Minced Pork over Steamed Egg and Tofu

 

We have steamed egg and steamed tofu. We also have braised minced pork. Why not combine them together to create a new dish. I am sure your family members will love this dish; mine do. The steps are simple and the whole process does not take long. The ingredients are easily available.

Ingredients:

For steamed egg:

• 2 eggs
• water, equivalent to the same amount of the eggs
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp pepper, or more
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1/2 piece of tofu (can use 1 piece if you love tofu)

For the minced meat

• 150 g minced pork
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce, or more for a darker braise 
• 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 3/4 cup water

Method:

• Prepare a steamer of boiling water.

• Crack 2 eggs into a bowl.

• Add the equivalent amount of water to the eggs.

• Add salt, light soy sauce, pepper and sesame oil.

• Beat the eggs till all the ingredients are incorporated.

• Cube the tofu and add them into the eggs.

• Steam the eggs for 15 minutes or till they are cooked.

• Add oil to a pot.

• Add chopped the garlic to the pot and saute them till they are fragrant.

• Add the minced pork and fry them.

• Add dark and light soy sauces, salt and pepper.

• Add water.

• Braise the pork till they are cooked and the sauce has been reduced by a fair bit.

• Remove the steamed egg from the steamer.

• Scoop the braised minced meat on top of the steamed egg.

• Serve.

Cheese Brownies

We always make brownies as they are. Have you ever thought of combining them with something else like cream cheese or Nutella or peanut butter? Well, since I still have a big block of cream cheese left from previous bakings, I decided to add it to my fudgy brownie. I was sure that they are going to be delicious. I love cheese and I love chocolate. So what better combination that this would be. 

Ingredients:

Brownies:

• 450 g dark chocolate (either bar or coins)
• 150 g salted butter (if using unsalted butter, then add 1/4 tsp salt)
• 100 g brown sugar
• 3 grade A eggs
• 120 g all-purpose flour
• 20 g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp instant coffee
• 1 tsp vanilla essence, optional

Cream Cheese Topping:

• 225 g cream cheese
• 40 g castor sugar
• 1 grade A egg
• 1 tsp vanilla essence, optional

Method:

• Take out your cream cheese from the refrigerator, weigh the required amount and let the latter soften and come to room temperature.

• Prepare a 7 inch x 7 inch pan (preferably with a removable base for easier removable of the brownie) - grease and line it with parchment paper. Set aside.

• Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C.

• Add dark chocolate, salted butter and brown sugar to a bowl.

• Place the bowl over a pot of boiling water (bain marie) to melt the chocolate, butter and sugar.

• Remove the bowl from the pot of boiling water once these have melted.

• Set the bowl aside to let the chocolate mixture cool down.

• Meanwhile, add softened cream cheese to a bowl.

• Add castor sugar to the cream cheese and mix by hand with a spatula till the sugar has melted and the cream cheese is smooth.

• Break the egg into a small bowl. Slightly beat it.

• Add the beaten egg to the cream cheese mixture. Mix till they are well incorporated.

• Add vanilla essence (optional) and mix to incorporate it into the cream cheese mixture.

• Set the cream cheese mixture aside.

• Once the chocolate mixture has cooled down slightly (not necessary totally), beat the eggs slightly and add them to it. Mix till the eggs are incorporated.

• Sieve the flour, cocoa powder and instant coffee.

• Add them to the chocolate mixture in thirds, mixing well after each addition.

• Add the vanilla essence (optional) and mix.

• Pour the chocolate mixture into the prepared pan.

• Scoop spoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture and place them randomly on top of the chocolate mixture.

• Use a chopstick or thin wooden skewer to swirl the cream cheese mixture to form patterns as creatively as possible.

• Bake the batter for 25-30 minutes or till it is cooked. (Test doneness by poking a wooden skewer into the brownie. It should come out clean.)

• Remove the brownie from the pan and let it cool down completely on a metal rack.

• Once it has cooled down, keep the brownie in the refrigerator before serving.

Chocolate Mousse Cake

Mousse Cake is a sweetened dessert of which the main ingredient is whipped cream thickened with gelatin. The cake is light and fluffy due to the air trapped when cream is whipped. There are many variations of mousse cake - either single favour - for example chocolate, vanilla,  strawberry, Matcha and so on - or a combination of layers of two or three flavours, for example, a vanilla layer over a chocolate layer, or a strawberry layer over a vanilla layer and at the bottom a chocolate layer. Mousse Cake has to be stored in the refrigerator and is best eaten cold.

Ingredients:

• 140 g Oreo cookies
• 60 g melted butter
• 8 g gelatin
• 40 g hot water
• 150 g dark chocolate (I used Cottura Compound Bar)
• 15 g sugar (can add more for a sweeter cake)
• 175 g yoghurt
• 400 g whipping cream
• cocoa powder for sprinkling on cake

Method:

• Put Oreo cookies into a ziplock bag. Use a rolling pin to crush the cookies. Thereafter, use the rolling pin to roll over the crushed cookies to make them finer.

• Add the melted butter to the ziplock bag. Mix the butter with the fine cookie crumbs.

• Pour them into a 15-cm pan with removable base.

• Use a spatula to press down and level the cookie crumbs. You can also use the base of your measuring cup to do this.

• Place the pan in the refrigerator to harden the cookie base. This will take 20-30 minutes.

• Add gelatin to a small bowl. Add hot water to it. Stir to dissolve the gelatin. Leave it aside for later use.

• Boil a pot of water. Put a bowl over the pot. Add the chocolate to the bowl to melt it.

• Add sugar and gelatin to the bowl. Stir to mix them up with the melted chocolate. Set the bowl aside to cool down the ingredients for later use.

• Add yoghurt to the chocolate mixture after it has cooled down. Set the bowl aside.

• Using a hand mixer, whisk the whipping cream till stiff peaks are formed.

• Add the chocolate mixture to the whipped cream and mix them up.

• Remove the pan from the refrigerator.

• Pour the chocolate-cream mixture to the pan. Level it with a spatula.

• Cover the pan with a plate and leave it in the refrigerator, preferably overnight.

• Remove the cake from the pan. (To loosen the cake from the side of the pan, just wipe the side of the pan with a hot towel.)

• Sprinkle cocoa powder on top of the cake using a sieve.

• Serve.

Steamed Banana Bread

 

After buying 2 big bunches of pisang berangan from the farmers' market, my neighbour gifted me with a big bunch of pisang raja. My daily ritual after waking up is to drink a cup of water and after 30 minutes eat 2 pisang berangan. So I kept the pisang berangan for eating them raw and use the pisang raja to make banana bread. Instead of the usual method of baking, I steamed the banana batter instead, thus, steamed banana bread.

Ingredients:

• 275 g banana  (4 big bananas)
• 2 grade A eggs
• 100 g milk
• 95 g melted butter or corn oil
• 75 g sugar
• 185 g all-purpose flour or cake flour
• 3 g baking soda
• 2 g salt

Method:

• Mash the banana and leave it aside.

• Break and whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl.

• Add milk and continue to whisk.

• Add melted butter and whisk till it is incorporated into the eggs and milk.

• Add sugar and whisk till it dissolves.

• Add flour and use a spatula to mix it with the liquids.

• Add baking soda and salt. Mix till all ingredients are well incorporated.

• Get the steamer ready by starting to boil water in it.

• Scoop the batter into small metal bowls. If you do not have them then pour the batter into 9 inch x 4 inch x 4 inch loaf pan. Do not fill the batter to the top edge of the pan. Instead leave about 1 inch. If there is too much batter, then scoop them into muffin cups.

• Steam the batter over medium heat. If you are using metal cups or muffin cups, then you need to steam the batter for 20 minutes. However, if you are using a loaf pan, then steam the batter for 45 minutes.

• Test for doneness with a wooden skewer.

• Remove the bread from the steamer when done.

Tip: If you cannot finish the steamed banana bread, slice it up and keep the slices in the freezer. When you want to eat them, let them return to room temperature. You can toast the slices so they are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. It is very delicious eating the banana bread this way.

Kuih Lepat Pisang

 

Kuih Lepat Pisang, a traditional kuih, brings back my childhood memories. I used to eat this kuih when I was very small as it was easily available in the market. However, it is not available in the cities. But thank goodness this kuih is very easy to make; we need to just mix the ingredients and steam. The only problem is finding the banana leaves unless you grow banana trees in your compound. I had difficulty to find the banana leaves even in the pasar tani or farmers' market. I was told they were reserved by business owners selling kuih and banana leaf rice. When I went round the market asking for banana leaves, one seller was kind enough to take out one stack from those reserved by one of his customers.

Ingredients:

• 400 g mashed bananas (I use pisang awak.)
• 75 g all-purpose flour
• 10 g rice flour
• 25 g sugar
• 6 g salt
• 60 g coconut flakes
• 7 pieces of banana leave (6inch x 8inch)

Method:

• Prepare the banana leaves. After cutting them into the desired size, wash them and boil them to soften them. Or, you may run each piece over a small fire to soften it.

• Add mashed bananas, all-purpose flour, rice flour, sugar and salt to a mixing bowl.

• Mix the ingredients till they are well incorporated.

• Take a piece of banana leaf, scoop a spoonful of banana mixture and place it onto the centre of the banana leaf.

• Use the spoon to space it evenly on the leaf.

• Use a teaspoon to place the coconut flakes onto the banana mixture.

• Roll up the banana leaf from one end to the other. Then flatten it slightly.

• Fold the ends neatly under the wrapped mixture.

• Prepare a steamer and boil the water in the steamer.

• Once the water has boiled, place the wrapped banana mixture onto the steamer tray and the tray into the steamer.

• Steam for 20 minutes.

• When done, remove the kuih from the steamer and let them cool down.

• Serve.

Note: If your bananas are not too ripe, then reduce the flour. The above amount is for bananas which are very ripe.

Pulut Pisang

 

     

Pulut Pisang can be easily found in the northern part of West Malaysia. It comes in 2 types - one in white glutinous rice and the other in a mix of black and white glutinous rice. They are both rich, delicious and savoury. The unique feature of this kuih is that it is made and sold in pairs.

Ingredients:

• 500 g white glutinous rice or 400 g white glutinous rice + 100 g black glutinous rice
• 300 g thick coconut milk
• 60 g sugar (May add more for a sweeter kuih)
• 7 g salt
• 3 pandan leaves, optional
• 5-6 bananas, sliced into halves
• 10-12 pcs of banana leaves measuring 6 inches x 8 inches
• Butcher's string

Method:

• Soak the glutinous rice for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight.

• Prepare the banana leaves. After cutting them into the desired size, wash them and boil them to soften them. Or, you may run each piece over a small fire to soften it.

• Steam the glutinous rice till it is cooked or half cooked. If it is fully cooked then the final steaming will take only 25-30 minutes. But if it is half cooked then the final steaming will take about an hour.

• Add santan, sugar, salt and pandan leaves (optional) to kuali. Heat up the santan till it just boil. Do not keep on boiling santan as the oil will separate from it.

• Add the glutinous rice and stir to ensure it is coated with the santan.

• Once the pulut is ready, let it cool down.

• Take each piece of banana leave. Place some pulut onto it and spread it out. (I used 88g of pulut for each piece of kuih.)

• Place a piece of banana onto the centre.

• Fold the banana leave over the pulut and keep on rolling over till the pulut is secured.

• Fold the 2 edges of banana leave under it.

• Take another piece of banana leave and do the same.

• Once you have made a pair, tie both pieces together (the bottom facing each other) with, preferably a butcher's string or rice dumpling string.

• Repeat till all the glutinous rice has been wrapped.

•  Heat up water in the steamer.

• Once the water has boiled, place all the wrapped kuih onto the metal rack in the steamer.

• Steam the kuih for 30 minutes or 1 hour.

• Remove the kuih from the steamer and let it cool down.

• Serve.

Napa Cabbage in Eggs with Shiitake Mushroom

 

I cooked a new dish which is made up of ingredients which are readily available in my kitchen - napa cabbage, carrot, Shiitake mushroom, red chili and eggs. It turned out to be delicious when served with rice. Perhaps you would like to give it a try.

Ingredients:

• 250 g napa cabbage 
• 20 g carrot
• 1 pc Shiitake mushroom
• 1 pc red chili
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped

Method:

• Wash and cut the Napa cabbage cross-wise about 2 cm width.

• Wash and julienne the carrot.

• Wash, soak and slice the Shiitake mushroom thinly.

• Wash and slice the red chili thinly.

• Heat up wok with 2 tbsp cooking oil.

• Fry the mushroom slices till they are fragrant.

• Add the chopped garlic and fry them they are fragrant.

• Fry the carrot till they are soft.

• Add the cabbage and chilli and fry them till the cabbage is half-cooked.

• Break the egg and pour it over the napa cabbage.

• Let the egg cook without moving it.

• Add the light soy sauce and salt.

• Transfer to a serving plate and serve.