Elaine's Tender Loving Cakes: COOKING AND BAKING #AUGUST 2016

30/8/2016

Steamed soft tofu with century eggs and bonito flakes in teriyaki sauce

Day in day out, trying to cook a decent dinner before rushing off for my yoga in the evening can be rather taxing sometimes. Nowadays the girls told me that they want less carbo. Now this again can really stretch my creativity (hahaha a bit show off here) just on what to cook, but I do try my best. These are some of the dishes which I am rather proud to show off. Nothing expensive or gourmet and definitely not fine-dining but these meals have my approval stamp because they were cooked with love and are so colourful!.

Stir fry french beans and okra with pumpkin.

I love how the pumpkin got mushy and became almost a sauce coating the beans with its sweetness. First saute some dried prawns till fragrant, add garlic and then the pumpkin. Add just enough water to cover the pumpkin and let it cooked for around 5-minutes (depending how you want the pumpkin..soft or crunchy). Add the beans and okra and stir fry till cooked through. Season to taste.

Bought the packet of bonito flakes from the Tsukiji fish market and it tasted wonderful with the tofu.

To prepare sauce (adapted from recipe JustOneCookbook):-

2 tbsp soy sauce + 2 tbsp water + 1 tbsp mirin (rice vinegar) + 1 tbsp brown sugar + 1 tbsp sake. Bring to boil in small pot till sugar melted and slightly thicken. Meanwhile I steamed both the tofu and century eggs over high heat for just 3 minutes. Pour away the water from the dish and pour over the teriyaki sauce. Top with bonito flakes.

Stir Fry kangkong with tomatoes.

I always have tomatoes in the fridge and they are so versatile that you can add it to any dishes or just soup.

Saute minced garlic and diced chillies till fragrant. Add diced tomatoes and brown sugar to taste. Cook till soften and then add kangkong. Simple yet delicious.

Wanton soup

This does take a bit of time to wrap the wanton skin with meat/prawn filling but as Sarah said, the best wanton, nothing like the usual wanton selling outside. To simplify and to save time, minced pork and diced prawns were marinated overnight with sesame oil, salt and pepper to taste with an beaten egg and a dash of Chinese cooking wine.

Stewed Pork belly with Salted fish bones.

I had bought some salted fish bones from my Lumut trip last month as I intended to cook this dish for the festival dinner. We normally don't eat a lot of salted fish, so once in a while indulge in this super blood-clotting dish is ok with me.
My Chan Clan recipe really does not have any exact measurements, always season to taste is my motto as everyone has differing taste buds.
I used 2 strips of pork belly (cubed or diced) . No joke I had to get to the market by 7.00 am. if I am to buy good pork belly from Ah Chuen in my area. His stall will be very crowded by 7.30 am. and by 8.30 most of the good cuts will be gone. He know which cut is good for what purpose, you only need to tell him what you intend to cook and he will give it to you.
The rest of ingredients:-
3 packs (10 pieces each) of tofu pok (beancurd pockets)(blanched with boiling water to remove some of the oil);
a handful of dry chilies (more if you desire spicy) also soaked with hot water and remove seeds;
a large piece of old ginger (sliced); minced garlic
seasoning: rock sugar, dark soya sauce (for the colour), sesame oil, chinese cooking wine.

Soak the salted fish for at least 30 minutes before cooking.

Marinate the pork belly with seasoning except the rock sugar. Heat wok and pan-fry meat till lightly brown (no need to add too much oil as the meat will render out some oil) dish up and set aside.
Heat wok and saute ginger, minced garlic and chillies till fragrant, add the salted fish bones.
Add the meat and combine. Add rock sugar and water to cover and bring to a boil. Lower heat and let simmer till meat is tender. Add the tofu pok and season to taste.
This dish was cooked for the Hungry Ghost Festival.

Some of the baking for August:

Walnut Butter Cake again but adding bananas this time... .

Instead of mashed bananas, I decided to layer sliced bananas in the middle of the cake and

again on top before baking...

Red Beans Buns, using the homecooked red beans paste - recipe from Justonecookbook.

Lastly Baked Marbled Cheesecake. all time family favourite.

Thank you to my sister May for the Harris grounded coffee beans. What a wonderful pairing - coffee with a piece of my Chocolate and Orange Cake. Recipe from The Good Food Magazine.

1. Cream 250 gm butter with 190 gm icing sugar till fluffy.

2. Add 5 eggs, one at a time till well combined

3. Fold in 200 gm of mixed candied orange and lemon peel.

4. Fold in 200 gm flour + 50 gm cocoa powder + 1/2 tsp baking powder + 1/4 tsp baking soda.

5. I added around 3 tbsp of buttermilk + 1 shot of rum.

6. Bake at 180C for around 30 minutes.

And of course, there are some bad ones...like these Mini Apple Pie using store brought puff pastry.

These puff pastry not only did not rise but are soggy and oily! Reminded me of a Mushroom pie which I bought from a "reputable brand" pop-up shop... they put it in microwave to heat it up but it became so soggy and oily, impossible to eat at all!