It's been 10 years!

Hello to all,

Today marks my blog's 10 year anniversary.

I started blogging after I had my first child and this year she turned 10 in August. The first recipe that I blogged about was the Moist Chocolate Cake that I bake quite often. And until this day, I've posted 1288 posts, of which should be around 1200 recipes, at least. Many of the recipes are with referred sources (usually with some personal adaptations to suit my preference) and recreated by me without any recipe to refer to, and I'm always proud of the recipes that I created by myself.

Looking back.... My most active years were 2010-2013 and in 2010 I posted for mostly 6 days a week. 2011 I slowed down a bit due to my house move and a new baby. I really slowed down when I went back to work. I tried hard to upkeep my tempo, but it was hard. Even when I finally resigned and left the working world, it's hard to go back to how it was.

Why did I resign from my lifelong paying job as a Government School Teacher then? Blogging earns alot, right, with all the high readershipI get....... Some people tend to think I earn a lot from blogging. If USD20 a month is a lot, please .... I'm really not earning enough to even buy the annual amount of butter I use in a year. Being a mother is difficult. Being torn between children and work, I chose to stay home and be just a mother and wife. I didn't resign to focus full time on blogging.

Maybe sometimes I felt silly, that I share recipes for free, and some people, knowing that my created recipe works, just use it for commercial publication that isn't for free. This type of feeling just makes me feel demotivated. But what can I do? I feel happy when people try the recipes I shared and feedback to me. And I am happy with all the new friends I made on Facebook when reader connect to me, and that's what I should focus on.

Many years ago, I was tagged by ShuHan from Mummy I can Cook to do a '7 posts' post. I responded to her invite, but I did it the wrong way instead by listing my fav 7. LOL. I guess I should revisit that and do it right this time.

1. The most beautiful post
2. The most popular post
3. The most controversial post
4. The most helpful post
5. The post that was surprisingly successful
6. The post that did not get the attention it deserved
7. The post I'm most proud of

Orange Sugar Buns

I love orange flavoured bakes. It has a wake me up effect.

My kids love butter sugar buns, so I made the usual butter sugar bun into an orange sugar bun.
You can use your favourite basic bun recipe and mix the sugar with some orange zest to get the same effect.

Gone in a day.

Coconut Pancakes

My mom used to make this quite often whenever she had extra coconut milk from our weekly kaya making sessions. But since she doesn't use measurements, they always come out different. LOL.

The version I made today is inspired by a popular backpacker's cafe in Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands, called T Cafe (now renamed to Lord's Cafe). I read online (prior to my trip) that it was one of the most popular items on the menu, and so I ordered it. It arrived as one large round thin pancake, at least 10 inches big at 2-3mm thick. When I tasted it... it was a soft thin pancake that reminded me of Mom's coconut pancake but it had a nice hint of lime. Sprinkled on top was toasted coconut. That piece of thin pancake wasn't cheap and 1 slice didn't make me feel even 1/8 full.

Fried Nasi Lemak

When I was teaching in Selancar, I have always wondered how come the breakfast fried rice in the canteen, sometimes taste awesome, sometimes just so so. Until one day, I fried some leftover nasi lemak with egg. My brain went “tink”, the bulb lit up. The fried rice tasted superb because it’s made with leftover nasi lemak.

And today I had some extra coconut milk from making coconut agar-agar and I was busy doing the cake, so I better cook something simple for dinner. And fried nasi lemak shall be it! I purposely made the seasonings as close as possible to the accompanying sambal, except, there’s no tamarind.

Ji Jor

Chee Jor or Ji Zhor depends on how one is going to romanize it..It's a chewy sweet potato finger.

The non-muslim community in Kuala Kangsar will know of this snack.This is sold at a small hawker stall near the town's supermarket, only available evening onwards, made by a Hokkien lady who resides few doors away from my old residence, a family friend.. It's like those sweet  potato balls, but made into fingers.

Corn Silk Molasses Tea 玉米须黑糖茶

We often discard corn silk, and it's treated as waste. When I was a kid, I collected corn silk whenever I saw someone peeling fresh corn and played masak-masak with it. It's like playing with hair! Absolutely fun and environmentally friendly. LOL!

I saw this recipe years ago, it reminded me that I've seen corn silk sold at Cameron Highlands, and the store owner told me it's good for the kidneys. I've also read about it saying it's diuretic and good for people with water retention. According to Baike.com, it's good for edema, hypertension, diabetes, jaundice, gallstones and it's also good for lactation purposes. Benefits of corn silk can also be found on WebMD. And it could also help with fat reduction, as said in this research paper.

Vietnamese Claypot Caramelised Fish~ Cá Kho Tộ

I got to know about this dish when I watched Masterchef US back in 2012. Christine Ha, a blind cook of Vietnamese descent served this homey dish to the judges and won their hearts. Sounded delicious!

And so, I tried to cook this myself. I found Christine's recipe here on Doctor's TV. The featured recipe wasn't the full version, and I changed it based on how she said she added coconut soda and some recipes call for birds eye chilli, but other than that, I just tried to follow her method and the recipe.

Charcoal Mung Bean Buns 竹炭豆蓉包子

Recipe created in 2013

Few years back, baking with bamboo charcoal was popular. A lot of people were baking bread with bamboo charcoal powder, creating black loaves or zebra looking loaves. Bamboo charcoal does not impart flavour to the bake, but there is a mild difference in texture. I have no idea whether this is activated or non activated bamboo charcoal powder because it's not stated on the bottle it came with.

Zucchini and Sweet Potato Slice (video)

I bought one huge zucchini. As thick as my lower arm, weighing around 700gm. Lol, so big. But I took one of the smaller ones. There are some as thick as my biceps.

I saw this recipe, which is a bit like a frittata but using flour as the filler. Maybe something like a large savoury eggy clafoutis.

Nasi Liwet Solo Komplit

Nasi Liwet Solo is a famous coconut rice dish in Surakarta, Central Java, also known as Solo.

There are two types of nasi liwet in Indonesia, one is Nasi Liwet Solo and the other is Nasi Liwet Sunda, of which is popular in Bandung.

Nasi Liwet Solo Komplit is Nasi Liwet with all the works, namely Ingkung Ayam (Coconut Chicken Stew), Labu Siam (Chayote in Spicy Coconut Gravy), Telur Pindang (Stewed Eggs) and Areh Telur (Coconut custard). It's a very filling and rich meal, with lots of eggs and coconut.

Ingkung Ayam ~ Indonesian Chicken Coconut Milk Stew

Ingkung Ayam is a chicken stew popular in Central Java. White coconuty chicken stew that has hints of aromatics but it wasn't spicy at all.

The recipe I cooked wasn't as complicated as the version in Jogya, but it came together with Nasi Liwet Solo's recipe.

Serve the chicken in large pieces or tear it into strips to serve in Nasi Liwet Solo.

Durian Cheesecake

My second daughter Lyanne is a durian monster. She's a very picky girl who loves plain rice and anything carbo but hates meat and vegetables. She isn't an adventurous eater but surprisingly, she loves durian. Love is an understatement. She's mad about durians. Durians aren't available all the time and when it's durian season, she will be pestering her grandpa to get her durians and he will gladly scour the town and get her the best that he can find.

Chayote in Spicy Coconut Milk @ Sayur Labu Siam

This way of cooking chayote is easy and nice. I have never eaten chayote other than those cooked with Chinese cooking methods.

This dish is part of Nasi Liwet Solo.

Sticky Date Pudding with Cinnamon Butterscotch Sauce

I used to think this doesn't sound delicious.
I used to think dates in cakes sound soggy.
I used to think cake like puddings to be weird.

It was after Eid-ul Fitr and dates were on sale. Very very cheap!
Each year, muslims will consume dates during the fasting month of Ramadan and once Syawal approaches... the dates goes on clearance sale.. and it goes cheaper and cheaper as the days go by.

Squid Curry

Bought a nice thick squid from the night market and I love squid.

I went through my kitchen to see what I have and cooked this. I'm not sure what to call it, taste is a bit like Thai Red Curry, but I didn't put in coriander root, nor did I use any kaffir lime rind, but just the leaf. There are no spices in it like an Indian curry.

Chocolate Sponge Cups

My kids bring food for school recess almost everyday. They prefer homemade and homecooked food rather than eating canteen food.

I made these one fine afternoon and my kids raved about them. It's the first time I'm recording this attempt down as I always make them without a fixed recipe. I just put in whatever I feel like putting.

Pork Belly and Daikon Stew 萝卜焖猪肉

I love this dish from Mixed Rice Stalls.
Found a recipe online and made it few years back.
Can't quote the source because the link I copied from years ago seem to be broken now.

Torch Ginger Chiffon Cake

First of all, I know it sounds weird. Very weird to use Torch Ginger in a chiffon cake.

Few weeks back, I was in Taiwan, and I had my taste of ginger flower in a chiffon cake in Neiwan, Hsinchu. The flower I tasted was Hedychium coronarium known as 野姜花, and it's a type of ginger not found here. Maybe not that I know of, maybe some people do plant them in Malaysia, but I've just never seen it myself.

Crispy Stuffed Tofu Puffs

My husband doesn't like eating tofu puffs. But I love it a lot.

This is one of the ways that he will eat it. These can be eaten as a snack or as a dish. It's great as party finger food too.

Victoria Sponge

Cake baked in 2014

To us Malaysians, sponge cake will be soft, cottony and airy with not much oil in the cake..but this cake will resemble to us.. a pound cake, where all measurements are equal, and it's sweet and buttery, not a bit like the sponge cakes we are used to.

Victoria Sponge is a classic English cake, is also known as Victoria Sandwich. It was named after Queen Victoria. Two layers of buttery cake sandwiching a layer of cream and jam.

Talam Keladi Berlauk ~ Taro Cake, Malay Style 马来芋头糕

The Chinese community in Malaysia has a kuih called WooTauGou 芋头糕 or some call it as Yam Cake or Taro Cake. Usually sold at old fashioned breakfast joints, or tea break stalls, or some even sell it as supper fare. It's a flavourful savoury kuih loved by many.

This talam keladi berlauk, translated as 'Taro Tray with Savoury Toppings' is not the same as the Chinese version. The flavour is richer, much richer, although it looks similar.

Hokkaido Soup Curry (video)

*All pictures and video taken with my Iphone 7 because my camera was in repair*

Last year, I went to Hokkaido for a road trip. I had a wonderful time driving 1200km around the island together with my husband. We ate a lot of local delicacies and one of it is Soup Curry.

Frankly, when I read about this dish, I was skeptical about it. I thought it's a sweet spiced broth with no punch. I was wrong, so wrong!!

We went to Samurai Soup Curry, it was one of the nearer ones to our hotel in Sapporo. Out of 10 levels of heat, I ordered heat level 7 and my husband ordered one at level 4. I thought... oh what... it's just Japanese standards, how hot can it be for a Malaysian?

Strawberry Buttercream Cake

Light and refreshing. Everybody loved this cake.

I like to make flavoured buttercreams by using the cooked buttercream method because I can incorporate flavours without worrying about making the buttercream way too runny.

Cooked buttercream is also lighter in taste but it is not as stable as meringue based buttercream. 
Just keep this cake well chilled, and it will be alright.

Strawberry Cream Castle Cake

Two years back, my 4yo niece Arianna requested for a Castle Cake.

A castle cake!! Woohoo!! I've been wanting to make one for the longest of time, but both my girls never agreed to have one. I just don't understand why they won't want a castle cake. And my other nieces too, they didn't want one too.

It was quite a big project for me. I had to plan the execution properly. I didn't want to use fondant, or use plastic parts on it, and tried my best not to use food colouring to make this cake. The colouring on sprinkles were inevitable.

Kelp and Nori Soup 海带紫菜汤

Kelp and nori soup.

Kelp is also known as kombu, or 海带.
Nori is the type of seaweed used to wrap sushi. The type I used today is the snack pack nori.

I was curious about this soup found in a recipe book I have. And it's a great way to use up nori snacks that have turned limp in our humid weather.

Steamed Sweet Potato Gems

This is an easy kuih and it's nice to eat. I can finish the whole lot of it myself! LOL.

Previously, I have eaten the pumpkin version of this, and having it in sweet potato form is an interesting change.

Murukku Rosettes

Murukku in Malaysia is widely known as the mosquito-coil-looking savoury spiced fried treat during Deepavali. It is loved by all races here. It is not uncommon to see Murukku served during Chinese New Year and Eid in Malaysia, we are after all a multiracial country and food enhances this bond that we have.

In India, there are many types of murukku, but here in Malaysia, once Murukku is mentioned, the coil shaped one comes to mind.

Kuih Kapit @ Coconut Love Letters

Duck motif

When I was a kid, I didn't know how to pronounce this properly... Koi Kapek, Koi Kapiat or even Gugapek, hahahahaha!

Each year, I will look forward to the precious two cans my maternal aunts will pass to us when we visit them on Chinese New Year day 1. And when I was 9 (I think), my siblings and I pestered my mom to make our own. Two cans each year just wasn't enough!