Banana Cake

Bananas are found in abundance in Malaysia. But not only that; there are many types or varieties that one can choose from. Some bananas can only be eaten raw while others can be cooked or baked into cakes and bread. One can peel, slice and coat the bananas with flours and deep-fried to form banana fritters. Or, the bananas can be mashed, mixed with flours to form banana fritter balls. Bananas can also be cooked with santan, sago and sugar to make Pisang Pengat. Bananas can be made into delicious cakes, many types of kuih and bread. I usually use Pisang Berangan for all these as they are very aromatic, very sweet and can be found everywhere.

Ingredients:

• 225 g cake flour (all-purpose flour can also be used)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 145 g sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 170 g mashed banana
• 4 eggs
• 225 g melted butter (do not add the salt if using salted butter)

Method:

• Sieve cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl.

• Add mashed bananas to flour and mix them up.

• Using a hand mixer, whisk the eggs till they are fluffly. Add the whisked eggs to the banana mixture in thirds till all eggs have been used up. Mix them up using the hand mixer.

• Add the melted butter to the banana batter and use the hand mixer to incorporate the melted butter into the batter. The batter is runny.

• Pour the batter into a greased and lined 8 inch x 4 inch loaf pan.

• Bake it in a pre-heated oven at 175 deg C for 50 minutes.

• Check to see if the cake is cooked by inserting a wooden skewer into it. The skewer should come out clean.

• Let the cake cool slightly in the pan before transferring it to a metal rack to let it cool down completely.

• Enjoy.

Lo Mai Gai (Steamed Glutinous Rice with Chicken)

Lo Mai Gai is a savoury dish sold in Chinese dim sum restaurants. It is steamed glutinous or sticky rice topped with chicken, Shiitake mushroom and Chinese sausage slices. It usually comes in small metal bowls which is overturned onto a plate when brought to the customers in these restaurants. Nowadays, we do not have to patronise these dim sum restaurants to savour them. We are able to buy them from stalls selling Chinese buns which are usually located outside coffee shops. While these are delicious, we find them to be too oily. By cooking them ourselves (and it is easy to make them) we are able to reduce the amount of oil and salt and add more ingredients like the chicken, Shiitake mushrooms and Chinese sausage or lap cheong to make them even more delicious. 

Ingredients:

• For the rice: (5 pax)
• 2 cups glutinous rice, soaked for at least 4 hours
• 5 shallots (or more), chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tbsp dried prawns (small size), soaked
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp 5-spice powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 3 tbsp cooking oil
• 1/2 cup water

• For the ingredients:
• 10 slices of chicken, either thigh or breast meat
• 2 pcs Shiitake mushroom, soaked and cut into 5 big or 10 smaller pieces
• 2-inch ginger, chopped and squeezed for the juice)
• 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 1/4 tsp 5-spice powder
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
• 1 pc Chinese sausage, soak, remove casing and cut into 10 slices
• 1/2 cup water

• Garnishing
• 1 stalk green onion, cut into small pcs

Method:

• Wash and soak the glutinous rice for a minimum of 4 hours. (However, I prefer to soak them overnight so that it takes a shorter period to cook.)

• Marinate the chicken and mushroom with ginger juice, salt, 5-spice powder, sesame oil, light and dark soy sauce and Chinese cooking wine for at least 2 hours.

• Add cooking oil to a kuali. (I use only 3 tbsp but add more if you want a more oil Lo Mai Gai.)

• Fry the dried prawns till they are fragrant. Remove them and set aside.

• Saute the shallots and garlic till they are fragrant.

• Add the dried prawns back to the kuali.

• Add the glutinous rice and fry them.

• Add light and dark soy sauce, salt, 5-spice powder and pepper and continue to fry them till all are well-mixed. (You may add more dark soy sauce if you wish for the rice to be darker.)

• Stir-fry the rice for a few minutes till the rice is fragrant.

• Add 1/2 cup of water to the rice and continue to fry the rice till the water is absorbed.

• Meanwhile, fill a steamer with water and boil the water.

• Transfer the rice to a metal plate. Put the plate into the steamer to steam the rice till partially cooked, approximately 15 minutes.

• Taste the rice when done. Add more light soy sauce if you like it to be more salty.

• While the rice is being steamed, use the same kuali to fry the Chinese sausage slices till oil comes out. Remove the sausage slices without the oil and set them aside.

• Use the sausage oil to fry the chicken and mushroom slices. Add 1/2 cup of water to the kuali and fry them till they are cooked.

• To assemble, place 2 pieces of marinated chicken, 1-2 mushroom pieces (depending how you cut them (black part facing downward) and 2 pieces Chinese sausages on the base of the bowl. (My bowl measures 10.5 cm in diameter.)

• Scoop the glutinous rice into the bowl covering the ingredients.

• Spoon the remainder sauce from the chicken to the rice.

• Cover the bowl with aluminium foil to prevent water from getting into the rice during steaming. Take care not to let the foil touch the rice.

• Steam the rice for 30 minutes till it is fully cooked. Add more time if the rice is not fully cooked or you prefer a softer rice texture.

• It can be served hot or cold.

• Garnish with green onions before serving.

• Note: It can be frozen if you cannot finish them. Just take them out from the freezer and place on the table to return them to room temperature. Steam for a short period before serving them.

Spicy Stir-fried Pineapple

 

 

Spicy Stir-fried Pineapple reminds me of my late mother. She loved it and cooked it often. Like her, I also love this dish which is easy to dish out. I usually use Morris pineapple as it is slightly sour compared to other species.

Ingredients:

• 450 g cut pineapple
• 2-3 tbsp cooking oil
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 chili padi, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp sugar (or more for a sweeter taste)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp corn flour + 3 tbsp water

Method:

• Peel, remove the eyes and core pineapple. Cut the pineapple into bite sizes.

• Add 2-3 tbsp cooking oil to the wok.

• Saute the garlic till fragrant but not brown.

• Add chili padi to the wok. This is to ensure a very spicy dish. If you do not wish for the dish to be too spicy, then add the chili padi when you are frying the pineapple.

• Add the pineapple to the wok and stir-fry it.

• Add water to the wok. Simmer the pineapple till it is soft.

• Add sugar to the wok. Add more if you want a sweeter dish.

• Add salt (can add more or to taste) to the pineapple. Stir-fry till it is dissolves.

• Add corn flour mixture and stir-fry till the pineapple looks glossy.

• It is ready to be served.