Mushroom Soup

 COVID-15

Since I found this recipe and cooked it, no one in my family likes the Caxxpbxll mushroom soup anymore. Even my friends and relatives would had tasted it was pretty amazed by it.

However, during the COVID period, everyone in Singapore had reduced their outings and started cooking and baking more at home. I wanted to cook this soup for the past few months and was not able to get one of the main ingredients - Cream Cheese! It was out of stock everywhere. I think everyone had been trying their hands out on the Burnt Cheesecake.

I could not find the original website anymore and because it was an easy recipe, I just remembered it and adjusted according to my family's preferences.

Diced mushrooms               Diced onions

Softened mushrooms            Blend ingredients

The smooth and tasty mushroom soup

Ingredients :
About 500g of white button mushrooms, diced
1 whole yellow onion, diced
120g cream cheese (half a block), cut into smaller pieces
1L chicken stock
Salt
Black Pepper
Butter (for frying the onion)

Method : 

1) Heat up the pot and melt butter.

2) Pour in the onions and stir fry till soft and fragrant

3) Put the diced mushrooms in the pot and fry till soft. Do not add water as the stir-frying will release the water from the mushrooms. Turn the heat down and simmer for a while.

4) Pour in the chicken stock and continue simmering, for approx 20 min.

5) Add in the cream cheese.

6) Use a hand blender and blend all the ingredients together with the soup till smooth.

7) Add salt and black pepper to taste.

After thoughts :

1) I only added half a block of cream cheese as my family did not like soups too creamy. I remembered that the original recipe actually required one full block (250g)

2) I also added some water (on top of the chicken stock). Be careful, too much water will result in the soup being too watery.

3) Usually I fry the black pepper together with the onions first so as to release the aroma of the pepper.

Gyudon

COVID-14

During this pandemic, getting food from the school canteen posed a problem to my kids. So I had to search up the internet for easy and fast to cook meals to prepare and let them bring to school for lunch. I found this Gyudon recipe from Just One Cookbook. It is a very easy and quick recipe to dish out a delicious meal for them.

Pardon my photo-taking skills 😅 . Doesn't look very appetizing, but trust me, it is delicious!

I repeat the recipe here just in case the recipe goes missing from the link....

Ingredients :

360g sliced beef
1 onion
3 large eggs
Scallions

For the sauce :
2 tsp of sugar
2 tbps of mirin
2 tbps of sake
1 tbp of soya sauce

Method :
1) Place oil into the frying pan and fry the onion till soft and fragrant.
2) Put in the sugar and beef slices and fry till pinkish.

3) Put in the other ingredients needed for the sauce.

4) Let it simmer for a while .

5) Pour in the lightly beaten eggs just before switching off the fire.

6) Add in the scallions.

After thoughts : 

1) For about a quantity of 300g beef, I would triple the amount of sauce as my children love the sauce over their rice.

2) A versatile dish which you could use either chicken, beef or pork.

3) I usually add in some water to ‘top-up’ the amount of sauce. But, please don't overdo it, otherwise, the taste will be diluted.

Apple Muffin

COVID - 13

Recently, my girl started to learn cooking & baking in school. She brought back her apple muffins the other day and I was quite amazed by the soft and moist texture of the muffins and pestered her for the recipe. I tried it out, but alas, the muffin did not turn out as nice as hers. Upon more investigation, we realized that the teachers did not follow the recipe!

Unable to get over the taste of her muffins, I went in search of a recipe on the internet and found this. My daughter said it tasted better than hers...

Ingredients :

115g unsalted butter, melted

200g brown sugar

165ml milk

1 large egg

1tsp white vinegar (optional)

300g wholemeal/ plain flour

1tsp baking soda

t tsp cinnamon powder

A pinch of salt

2 cups of diced apple

Method :

1) Preheat oven to 200deg.

2) Place melted butter and brown sugar in a bowl and whisk

3) Add milk, then egg and vinegar. Whisk to combine

4) Pour flour into the mixture over a few times. Followed by baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Whisk about 10 times until flour is incorporated - some lumps is fine.

5) Stir in the apple - minimum stirs, just to disperse the apple.

6) Scoop the mixture into muffin cases. Sprinkle some sugar on top of the muffins if you want a crispy top.

7) Turn the temperature of the oven down to 180 deg. 

8) Bake the muffins for about 20 min

After thoughts :

1) I cut a generous 2 large apples as I want to juicy bits and more distinct apple taste.

2) Recipe yielded 21 muffins for me.

3) For my oven, I turned the temperature down to 170 deg before putting in the muffins.

4) Muffins were indeed moist and soft. But I think I might cut down on the amount of sugar next time. It tasted a tad sweet to me.

Taiwanese 粉圆

COVID - 12

My husband likes traditional kueh-kueh, deserts and chewy chewy stuff - just opposite to mine. But anyways, as a dutiful wife :) , I try to make some ...
Recently on the internet, I found this recipe for "Taiwanese 粉圆" and tried it. It was quite simple and should be a keeper. The entire video could be found on this attached Youtube channel. Do visit for clarity on the steps...

Ingredients :
For the Taro balls/ sweet potato balls
100g of taro/ sweet potato, mashed
30g of tapioca starch
10g of rice flour
2 tsp (for taro)/ 1.5 tsp (for sweet potato) of sugar
30 - 50 ml of water

For the syrup
250ml of water
A few pieces of ginger
50g of brown sugar


Method :
For the taro/ sweet potato balls
1) Cut the taro/ sweet potato into smaller pieces and steam till soft. Mash them and set aside.
2) Mix the sugar into the mashed taro/ sweet potato.
3) Pour in the flours and mix well.
4) Add the water over a few times. Knead the mixture till it becomes a pliable dough.
5) Roll the dough into a longer strip and cut into smaller pieces. Shape the dough into your liking. Set it aside.
6) Prepare a pot of boiling water.
7) Pour all the taro/ sweet potato balls into the boiling water and boil for a few minutes till all of them float on water. Continue boiling for another minute.
8) Off the fire and quickly transfer the balls into cool water.

For the syrup
1) Boil the water and ginger slices together. Add the sugar to taste.

To serve, scoop the cooled taro/ sweet potato balls into a bowl and drizzle with sufficient syrup. Can be served hot or cold.


After thoughts :
1) For the dough - water must be added slowly as you knead the dough and feel its texture. If it is too dry and flaky, add water. If it is too wet and sticky, add some flour. The key is to add slowly and limited amount at a time.
2) Could have add more sugar into the dough as the balls tasted bland.

Dalgona Coffee

COVID - 11


With this circuit breaker (CB) in place, many people started to share easy recipes on social media platform which I find it's GREAT! We also have more time to try out the various recipes. AFter various tries, we finally conquer the "Dalgona Coffee"

Ingredients:
(for 1 cup)

2 tbsp of instant coffee
2 tbsp of sugar
2 tbsp of water
Milk


Method :
1) Put all ingredients (except milk) into a bowl. Stir till everything is dissolved.
2) Whisk the mixture in a quick manner till the mixture becomes thick and turns to light brown. This will take approximately 10 min using a hand whisk manually.
3) Pour the desired milk amount into a cup and then spoon the whisked mixture in step (2) onto of the milk

After thoughts :
1) We had tried using instant 3-in-1 coffee mix in the earlier times and it does not work! So, get the fine granules-type of instant coffee.

Rock Buns

COVID - 10

If I don't remember wrongly, Rock Buns was the first practical lesson that we had during Home Economics class (aka FCE nowadays). When I saw this recipe, I thought, Hey! I can get my daughter to start baking with this easy cookie....

Ingredients
(makes about 20 cookies of dia 5cm)

(A)
200g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
100g butter

(B) 
100g sugar
100g raisins

(C)
1 egg
3 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla essence


Method :
1) Preheat the oven to 185deg.
2) Cut the butter into small cubes. After finishing, put the butter back into the fridge to let the butter harden up a little while preparing the other items.
3) Mix the ingredients in (C)
4) Sift the flour, baking powder and salt. Place the butter in. Use the rub-in method till the mixture resemble breadcrumbs
5) Stir in (B) followed by (C)
6) Scoop a tsp of batter onto lined baking tray.
7) Bake in oven for about 20 - 25 min or till cookie turns golden brown.


After thoughts :
1) For my oven, 170deg

Pandan Chiffon Cake

COVID - 9

I can certainly say that this is my favourite cake! And it has to be baked by me!
My family as well as the extended family also love this very much, especially the old folks. It is soft and fragrant.

I learnt this from Creative Culinaire in one of the baking courses that I took with them many years ago. The course was informative and well conducted as the instructor explained some basic concepts well and also demonstrated the "stiff peak" egg-white status required for a successful chiffon cake.

Ingredients :
(7" inch cake from chiffon tin)

3 eggs (separate the yolks from the whites)
70g sugar
1/8 tsp salt
20g corn oil
36g coconut milk
54g cake flour
1/4tsp pandan paste
1/8tsp cream of tartar


Method :
1) Pre-heat oven at 190deg
2) Place yolks in mixing bowl. Pour in sugar (30g out of the total 70g) gradually while beating the mixture till a light yellow stage.
3) Mix in the coconut milk, corn oil and pandan paste at low speed. Mix till smooth.
4) Sieve the flour and salt.
5) Combine the flour with yolk mixture and mix till smooth.
5) Whisk the egg whites till frothy and then add in the sugar (remaining 40g) over 2-3times. Add in  cream of tartar. Whisk till mixture reaches stiff peaks.
6) Take 1/3 of the egg-white mixture and fold into the flour mixture.
7) Transfer the mixed mixture in step (6) into the remaining 2/3 egg white mixture. Continue to fold till well combined.
8) Pour the mixture in a tube pan. Drop the pan above table top for a few times to release any trapped bubbles. Bake till cooked at 190deg for about 30 minutes.


After thoughts :
1) I use store-bought pandan paste. Thus, to let the cake have more pandan flavour, I will add in some pandan essence.
2) I use 170deg for my oven
3) I also add in 1/4tsp baking powder in step (4). Sieving it with the mixture

Min Chiang Kueh

COVID - 8

Tea snacks were also part of the meal planning.
This was recommended by my sister-in-law and executed by her brother and nephew. Whew! I finally take a break in preparing the meals !

 


Ingredients :
For Batter :
150g self raising flour
40g sugar
160ml water
1 egg
1tsp baking powder

For stuffing :
Coarse sugar
Crushed peanuts
Melted butter

Method :
1)  Mix all the ingredients (except egg) of the batter evenly.
2) After that, add in the egg. Mix till combine.
3) Rest the mixture for an hour.
4) After an hour, heat up a flat frying pan. Coat minimal oil on the pan.
5) Stir the batter and use a ladle to scoop the batter onto the pan.
6) Swirl the batter around the pan so that the batter could evenly coat the bottom and sides of the pan.
7) Wait for the batter to bubble and then generously sprinkle the sugar-peanut mixture on. Wait for another 2-3 min or till the bottom has browned.
8) Spoon the melted butter and swirl it around.
9) With a thin spatula and/ thongs, scrape the sides and loosen the pancake. Fold the pancake into half.
10) Serve.

Traditional Baked Egg Cake

COVID - 7

With many mouths to feed, breakfast was also a headache.

I came across this recipe on Miki's Food Archives - traditional baked egg cake. nice and fragrant. Brings back some old memories.

The following is her full recipe. Do visit the page as it has step-by-step pictorial instructions for beginners.


Ingredients :
(makes about 8)

2 eggs
70g caster sugar
Pinch of salt
70g cake flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
18g oil
1 tbsp milk

Method :
1) In a mixer bowl, put in the eggs, caster sugar and salt.
2) Beat until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla extract and mix well at low speed.
3) Sift in flour and baking powder. Use a spatula, fold to combine. Add in oil and milk. Stir to combine. Do not overmix the batter.
4) Prepare muffin cups and pour in batter evenly. Gently tap the baking tray on the tap to release any trapped air in the muffin mix.
5) Bake in a preheated oven at 180deg for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Another Fluffy Pancake

COVID - 6


Hey! I found another recipe for Fluffy Pancakes on Adam Liaw's webpage. It sounded so easy .... so I got to try it out too....
Oh, by the way, do visit his webpage as he has also prepared an informative instructional video.

I repeat his recipe here below.

Ingredients :
(makes 12)

600g self raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
875 ml milk
3 eggs
125g sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract


Method :

For Batter
1) Sift the flour and baking powder together into a large bowl.
2) Stir through the sugar to combine.
3) Make a well in the flour-mixture centre.
4) Mix the egg, milk and vanilla together and pour into the well.
5) Whisk to slowly incorporate the dry ingredients together with the wet until just combined.
6) Then stir to a smooth mixture. Pour the mixture through a sieve to get rid of any lumps.
7) Cover with plastic wrap and rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours (preferably overnight).

To cook
1) Heat a non-stick pan over low-medium heat.
2) Add a half cup of batter and allow to cook for 4-5 minutes.
3) When the pancake is golden brown and the uncooked surface is covered with bubbles, flip the pancake and cook for a further 2-3 minutes, wiggling the top of the pancake with your fingers to see if the batter inside is cooked.
4) Repeat for the remaining batter.


Some of his tips which I applied

• Do not add butter or oil to the pan when frying. Butter and oil will just form beads in a non-stick pan and make the heat from the pan uneven.
• Don't cook the pancakes too fast. Low-medium heat is best as they are so thick that they will take a little time to cook. On induction stove, he set the stove to 6 (out of 12), dropping it to 5 after he has cooked a few pancakes.
• Can substitute 600g self raising flour + 2 tsp baking powder with 600g plain flour + 3 tbps of baking powder   

After thoughts :

1) I couldn't do without oil on the pan .... The first few which I did not use oil -- the pancakes turned out flat and stuck to the pan. So to overcome the problem, I oiled a piece of kitchen napkin and used that to apply the minimal oil onto the surface of the pan. The pancakes turned out fine after that. 

(P/s the problem might also lie with my pan ?!)

2) Though my pancakes turned out tasty, it did not appear as thick as Adam's. It became something like the McDonald's Hotcakes. I will need to re-look at my processes. Hopefully, the next time, I can achieve fluffy pancakes....

Fluffy Pancake

COVID - 5

My youngest asked whether I can make pancakes for one of the breakfast. So, here I go again, searching up the internet for a homemade pancake recipe. I found one on Taste of Home (do visit the website as there is also an instructional video to guide). Looks easy enough and here I go .....

Ingredients
(makes 8)

1 cup all purpose flour (128g)
1 tbps sugar
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
3/4cup milk (184g)
1/4cup shortening or butter, melted (55g)


Method
1) In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
2) In another bowl, combine egg, milk and shortening/ melted butter.
3) Put (2) into (1). Mix well.
4) Use a ladle and scoop 2 ladle-fulls of batter onto a greased hot griddle. Turn when bubbles form on top of pancakes. Cook until the second side is golden brown.

Gula Melaka Huat Kuih

COVID - 4

With more mouths to feed constantly as well as the inconvenience of going out to make grocery purchases, I have ventured more into providing homemade breakfast.

During a trip to Malaysia late last year with my extended family, I have this supply of gula melaka in my store. Hence, I wanted some use for it and I found this recipe on Mykitchen101en. Do visit this website as there is also an instructional video on the making of this huat kuih.

Ingredients
(makes about six 7.5cm cupcakes)

160g gula melaka (coconut palm sugar)
160g water
3 pcs of pandan leaves
120g evaporate milk
250g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsps baking powder
4 tbps corn oil (or any other vegetable oil)


Method 

1) Combine gula melaka, water and pandan leaves in a sauce pot and cook till the sugar has melted.
2) Strain sugar syrup into mixing bowl
3) Add in evaporated milk, mix well, set aside until slightly cooled.
4) Bring the water of steamer to the boil
5) Sieve together plain flour, baking soda and baking powder.
6) Sieve the flour again into gula melaka mixture, mix till blended. (Reminder : add in extra 1-2 tsps of water if the batter is too thick
7) Add in corn oil, mix until combined
8) Sieve through to have a smooth batter.
9) Pour batter into 6 lined baking cups (7.5cm)
10) Steam over medium-high heat for 17-18 minutes
11) Unmould when slightly cooled down, then cool completely on wire rack. Put into container with cover for storage

Mee Hoon Kueh

COVID - 3

I have heard how easy and nice to have homemade Mee Hoon Kueh at home. For a very long time, I have already searched for a recipe to follow but just did not get to practise it. Now, it seems like the TIME....

I followed the recipe from Delicacious. I have already tried it for 2 times. Both times yielded good feedback from the family but I felt that my kueh-dough could be better, Well, lets leave it to the 3rd and nth times to figure it out.....

Ingredients :
(for 2-3 serves)

Dough for mee hoon kueh
250g all purpose flour (plain flour)
100 ml water
1 egg (lightly beaten)
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp salt

Soup
100g ikan billis, washed and cleaned
2litre water
150g minced pork
1 tsp corn flour
1/4 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp soy sauce
white pepper
egg
2 cups leafy vegetables

Garnishing
100g ikan billis, oven toasted till golden brown and crisp
spring onions, chopped

Method :
Mee Hoon Kueh
1) Combine flour and salt in a large mixing bowl
2) Combine water, egg and oil in another bowl.
3) Make a well in the flour mixture and pour the liquid ingredients from (2) into the well
4) Use a wooden spoon and mix till well combined.
5) Knead dough for about 5-10 minutes until dough is smooth and less sticky.
6) Cover bowl with cling wrap and set aside for 1 hour.

Soup base
1) Boil ikan billis in water for about 45 minutes
2) Strain soup and set aside

To cook
1) Heat some soup base in a small pot. Add some minced pork (shaped into rounds)
2) Tear flat pieces of mee hoon kueh dough and drop it into the boiling soup
3) Add egg and vegetables and allow to boil for  a few minutes
4) Season to taste with salt and pepper
5) Garnish with spring onions and ikan billis
6) Serve hot


After thoughts :
1) Serving size is reasonable. To dish this for my entire family (5A + 1C, of which 2 teenager-boys), I have to make twice the recipe portion.
2) For the soup base, I will always fry the ikan billis and some garlic in oil till fragrant and then add in the water to boil. Simmer for about 1 hour
3) Other than following the dough recipe diligently, I did not follow the rest of the recipe as I adjusted according to my family's preferences, including the soup base.

Stir-fry beef with ginger and scallion

COVID - 3

Beef is an important meat in my family as the children likes it. I have tried out the recipe from Rasa Malaysia a few times and find it easy and quite flavourful. Thus, I would like to repeat the recipe and method here. But do visit the page if you want.

Ingredients :
For the beef :
227g sliced beef
1 tsp cornstarch

For the sauce :
1 tbps oyster sauce
1 tsp maggi seadsoning
1 tsp sesame oil
4 tbps water
1 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tbps shaoxing wine
1 tsp suger
1/2 tsp salt
Dashes of white pepper powder

Others :
2 tbps oil
1-inch ginger, peeled and thinly shredded
3 stalks scallion, cut into 2-inch length

Method :
1) Coat the sliced beef with the cornstarch for 10 min.
2) Combine all the sauce ingredients, mix well and set aside
3) In a wok, heat up the oil until very high heat. Stir fry the shredded ginger until fragrant.
4) Toss in the beef and continue to stir-fry for a few minutes or until beef is almost cooked.
5) Add in the sauce and stir-fry a couple of times or until the sauce thickens.
6) Add in the scallions, stir dish out and serve.


After thoughts :
1) I have used double weightage of beef in my picture above as I have meat-eaters at home.
2) I always like to pour in a final dash of shaoxing wine at the end of the cooking for a flavour

Quick Toast with Egg and Cheese

COVID -2

I can't remember where I saw this recipe. It is so simple that I did not even save the webpage/ social media page, so, apologies to the original creator of this quick recipe.

Method :
Simply follow the above pictorial illustration.

Ingredients :
Simply vary according to your preference.


After thoughts :
1) Use a flat frying pan. I have also used an induction stove so that the heat is more evenly spread.
2) After adding the sliced cheese and 'closing' up the bread together, do not toast the bread for too long as the cheese will have melted too much. It became liquid instead of "stretchy".
3) Idea : To stack up the toast, can add bacon (already fried beforehand) and tomato slices before closing up the bread and let the melted cheese hold everything together.

Nasi Lemak

Due to the COVID situation and Stay-At-Home situation, there is a need for me to cook more regularly. So, I will term this as COVID - 1 :) though it is not the first dish that I made during these trying times.

I cam across this easy recipe for Nasi Lemak on a food blogger, Dinogoozatfood. I had just used the recipe for the rice itself and not the chicken skewers.

I am repeating her recipe here :

Ingredients :

Nasi Lemak Recipe

1.5 cups of rice
1.25 cups of coconut milk
1 cup water
1 thumb size ginger (pounded)
1 lemongrass (pounded)
1 pandan leave
1/8 tsp salt


Chicken Skewers/ Satay Recipe (without peanut sauce)

200g chicken meat (cut into chunks)
0.5 tsp corn flour
0.25tsp salt
1.5tsp curry powder
1/2tsp tumeric powder
1 tbps oyster sauce
1/2 tsp tumeric power
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
3 clove garlic, mashed


Method

For Rice : just mix all the ingredients together and put into rice cooker
For the Chicken Skewer : just mix the seasoning, marinate the chicken and put into the fridge, preferably overnight. Then grill.



After - thoughts :
1) I have used Kara's Coconut Cream 2 X 200ml (researched internet and it says that 1 cup coconut milk is equiv to 250ml) as I needed to cook 2.5 cups of rice. However, I will use Coconut Milk the next time as these cream simply just coagulated on top of the cooked rice and I needed to re-mix the rice. Inaddition, for the coconut cream, I did not use twice the amount as I also wanted to see how it covers the rice. I think it was the right decision. By almost doubling, my rice would have been 'porridge' :(.
2) Also, 2.5 cups of rice is not enough to feed my entire family.... 

Banana Huat Kuih

Recently, have been buying more bananas as usual as the second child wanted more proteins in his diet. However, before we could finish the bunch of bananas, some started to turn black.
So, what do we do with the overripe bananas ??? Banana butter cake again ?

I decided to try this out instead .... Banana Huat Kuih !

I tried the recipe from My Kitchen 101en. A nice change and taste.... Turns out not too bad.

I repeat the ingredients and steps below.  Watch the video from My Kitchen101en for more clarity !

Ingredients :
(makes about 12 cupcakes of 2")

200g ripe bananas
110g soft brown sugar
200g full cream milk
50g rice flour
200g plain flour
4 tbsps corn oil
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda


Method :
1) Mash the bananas with a fork.
2) Put the brown sugar and milk into the mash bananas and mix well.
3) Sift the flour mixture into the batter. Mix well.
4) Add the oil and mix again.
5) Bring a pot of water to boil (for steaming the cake)
6) Scoop 3 to 4 tbps of the batter into a small bowl and add the sifted baking power and baking soda. Mix.
7) Put the mixture from step (6) into the earlier batter. Mix well again
8) Line baking cups with cupcake liners. Scoop the batter into the cupcake liners to almost full.
9) Arrange the cups onto the steamer rack and steam for about 18 minutes on medium high heat.
10) Remove the cups from heat and let cool for a while.
11) Unmould the cupcakes from the cups and let cool.