Glass Vermicelli with Minced Pork (蚂蚁上树)

Ingredients:

100 g glass vermicelli
100-150 g minced pork

3 tbsp oil
2 slices ginger, cut into silvers
2 clove garlic, finely chopped
3 chinese dried mushroom, soaked, thinly sliced and reserved the soaking water
1 tbsp preserved soy bean paste
1 fresh red chili, removed seeds and thinly sliced (optional)
1 tsp chili sauce
1/4 cup water/stock/reserved soaking water
1/2 cup bean sprouts (optional)
1 stalk spring onion, sliced long

Marinade for pork:

1 tbsp rice wine
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp pepper
pinch of cornstarch

Method:

Combine minced pork first with the liquid marinade ingredients and last with cornstarch; set aside for at least 15 minutes.

Soak noodles till soften and drain well; set aside.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok over medium high heat, stir-fry pork till browned and cooked thoroughly.

Remove pork from wok and set aside.

Add another tbsp of oil to the wok, saute ginger, garlic and fresh chili till fragrant.

Add-in mushrooms, stir-fry briefly.

Add-in soy bean paste and chili sauce, stir for short while.

Add-in noodles, stir for another short while and pour-in water.

Return the cooked pork into wok and add-in bean sprouts, stir briefly till blended.

Add spring onions and stir till most of the liquid has been absorbed.

Garnish with some fresh spring onion and serve.

Homemade Fish Balls and Soup

Ingredients:

Fish Balls Ingredients

600 g white fish
1 tbsp water
1 tsp salt

100 ml water
1 tsp salt
dash of pepper
3 tbsp cornflour

bowl of water
1 tsp salt

Soup Ingredients

reserved bone & skin of fish
1000 ml water
1 stalk spring onion, chopped
1 tbsp tong choi (Chinese preserved radish)
1 tsp salt or to taste
2 tsp light soy sauce

Method:

To prepare the fish balls:

Fillet fish with sharp knife by removing fresh meat from bone and skin.

Further scrape out the remaining fish meat from skin and bone with metal spoon, reserve the bone and skin.

Blend fish meat with 1 tbsp water and half tsp salt till very fine or alternatively pound it with the back of chopper and gradually add-in the salt solution.

Transfer fish paste into big bowl and stir rigorously till sticky.

Gradually, stir-in the 100 ml water, 1 tsp salt, pepper and corn flour.

Lift up handful of fish paste and throw against bowl till springy on whole.

Grease hands with oil and form fish paste portion by portion into balls via gently squeezing the paste out between thumb and index fingers.

Drop fish balls into a bowl of water added with 1 tsp salt and leave to soak for at least 30 minutes.

To prepare the soup:

Pan-fry the reserved bone and skin till fragrant and golden brown, remove from heat and set aside.

Bring water to boil in a pot or wok.

Return the fragrant bone and skin into the boiling water and let simmer over low heat for about 1 hour.

Drain the stock into another pot and bring to boil.

Drop-in fish balls and simmer over low heat till fish balls floated.

seasoning with salt, soy sauce and tong choi.

Sprinkle-on chopped spring onion on hot soup right before serving.

Asian/Tropical Tiramisu

Ingredients:

Cream Cheese Filling

150 g cream cheese
250 g whipping cream
80 g icing sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp kahlua or any coffee flavored liqueur or instant coffee powder

Chocolate Sponge (Each Layer)

40 mL cake flour
1/2 tbsp corn flour
1/4 tsp baking powder (optional)

1 egg white
pinch of cream of tartar (optional)
3 tbsp sugar

40 mL milk/water with 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ½ tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt

1 egg yolk
20 mL vegetable oil

Coffee Syrup

1/2 cup coffee
2 tbsp brandy or coffee flavored liqueur

Topping Option

unsweetened cocoa powder
shaved chocolate
dessicated coconut

Method:

To prepare the cheese filling

In a large bowl, whisk thoroughly cheese with sugar, salt and liqueur until homogeneous cream resulted; set aside.

In another large bowl, whisk cream till stiff.

Gradually, fold-in stiffed cream into cheese mixture and chill in fridge till use.

To prepare the chocolate sponge

Preheat oven to 170 °C.

In a bowl, combine together flours and baking powder; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk egg white and cream of tartar till frothy; gradually add-in sugar and continue whisking till stiff peaks form (I always whisk egg white first because I use the same whisk for egg yolk mixture later without washing); set aside.

In a cup of warm milk, dissolve-in cocoa powder, sugar and salt; set aside.

In another large bowl, whisk egg yolk till pale and glossy.

Stir-in oil and chocolate solution, continue whisking till batter is fully incorporated.

Fold-in flours mixtures, stir-well to form homogeneous batter.

Gradually and gently, fold the egg white mixture into the egg yolk batter.

Pour batter into a baking paper layered cake pan (18 cm) and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool completely before assembly.

With a flexible thin knife or spatula, loose cake from pan and invert onto a serving plate for cake assembly.

Repeat the recipe for another layer or double up the recipe volume and slice into 2 layers.

To Assembly

Brush each sponge with the mixture of coffee and brandy syrup till the mixture is used up.

Lay one layer of sponge into same size springform cake pan.

Top the base sponge with two third of the filling or fill to about 1/2 inch thick.

Lay-on another layer of sponge.

Spread on the rest of the filling or to the desired thickness.

Sprinkle-on shaved chocolate and chill in fridge overnight till serve.

Right before serving, sift-on a thin layer of cocoa powder.

Sweet and Sour Chicken/Meat/Fish

Ingredients:

Breading for Chicken/Meat/Fish:

1 kg Chicken, Meat or Fish, cut Chicken/Meat into bite size
2/3 tsp salt or 1 tbsp soy sauce to taste
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper
3 tbsp flour
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 egg

Oil for deep-frying

Garnish Ingredients:

1 large green bell pepper, cut to bite size
1 onion, sliced
1 tomato, wedged
1/2 can (580 g with 5 rings) pineapple chunks, cut to bite size
2 tbsp oil

Sauce:

1/2cup vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 salt
1/4 cup orange juice of 1 orange
1/4 cup reserved syrup of canned pineapple
1/4 cup ketchup

2 tbsp cornstarch + 1/8 cup reserved syrup of canned pineapple syrup

Method:

Marinate chicken/meat/fish with salt, sugar and pepper for 30 minutes or more.

In two separated bowls, one filled with flours and the other one filled with lightly whisked egg.

Toss marinated chicken/meat/fish first in flours mixture, then in egg wet mixture and again in flours dry mixture; set aside.

Deep-fry the marinated chicken/meat/fish into hot oil till crispy and golden brown; set aside on paper towels to absorb excess oil.

In a bowl, combine all the sauce ingredients; set aside.

Heat 2 tbsp in a saucepan or wok, stir-fry bell pepper and onion for 2-3 minutes, remove from heat and set aside.

Pour sauce mixture into saucepan, bring to boil and let simmer for 10 minutes (add water if appear dried out).

Pour-in cornstarch solution and stir to thicken.

Add-in tomato and pineapple chunks, stir to cook thoroughly.

Return the chicken/meat and/or precooked garnish into saucepan and stir to mix (for fish, pour the garnish-sauce over the deep fried fish on serving plate).

Dish-out and best serve hot with steamed rice.

Mixed Vegetables Quince

Ingredients:

Pastry:

150 g all-purpose flour
75 g butter, cut to small pieces
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
enough water to blind

Filling:

2 cup cooked string bean, green peas and carrot
1 big onion, boiled/sauteed
1 cup(100 g) grated parmigiana cheese
3 eggs, beated
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt or to taste

olive oil, bread crumb and oregano for sprinkling

Method:

To prepare the pastry:

In a large bowl, mix together flour, butter and salt till crumbly (not to over-mix).

Add-in egg and slightly knead to smooth dough.

Gradually add-in enough water to blind dough if the dough still appear crumbly after the egg.

Shape dough into ball, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.

To prepare the filling:

In a large bowl, mix-well all the filling ingredients, set aside.

To assembly the quince:

Preheat oven to 200 °C.

Roll out the chilled dough into thin sheet, transfer it into a small baking tray and press to form firm base.

Spoon-in the prepared filling.

Sprinkle-on enough olive oil, followed by bread crumb and oregano.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes or till set.

Bak Kwa (肉干)

Ingredients:

450-500 g ground pork (not lean)

Marinate:

3/4 tbsp fish sauce
3/4 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar or to taste
1/2 tsp five spiced powder
1/4 tsp licorice powder
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp cooking wine
1/4 tsp salt
1 ½ tbsp honey

Method:

In a container, mix pork with all the marinate ingredients, stir-well to fully incorporate.

Place pork in fridge covered to marinate overnight.

Preheat oven to 100 °C.

Line a baking tray (dimension about 25 x 42 cm) with parchment paper.

Spread the marinated pork portion by portion onto the prepared baking tray as thin as possible (important).

Bake it in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or till firm to touch (test with fork).

Remove from oven and absorb-off any excess oil with paper towels.

Cut the partially cooked pork sheet into smaller rectangular pieces.

Grill each over medium heat for about 10 minutes or till shrink and cooked thoroughly.

Chocolate-Milo Doggie Cookies

Ingredients:

Milo Dough:

1 cup butter
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/2 cup milo powder
2 cup flour
1/4 cup corn flour

Chocolate Dough:

1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened chocolate powder
2/3 cup flour
1 tbsp corn flour

70 pieces chocolate rice

Method:

Line a baking tray with parchment paper; set aside.

To prepare the milo dough:

In a large bowl, cream butter and icing sugar together till creamy.

Add-in milo powder, whisk to incorporate fully.

Gradually stir-in flour and corn flour to form dough.

Divide dough and shape it into small balls, set aside.

To prepare chocolate dough:

In another bowl, cream butter and icing sugar together till creamy.

Add-in chocolate powder, whisk to incorporate fully.

Gradually stir-in flour and corn flour to form dough; set aside.

Preheat oven to 140 °C.

Each small ball of milo dough, insert two chocolate rices to form eyes.

Take two enough portions of chocolate dough, shape it into log and attach on both sides to form ears.

Take another smaller portion of chocolate dough, shape it round to form nose in the center.

Place shaped cookies onto the prepared tray.

Bake cookies in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or till fragrant and firm to tough.

Remove cookies from oven, transfer onto wire rack and set aside to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Yields about 35 cookies.

Wat Than Hor (Char Hor Fun or Gravy Fried Flat Rice Noodles)

Ingredients:

100 g dry flat rice noodles
100 g mee hoon/mihun/vermicelli noodles

Gravy:

2 tbsp cornstarch in 1 ½ cup water or stock
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp pepper powder
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 egg white, lightly beaten

Noodles stir-fry:

3 tbsp oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
few shrimps/prawns, removed shells
few slices of meat/chicken
few slices of fish cake
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 ½ tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp pepper powder
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
few stalks of Chinese mustard/choy sum, cut to 2 inch length

Chili Paste:

1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 tbsp sambal omelek chili paste
4 tbsp oil

Method:

Soak the vermicelli in water for 30 minutes or till soften, drain well and set aside.

Boil the dry flat rice noodles according to the package and drain well; set aside.

To prepare the gravy:

Stir-in cornstarch to stock and bring to boil.

Add-in oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar, pepper, sesame oil and light soy sauce, stir to mix.

Pour-in egg white and do a quick stir to break down into small white pieces as it cooked.

Bring to simmer to thicken the gravy to a desired consistency, set aside.

Noodles stir-fry:

In a wok or deep pan, heat 3 tbsp oil over medium high heat.

Saute garlic till fragrant and golden.

Add-in meat, prawns and fish cakes, stir-fry over high heat still prawns are seared.

Add-in flat rice noodles and stir-fry for few minutes.

Add-in vermicelli and the remaining seasoning ingredients, toss evenly over high heat for few minutes or till noodles are charred.

Add-in Chinese mustard and continue tossing for another short while.

Dish-up and transfer onto a serving plate.

Return gravy to wok and heat through.

Pour the hot gravy over the fried noodles.

Serve hot immediately with chili paste and white pepper powder if desired.

To make the chili paste, blend onion and garlic to yield paste. Heat 4 tbsp oil in wok over low heat, stir-fry onion-garlic paste still fragrant, add-in omelek chili paste, continue stir-fry till aroma, remove from heat and it is ready to serve.

Eggs Curry (Anda Curry)

Ingredients:

12 eggs
oil for deep-frying
4 tbsp oil or ghee

Blended ingredients:

5 cloves garlic, peeled
6 onions, peeled
1 knob fresh ginger, peeled

Seasoning ingredients:

1 tbsp coriander powder
2 tbsp fennel powder
1 ½ tbsp cumin powder
2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp chili powder or to taste

4 tomato, diced and pureed
4 tsp salt or to taste
1 tsp pepper powder
1 cup water
2 tsp garam masala
250 g paneer (farmer cheese) and/or 1 can green peas (optional)
coriander leaves or curry leaves for sprinkling (optional)

Method:

Boil a pot of water and hard boil the eggs.

Transfer cooked eggs to a running cold tap water, shelled and set aside.

In a wok or deep pan, heat enough oil, deep fry peeled eggs till golden brown, drain on absorbent paper towels and cool to a handle-able temperature.

Make a cross-cut at one end of the eggs and set aside.

With blender/food processor, blend together garlic, onion and ginger to paste; set aside.

Heat 4 tbsp oil or ghee in wok or deep pan over medium high heat, saute the blended paste till fragrant and start to golden brown (about 3 minutes).

Add-in all the seasoning ingredients and fry for a few seconds till aroma.

Add-in tomato, salt and pepper, stir for few minutes.

Pour-in water, add-in paneer or green peas (if desired), cover and simmer till gravy is thick (water can be added if the gravy is too dry).

Stir-in garam masala and return eggs into wok, stir to heat through and the gravy is homogeneously dispersed.

Sprinkle-on leaves.

Dish-up and best serve hot with rice.

Streusel Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

Streusel:

1 cup finely grounded cornflakes
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup r0asted salted peanut, grounded
1/2 cup (90 g) butter, mellted

Cake batter:

2 cup cake flour
1 cup sugar
4 tbsp instant coffee powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup milk

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

Lightly grease a cake pan ( 18 cm in diameter), dust bottom and side of pan with bread crumbs (or flour) and tapping out excess; set aside.

To prepare the streusel topping:

In a bowl, combine grounded cornflakes, sugar, peanuts and butter.

Stir to mix and form crumbs; set aside.

To prepare cake batter:

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, coffee powder, baking powder and salt, stir to mix.

Add-in butter, eggs and milk, whisk until the mixture is smooth and glossy (about 2 minutes).

To assembly:

Pour half of the batter into the prepared cake pan.

Sprinkle with half of the streusel crumbs.

Pour-in the remaining batter over the streusel layer.

And sprinkle-on the remaining streusel onto the batter layer.

Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean.

Remove cake from oven, let cake cool in pan for at least 10 minutes (allow cake to shrink from cake pan).

Run a thin flexible knife or spatula around the pan to loosen the cake.

Transfer cake onto a serving plate and ready to serve.

Japanese Eggplant Stir Fry

Ingredients:

1/2 cup oil, for blanching
1 Japanese eggplant, cut to bite size
1 tsp sesame oil or other vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp minced ginger
1 carrot, sliced
1 cucumber, sliced
1 fresh chilli, cut to silvers (optional)
1/2 tbsp light soy sauce/tamari or to taste
1/3 tbsp hoisin sauce
1/2 tbsp toasted sesame seed for sprinkle

Method:

In a wok, deep pan or pot, heat oil over high heat.

Blanch eggplant in hot oil for 2 minutes to maintain the bright color and texture.

Drain well on paper towels.

Heat sesame oil in a wok until almost smoking, sautes garlic and ginger till fragrant.

Add-in carrot and cucumber, stir-fry for about 1 minute.

Return the eggplant to wok and add chili if desire, stir fry for another minute.

Pour-in seasonings and stir-fry to coat.

Dish-up and transfer to a serving plate.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve hot immediately with steamed rice.

French Crepes

Ingredients:

1 egg
1/3 tsp salt
1/3 tsp sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 ⅓ tbsp butter, melted

Sweet Filling Options:

Jam/Apple butter/Nutella/Chestnut cream/Butter and sugar/Sliced bananas with chocolate sauce and whipped cream or ice-cream/Fresh berries marinated with sugar and grand marnier/crepes suzette

Savory Filling Options:

Grated cheese/Sliced ham/Egg freshly cooked on crepe/Sauteed spinach/Sauteed mushroom in cream sauce/Mushroom and chicken in cream sauce/Shrimp and shelled mussels in cream sauce/Ratatouille/Cooked sausage/Green salad with vinaigrette

Method:

In a large bowl, beat eggs with salt and sugar till dissolved.

Add-in milk and mix thoroughly.

Gradually, add the batter to flour and beat to eliminate lumps.

Pour-in butter and beat to incorporate.

Place the batter into fridge for at least 40 minutes.

Heat a 18 cm frying pan or crepe pan over medium-high heat and grease it lightly with butter (about 5 g each).

Pour-in 1/3 of the batter to the preheated pan and swirl it quickly to coat on the pan.

Cook for 2-3 minutes or till the crepe light golden brown on the bottom.

Flip it over to brown the other side.

Meanwhile, fill-in with a preference filling and fold accordingly.

Transfer the crepe to a serving plate with the seams on the bottom side.

Repeat for the remaining batter.

Best serve immediately.

Yield 3 crepes.

Chinese Fried Noodles

Ingredients:

200 g egg noodles

4 tbsp oil
3 slices ginger, cut into silvers
3 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup prawn/diced chicken/diced pork meat (optional)
2 chinese dried mushroom, soaked and thinly sliced (optional)
1 fresh red chili, removed seeds and thinly sliced (optional)
1 cup bean sprouts (optional)
1 stalk spring onion, sliced long

Seasoning Ingredients:

1 tbsp rice wine
3 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt or to taste
1/2 tsp pepper

Method:

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok and fry noodles until crunchy and golden brown.

Boil the noodles according to the package and drain well; set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together all the seasoning ingredients; set aside.

Heat the remaining oil in wok over high heat, stir-fry garlic and ginger until fragrant and starting to be golden brown.

Add-in meat slices and/or prawn, stir-fry for another 1 minute or till almost cooked.

Add-in noodles and seasoning mixture, stir-fry to well-mix the ingredients and seasoning spread out evenly.

Add-in bean sprouts, red chili and spring onion, stir-fry for another 3 minutes or till bean sprouts just right cooked thoroughly (meantime, adjust the taste accordingly with salt and pepper if desired).

Dish-up and best serve immediately.

Grilled Pork Steak

Ingredients:

400 g pork chops

Marinade:

1 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1.2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder

Sauce:

1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp ketchup
1/4 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1/4 tbsp light soy sauce
1 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp water

Method:

In a container, combine all the marinade ingredients, add-in meat, mix well and set aside to marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight covered in fridge.

Remove meat from fridge and bring to room temperature.

Preheat grill or broiler and grill all sides of meat for 6 minutes or until browned and cooked through.

Remove meat from heat and transfer onto a serving plate.

In a saucepan or wok, bring all sauce ingredients to simmer.

Scatter the sauce over the cooked steak and best serve hot.

Chocolate-Coffee Gateau with Favored Ricotta Cream Frosting

Ingredients:

Chocolate Sponge

40 mL cake flour
1/2 tbsp corn flour
1/4 tsp baking powder (optional)

1 egg white
pinch of cream of tartar (optional)
3 tbsp sugar

40 mL milk/water with 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ½ tbsp sugar
pinch of salt

1 egg yolk
20 mL vegetable oil

Coffee Sponge

40 mL cake flour
1/2 tbsp corn flour
1/4 tsp baking powder (optional)

1 egg white
pinch of cream of tartar (optional)
3 tbsp sugar

40 mL milk/water with 2 tbsp instant coffee powder
2 ½ tbsp sugar
pinch of salt

1 egg yolk
20 mL vegetable oil

Nutella-Coffee Butter Sponge (Base Layers)

125 g butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp Instant coffee powder
1 tbsp nutella
4 tbsp milk
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ⅓ cup cake flour
2 tbsp corn flour
3/4 tsp baking powder

Method:

Chocolate Sponge

Preheat oven to 170 °C.

In a bowl, combine together flours and baking powder; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk egg white and cream of tartar till frothy; gradually add-in sugar and continue whisking till stiff peaks form (I always whisk egg white first because I use the same whisk for egg yolk mixture later without washing); set aside.

In a cup of warm milk, dissolve-in cocoa powder, sugar and salt; set aside.

In another large bowl, whisk egg yolk till pale and glossy.

Stir-in oil and chocolate solution, continue whisking till batter is fully incorporated.

Fold-in flours mixtures, stir-well to form homogeneous batter.

Gradually and gently, fold the egg white mixture into the egg yolk batter.

Pour batter into a baking paper layered cake pan (18 cm) and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool completely before assembly.

With a flexible thin knife or spatula, loose cake from pan and invert onto a serving plate for layered cake assembly.

Coffe Sponge

Preheat oven to 170 °C.

In a bowl, combine together flours and baking powder; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk egg white and cream of tartar till frothy; gradually add-in sugar and continue whisking till stiff peaks form (I always whisk egg white first because I use the same whisk for egg yolk mixture later without washing); set aside.

In a cup of warm milk, dissolve-in coffee powder, sugar and salt; set aside.

In another large bowl, whisk egg yolk till pale and glossy.

Stir-in oil and chocolate solution, continue whisking till batter is fully incorporated.

Fold-in flours mixtures, stir-well to form homogeneous batter.

Gradually and gently, fold the egg white mixture into the egg yolk batter.

Pour batter into a baking paper layered cake pan (18 cm) and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool completely before assembly.

With a flexible thin knife or spatula, loose cake from pan and invert onto a serving plate for layered cake assembly.

Nutella-Coffee Butter Sponge

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

Lightly grease a cake pan ( 18 cm), dust bottom and side of pan with bread crumbs (or flour) and tapping out excess; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk butter and sugar till pale, thick and glossy.

Add eggs, one at a time and whisk until homogeneous batter forms.

Add-in coffee powder, nutella, milk and cocoa powder, whisk to fully incorporated.

Add-in flours and baking powder, whisk thoroughly.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean.

Remove cake from oven, let cake cool in pan for at least 10 minutes (allow cake to shrink from cake pan).

Run a thin flexible knife or spatula around the pan to loosen the cake, invert cake onto a plate and assembly as desired.

Ricotta Cream Frosting

250 g ricotta cheese
125 g icing sugar

Whisk thoroughly cheese with sugar until homogeneous cream resulted.

3 tbsp cream and fresh fruits / 3 tbsp cream and 1 tbsp fruits jam / 3 tbsp cream and 1 tsp instant coffee with 2 tbsp sultanas / 3 tbsp cream and 2 tsp cocoa powder

Peanut Butter Bonbons

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 egg or 1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 ¼ cup all purpose flour (reduce to 1 cup if using egg yolk)

Chocolate Coating:

100 g bittersweet chocolate
10 g butter

Method:

Line a baking tray with parchment paper; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and peanut butter together with sugar till creamy.

Add-in egg and baking powder, whisk to incorporate fully.

Gradually, stir-in flour to form dough.

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

Shape dough portion by portion into small balls (about 1 inch each).

Place shaped cookies onto the prepared tray.

Bake cookies in the preheated oven for 10 minutes or till set and lightly browned.

Remove cookies from oven, transfer onto wire rack and set aside to cool completely.

To prepare the coating: In a saucepan, melt chocolate and butter over low heat, stir thoroughly to incorporate and remove from heat to cool slightly.

Gently, dip cookies into the coating paste (one at a time) and turn to coat well.

Transfer coated cookies onto waxed paper or aluminum foil and chill in refrigerator till firm.

Store in container and keep cool in refrigerator.

Yields 20 cookies.

CuttleFish Salad

Ingredients:

2 large dried cuttlefish
2 L cold water
2 tbsp potassium carbonate & sodium bi-carbonate solution (kan sui)

300 g young water convolvulus (sayur kangkung can be added)
3 tbsp sesame oil

hot boiling water for blanching
ice cold water for quenching

Sauce Ingredients (mix all together thoroughly):

2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp hae ko (black prawn paste)
2 tbsp chili sauce
1 tsp toasted belacan powder (toasted dried shrimp paste)
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp lime or lemon juice
1 tbsp water

Sesame seeds for sprinkling

Method:

In a large bowl, soak cuttlefish with water and kan sui overnight or till solften and double in size.

Changes the 2/3 of soaking water with fresh cold water by every few hours interval for the following hours till reach the maximum size.

Wash cuttlefish and cut into bite sizes; set aside.

Cut-off the lower end of cleaned water concolvulus vegetable and tie into a bunch (if applicable).

In a pot, heat enough water to boil.

Blanch the cuttlefish for a short while (about 2 minutes).

Transfer cuttlefish into ice cold water; set aside.

Blanch the vegetable for half minute, cut into 2 inch length and transfer onto serving plate.

Drizzle-on 2 tbsp of oil, top-on cuttlefish and pour-in the sauce and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Nyonya Achar Awak (Spicy Nyonya Pickled Vegetables)

Ingredients:

2 cucumber, cut into 1 x 1/4 inch sticks (seeded)
1 carrot, cubed
1 tbsp salt

100 g string or long beans, cut into 1 inch length
few leaves of Chinese Cabbage, cut into 1 ½ inch squares
3 cup water
1/2 cup vinegar
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp sugar

5 fresh red chili
15 shallot or 3 large onion
5 clove garlic
5 candle nuts
1 inch knob fresh turmeric
1 inch knob galangal
1 lemon grass
1 ½ tbsp toasted belacan (toasted dried shrimp paste)
40 mL water

1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup white rice vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
3 lemon juice or 5 lime juice (about 50 mL)
1 cup crunched toasted peanut
1/2 cup toasted sesame seed

Method:

In a bowl, mix together cucumber, carrot and 1 tbsp salt, set aside for about 2 hours.

Rinse-well with running water and wring dry with clean towel; set aside.

In a pot, pan or wok, bring 3 cup water, 1/2 cup vinegar, 2 tbsp salt and 2 tbsp sugar to boil.

Blanch separately beans and cabbage for 1 minute each.

Remove from water, wipe dry with kitchen towels and dry further more under fan or strong sunlight for 1 hour or more; set aside.

Meanwhile, blend together red chili, shallot, garlic, nuts, turmeric, galangal, lemongrass and belacan with enough water (about 40 mL) to form paste; set aside.

In a large pan or wok, heat oil over medium high heat and saute the blended paste till fragrant and separates from oil (about 15 minutes).

Pour-in the remaining vinegar, salt and sugar.

Turn off the heat immediately once boil.

Stir-in carrot, cucumber, beans and lastly cabbage.

Add-in lemon juice and mix thoroughly.

Add-in peanut and sesame seeds and stir-well to mix (adjust taste according with vinegar, salt and sugar).

Transfer to container and keep in refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight till serve.

Chicken Soup with Glass Noodles (Fins Soup Style)

Ingredients:

1 handful of dry 冬粉/bean threads/Glass/Cellophane Noodles, soaked 30 minutes to soften, drained and cut into 2 inch length
4 dried big Chinese mushroom, soaked to soften, drained and sliced
1 cup of leftover cooked chicken (from any kind of cooking method or boil raw chicken till cook), shredded
3 crab-sticks, shredded
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
3 cup bone broth or water

Seasoning:

1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 tsp sesame seed oil

2 tsp cornstarch or as prefer (thickener)
pepper and black vinegar for serving

Method:

In a pot or wok, bring broth to boil.

Add-in mushrooms and seasonings, let to simmer for short while.

Add-in chicken, crab-sticks and glass noodles.

Gradually, stir-in cornstarch while the soup is boiling.

Once soup reach the preference consistency, slowly whisk-in egg whites.

Remove from heat once egg whites obviously appear.

Best serve with pepper and vinegar.

Crostoli Pastries

Ingredients:

1/3 tsp salt
3/4 tbsp sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup evaporated milk (substitution: 1/2 cup milk powder in 9 tbsp warm milk or water)
1 tbsp rum (optional)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
2 cup flour

oil for deep-frying
Icing/confectioner/powdered sugar for dusting

Method:

In a large bowl, beat salt, sugar and eggs till very pale, glossy and fluffy.

Whisk-in evaporated milk, rum and vanilla extract.

Gradually, mix-in flour and knead for 10 minutes or till dough begins to blister
and non-sticky (add 1/2 tbsp flour at a time if necessary).

Cover dough with plastic wrap and set aside to rest for at least 20 minutes.

Over a floured surface, roll out dough portion by portion to as thin as possible.

Preheat enough oil in shadow wok or deep-fryer over medium high heat (175 °C).

Cut dough sheet into long and narrow strips (depend on the size of deep-fryer).

Carefully transfer strips into the hot oil and fry till puffy and golden yellow ( may give a mild stretch on each strip by pulling both ends before frying).

Remove crispy strips from oil and drain-well on absorbent paper towels to cool.

Sprinkle with confectioner sugar and store in airtight container.

Coffee Chiffon Cake

Ingredients:

4 egg whites
7 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar (optional)

60 mL milk/water with 8 tbsp instant coffee (I used orzo coffee)
7 tbsp sugar
50 mL vegetable oil
4 egg yolks

120 mL cake flour
2 tbsp corn flour
1/2 tsp baking powder (optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 170 °C.

In a bowl, combine together flours and baking powder; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk egg whites and cream of tartar till frothy; gradually add-in sugar and continue whisking till stiff peaks form (I always whisk egg whites first because I use the same whisk for egg yolks mixture later without washing); set aside.

In a cup of warm milk, dissolve-in instant coffee and sugar; set aside.

In another large bowl, whisk egg yolk till pale and glossy.

Stir-in oil and coffee solution, continue whisking till batter is fully incorporated.

Fold-in flours mixtures, stir-well to form homogeneous batter.

Gradually and gently, fold the egg whites mixture into the egg yolks batter.

Pour batter into an non-grease chiffon pan (6 inches) and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean.

Remove from oven and immediately invert the chiffon pan to cool on a lifted wire rack.

Leave to stand for at least 10 minutes or till the cake shrinks all over from pan walls.

With a flexible thin knife or spatula, loose cake from pan and transfer it from pan onto wire rack; let cool completely before cut into serving size.

Braised Red Pork Trotters (红烧猪蹄)

Ingredients:

1 (600 g) Pork trotter, quartered
3 cup water
3 tbsp black vinegar

1 tbsp sesame oil or vegetable oil
1 tbsp (2 clove) chopped garlic
1 tbsp dried shrimp, soaked and drained

4 cup water
2 stalk spring onion, chopped
2 dried chili, soaked and drained
2 dried chinese mushroom, soaked and drained
6 slices (1 knob) fresh ginger
2 star anises
1/2 tsp pepper corn
4 tbsp light soy sauce
10 chunks rock sugar
2 tbsp Shen Yuan Hua Diao wine or any rice wine
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 ½ tsp salt or to taste
1/2 tsp cornstarch

Method:

Clean pork trotter by plucking-off hair and scraping the surface of rind to remove dirt; set-aside.

In a pot, boil 3 cups of water with 3 tbsp vinegar, blanch pork trotter thoroughly for few minutes, drain and set aside.

In a small pan, heat oil over medium high heat.

Add-in garlic, saute till fragrant and start to golden.

Add-in shrimp, saute for another 2 minutes or till aroma; dish out and set aside.

In a pot, bring 4 cup of water to boil.

Add-in the blanched trotter and the remaining ingredients, reduce heat and let simmer covered for at least 2 hours or till trotter is tender (stir occasionally for even cooking).

Stir-in the fragrant garlic-shrimp mixture and continue to simmer till the sauce is thicken (adjust taste accordingly with salt).

Dish out and sprinkle with some chopped spring onion.

Best serve hot with rice or noodles.

Yeast Doughnuts

Ingredients:

1 ½ tsp dry instant yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water

1/2 cup warm milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/6 cup shortening or butter
3 cup all purpose flour
oil for deep-frying

enough fine sugar for coating

Method:

Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water, leave for 8 minutes or till foamy.

In a large bowl, combine milk, sugar, salt, egg, shortening and half of flour.

Pour-in yeast solution and stir well for few minutes.

Gradually, add-in the remaining flour till non-sticky dough form.

Knead dough well for about 8-10 minutes till smooth and elastic.

Transfer dough into a greased bowl and set aside at warm corner to rise covered with plastic wrapper till double in size.

Over large floured surface, flatten dough and roll out gently to the thickness of about 1/2 inch.

Cut into doughnut rings with floured doughnut cutter or simply with opening part of glass.

Let doughnut rings sit out to rise covered loosely with cloth till double in size again.

Heat oil over high heat or to 175 °C.

Carefully slide doughnuts into the hot oil by the help of wide spatula and fry doughnut till both sides are golden brown (doughnuts are turn-able once it floated).

Remove from oil and drain well on wire rack or absorbent papers.

Dip warm doughnuts into a bowl of sugar to coat.

Onion Pie (Torta Insalata di Cipolla)

Ingredients:

Base:

230 g puff pastry (pasta sfoglia)

Filling:

25 g butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 kg onion, sliced
2 eggs
1 cup milk and 90 g butter or 1 cup double cream
2 ½ tsp salt or to taste
1 cup Parmesan cheese

Method:

Preheat oven to 190 °C.

Roll out puff pastry together with the provided parchment paper on a lightly grease pie pan ( 28 cm in diameter); keep in refrigerator till use.

In a large saute pan, heat butter and oil over medium high heat.

Add-in onion and saute covered for about 30 minutes or till onion is softened and cooked (stir occasionally to avoid burning).

With another small pot, melt butter with milk over low heat, remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

Beat-in egg, follow by cheese and salt.

Stir-in cooked onion and spoon the filling into the prepared pie case.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until filling is lightly set or till surface is browned as prefer.

Best serve warm or at room temperature for party.

Tom Yam Steamed Fish

Ingredients:

1 fish (I used gilthead seabream or orata)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp chopped lemongrass
3 shallot/onion, sliced
2 tbsp tom yam paste (any brand of choice)
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tbsp tamarind paste dilute in 1/2 cup water
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 tbsp chopped spring onion

Method:

Clean fish, make some gashed on both sides and rub fish well with salt and pepper; set aside to marinade for 30 minutes (optional, it can be steamed directly).

Line base of a heat resistance plate with some onion/shallot slices.

Place fish on top of the prepared plate and line garlic, lemongrass and the remaining shallot on top of the fish; set aside

In a bowl, mix together tom yam paste, lemon juice, tamarind water and salt then pour all over on the prepared fish.

Steam covered over high heat for about 10 minutes or till the fish is just right cooked-thorough.

Dish-up and sprinkle-on chopped spring onion.

Serve hot immediately with rice or bread/buns.

Coffee-Nutella Marbled Hot Milk Cake

Ingredients:

110 g butter
1 cup milk
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups cake flour
2 tbsp corn flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder

4 tbsp instant or soluble coffee powder (I used soluble orzo)
2 tbsp nutella jam

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

Lightly grease a chiffon cake pan ( 6 inches in diameter), dust bottom and side of pan with bread crumbs (or flour) and tapping out excess; set aside.

Add butter to milk and heat to boil, remove from heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk egg and sugar till pale, thick and glossy.

Add-in flours, salt and baking powder, whisk thoroughly.

Pour-in the warm milk and stir to incorporate fully.

Divide batter into 2 portions.

Combine 1 portion with coffee powder and nutella.

Alternate the two batters topping and layering till finish.

Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean.

Remove cake from oven, let cake cool in pan for at least 10 minutes (allow cake to shrink from cake pan).

Run a thin flexible knife or spatula around the pan to loosen the cake, invert cake onto a plate.

Dust with powdered sugar (optional) and serve.

Flour Tortillas

Ingredients:

3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup corn flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder (optional)
1/8 cup lard/vegetable shortening
1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup warm water

Method:

In a bowl, combine flours, salt and baking powder.

Cut-in lard and mix with hand till the mixture resembles meal.

Drizzle-in oil and water, mix to form dough.

On a lightly floured surface, knead dough till smooth and elastic with floured hand.

Form dough into a ball and set aside to rest for 1 hour covered with plastic wrapper.

Divide dough into 3 portions.

Over a lightly floured surface, flatten dough balls and roll out each thin to about 18 cm in diameter and 2 mm in thickness with floured rolling pin.

Lightly greased a hot non-stick skillet with oiled paper towel.

Cook tortilla once at a time till bubble, puff and bottom with brown spots.

Flip it over and cook the other side in the same way.

Transfer tortilla to a kitchen towel, stack and cover tortillas as cooked.

Oriental Eggs Fried Rice

Ingredients:

1 bowl cooked rice
2 eggs
1 carrot, finely chopped
2 stalks spring onion, chopped
2 tbsp white rice vinegar
2 tbsp rice wine
2 ½ tsp salt or to taste
5 tbsp oil

Method:

Cook rice 1 day ahead and keep in refrigerator covered to prevent sogginess fried rice.

Heat 5 tbsp oil in a wok or non-stick deep pan over medium heat, scramble eggs till golden yellow.

Add-in carrot and stir-fry for short while or till almost cook-through.

Add-in cooked rice and stir fry for about 1 minute to spread out rice grains.

Pour-in vinegar, wine and seasoning with salt, stir-fry to incorporate.

Sprinkle-on spring onion and continue stir-fry for another short while or till aroma.

Dish-up and best serve hot immediately.

Sticky Soy Sauces Chicken Wings

Ingredients:

1 kg chicken wings.

Marinade:

6 tbsp light soy sauce
6 tbsp oyster sauce
3 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp fresh ginger juice (from 2 inch knob)
3 tbsp rice wine
1/2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp white pepper powder

Method:

In a bowl, mix together all the marinade ingredients.

Marinate wings for at least 1 hours or overnight covered in refrigerator.

Heat a large non-stick deep pan over medium high heat, pan-fry chicken wings with marinade till golden brown, sticky and cook-thoroughly (about 30 minutes).

Alternatively, grill the wings till golden brown and cook-through (occasionally, bath wings with marinade).

Remove wings from fat gravy in pan and best serve hot/warm as an appetizer or with rice.

Pineapple Filled Chocolate Tart

Ingredients:

Shortcrust Pastry:

1 egg yolk
1 tbsp cold water
110 g all purpose flour
55 g butter
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
1/8 tsp salt

Filling:

80 g dark chocolate
2 ½ tbsp (40 g) butter
2 eggs
3 ⅓ tbsp all purpose flour
2 tbsp brown sugar (4 tbsp if using plain chocolate)
1/2 cup cubed ripe fresh pineapple or canned pineapple

Method:

To prepare the pastry:

Mix yolk with cold water; set aside.

In another bowl, mix flour, butter, sugar, lemon zest and salt till fine breadcrumbs.

Add-in yolk mixture and continue mixing till chunky breadcrumbs.

With floured hand, form the mixture into dough (not to knead).

Wrap dough with plastic wrapper and chill for at least 30 minutes or till use.

To prepare the filling:

Over a double boiler, melt chocolate with butter.

Gradually, incorporate-in eggs.

Add-in flour and sugar, stir to homogeneous batter.

To assembly:

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

With rolling pin, roll out dough between two plastic sheets into the thickness of about 1/4 inches.

Carefully transfer the pastry into a 18 cm cake or tart pan and line up side to about 3 cm height.

Layer-on a large parchment paper and fill with raw rice as a weight.

Bake blind in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.

Remove paper and weight and bake again for another 10 minutes.

Line-in pineapples cubes and pour-in filling.

Bake for 20 minutes or till just set.

Remove from oven and set aside to cool completely (may dust surface with cocoa powder).

French Baguettes

Ingredients:

1/4 cup lukewarm water
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tbsp dry active yeast

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup lukewarm water

Method:

Dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water, leave for 8 minutes or till foamy.

In a bowl, combine flour and salt.

In another large bowl, combine yeast solution with 1/2 of the flour mixture and the remaining water, stir and mix to form a dough; set aside covered to rise for 3 hours or till triple in size.

Gradually, incorporate-in the remaining flour mixture and knead for 10 minutes or till smooth, supple and elastic.

Transfer dough into a greased bowl and set aside to rise covered for at least 1 hour or till double in size.

Knead lightly and divide dough into 2 portions.

Preheat oven to 230 °C.

Shape each portion into a long baguette, place on a baking sheet and set aside at dry corner covered loosely for at least 30 minutes or till double in size.

As soon as the baguettes have been slashed, moisten the surface either by painting with a soft brush dipped in cold water or with spray.

Place a bowl of boiling water into the oven (for obtaining light baguettes with crusty brown skin and soft internal).

Alternatively, rapidly brush baguettes surface with cold water or spray after every 3 minutes of baking for 3 times.

Bake baguettes for about 25 minutes or till golden brown and give a hollow sound once is thumped (Remove the water after 15 minutes of baking).

For shining crust, brush baguettes surface lightly with cold water as soon as it fresh out from the oven.

Crunchy Shrimp Wantan/Wontan/Wonton/云吞 Rolls

Ingredients:

10 shrimps, peeled by leaving tail-on
10 wantan wrappers
oil for deep-frying

Marinade:

2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
1 tsp sesame oil

Method:

In a bowl, combine together all the marinade ingredients.

Add-in shrimps and set aside to marinade for 30 minutes.

Place a shrimp horizontally in the middle of wantan wrapper (cover the unused wantan wrapper with damp kitchen towel to prevent dry out and become hard sheet).

Brush a bit water on all edges.

Fold-up side edge over shrimp, follow by the bottom edge, roll-up till end and press to seal.

Heat enough oil in pot/wok/deep pan over medium high heat.

Drop-in shrimp wantan rolls in batches (single layer) and deep fry till golden brown, crispy and crunchy.

Remove shrimp wantan rolls from oil and drain well on absorbent paper towels.

Best serve with Thai chili sauce, sweet and sour sauce, ketchup or mayonnaise.

Sizzling Tofu

Ingredients:

12 slices of homemade tofu
2 tbsp oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
5 dried chinese mushroom, soaked, drained and chopped/slices
handful of bay scallop, (optional)
handful of minced meat (pork/chicken/beef), (optional)
2 cups shrimps/pork/chicken stock/water

1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 ½ tbsp soy sauce or to taste
1/2 tsp sugar or to taste
1/4 tsp white pepper powder or to taste
cornstarch solution (2 tbsp cornflour in 1/4 cup water)
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp sesame oil

enough chopped green onion for sprinkling

Method:

Heat oil in pan/wok over medium high heat, fry both sides of tofu till golden brown.

Remove tofu from oil and drain-well on absorbent paper towel.

Transfer tofu onto a serving plate; set aside.

Add garlic to hot pan and saute till fragrant.

Add-in mushroom and meat, stir-fry till meat is tender and just right cooked through.

Pour-in stock and bring to boil.

Seasoning with oyster sauce, fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar and pepper.

Pour-in cornstarch solution, bring to boil for 1-2 minutes.

Whisk-in egg to form fine streaks.

Drizzle-on sesame oil.

Remove gravy from heat and pour over tofu.

Sprinkle-on chopped green onion and serve immediately with rice.

Bah Kut Teh (Chinese Meat Herbal Soup)

Ingredients:

1 liter water
1 package (50 g) bah kut teh mixed herbs and spices (any brand of your choice)
200 g pork spareribs/chicken/beef, cut to bite size
Some lean meat
5 dried chinese mushroom, soaked and drained
3 hard boiled eggs, peeled
1 bulb garlic, peeled and crushed

2 slices dong kwai
1 tbsp chinese wolfberry fruits

2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar or to taste
1 ½ tsp salt or to taste

Optional Garnish:

needle mushroom
pork internal organ
chinese lettuce leaf (place on the surface of hot soup just right before serving)
chinese cabbage (place on the surface of hot soup just right before serving)
deep fried bean curd (add into hot soup just right before serving)
deep fried tofu (add into hot soup just right before serving)
chinese cruller (add into hot soup just right before serving)

Method:

In a pot, bring water to boil over high heat.

Add-in meat, 1 sachet of bah kut teh mixed herbs and spices, mushroom, eggs and garlic; bring to boil covered for at least 1 hour (if boil for longger period, may need additional water).

Remove meat and add-in dong kwai, chinese wolfberry fruits and another small sachet of mixed herbs and spices (if applicable).

Seasoning with light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar and salt.

Cook covered for another 10 minutes.

Return meat into the pot and cook for another shortwhile.

Dish-up and serve hot with rice or as it alone.

(Note: best serve on the next day by keeping it warm covered in slow cooker)

Cuculli (Chickpeas Flour Fritters of Liguria)

Ingredients:

1 ½ tsp dry instant yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
2 cups chickpeas/besan/gram flour
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 tsp oregano or chopped marjoram
2 tsp salt
oil for deep-frying

Method:

Dissolve yeast in water, leave for 8 minutes or till foamy.

In a large bowl, dilute flour with water to obtain a thick but smooth batter.

Pour-in yeast solution and set aside to rise for few hours or overnight.

Once the batter has done leavening, add-in oregano and salt.

Heat oil over high heat.

Drop a spoonfuls batter into hot oil and fry till golden yellow.

Remove from hot and drain well on absorbent paper towels.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Yield 38 pieces of cuculli.

New York's Style Cheesecake with Gram Crust

Ingredients:

Gram Crust:

1/2 cup gram/besan/chickpeas flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup butter

Cheesecake Filling:

450 g cream cheese
3/4 cup icing sugar
1 ¼ tbsp cake flour
3 tsp zest of half orange
2 tsp zest of half lemon
2 egg
1 egg yolk

Method:

To prepare the crust or base:

Base a 18 cm springform cake pan with parchment paper; set aside.

In a bowl, mix together gram flour, sugar, salt and water.

Gradually, add-in butter and mix until the mixture begin to clump together.

Pat crumbs into the bottom of the prepared cake pan.

Keep covered in refrigerator for at least 2 hours while preparing cheesecake filling.

To prepare the cheesecake filling:

Preheat oven to 250 °C.

In a large bowl, combine cheese, sugar, flour and zests; whisk till smooth batter.

Gradually, add-in eggs and yolk, whisk thoroughly till smooth and fully incorporated; set aside.

Put a tray of shallow hot boiling water into the bottom rack of preheated oven.

Pour batter into the prepared crust and bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 100 °C.

Continue baking for another 1 hour or till cake is mostly firm and center is just slightly jiggly/wobbly.

Turn-off oven and leave the cake cool completely inside the oven for at least 3 hours.

Remove from oven and chill overnight or till ready to serve.

Cinnamon Buns (Sticky Bread)

Ingredients:

Bread:

200 mL lukewarm milk
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 ½ tsp instant yeast
2 tbsp butter (30g) butter
1 ½ tbsp sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp salt
3 cups all-purpose flour

Cinnamon Sugar Filling:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon powder

Surface Brushing:

3 tbsp apricot preserves/jam (I use cherry preserves), melted or softened

Glaze:

1/2 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tbsp milk

Method:

Dissolve sugar and yeast in warm milk, leave for 8 minutes or till foamy.

In a large bowl, cream butter with sugar till creamy, pale and glossy.

Add-in yolk and salt, mix to homogeneous mixture.

Pour-in yeast solution, stir to incorporate.

Gradually, add-in flour and combine till soft dough.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured working surface, knead dough till smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes).

Transfer dough into a lightly oiled container and turn the dough to coat lightly with oil; set aside covered to rise until doubled in volume (about 2 hours).

Lightly grease a 18 cm springform cake pan; set aside.

With oily hand, punch down the dough and leave to rest for another 5 minutes.

With a well-floured rolling pin and working surface, roll out dough flat into about 36 x 18 cm rectangle with the thickness of 0.5 cm.

Spread-on cinnamon-sugar mixture and leaving a 1 cm border.

Roll up dough sheet tightly (like assembly sushi or swiss roll).

Press roll firmly to eliminate internal air trap.

Pinch seams and ends to seal.

Cut dough roll into 8 pieces, transfer to the prepared pan with cut side up and set aside covered to rise till double in volume for about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180 °C.

Bake cinnamon rolls for 35 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

Remove buns from oven, and leave to cool in pan for 10 minutes.

Remove from pan onto wire rack, brush-on apricot preserves and leave to cool completely.

Spread-on glaze mixture.

Torta Salata Pasqualina (Liguria Easter Pie)

Ingredients:

Pastry:

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp salt
2 ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2/3 cup water

Filling:

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
500 g chard, sliced into slim silvers
1 onion, sliced into slim silvers
250 g ricotta cheese
1 cup Parmesan or Grana cheese
2 tsp salt or to taste
1/2 tsp black pepper powder or to taste
1 tsp oregano flakes
3 eggs

Egg Wash:

1 egg yolk
1 tbsp milk

Method:

To prepare the pastry:

In a large bowl, combine flour, salt and oil.

Gradually, pour-in water and mix to homogeneous dough.

Knead dough into smooth and elastic dough (about 10 minutes).

Divide dough into 6 portions and set aside to rest for 30 minutes covered.

To prepare the filling:

Heat oil in a wok or pan over medium high heat, saute chard and onion for 15 minutes or till wilt.

Remove from heat and set aside to cool completely.

Add-in ricotta, Parmesan, salt, pepper, oregano and stir-well to homogeneous mixture.

To assembly:

Line the bottom of 18 cm baking pan with parchment paper; set aside.

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

Over a smooth working surface, roll out a portion of dough into very thin sheet and almost transparent.

Transfer it into the prepared pan and brush the exposing surface all over with oil.

Roll out second portion of dough to very thin, transfer onto the first pastry and brush-on oil.

Again roll out another portion of dough till very thin, transfer onto the previous pastry as third layer but without oil brushing for this time.

Pour-in the prepared filling and spread out evenly.

Make 3 holes in the firm filling and fill-in a whole raw egg into each holes.

Gently cover the filling with another 3 layers of pastries in the same procedures as of the pie basement assembly.

Close the pie by folding-in the wall-sides pastries.

Poke surfaces with fork or knife.

Brush surface with egg wash and bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes or until golden.

Best serve hot or at room temperature.

Viscous Tamarind Coconut Curry Chicken

Ingredients:

500 g chicken, cut to bite sizes

10 shallots/ 3 onions, peeled and chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 stalk lemongrass, chopped (white part only)
1 knob (2 inches) ginger, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp chili paste

1/4 tbsp toast belacan (toasted dried shrimp paste)
1 ½ cup thick tamarind squeeze (2 tbsp tamarind paste in 1 ½ cup water)
1 cup coconut milk
1 tsp brown sugar
1 ½ tbsp sugar or to taste
2 tsp salt or to taste

4 tbsp cooking oil

Method:

Blend together onion, garlic, lemongrass, ginger and chili paste to smooth paste; set aside.

Heat oil in wok or pot over medium high heat, saute the blended paste till fragrant (about 3 minutes).

Add-in belacan, and stir for another 1 minute.

Pour-in tamarind juice and bring to boil.

Add-in chicken, sugars and salt, cook covered till chicken is half cooked

Pour-in coconut milk, continue simmering till the gravy is half thicken and chicken cooked thoroughly.

Remove chicken from gravy, stir to further thicken the remaining gravy.

Bath chicken with thick gravy and bake in a preheated oven at 200 °C for short while or till chicken just roasted slightly with gravy.

Remove from oven and serve hot with steamed rice.