water
2 tablespoon of light soy sauce
1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1/2 a lime or lemon

Directions:
1.  Rinse and Soaked the dried shrimp in hot water for 1 hour.  When done, take out the dried shrimp and save the water for later use.
2.  Minced the shrimp on the chopping board or in a food processor.
3.  Heat up a medium size pan with 2 tablespoon oil, add in the shrimp and minced garlic.
4.  Stir-fry for 1 minute, add in the dried shrimp water and continue to stir-fry for 5 minutes.
5.  Add in the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce and sugar.  Stir-fry until ingredients are well mixed and dried.
6.  Serve immediately or put in refrigerator for later consumption.
7.  Squeeze in some lime or lemon just right before servings.

Tips:
1.  A great side dish or add-on for porridge, steam rice, or noodle.
2.  The leftover shrimp water can be freeze for later use in soup.

Recommended Pairing Dish:
Sweet Potato Porridge

Sweet Potato Porridge

Sweet Potato Porridge is a popular meal in Taiwan and different parts of Asia and it was also my grandfather's daily breakfast.  It's usually eaten as breakfast or late night snack.  There are many shops that specialized in selling this porridge along for many side dishes that make it a complete meal.  Last Summer, I was trying out one of these shop in Singapore.  Along with the porridge it has over 40-50 side dishes to to go with the main dish.  I tried to duplicate a couple of my favorite dishes at home, and they came out pretty good.

Ingredients:

1 cup of white rice

1 large sweet potato of your choice (optional)

8 cup of water

Directions:

1.  Peel sweet potato and cut into large cubes.

2.  Rinse rice 2 times and add it to a large pot.

3.  In a large pot, add in rice and water and bring it to a boil.

4.  Reduce to medium heat and add in the sweet potato.

5.  Continue to cook for another hour until it reach an oatmeal like consistency.  Serve hot.

Tips:

1.  Remember to stir from time to time to prevent burning at the bottom.  

2.  Leave a small air gap to prevent from spilling over.

Recommended Side Dishes:
Minced Sundried Shrimp

Taro Coconut Tapioca Pudding

Summer is the best season for taro.  It's a root vegetable native to Southeast Asia.  It is starchy similar to potatoes and yams and is commonly used to make all kinds of Asian desserts, cakes, as well as savory dishes, e.g. curry. Today, I used it to make Taro Coconut Tapioca Pudding specially for a friend who loves this dessert.

Ingredients:
1 small Taro (approx 2 lbs)
8 cups of water
1/4 cups of small Tapioca pearls
2 teaspoon of gelatin powder (optional)
1-1/2 cup of water
1 can of coconut milk (13 oz)

Directions:
1.  Soak the tapioca pearls with 1 cup of water.
2.  Soak gelatin with 1/4 cup water.
3.  Peel taro and cut into small dices.
4.  Add taro into a large pot with 8 cups of water.  Boil on high until soft, approximately 20 minutes.  Then blend it smooth with a hand blender directly in the pot, or blend it in a regular blender / food processor.
5.  Drain the water from the tapioca and add it to the taro soup.  When the tapioca turns transparent, add in sugar.  Stir continuously until sugar is dissolved.
6.  Stir in gelatin into the soup until dissolved, and turn heat off.
7.  Stir in coconut milk.  Serves hot or cold.

Omurice

After working in the garden all morning, it's time for lunch but not sure what to eat.  Looking into the fridge, found some leftover rice, corn on the cob, and some ham.  So, I decided to make one of my favorite Japanese dish, Omurice.  It means omelette wrapped fried rice.

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup of steamed rice
1/2 cup of corn
1/4 cup of diced onion
1/4 cup of diced ham
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
1/4 cup of ketchup
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of cornstarch
2 tablespoon of water
4 tablespoon of olive or vegetable oil (divided in half)

Directions:
1.  Heat up a medium saute pan with 2 tablespoon of oil.  Add in the onion and saute for 1 minute and then add in the ham, corn, and garlic.  Continue to saute until the onion is soft and fragrant.  

2.  Add the rice to the mix in the pans and continue to stir until everything is cooked through. Create a center in the pan and add in the ketchup.  After the ketchup has been heat up, then mixed everything together in the pan.  Season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt if needed.  Put the rice in a large plate and set aside.

3.  Beat 3 eggs with cornstarch and water (first mix the cornstarch with water).  Heat up a medium saute pan with the remaining oil (2 tablespoon), then add in the beaten egg mixed.  Continue to stir the eggs similar to making scramble eggs.  When its done, simply lay it over the rice.  Garnished with some toasted seaweed.

Tips:
Omurice can be made in any shape or form.  Use your imagination to create the way you or your kids would like.

Smiley Omurice

7+ of Fruits and Vegetables in a Glass

Dietitians recommend a minimum of 5 portions of fruits and vegetables a day to keep the doctors away.  One portion is equivalent to 1 cup.  If we can eat more fruits and vegetables, the better off we are.

However, I just can't imagine myself eating 5 cups of vegetables a day, let alone more.  I will be too full for anything else.  Therefore, the best and easiest way to consume them is to either blend or juice them.  I like to do the juice in the morning.  It's refreshing and wakes me up way better than a cup of coffee.  Spring and Summer are the perfect seasons to do so with the wide varieties of fruits and vegetables available.

Ingredients:

1 cup of carrot

1 cup of cucumber

1 cup of bell pepper

1 cup of celery

1 cup of apple

1 cup of orange

1 cup of watermelon

1 cup of strawberries

Directions: 

Put all ingredients one by one into the tube of a cold press juicer.  If you would want to keep some fibers from the fruits and vegetables, simply put some of the pulps back into the juice.  Stir well and serve immediately.

Tips:
You can use any fruits and vegetables that you like, e.g. peach, pair, plum, berries, melons, chard, kale, spinach,  etc.