King Spareribs (Pai Ku Wang)

Ingredients:

600 g pork spareribs, cut into pieces (1 inch)
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp sesame oil
oil for deep-frying

Marinade:

1 tsp soy sauce
1.5 tbsp shao xing wine
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt

Seasoning:

4 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp plum sauce
1.5 tbsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
6 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp water

Method:

In a bowl, mix all the marinade ingredients.

Marinate spareribs for at least 2 hours or overnight in refrigerator.

Remove from refrigerator and stir-in cornstarch.

In a deep pan, heat oil to medium high heat and deep-fry spareribs until golden brown, drain on absorbent paper.

Over low heat, combine all the seasoning in a non-stick pan to incorporate well.

Return the cooked spareribs to the pan, stir well to coat evenly.

Remove from heat and stir-in sesame oil.

Serve hot with rice.

Dark Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:

200 g dark chocolate
50 g unsalted butter
40 ml espresso
30 ml whisky
200 ml whipped cream
2 eggs yolks
2 eggs whites
2 tbsp icing sugar

Method:

Beat whip cream until stiff and keep in refrigerator.

Over a double boiler, melt chocolate and butter.

Remove from heat, pour-in espresso and whisky, stir to incorporate.

In a deep bowl, whisk egg whites till almost stiff, add-in sugar and beat till soft peak form.

Add-in egg yolks to the chocolate mixture one at a time, beat to mix.

Gently stir-in one-third of whipped cream to the chocolate mixture, fold-in half of egg whites, stir to just incorporate, fold-in the remaining whites then whipped cream and stir to incorporate well.

Spoon mousse into individual glasses and chill in refrigerator for at least 8 hours or overnight till set.

Serves 5.

Sweet Banana Chips

Ingredients:

2 raw banana
1 cup ice water
2 tsp salt
oil for deep frying

Coating:

2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp honey
1 tbsp water

Method:

Dissolve salt in 1 cup of ice water.

Peel banana, slice into four and soak in the salted ice water for 15 minutes.

Drain banana and pat-dry.

Slice banana into thin round slices (about 2-3 mm thick).

Dry banana slices on paper towels to remove moisture in a layer basic.

Heat oil in a wok or deep pan.

Deep-fry banana slices until golden yellow and crispy in a layer basic.

Drain banana chips on paper towels.

To prepare sweet coating, combine all coating ingredients in a wok or pan, cook over low heat till sugars dissolve to form syrup.

Return crispy banana chips into pan, toss and stir to evenly coat with the sweet syrup.

Remove from heat and let cool completely before store into air-tight container.

Kuih Bahulu

Ingredients:

1 cup eggs (3 eggs yolks + 4 egg whites)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder (optional)

Method:

Sieve flour together with baking powder, set aside.

In a deep bowl, whisk eggs and sugar until thick, pale and stiff.

Preheat oven to 250 °C.

Lightly grease mold.

Fold-in 3/4 tbsp of flour mixture into 4 tbsp of stiffed eggs batter (prepare just enough for a batch), stir batter to mix.

Spoon batter into the prepared mold (fill-up to 80% in volume).

Bake batter in the preheated oven for about 6 minutes or until puffed and golden brown.

Remove from oven and let cool completely before storing.

Steamed Chocolate-Coffee Cake with Creamy Butter Frosting

Ingredients:

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
6 tsp soluble coffee
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup milk
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sweetened concentrated milk
1 1/4 cups cake flour (Tipo OO)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 eggs

Creamy Butter Frosting:

125 g butter, softened
250 g icing sugar
1.5 tbsp milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

Grease a 22cm cake pan.

Mix cocoa powder, coffee powder, sugar, milk, oil and sweetened concentrated milk in a non-stick pan and cook over low heat until cocoa powder, coffee powder and sugar are fully dissolved.

Remove from heat and leave aside to cool.

In a separate bowl, sift to mix the flour, baking powder and baking soda.

In another bowl, beat eggs until light and fluffy then fold into the cooled cocoa-coffee mixture and mix well.

Stir-in flour mixture and mix well to form homogeneous batter.

Pour batter into prepared pan.

Steam over high heat for about 1 hour with a cover that wrapped with kitchen towel to avoid water vapor droplets, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let cool in pan for at least 10 minutes and turn out onto a plate and cool completely.

To Make Frosting:

In a large bowl, beat all ingredients until smooth and spread consistency.

Prepare in advance, keep in refrigerator and frost the cooled cake later.

Focaccia Cipolle (Onion Topping Flatbread)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast (or 15 g fresh yeast)

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup warm water

Topping:

4 yellow onion, sliced
6 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt for sprinkling
1 tbsp olive oil for drizzling

Method:

In a heavy non-stick pan, heat 6 tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and stir-fry till sweet and golden yellow (about 12 minutes). Let cool to room temperature.

Dissolve yeast and salt in 1/4 water, leave for 10 minutes.

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

Pour yeast solution into the center of the flour mixture, mix-well and gradually pour-in the remaining water to form dough.

On a lightly floured work surface, knead dough until becomes smooth and soft (about 8-10 minutes).

Transfer dough into a lightly oiled container, turn the dough to coat lightly with oil, cover and leave aside in a warm place to rise until doubled in bulk (about 1.5 hours).

Lightly grease an 8 inch pan.

Place dough in the prepared pan and gently stretch it toward edges from center to achieve an even thickness.

Cover with kitchen towel and let rise till almost double in bulk, soft and puffy (about 45 minutes).

Preheat oven to 240 °C.

Using fingertips, dimple the dough evenly to leave indentations for about 1/2 inch deep.

Cover dough with towel and let to rise again for another 20 minutes.

Arrange cooked onion evenly over the risen dough, drizzle the top with olive oil.

Bake focaccia in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or till golden yellow.

Remove from oven, transfer the pan to a rack and let stand till the focaccia is barely warm (about 10 minutes) before cut to serve.

Roast Chinese Five Spice Chicken

Ingredients:

1 chicken drumstick

Marinade:

2 tsp Chinese five spice powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Skin Glaze:

3 tsp honey
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp black vinegar

Method:

Wash drumstick and pat dry completely.

Combine all the marinade ingredients in a small bowl, rub the marinade mixture all over the drumstick, marinade for at least 2 hours or better overnight.

In another bowl, mix all glaze ingredients to form syrup and brush on the skin evenly.

Roast the marinaded drumstick in preheated oven at 220 °C for 1 hour or until drumstick is cooked and the skin is golden brown (occasionally brush the skin with glaze syrup while roasting).

Remove from oven.

Let cool for 15 minutes before chopping into serving pieces.