Japanese Sponge Cheesecake ~

 

First time I tried to do this cheesecake... Luckily it turn out perfectly... My hardwork to study and research on the recipe paid off...

In conclusion... I find these 2 blogger has very important notes, visit them if you want good tips..

 

http://cooking.storyofbing.com/2010/09/japanese-chiffon-cheesecake/

http://www.thelittleteochew.com/2011/03/japanese-cheesecake-tips-tricks.html

 

Usually it was eaten plain, but I had some left over blackberries ...so why not add the variety...

Do you recognise the 2 little character I did? They are my favourite from LINE apps.

 

The following recipe is compiled from the 2 bloggers above. Thanks them for teaching me on how to do a good japanese cheesecake. 

 

Ingredients

1 block cream cheese (250g)
3/4 cup liquid cream
70g butter
5 large eggs (yolks and whites separated)
4.5 tablespoons plain flour
3 tablespoons cornflour
1/2 cup caster sugar

Method
1. Prepare the water bath in the over and preheat the oven to 180 deg Celsius.
(Look at the Tip #3 : Baking in a water bath  http://www.thelittleteochew.com/2011/03/japanese-cheesecake-tips-tricks.html)

2. Prepare 22cm springform pan with baking paper and grease it with butter or oil.

3. Get a pot of water boiling on the stove. Then turn the heat to low. Place 1 block of cream cheese in a heatproof bowl and place the bowl over the boiling water. Gently melt the cream cheese, stirring constantly.

4. Once the cream cheese is melted, add 70g of butter. Mix well with a whisk.

5. And add 3/4 cup of liquid cream.Whisk well to combine and then remove from the heat.

6. Add 4.5 tablespoons plain flour and 3 tablespoons cornflour to the cheese mixture. Whisk well, ensuring that there are no lumps.

7. Let the mixture cool slightly and then add the egg yolks. Mix well.
(Optional: Sieving the cream cheese batter to have a lump-free, smooth as silk batter.)

6. Add 5 eggs whites to a mixing bowl.
   And add 1/3 of sugar. Whisk the egg white and sugar mixture till bubble form at low speed.
   And then add the next 1/3 of sugar and whisk until soft perk is formed.
   Add the last 1/3 of sugar and whisk the egg white until firm perk in formed. The egg whites should stand firm and not drip back into the bowl.
(Tips on how to whisk a perfect egg whites. http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2010/02/how-to-beat-egg-whites-baking-meringues-chiffon-cakes-souffles.html)

10. Add the egg whites mixture 1/3 at a time to the cheese mixture Fold in the whites carefully so that the air is not lost.

11. Pour the mixture into the springform pan.

12. Place in the preheated oven for 10 – 15 mins or till the top of the cake is brown.

13. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 125 deg Celsius and bake for a further 60-70 mins.

14.When the cake is done, turn off the heat and let it cool in the oven for 30 mins with door ajar. Then remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool on the counter top covered with a dry clean cloth.

ENJOY!!!

 



 

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Watercress dip in wasabi sauce ~

 

The weather is extremely hot out there... Come over this recipe online and then I go and dig out my watercress and did this snack for my "boss" who is so busy working at home...

 

The eggs was to add colour but to my surprise it taste really good with the sauce...

 

You can see how Ochikeron does it in the youtube below. What I add is smashed hard boiled egg. And next time I am going to do just the egg and the sauce for my own indulgence...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1P2RHM7vF0

 

Ingredients:
100g watercress
hard boiled eggs (smashed)

 

Sauce
* 1/2 tsp. sugar
* 1/2 tbsp. soy sauce
* a bit of Wasabi in tube (I add more to have the strong taste)

 

Directions:
1. Mix the sauce in a bowl.
2. Wash watercress in cold water and drain well. Separate stalks and leaves. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cook the stalks for a few seconds, then add the leaves and cook for another few seconds. Soak in cold water and drain well with paper towels.
3. Put the watercress in the bowl and toss lightly with the sauce. Finally add the smashed egg on top of the dish.

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Rambutan Prawn ~ A refreshing appetizer

 

In these hot summer days, how about addidng some fruit in your food, thats what I thought when I was trying out this new dish. It actually taste quite refreshing with a taste of sweetness and sourness, a perfect dish as appetizer....

 

 

Maybe next time I should try it with other fruits, like strawberry.. mango...lychee and etc...

 

Ingredients
12pcs Rambutan (You can use canned or other fresh fruits)

300g Prawn

few pieces of red & green chilli padi

1 tsp of minced garlic

1 egg

1/2 cup corn flour

 

Marinade for prawn

a pinch of salt

1 tsp corn flour

1 tbsp white egg

sesame oil and pepper

 

Seasoning

1/3 cup of water

1 tbsp of white vinegar

1/4 tsp of salt

1 1/2 tbsp of sugar

1/2 tsp of corn flour

 

Direction:

1. Peel the prawn head and shell away except for the tail. Cut the prawn into half before the tail (like a letter Y) and set aside.

2. Marinade the prawn for around 10-15 min.

3. Once they are marinade, dip the prawn into the beaten egg and then coat it with corn flour. Do this one by one.

4. Deep fried the prawn for a few minutes until it turns golden. Set aside. (For a better result, you can deep fried the prawn the second time for 10 seconds after the oil temperature increase).

5. In a pan, cook the seasoning till boil. Add rambutan and cook for a while. Lastly add the fried golden prawn and stir them around. Ready to serve.

 

 



 

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Roast Chicken Shallots~

This is actually an Indonesia style of chicken salad and this dish goes well with rice or over beer session. 

My "boss" at home always order this for his weekend beer session.

Ingredients:
1 Roasted Chicken (I usually bought it from Cold Storage)
   ~ shred the chicken
6 small shallots (more if you like the strong shallots flavor)
   ~ thinly slice the shallots 
few bird eye chillies (depend on your spicy taste  bud)
   ~ thinly slice the chillies
2 stalks lemongrass
   ~ finely slice the white part only

Seasoning
1-2 lime
salt & pepper
Knorr Hao Chi

Direction
1. In a bowl, place all the ingredients and toss together to combine well.
2. Season with Knorr Hao Chi and salt and pepper and mix well.
3. Squeezed the lime and mix well.
3. Ready to serve with rice or goes with beer.

 

 

 

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Braised Pork Trotters Bee Hoon ~ 猪脚米粉

I would say this is a Singapore family dish, because many of us will always say I always eat this at my mom/grandma house. You dont always see this in food court or hawker, therefore sometimes its a food missed at home.

 

My "boss" always find this as comfort food especially a busy day at work...

 

You may want to try this easy and simple dish... Of cos you got to use the Narcisus trotter pork brand... because the taste just make it right...

 

Ingredients
1 packet Dried Bee Hoon
2 cans of Narcissus pork trotters

1 tsp of minced garlic (more if you like the garlic fragrant smell)

1 tbsp cooking oil

1 tbsp Oyster Sauce

300ml chicken stock (If unavailable, substitute with hot water)
soya sauce ~ optional

pepper

Broccoli  (Wash and cooked in hot water with a pinch of salt for around 1-2 min) ~ optional

Direction
1. Soak the dry bee hoon in water until softened (time is depend on your bee hoon brand). Drained and set aside.

2. Open up the can pork trotter. Separate the sauce and the pork. In a pan heat up the sauce and the chicken stock/water and oyster sauce until boil and set aside.

3. In another frying wok, stir fry the garlic in cooking oil, add pork trotters and fried until fragrant.

4. Add the bee hoon and stir with the pork for a while. Pour in the sauce mixture  and stir well to ensure the noodles are well coated with the braising liquid. Cover the wok with a lid and braise the noodle for about 10 minutes or until noodles are cooked. In between, give the bee hoon just a slight toss to ensure even braising throughout (ensure there is still gravy).

5. Decorate your noodles with some vegetables sprinkle with some pepper and ready to serve.

 

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Rikakuma Rolled Cake

This time round I tried Rikakuma pattern...

You can find some pictures online that you love to try out new patterns...

 

You can see the recipe here:

http://ncashpalace.blogspot.sg/2013/07/rolled-sponge-cheese-cake-bear-pattern.html

 

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Rolled Sponge Cheese Cake ~ Bear Pattern (Kue Bolu)

 

I saw a new way of doing rolled cake in Japan, they can make pattern on the cake itself, so I google around of how to do it and so I found this on youtube on how to do the pattern.

 

For the direction on the pattern, follow the youtube below.

 

Ingredients

1 egg white

30g granulated sugar

40g flour - if making chocolate pattern substitute 20g for cocoa powder

20g butter- room temperature

Natural food coloring, fruit syrup or any food coloring of your preference.

 



 

 

I always like to eat the Indonesian way of doing the butter cream, if you ever go Medan, you sure not going to miss the famous Meranti Kue Bolu. So let me share with you the recipe for the rolled cake and the cream.

 

For the cake:

Ingredients:

((Egg Yolk Batter))

3 egg yolks

20g (0.7oz.) granulated sugar

40ml cooking oil

40ml milk

60g (2.1oz.) cake flour

((Meringue))

3 egg whites

40g (1.4oz.) granulated sugar

 

Directions:

1. Separate the eggs and place the whites in a large bowl.

2. For the Egg Yolk Batter, in a bowl, place egg yolks and sugar. Beat them with an electric mixer until white like mayonnaise. Add cooking oil and milk, then mix well with an electric mixer. Sift in cake flour and mix well with a whisk.

3. For the Meringue, in a large bowl, whip egg whites and half of the granulated sugar with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Then add the rest of the granulated sugar and whip them until firm peaks form.

4. Add 1/3 Meringue into the Egg Yolk Batter and blend well with a whisk. Then add the rest of the Meringue 1/2 at a time and mix well with a spatula. Preheat the oven to 170C (325F). Bake in 10 inch square cake pan at 170 degree for 16-19min.

5. When it's done, cut around the pan sides where there is no silicone baking sheet. Then cover with parchment paper, flip upside down, and place it on a wire rack. Remove the silicone baking sheet, cover with another parchment paper, and leave to cool.

((Syrup))

1. Mix granulated sugar and hot water until dissolved. Then mix liqueur if you like.

2. Flip the cake upside down, and remove the parchment paper at the back. To roll the cake nice and round, cut off both ends diagonally.

3. Make shallow cuts on the surface, approximately 2cm (2/3-inch) apart. Gently brush the cake with syrup.

For the fillings:

 

Ingredients

150g of margarine

50g butter

100g sugar powder

grated cheddar cheese

 

Direction:

1. Whisk the margarine and butter and sugar until soft peaks form.

2. Coat the surface of the cake evenly with the cream (leave an inch at the top).

3, Then place the generous amount of grated cheddar cheese on top of the cream

4. Roll up the cake. Twist the ends of the parchment paper to look like a candy wrapper.

5. Chill in the fridge for a while and ready to serve.

 



 

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