smokincookin

Chicken Curry Kari Ayam (with lemon grass, curry leaves, easy cooking!)

2009-11-11T02:58:00.000-08:00

Chicken Curry (approx 5 eaters)

Ingredients:
10pcs Chicken drumsticks
1/2 stick lemon grass (beat it to release fragrance, keep shape, don't finely dice it)
100gm garlic chopped
100gm ginger chopped
100gm onions chopped
100gm BABA's Curry Powder
10 curry leaves (dried/fresh both ok)
2 tsp tumeric powder (optional)
3-4 star anise (optional)
2 tsp cumin powder (optional)
1cup coconut milk
1/2 cup Light Soy Sauce
5 tbsp cooking oil
2 tomatoes in cubes
4 potatoes in cubes

Directions:
1. heat pot, add cooking oil, skip 2nd step if not using cumin&tumeric
2. add and stir fry cumin, star anise and tumeric for 1 min
3. add chopped onions, garlic, ginger, curry leaves, lemon grass to pot and stir for 1 min
4. add potatoes, chicken and tomatoes, stir fry for 10mins
5. add curry powder and mix into the ingredients, then add 1litre of water, stir
6. add coconut milk, a tablespoon of sugar, soya sauce, cook for 10-15mins under high flame till bubbling
7. stir, turn to low heat and leave for half hour with pot cover on. it should reduce to almost half or original.
8. that ends it. quick and simple, ready to serve.

notes:
Cumin & Tumeric & Star anise adds to the flavor of the curry, but this is optional.
go easy on the cumin, its bitter if not handled properly.

Add Fishcakes, Lady fingers, Tau Kwa or Eggplant, its all good!

Replace chicken with pork if you like.

Coffee Angel Food Cake

2009-08-30T00:05:00.000-07:00

1/2 cup Flour
1 1/2 Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/2 cup Cocoa
1 tbsp Coffee Powder
1 1/2 cup Egg White
1 tsp Cream of Tartar

Preheat oven to 170degrees, prepare pan (oil only the base, sparingly)
1. Mix Flour, Cocoa, Coffee powder, Baking powder in a bowl.
2. Beat egg whites till frothy, add cream of tartar & 1 tbsp sugar
3. Fold in half of egg white into flour mix
4. Fold Flour mix into remaining egg white portion by portion.
Bake at 175degrees, 50-60mins.
Let it cool down before taking out from oven.

Vegetarian Guo Tie /Gyoza / Potstickers

2009-08-29T23:57:00.000-07:00

2 Bunch Chives
2 square Bean Curd/Tau Kwa
1 pkt (32 pieces) Dumpling skin (Wu Li Hao Taiwan Dumpling Skin)

Seasonings:
1 tbsp Pepper
1 tbsp Soy Sauce
2 tbsp Sesame Oil
1 pinch salt

Sauce:
1 Old Ginger
Chinese black vinegar

1. Salt Tau Kwa & set aside at least 20mins (to remove water from beancurd)
2. mesh Tau Kwa, add in chopped chives and seasonings.
3. wrap a spoonful of tofu in dumpling skin, pleat.
4. Heat a flat pan, some oil, fry till bottom of dumpling is crispy and turn to it the side, do the same. leaving 1 side unfried.
5. chop finely Old ginger, add black vinegar as a condiment to your dish.

* you may wish to freeze them in a bag for cooking in the week.

Dessert: Honeydew Sago Dessert

2009-08-26T10:24:00.000-07:00

Honeydew with Sago Dessert

Ingredients:
* serves approx 5-7 portions.
1 Large Fresh Honeydew
2 Honey Rock Sugar (each around 5x10cm, add more if you love it sweet)
1/2 cup of sago
3 large pandan leaves
1/2 pkt coconut milk

1. Soak sago in water for half hour.
2. Prepare diced Honeydew. Add half portion of the honeydew in a blender & blend till well mixed - chill in fridge.
3. Boil sago till transparent, drain under cold water, set aside.
4. Boil Honey rock sugar & pandan leaves in 1 litre of water. When the rock sugar has melted, turn off heat & set aside to cool.
5. In a large pot, add all ingredients (above: sugar water, sago, blended honeydew and diced honeydew) throw away the pandan leaves.
6. Best served chilled!

Dessert: Longan with Gingko nut & Lotus seed dessert

2009-08-26T09:25:00.000-07:00

This is a great sweet dessert for hot days.

Ingredients:
* makes 10 servings
Dried Longan (add more as preferred)
Dried Lotus seed (1 pkt)
Water (approx 2litre)
1 can of fresh Gingko nuts
Sugar
Pandan Leaves (tie into a knot)

1. soak lotus seeds in water + bicarbonate soda for 20mins (to soften)
2. remove the bitter stalk inside each gingko nut, set aside.
2. drain & rinse lotus seed. set aside.
3. bring water to boil, add lotus seeds, gingko nuts, dried longan, pandan leaves & cover the lid, allow to cook at high heat for 15mins.
4. remove pandan leaves, turn to low heat and cook another 20mins.
5. serve.

Cookies: Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies of 2:1:1:1 proportions

2009-08-26T09:05:00.000-07:00

Simple chocolate chip cookies you can use!
Its easy, 2:1:1:1 proportions of Flour, Butter, Sugar, & Egg
nothing to worry about here.
If you prefer less sugar, just reduce to 3/4cups.

Ingredients:
* makes about 30 cookies
2 cup Plain Flour (e.g 150g)
1 cup Butter (approx 150g)
1 cup Fine Sugar (icing sugar is great too)
1 cup chocolate chips (semi-sweet, bitter, anything goes!)
1 egg (beaten)
1 tsp Baking powder

1. In a bowl, beat butter & sugar till well incorporated.
2. In another bowl, add beaten egg to butter mixture and mix well.
3. sift flour & baking powder together.
4. Add sifted flour into batter and beat till well incorporated.
5. add chocolate chips into batter.
6. roll into balls and press firmly on a well-buttered pan.
7. bake at 220deg for 20-25mins
8. Let the cookies cool for half hour before keeping.

Did you know?
* Beating Flour creates more gluten in the flour which results in a stiffer texture, such as pound cakes, bread.
* By reducing the beating of Flour and adding flour last into a batter creates a lighter, softer cake. such as sponge cake, chiffon, angel cake.

Measurements: A Handy Post-It for your Refrigerator!

2009-08-26T08:23:00.000-07:00

I picked this handy tool from Cozycot's fellow forumer.
It's really handy!
* Will edit Oz to Grams and update here.
* note: 1 Cup Plain Flour is approx 125grams

Cake: A Fluffy Cake - no egg yolks, no butter.

2009-08-26T08:19:00.000-07:00

This is a fluffy, airy, butter & egg yolk free recipe, similar texture to a chiffon cake.

1 cup flour
1 1/2 cups fine sugar
12 eggs (we use only the egg whites)
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 150°C
2. In mixing bowl, put flour & 3/4 portion of the sugar. mix.
3. In another bowl, beat egg whites for a while, add the cream of tartar and salt. continue beating the egg whites till stiff peaks form.
4. add remaining sugar & continue beating egg whites till its glossy & firm.
5. Into the beaten eggwhites, slowly incorporate flour, portion by portion & sifting the flour into it.
6. pour into your pan.
8. Bake in oven for 40-50mins.
9. Let the cake cool before removing from pan.

Decorate: Chocolate Butter Cream - in Swiss Roll Cake, on Log Cake, Chocolate Cake

2009-08-26T07:44:00.000-07:00

Chocolate Butter Cream
200 g Butter
350 g Margarine
230 g Icing Sugar
350 g Melted Chocolate
* replace chocolate with drops of Strawberry, Vanilla essence for your very own creation!

1. Cream butter and margarine at medium speed.
2. Add icing sugar gradually and beat till fluffy.
3. Add melted chocolate and mix well.

Uses:
* Decorating a Chocolate Log Cake
* Swiss Roll Cake
* Decorating any cakes

recipes coming up.

2009-08-24T06:19:00.001-07:00

testing. recipes coming up.

Dessert: Gingko Nut with Barley

2009-01-10T09:43:00.000-08:00

Bai Guo Yu Mi / Gingko Nut with Barley.
- its good for beauty, cleanses the system, cools the body, full of dietary fibre.

Ingredients: (serves up to 10)
300gm barley seeds - tiny grains, not the large type.
200gm dried sugared winter melon
a large pot - around 5-7 litres water
1 packet of dried beancurd sheets - made of soya bean, get the brittle crisp sheet type. not the soft bendable kinds.
2-3 pandan leaves - for fragrance.
1 can of Ginkgo nuts

Steps:
1. boil barley seeds in big pot of water for half to an hour on low flame or at least till the barley seeds are slightly soften.
2. prepare your ginkgo nuts from the can, slice them in halve and remove the 'stem' which lies in the slightly dented centre. remove that. it tastes bitter. most dessert stalls don't remove this and it really makes eating the gingko an ordeal. place your ginkgo nuts into the barley soup.
3. put all dried sugared winter melon into the barley soup. you can cut them into smaller sizes if you wish.
4. crush & break to bits the dried beancurd into the barley soup, stirring occasionally for another 15mins.
5. turn off the fire, add the tied up pandan leaves into the completed barley soup and cover. you can leave it for 15mins to permeate the soup and then throw it away.
6. hey hey hey! serve it hot or cold!

Optional: dried watercress. purchased as a dried good, you can soak it in water for half hour, rinse it clean, cut them into smaller sizes and add it just after the sugared winter melon.
watercress is good for complexion, cools the body and well, its good for you! just don't over add as it will change the flavor of your barley dessert. 3 expanded hand size flowers will do.

Dessert: Taro with Sago & Pumpkin Dessert

2009-01-02T09:51:00.000-08:00

Yam or Taro?
Yam or Taro?

i've always presumed Yam was Taro, that it looked like Taro.
so earlier, i purchased two fresh Taro root, surf the net and realised yams look like sweet potatoes and tapioca, with thin brown skin and looked like root plants.
thus, i've to settle for that and made Taro with Sago & Pumpkin Dessert.

Taro with Sago & Pumpkin Dessert

-sorry the pic is really tiny..

Ingredients:
2 taro root
1/2 pumpkin/kabocha
2 Honey Rock Sugar (each around 5x10cm, add more if you love it sweet)
1-2 cups of sago
10 large pandan leaves

steps:
1. soak sago in water for half hour.
2. prepare diced taro. Add half portion of taro in a large pot together with the rock sugar, turn on high heat. make sure the taro is cooked and well blended into a soup.
3. add diced pumpkin and remaining portion of taro into soup, set on low heat for 15mins.
3. when the taro is soft, add the sago and boil for another 10mins or less on low heat - till sago turns transparent.
4. turn off heat, add fresh pandan leaves into soup and cover.
5. remove pandan leaves before serving.
Great in taste both served hot or cold!

For Yam & Sago Dessert, its the same method of cooking.
Yes, Its this simple.

Pie Recipe: Simple Pumpkin Pie

2009-01-01T09:41:00.000-08:00

A Passion for Pumpkins, Butternut Squash & Kabocha

A Simple Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients:
1 pumpkin/kabocha/squash
1 pkt silken tofu
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp allspice
1/2 cup soya milk.
Readymade Pie crust

1. Dice pumpkin into small pieces, mix all ingredients together.
2. pour into pie crust & bake at 150degrees for 30-45mins.
3. Serve
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Derived recipe from:
pumpkin tofu pie recipe1
pumpkin tofu pie recipe2

Did You Know?
Pumpkin & Courgette Stir-fry (courgette = zucchini = a kind of small cucumber)
Pumpkin Stir-fry Thai Style = Pud Fud Tong - all vegetables with spring onions, celery, garlic, onions..
Pumpkin with Pork stir-fry, Thai style
Pumpkin Stir-fry Thai Style = Pud Fud Tong 2 - this one is simpler, with just pumpkin, garlic and pepper as flavor.
Chinese Pumpkin Stir-fry with dried shrimps
ingredients: pumpkin, dried shrimps - soak in water, drained. pepper, garlic.
steps: stir-fry everything together.

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Pumpkin recipes
vegan Pumpkin recipes
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Vegetarian Recipe Sites

2008-12-26T09:32:00.000-08:00

recipe for:
Sunita's World...Life & Food - recipe for Assamese (Split red Lentils) with Butternut Squash soup. so sweet.
Butternut Squash Apple Soup - 'one tart of green apple to balance the sweetness of squash'. lovely.
Pumpkin Tofu Cheesecake - must try
No Bake Summer Fruit Pie - strawberries, Blueberries, peaches
Vegetarian Gyoza & Dipping Sauce
About.com's Vegetarian Potstickers
Happy Stay Home Wife's Recipe for - Char siew Bao
About.com's Potstickers, Gyoza, Chinese Dumplings, Jiao Zi recipes
Leftover Remakes - Curry Gyoza
Taste.com.au's Vegetarian Recipes
Greg Cooks
Closet Cooking
Lunch in a Box - nice jap dishes!
The Modern Vegetarian Recipes - plenty of recipes
Singapore Vegetarian Society Forum

maybe i should sleep.

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Matzoh Balls
- made of Matza (a flat bread made of plain flour and water,similar to a Chapati, eaten traditionally during Passover by Jews)
- recipe

Korean: Jazz's Kimchi Recipe

2008-10-02T09:30:00.000-07:00

jazz's' kimchi recipe.

- refer to: How To Make Kimchi Videos previously posted to have a brief overview before starting - 3 videos in english to make kimchi shared by professionals.
there's the Modern & Traditional(with oysters) Korean Kimchi & Caucasian Making style.
:)

Do take note that it takes at least 2 days to make a batch of Kimchi, from Preparation to Putting it all together. Patience is very necessary.

p.s. above kimchi were from first few kimchi attempts. I've sinced gone into 6kg containers.

Ingredients:

-about 2kg, two large ice-cream tubs.
1 Nappa cabbage/Da Bai Cai
1 daikon/white radish
rice flour
1 stalk spring onions
2 cloves garlic
1 old ginger
2 large onions (there's red and yellow, take the angmoh type-yellow)
fish sauce
1 pack of salt - any type.
Korean red pepper powder - buy at korean shop (there's 1 over at Tanjong Pagar, behind Amara Hotel)
OR
Bala's red chilli powder - this works just as well for local taste.

1st day: prepare cabbage & radish.
1. prepare cabbage
-slice into half vertically.
-rinse well, don't break the leaves apart.
-pour salt into a large bowl mix with water, soak cabbage, rub salt between each leaf. leave to soak 1 day.
-reason: to remove excess water from leaves so it'll soak the kimchi mix.
2. prepare radish
-slice into shreds with your newly bought shredder! :P
-soak similar to cabbage, in salt.

2nd day: prepare kimchi paste & dice ingredients, put together.
Firstly, remove cabbage & radish from salt water, drain, set aside.
1. prepare kimchi base.
ratio of 1:3 - riceflour:water.
-600-700ml water (actually, just make sure your pot is half full cos you need to stir constantly % more sauce is good thing.)
-mix 1/3 amount rice powder into water.
-heat over low flame, stirring constantly.
-when it starts to look transluscent, turn of flame, set aside to cool.
-note: slightly translucent is ok already. overcook not good liao.

2. slice all condiments, set aside separately.
-dice onions, shop spring onions.
-mince garlic, ginger.
-the amount actually varies
-spring onions are optional. ginger & garlic must.

3. final step for kimchi paste.
-mix red pepper powder by spoonfuls into rice mixture, u might need to taste it get a feel of how hot u want it. note that the hotness is 2 times the current taste after fermentation. (i donno why but its true! and it taste better then.)
-as a guide, mix 2:3 - red pepper powder to rice mix.
-add 5 spoons of fish sauce.
-mix onions, garlic, ginger in.
-add a few dashes of pepper
note: don't add spring onions yet. add only when you are ready to mix kimchi sauce into cabbage. its to be added last due to the smell.

4. putting it together.
-have a good working area, place cabbage in a large bowl that's big enough to 'get messy'
-rub kimchi paste between every leaf. make sure the condiments are also added nicely.
-set directly into the tubs.
tip: use a large tub for half the cabbage to store long term, use small tubs for 'easy to eat' slices. that way, u can monitor the taste too.
-pour remaining kimchi paste into tubs, covering the kimchi, remember to leave 2cm spacing from top of tub cover for fermentation.
-keep in the fridge.

Final Preparations:
-Make sure containers are tightly sealed, a plastic wrap covers the kimchi without air gaps before closing the lid.
-Keep in the refrigerator for more than 2 weeks before consumption.
-Best duration is 1 to 2 Months.
* remember to let the gas out once in 2 weeks as the lid gets bloated due to fermentation.

2 weeks: it'll be abit raw, crunchy.
1 month: still slight crunch, more flavor and taste.
3 months: optimum time to consume.

note: preferably..consume within 6 months. It can be kept longer but do a smell check. utensils used in taking kimchi out of container should be clean and won't contaminate the stock.

Kimchi tips/info:
-and its best to keep Kimchi in the fridge for more than 1 week before eating, due to the climate in Singapore. it takes longer for the full flavor to burst. you will also need to take it out from fridge once in a while, as u like, to let the air out, let germs ferment... therefore, ur tub must be air-tight also.
-kimchi tastes better with radish added. the flavor is more fragrant. you should experiment your preference. some do not prefer it to pickles.
-adding spring onions to kimchi would give a slightly bitter taste with a pungent smell of the spring onions, but its not overboard. if you do like spring onions, add same equivalent to amount of ginger and always add it last.
-garlic and onions ratio to ginger: 2:1