Chicken Essence Steam Chicken

This is another quick dish that can be cooked together with rice. But I did it in a wok as I was steaming vegetables for my kids today. I've had a box of Chicken Essence sitting aimlessly in my cabinet for a while now, hence this dish for today. 

Ingredients 

1. Half a Chicken, chopped 
2. 1/4 tsp Salt 
3. 1tsp Sugar 
4. 2tsp Soy Sauce
5. A dash of White Pepper Powder
6. 1/4tsp Garlic Powder
7. 10g / 6-7 Slices Ginger (Julienne & Add more if you wish)
8. 7g / A handful of Goji Berries, washed.
9. 1 Bottle of Chicken Essence 

Method

1. Marinate chicken with soy sauce, salt, sugar, pepper, &garlic powder. Mix evenly & marinate for 2-3 minutes.
   
   
   
   
2. Pour in chicken essence, arrange sliced ginger on top & sprinkle goji berries all over. 
   
   
3. Steam over simmering water for 30minutes or until chicken is completely cooked. (Boiled water & reduce fire to low)
   
   
4. Remove from heat & serve. 

Wholemeal Bread

I've never gotten around to baking a loaf without a BM. This loaf is my first & I am so happy with it. The colour & texture of this loaf is just right. The only setback is the height not reaching its maximum. I'll adjust it the next round. 

I have adapted the guidelines from Nasi Lemak Lover and adjusted the flour ratio myself because I have been craving for wholemeal bread lately. I'm definitely making the plain loaf with this recipe. Hope you like it! :D 

*I used a 10"x11" Bread Loaf Tin

Ingredients 

1. 300g Wholemeal Flour
2. 75g Cake / Superfine Flour
3. 30g Caster Sugar
4. 3/4 tsp Sugar (I used 2/4tsp Pink Sea Salt) 
5. 1tsp Instant Dried Yeast 
6. 240g Cold Milk 
7. 20g Butter 

Method

1. Mix together all flour, sugar & yeast in the mixing bowl. 
   
   
   
   
2. Add salt & milk, then knead on low speed to form a dough.
   
3. Once dough is formed, increase speed to medium low to achieve a smooth dough. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Maintaining on medium low speed, add in butter & continue to knead for 20minutes. 
   
   
   
   
5. Remove bowl from mixer & cover with a wet cloth to proof dough until double in size, about 30minutes. 
   
6. At the last 5 minutes of proofing, preheat oven to 50°c or the lowest temperature you can find, for 5 minutes. Switch off after 5 minutes. This step is for final proofing. It's optional. 
7. Once 30minutes proofing is done, divide dough into 3 equal parts & roll them into balls. Cover with wet cloth & let rest for 10minutes.
   
8. Roll out each dough into rectangular shape & roll back up to form a roll. 
   
   
   
   
9. Place all 3 rolls into the bread tin. Cover with wet cloth & proof for 60minutes. Allow to rise to 90% of bread tin's height. If you are following step 6, do the final proofing in the oven. (Remove from oven at the last 5 minutes of proofing to preheat oven to 190°c).
   
   
   
   
   
   
10. Remove wet towel & cover bread tin with it's cover & bake in preheated oven at 190°c, fan forced mode, for 30minutes. 
11. Remove from oven & let cool before slicing.  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

Salted Egg Yolk Cookies

 This recipe is adapted from Guai Shu Shu by Kenneth Goh
In the original recipe, Potato Starch is called for but I replaced it with Tapioca Starch as I had none  during my first try. At second try, I used Potato Starch. It DOES make a difference. Potato starch gives a sandy texture to the cookies, just like Salted Egg Yolks do. Tapioca Starch on the other hand gives the cookie a smooth texture. Personally I like Tapioca Starch. Try both & decide for yourself.

Ingredients 

1. 2 Salted Egg Yolks (Cooked. You may steam the egg yolks without the shell) 
2. 60g Salted Butter
3. 70g Plain Flour
4. 30g Milk Powder
5. 30g Potato Starch / Tapioca Starch
6. 30g Icing Sugar 
7. 1 (Chicken) Egg Yolk + 1 tsp of Condensed Milk for Egg Wash
8. Sesame Seeds (Black or White) as Sprinkles 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 150°c 
2. Cream butter, sugar & salted egg yolks till light & fluffy.
3. Briefly mix together plain flour, milk powder & starch. 
4. Sift flour mixture into butter mixture.
5. Mix to form a dough.
6. Roll out dough into 6mm thickness & shape.
7. Brush top with egg wash & sprinkle with sesame seeds.
8. Bake for 13 - 15 minutes, or until cookies turn golden yellow. 
9. Remove cookies from oven & let cool completely on wired rack, then store. 

*At first attempt, I baked the cookies using fan mode & resulted a rough texture & ugly top. 

*At second attempt, I baked without a fan mode & resulted a smooth texture & top but in pale colour. 

*At third attempt, I baked without a fan mode for 13minutes, then fan mode for 2-3 minutes. It resulted a smooth texture with nice colour. 

*Different ovens may vary. Do get to know your oven :). 

Pan Fried Pork Patty

This dish can never go wrong, especially if you ran out of ideas on what to cook, or simply just a quick meal. It is simple, easy & delicious. Goes really well with plain white rice!

Ingredient 

1. 150g Minced Pork (Preferably half-fat & half-lean)
2. 1 tbsp Soy Sauce
3. 1/2 tsp Dark Soy Sauce (Optional)
4. A dash of White Pepper
5. 1 tsp Sesame Oil 
6. 1/2 tsp Sugar
7. 1 tsp Tapioca Flour  

Method

1. Marinate pork with soy sauce, dark soy sauce, white pepper, sesame oil, sugar & tapioca flour. Leave aside for about 2 minutes. 
2. Shape marinated minced pork into your desired size balls, press to flatten. 
3. Heat 2tbsp oil in wok on medium heat. 
4. Once heated, reduce fire to low & slowly place prepared patties onto wok. 
5. Increase fire to medium & let patties fry for about 1 minute each side. Repeat flipping to prevent burning.
6. Once both sides are equally browned, reduce fire to low & fry each side for about 2 minutes to make sure it's well-cooked & also to get a little crust on the surface. 

*You may have to adjust your fire & frying time accordingly. The above is just an estimation as I don't really time myself. :D  

Kumquat Osmantus Tea Chiffon Cake

This recipe is adapted from My Mind Patch. Citron Tea & Yuzu Juice + Peel is called for in this recipe but I have none. So, I gambled to replace with Candied Kumquats, Osmantus Tea & Orange Juice. It turned out nice. The cake is not overly sweet and the bits of sweet kumquat peels complement it. As I have not attempted a second bake without the Osmantus Tea, I can't tell if it will make a difference. My guess is the hint of bitterness gives the overall taste of the cake a somewhat unique flavor. I shall try again without it.

Tools : 

I used a 18cm in diameter tube pan for this bake.

Ingredients : 

*It is important that you start with (A) the egg yolks batter first because (B) Meringue do not hold long.
*Make sure that the bowl you use for making Meringue is clean, dry, grease free & egg whites not containing any traces of egg yolks. 
*I baked this cake using a tube pan, without greasing it. Because of the hydration of the cake, the proper rising of this cake is compromised; it relies very much on the clinging to the pan to rise properly. Greasing the pan will also result in the cake slipping off the pan when you overturn it to cool. You may line the bottom of the pan with parchment / baking paper.
*To remove the cake, you will need to run a thin knife or spatula along the side of the cake & tube.   

(A)

1. 3 Egg Yolks
2. 10g Sugar
3. 20g Vegetable Oil ( I used Canola )
4. 2 Candied Kumquat ( Cut into thin strips )
5. 40g Orange Juice
6. 15g Osmantus Tea 
7. 55g Top Flour / Cake Flour ( I used Cake Flour )

(B)

1. 3 Egg Whites
2. 40g Sugar 

Method

1. Sieve flour twice. Set aside.
2. Combine kumquat strips, oil, orange juice & osmantus tea. Set aside. 
   
3. In a mixing bowl, beat egg yolks with 10g sugar until pale & creamy.

   

   Adding 10g sugar into egg yolks
   

   
   

   

   
   

   

   Egg Yolks beaten with 10g sugar until pale & creamy

   
   
4. Add juice&oil mixture into beaten egg yolks, gradually.Whisk to combine.
   
   

   

   Oil mixture added into egg yolk batter & whisked to combined.

   
   
5. Add flour into egg yolk mixture in a few batches, mix to combine, but do not over mixed. Set aside & cover.
   
   

   

   Cover & set aside

6. Now, prepare to make meringue. Make sure your mixing bowl is clean, dry & grease-free. Pour egg whites into mixing bowl & beat until frothy, add in 40g sugar, spoonful by spoonful. Beat at medium high speed (KA Mixer 6-8) until firm peak form.
   

   

   Egg whites are frothy. Start adding sugar now.

   
   

   

   Not firm peak yet. Do not stop at this stage. It will separate & becomes watery.

   
   

   

   Firm peak formed

7. Visually, divide meringue into 3 parts. Add in 1/3 (1 out of 3 parts) into egg yolks batter. Fold to combine. (This is to lighten the egg yolk batter before combining the rest into the meringue). I call it now, The Yellow Batter.

   

   1/3 of meringue into egg yolks batter

   

   Egg yolks batter is lightened after meringue is folded in
8. Now that the yellow batter is lightened, add 1/3 of the batter into meringue. Fold to combine, repeat until all yellow batter is used up.

   

   Folding 1/3 of yellow batter into meringue

   
   

   

   Well combined

   
   
9. Pour batter into pan, then drop pan onto your counter top twice to remove air.
   
   
10. Bake at 140°c on the lowest rack. Check on height of cake after 10 minutes into baking.
    
11. Once cake has risen to almost touching rim of pan, increase temperature to 170°c & bake for 10 - 15 minutes.
    
12. After 10 minutes into baking, the cake will continue to rise above rim & collapse a little after 5 more minutes, before it is done. (Thank You to My Mind Patch for the detailed steps)
13. Remove from oven, drop cake tin onto countertop 3 times & overturn cake in cake pan to cool for 25 minutes.
    
    
    
    

    

    Please excuse my messy unmolding. I'm still figuring out how to remove a flawless cake without using non-stick pan :D