Chicken Katsu

Deep-frying using chicken breast or chicken tender has been my family's favourite chicken dish. In Chinese cooking this fried chicken breast are eaten dipped with either tomato ketchup or chili sauce.  For this Chicken Katsu which I am trying out for the first time, it is served with the Tonkatsu Sauce drizzled on top of the fried chicken breast.  

Ingredients:
2 chicken breast 
1 1/2 tbsp sake
Dash of salt
Dash of grounded black pepper
Plain flour
1 egg (beaten)
Breadcrumbs (panko)
Enough oil for medium-frying

Tonkatsu Sauce:
1 tbsp tomato sauce
2 1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp oyster sauce
 1 1/2 tsp sugar

Methods:

1. Rinse the chicken breast, pat dry with kitchen towel, slice diagonally into about 1/2 cm. thickness and marinate with sake, salt and grounded black pepper for at least half an hour.  
2. Prepare the plain flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs in 3 separate bowl or dish.
3. Heat a deep pan with enough oil for frying.
4. To start frying, dust the chicken breast with plain flour, shake off excess, dip in beaten egg, and lastly dredge in breadcrumbs (panko), shake off excess and fry in medium heated oil, turning once till both sides are golden brown.
5. Dish and drain on kitchen paper.  Repeat till all is done.  When frying, do not over-crowed the pan and in between batches pick up the breadcrumbs in the oil to keep the oil clean throughout frying.
6. To prepare Tonkatsu Sauce, combine all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and whisk together till well mixed.  Adjust the sauce according to your liking.
7. Plate the fried Chicken Katsu according to your liking, drizzle the Tonkatsu Sauce over and serve!

This recipe is adapted from Just One Cookbook by Namiko Chen.  To get the full recipe click here

Banana Pancake served with caramelised banana slices

After my posting for Carrot Pancake recently, I was challenged by my youngest son Aaron to try a hand on Banana Pancake, which according to his taste buds is yummy!  I have no doubt about it as bananas are our favourite fruit.  This is what I've come up with and it is indeed "Simple Yet Yummylicious!

What you need:

(A) Pancake Batter

3 medium bananas

1 1/2 cup self-raising flour (sifted)

2 eggs (lightly beaten)

1 tbsp honey

1 1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 tbsp melted butter

(B) Caramelised bananas

3 medium bananas

50g butter

80g golden syrup

Few simple steps:

1. Mash the bananas in a bowl.
2. Combine lightly beaten eggs, milk, melted butter, honey and mashed bananas in a jug.
3. In a mixing bowl, add in the sifted flour, make a well in the center and pour the mixed ingredients of (2) into the well, whisk until well combined and smooth.  I don't add all the mixed ingredients of (2) at one time, instead start with half of the mixture, whisk and gradually repeat until you get the right consistency of your liking.  If you prefer a much softer texture add in more milk.
4. Let the mixture stand for about 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Heat up a non-stick pan with a bit of oil, ladle the mixture into the pan, using low heat cook until little bubbles start to appear on the topside of the pancake, then turn over and cook until golden brown.
6. Dish up and repeat until all is done.
7. For the caramelised bananas, peel the bananas and halved lengthwise.
8. In a small heated pan, add the butter and golden syrup, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and allow the mixture to simmer and bubble for about one minute.
9. Add in the banana slices, continue to simmer and ensure that the bananas are evenly caramelised, turning once until the sauce thickens.  Remove the pan from the heat.
10. Plate the banana pancake with the caramelised bananas according to your liking. Served warm.

Notes:  If you prefer your caramelised bananas to be sweet and soft use fully ripe bananas, but if you much like them slightly sour, sweet and a not-too-soft texture, then a just ripe banana is best. Increase the amount of butter and golden syrup if you want more sauce to serve your pancake.  

Avocado Fries

For those who love to snack on fries, this Avocado Fries is one healthy snack which you must try.  A recipe adapted from Health.com, the ingredients are almost similar to that of deep-frying chicken, fish, prawns, etc...

Just few simple steps to prepare this snack.  Ensure that you have enough plain flour sprinkled with a little salt, mix well and place it in a shallow plate.  In a separate bowl beat an egg till well blended.  In another bowl add enough breadcrumbs.  Pitted, peeled and sliced one firm and ripe avocado.  Dust avocado in flour, shaking off excess, dip in egg, then breadcrumbs to coat and set on plate on a single row.  When all is completed deep-fried in a medium heated wok until golden, dish and place on kitchen paper to soak off excess oil, and it is ready to serve.

Note:  If you prefer it more salty sprinkle some salt over the avocado fries before serving or else just serve as it is.  If you are preparing this fries in a larger amount place the fried avocado fries in a preheated oven of 200 degrees Celsius to keep warm while cooking the remaining avocados.  

Let's enjoy this delicious YUMMY snack!

Rocky Orange Cream Cookies

Home-baked cookies or biscuits are my favourite snacks, and is considered much tastier and healthier as compared to those sold in the supermarket shelves such as potato chips, crackers, biscuits which have high content of sugar, etc.  This cookies which I am going to share is named 'Rocky' because of the rough surface.  Don't be deceived by it's look as this is one cookies which is melt-in-the-mouth and the orange zest and juice from the thick cream stands out well. Since it is only for my own home consumption I purposely make it bigger in size and another tip is that, if you don't prefer it sweet omit the dusting with icing sugar at the final step.

Ingredients:

200g unsalted butter (at room temperature)

50g icing sugar

2 cups plain flour (sifted)

1/3 cup cornflour (sifted)

Orange Cream

65g butter (at room temperature)

75g icing sugar (sifted)

1 tsp fresh orange juice

2 tsp finely grated orange zest

For dusting

Extra sifted icing sugar

Methods:

1. Beat butter and icing sugar using an electric mixer until fluffy.
2. Mix the two flour together in a bowl, then gently fold the flour into the butter mixture in two batches and mix using a spatula till well combined.
3. Line the baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. Using two spoon to manage the mixture, spoon heaped mixture onto the parchment paper, gently use the spoon to form it into round shape and flatten lightly.  Make sure that they are of almost the same size.  Repeat till all is done.
5. In a preheated oven of 160 degree Celsius, bake till the cookies are done, let it cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. To make the orange cream, using an electric mixer beat butter, icing sugar, orange juice and zest together until light and creamy.  
7. Sandwich the cooled biscuits generously with the orange cream, dust with icing sugar (if using) and keep them in tight containers.

Carrot Pancake

Pancake, though is considered a breakfast food in some countries can be served at any time with a variety of toppings, fillings, fruits, syrup, etc, or even served plain.  It's shape, texture and structure varies and the fillings can also be either sweet or savory. Once a while I will cook pancake for lunch to replace our Asian meal of Rice.  This Pancake recipe which I am going to share is adapted from The Informal Chef with slight amendments to suit my family's needs.

Ingredients:
(Dry Mix)
1 cup plain flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt

(Wet Mix)
1 tbsp castor sugar
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 carrot (finely cut)
1 large egg (slightly beaten)
1 tbsp butter (melted)

Methods:

1. Blend carrot and yogurt until fine, if the mixture is too dry or didn't come up to one cup, add more yogurt and blend to mix. The recipe calls for the mixture to be sieved through a colander with bigger holes but I omit this step, instead I use a spoon to stir and mix it to ensure there is no lumps.
2. Sift flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into a mixing bowl.  In another bowl whisk egg, castor sugar and butter together, then add in blended carrot and whisk until combined.
3. Make a well in the center of the flour, pour the mixture (2) in and mix using a spatula in a circular motion from down to up.  Do not over mix if you want a soft and fluffy texture.  It is fine to have some lumps.
4. Heat up a flat pan, oil the pan with a bit of oil, when pan is hot enough scoop one ladle of batter onto the pan.  Cook from low to medium low heat.
5. Flip pancake when the sides of the pancake are cooked or bubbles appear on top of the pancake.  
6. Remove pancake when it turns brown and repeat till all is done.
7. Served topped with a cube of butter on the top and a drizzle of maple syrup and fruits of your choice at the side.

Mantou aka Chinese Steamed Buns

This Mantou recipe is vegan, using only flour, instant yeast, water, a bit of castor sugar and vegetable or olive oil.  It can be eaten plain as well as with savory or sweet accompaniments. Freshly steamed mantou which is still warm is best eaten by cutting a slit in the middle of the bun, spread with a generous amount of butter and eaten as the butter is melting..... Yum! This is my mum's favourite way of eating this fresh and warm Chinese Steamed Buns.  The thought of it makes me hungry already!

This simple recipe is adapted from Anncoo Journal, a recipe which I've tried and enjoyed making it over and over again, as and when I feel like eating.  The actual recipe is 'Pumpkin Mantou' and I've also try the recipe on sweet potato, and both are equally delicious.

Ingredients:

• 60g. pumpkin flesh (peeled and cut into pieces)
• 90g. water
• 3/4 tsp Instant Yeast
• 250g. plain flour (sifted)
• 25g. caster sugar
• 10g. vegetable oil (I use olive oil)
• 1 tbsp. black sesame seeds, toasted (I omit)

Methods:

1. Steam pumpkin till soft, mashed when still hot, and set aside to cool.
2. In a cup mix the instant yeast into the water.
3. In a big bowl add in sifted flour, caster sugar, mashed pumpkin and oil, use hand to mix the ingredients until well combined.
4. Add in the instant yeast mixture and knead to form a smooth dough, add sesame seed (if using) and continue to knead again till well mixed.
5. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it rest for 15 minutes at room temperature.  The dough will rise to about double in size.
6. Dust table top with some flour.  Roll out the dough into a rectangle shape (about 13" X 6").  Brush some water on the top surface.
7. Roll up the dough like a Swiss roll and cut into small pieces (size according to your liking) and put on a small piece of baking paper each.
8. Arrange the mantou into a steamer and proof for 20 minutes or until it has risen to about double in volume.
9. Turn the heat to high and as soon as it starts to boil lower heat to medium and steam mantou for 15 minutes.  However, more steaming time is needed if you are making a bigger mantou.

Pumpkin Mantou

Orange Sweet Potato Mantou

Sweet Potato Mantou with toasted black sesame seeds

Notes:  During the process of making these mantou, I am also trying to experiment them. What I found out is that, if you prefer a softer texture add a little bit more water into the dough, but add them bit by bit as we knead the dough along the way.  Too much water will makes the dough too soft and sticky and we are not able to roll them.  Couldn't wait to make some purple mantou with the purple sweet potato ~ smile ~