Dundee Cake

Dundee cake is a traditional cake from Dundee, Scotland. Traditionally, it should contain sultanas, Seville orange peel and decorated with almonds. But as time goes by, people tend to change the ingredients to their liking. I find most modern Dundee cake recipes not much different from other fruit cake recipes, other than the almonds on top. The original Dundee cake does not contain any cherries or currants, or any mix peel, but specifically Seville orange peel for that bitter orange tinge and sultanas, just sultanas.

Homemade Candied Peel

I never liked to use candied peels in my fruit cakes.
I hated them.

On my blog, I have two fruit cake recipes , as of this date; Grand Marnier Fruit Cake and Alcohol Free Orange Fruit Cake. I never use candied peel in any of those recipes, but fresh orange zest.

Dry Mee Siam

Mee Siam comes in wet and dry versions. So far, I have only eaten the dry version before.

I do not know if it comes from Thailand or Siam, back in those days, but Mee Siam is the name of this spicy tangy fried noodle. I did not cook this the 'traditional' way because I made a prawn broth with the prawn shells to flavour the noodles. Fried prawn shells , especially the heads, have a wonderful flavour, that I believe should not be wasted in cooking this noodle.

Painted Cute Bunny Birthday Cake

*All pictures are taken with Iphone 4s

There are people who don't like eating cream, who will tend to have the habit of scraping off cream whenever they eat cake.To us bakers, sometimes, that could be quite annoying, especially when we use premium ingredients to frost the cake, and before they even taste it, it is scraped away and discarded in the paper plate.

But yet, a birthday cake for a kid, needs to look like a birthday cake for a kid.

Lotus Leaf Rice 荷叶饭

These lotus leaves are bought 4 years earlier. Haha, I just never got around making them. Actually I didn't intend to buy, but when I saw them at Aeon, I can't help but get a pack, just in case I don't see them anymore.

I wanted to recreate the mini Lotus Leaf rice packs, served during my wedding reception many years ago.

Strawberry Tunnel Cake

It was for Lydia's Birthday in 2015.

My MIL was around and will be flying off two days before her actual birthday. So, I made a 'less-cream' cake to suit the taste buds of the elderly family members. I brought the cake over to my in law's that night.

White Pita Bread

I used to be scared of baking pita. I was worried it won't puff.
When I made my Bhatura, only one puffed up nicely. Very discouraging.

One day, I invited my brother over for dinner, and I asked him what did he want me to cook? He wanted Middle Eastern fare, served with Pita Bread. Aduuuiiii!!!! Where can I get Middle Eastern Style Pita that is thin and fluffy? I'm not in KL.

He asked me if I can make pita bread, I said no!

Long Beans Braised Noodles 豆角焖面

*25/6/2019 Updated: Instructional Video beneath recipe

I first saw long bean braised noodles some time ago, and did more reading up on it. There are many versions online and finally I settled for this one. FYI, it's a popular noodle from Beijing 

The first time I cooked this, I used store bought wanton noodles and followed the recipe to put in the raw noodles straight into the wok. It became a lump of goo that made me feel aweful. I felt aweful because I wasted dinner, the pork, the organic beans, the noodles....it's all money. Local wanton noodles are heavily coated with starch to prevent them from sticking,and so, if we put them in..chances are the starch coating on it will cook and make everything lump together. Why didn't I think of that? I was angry with myself

Papaya Pork Rib Soup 木瓜排骨汤

I didn't intend to boil this soup.

My BIL bought an immature papaya and although it looked ripe on the outside, inside it's still pale and crunchy. He didn't know what to do with it and so he handed it to me, so that it won't be wasted.

Strawberry Doughnut Cake

Two years ago, Lydia asked for a Doughnut cake on her 7th birthday.
Pink doughnut with sprinkles....
I made the cake earlier in the day. Did the strawberry syrup and reheated it to complete the glaze at night.

The only food colouring on this cake came with the sprinkles.

Bean Paste Pork Belly 豆酱爆猪腩肉

I'm back to staying home as a full time mother and wife. Left my life-long paying job. This is my first post after quitting but I guess I can't blog at the same pace as I did years ago.

Back in 2011, After I won Blogger’s Masterchef, we had a dinner with his side of relatives at SuperTanker somewhere in TTDI the same night itself. We ordered this plate of pork belly and my hubby loved it.

My man is a belly lover.

Honey Mustard Baked Chicken

It's an easy to prepare dish.

My 3 year old rosemary plant died after I got back to work, LOL. I barely had time to do gardening. And this dish was made before I said goodbye to it.

Passionfruit Drizzle Yogurt Cake

I had some passionfruit, harvested from my garden, frozen for a year.
They still looked and tasted fine after being mummified in my freezer for that long.
It became a cake that was well loved by my family.

I had been keeping this post drafted for very long, and since this month's Bake Along's theme is Bundt Cake, I think I better dig it out and make myself be less lazy and blog. Sadly, this will be their last theme too. I rarely participate because I can't quite keep up, not even with a month's notice. This cake was baked in a Savarin pan, not quite a bundt, as a bundt cake needs to have fluted sides.

I adapted my Orange Yogurt Muffin Cake recipe into a passionfruit one, and I used one extra egg... of which was not a good decision. My cake's side curved in a bit, but the cake was really tender.

Princess Belle Doll Cake with Mango

*All photos are taken with my phone Iphone 4s

My 2nd girl, Lyanne was once crazy about all things yellow... and that makes Belle her favourite Disney Princess.

Back in 2013, I made her this cake to celebrate her 5th Birthday.

I do try my best to make cakes without food colouring and the best way to make a yellow princess cake, is to use mango. And the mango slices made a nice frilly dress..... I love the outcome of this cake.

Waterchestnut and Lotus Root Drink 马蹄莲藕水

The current El Nino heat wave in Malaysia is making many children sick.

2 of my 3 kids are down with on and off fever, with the highest temperature recorded at 39.5C. Many of their friends are down with fever too. Schools in the states of Perlis and Kedah are closed to keep children indoors, as public schools do not have air conditioning.

In my school, ice water is available for the students and all outdoor activities are postponed until further notice. This heat is not our usual hot days.

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

My 2nd daughter was going to have a bithday party and she asked for a Mermaid themed party.

As I planned out the menu, I thought of making a finger food menu, food that can be eaten without cutlery. And I will try to incorporate as many homemade food as possible. And most importantly, food that can be prepared in advance and reheated on that day.

One of which I planned was chicken nuggets as dear daughter doesn't eat Chicken, as in chicken, but she eats chicken nuggets. Cooking for her is always a headache as she can happily say no to everything and eat plain rice happily. So, to make things better, I decided to make them myself, in the shape of fish to suit her theme.

Guangxi Taro Kourou 广西芋头扣肉

Kourou is a dish that consist of thrice cooked pork belly that has been boiled, fried, and steamed.
There are many versions of kourou, and famous two is the MeiCai Kourou 梅菜扣肉 and Yutou Kourou 芋头扣肉.

Now, it seems that everyone seems to associate kourou with Hakka cuisine. Not really.
According to Chinese Wikipedia or you can just do a google search about kourou on Mainland China's websites, you will find that

"客家梅菜扣肉。
广西芋头扣肉。
广东中山沙溪粉葛扣肉。"

Translation:
Hakka Preserved Vegetable Kourou
Guangxi Taro Kourou
Cantonese Arrowroot Kourou

So you see, kourou is a dish that is cooked by the other dialects and other provinces as well.

Teochew Ngoh Hiang ~ Five Spice Meat Rolls

There are many versions of Chinese 5 Spice Meat Rolls.
Some call it Lor Bak, some call it Chun Juan, Some call it Wu Xiang.

Basically, it's a meat roll, filled with pork that is minced or cut into thin strips, marinated with seasoning and spices, wrapped in beancurd sheets and cooked. If I am not wrong, the differences will be; Penang Style Lor Bak is made with pork strips, Hokkien Chun Juan/Lor Bak is minced pork and Teochew Wu Xiang/Ngoh Hiang is minced pork with the addition of taro. They are all seasoned with the essential 5 spice powder.

EasyNest second draw for Winners

This time none contacted me.

Second draw, congrats to Shenny and Mel Lee

This number belongs to Shenny Fong

And this number belongs to Mel Lee 

Please contact me by 27/1/16

Thanks

Coffee Almond Cookies

Two years ago, my friend Shenny, gave me a few pieces of cookies that she got from Hong Kong. They were tasty. She asked me if I will be able to crack the recipe. Well.... It's not an easy feat, not if we want to use natural coffee (instant is better than emulco, I guess) and avoid certain ingredients.

Because it's a replication.... it's not easy compared to baking anything I like or think of. It has to be something like it, look almost like it, taste almost like it.

Kuih Bangkit ~ Gluten Free Coconut Cream Cookies 薯粉饼

Kuih Bangkit.... It is a local traditional cookie, one of the staples for Chinese New Year and Eid.
Some people will make this with tapioca starch, some swear by arrowroot flour for best melt in the mouth effect and some will use sago flour to replace that elusive arrowroot flour.

In the olden days, this cookie was baked over charcoal. And I have only seen that being done once in my life, at my kindergarten teacher's home. I'm glad that in recent years, I had the chance to eat charcoal baked kuih bangkit again, made by distant relatives, and they are soooo much better than oven baked. The base of the charcoal baked ones were brown and the cookie was so flavorful and fragrant.

Homemade Coconut Oil

Coconut used to be the baddie for health concerned people.
All things coconut were bad! Curries were creamed with milk or creamers and coconut was shunned.
The local community said No No No to coconut laden food.

I on the other hand, have always loved coconut and didn't bother with all those health issues. I'm glad I never did.

But lately these few years... Coconut oil has been 'crowned' as health food!
Wooooo....... great news isn't it?
Coconut oil began appearing at health food stores, here there everywhere.

EasyNest Giveaway Results!

First of all, I would like to apologize for the confusion, the trouble for the inconvenience that happened during the giveaway.

I got to know that many people had issues submitting to the giveaway and I am deeply sorry for that.
Thanks to Mee Mee for telling me how to solve this issue and for the future giveaways, I know what I should do.

The answer to the question was RM350.00 or RM350.
The answer 350 will not be accepted as it's not a price.

Now, since I'm given 2 boxes of birds nest by Kaicohealth as gifts for my readers.... and since now there are two lists of entries, I can only give one gift to each list.

Sorry again.

Now for list no 1:

The winner is

List1 : incomplete entry----disqualified

Due to an incomplete entry..... I will have to draw another winner.

And the next is...... .but her answer is in dollars. Sorry yeah...

So..... I drew another number.
And the Winner is Chew Su Yee
Su Yee, please contact me either on FB or my email by 22/1/2016 so that we can get the bird's nest sent out before CNY

The Winner for List no1: Chew Su Yee

And for the second entry form, the one where you entered with your Facebook account.
Liking Kaico health will help you earn 2 entries.

And the winner is Douglas Lee!
Douglas, please contact me either on FB or my email by 22/1/2016 so that we can get the bird's nest sent out before CNY

List 2 winner: Douglas Lee

KaicoHealth

And if you want to have another shot at winning a box of EasyNest (5pcs), 
Visit KaicoHealth on Facebook and join their giveaway contest. 
This contest ends on 24/1/2016... there are still a few more days!

Good luck and good health with KaicoHealth

Click on the picture to redeem promo code for any purchase from KaicoHealth

Birds Nest in Young Coconut 椰青炖燕窝 and a Giveaway!

THIS IS A SPONSORED POST

This is going to be a long post, with freebies and discounts.

Bird's Nest.... what comes to your mind?

Beauty? Luxury? Delicacy? Healthy?
Or smelly? Cruelty?

The Chinese believe that consuming bird's nest promotes good health, especially for the skin. It is high in glycoproteins and sialic acid, and that promote youthfulness by enhancing skin complexion. It comes with a high price tag and hence, it is a luxury. The high price tag drives human to risk their lives for it.

Back in those days, even nowadays,  bird's nests are harvested from caves, like Niah Cave in Sarawak and Gomantong Cave in Sabah and if you have seen how it's done, it will send shivers down your spine. The bamboo pillars and structures are high up in the caves and going around on those bamboo structures is like training to be a tight rope walker. I heard from my Sarawakian friends, that it's not uncommon to hear of people losing their lives while harvesting wild birds' nests in Niah Cave. And the harvesting is sometimes done while the swiftlets are still in their nests. Baby birds are thrown down the cave floor so that they can collect the nests as soon as they can. It's sad, but true. I refused to consume birds nest after my visit to Niah Cave in 1999. Seriously. I just couldn't bring myself to support an industry that takes lives.

I'm glad that in recent years, there are birds nests that are collected from nesting houses. Birds Nest is tasty and I don't want to stop consuming it. It's just that I want to support a blood industry.