Kuih Kodok ( Mashed Banana Fritters )

Kuih Kodok ( Mashed Banana Fritters )

Recipe source :  Amy Beh

Kuih kodok is among the favourite choices during tea-breaks at my office. For RM1-00 we can get eight pieces of kuih kodok. They are literally "hot" favourites as people queue up to wait as the vendor keeps stirring and frying the kuih kodok in her big wok.

They are cheap and tasty. However, it gives me a pure sense of satisfaction and accomplishment each time I am able to make some tasty tidbits on my own, with reasonable success. 

Ingredients

150g (net weight) ripe bananas
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
5 tbsp self-raising flour
1 tbsp rice flour
1 tbsp Quaker oats
A pinch of bicarbonate of soda

Enough oil to fry the banana fritters

 

Method

1.  Mash banana with a fork.
2.  Mix in all the ingredients to combine into a batter.
3.  Heat wok with enough oil on medium heat.
4.  Spoon 1 tsp of batter into hot oil and fry until golden.
5.  Remove and drain on several layers of kitchen towels.

I am linking this post to Little Thumbs Up ( March 2015 - Banana )



This event is hosted by Faeez  ( BitterSweet Spicy )
Organised by Zoe ( Bake For Happy Kids )

and Doreen ( My Little Favourite DIY)

Cookies : Wheels Of Fortune

Cookies :  Wheels Of Fortune

Recipe source :  Cook's Nook - Amy Beh

My "wheels" turned out to look like pretty sunflowers instead! LOL.

Anyway, they look so bright and cheery, well enough to welcome the Chinese Spring Festival!

Ingredients

175g butter
100g castor sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg
250g plain flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp cocoa powder
10g melted cooking chocolate
1/2 tsp instant coffee essence

Method

1.  Beat butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until light and creamy. Add in vanilla and egg. Beat until well combined.
2.  Sift flour and baking powder together. Add the sifted flour into the butter mixture. Mix into a soft dough. Divide into 2 portions.
3.  To one portion, add in cocoa powder, melted chocolate and coffee essence. Knead lightly until well combined.
4.  Use cookie cutter to cut into desired shapes. Place onto baking trays and bake at 180 degree C for about 20 minutes or until golden at the edges.

I am linking this post to My Treasured Recipes #5 - Chinese New Year Goodies Jan/Feb 2015

Hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well In Flanders 

and co-hosted by Charmaine of Mimi Bakery House

I am submitting this post to Little Thumbs Up

The theme for February 2015 - Cocoa 

Hosted by Grace of Life Can Be Simple 
Organised by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids

Cocoa, host by Life can be simple

and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY

Please mention Cook and Celebrate: CNY 2015 in your post and link back to us, Yen from Eat your heart out, Diana from Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids. - See more at: http://www.bakeforhappykids.com/#sthash.GPYJr7yj.dpuf

I am also linking this post to Cook and Celebrate CNY : 2015
Orgainsed by Yen of Eat Your Heart Out , Zoe of Bake For happy Kids and 
Diana of Domestic Goddess Wannabe
  

Choc Chip Kuih Bahulu

Choc Chip Kuih Bahulu

Recipe source :  Adapted from Amy Beh ( The Star News paper 4/10/2005 )

There is a Malay lady near my office who sells oven fresh kuih bahulu. Her kuih bahulu are hot sellers. I often need to queue up to wait for her kuih bahulu. She sells the original ones as well and other varieties which look very colourful. But my favourite is her kuih bahulu with chocolate chips.

Since I have time during the weekends, I wanted to try my hands making it. I used Amy Beh's recipe, but I reduced the amount of sugar used and I added chocolate chips.

This is great for tea time over a cup of black coffee !

Ingredients

6 eggs
150g castor sugar
120g self-raising flour, sifted
120g plain flour, sifted
1/1 2 tsp baking powder
100g chocolate chips
2 tbsp corn oil for brushing

Method

1.  Beat castor sugar and eggs together in a mixer until white, for about 20 minutes.
2.  Fold in sifted flour, baking powder and plain flour. Mix well. 
3.  Add chocolate chips and stir to mix well.
4.  Heat a kuih bahulu mould in the oven until very hot. Brush with corn oil.
5.  Spoon batter with chocolate chips into the bahulu mould and bake at 200degree C for about 10 -12 minutes, or until golden.
6.  Remove the baked kuih bahulu with a skewer. 
7.  Brush the mould with corn oil again and repeat the process to spoon batter into the mould. 

I'm joining Best Recipes for Everyone September 2014 Event Theme: Chocolate Wonderland hosted by Fion of XuanHom's Mom

I am also linking this post to Cook-Your-Books #16  

hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours

Hakka Char Yoke 客家炸肉

Hakka Char Yoke 客家炸肉

Recipe source :  Doris Choo @ Sumptuous Flavours

This is a popular dish in our family gatherings even though we are not of Hakka descent. On most festive occasions when we visited my in-laws I would see this char yoke braising in a big pot on the old-fashioned charcoal stove. Even now I can remember my sister-in-law cutting the huge chunk of pork belly in preparation of this very delicious char yoke.

Large family gatherings are fewer and far between now that the old folks are no longer with us. At times I tend to reminiscent the bygone days. That's when I decided to cook this dish even though I do not have their recipe. It was not a problem since I had often helped my in-laws to prepare this dish. I just had to use my judgement to reduce the quantity of all ingredients used.

Ingredients

500g pork belly, cut into pieces
80g black fungus, soaked until soft and cut into pieces
1 egg, beaten
3 tbsp flour
3 cloves garlic
11/2 piece fermented Shanghai nam yee, mashed
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1.3 litres water
oil for deep-frying

 

Marinade

1/2 tsp salt
1/2 piece fermented Shanghai nam yee
1/4 tsp five-spice powder
1 tsp soy sauce
dash of pepper
6 shallots, pounded to pulp to extract juice

 

Seasoning

2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar

Thickening Solution

2 tbsp cornflour
3 tbsp water

Method

1.  Marinate the pork pieces with the shallot juice and marinade ingredients for 4 hours.
2.  Add in the beaten egg and coat well with flour.
3.  Heat up enough oil to deep-fry the marinated pork pieces. Cool and set aside.
4.  Bring 1.5 litres of water to boil in a medium-sized pot.
5.  Add in the garlic cloves, black fungus, 1 1/2 pieces of nam yee and dark soya sauce. Continue to simmer over medium flame for about 30 minutes. If you like the black fungus softer, simmer longer. 
6.  After 30 minutes, add in the deep-fried pork pieces and continue to simmer for another 30 minutes, or until the pork is tender.
7.  Add in seasoning ingredients and thicken with cornflour. 

Mini Kampar Chicken Curry In A Bread 咖哩面包鸡

Mini Kampar Chicken Curry In A Bread 咖哩面包鸡

Recipe source for the bread :  Frozen Wings
Recipe source for the chicken curry :  Doris Choo @ Sumptuous Flavours

A few weeks back I made Special Steamed Chicken Curry Pau, which is a modified version of the famous Kampar chicken curry bread. My youngest son, YS has been pestering me to make the baked version. I know the normal size bread ( 面包鸡 ) will be too big for the three of us at home, so I used the same concept of the special steamed chicken curry pau to bake three smaller bread. We gave one to my sister-in-law who lives a few blocks away while we polished off the remaining two bread. 

Yummy, yum! They were truly scrumptious and finger-licking good!

Ingredients for Chicken Curry ( recipe by Doris Choo @ Sumptuous Flavours )

1/2 a chicken ( about 550g )
1 large potato, peeled and cut into cubes, then deep-fried
2 1/2 tbsp curry powder
80g minced chilli
80g shallots, finely chopped
30g garlic, finely chopped
1 cup coconut milk  ( santan)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp soya sauce
4 tbsp cooking oil 

Utensils required

3 aluminium foil cups
3 pieces of aluminium foils

Preparation 

1.  Heat wok until hot. Add in 4 tbsp cooking oil.
2.  Saute chopped garlic and shallots until fragrant. Reduce to medium flame. Add in minced chilli. Stir to mix well.  
3.  Add 2 tbsp coconut milk , followed by the curry powder. Stir evenly until red chilli oil oozes out. 
4.  Add in chicken pieces and mix well. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes. 
5.  Add in 4 Chinese rice bowls of water. Bring to a boil.
6.  Pour in the deep-fried potatoes. Stir to mix well.
7.  Allow to simmer for about 12 to 15 minutes until done.
8.  Remove and let it cool down before spooning the chicken curry into 3 aluminium foil cups.
9.  Cover the foil cups with pieces of aluminium foils.   

 

For the bread ( recipe from Lena of Frozen wings )

Ingredient A
450g bread flour
25g milk powder
15g instant yeast
60g sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Ingredient B
1 large egg, beaten mixed with 130ml cold milk + 130ml cold water

 40g butter

Method

1. Add  all ingredients A into a mixing bowl of a machine and use a fork to stir till well mixed. Using a dough hook, add in ingredients B slowly and beat roughly for about 5 minutes until it forms a moist firm ball.
2.  Add in butter and beat for around 5-10 minutes until the dough looks smooth. Remove dough into slightly floured table and knead into a big ball and let it proof for about 45 minutes.
3. After proofing, lightly knead the dough again and let rest for another 10 minutes.
4. Divide dough into three portions. Roll out the dough into three rounds with the middle thicker than the sides. ( See picture below )  Place this on top of the sealed aluminium cups. Seal the edges below the aluminium cups and place each on three different pieces of greased-proof paper. Transfer this to a baking tray and let it rise for another 40 minutes.
5. Apply egg wash (optional) and bake it in a  preheated oven at 170 C for 20 minutes.

 Let the middle portion be thicker than the surrounding edges.

Place this dough on top of the sealed aluminium cup containing the chicken curry. 

This way - It will be easier to seal the thinner edges below the aluminium cup. 

Yum! Finger-licking good!
 

I am linking this post to Little Thumbs Up

The theme for August 2014 is Flour

Hosted by  Domestic Goddess Wannabe

This event is organised by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids 
and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY

Taiwanese Breakfast : Egg Pancake Roll 蛋饼

Taiwanese Breakfast : Egg Pancake Roll 蛋饼

Recipe source :  Adapted from Butterfingers

There were so many blogs featuring this egg pancake roll that I had a hard time deciding which recipe to cook. I finally chose this recipe which appeared to be comparatively easy to follow. But then I discovered to my dismay that l do not have the flair to toss and roll the pancake to perfection! Mind you, in reality, it wasn't that easy to roll the pancakes!

Well, anyway, here's my humble attempt to make this popular Taiwan breakfast egg pancake rolls. Enjoy!

Pssst, I being a true Malaysian, must find my bottle of indispensable chilli sauce to go with this!

Ingredients ( makes 2 pancake)

100g all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 tsp cooking oil
1 stalk of spring onion, chopped
Oil for frying
A pinch of salt
2 eggs, beaten and divide into 2 portions
2 stalks parsley, chopped and divide into 2 portions
1 tsp oyster sauce, divide into 2 portions

Method

1.  Make the pancake mixture by pouring warm water to the flour and stir to mix well. Add in chopped spring onions.
2.  Heat a non-stick frying pan and drizzle a little cooking oil into the frying pan. Pour in half the pancake mixture to make a pancake. Cook until golden. Flip over and cook the other side. Remove pancakes to a plate.
3.  Repeat with the remaining batter to make another pancake. Remove pancakes to a plate.
4.  Divide beaten eggs into 2 portions. Add in half of the chopped parsley and 1/2 tsp oyster sauce.
5.  Heat frying pan and add in a drizzle of oil. Pour in egg mixture to coat the entire frying pan.
6.  Immediately, add in one prepared pancake onto the frying eggs. Let them stick together.
7.  Flip over and warm the other side. Remove onto a plate
8.  Roll up the pancake and cut into slices of about 2 cm.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest #10 August 2014  : Taiwan 

Hosted by Alan Goh of Travelling Foodies

I am also linking this post to Little Thumbs Up

The theme for August 2014 is Flour

Hosted by  Domestic Goddess Wannabe

This event is organised by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids 
and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY

Deep-fried Prawns

Deep-fried Prawns

Recipe source :  Doris Choo of Sumptuous Flavours.

My family call this "chau har-look", literally meaning deep-fried prawn. I have a very deep  impression of this wonderful prawn dish. I ate this the first time during my late grandfather's birthday. I was probably five or six years old at that time. I still have vague memories of the house being crowded with uncles, aunts, countless numbers of cousins, other relatives and friends of our large extended family. And I had recollection of large basins of deep-fried prawns set aside on a table, waiting to be arranged onto serving platters for the grand birthday bash. I remember tents being set up around the large sprawling village home to accommodate so many people gathered together.

My family's original recipe probably used a combination of all-purpose flour and rice flour with a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Over the years, my aunts and my horde of cousins have added various other ingredients to improve and enhance the taste of the batter. 

All these years I have never attempted to make this until I met some of my relatives recently and we started talking about the good old days. One thing led to another and here is the modified version after adjusting the recipe and gleaning some "secrets"  from the many aunts and cousins who all wanted a say as to what ingredients should go into the batter.  It was fun listening to the friendly banter!

Ingredients

500g medium-sized prawns, remove shells but keep the tails
4 tbsp tapioca flour
oil for deep frying

Marinade for prawns

1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

Marinate prawns for about 30 minutes

Ingredients for batter

50g plain flour
50g tapioca flour
50g rice flour
1 tbsp custard powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
a dash of pepper
some chopped spring onions or Chinese parsley
150ml water
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp salt

Method

1.  Mix all the ingredients of the batter until smooth. Set aside.
2.  Heat enough oil in a wok for deep-frying. Heat until hot.
3.  Dredge marinated prawns into the 4 tbsp of tapioca flour. Then dip this dredged prawn into the batter to coat it evenly except the last bit of the prawn's tail.
4.  Place the prawn into hot oil and fry both sides until golden.
5.  Remove and drain on absorbent towels.

I am linking this post to Little Thumbs Up

The theme for August 2014 is Flour

Hosted by  Domestic Goddess Wannabe

This event is organised by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids 
and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY

Chinese Spring Onion Pancake 蔥油餅

Chinese Spring Onion Pancake 蔥油餅

Recipe source :  Wantanmien

It is amazing that such simple ingredients of just using plain flour, a little salt and some chopped spring onions can yield such a tasty pancake. 

Spring onion pancakes are popularly eaten at breakfast by the Chinese, but hardly by our local Malaysian Chinese as we grew up feasting on roti canai instead of spring onion pancakes! Come to think of it, there are similarities between the Chinese spring onion pancakes and our local roti canai. 

However, I would not dare to venture into making comparisons between these two pancakes because geographically we are different and our lifestyles or our ways of life are vastly different. So, suffice to say that I find this spring onion pancake tasty. I like the outer skin which is crispy and I just love the fragrance of spring onion in each bite. Nice!

However, both my hubby and my son did not share my enthusiasm. 

It is all a matter of preference. 

Ingredients

225g all-purpose flour
150ml warm water
2 stalks of spring onions, chopped
a little salt
some oil

 Chopped spring onions

Salt. 

Use sparingly as it can be very salty for a small pancake.

Method

1.  Pour flour into a bowl. 
2.  Add warm water. Stir well. Cover the bowl and allow it to rest for 10 minutes.
3.  After 10 minutes, knead to form a soft dough. Divide the dough into 10 equal portions.
4.  Roll out one portion into a flat circle. Brush oil over the entire circle. Sprinkle a little bit of salt and spring onions onto the circle. Use salt sparingly as it can be very salty for a small pancake.
5.  Then roll up one end to form a cylindrical shaped dough. Bend one end of the cylindrical dough to form a circle. Then flatten it to form a small pancake. It is okay if the dough burst open when you roll it.
6.  Repeat the process with the remaining dough. Sprinkle some flour onto the pancakes to prevent them from sticking together.
7.  Heat a frying pan and add some oil. Fry the pancakes on both sides until golden.
8.  Ready to serve.

I am linking this post to Little Thumbs Up

The theme for August 2014 is Flour

Hosted by  Domestic Goddess Wannabe

This event is organised by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids 
and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY

Gordon Ramsay Blondies Recipe

Gordon Ramsay Blondies Recipe

Recipe source :  Gordon Ramsay

Blondies are white chocolate version of brownies. Personally, I find blondies less intense in taste and flavour compared to regular brownies. The cranberries were tasty and chewy. In fact, the next time I bake it, I would definitely add more cranberries than the suggested amount in this recipe.

My blondies turned out uneven. The edges were slightly higher then the middle portion which had sunken slightly but then I was comforted by the fact that the original photo had shown Gordon's blondies to be slightly uneven too.

Ingredients

• 230g butter, plus extra for greasing
• 340g dark brown sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 280g plain flour
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 240g white chocolate, chopped into small chunks
• 4 tbsp dried cranberries

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4. Lightly butter a 23cm square cake tin and line with greaseproof paper.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan and whisk in the sugar and salt. (A good whisk now will make the mixture slightly lighter and fluffier.) Add the vanilla extract and whisk again. Remove from the heat.
3. Add the eggs to the butter mixture and stir well. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder into a large bowl, then whisk in the egg and butter mixture a little at a time. (It’s important to do this in stages so that you don’t get any lumps.)
4. Leave the mixture to cool slightly, then fold in the chocolate chunks and the cranberries. (If the mixture is too hot, the chocolate will melt.)
5. Spoon into the prepared cake tin and spread out evenly. Bake for 35–40 minutes until the outer edges are firm and the middle still a little soft.
6. Leave to cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes, then cut into squares before serving. Once cooled, the blondies will keep in an airtight container for up to a week.

This post is linked to Cook like a Star (Gordon Ramsay) organised by me, Bake for Happy Kids, Yen from Eat Your Heart Out and Mich from Piece of Cake - See more at: http://www.bakeforhappykids.com/#sthash.sdGpsh7p.dpuf

I am submitting this post to Cook Like A Star ( Gordon Ramsay ) 

Organised by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids

Yen from Eat Your Heart Out  and Mich from Piece Of Cake

 

This post is linked to Cook like a Star (Gordon Ramsay) organised by me, Bake for Happy Kids, Yen from Eat Your Heart Out and Mich from Piece of Cake

- See more at: http://www.bakeforhappykids.com/#sthash.sdGpsh7p.dpuf

This post is linked to Cook like a Star (Gordon Ramsay) organised by me, Bake for Happy Kids, Yen from Eat Your Heart Out and Mich from Piece of Cake

- See more at: http://www.bakeforhappykids.com/#sthash.sdGpsh7p.dpuf

This post is linked to Cook like a Star (Gordon Ramsay) organised by me, Bake for Happy Kids, Yen from Eat Your Heart Out and Mich from Piece of Cake - See more at: http://www.bakeforhappykids.com/#sthash.sdGpsh7p.dpuf

I am also linking this post to Little Thumbs Up

The theme for August 2014 is Flour

Hosted by  Domestic Goddess Wannabe

This event is organised by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids 
and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY

Food For The Gods (A Filipino Date & Walnut Bar)

Food For The Gods (A Filipino Date & Walnut Bar)

Recipe source : Adapted from here

I was searching for Filipino recipes when I came across this cake. I find the name, " Food for the Gods" most unusual for a cake! Having said that, I remember having eaten this before. I searched my memory and it clicked back to a party many moons ago. The hostess was very proud to serve " Food for the Gods" which she had specially ordered for the occasion. She went round ensuring that her guests tasted this cake and she loved the look of surprise on her guests' faces as she mentioned the name of this cake!

I love the walnuts and chopped dates which made this cake chewy. 
This is truly sweet and decadent!

Ingredients

1 cup plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup dried dates, pitted and chopped
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

 Sugar, chopped walnuts and brown sugar

Dried dates. 

Chopped these and use only one cupful

Preparation

1.  Preheat oven to 180 degree C. I used a 9 inch square tin lined with parchment paper.
2.  Sift flour, salt and baking powder into a small bowl. Transfer half of this mixture to another bowl and dredge the chopped dates in it.
3.  Combined melted butter, brown sugar, sugar eggs and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Mix until batter is uniform. Add honey and mix again.
4.  Fold flour into the batter. Lastly fold in chopped walnuts and the dates which have been dredged in flour. 
5.  Pour batter into the prepared tin and bake in oven for 25 minutes or until done.
6.  Cool completely before slicing into bars.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest  : Philippines

Hosted by Swee San of The Sweet Spot

Chocolate Cake 巧克力蛋糕

Chocolate Cake 巧克力蛋糕

Recipe source :  Minnie

I got this recipe from my friend, Minnie years before blogs were started. She apparently got her supplies of great recipes for cakes and cookies from her aunt's cookbooks. And her aunt bought her collection of cookbooks overseas. 

I have been making this chocolate cake ever since. Just a few easy steps to follow which is almost fuss-free baking and the ingredients required  are very basic. That's what I like best!


Do use good quality butter instead of margarine. It really makes a great difference.

This recipe is among the few trusted recipes that I hold dear to my heart. 

Simply scrumptious! 

Ingredients

10 eggs, separate the whites from the yolks
4 oz plain flour
4 oz self-raising flour
2 oz cocoa powder
12 oz castor sugar, divide into two portions
1 1/2 pieces butter ( 375g)

Method

1.  Sift the flour, self-raising flour and cocoa powder together.
2.  Use 6oz of the sugar and cream this with butter until light and creamy. Add egg yolks, one at a time and beat well after each addition. Remove.
3.  Whisk remainder half of sugar with egg whites until stiff.
4.  Fold in the two beaten mixture and add in the sifted flour. 
5.  Pour batter into a greased 9 inches square tin. 
6.  Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degree C for about 35 to 40 minutes. Insert a skewer into the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is done.  

I am linking this to Little Thumbs Up

The theme for June 2014 is Butter

Hosted by  Spice Up My Kitchen

This event is organised by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids 

and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY