Bittergourd Mi Soya Noodle Soup

Baked Chocolate Mooncake 2014

烤巧克力皮月饼

The 1st time I saw Ann Low posted her baked chocolate mooncake, I was attracted to it because it is chocolate & the recipe do not required egg wash. Therefore I decided to try it once I bought the ingredients.

By using Valrhona Cocoa Powder, it had enhanced the flavour of the mooncake. I love it very much. I also added glitter on the mooncake since it does not required egg wash.

Thank you Ann Low for sharing the Baked Chocolate Mooncake recipe.

Recipe attached as below:

Ingredients

60gm Plain Flour
60gm Hong Kong Flour
20gm Valrhona Cocoa Powder
90gm "Lyle's" Golden Syrup
30gm Peanut Oil
½ tsp Alkaline/Lye Water

180gm Coffee Lotus Paste
180gm Milk Tea Lotus Paste

Method

1. Mix sugar syrup, peanut oil and alkaline water together thoroughly.
2. Sift plain flour and cocoa powder in a bowl. Make a well in the center and pour sugar syrup mixture. Using a rubber spatula to mix and form to a soft dough. Cover with a cling wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.
3. Divide the coffee lotus paste and milk tea paste into 13 portions, 15gm each. Wrap the milk tea lotus paste around the coffee lotus paste.
4. Divide dough into 13 portions, 20gm each and roll into balls. Wrap the dough around the lotus paste.
5. Roll it into ball and dust with some flour. Press firmly into mould, un-mould and place on a lined baking tray.
6. Bake at preheated oven 180°C for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and rest mooncakes to cool for about 15 minutes. Then bake the chocolate mooncakes again for another 10-12 minutes.
7. Leave mooncakes to cool down completely before storing into an airtight container. This mooncake can be eaten immediately with the crispy or wait for about 3 days for the mooncakes for skin to soften (回油) before serving.
8. Enjoy the mooncakes with a pot of your favourite tea!

Enjoy It!

Steamed Chicken with Essence of Chicken

I had many bottles of "Essence of Chicken" left. I still do drink them occasionally but not as often as 3 times a week during my schooling day in University. 

I decided to try to make use of it in my cooking. Here it is, the 1st trial with steam chicken. It enhanced the taste of this dish. It is healthy and people who do not like to take Essence of Chicken by itself can try this cook so that you will eventually drink the essence and build/maintain your health thru your meal.

Steamed Chicken

Recipe attached as below:

Ingredients

¼ chicken (portion of whole chicken) or 2/3 drumsticks or 4/5 chicken wings

A handful of wolfberries

8 red dates

1 pc of Dang Gui (optional), I miss this out as I'm lazy to go & buy.

half a bottle of chicken essence (any brand)

Seasonings

¼ tsp Salt
½ tsp Hua Tiao Wine
a pinch of white pepper

1 tsp of ginger juice

Method

1. Wash the chicken clean & tap dry with kitchen towel.
2. Season the chicken with the above seasonings for 30 mins to an hr.
3. Pour half a bottle of chicken essence & steam for 20 to 30 mins.
4. Enjoy while hot!

Double-Boiled Chicken Wing In Coconut

A year back, I saw Zoe Tay (Mediacorp Artiste) cooked a chicken soup in coconut but I cannot find the recipe online via Google (maybe I'm bad with search). I wanted to try it long ago, yet either I do not have all ingredients or I do not have the time to do it.

We the bad weather bad due to the haze caused by neighbouring countries recently, I decided to use my sixth "cow" sense to cook the soup myself. Out of my surprise, my sixth "cow" sense for today was sensitive enough. It was a success soup tonight as one of my dinner's dish.

I will like to share this yummy soup with all my friends and fans of my blog. It is really worth an effort to cook this soup. Do give it a try.

Ready after 2 hours of double boiled

A bowl of serving of the soup

Recipe attached as below:

Ingredients for the dish

Ingredients

1 pc     Coconut
4pcs     Chicken Wings
10gm   Wild Red Dates
10gm   Ginger
5gm     Wolfberry
5gm     Dry Mushroom
3gm     南杏北杏 [North Almond (Bitter) + South Almond (Sweet)]

Seasonings

¼ tsp Salt
½ tsp Hua Tiao Wine

Method

1. Wash and tap dry the chicken wings with kitchen towel then season with salt for 30mins.
2. Remove the seeds of wild red date.
3. Soak the mushroom, wolfberry, wild red date with warm water.
4. Cut the mushroom, ginger into slice.
5. Open up the coconut & retain the 100ml coconut juice.
6. Stack the chicken wings with all the ingredients alternately into the coconut shell.
7. Add in hua tiao wine and coconut juice.
8. Double-boiled it for 2 hours.
9. Enjoy while hot!

Below are the details step in pictures.

Season with salt

Soak the mushroom

Remove the seeds and soak 

Soak the wolfberries

Cut the mushroom

Drain the wild red date

Drain the wolfberries

Cut the ginger into slices

Give 南杏北杏 a rinse

Stack all the ingredients and add coconut juice

Add Hua Tiao Wine & Double Boiled

Snowskin Mooncake (Natural Colour Extract)

Mid-Autumn Festival 2014

Wish everyone a happy mid-autumn festival. 

Mooncake Boxes for 2014

Mid-Autumn Festival 2014 was on 8 September 2014, Monday. Lots of people actually have the celebration brought forward to Friday (Company) & weekends (Family).

I did not celebrate it myself but I make some mooncakes for family, relatives, friends & neighbours as an appreciation of this festival. Hope they all like it and enjoy the festival.

Snowskin mooncake was one of the choice for many of us, therefore I make it again this year. I had being using Happy Home Baking (HHB) recipe for last 2 years which I do like it as shown in the below pic and introduce to my friends as well.

2013 Snowskin Mooncake using HHB Recipe

This year I intend to try Ann Low (Anncoo) recipe. Since I'm not able to purchase the premix snowskin powder (KCT Pinpe Premix Powder) mentioned by her this year, I will follow the skin dough of her Cranberry Snowskin recipe with a slight amendment to suit my tastebud.

6 Flavors Snowskin Mooncakes

Top Row, Left to Right : Purple Sweet Potato, Yam, Coffee with Chocolate Truffle

Bottom Row, Left to Right : Red Bean, Coffee, Green Tea

8 Flavors Snowskin Mooncakes

Left Column, Top to Bottom : Coffee with Chocolate Truffle, Coffee, Red Bean

Centre Column, Top to Bottom : Purple Sweet Potato, Yam

Right Column, Top to Bottom : Green Tea, Red Bean & Green Tea, Milk Tea

Coffee Snowskin (I play with skin dough)

I played with 4 colours skin dough

A bite on Snowskin Yam Mooncake

After making so many snowskin mooncake, It seems like I still did not make enough to give out as Mid-autumn gifts & for myself to try. I got one piece to try as my mum was not able to take yam for the time being after her little surgery on the face (right eye area) and developed some allergy on her skin too. So sad that I cannot do much for her other than help her to apply medicine & bring her to see doctor. Wish that she recover fast so that she can take yam (one of her favorite).

Mum's Surgery & Allergy

Recipe attached as below:

Ingredients

Skin Dough

55g   KCT Fried Glutinous Rice Flour (Gao Fen/糕粉)

20g   KCT Snow Skin Powder (For Hand Rubbing)
50g   KCT/SIS Icing sugar
25g   Crisco Shortening
90ml Cold Water (See the substitute water for various flavor mooncake)
Zero Coloring Used (See the substitute water for various mooncake colours)

Extra KCT Snow Skin Powder (For Hand Rubbing) for dusting & moulding the snowskin mooncake

Paste

Prepare 330gm for each flavours (30gm each)

1. Sweet Purple Potato
2. Yam
3. Coffee with Chocolate Truffle
4. Red Bean
5. Coffee
6. Green Tea
7. Milk Tea

Forgotten to buy Chocolate Lotus Paste so missing out my favorite taste.

Substitute Water & Colours

Stacks of Natural Coloured Skin Dough

1. Red - Boil beetroot slices with some water
2. Blue - Boil blue flowers (pea flowers) with some water
3. Purple - Mix red & blue together (add clear cold water for a lighter tone of Purple)
4. Brown - brew 2 tsp of coffee powder with some boiling water
5. Beige - brew 1 packet of Lipton tea with some boiling water

*Note: Just add cold water to make up to 90ml if there isn't enough after the hot water is being chilled.

My match of the Skin dough with Paste as below:

All Natural Extract Colour Skin Dough

1. Red + Red Bean Paste
2. Blue + White + Coffee Paste + Chocolate Truffle
3. Light Purple + Purple Sweet Potato Paste
4. Dark Purple + Yam Paste
5. Brown + Coffee Paste
6. Beige + Milk Tea Paste
7. White + Blue + Red + Green + Red Bean Paste + Green Tea Paste

Method

1. Sieve fried glutinous rice flour, snow skin powder and icing sugar into a bowl.
2. Rub shortening into the mixture until even.
3. Add half of the water and mix evenly, slowly add more water little by little until a consistent dough is formed and knead well.
4. Set dough aside for 20 minutes and divide dough into 11 portions, 20g each.
5. Wrap the snowskin dough (20g) around the paste (30g) or any other filling you prefer.
6. Roll it into a ball and dust with some snow skin powder and press firmly into mould then un-mould
7. Store in a container/mooncake boxes and chill before consuming.
8. Can keep up till 3 days for it softness.

1) Simplest Packaging

2) Hello Kitty & Winnie the Pooh Wrap Packaging

3) Frame & Paris Tower Wrap Packaging

Happy Mid-Autumn 2014!

See you in Mid-Autumn 2015 (*_*)