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.

Pork Stewed in Coconut Juice ~ Thit Kho Tau~ The Asian Kitchen BookReview and Giveaway

The second book I received from Tuttle Publishers.
I went through the book a a few times.. and I needed to convince myself that there is something good in there.

I've never been to Vietnam. My experience of eating Vietnamese food depends on the restaurants. The more variety it offers, then only, I get to try something new.

Plum Sauce Chicken Wings Baked in a Flash ~ Book Review n Giveaway

I was given 4 books to review.

This is the first book that I went through, Heavenly Fragrance: Cooking with Aromatic Asian Herbs, Fruits, Spices and Seasonings by Carol Selva Rajah. Carol has written a few books before and you might have seen a few of her books in bookstores.

nourish! Mag Giveaway

Online Magazine Giveaway for 10 winners!

Hehehe, I have to take a cut in my break for this. Will be back to my break after this is done. I have a Yellow Party coming up for Lyanne's 4th birthday bash. Busy busy busy!

Ok. Back to the biggggg matter.

I recieved an Email from Zinio about this giveaway. At first, I brushed it aside, cos you know, sometimes there are so much spam in the emails. Frankly I didn't know about Zinio, hehe, ignorant. Until I saw Elin of Elinluv Tidbits blogging about it, then only I realised I almost missed this good offer.

So, who's Zinio?

Zinio is an online digital magazine and book portal. They have thousands of top magazines from around the world and you can browse and purchase subscriptions or single issues instantly from your computer or mobile device to read wherever and whenever you like. Their Explore section lets you read - even without a subscription - thousands of articles from your favorite magazines and share them with friends.



Thank you and now it's Giveaway time!!!

First and foremost, I want to thank one person.
Swee San.

It was Swee San who messaged me one morning, telling me to join this contest.
Before this I sort of knew there's one Masterchef thingy of which is not the real thing going on with Nuffnangers..but I never take note of it. I didn't bother about it. Swee San urged me to join, saying that.. I've got a huge chance to win it.  I was like.... ok. But both of us were clear that the prize was indeed attractive, but it's something other than the prize that is what we are looking for.

Swee San helped gather lots of info for me, from other contestants entries for submission, to screening the first round of semi's information. She helped me forcast and find recipes. She was my utmost support for this whole event. She even ferried me to the Semis and was there through out the Semis and Finals, taking pics for me, video cameraing me.. and she even compiled a video in Youtube for me.

What else can I say, but THANK YOU. Thank you so much Swee San.

Winners of the Sponge Pancake Giveaway

Lucky Draw Numbering (ordered by date of submission)

1. HKChoo
2. Jasmine
3. Robert
4. Kathleen Kiew
5. DG
6. Jess Kitchen
7. Rasya
8. Jess Kitchen
9. Robert
10. Wen's Delight
11. Sonia
12. Sonia
13. Bann Dih
14. Nileey
15. Lena
16. Lena
17. Sem
18. Swee San
19. Jess Bakericious



And the winner of the Wilton Cake Leveler is .............

Lena, please email me your mailing address within a week (if not I'll select another winner, hahahaha!!). Thanks.

And haha, the winner of the Thermometer is ...........
You oredi know la.

It's Swee San

I'm seeing her today, so I'm presenting the gift to her personally

Need Some of Your Opinion

Sorry Robert

If I take Pei-Lin's literally as you broke the rule, it's 55.55% saying yes to u.
If I take Pei-Lin's answer of letting you in, it's still a 61.11% majority allowing u to continue.

Thank you for participating
And wish you all the best in the lucky draw with your other entries.





To others,
Call me strict, call me a stick, call me a log, a stone, or whatever u may
But don't call me unfair.
Rules or terms and conditions are meant to maintain order. Not to make life hard
Ever seen the Idol competition disqualifying those who can really sing during audition just because they are overage? They never sympathize.
If a country's rule or customs are bent around one's fancy, then, it wouldn't be a nice country to live in.





*********************************************************************************
Well, it's about the pancake giveaway again......

One entry, to me, it has broken rule no.2. But to the participant, he has not, as he only cut it once (time is once), on one occasion. But to me, it's 4 cuts (action, is not once) and it wasn't for photography purposes to show the inside.

This is a picture from his blog post 

I promised him, I'll let my readers decide whether this entry is valid.
Did it or did it not break rule no.2?

I need at least 15 votes (yes or no, if not enough, I'll go with my decision) and with a 66.67% majority of agreeing to let him pass (for any number of valid votes above 15).
Anonymous comments with no names are not counted.

Closing time to comment : 7th Dec 11pm GMT +8

Sponge Pancakes and 2 Giveaways

I said I'll do the cheese pillow wallet again.. I definately did.
And now it's my favourite sudden thing to cook for my kids, if the food for dinner wasn't suitable for them

Well, you may think, "What? Feed your kids cakes for dinner???"
It depends on how you look at it. It may be sweet, but 2 Tbsp of sugar for 2 eggs?
I don't mind that, and I always put in lots of fruits when do the sweet version, that really feels more cake like than omelette like. And it contains eggs, 2 eggs is really nutritious for kids and come on, I don't feed them this everyday. It's like once in 2 months. And they really enjoy it.

So, I've done 2 versions here,
One is chocolate banana. The other, blueberry.

For the chocolate banana, after I put the batter into the pan, I arranged sliced bananas over and cover with lid to cook. When it's cooked, I put on a few pieces of Kandos Kiddies or any chocolate you like and folded the pancake over.

For the blueberry version,
After I put in the batter, I sprinkled rinsed blueberries onto the batter and cover with lid to cook.
When It was done, flipped the whole pancake onto the plate, Dusted it with icing sugar.

My kids super heart both versions.

It's pretty easy to do,
So, now let me give you a simplified version of the batter recipe, no weighing scales involved

Sponge Pancake

2 eggs
2 tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
A bit of butter for frying

1. Separate the eggs and beat egg whites until frothy and add in sugar and beat until medium stiff peaks (egg whites has a very droopy hook and doesn't slide off the bowl).
2. Put in egg yolks and mix.
3. Sift in flour (just use a coffee strainer) and fold into the eggs.
4. Heat a 9 inch pan on medium and put in 1/2 tsp butter. Swirl it around to coat and pour the excess into batter.
5. Lightly fold the batter to incorporate.
6. Turn heat to medium low (very small fire on outer ring or just use low) and pour in all the batter. Put fruit toppings as desired.
7.Cover with lid and cook until sides look golden, and center of pancake is cooked (doesn't stick to fingers)
8. Flip into half or just flip onto plate.

And now.... I want to do two giveaways.
It doesn't come free from me, as always. I need some effort from you.

This time, the gift is much nicer. A Candy thermometer that can be used to measure the temperature for deepfrying too. You can clip it onto you pot to check the temperature while deepfrying, and it comes with a stainless steel casing that protects your thermometer from direct contact with the pot. It's actually a gift from the online site I always buy things from. So I'm giving this away to the most creative person who tried to make this sponge pancake. Whatever you do to the pancake, you can cut it the most into half (no trifles or lamingtons or petit fours or cookie cutters with this). It should still look like a pancake, folded or open face. Rolled up ones should be ok too. Just don't cut it small. I don't care how much pancakes you want to stack, you can make it higher than Petronas Twin Towers if you like, but it should still look like a pancake but I won't restrict it to being only round. And it must be cooked in the pan, well you might have a square pan, I won't know. No baking and no steaming!!!
(If you want to check with me about your brilliant idea, please email me)

I need creativity!!!  I'll be judging, so no excuses to say, "I have no luck in draws." 

But for those who say... "sigh.. I'm not creative, so for sure I can't win...."
Don't worry. I'll do a lucky draw and the gift is a Wilton Cake Leveler.
One variation per entry, like my ginger milk curd giveaway. My kids will be picking the lucky winner randomly. The more variations you do, the chance of winning gets higher.


I'll give you one month grace (closing date: Dec 2, 2010), so that you can do a different version per week or more if you want, and won't be scolded by your family,

"What??? Sponge pancakes again?????"

Or you can just cook 4 variations or 10 variations in a single meal :)

Be creative and come up with lots of ways with this versatile pancake. No excuses if you don't own a oven and a weighing scale. You can do this with just a non stick pan.

Send in your entries via the entry page. Summary of the giveaway will be typed out there, if what is here is too confusing for you. Again, I'm sorry but this is only open to people with Malaysian or Singaporean mailing address. Any further is a bit too expensive for me. This is not a sponsored giveaway.

Oh ya, you can either blog ur pancake and send the link to me or email me the pictures of your variation if you don't own a blog. And you can't do the same thing that I did, no blueberries with dusted sugar, no folded chocolate banana, and no spring onions with cheddar cheese. Anything similiar and it'll be DISQUALIFIED for the thermometer but I'll still allow ur entry for the cake leveler. No variations from the batter allowed except for flavouring purposes.(you can add in cocoa powder, or banana puree to flavour) Meaning, you have to go by the basic recipe of

1 egg : 1 Tbsp sugar : 1 Tbsp flour

Entry Page for Sponge Pancake Giveaway

How to enter:
1. Prepare sponge pancakes with creativity (but please abide by the rules). You can submit more than one entry. One variation per entry.
2. Blog about it, and send in the link via comments section here, or
3. If you don't own a blog, take pics, do a simple write up in Microsoft Word, especially on the recipe and email me at wendyinkk[@]yahoo.[com] (remove the brackets when you type the email address), I'll help you post them here in this post.
4. Open to readers with Malaysian or Singaporean address. If you are overseas, and will be back here for a trip, can enter with any suitable local address.

Rules, Just make sure
1. Your pancake is a version that I've never attempted before
2. Your pancake is not cut more than once (except for photography purposes to show the inside)
3. It is cooked over the stove, no baking, no steaming
4. Recipe goes by the ratio of 1 egg: 1 Tbsp sugar : 1 Tbsp flour, with additional ingredients for flavouring allowed


Prizes:
1. One Candy and Deep Frying thermometer for Most Creative entry (I'll be judging)
2. One Cake Leveler for a lucky entry (draw lots)


Closing date: 2 Dec 2010, 12pm GMT+8

******************************************************************************
Lucky Draw Numbering (ordered by date of submission)

1. HKChoo of Jottings of Life
2. Jasmine
3. Robert
4. Kathleen Kiew
5. DG
6. Jess Kitchen
7. Rasya
8. Jess Kitchen
9. Robert
10. Wen's Delight
11. Sonia
12. Sonia
13. Bann Dih
14. Nileey
15. Lena
16. Lena
17. Sem
18. Swee San
19. Robert (KIV)
20. Jess



*******************************************************************************
First emailed in Entry by Kathleen Kiew

Hi Wendy,

I was supposed to make this sponge pancake couple of days ago but was held off due to 1) incomplete preparation (ingredients) and 2) children got sick (!!). So after everything is back to normal, I decided it is time to give this sponge pancake a try with bacon and cheese.

Didn’t find it difficult to make as the steps illustrated by you on your blog were clear and concise (super love your blog). Having said that, my first attempt on the pancake was a failure. The reason for that was, I used my AMC pan to fry the pancake, and it probably was too hot and the batter stuck to the pan with gusto and the whole thing turned into some kind of mushy eggy scrambled lookalike.

Anyway, I then heat up my non-stick frying pan.. and it was a breeze from then on. I made 4 portions on my first attempt (4 eggs : 4 tbsp flour : 4 tbsp sugar). Got a large family to feed 

The pancake was really good. My aunts find it very eggy but I kind of like it that way. Light, fluffy and eggy. I can probably fry the bacon a little bit such that it adds more flavor n texture to the whole thing.

Here’s my pancake and thank you for your recipe.


2nd Emailed in Entry by Rasya
Hi Wendy my name is Rasya, i would like to participate ur Sponge Pancake Giveaways entry, i already try ur Sponge Pancake and it taste good...at first, i’m afraid that it would not turn good but after i make the batter i know it will turn out very2 good and it taste delicious even my 1year old son really like it too....thanks Wendy for sharing this ;D Here are my version OREO Sponge Pancake hope u like it too ;D

This are the ingredients i use ;D simple as ABC...wallaaaa

Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp all purpose flour (I used 1.5 tbsp flour + ½ tbsp finely crush oreo- i use 4 pcs oreo without cream and put in food processor, just use ½ tbsp )
A bit of butter for frying
Chocolate rice and ice cream (i use chocolate wall brands ice cream if u have vanilla also can yummmmy)

Method:
1. Separate the eggs and beat egg whites until frothy and add in sugar and beat until medium stiff peaks (egg whites has a very droopy hook and doesn't slide off the bowl).
2. Put in egg yolks and mix.
3. Sift in flour (just use a coffee strainer) and fold into the eggs.
4. Heat a 9 inch pan on medium and put in 1/2 tsp butter. Swirl it around to coat and pour the excess into batter.
5. Lightly fold the batter to incorporate.
6. Turn heat to medium low (very small fire on outer ring or just use low) and pour in all the batter.
7.Cover with lid and cook until sides look golden, and center of pancake is almost cooked. Sprinkle chocolate rice toppings as desired. Cook for a while until the choc rice slightly melted.
8. Flip into half or flip onto plate and serve with ice cream, sprinkle oreo crush n choc rice.

This are my version OREO SPONGE PANCAKE adapted from Sponge Pancake Wendy. Can simply eat like this...so fluffy and crunchy when u bite at choc rice.

Or u can serve it with ice cream and sprinkle it with oreo and more choc rice..kids will love it...trust me =D

Eat it while still warm, the pancake soft and fluffy, choc rice and extra crush oreo make it lil’bit cruncy and serve with melted ice cream is sooooo delicious...super2 yummy =)
Look at my son...hu3

3rd Emailed in Entry From Bann Dih

I am from Brunei and my husband is from KL. But we based in Brunei. I will use our KL address
I was attracted by your first pancake recipe with scallion. So decide to join the competition.

This is my entry to your sponge cake competition. I didn’t have blog yet.

I have transformed your pancake to a savory pan cake as I love to have savory food for breakfast. Your recipe is so easy to make to prepare. But I have problem for the first pancake I cooked as the batter is too fluffy and it is so difficult to distribute evenly on the pan and I got a burnt pancake instead. But it smell good though

I serve the pancake with mayo tuna with fresh tomatoes, cucumber and onion.

Pancake
3 Tbsp flour
3 Tbsp sugar
3 eggs

Mayo tuna
1 can of canned tuna flakes
2 tablespoon of mayonnaise
1 tablespoon of salad cream
Pinch of salt and Pepper

Method
1. Drained the tuna and mixed it with other ingredients.
2. Serve the tuna mayo with pancake and fresh tomatoes and cucumber.


4th Emailed in Entry by Sem

Hi, Wendy, I am Sem from KL, I do not have a blog currently and would like to take part for the fun of trying the recipe.

I have followed your recipe and and make into three mini size pancake, one layer sandwiched with home made strawberry jam filling ( I have made a batch last week and it is time to use it up) and another layer with sliced banana and top with two scoop of ice cream.

Recipe
1 egg-separate the yolk and flour
1 tablespoon of plain flour
1 tablespoon of castor sugar
1 tsp of oil (not in your recipe but I added to add moistness to the sponge pancake)

1) Separate the egg white and manually whisked till soft peak( lazy to use electric mixer as one egg white is too little to whip up by electric mixer)
2) Combined the oil, egg yolk and sifted flour till smooth.
3) Fold in the beaten egg white to the egg yolk mixture.
4) Heat up the frying pan (I used those mini size for frying one scrambled egg type) without brushing any oil, pour in the batter and cook till the bottom is golden brown , flip over and cook for one second. Remove.

Note: this recipe give me three small pancake.


I layered the bottom layer of pancake with home made strawberry jam fillings, and the middle layer with sliced bananas, and top with two scoop of ice cream. My kids finished it up in no time, a way to get the kids to eat some fruits, I guess.

Would like to try out some other variation if got time tonight after work.

Thank you for organizing this event as I really enjoyed the process of trying out the recipe and having fun of playing with the recipe as well.

Sem

Winner of the US$65 Voucher

Please check the giveaway post for the number that you are given.
I only did this once with the random generator, and I'm conscious clear about the winner.

Dear Winner,
If you do not contact me via email (wendyinkk at yahoo)within 48 hours,
which is on Sept 27 12 noon +8GMT, I'm going to get another number.

Winners of Ginger Milk Curd Giveaway, announced earlier.

All the entries

The box of fate

The process is fun, they're used to drawing stuff from the box

Now, they've got a name each, who are they?

Galronni,  please email me your mailing address.

Mel, sms me can oredi la.

See, more entries more chances. Galronni had 3 and Mel had 4 entries. Proved my point.

A big thank you for all who tried and submitted their results.

Thanks to all who tried in silence too

Ginger Milk Curd Giveaway Submission and Entry Reviews and my experiments too

So, the dateline for submission is here. But, the kind hearted may still submit data of their personal experiments with different brands of milk for the benefit of others.

And now, here are the entries and the summary of their result. As I said, failed or successful is ok, as long as one has tried. I was so happy that this sparked a few of them, the intense curiosity to experiment with more and more brands. That’s the spirit!!!!! Kudos to all of you who tried so hard to find the brand that worked for you.

*************
Sonia
1 entry
Dutch Lady Full Cream Milk - Failed curds

Min
2 entries
Dutch Lady Full Cream Milk- Failed
Dutch Lady Fresh Milk- Successful, softly set

Galronni
3 entries
Marigold Fresh Milk-Succeeded, firm curds
Dumex All in One- Succeeded, soft curds
Marigold HL Milk -Failed

Meldylocks
4 entries
Farmhouse Omega Low Fat Milk – Succeeded, but very softly set
Farmhouse Fresh Milk – Successful with nice curds, extra ginger juice used
Magnolia Low Fat-Hi Cal Fresh Milk – Curds formed, but watery
Anmum Lacta : Curds formed below, but watery top

Annann
1 entry
Dutch Lady Fresh Milk – Successful, soft curds

Cook. Bake.Love
1 entry
Fairprice Full Cream Milk from fresh milk –successful, soft curds

Neyeeloh
1 entry
Dutch Lady UHT fresh milk(full cream) –Sucessful, firm curds

FF
1 entry
Marigold Full Cream Milk (fresh? Reconstituted?)- Failed
The other brands, no pics of curds were shown, therefore, not counted.

Edith
2 entries
Greenfields Choc Fresh Milk – Err… Curds formed, but ultra soft
Emborg Full Cream milk –  Ultra soft curds formed

*************

Please tell me if I left you out or miscounted the entries.
Dateline for discrepancy ammendments : 18/7/10, 12pm+8GMT
Result of giveaway will be announced on 20th July. 2 winners, ok? Promise.

A few myths are dispelled after all these experiments by fellow bloggers,
Powdered milk don’t work –Myth, proved by galronni
Homogenized milk don’t work – Myth, proved by galronni and Meldylocks.

Most of you did not provide information on how the milk was processed, and we are left in lurch whether the milk was homogenized, UHT, pasteurized, emulsified, sterilized, microfiltered…….
People from your country may be able to find the same milk you used, but this information will be useful for others not from your country, so that they know, the success rate of such and such milk, so that they may be able to decide on the type of milk to use in their own country.


Now, I’m suspecting, whether those whose milk formed curds, but was ultra soft or very soft that doesn’t retain its texture after being scooped, will the curds get firmer if more ginger juice was added, cos Meldylocks, showed us that. The brand she used, Farmhouse Fresh Milk was a homogenized milk, and she increased the juice for the 2nd bowl, and indeed it looked so much firmer than her first bowl with less juice. So, maybe for those of you who had super soft curds that doesn’t retain the shape, try increasing the juice, you might get better results.

Such is the power of a cooperative experiment. The amount of information gathered for all.

Sometimes the amount of juice to use is vague. The ginger you have may be juicier than the one I have. The less moisture it has, definitely the more concentrated the juice is. Therefore my 3 tsp of juice may not have the same amount of protease as your 3 tsp of ginger juice. And every knob of ginger is definitely different. So, maybe if it worked for you this time, it may not work the next, but don’t worry, add more until it works : ) As long as you know the brand worked, it’ll work again, but it’s only the difference in the level of firmness.

Sadly, there were no emailed in entries. My silent readers remained as my silent readers. Anyway, not to say my silent readers are not supportive, they still are very supportive of me cos they are reading this now : ) Thanks!

Well, I didn’t sit still and did nothing throughout this period.
How can I not join in the fun and experiment?

*****************************

My experiments, and I hope you do get better results than me if you ever try out these milk.

Dutch Lady

Type of process: Sterilized, No emulsifiers mentioned
Type of milk: Fresh Milk
Protein Content / 100ml: 3.0gm
Fat Content / 100ml: 3.4gm
Coagulation result and texture: Softly set, visible curds, but curds do not stay in shape after scooped








Magnolia

Type of process: Sterilized,Stablized and emulsified
Type of milk: Recombined Full Cream Milk
Protein Content / 100ml: 3.0gm
Fat Content / 100ml: 3.5gm
Coagulation result and texture: Did not set at all.








Marigold HL Milk (the highest protein content milk in the market!!!)

Type of process: Reconstituted, Pasteurized, Homogenized

Type of milk: Low Fat Milk

Protein Content / 100ml: 5.2gm

Fat Content / 100ml: 1.0gm

Coagulation result and texture: Softly set

Goodday Low fat

Type of process: Low fat, pasteurized. homogenized
Type of milk: Low Fat Milk
Protein Content / 100ml: 3.6gm
Fat Content / 100ml: 1.2gm
Coagulation result and texture: Didn’t set at all











Fresh Goat’s Milk (highest fat content milk I used)
(NBF Ipoh, Tel: +605-5468232, free delivery in Ipoh and Kampar)

First Attempt

2nd Attempt

Type of process: Pasteurized

Type of milk: Fresh Milk

Protein Content / 100ml: 3.7gm

Fat Content / 100ml: 4.5gm

Coagulation result and texture: Firm and smooth

For this one, why I did show two curds? The first one didn't set properly as the top was watery and bottom was firmly curded. So, I suspected, it's the glass. The narrow base didn't cause the ginger juice to incorporate well with the milk when it was poured it, so I did it again with a rice bowl, and hehe, it worked.
So, if yours is watery on top, but curded below, the gushing effect didn't mix things well. And you should know what to do now.


That's all folks for now, I'll add to this post, if ever I do other experiments with other milks.

**************************************

Please put your link here in "comments" if you've tried making Ginger Milk Curd from June 24 to July 15.


The space here, I will update with try-outs that are emailed in.
Hopefully there are entries :)

Entries without either or both
1. picture of milk carton/bottle used
2. picture of failed or successful curds
will be disqualified.

If you used raw milk, which does not come in a bottle or carton, please supply information on where you bought it, so that people who live near you will be able to get their supply too.
Raw milk users who did not include purchase location information will be disqualified :)

Just remember, it doesn't matter if it sets or failed. Just try.

Closing Date: July 15th, 12pm GMT+8.00
Result day : 20th July.

Ginger Milk Curd n a Giveaway 姜汁撞奶

*Warning!!! Long Post Ahead!! Long Post Ahead!!!! Roger.

I saw on a Hong Kong eating show showing this dessert. The man just poured milk into the bowl and the host said, she’ll have that dessert in 10 minutes. So easy? Well, I’ve had this once, made from instant preparation powders brought back by my cousin from Hong Kong. It’s nice, I like it, so let’s try making it.. since the TV says it’s so easy

From Wikipedia:

Ginger milk curd, also known as ginger-juice milk curd or simply ginger milk, is a Chinese hot dessert originated in Shawan town of Panyu District(My grandparent’s place of birth), Guangzhou in the Guangdong Province in southern China. The main ingredients are ginger, milk, and sugar. Water buffalo milk is used in the original recipe.Ginger contains protease. When milk is added to ginger juice, protease catalyses hydrolysis of the protein in the milk, changing it from a water-soluble form to a water-insoluble form, and leads to the formation of milk curd.

Sometimes you will wonder how much one can learn from kids, and I really did learn a lot from these kids’ science project. They did lots of experiments with this simple dessert, from getting the proper PH, the proper temperature for setting. Simply marvelous. But they didn’t test the type of milk used, pasteurized, UHT, homogenized and raw milk. If only they did this, then the experiment will be ultra marvelous.

When you look at the process, it seems easy, right? I made 8 times of failed curds before I saw success. I only did 125ml each time, but hey, have to eat them up even thought they are failed curds, still edible, just that either they are too soft or still in liquid. Milk is fine..but ginger. So much???? I’m not in confinement, so my body cannot take so much of that, lest overload then deep trouble.  Hey, do you know that this is the perfect dessert for that day of the month?? Maybe you want to try making this on that day :)

I read a few blogs before I did it. All had different instructions, some to pull milk 6 times, some 10 times, some never pull but just tilt pan left and right. Some look for bubbles by the periphery of the milk, some look for steam… But all are playing the guessing game. And from many of the comments I saw (from reader’s tryouts), lots of them ended up with thinned down yogurt. I failed 8 times, some as thinned down yogurts, some still as milk. 

After my failed curds, I tried searching in Chinese again. One site said,80- 85C and guarantee success. But when I did it with my pasteurized and homogenized milk, it failed. I was at 80C because I was trying different temperatures. If you want to know what brand of milk that was, it was Goodday, fresh, homogenized, pasteurized milk.

I don’t know about you, maybe you can make it, but I can’t. Until I thought of the shop that I always buy natural yogurt from. If they can make yogurt with it, definitely I can make milk curd with that. So the next day, I went there to buy my RM3 worth of raw milk (about 600ml). Worked like a charm. The surface set almost immediately (you can test it when you touch the surface and no white liquid sticks to your finger) and was fully set in 10 minutes. Out of 5 attempt, 4 set nicely and one failed* because I didn't boil the milk properly and a skin formed on top. Explanation after the recipe.

Ginger Milk Curd Recipe (do it bowl by bowl)
One rice bowl amount: 
30ml (2 tablespoons) old ginger juice (Mine are the regular ones that are imported from China)
250ml milk
1Tbsp sugar


*I always do 125ml/bowl
Or if you want to fill a 6 oz ramekin (I find this amount just nice for 1 serving)
3 tsp ginger juice (15ml)
125ml milk

1 heaped tsp sugar

1. Put ginger juice into setting bowl.
2. Bring the milk and sugar to a boil, turn off the heat .Check temperature with a thermometer. Let it cool down to 85C. (If you don’t own a thermometer, leave the milk to cool down in the pot for 10 seconds)
3. Pour milk from 6 inches above bowl.
4. Let the curd set for 10 minutes
5. Enjoy warm or chilled.

*If you want to make more than this amount, pulling the milk might be required because a larger amount may take longer than 10 seconds to reach 85C.
If you can make yogurt with that milk, then you can use that same source of milk to make this ginger milk curd, because both processes act on the milk protein.

*When this attempt failed when all others succeeded with raw milk, the only difference was the layer of insoluble milk skin. Then I suspected that the proteins that are necessary for coagulation are all in the skin. I checked the internet and truly enough, I found on wisegeek, that when milk is heated, it forms a skin/membrane on top. The skin is comprised of solid proteins that combine with the milk’s fat molecules, which begin to evaporate as the milk is heated. These proteins, casein and beta, clump together when the liquid reaches a temperature of around 113 to 122 degrees Fahrenheit (45 to 50 Celsius). As the heating continues, the soft protein layer begins to dry out, which is why the milk forms a skin on the liquid’s surface. (So, when the protein is no longer in the milk, it cannot react with the ginger’s enzyme, protease). To avoid the skin from forming, just remember to stir it from time to time. And this does not happen with skim milk because skim milk does not contain fat. There is nothing for the protein molecules to bind with.


About pulling/stretching the tea (teh tarikking):
Some recipes call for this step, but I find that, the temperature’s way too low after pulling. From the lab experiment report, the optimum temperature for setting is between 62-67C. When I finished pulling it for 6 times, my temperature was at 50-60C (From various attempts). The temperature of the ginger juice has to be taken into account, the absorption of heat into the setting bowl has to be taken into consideration as well. And don’t forget, the pouring of milk from a distance into the ginger juice will reduce the temperature further. So, I don’t pull it anymore. And I find that, if I do it 125ml at a time, the moment I turn off the heat, I put in the thermometer to check, by the time the reading is stable, it’s already 85C, and it takes about 10 seconds. Larger amounts of milk may take slightly longer. So, I don’t find it necessary to pull the milk. Just turn it off, wait til all the bubbles go away and there, 85C. So, when it’s 85C when you pour it down, by the time it mixes with the ginger juice, touches the bowl and getting cooled by the pouring action, it’ll settle to a nice 62-67C.

See the spoon floating????

See the curd don't fall back in place... it stays put

About adding vinegar to the ginger juice,
Although my attempt with Goodday was fine with vinegar, but it is not with raw milk. It curdled up, not in a good way. Click on the picture to have a larger view.







Ok, so here goes the giveaway..

It is open to all residing in Malaysia and Singapore only with a valid Malaysian and Singaporean address.

Let us help out the blogosphere by trying to make ginger milk curd, with any brand or source of milk.
To join, you must make ginger milk curd and do a post on it. It doesn't matter you failed or succeeded, as long as u tried.

Send in a link to your website/blog to this page (through comments)
Or if you don’t have a website, email me (wendyinkk at yahoo.com) the pictures and details of the milk used to me. I'll post the emailed in try-outs in the other page.

One type of milk per entry, means if you tried out 4 types of milk, 4 entries, even though it's just one post.

Details that must be included in your post or email:
1. Pictures of milk curd that shows
     i. floating spoon on top to show that the curd has set firmly
     ii. a spoon of the curd or the eaten area of the curd to show the texture.
2. Brand of milk used, and if possible picture of milk carton/bottle
3. Type of process: Pasteurized/Homogenized/UHT/Microfiltration/Raw/Recombined/Sterilized
4. Type of milk: Fresh/Full Cream/Low Fat/Skim milk/Raw Milk
5. Fat and protein content on label by g/100ml (leave this if it’s raw fresh milk)
*If using raw unprocessed milk, just include information on where you got your supply, and skip step 2,3 and 5.
And any other information that you think may be important.

This is to help others who are interested to make ginger milk curd. Makes life easier for everyone when information is easily available.

Others who are not from these 2 countries may also submit your curd “report”. It’ll be so nice of you to do that. We’ll learn from your experience too.

Dateline is 15th July 12.00noon GMT+8.00

Oh yes, what’s for the giveaway?
Actually it’s not a Kitchenaid or an expensive book or some fancy bakeware….just 2 sets of bamboo bowls and spoon, like those in my pics. So, there'll be two winners.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to give you the one I’ve used, they will be brand new. I’ve bought quite a lot of these few years back, and they’re not from Daiso :)

Oh ya, I've actually tried out a few brand of milk from supermarket shelves. So far, one brand gave me fair result, not as good as raw milk, but it set with spoondable curds. I won't spoil the fun... but will spill the milk for you on result day.

Click here to see the entries and the brand that they used,

People Who Have Tried Making Ginger Milk Curd