Banana Cake

 香蕉蛋糕

Harvested bananas from our community garden. Waited a week for them to ripen and made this moist, fluffy and fragrant banana cake yesterday. Adapted from Chef Richard Goh's recipe. 

Ingredients:

150g cake flour

60g sugar (I reduced the quantity of sugar from 120g as the bananas are already very sweet by themselves.)

3 large eggs 

90g sunflower oil

175g very ripe bananas

1/4 teaspoon baking soda (I reduced from 1/2 teaspoon)

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste (omitted)

1 spoonful of love 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190 degree celcius. 

2. Sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda together and set aside.

3. Put eggs, banana (no need to mash at all) and sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk until pale and triple in volume. The batter should be thick/fluffy and when you lift the whisk, you should be able to get stiff peaks. I use electric stand mixer to do this job (speed 2 [medium], SPAR mixer), takes about 10 mins.

4. Add half of the sieved flour mixture (from step 2) into the mixing bowl and fold gently using spatula. Repeat for remaining half of the flour.

5. Once flour is folded in, slowly add in the oil and use spatula to fold gently while the oil is being added. Fold until fully combined.

6. Pour batter into a cake pan lined with baking paper. The amount of batter fits nicely into my square cake pan (7" x 7" × 2").

7. Bake at 190 degree celcius for 10mins. Then use aluminum foil to cover the cake, reduce oven temperature to 180 degree celcius and bake for 15 to 20mins. Use skewer to test doneness i.e.  skewer comes clean when you poke it into the cake.

8. Transfer cake to cooling rack. Done! Serve when cake has cooled down or better yet, wait for a day as I find the cake is even tastier and softer then.

Yummy! 🤩This cake is fluffy, moist and tastes very close to the famous Hiap Joo Bakery's banana cake across the causeway. 

Brioche Hamburger Bun

 

These buns are way much better than store bought ones. Plus, kneading the dough by hand gives you a good workout for your arms and hands! This video is very useful for the kneading technique.

Ingredients

250g bread flour

1.5 teaspoon instant yeast (I use saf-instant yeast from France)

1.5 tablespoon caster sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 medium egg (room temperature)

120ml warm milk

30g unsalted butter

1 spoonful of love 

Method

1. Warm milk to 30 degree celcius.

2. Crack the egg into milk and mix to combine.

3. Put bread flour, yeast, sugar and salt into mixing bowl. Make sure yeast and sugar are placed on same side of mixing bowl and salt on the other side. (Salt will inhibit development of yeast)

4. Pour milk mixture (step 2) into the yeast and sugar. Use your hand or dough scrapper to mix all the ingredients in the mixing bowl until fully combined. 

5. Transfer the dough from the mixing bowl to tabletop and knead for 5-10minutes.

6. Add in butter and knead until you get a smooth, silky and soft dough. This takes about 20 minutes for hand kneading. Do the window pane test to determine if the dough has been kneaded to correct consistency.

7. Gently fold the dough into a ball, lightly oil the mixing bowl with olive oil and place the dough into the bowl with the seam side down. Cover with a plastic wrap and proof in a warm place for 40 minutes (first proofing) or until dough is double in size.

8. After 1st proofing, punch down the dough, remove it from mixing bowl and divide into 6 or 7 equal sized doughs (approximately 65g to 75g each). Gently deflate each dough, flip over so that the smooth side facing up. Shape each dough into a ball. 

9. Place the round balls of dough on a baking pan (lightly oiled with olìve oil or place a baking parchment sheet on the pan). Cover the doughs loosely with a plastic sheet and proof in a warm place for 30minutes or until double in size. Prepare baking ring (12" x 1") and place them around each dough ball to guide the bun to rise.

10. Before the end of 2nd proofing, preheat oven to 170 degree celsius. 

11. At end of 2nd proofing (if you press the dough gently with your finger, the dough leaves a small indentation which springs back slightly and not immediately), lightly brush each dough with milk (room temperature). If you like, you can sprinkle the top of the doughs with sesame seeds. 

12. Bake for 10-15minutes or until the buns are light golden brown. Do watch the baking like a hawk to ensure you don't over bake the buns. Bun weight: 69 to 71g for around 75g dough.

13. Transfer the buns immediately to wire rack for cooling. 

14. Best eaten warm and on the same day. Home made burger using this bun. Yummy.

Note. These buns will still stay soft on the next day. To keep buns fresh, freeze the buns if you are unable to finish them on the same day of baking.

Happy baking!

Fusilli Bacon Gratin

 

Ingredients

180g fusilli

5 pieces of smoked bacon

1-2 tablespoon panko (flaky bread crumbs used in Japanese cuisine)

White sauce, also called bechamel, based on ratio 1 (unsalted butter):1 (plain flour):10 (fresh milk). For 180g fusilli, we'll need:

50g unsalted butter

50g plain flour

500ml fresh milk

1 spoonful of love 

100ml heavy cooking/whipped cream - this is optional but will make the white sauce/bechamel creamier.

Method:

1. Cut each piece of bacon into 1 inch strip

2. Cook fusilli until al dente, drain and put the fusilli in a baking dish. Remember to add one teaspoon of salt when cooking the pasta to enhance its flavour. 

3. Prepare white sauce:

a. Melt butter in a small pot and stir in flour using a small whisk until mixture is thick and smooth.

b. Slowly stir in milk until fully incorporated.

c. Season with salt and white pepper to suit taste. I add about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and dashes of pepper.

d. Stir in heavy whipped/cooking cream.

4. Pour the white sauce to the fusilli and mix until the fusilli is evenly coated with the sauce.

5. Lay the bacon strips on the fusilli and sprinkle panko on the bacon

6. Bake in oven at 220 degree celcius for 15minutes or until panko is golden brown.

7. Stand for 5-10minutes before serving.

Serves 4 to 5 pax.

Cantonese Steamed Fish with ginger

粤式蒸鱼

Ingredients

1 wedge of seabass fillet (approximately 300g)

1 tablespoon shaoxing wine

1 spoonful of love 

Sauce:

2 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice or shaoxing wine

1 tablespoon water

1/8 teaspoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon rock sugar

Dashes of white pepper

1 knob of ginger (cut into thin strips)

2 stalks of scallions (cut into 2 inch strips)

1 stalk of chinese parsley

Method

1. Clean the fish and remove any bones. Put the fish on a plate with the skin side down. Drizzle shaoxing wine over the fish and lay half of the ginger strips on the fish.

2. Steam the fish for 10minutes on high heat. After 10minutes, discard the cloudy water released from the steamed fish. Throw away the ginger too.

3. Lay the other half of ginger strips and scallions on the fish.

4. Heat up 1 tablespoon cooking oil and drizzle it over the ginger and scallions.

5. Pour the sauce in the wok/pan and boil at medium heat. Once boiled, pour over the fish.

6. Serve immediately.

Mapo Tofu

麻婆豆腐

This is a China Szechuan dish that is spicy and numbing. The two key ingredients are doubanjiang (豆瓣酱, broad bean paste) and Szechuan peppercorn. I don't stock those two ingredients in my kitchen and cook this dish by replacing them with ingredients that are readily available in my kitchen: gochujang (korean chilli paste) and miso (fermented soy bean paste). Here is my version of copycat mapo tofu dish which my family loves. 

Ingredients:

1 block of pressed/firm tofu

100g minced pork

1/8 teaspoon salt

Dashes of fresh ground black pepper

1/2 tablespoon gochujang (korean chilli paste)

1 tablespoon miso paste

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon minced ginger

1 tablespoon sake

1 tablespoon chilli and sesame oil (辣油)

1/2 teaspoon light soy sauce

150ml water or chicken stock

3 stalks of scallions

Corn starch solution (mix 1/2 tablespoon corn starch with 1 tablespoon water)

1 spoonful of love 

Method:

1. Remove tofu from package. To further drain water from tofu, placing a plate on the tofu for 15minutes. Cut the tofu into cubes after draining and set aside until step 5.

2. Cut the scallions into small pieces, separating the green and white parts.

3. Heat up wok with cooking oil. Stir fry garlic and ginger under medium heat until fragrant. Add the minced pork to garlic and ginger, add salt and black pepper to the pork and stir fry under high heat until pork is cooked through. Add sake and scallion (white part) to the pork and lightly mix until moisture is gone. Then, reduce the heat to low and push the pork to the side of the wok.

4. Put the gochujang, miso paste and sugar into the centre of the wok, and stir fry for 1 minute under low heat. If you want your mapo tofu to be more spicy, you can add chilli paste (recommended 老干妈brand spicy chilli crisp). After 1 minute, mix in the pork and stir fry under medium heat until pork is evenly coated with the gochujang/miso/chilli sauce.

5. Add water/chicken stock and soy sauce, and mix in. Add in tofu and mix lightly (so as not to break tofu). Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. 

6. Turn off the heat and add corn starch solution to thicken the mapo tofu sauce. Gently stir in the starch. Turn on the heat, add the chilli oil and continue to stir gently for 1 minute. 

7. Dish out the mapo tofu and top with scallion (green part) before serving.

Belgian Waffles

松饼

This waffle is much easier to make compated to liege waffles. They are crispy and fluffy. Instead of baking powder, this recipe uses egg whites (meringue) to create the air bubbles for the waffle batter to rise. 

Ingredients:

150g cake flour

1 large egg (approximately 60g)

30g coconut oil

130ml water

50ml cold milk

20g caster sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 pinch of salt

1 spoonful of love 

Method:

1. Sieve flour in mixing bowl, make a well in the centre and set aside.

2. Separate egg yolk from egg white. Put the egg white in a mixing bowl and place in fridge to keep it cold. Cold egg whites will make very fine and smooth meringue when we whip them up in step 6.

3. Mix milk, coconut oil, water, egg yolk, vanilla extract and salt in a large cup/container.

4. Pour the mixture in step 3 slowly into the flour. Use a spatula to combine using cutting motion and  turning the mixing bowl at the same time. Do not overmix. It is okay to have small lumps of flour in the batter.

5. Preheat the waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions. 

6. Remove the mixing bowl with egg whites from the refrigerator and beat the egg whites using a manual or electric whisk. Add the sugar to the egg whites 1/3 at a time. Whip the egg whites until you get stiff peak i.e. when you lift the whisk, the tip of the egg whites bend over like taking a bow.

7. Take half of the beaten egg whites (meringue) and add to the batter (step 4). Use spatula to gently fold the egg whites into the batter. Repeat for the remaining egg whites.

8. Pour or scoop the batter into the waffle iron and make sure all the grids in the waffle iron are covered by the batter. Cook the batter according to manufacturer's instructions. I use Wards cast iron waffle and cook the waffles for 3.5minutes at low-medium heat on each side.

9. Serve the waffles whilst they are hot and crispy. The waffles in my recipe taste good on their own but you can serve them with butter, honey, fruits as desired.

Belgian Liege Waffle

比利时列日松饼

Takes about 3 hours to make this type of waffle but totally worth the effort. They are made with yeasted dough (instead of batter), lots of butter and mixed with pearl sugar to give you waffles that are crispy on the outside and soft and chewy inside. 

Ingredients:

Warm milk          100ml

Instant yeast        5g (aprox 1 teaspoon)

Honey                   10g

Salt                        1/2 teaspoon

Brown sugar       10g

Unsalted butter  100g (room temperature)

Bread flour          250g

Vanilla extract    1/2 teaspoon

Egg                        1 (approximately 55g - if egg is large, reduce milk)

Pearl sugar          50g (reduce if you prefer less sweet waffle)

1 spoonful of love 

Method:

1. Warm milk to 30 degrees celcius.

2. Add egg, honey, brown sugar and vanilla extract to the milk and whisk to combine.

3. In the mixing bowl with bread flour, add in yeast and salt. Make sure yeast and salt are placed in different sides of the bowl as salt will inhibit the growth/reproduction of yeast in dough.

4. Add in the milk mixture from step 2 and use a scrapper or spatula to mix in until a crumbly dough is formed. Then, transfer the dough to the tabletop and knead the dough until dough is smooth. This takes about 10minutes. Note: This dough is very wet, you may want to use a stand mixer if you have one. 

5. Spread the dough out and add butter to dough. Knead the dough until it is smooth and supple (as soft as your ear lope). 

6. Shape the dough into a ball, put in the mixing bowl (lightly greased with olive oil), cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature until dough doubles in size. This takes about 1 hour depending on weather and room temperature.

7. Remove dough from mixing bowl and use your hands to press and spread it. Add pearl sugar to the dough and knead/fold gently.

8. Divide the dough into small pieces and shape each piece into a ball. This recipe makes 12 balls of about 50g each. Cover the balls of dough with a plastic wrap and proof for 20minutes.

9. Heat up the waffle maker, lightly oil the waffle maker and place the dough balls on the waffle grid. 

10. Cook according to waffle maker's instructions. I use Wards cast iron waffle maker and it takes 3.5minutes to cook the waffles on each side. Each waffle weights about 43g.

11. Serve the waffles hot. They taste the best then! The un-finished waffles can be frozen, and they taste just as good once you heat them up in the toaster (about 3 mins). 

 

Braised Minced Pork With Potatoes

This is one of our family's favourite dish. 

Ingredients:

2 medium sized potatoes, approximately 200g

50g shallots

50g minced pork or beef

20g glass noodles

250ml water or chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teasppon dark soy sauce

Dashes of white pepper

1 spoonful of love 

Method:

1. Soak the glass noodles in water for at least 15 minutes.

2. Peel the potatoes and cut into 1cm cubes.

3. Cut the shallots into thin slices (about 0.2cm thick).

4. Heat up 3 tablespoon of cooking oil in wok and fry the potatoes using medium heat until edges of each cube are golden brown. Remove the potato cubes from wok and set aside.

5. Using the remaining oil in the wok, fry the shallots using low heat. Remove the shallots once they are light golden brown in colour.

6. Turn up the heat for the stove to high and fry the minced pork in the same wok. Spinkle white pepper and salt, and stir to break up the minced meat. Fry until the pork is cooked.

7. Add the glass noodles, potato cubes, shallots and dark soy sauce to the minced pork. Stir fry for 2 minutes. Then add in water/chicken stock, lightly stir fry and braised for 10minutes under low heat.

8. Dish up and serve hot.

Note: glass noodles will soak up most of the water/chicken stock whilst braising. Increase the water/chicken stock if you want to have more sauce for this dish.

Chicken Karaage (Japanese Fried Chicken)

日式炸鸡

Follow this recipe to fry crispy and flavourful chicken. My family says this is as good as, if not better, than the ones in Japanese restaurants.

Ingredients:

1 kampung chicken, approximately 1kg.

1 clove of garlic (grated)

1 knob of ginger (grated)

1/2 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 tablespoon sake

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

Dashes of black pepper

Plain flour

Potato starch

1 spoonful of love 

Method:

1. Debone chicken and cut into small pieces.

2. Marinate chicken pieces with garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sake, sesame oil, salt and black pepper for 30 minutes.

3. Heat up cooking oil in wok.

4. Lightly coat each chicken piece with plain flour and shake of excess flour. Then, coat the chicken piece with potato starch and shake off excess starch. 

5. When the oil temperature has reached approximately 160 deg celcius, submerge the chicken piece into the oil. Fry the chicken pieces in batches until light golden colour. Place the fried chicken on a wire rack. After each batch of frying, scoop up the crumbs of flour and starch from the oil using a fine-mesh sieve.

6. When the chicken pieces have been fried, turn up the heat for the stove and heat the cooking oil to approximately 180 degree celcius. Fry the chicken pieces again in batches until nicely brown. This will take about 20seconds for each batch. Place the fried chicken on wire rack to cool.

7. Serve the fried chicken hot.

Happy frying!

Recipe credit: Just one cookbook.