recipe is: yam cake

i got this recipe from audrey's cooking site and i tweaked it a wee bit here and there to suit my own palate. i'm sure her original recipe is just as great :-)

Ingredients

1 medium size yam, skinned, rinsed and cubed into about 1cm-sized pieces
5 shallots, skinned and thinly sliced
3 tbsp dried shrimps, rinsed and wrapped in kitchen napkins to soak off excess moisture
1 tbsp choy poh(pickled white radish), use the finely chopped ones
100 gm rice flour
2 tbsp tapioca flour
550 ml water
salt to taste
1 1/2 tsp 5 spice powder
fine grounded white pepper

Method

steam yam for about 15 mins. remove from steamer and set aside

heat wok/frying pan, put in about 3 tbsp oil and stir fry shallots until lightly golden brown. turn down heat and quickly remove half of the shallots to set aside, leaving the other half and the oil in the wok/pan

add dried shrimps, stir fry for a couple of minutes and add yam, salt, choy poh, 5 spice powder and pepper. stir fry for a few minutes to let the flavour fuse. dish up and set aside

combine rice flour, tapioca flour and a big pinch of salt and the water in a saucepan and stir til the mixture is smooth and lump free. place saucepan over a low heat and keep stirring continuously with a fork to keep it lump free. it will thicken. once it thickens, remove from the heat and add in the yam combo and stir to mix thoroughly. pour the whole mixture into a 20 cm cake tin and steam for 25 mins. make sure that the water in the steamer is at a bubbling boil when you put in the yam mixture

cool, and garnish with thinly sliced red chillies and spring onions and the fried shallots. serve with a chilli sauce of your choice

recipe is: onde onde

got this recipe from amy beh and added some extra pointers and tips

Ingredients

8-10 pandan leaves (screwpine leaves)

200 gms glutinous rice flour, sifted

pinch of salt

1/2 cup of boiling hot water

a few drops of green colouring (optional)

1/2 freshly grated coconut, mixed with a pinch of salt

FILLING -

100 gms gula melaka (palm sugar)

1 tbsp soft brown sugar

- combine both the sugars in a bowl/saucer


Method


put the pandan leaves with a couple of tbsp of water in a liquidizer. blend to a coarse pulp. or alternatively you can thinly slice the leaves and pound with a little bit of water in a pestle and mortar. strain to obtain about 2 tbsp of thick green juice. set aside

put the sifted glutinous rice flour and a pinch of salt into a mixing bowl. pour in the boiling water and the pandan leave juice. stir well to form a smooth dough. if the dough is too stiff add a wee bit of water with a teaspoon. if it's too wet, add in a bit of glutinous rice flour

divide the dough into small pieces to form lime-size balls. flatten the ball fairly thinly into a curved bowl shape and put in half a teaspoon or so of the filling. bring the edges to meet and gently roll with the palm of your hands back into a ball shape

get a pot of water boiling. drop the balls into the boiling water. don't throw in too many at once. when the balls are cooked, they will float. scoop up with a meshed stainer or perforated ladle of some sort to drain off the water and toss in the grated coconut

Note:-

during the mixing of the flour with the water and pandan juice, it might look way too dry and there's an urge to add in more water. be PATIENT and mix thoroughly. it might seem too dry when you're mixing, but if you add too much water, the dough becomes sticky and not pliable at all. if needed, add the water very sparingly.

recipe is: strawberry and apple crumble

recipe was taken from someone who contributed to nigella's site. i tweaked the recipe a bit.

Ingredients


Crumble Topping


300 gms instant oats

60 gms brown sugar

165 gms butter



Fruit Filling


2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped into small pieces

500 gms strawberries, sliced

120 gms coarse brown sugar

2 tbsp water


Method


Topping

mix the oat and butter well, add sugar and mix til it resembles crumbs


Filling

place apple and water in a saucepan and on very low heat cook til apples begin to soften

add strawberries and sugar and mix thoroughly. take care not to leave it on the heat for too long as a lot of liquid will form and the filling will be very watery. leave it on the heat for a maximum of 2 minutes

spoon the filling into an oven proof dish and cover with crumble topping

bake in oven preheated to 190℃ for 25 - 30 minutes til the top is golden brown

Note:-

you can vary the sugar weight for the fruit filling. if you get sour, tangy strawberries, use a little more sugar, if you've got sweet juicy fruits, use less sugar. it's a personal taste thingy :-p

i find that using oat gives the best crumble and texture. you can substitute with wholemeal flour or even plain flour, but i find that the result won't be as nice

use a deeper dish instead of one that wide and shallow

recipe is: cupcakes with peanut buttercream topping

recipe was derived from here

Ingredients

Cupcakes

115 gms butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla essence/extract


Topping

3 tbsp butter

3 tbsp peanut butter

1/2 cup icing sugar

2-4 tbsp milk

pinch of salt

1/2 vanilla essence/extract


Method

Cupcakes

preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius/350 degrees fahrenheit

beat butter til soft. add sugar beat til light and fluffy

add eggs one at a time and continue beating in between

whisk flour, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl

add the vanilla essence to the milk

add 1/4 of the flour mix to the butter and beat

add 1/3 of the milk to the mixture and combine

repeat, alternating between flour and milk and ending with flour

scoop into cupcake papers til about 3/4 full (depending on whether you want flat or domed cupcakes)

bake for 20 - 22 minutes til cake tester comes out clean

put on wire rack to cool



Topping

in a bowl, beat all the ingredients well. add more milk if needed to make a fluffy spreadable frosting

use a butter knife/small spatula to spread topping on cooled cupcakes

recipe is: nasi goreng kampung

this is actually cooked by my hubby. he makes great fried rice of all sorts :-)


Ingredients

4 tbsp oil

3 bowls cooked rice (rice cooked a day before works best)

a handful small sized ikan bilis (tiny asian anchovies)

3 large chinese cabbage leaves, cut into strips

5 cloves garlic, chopped

1 onion, quartered and sliced

4 cilipadi (tiny bird's eye chilli, it's very hot and spicy)

1 tbsp kicap tamin (sweet thick soya sauce)

3 tsp light soya sauce

salt to taste



Method

heat the oil in a wok and throw in the ikan bilis to fry til golden brown and crispy.

throw in the onions and fry for 3 mins. add the garlic and fry for another 2 mins.

add the chinese cabbage and cilipadi and fry til the cabbage has soften a little.

add the rice and stir fry quickly to mix. add the kicap tamin and light soya sauce and salt to taste.

serve hot straight from the wok.



Note:

~ kicap tamin can be substituted with normal thick soya sauce, just add a pinch of sugar to sweeten

~ the bird's eye chilli is really hot and spicy. substitute with normal red chillies for a milder taste

~ most leafy green vegetable can be used for this dish