Chilled Creamy Mango Pomelo Sago 杨枝甘露

There is no other best time to make this dessert other than now! Yes, when mangoes are so in season now and are going cheap! So so sweet and yummy. This is like an annual thing, a once-a-year-must-make dessert.

Mummy gave me a pomelo which turned out to be very sweet and yummilicious. Mum then asked if I had plans to make the mango pomelo sago. I instantly knew I had to do this soon because Mum seldom have food requests. Hehe!

I searched the internet looking for a recipe that will give me a pot of creamy mango pomelo sago. I decided to come up with my own. It was not too difficult :)

My little brother asked for a second serving of it. He is quite picky and critical about food, so when he asked for more, I felt flattered lor. Hahaha.

I like the creamy tasty of both the fresh mango puree and evaporated milk mixed together. I never like diluted mango pomelo sago. Just indulge lor since we do not eat this dessert so often!

Chilled Creamy Sago Pomelo
(Serves 5-7)

500g mango (to blend into mango puree)
210ml evaporated milk
100g sago pearl
half mango, cut into cube bits
4 slices of pomelo, peeled and separated into bits (Add more if you like)

1. Put a pot of water to boil. Add in sago pearls, cover with pot lid and let it cook on low heat for about 15min or till sago turns translucent.

2. Pour cooked sago pearls onto sieve and leave in a bowl of room temperature water. This prevents the sago pearls from further cooking and turning soft, and this retains sago pearls chewiness. Remove refrigerate sago pearls till ready to use.
3. Blend 500g of mango and evaporated milk into puree.

4. Set mango puree into a big pot or mixing bowl. Add in sago pearls and stir till well mixed.
5. Add in mango cubes and pomelo bits and mix well.
6. Place in fridge and serve chilled.

Passionfruit Honey Drink 百香果蜜糖水

Mum gave me some passionfruits and I made some refreshing drink with the fruits.  Definitely a good time to consume this in our current hot and humid weather!

Do you know that passionfruit is loaded with Vitamin A, C, Potassium, Iron and dietary fibre? It provides us with a great source of antioxidants.

Also, it is a fruit that helps treat cough and lessen respiratory tract inflammations. Great for detox too as it helps cleanse our colons and aids digestion.  Because of its high dietary fibre, this fruit helps prevents constipation, reduces fats and cholesterol buildup in our bodies. With so many goodness that this one fruit has, we gotta eat more of this fruit :)

Passionfruit Honey Drink

3 ripe passionfruits
2 to 3 tbsp honey (depending on sweetness of passionfruit)
1.2 l water (freshly boiled and cooled)
Ice

1. Cut passionfruits into half and scrap off seeds insides and spoon into a jar.
2. Add in 2 tbsp of honey. (You can always add more when you do a taste test and want the drink sweeter)
3. Fill jar with water, mix well and stir till honey is dissolved. Do a taste test and add more honey accordingly.
4. Place in fridge and consume when chilled or add ice and enjoy immediately.

Spicy Pork Bulgogi 韩式辣炒猪肉 돼지 불고기

As you can see, I am already back from Korea for quite some weeks, but am still (very!) much bitten by the Korean food bug. I have always enjoyed eating Korean food, and this trip brought my love for Korean food to a next level. I just had to cook it at home. Hubby gave compliments during the meal and commented that "I thought I am back in Korea leh!" 

My first time at preparing and cooking Korean style marinated meat. A wonderful experience and I am looking forward to cooking beef bulgogi, chicken bulgogi.... anything Korean food soon! 

With the few stuff I bought from our grocery shopping at Seoul Lotte Mart, Hubby can expect more Korean food. I have pre-empt him on that and he was game for it.

I love my wonderful and supportive hubby lor! :P

Thank you all for dropping by.

Kamsahamnida. 

Spicy Pork Bulgogi  돼지 불고기
Recipe and notes from Crazy Korean Cooking

9 oz Sliced Pork (Belly or Neck)  (thinly sliced) – I used about 250g of twee bak because I wanted leaner meat

3 tbsp Hot Pepper Paste (Gochujang) (spiciness and saltiness may vary depending on the brand)

2¼ tsp Sugar

1 tsp Soy Sauce for Soup (Gukganjang)   (or regular soy sauce)

½ Onion (Medium)

1½ Green Onion (Spring onion as we call it)

1 tsp Garlic (minced)

1 tsp Ginger (minced) – I did not have ginger on hand, hence I left it out

A pinch of Black pepper

1 tsp Sesame oil

1 tbsp Cheongju, Korean Rice Wine  (I used Japanese Sake cooking wine)

½ tsp Sesame Seeds  (optional)

2 Green Chili Pepper  (optional) – I did not use this

1½ tsp Vegetable Oil

1 tsp Gochugaru, Red Chili Flakes 고추가루(optional, add to make it super spicy) – I did not use this

Optional Ingredients and Substitutions 
Pork: You can use chicken or beef instead. Make sure to thinly slice the meat for the best result.
Sesame seeds: can be omitted.
Green chili peppers: Green chili peppers add a very nice spicy kick. Red chili peppers are ok too but they are usually less spicy. You can omit chili peppers if you want a mild version.
Sugar: can be replaced with honey.

Good to Know 
The amount of gochujang (red chili paste) and sugar can vary depending on your preference. If you use less gochujang, you may want to increase the amount of soy sauce or use salt to season.

For medium spiciness, reduce the amount of red chili paste to 4 tablespoons (for default serving size - 4 servings).

To make it extra spicy, add 1 to 3 teaspoons of gochugaru (red chili flakes) (for default serving size - 4 servings)

1.        Cut pork
If the pork is not sliced, slice as thinly (⅛”) as possible. If pork is slightly frozen, it’s easier to cut into thin slices. If the slices are too big, cut into roughly 3” squares. They don’t have to be square shaped as long as the area is about that size.

2.        Prepare vegetables
Peel and slice a medium onion (or ½ large onion). Wash and cut 3 green onions into 2 inches. Mince garlic and ginger. Wash and Slice 4 green chili peppers (optional).

3.        Make marinade
Mix 6 tablespoons of gochujang (red chili paste), 1½ tablespoons of sugar, 2 teaspoons of minced garlic, 2 teaspoons of minced ginger, chopped green onions, ¼ teaspoon of black pepper, 2 teaspoons of sesame oil, sliced onions, chopped green chili peppers (optional), 1 teaspoon of sesame seeds (optional) and 2 tablespoons of cheongju (korean rice wine) (optional). *For medium spiciness, add 4 tablespoon of gochujang instead of 6. To make it extra spicy, add 1-3 teaspoons of gochugaru (red chili flakes) on top of gochujang (red chili paste).

4.        Marinate meat
Place the meat in a large bowl. Separate the meat slices so they are not stuck together. Add the marinade. Using your hand (use plastic gloves to protect your hand from hot paste), mix everything thoroughly and work in the marinade for 3-5 minutes. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour (6 hours is ideal). If your meat is thicker than ⅛”, marinate overnight.

5.        Cook meat
Coat a frying pan with vegetable oil. Cook the marinated meat on high heat for 10-15 min or until the meat is fully cooked and the surface is nicely browned. *If the meat is thick, you must cook on medium heat so the meat is cooked through. Then, cook on high heat to brown the surface.

6.        Serve
Serve on a plate and sprinkle sesame seeds to garnish (optional). You can enjoy it with a bowl of rice or make “ssam” (wrapping a piece of meat with a dab of ssamjang (lettuce wrap sauce) in leafy lettuce).

I made some ssamjang sauce by mixing 1 tsp gochujang with 2 tsp doenjang (fermented soy bean paste). 

I personally feel that spicy pork bulgogi does not go too well with ssamjang as ssamjang tends to cover the spicy bulgogi taste with its strong bean sauce smell and taste.

Ssamjang goes better with beef bulgogi wraps :)

Carrot & Tomato Porridge 红萝卜,番茄,干贝干耗粥

I have been cooking quite abit of congee recently. We just wanted something easy to cook and easy on the tummies. No fuss. And congee was the easiest of all.

I made some carrot & tomato porridge this time. I still remember how I always fight for some of the carrot tomato porridge my mum used to cook for my little brother then. It was really yummy. And healthy!

Like always I used the simplest ingredients I could get out of my fridge. I never like stuffing my fridge with lots of ingredients because I do not cook daily and by keeping too much meat and vegetables in the fridge, I am not getting the freshest deal when I finally get to cook them. I tend to plan my dishes to cook for weekend and then go marketing on the weekend morning after our breakfast.

So here I present you my babyish like porridge.

Carrot & Tomato Porridge
Serves 2 to 3

2 tomatoes, washed and remove the top stalk portion

1 medium sized carrot, deskinned and shredded

2 dried oysters, washed and rinsed

Dried scallops (I used 4 pcs of big dried Hokkaido scallops and a handful of small dried scallops since I had them) - I love lots of scallops in my porridge

Half a bowl of peanuts (Soaked and remove skins, rinsed, drained)

4 tbsp of minced pork meat, seasoned with 1 tbsp light soy sauce, a dash of pepper, half tsp of cornflour and 1/2 tsp sesame oil

1 rice cup of rice

Water (I did not measure exactly the amount of water but I just filled my 5-litre thermal pot to almost half filled and I used about 2 rice cup of water since I am adding 2 tomatoes and they produce water when cooked and softened)

To taste, optional

A dash of pepper

Light soy sauce, if preferred

1. I soaked the rice and washed dried scallops in water overnight on my stove top, covered. Kept the rest of the ingredients in the fridge. 

2. When ready to cook the porridge that morning, bring out deshelled peanuts, rinsed dried oysters, shredded carrot and tomatoes and add into thermal pot. Add about 1 tsp of cooking oil and 1 tsp of salt into thermal cooker. Stir to mix well the oil and salt with the rice and ingredients. Turn on fire to high and let it come to boil.

3. When the rice mixture comes to a boil, I placed a wooden chopstick at side of pot so that my thermal pot lid can rest on the wooden chopstick, allowing an opening enough for porridge to boil and yet not foam and overflow. Turn down heat to medium high for further 20 to 30min, if you have more time on hand.

4. Remove wooden chopstick and cover pot lid well, turn off heat and put thermal pot into thermal pot holder. It will keep cooking while inside the holder and be kept warm.

5. When back home after work at about 6.30pm, bring thermal pot of porridge to boil on high heat, mash softened tomatoes with the back of the ladles and stir to mix it into the congee. If too sticky, add some boiling water.

6. Form small minced pork meat balls with a teaspoon and drop them gently into the boiling porridge. Let it cook till done.

7. Do a taste test for the porridge, add salt to taste. Serve immediately.

Century Egg, Minced Pork, Peanut & Dried Scallop Congee 皮蛋猪肉花生干贝粥

I have got a wonderful thermal cooker that does wonders. I made yummy soups with them. I recently learnt that I could make delish congee with these thermal cookers too. Tried congee with it for a first time and I kinda got it.

I grabbed whatever ingredients I had in my fridge and did as best as I could.

They were simple ingredients like dried scallops, peanuts, minced pork meat and century eggs. That's it. Mum told me before that adding a few drops of cooking oil and a tsp of salt into the rice and water pot prevents the porridge from sticking to bottom of pot and this would yield a pot of silky creamy congee. Armed with this simple knowledge I tried my hand at cooking congee. 

Century Egg, Minced Pork, Peanut & Dried Scallop Congee
Serves 2 to 3

Dried scallops (I used 4 pcs of big dried Hokkaido scallops and a handful of small dried scallops since I had them) - I love lots of scallops in my congee

Half a bowl of peanuts (Soaked and remove skins, rinsed, drained)

4 tbsp of minced pork meat, seasoned with 1 tbsp light soy sauce, a dash of pepper, half tsp of cornflour and 1/2 tsp sesame oil

2 century eggs, deshelled and cut into small cubes

1 rice cup of rice

Water (I did not measure exactly the amount of water but I just filled my 5-litre thermal pot to almost half filled)

Garnishings, optional

Fried onions

Spring onions

A dash of pepper

Ginger slices

Light soy sauce, if preferred

1. I soaked the rice and washed dried scallops in water overnight on my stove top, covered. Kept the rest of the ingredients in the fridge. Century egg to deshell and cut into bits at that moment before adding into congee.

2. When ready to cook the congee that morning, bring out deshelled peanuts and add into thermal pot. Add about 1 tsp of cooking oil and 1 tsp of salt into thermal cooker. Stir to mix well the oil and salt with the peanuts, soaked rice and dried scallops. Turn on fire to high and let it come to boil.

3. When the rice mixture comes to a boil, I placed a wooden chopstick at side of pot so that my thermal pot lid can rest on the wooden chopstick, allowing an opening enough for congee to boil and yet not foam and overflow. Turn down heat to medium high for further 20 to 30min, if you have more time on hand.

4. Remove wooden chopstick and cover pot lid well, turn off heat and put thermal pot into thermal pot holder. It will keep cooking while inside the holder and be kept warm.

5. When back home after work at about 6.30pm, bring thermal pot of congee to boil on high heat, stir abit using a ladle for a thick mixture of congee should have been formed right now after almost a day of cooking. Add some boiling water if too dry and sticky.

6. Form small minced pork meat balls with a teaspoon and drop them gently into the boiling congee. Let it cook till done.

7. Meanwhile prepare century egg bits and leave it in the bowls you will be serving the congee in.

8. Do a taste test for the congee, add salt to taste. Scoop congee over century egg bits and garnish. Serve immediately. (If you like to add an egg, crack and leave it in the serving bowl and spoon hot congee over the egg, and it will be cooked soon after, with a runny yolk centre.

Olive Oil Hot Dog Buns 橄榄油热狗餐包

Shopped at Ikea some weeks back with my parents and brother before heading for dinner. I always love shopping at Ikea, yes even if it is just window shop and leaving empty handed. Oh no no.. that day I bought some stuff home, part of which were makan stuff. We love the Swedish meatballs and the hotdogs. Grabbed them! I left out the buns though because I wanna try making them!!!

Flipped through my few bread recipe books and decided to use the olive oil bun recipe by Carol 胡涓涓. Carol's original recipe yield little dainty buns but I made them into long hot dog buns instead.  I gotta say the recipe is a good one. Hubby said the buns were soft and had a nice bite in them, and tasted great when paired with the Ikea hot dogs.  Yippe! Carol's recipes are really good.

Carol's recipes are all in Mandarin and I have loosely translated them into English for easier reading .

橄榄油小餐包 [中种法] - 本食谱采取与胡涓涓烘焙新手必备的第二本书, 第214页
Olive Oil Buns - Adapted from Carol's The 2nd Book of baking for Beginners

份量 - 8个 Yields 8 buns

A. 中种法基本面团 (Sponge dough method)
高筋面粉200g  (200g bread dough)
冷水 135cc (135cc cold water)
速发干酵母 1/2tsp 小茶匙 (1/2 tsp instant yeast)

B. 主面团 (Main dough)
中种面团全部 (Whole portion of sponge dough)
高筋面粉70g (70g bread flour)
低筋面粉30g (30g plain flour)
细砂糖20g (20g caster sugar)
盐1/4tsp (1/4 tsp salt)
橄榄油20g (20g olive oil)
冷水65cc (65cc cold water)

C. 表面装饰 (Bun top deco)
高筋面粉适量 (Bread flour, enough to be sifted on top of buns to form see theough thin layer)

A. 制作中种法基本面团 (Sponge dough method)
1 所有材料A搅拌搓揉成为一个没有粉粒均匀的面团 (液体的部分要先保留30cc, 在面团已经搅拌成团后再慢慢加入。(setting aside 30cc of water, mix all ingredients from A to form a smooth lump-free dough.  After dough has come together, add the remaining 30cc water.)

2 继续将面团反复搓揉7~8分钟成为光滑面团。(Continue to knead dough for futher 7 to 8 min till a shiny lump-free dough is formed.)

3 将面团滚圆, 收口朝下捏紧放入抹少许油的盆中。(Form dough into a round shape and leave it in a lightly greased container or bowl.)

4 在面团表面喷一些水, 罩上拧干的湿布或保鲜膜, 放置温室发酵1~1.5小时至两倍大。(Spray some water on top of dough, cover with a clean moist tea towel or with a clingwrap. Set aside in a warm corner to let sponge dough proof for about 1 to 1.5h, or till it is 2x its original size.)

B. 制作主面团 (Main bread dough)
5 将中种面因与主面团所有材料倒入钢盆中, 搅拌搓揉成为一个不粘手的面团 (液体的部分要先保留15cc, 在面团已经搅拌成团后再慢慢加入)。(Set aside 15cc water, place sponge dough and all mian dough ingredients into mixing bowl and mix it till a dough forms, of which is not sticky to the feel. Then add in remaining 15cc water and knead further.)

6 依照揉面团标准程序继续搓揉甩打 成为撑得起薄膜的面团。(Knead dough accordingly till dough is soft and smooth, and till a thin membrane is formed when stretched, which is the window pane stage.)

7 将面团滚圆, 收口朝下捏紧放入抹少许油的盆中。(Form dough into a round shape and leave it in a greased container or bowl.)

8 在面团表面喷一些水, 罩上拧干的湿布或保鲜膜, 放置到温暖密闭的空间发酵约40分钟至两倍大 (冬天天气冷, 可以将准备发酵的面团放进微波炉中,里面再放一杯热水,这样就可以让面团发的更好。 夏天就直接放在室温下即可)。(Spray some water on top if dough and cover with a clean and moist tea towel, or cover eith with cling wrap and set aside in a warm corner to let dough does its first round of proofing for about 40min or till it doubles its size. If in weather is cold, can leave in oven with a small cup of hot water set beside it, shut oven door and let proof.)

9 桌上洒上一些高筋面粉,将发好的面团移出, 面团表面也洒上一些高筋面粉。(Sprinkle some bread flour on work top and set proofed dough over bread flour. Lightly sprinkle some bread flour over dough as well.)

10 将第一次发酵的面团空气拍出,平均分割成8个小面团 (每个约75g),然后将小面团滚圆。(Punch out air from dough and divide dough into 8 equal portions, each weighing about 75g.)

11 面团表面洒上些高筋面粉,用筷子在小面团中间用力压出一道压痕。(Sprinkle some bread flour on top of each dough portion, using a chopstick, press down hard in the centre of the dough to form an obvious line on the dough.)

12 完成的面团间隔整齐排放在烤盘上。(Place dough pieces on baking tray, about an inch apart from each other.)

13 整盘放入烤箱中 面团表面喷些水然后盖上烤箱门, 在发酵50~60分钟至两倍大。(Place baking tray into oven, spray tip of buns with some water and let proof for 50 to 60 min, or till 2 times its size)

14 发酵好前8~10分钟,将烤盘从烤箱中取出,烤箱打开预热至180°C。(About 8 to 10min before baking time, remove baking tray from oven and preheat oven to 180°C.)

15 进烤箱前在面团表面喷洒些水。(Spray some water over dough top and set baking tray into preheated oven.)

16 放进已经预热至180°C的烤箱中烘烤15~17分钟,之表面呈现金黄色即可 (烘烤中间打开烤箱朝向面团喷水数次再继续烘烤,使得面皮有脆壳产生)。(Bake buns for 15 to 17min or till top turns golden brown. During middle of baking, open oven door and spray bun tops with some water, this will cause buns to form a nice crusty layer when baked.)

17 面包烤好后, 移到铁网架上放凉。(Remove buns from oven and set on cooling rack to cool.)

Notes:
1. I followed Carol's recipe all the way till the dough shape part, I shaped it into a long oblong shape, think hot dog bun.

2. I left out the spraying of water during the baking process because I did not want buns with too crusty tops.

3. I cooked the hot dogs in boiling water and placed then in between the slit made on the buns, squeeze tomato sauce and mustard sauce over it and eat it for breakfast! Yums!

Pandan Kaya Cake 班兰咖椰蛋糕

I am back. Finally back after neglecting this space for so long.

We were away for an annual vacation. Went to Seoul and Jeju this year and we had a great time eating that 8 days away.  You did not hear me wrong. We enjoyed the food more than the shopping! And I always thought that Korea was a shopping heaven! Oh well... At least Korean food was yummy enough to make me miss Korea and wanna go back again.  Not much clothes yield but I arent too disappointed because I was prepared. I had a good stock up of my make ups and facial products though!

Jeju was a relaxed place filled with beautiful cherry blossoms. We went at the right time for cherry blossom viewings :)

Returned to Singapore with a reluctant heart and mind for I had enjoyed not working, not cooking and baking for a period, and I wished I could go on with this relaxed life for a little longer haha! Wishful thinking! I can only tell myself to come back, work and save more and plan for next trip soon. With that as a motivation, I got by that first week of post trip syndrome. Am back to the kitchen again. Still going slow, but steady :) Will be back in full swing soon (hopefully!). Do bear with me keke.

Never had the courage to try making this cake for I thought it was not easy to make. Okay... I gave that judgement just from the number of steps I saw everywhere, from recipe books to food bloggers' recipe posts. so yup... I should not have been that judgemental afterall. 

I tried after years of stopping myself from doing it.  It was really not difficult and it was delicious! 

Searched the web for a recipe that uses natural pandan extract and found Fong's Kitchen Journal. It was what I wanted and straightforward enough for the blur me to understand keke!

Pandan Kaya Cake
Recipe by Fong's Kitchen Journal

Sponge
(A) 4 eggs + 80g fine sugar + pinch of salt
(B) 100g plain flour, sifted
(C) 30g melted butter + 50g corn oil + 20g pandan juice* + 1/2 tsp pandan paste (mix together).

Method

Whisk (A) at high speed till stiff (the eggs would be tripled in volume).  Fold in plain flour in batches and follow with the melted butter mixture.  Fold the batter well and pour into a greased and lined 8" round pan.  Bake in preheated oven of 160C for about 45 minutes.  Cool the cake and slice into 3 layers.

Kaya filling

400ml pandan juice* + 50g butter + 120g fine sugar

250g packet fresh coconut milk + 150g water, mix together

70g hoen kwe flour

2 tsp instant jelly powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pandan paste (optional)

2 to 3 drops of yellow food colouring(optional)

* After washing the pandan leaves (about 7 to 8 leaves), warm them briefly in a microwave oven and cut into small pieces.  Blend the leaves with about 500ml water.  Sieve the pandan juice and discard the leaves.  Use about 20ml for making the sponge and the remaining for making the filling.

Method

1) Combine pandan juice, butter and sugar in a pot and bring to boil.

2) Mix coconut milk, water, hoen kwe flour, instant jelly powder, salt, pandan paste and yellow colouring together.  Pour this mixture to (1), stir and cook till mixture thickens.

3) Remove from heat and let the mixture cool slightly before pouring onto sponge.

To assemble

1) Place a slice of cake into a cake ring and pour 1/3 of the kaya filling onto the cake.  Repeat layering of cake and kaya filling (2x).  

2) Cool the cake first before placing in the fridge to set.

3) Remove cake from cake ring and coat the sides with dessicated coconut (I used freshly grated coconut, add 1/4 tsp salt and toast in an ungreased pan till dried). - I left out the dessicated coconut deco. (I forgot to line the baking tin and have some hangovers at the side so that I can just remove the cake when ready to serve. I tried my luck by turning it over and fortunately no damage to the top kaya layer - pls do not be so blur like me!!)