Banana Ice-Cream

This no-churn ice-cream is simple to make and is one yummy cooling treat to enjoy during this hot and humid weather.

Ingredients:
4 medium ripe bananas
1 pkt whipping cream (small pack)

Toppings:
Chocolate chips
White chocolate buttons
Sprinkles

Methods:

1. Peel bananas, cut into small pieces, store in a ziplock bag and freeze overnight.
2. To make the banana ice-cream, pour whipping cream into the blender and start blending, adding pieces of the frozen banana little by little until all is used up.
3. Pour the mixture into a container, cover with lid and leave in the freezer for few hours.
4. Serve in bowls topped with your favourite toppings.  

Stuffed Bitter Gourd With Preserved Black Bean Sauce

As I've mentioned in my earlier blog post, I am using the leftover meat mixture to cook another meat and vegetable dish for dinner.  Here I present to you all, my favorite Bitter Gourd dish...

Ingredients:
Meat mixture can be viewed here
1 medium bitter gourd
1/2 tbsp fermented salted black beans (rinsed, drained and set aside)
2 large cloves garlic (peeled and minced)
1 tbsp cooking oil
1 tbsp shaoxing wine
1 tbsp light soya sauce
Dash of sugar
Salt (to taste)
3 - 4 tbsp water
Drizzle of corn flour mixture (for thickening)
Wolfberries/Kei Chi (one each for the stuffed bitter gourd)

Methods:

1. Wash bitter gourd, cut into rings and remove the core.  Place them on a plate and sprinkle some salt over and let sit for few minutes.  Wash off the salt, blanched in boiling water for about 2 minutes and dish onto a plate.
2. Stuff the bitter gourd rings with the meat mixture, gently press as the meat when cooked will shrink a little. Top with a kei chi.
3. Arrange the stuffed bitter gourd on a steaming plate and steam using medium-high heat until the meat is cooked and the bitter gourd is soft.  I prefer my bitter gourd to have a slight crunch, so I shorten the steaming time.
4. Dish the steamed bitter gourd onto a serving dish.
5. In a heated wok add in cooking oil, saute the minced garlic until fragrant, then add in the fermented salted black beans and continue to stir for a quick minute.  Add in water, shaoxing wine, light soya sauce, sugar and stir to mix.  Taste for correct seasoning, add dash of salt if needed.  Thicken with corn flour mixture, off the heat and pour sauce over the stuffed bitter gourd.
6. Ready to serve!

"Simple Yet Yummylicious!"

Steamed Pork Patty With Salted Fish

This is one popular home-cooked dish which has been handed down from one generations to another.  I believe each family have their own version of it with slight difference in ingredients and seasonings used and not to mention the taste.  My family too have our own version, which I will share later, but for this write-up I am sharing an online recipe which I've tried two days ago.  My grandson Brendan loves this dish and he gave his "Thumbs Up!"  Here's to share with all my friends and readers of my blog.

Ingredients:

500g minced pork

1 tbsp salted fish meat (diced)

2 tbsp carrot (chopped)

1/2 tbsp light soya sauce

1 1/2 tbsp shaoxing wine

1 tbsp corn flour

1/2 tsp grounded white pepper

Drizzle of sesame oil

2 tbsp water

Methods:

1. In a large bowl add in all the ingredients, mix well and slap the mixture a few times into the mixing bowl until it becomes sticky. Taste for correct seasoning.
2. Place the mixture in a steaming plate and spread it evenly with the back of a spoon. Since the mixture is not that salty I drizzle 2 tbsp of light soya sauce over the top of the meat.
3. Steam for for about 15 minutes on medium-high heat uncovered.
4. Remove from heat and serve immediately with a plate of freshly cooked warm rice.
5. If desired you can sprinkle some chopped spring onion over the top before serving.

Notes:

1. The addition of corn flour and slapping of the meat into the mixing bowl allows the meat to have a more bouncy texture.
2. I didn't use all the meat mixture for steaming this dish, and for the balance of the meat mixture I use to make stuffed bitter gourd.  For this recipe I will share in my next post.

This recipe is adapted from "Eat What Tonight" with slight adjustments for purpose of my family's preference.

Matcha Latte Agar-Agar

Recently I bought Matcha Powder with the intention of trying out a cake recipe.  Before I get to try it out, a dessert recipe flip through my eyes.  Thus, might as well try it out as I have all the other needed ingredients. Ta...daa...

Ingredients:
1 tbsp Matcha powder, dissolved in 2 tbsp hot water
8g Agar-agar powder
400ml milk
300ml water
120g caster sugar

Methods:

1. In a small pot, whisk the agar-agar powder and water until smooth.  Bring to a low boil and cook, stirring for 2 minutes.
2. Remove from heat and whisk in the matcha paste and sugar until dissolved.  Let it cool.
3. Add in the milk and stir to combine.
4. Transfer to a loaf tin and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours until set.
5. Cut and serve.

This recipe is adapted from Sarah Benjamin.

Stir-fried pumpkin with black fungus and chicken

WoW!! It's a YUMMYLICIOUS  week of "The Golden Pumpkin!"  Another appetizing dish which I am going to share is the combination of pumpkin, black fungus and chicken meat. Anyone interested??

Ingredients:
150g pumpkin slices (1/2cm thick)
2 pieces black fungus (soaked, trim and cut into strips)
1 chicken thigh (deboned and cut into cubes)
3 garlic cloves (peeled and chopped)
Pinch of salt (to taste)
1 1/2 tbsp cooking oil
Water 

Marinade for chicken cubes
1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
dash of grounded white pepper
1 tbsp Shaoxing Wine
1/2 tsp corn flour

Methods:

1. In a heated wok add cooking oil and saute chopped garlic for a few seconds.  Add the marinated chicken cubes and stir-fry until half cooked.  Then add the pumpkin cubes and wood fungus and continue to stir fry for a few minutes.
2. Add in 1/4 cup of water, stir to mix and let it simmer.  Continue stirring to ensure even cooking of the pumpkin and chicken.  Taste for correct seasoning and add salt if needed.  If the dish dries up too fast add more water.
3. Once the chicken and pumpkin are cooked through off the heat and dish up onto a plate.
4. Ready to serve!

Notes: I serve it as a dish with rice for dinner accompanied with other dishes.

Recipe adapted from "Elinluv's Tidbits Corner."

Pumpkin Tang Yuan With Sago Pearls In Coconut Milk

With the leftover pumpkin, the second recipe which I am going to cook is a dessert.  Tang Yuan have always been my favorite dessert, which I don't only cook once a year during the Winter Solstice or Dongzhi Festival, instead, I enjoys cooking it all year round.  

I was fascinated by an online recipe from "Cook With Mi" just before I get to sleep last night and decided to have this recipe as the first-to-cook dish for today. 

Ingredients: (Serves 4)
(A) Tang Yuan
100g fresh pumpkin flesh (skin, seed removed and cut into cubes)
100g glutinous rice flour (sifted)
Water

(B) Sago
75g sago pearls
Water

(C) Coconut Milk
Half grated coconut
Water 
Granulated sugar (to taste)
Pinch of salt
3 pandan leaves (knotted) 

Methods:

1. Steam pumpkin until soft and mashed.
2. In a mixing bowl add glutinous rice flour, mashed pumpkin and slowly add water bit by bit and knead using hand until a soft non-sticky dough is formed.  If the dough is too soft add a bit more glutinous rice flour until you get the right consistency.
3. Take a small portion of the dough and roll it into balls (sizes according to your own preference) and place them on a flat plate.  Repeat until all the dough is finished.
4. To cook the tang yuan balls, boil water in a pot and once the water is boiling drop the balls into the water and let it boil for about 1 to 2 minutes.  Once the balls floats to the surface it is cooked.  Using a slotted spatula dish out the tang yuan balls and place them into a bowl filled with ice water.  This is to let the tang yuan to remain chewy.  Set aside.
5. To prepare the sago pearls, boil a pot 3/4 filled with water, when boiling add in the sago pearls and continue to cook using medium heat, stirring often until translucent. Dish out, drain the sago pearls and put them into a bowl of cold water.  Set aside.
6. To prepare the coconut milk, add a bowl of water into the grated coconut, mix it well and squeeze out the coconut milk (I use my hand) and let it run through a sift. I repeat this step for three times to get the most milk out of the grated coconut.
7. Pour the coconut milk into a pot, add more water if necessary, put in the knotted pandan leaves, sugar, pinch of salt and bring to a boil using medium-low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Once it starts boiling turn heat to low and continue to simmer for another minute.  Drain the tang yuan and sago pearls using a sift and add them into the coconut milk. Continue to simmer for another minute, stir to mix, then off the heat and remove pot from the stove and let it sit on the kitchen top with lid half open to let it cool.
8. The dessert is ready to be served either warm, at room temperature or have it cold by putting them into the fridge for 2 to 3 hours.

This dessert is so soothing especially on this hot weather, and having it cold from the fridge is something which I yearn for everyday if possible ~ smile ~  I prefer to cook more soup out of it and use more sago pearls as its so refreshing!  It's "simple yet yummylicious!"

I adapt this recipe from "Cook With Mi" with some amendments to suit my own cooking style.

Pumpkin Soup

With the weather getting hotter by day, I've decided to cook something comforting to satisfy my taste bud. Since I have a whole pumpkin sitting in my pantry I am making this yummylicious "Pumpkin Soup".

Ingredients needed: (Serves 3)

• 600g pumpkin (peeled and cubed)

• 1 onion (peeled and roughly chopped)
• 1 potato (peeled and cubed)

• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 600ml water
• Chicken stock granules (to taste)
• Dash of grounded white pepper

Methods:

1. In a medium heated wok add cooking oil and fry chopped onions for a minute.  Add chopped potato and pumpkin and continue to stir-fry for a further few more minutes.
2. Pour in water and bring to a boil. 
3. Add chicken stock granules by teaspoon and taste for correct seasoning.  Continue to simmer until the potato and pumpkin are soft.  
4. Remove from heat and let it cool down.
5. Pour the mixture into a blender bowl and puree until smooth.
6. Pour the puree into a pot and bring to a boil using low heat, stirring to ensure that the soup does not stick to the bottom of the pot and gets burnt.
7. Remove from heat and dish into serving bowls.
8. Sprinkle dash of grounded white pepper and serve immediately.