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