Jengkol Rendang

This is kind of a late post, was back in Dec last year cook myself this ultimate dish, my kind of favourite food - Jengkol Rendang!. Yes, taste better than beef as i always say. This is so addictive.  The purpose i used Rendang Paste is to intensify the Rendang flavour. Its so yummy.

JENGKOL RENDANG
INGREDIENTS
1kg Jengkol
1pkt Rendang Paste ( Indofood )
Coconut Milk ( from 1 whole grated coconut )
5tbsp Kerisik/Toasted Coconut ( from 1 whole grated coconut )
1 lemongrass
4 daun salam
1pcs gula merah
Salt to taste
Cooking Oil
Water

SPICIES PASTE
8 big shallots
5 cloves garlic
10 chili keriting / 4pcs big chili
6pcs candlenuts

METHOD
* Boiled Jengkol in hot water over pot for 30 minutes or until a layer of skin removed from Jengkol seeds. Dish up. Discard Jengkol skins, if there are any still attached to the seeds, slowly remove with knife.  Halve the Jengkol and smash each Jengkol lightly and set aside.
* 1 grated coconut, squeeze out coconut milk set aside, Toast grated coconut on wok with low fire until brown / kerisik. keep aside for later use.
* Blend all spicies until fine with food processor, set aside.

* Heat wok, add cooking oil, sauteed spicies paste, lemongrass, daun salam until aromatic, add kerisik lightly mix well and add 1 packet of Rendang Paste stir until all combine.

* Add in coconut milk and little bit of water one at a time, mix well and in Jengkol, cover lid and cook slowly until Jengkol is well cook through and gravy almost dry. 

* Dish up and served hot with warmed rice.

Vanilla Nutella Ice Cream

Have left about a cup of whipping cream from my birthday cake making. So I make Vanilla Nutella Ice Cream. Recipe is so super easy.

VANILLA NUTELLA ICE CREAM
INGREDIENTS
1 cup Whipping Cream
2-3tbsp Sweetened Condensed Milk
1tsp Vanilla
Nutella Spread

METHOD
* Pour sweetened condensed milk in a bowl, mix in Vanilla.
*Then whisk 1 cup of heavy cream until stiff. Transfer milk into whipped cream and spoon Nutella Spread to cream.
*Transfer batter into a container and cover with a plastic wrap. Then freeze minimum of 2 hours or overnight.

Enjoy and Happy cooking!

Fresh Fruit Cake for ME

Yes....my birthday 14th Dec 2016 ! Make myself a huge delicious Vanilla Fresh Fruit Cake.  It was so good!! The only thing wasn't perfect is the whipped cream.  Little thing that when i thought its easy, it turn to be the biggest problem among all.   I have no problem in whipping all the time, just too bad, i guess its the brand i bought whatever is that, it wasn't a good one and i won't going back for that particular brand ever again.

Back to my lovely cake, it was yummy.  A huge Basic Sponge Cake, was a good choice to bake this cake for my birthday.

FRESH FRUIT CAKE RECIPE
VANILLA SPONGE CAKE
INGREDIENTS:-
( 8" round pan )
5 large egg yolks
25g sugar
1tsp vanilla
85g water
65g oil
135 cake flour
1/2tsp double baking powder ( added )
5 large egg whites
90g sugar
1/2tsp cream of tartar

FILLING
3-4 fresh kiwi fruits
10-15 strawberries
1 canned peach

CREAM
1 1/2 cups Whipping cream
Icing sugar to taste
drop of Vanilla

METHOD:
* Beat egg whites & sugar until stiff peak set aside.
* Beat egg yolks & sugar till double volume, add vanilla and oil.  Beat a little and add in water with a mixer to blend, add in sifted flour with a mixer to blend in slow speed.
* Mix in meringue in 3 batches.
* Prepare 8" round pan, line base only, no need grease side.
* Pre-heated oven 150c.
* Bake at 150c for 25 minutes, increase temperature to 170c for 60 minutes.  ( original baking time of baking 140c for 25minutes, 160c for 40 minutes )  Its depends on your own oven temperature.
* Remove cake from oven into wire rack, wait for 15-20 minutes before remove cake from pan.  Side will shrink a little, run knife around and invert cake to wire rack to cool.
 * To assemble the cake - slice cake horizontally into 4 layers.  Place bottom layer on a serving plate, fill with whipped cream and place slices of strawberries dollop cream on fruits and layer with another cake, do the same with the rest until top layer.  Cover with whipped cream.  Top with fruits of your choice.

Pastry Fruit Cake ( II )

This was my 2nd bake Pastry Fruit Cake.  It was tall and fluffy. Beautiful, however, i still find it quite sweet though...

FRUIT PASTRY CAKE (II) RECIPE
INGREDIENTS:-
100g Butter
130g Brown Sugar
50g Strawberry Yoghurt
210g Cake Flour
3 Eggs
1tsp Vanilla
1tsp Lemon Zest
1tsp Lemon Juice
1tsp Double Baking Powder

Garnish:-
Fruits ( canned peach, fresh strawberries and blueberries )
Icing Sugar for dusting

METHOD:
* Line base and lightly grease and dust 8" round pan with flour
* Sift flour, DBP set aside.
* Cream Butter, Sugar and Yoghurt till fluffy.  Add in beaten eggs, one at a time, I mixture may look curdle.  Add in Vanilla mix well.
* Fold in sifted flour, DBP in 3 addition mix until combine with a hand whisk.
* Pour batter into round pan.
* Arrange fruits on top.
* Pre-heated oven, bake at 180c for 1 hour 40mins for a perfect brown top with my oven. ( adjust your own oven baking time, this cake recipe standard baking duration is 1 hour only )
* Insert toothpick to check the cake.  When its cooked, remove from oven cold on wire rack for 20mins, remove cake from pan.
* When cake is cool, dust with icing sugar amount of your liking.

Tang Yuan / Glutinous Rice Ball in Sweet Ginger & Pandan Syrup Soup

My 2016 Tong Yuan, I make this once a year on the 22nd December which the Chinese celebrates Winter Solstice Festival.  I like my Tang Yuan this time, it appears to be more presentable and beautifully round with clear syrup soup, i could see them more clearly too. 

I love filling Tong Yuan, so i make a batch of Tong Yuan with smooth peanut butter fillings, its so yummy!   

TANG YUAN
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups glutinous rice flour
1 cup water, add gradually
food colouring

FILLING
Skippy Smooth Peanut Butter

GINGER & PANDAN SYRUP SOUP
ginger, thinly sliced
3 pandan leaves, ties in knot
500ml water
Rock sugar ( your own desire sweetness level )

METHOD
* In a bowl, add glutinous rice flour and sugar. Gradually add in the water while mixing, if you find dough enough flexible, stop adding water.  Dough is done when it is not stick on your hands.  If too dry, just add some more water, if too wet add more flour.
* Dust plate with glutinous rice flour to prevent from sticking,  Separate them ino 2 or 4 portion depending on how many colors you want to make.
*  Mix coloring set each portion on the plate.  Pinch the dough into small ball. Roll into ball and flatten on palm add in Peanut Butter or any filling you prefer.
* Roll into ball and set on a serving plate with flour continue until finish.
* In a soup pan boil water till boiling hot add in tong yuan and stir balls while dropping balls into water to prevent from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
* When balls cooked, it will float to the top. Dish up
* Transfer to a bowl of cold water or direct to syrup.
* To make Syrup Soup - In a Soup Pot, boil water in a pot, add in pandan leaves and ginger bring to boil on medium heat until it smells and aromatic.  Add in sugar and let it simmer until sugar melted.

Homemade Chicken Char Siew ( Wok Method )

Homemade Chicken Char Siew wok method is quicker than using oven.  Its kind of a short cut way of cooking char siew taste similar the same.

OOhh...look at that shinning delicious char and glaze on my chicken, its mouth watering, you can't really see much difference either cooked from wok or oven.

HOMEMADE CHICKEN CHAR SIEW

3 chicken breast, boneless

1cup water

cooking oil

1 large cucumber

MARINATE SAUCE
1/2 cup Hoisin Sauce ( Lee Kam Kee Brand )
1/4 cup Honey
1/4 cup light Soya Sauce
2 tbsp Red Food Coloring
1 tbsp Garlic Powder / 3 cloves of finely chopped garlic
1 tbsp Five Spice Powder
dash of salt

For Glaze
1/4 cup Honey / Ready made Char Siu Sauce ( Lee Kam Kee Brand)

Method:-
* Marinate meat overnight or 3 hours.
* Heat wok in medium fire, add cooking oil, add in marinated chicken meat, remaining sauce and add 1cup of water mix well and closed with a lid.
* Let it simmer slowly for few minutes constantly check on water, shall it dry out quickly, add little more water to cook chicken throughly and add seasoning to taste.
* As chicken meat cook quite fast, once sauce almost dry, brush some honey to caramelize and dish up.
* In a serving plate, sliced cucumber, chopped chicken char siew and drizzle with sauce.

Cream Cheese Brownies

One great Cream Cheese Brownies Recipe by delishar.com. The texture is fudgy, gooey and most of all, its delicious and so beautiful! Great to go with a cup of bitter coffee.

I personally have sugar issue at all time.  I do not like cake that is overly sweet!! and so I did some adjustment on sugar measurement from the original recipe of 150g caster sugar, i reduced to 100g brown sugar, yet the brownies still came out a little too sweet for me.  Therefore i highly recomm to reduce sugar further to 80g shall you like to eat your cake NOT too sweet like me.

Here is the recipe

Look at this beautiful thing!! Yummmm

Arent they look gorgeous!!

CREAM CHEESE BROWNIES

INGREDIENTS

85g Plain Flour / APF

1/2tsp Baking Powder

1/4tsp Salt

3 Eggs

1tsp Vanilla

170g Dark Chocolate 

115g Unsalted Butter

100g Brown Sugar

CREAM CHEESE 
226g Cream Cheese
67g caster sugar
1 Egg
1tsp Vanilla  

METHOD
* Double boil, melt cream cheese and sugar, removed from heat, add in 1 egg and vanilla mix well, set aside.
* Double boil, melt dark chocolate, butter and sugar, removed from heat, add in egg one at a time and fold in flour with a spatula gently.

* Pour half of brown batter into a prepared square pan, save half brown portion to dollop on top after a layer of cream cheese has poured on top of brown batter.  Once all done, make swirl with butter knife..
* Bake 160c for 68 minutes center oven
* Remove cake from oven, let it cold for 5 minutes in pan, removed cake from pan and let it cold on wire rack. 

 

 Yummo!!