Black Sugarcane Infusion 黑皮甘蔗凉茶

This infusion is made with Black Sugarcane. In Chinese it is called 黑皮甘蔗 or 药蔗. You can google this can see lots of pictures of this beautiful sugarcane.

There's a lady who lived near my brother and she often comes by the house to chat. One day while my mom brought Hannah to tuition class opposite this lady's house, she asked my mom whether she wants to have some black sugarcane. Of course my mom won't said no. And this lady gladly pulled up 2 stalks of this sugarcane, chopped it into smaller pieces, packed it into some strong HDPE rice bag and handed it over to my mom. My mom happily brought them home.

I was lucky to be there the day mom got them. And she made me this wonderful drink.

Just in case some one gives you a bunch of this or there are lots in you backyard, here's how to do it. Works the same way with any other sugarcanes. We like it plain. Plainly sugarcane. A lot of people will add in other herbs, but we don't. Feel free to do what you like.

 

1. With a sharp knife, clean the nodes by paring off any roots or hardy parts.
2. Wash sugar cane and cut them into smaller pieces to fit your pot.
3. Use a mallet or pestle or a hammer, hit the sugarcane until it splits.
4. Put them into a pot and cover with water.
5. Bring to a boil and simmer on low heat for 3 hours. There is no need to sweeten with sugar.

*If the sugarcane is still flavourful, you can boil with some more water (but not full amount) and mix with the first infusion.

So, how do the plant look like

And how do other sugarcanes look like

And of course there is the red sugarcane, but I don't have a picture of it :)
Red sugarcane stems look like black sugarcane. But to distinguish it, look at the leaves. Leaves of the black sugarcane is green and organized.
And the red variety's leaves are red and not so nicely upright..

And the final cup of the infusion, I let you drink.... ok??

All pictures (except for 3 in the instructons part) are taken with my phone :)
I can't believe that it can produce such pictures :)

But now, it's lost.. gone at the disabled washroom in Ikano's LG floor, near Manhattan Fish Market.
I went in there to change Lyanne's diapers cos she was so wet, then I accidently hurt her while buckling her on her stroller. She cried so loud that I forgot about everything else.  Then stupid me only realised my missing bag after 10 minutes. Somebody already took my bag to the info counter and somebody also took my phone.
It's not an expensive phone, but sigh... all my contacts gone.

Luckily I was with Pei-Lin, she looked after Lyanne while I ran looking for my bag. And when I realised the phone was missing 20 minutes later, (yeah I only know that it was missing when it was time to call Mike), Pei-Lin lent me her phone to call hubby dearest. I'm glad I was with her that day.

I can't retrieve my numbers via my service provider, as I have never subscribed to their back up service,
And I can't block the phone using the IMEI number because this service do not exist in Malaysia. One can only block the number and SIM card, but not the phone.  Maxis's Customer Assistance over the phone went all blank when I asked him about blocking phone using IMEI. He totally didn't know what was I talking about and keep asking me my number and block that instead, even when I've told him few times, this is my new SIM card and the old one was already blocked, and a new SIM was issued. Maybe his ears were made of wood or that he needs some cotton bud.

*****Sigh.. *****
I'm now using my old Nokia.. wonder when will my new phone come.............................
***** Sigh  *****

Swedish Meatballs with Pasta

Last Christmas, family friends, The Cha Family, gave us this pack of oh-so-cute bear shaped pasta.
I only managed to cook it lately with swedish meatballs. I used the gravy pack from Ikea and served it with Ikea's meatballs, bear pasta and some blanched brocolli.

Everybody loved it.
Thanks Wai Hoo, Winny, Loius and Lucille

:)

 This is Lydia and Lyanne's portion. They loved it a lot. Lydia don't eat brocolli florets but loves the stems.

Mike and my portion :)

Strawberry Mousse Cones with Chocolate Ganache Topping

I was shopping for groceries and I saw ice cream cones.. suddenly I want to make something with it and I came up with this. Since this is not an ice cream, it doesn't melt as fast as one, but in our weather, it still melts, just not as fast.

It's a perfect dessert for entertaining and parties since you don't need to wash up more plates or bowls and spoons. Everything is eaten up

One thing about this chocolate ganache topping that I made. Whipped ganache should not look this dark. It should only be like the colour of hot chocolate or milo. Being the first time doing whipped ganache, I overdid it, luckily it didn't turn grainy. It will, you know, I was just lucky.

Strawberry Mousse Cones with Chocolate Ganache Topping

The Cones
10 ice cream cones (flat based like McDonald’s)
Cooking chocolate, melted (I used about 150gm)
Coat the insides of the cone with melted chocolate. Put them in the fridge, uncovered to solidify.

Strawberry mousse
200gm strawberries (hulled weight)
60gm sugar
2 tsp gelatin (I find the mousse too solid for this cone thing, I’d recommend 1 .5 tsp instead. 2tsp will be fine for cake)
200ml whipping cream

1. Put gelatin into a bowl big enough to put the strawberry puree later. Moisten gelatin with 1 tbsp water or more. Make sure all the gelatin granules are moistened.
2. Puree strawberries and cook with sugar until it comes to a boil. Pour over gelatin. Stir well, make sure all the gelatin at the base of the bowl are stirred.
3. Leave strawberry mixture to cool down totally to room temperature.
4. Whip cream to soft peaks.

5. Fold 1/3 into cooled down strawberry mixture.
6. Pour (5) into the balance of whipped cream.
7. Fill cone immediately until almost to the rim
8. Place fiiled cones in fridge while you prepare the whipped ganache.

Chocolate Ganache
200ml whipping cream
200gm dark chocolate/semisweet
2 tbsp corn syrup or golden syrup

1. Break chocolates into a bowl. Put in golden syrup. Set aside.
2. Bring whipping cream to a boil and pour over chocolates.
3. Let sit for 30 seconds. Stir until mixture becomes smooth.
4. Chill in fridge for at least 2 hours.
5. Whip ganache until colour turns pale.
6. Fill cones with whipped ganache.

Upside Down Apple Sponge with Demerara Caramel

I saw this recipe online for more than almost 2 years, and never attempted it because I could not find demerara sugar. And I finally got my pack of demerara sugar at Jusco’s organic shelves. Actually, the Chinese herbal shop which is walking distance from my house also had it!!! Darn! Stupid me.

First bite: So sweet!!!! Urgh
2nd bite: hmmm….the cinnamon is good… caramel is yummy
3rd bite: I’m in heaven………..
This is my ultimate comfort food. I really felt "uummmm" when I ate this, my mind just went bumping on the clouds...

That was me, only me.

Mike didn’t like it, due to the cinnamon, so did the rest of his family. The caramel was so good with the cinnamony apples…. 1 slice is not enough for me. I want to have more..but it was too late, those who ate the rest of the cake somehow scraped the top away…………Wasted!!!

I adapted the recipe by avoiding the ginger and cinnamon in the cake, even the cinnamon on the apples were too much for Mike’s family, but I love it. I only made half the caramel in the recipe, and it’s enough for me. I don’t know how to eat an overly sweet cake. MIL asked me to make it next time totally w/o cinnamon.  The next time I did it the same way, but she ate all of it.

Apple Sponge:
1 Tbsp softened butter
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, halved, thinly sliced
½ tsp cinnamon powder
120gm demerara sugar (pulsed to a finer grain, use 2 Tbsp of this to toss the apples)
4 large eggs

100gm cake flour, sifted together with ½ tsp baking powder
60gm butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla essence

Demerara Caramel:
125ml or ½ cup heavy/whipping cream
100gm or ½ cup demerara sugar
½ tsp vanilla essence
1/8 tsp salt (makes the caramel oh-so-much better)

1. Preheat oven at 180C or 170C (convection)
2. Generously butter a 9 inch baking dish with butter.
3. Toss apples with 2 Tbsp of pulsed demerara sugar and ½ tsp cinnamon powder. Arrange nicely on the buttered dish.
4. Beat eggs with the rest of the pulsed demerara sugar until thick and pale, abt 5-7 minutes on high speed.
5. Fold in sifted flour in 3 additions until no lumps are seen.
6. Fold in melted butter and vanilla essence.
7. Pour batter over arranged apples.
8. Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
9. While cake is baking, cook on medium heat cream, sugar, vanilla and salt until it boils, and continue to cook on med low heat maintaining a rolling simmer until mixture visually looks thickened, about 6-8 minutes. Remove from heat and leave to cool slightly while waiting for the sponge to be ready.
10. When sponge is baked, remove from the oven, and loosen the sides with a sharp knife.
11. Overturn cake onto a plate and pour warm caramel over cake.

Serve cake warm.

The rest of the pictures are my 2nd attempt and only this pic is my first attempt with the cake. I didn't like how the 1st attempt pictures came out because I haven't discovered natural light photography :) The bounced flash were too much for the caramel.

Stir Fried Aubergine with Minced Meat

Another aubergine dish by the gundu katrika :)

My father in law don't eat greens, and he eats aubergine and bean sprouts. And they don't look green.
When MIL is here in Malaysia, sometimes I cook for the whole family, and that includes my in laws and bro in law. So, I have to do something that my FIL will eat. 

Stir Fried Aubergine with Minced Meat

500gm aubergine, cut into 2 inch lengths, divided 6 or 8 matchsticks

1/3 cup minced meat (chicken or pork)

2 shallots, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 bird’s eye chili, finely chopped

2 Tbsp light soy sauce

½ tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

Dash of pepper

Oil for deep frying

1. Wash aubergine, air dry. Cut into sticks.
2. Deep fry on high heat until slightly golden. Drain on paper towels.
3. Put 2 Tbsp oil in wok, sauté shallots and garlic until fragrant but not golden. Put in chili.
4. Put in minced meat and stir fry until meat is lightly browned and is dry.
5. Put fried aubergines back into wok and give it a good toss.
6. Season with light soy, salt and sugar. Give it a few good tosses and dish up

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When u want dish up, push the aubergines to the side of the wok before u take them out. Let them stay there for a while. U will see excess oil in base of wok, Do not dish up the extra oil. But if u did not start with enough oil in the beginning, u will not have a fragrant dish.