My Waisekmao

Hello there

It has been quite a long while since I last updated my blog.  I have been monitoring it, though,  and am glad to note that many foodies are still visiting my blog regularly. For this, I thank you.  Glad that you appreciate my recipes and I hope you had as much fun as I did creating and posting them.

However, it is rather disappointing to note that there are people out there who are hijacking my photos, without any credit being given or permission asked.  It was a total shock to see photos of my kuih and cookies on other websites, even photos of my beloved cat. There is one particular site which is located in Indonesia. Pages after pages of my photos are displayed so blatantly. There was no permission requested nor is there any link to my blog.  If you google the name of my blog, you will see what I mean.  This is so despicable I now know how singers feel when their songs are downloaded or pirated.

Seriously, I have no objection if foodies print and download my recipes for their own use.  It seem to be downright unethical to use my photos and recipes on their website or blogs, as if they created them.

To maintain my right to photos I painstakingly took and posted, I may now have to re-post all my photos and add my name.  Like the one below.

It is indeed sad to have to resort to such a step. It  will involve a lot of work and editing. The advantage to all this hardwork is websites and blogs which have hijacked my photos will then be so visible and exposed.

Double Chocolate Cupcakes

What is more delicious and sinful than chocolate ?  Double chocolate, of course. This cupcake is a sure-fire winner.  It has been eaten and carefully weighed and reviewed by my sons and is definitely two thumbs up.  This recipe makes about 16 cupcakes, which in my house, will be finished in 2 days.  And as usual, my cupcakes are without icing.  Too sinful as it is.

Ingredients

2 cups self raising flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa, sifted
125g choc chips
1 cup milk
2 eggs
125g melted and cooled butter
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method

1.   Preheat oven to 180 degree C.  Line 2 patty trays with cupcake cases.

2.   Sieve the flour, sifted cocoa and sugar together.

3.   In another bowl, cream eggs, milk, butter and vanilla essence.

4.   Pour the mixture into the sifted flour and cocoa.  Mix till well blended.

5.   Add in half the choc chips.

6.   Spoon into cupcake cases, about 1/2 full.  Top with more choc chips.

7.   Bake for 20 minutes.   Cool and enjoy.

Honey Roasted Almonds

It has been a month since my last post.  How time flies!  I have been rather busy with getting my house in ship-shape condition and trying out some new recipes.  The end result is delicious nuts and cakes and lots of daily exercises to counter the effect of them delicious stuff.

Honey Roasted Almonds are so delicious and crunchy.  I was not aware that it was so easy to make.  Do up a batch and eat it whenever you feel the need to sink your teeth into crunchy stuff. 

Ingredients

2 cups whole almonds, roasted

¼ cup sugar

½ tsp salt

2 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoon water

2 tablespoon vegetable oil

Method

1.         Roast almonds in a tray at 200 degrees C for about 10 minutes.

2.         Mix sugar with salt.  Set aside.

3.         Put honey, water and vegetable oil in pot.  Stir to mix.  Add roasted

            almonds, keep stirring till no liquid is left.

4.         Sprinkle sugar and salt mixture onto almonds.  Ensure it is mixed in.

5.         Spread in tray to cool.  Bottle it up when cooled.

Loh Mai Kai (literal translation : Glutinous Rice with Chicken)

It has been a while since I last had this dish.  In Kuala Lumpur, you can get it at coffee shops throughout the day along with the char siew paos. It is one of the staples at dim sum restaurants. 

Loh Mai Kai is made from glutinous rice.  As kids, we were always told not to have too much because of the "wind" it can cause in the stomach.  Now that we are older, it makes more sense.  So, beware!  Too much loh mai kai is not too kind on the stomach.

Susan, my sister, actually started me on this dish.  Last week, she told me she made it and it was a success.  It actually is very easy, though a bit time consuming because you need to soak the glutinous rice, preferably overnight. I am never a favourite of delayed actions.  I am a now person - my food now, not tomorrow.  However, the Loh Mai Kai was worth the wait.

Here is the recipe for Loh Mai Kai (Glutinous Rice with Chicken)

Ingredients:
150g glutinous rice
2 cloves garlics, mashed
1 cup chicken stock (or sauce from chicken)
60g chicken meat
2-3 black Chinese mushrooms, soaked and cut into thin slices

Chicken Marinade:
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp oyster saucea dash of pepper
1/2 tsp Hua Tiau Jiu (Chinese wine)

1 tsp tapioca flour

 salt

Ingredients for glutinous rice:
1  tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp pepper

1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp Chinese five spice powder

To prepare:

1)       Wash glutinous rice, soak it for two hours, meantime, marinate the

chicken.

2)       Heat up the frying wok, add in oil, garlic and soaked glutinous rice,

stir fry for 2 minutes. Add in all the ingredients for glutinous rice and stir fry till mixed well.

3)       Grease 3 rice bowls, arrange slices of mushroom and chicken.

4)       Top up with fried glutinous rice and press down to make it firm.

5)       Add in chicken stock into these filled rice bowls, make sure the water

level is at least 1 cm above the rice.

6)       Steam for 40 minutes.

7)       Remove the Loh Mai Kai from the rice bowl by turning onto a plate. 

P.S.  You can always add chinese sausages, after frying them lightly. 

Enjoy!

        



                 

Orange Cupcakes

I so love cupcakes these days.  They are so easy to make and pretty easy to
eat too.  Most cupcakes have topping or frosting on it.  Mine does not, partly because it's better for me cos it's less fattening and partly because I have not mastered the art of doing the topping.

My latest cupcake adventure is orange cupcakes.  I so love the smell of orange zest.   I even made an orange chiffon cake last month.  Check out my earlier post.

Ingredients

113 grams unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup white sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1 1/2 tsp orange juice

Zest of 1 orange

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

Method

1.   Preheat oven to 180 degree  C.  Line a 12 muffin cup tray with

      cupcake liners.

2.   Blend sugar and orange zest in mixer till fragrant.  Add in butter and beat

      till light and fluffy.

3.   Add in eggs, one at a time.  Beat in vanilla essence and orange juice.

4.   Mix flour, baking powder and salt in another bowl.

5.   Add flour mixture and milk, alternately,  into butter mixture.

6.   Spoon mixture into muffin cups.  Bake for 20 minutes.

7.   Remove from oven when cooked.  Cool on wire rack.  Once cooled, top

      with icing.

Enjoy!!

Latest photos of my orange cupcakes.  That would be the 2nd or maybe 3rd batches.

Cupcakes

I recently saw a recipe for cupcakes which triggered my interest in baking them.  I have made heaps of muffins before and have a very good non-stick muffin pan which I use.  However, I have never made cupcakes before. 

I was interested to find out the difference between cupcakes and muffins.  Both of them looked similar in shape.  I always thought that the Americans called it muffins and the British called it cupcakes.  The wonders of the internet and Google!!.  One of the major difference is that cupcakes have toppings while muffins generally do not.  Also, cupcakes uses butter while muffins use vegetable oil.

For this cupcake, I use a small muffin tray.  Aren't they adorable ?

Cupcakes

Ingredients

2 cups self raising flour, sifted

¾ cup sugar

¾ cup milk

125 g butter, melted and cooled

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

Method

1.   Preheat oven to 180 degree C.  Line muffin tray with cupcake liners.

2.   Cream butter and sugar.  Add in eggs.  Add in vanilla essence and milk.

      Beat for 2-3 minutes.

3.   Fold in flour.

4.   Fill muffin tray to ¾ full.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.

5.   Stand in pan for 5 minutes.  Take out and cool on wire rack.

This basic cupcake recipe  is very easy and perfect for your own topping.  For the icing, you can try this.

Icing

1 ½ cup icing sugar

1 ½  tablespoon water

Colouring

Enjoy! 

Baby Angkoo Kueh

Previously, I have posted Angkoo Kueh and Sweet Potato Angkoo in this blog.  I just had to do this Baby Angkoo Kueh post because it is so cute.  My sisters brought over this cute little mould from KL when they visited me recently and I just had to try it out.  What do you think ?

As comparison, I took a photo of the different sizes.  The one on the left is the big angkoo, the middle angkoo kueh is without the turtle's head and legs and the right angkoo is the baby angkoo.

I use the recipe as per my post for Angkoo Kueh.  However, this time I was more adventurous and put 2 different fillings inside the angkoos.  One was red bean paste which was store bought. 

The other was coconut filling.  Recipe is as follows.

Coconut Filling

90g Gula Melaka (Malaysian palm sugar)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 pandan leaf, knotted
50 ml water
1/2 grated coconut (about 10 oz)

1 tsp corn starch

Method

1.      Break up the palm sugar and combine with the sugar, pandan leaf and water in a pot. Cover over a medium flame until sugar dissolves. Add in the grated coconut and corn starch and continue to cook for a few minutes. Dish out into a bowl.

So, isnt the baby angkoo cute ?

Tau Cheong Sui (Soya Bean Milk)

I have been doing my own tau cheong sui for ages.  It is so easy to do your own soya milk.  I know some people who use soya milk machines, which are not cheap.  I use a blender, some cloth bags and mixing bowls.

The cost is minimal (1 packet of soya beans costs about $2.80) and you get good quality and fresh soya bean milk for the whole family.  Definitely no preservatives.  I know - last summer I left one batch overnight to cool down and it turned bad. And the best thing is you can control the sugar, unlike the ones that are store bought.

Tau Cheong Sui (Soya Bean Milk)

Ingredients:
500 gm soya beans
Water

Sugar

Pandan Leaves


Method:

 

1.      Soak soya beans using cold water for 4 to 8 hrs and if  

         using hot water 3 to 5 hrs.

2.      Drain off the water, take out the soya bean skins, where

         possible.

3.      Using blender, liquidify the soya beans with water and
         pass through a cloth bag.  I use the formula 1 cup of soya
         beans to 3 cups of water.  

   

4.      Use 2 layers of cloth bag to get a cleaner taste of soya

milk.

5.      Use a  stainless pot, cook the soya milk, stirring all the

time to prevent burning.  Add in pandan leaves, tied in a

knot.

6.      When it comes to full boil, let foam rise to top of pot and

quickly remove from fire.

7.      Remove the foam and return to fire and let it foam up

another 2 more times.

8.      Season with sugar to taste.  

9.      Refridgerate in bottles and enjoy.

Red Bean & Black Glutinous Rice Sweet Dessert

Suddenly I felt like eating this dessert, which is one of my all time favourites sweet dessert.  This is a variation of Bubur Pulut Hitam which is Black Glutinous Rice Dessert.  I love Red Bean Soup and Bubur Pulut Hitam.  So what a good deal - combining  both of them!  This way, I don't have to put on weight, eating 2 different sweet desserts.

I wish to point out that my photo  of this dessert is not the best.  I am using my Iphone to take the photos.  It's so much easier and convenient uploading photos to my netbook.  I will re-take the photos again.  Definitely I will be cooking this dessert again very, very soon.

Red Bean and Black Glutinous Rice Sweet Dessert

Ingredients

200 gm red beans

80 gm black glutinous rice

1/2 cup of Palm Sugar (Gula Melaka)

6 tablespoons white sugar

10 cups water

2 pandan leaves, knotted
1 cup coconut milk plus 1/2 teaspoon salt

Method

1.        Rinse the red beans and black glutinous rice with water thoroughly until

           the water turns clear.

2.        Add water and pandan leaves in a pot and bring it to boil. Add the red

           beans and black glutinous rice into the pot.  Cover the pot with its lid.

3.         When it boils again, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour, or until beans 

            and glutinous rice softened, and the soup thickened. The longer you

            cook, the softer the beans, the thicker the soup.

4.         Keep checking the water level, if it has become too dry, add more

            water.

5.         Add in gula melaka and white sugar to taste. Stir until dissolved.

6.         Serve the dessert in small bowls topped with a spoonful of coconut 

            milk.

P.S.    If you are using a crock pot, put red beans, glutinous rice and water

           into crock pot.  Turn it to low (about 8 hours) and go to sleep.   If you 

           like it thicker, add less water.   Add sugar to taste.

Money Bags

I first had this food in a Thai restaurant back in Kuala Lumpur.  It is normally served as an entree, which means it comes in a small plate of 4 pieces.  Which also means, you can just have one per person.  Sigh!  So good but too small a portion for my appetite.  It was so delicious and crunchy I just had to cook it at home - so that I can get enough of it to eat.

It is actually deep fried wontons.  I normally do not like wontons, something about the slimy feel as it goes down the throat kinda puts me off eating too much.   But this !  This is deep fried and crunchy.  Yummy!

Money Bags

Ingredients

200 g mince (chicken or pork)

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

1 tsp Chinese wine

Wonton wrappers

Method

1.     Mix mince with salt, pepper and Chinese wine.

2.     Put half a teaspoon on a wonton wrapper.  Wrap up tightly.  Do the same

        till finish.

3.     Heat up oil for deep frying.  Fry money bags in batches until cook.  Drain

        on paper towels.

4.     Serve with sweet chilli sauce. 

P.S.  If you like, you can add in oyster sauce or soy sauce. 

         To make it crunchier, you can also add chopped up carrots or

         water chestnuts.

Green Tea Chiffon Cake

It's been a while since I updated my blog.  With all the Chinese New Year food and cookies that was consumed by my family and me, I thought I would give our stomachs a rest. Otherwise, we would all look as chubby and satisfied as my cat.

I am happy to note that fellow foodies are still visiting my blog, despite lack of new postings.  I know I was supposed to post the Pandan Chiffon Cake recipe, as stated in my previous post.  I will have to delay that in lieu of this new Green Tea Chiffon Cake recipe that I recently found.  Let me know what you think of this chiffon cake.

GREEN TEA CHIFFON CAKE

Ingredients: (20cm tube pan)

(A)  4 egg yolks
      40g castor sugar
      pinch of salt
      1 tbsp honey

(B) 4 tbsp corn oil
     80ml warm water + 3 tsp green

     tea powder
     3 tsp vanilla essence

(C) 100g cake flour
     3/4 tsp baking powder

(D) 4 egg whites
     1/2 tsp cream of tartar
     50g castor sugar

Method:

1. Cream ingredients (A) till sugar dissolved.

2. Add in ingredients (B) in the respective order and mix well before adding

    the next item.

3. Sieve in ingredients (C) and mix till there are no lumps.

4. Beat egg whites with electric beater till frothy, sprinkle in the cream of

    tartar.  Beat till white in colour and add in sugar by thirds.

5. Pour egg white mixture into yolk mixture and mix well.

6. Put batter into a chiffon cake pan and bake at 170C - 180C for 40-45

   minutes 

7. When the cake is cooked, remove from oven and  invert cooked cake on a

    wire rack to cool for 15 - 20 minutes. Remove cake from cake pan and

    leave aside to cool completely.

P.S.   If you like it sweeter, you can add more sugar.  Comment from the  
         taste testers at home was more sugar needed.  They must be    
         missing my chocolate glazing from the Orange Chiffon cake.