Supermoist Homemade Chocolate Fudge Cake Recipe

“Bake a luscious chocolate moist layer cake with rich frosting at home for an extended tea time over your beautiful weekends!”

It’s a chocolate cake. It’s a fudge cake. It’s a moist cake. It’s a layer cake.

Yes, it’s my chocolaty fudge moist layer cake using milk chocolates. And, it’s simple to bake!

I realized that I have plenty of milk chocolate bars at home remained untouched which my initial intention was to stock up for consumption as snack over TV time. . I knew it's time to find a way to reduce the inventory. I used some to bake my cake (I used milk chocolate bar from Royce)!

The texture of my chocolate cake is not as fluffy as sponge cake. It was more like soft brownie kind of mouthfeel, tastes very fudgy and compact in the palate, but certainly not hard or dry neither. Supermoist, in fact!

This recipe yields thick and moist chocolate cake. As I used moderate amount of milk chocolates (instead of much dark chocolates) in this cake, it was ideally flavoured, and never tasted too-rich till feeling repelled even after a big slice of it. It was a big hit and well-liked by my family, and even friends when I served them during their visit to my place, for snack and/or supper. I will also keep some for my hubby's and my colleagues to taste the next day of bake. Fresh and tasty, still.

Many said that chocolate cake is difficult to make. I agreed. I remembered my fist chocolate cake turned out to be more like chewy 'kueh' (steamed cake) texture than a cakey one. Laughing! However, the fact has turned with this recipe where I mixed and matched from a few chocolate cake recipes online which has now been revised into mine (winking smile). Yes, no premix cake flour used in this recipe. There are only basic ingredients with simple self raising flour. Yet, it was not too complicated to have it baked terrifically. Give it a try now!

Serve 10 - 12 slices
Ingredients
Cake:
250 gram of self raising flour, sieved
50 gram of cocoa powder
260 gram of brown sugar
250 gram of milk chocolate bar, break into pieces
250 gram of butter, softened
200 ml of water
4 eggs

Rich chocolate frosting (Icing) and filling:
380 gram of semi-sweet dark chocolate (or milk chocolate), melted
150 gram of icing sugar
60 gram of cocoa powder
30 gram of butter, melted
30 - 50 ml of low-fat milk

1 - 2 teaspoon of cocoa powder for dusting (Optional)

Utensil:
Electrical mixer
8” - 9" cake tin

Method:
1) Melt milk chocolate and butter together with double boiler on stove over slow fire.

2) In the meantime, place flour, sugar and cocoa powder in a large mixing bolw. Add eggs and water into the dry mixture. Beat with electrical mixer with low speed for 1 – 2 minutes.

3) Stop beating, add in warm melted chocolate and butter mixture. Continue beating with medium-low speed (speed no.2 out of 5) for 6 – 8 minutes, or until it looks smooth and lightly foamy kind of consistency (you may test its readiness by scooping a spoonful of mixture, and it should adhere on the upturned spoon for at least 1 second).

4) Grease 8” square or round cake tin evenly using butter or olive oil, or you may line the non-grease paper sheet, if desired. Spoon cake mixture into cake tin.

5) Preheat oven using 150°C (top and bottom heat on). Place cake tin at centre rack. Bake for 1 hour. Toothpick inserted to the cake should come out clean. Allow cake to cool on wire rack, for about an hour.

6) While waiting for cake to cool, let’s do the chocolate frosting and filling: Combine melted chocolate and butter in a mixing bowl. Beat in 30g milk in stages, followed by cocoa powder and sugar. Slowly add in more milk (by teaspoon) to get the right spreading consistency while beating the mixture with electrical mixer, if necessary.

7) When cake is completely cooled, remove from tin and slice it horizontally into 2 - 3 layers. Then, sandwich the cake by spreading chocolate frosting on each layer of cake before placing another layer on top. Thereafter, frost the entire cake in a thick layer and smooth it down evenly.

8) Keep in the refrigerator for 1 hour to serve it chilled, as desired. Sift some cocoa powder on the top of the cake or dust a thin layer on the entire surface, dusting as decoration, just before cutting the cake for serving.

This cake yields about 350kcal per serving.

Tips: You may experience crack(s) on top of the cake towards the end of baking time, but it's alright, its texture will NOT appear hard or dry, and it can be covered with frosting.
* Store the balance chocolate frosting in the refrigerator for future use, if any leftover.
* If making the frosting by your own is too much work for you, buy ready chocolate frosting at the supermarket stores!

Meat Slices and Carrots Broth (肉片汤)

“Quick delicious meat broth ready to serve within 30 minutes”

This meat broth is my hubby's favourite as he likes soup with loads of peppery taste. I had the soup with amount of ground white pepper adjusted to his taste bud. Not too spicy, yet, strong and intensive peppery flavour. I think I have used about 1 tablespoon of pepper (to be precise, I used amount of 8 'shakes' of pepper bottle).

I coated the meat slices with thick layer of corn starch in order to create softer, smoother and more interesting bites of the meat. As some of the cornstarch emerges into the broth, it also made the broth thicker, and sweeter. It yielded soft, smooth and flavoursome mouthfeel of the meat. And, I loved the consistency of the soup!

The meat broth was so simple to cook.

Serve 3 – 4
Ingredients
300 gram of lean shoulder butt pork meat, thinly sliced
2 carrots, sliced lengthwise
1 chicken stock essence cube
Generous amount of ground white pepper (about 1 tablespoon, adjust amount to your desired spiciness)
Sprinkle of salt
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1 teaspoon of Shao Hsing Hua Diao rice wine (绍兴花雕酒)

Seasoning of pork meat:
1 teaspoon of light soy sauce
1 teaspoon of oyster sauce
Sprinkle of sesame oil
2 tablespoon of cornstarch

1 pot of water, 70% filled (about 1500ml)

Method
1) Season pork meat slices with the listed seasoning ingredients. Combine well and marinate for at least 15 minutes. Set aside for later.

2) Bring a pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add in chicken stock cube. When dissolved, add carrots.

3) Reduce heat to medium – low fire, simmer for 15 minutes, or until carrots are cooked and softened.

4) Add ground pepper, and briefly stir to combine well. Increase to high heat and bring it to a boil.

5) When broth is boiling, add in meat slices, and salt.

6) Bring all ingredients to another boil. Stir in sesame oil and rice wine, 2 minutes before heat off. Serve hot.

This meat broth was well-liked by both hubby and my girl. It could be 1-dish meal as it has carrots and meat in it. Or, just a quick simple soup for late dinner/ supper to warm your body during the cold rainy night.

The regular bowl of meat broth counts about 250kcal.

Duck Soup with Salted Vegetables & Tofu (咸菜豆腐鸭汤)

"Flavoursome Chinese soup that helps to reduce body 'heatiness'."

Salted vegetables soup is what Chinese believes to help reducing 'body heat' (降火). Moreover, salted vegetables and tofu soup is my hubby's favourite. I love to have this soup cooked with duck meat.

Duck meat yields more intense flavour in the soup, especially roasted duck. Yes, I love using roasted one. Whenever I bought whole roast duck from the store for dinner that evening, I will use those boney parts, such as, duck neck, wings and spines, to cook this soup since we do not eat those parts. As such, I will not waste any of my food. So, we have the hot and flavoursome soup to go along with our roast duck meal! Smile.

However, if you are unable to get any ready-roasted duck, and having the duck roasted for making just the soup is too much trouble, use fresh duck meat instead. Fresh duck meat, indeed, is healthier with less oil. You, pick the choice of meat for the soup!

Serves 4
Ingredients
200 grams of duck meat (may use both fleshy and boney parts), skinned and cut into bite-size
200 grams of salted vegetables (amount about size of your palm), steeped and sliced
1 packet of beancurd aka tofu, cut into chunk cubes
1 semi-ripe tomato, quartered
2 preserved (salted) plum (咸水梅 "xian shui mei"), lightly mashed
1 teaspoon of white peppercorns (whole pepper), coarsely mashed
1 pot of water, 50% filled (about 1500ml)

Method
1) Steep salted vegetable in large bowl of water for 2 - 3 hours. Change water after every hour of steeping. You may check readiness of the vegetable by tasting a little of it. Its saltiness should be just right for the taste bud. Then, slice into stripes. Set aside.

2) Bring a pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add duck meat, salted vegetables and peppercorns. Reduce heat to low fire, or enough heat to keep the soup bubbling. Simmer for 2 hours.

3) Add preserved plum, tomato and tofu. Continue to simmer for another 30 minutes. Heat off, and serve hot.

Making good salted vegetable & tofu soup, steeping of the salted vegetables with right length of time is essential. 2 to 3 hours of steeping for a handful of amount should be just right.

My salted vegetable, tofu & duck soup yields about 180kcal per regular bowl.

Tips: Check the taste of the soup when simmering. Reduce simmering time, if you find the soup is salty enough to taste.
* Do not stir the soup after placing tofu in order to retain the good shape of tofu.
* Adding peppercorn is optional, if you prefer some spicy peppery flavour.

Mini Cinnamon Rolls and Sweet Cinnamon Swirl Loaf

"Soft, fluffy and moist homemade Cinnamon swirl bread, so likeable by everyone!"

Break making is easy. You don’t require master's skills to have a freshly baked loaf at home.

I read a few blogs about making cinnamon bread. So, I tried baking it on my own, too. I baked both the sweet cinnamon rolls as well as cinnamon swirl loaf, just to test which way yields better textured bread.

The result is varied depends on your liking and serving occasion. For me, I loved the swirl loaf as it was overall softer even the top crust, while it will be more presentable to have it made into small rolls, for serving guests and as gift to friends.


Yes, the loaf was soft and moist. I loved this texture as it made the bitings more chewy and smooth in the palate. It was neither dense nor dry.

However, as each mini roll was baked individually, the baking temperature has to be slightly lower than baking an entire loaf.

Unlike loaf bread, mini rolls are best to consumed within an hour freshly out from the oven. Otherwise, the top part/ surface of the rolls will be slightly dense after a while, even though it was still cottony soft inside. See, it was as if tearing a cotton wool. Yummy..

Maybe the denseness has to do with thickness of the rolls (my rolls were a little too thick as it should be thinner layers with more swirls, if I have flatten the dough enough to roll it up more rounds instead), and its baking temperature. By right, temperature for baking small cinnamon rolls should be 160°C, and cinnamon roll at 170°C - 180°C. I wanted to try out which type is better, and yet, wished to save time (just lazzzy), I baked them at one go.

Well, they turned out pretty well, eventhough the rolls could be softer on its top part. Ok, ok, I should bake only one type at a time with the most accurate temperature, for the best result next time round.

Nonetheless, both ways, the cinnamon bread was still fantastic!

I know, the baking steps may look deceptively complicated and lengthy, but in fact, it is not so! I think it’s easier than baking a cake, to me. Smile.

Baking bread is not a hard chore. Success rate of making the soft, nice bread is relatively high.

Just that the dough-kneading step might be dreadful. Afterall, it's total of an hour of kneading! But to me, it wasn’t an issue. I used my left hand to do the kneading, and I was motivated. Why? Because I took it as a form of work-out for my ‘rarely exercise’ left hand, especially the arm. Laughing!

Use either your lower palm, or knuckles (not fist) to do the kneading. I think using knuckles is more effective. Or, do an exchange of ways, or even hands from time to time, over the few kneading periods. Yes, that was how I knead it, first used the palm, then the knuckles. (winking smile).

I am so happy to have my 1st bread successfully baked with terrific taste! I wish to share with you guys.

Let’s see:

Yields 6 - 8 rolls & 1 swirl loaf/ 14 – 16 rolls/ 2 swirl loaves
Ingredients
Dough:
200 gram of bread flour, sieved
50 gram of white sugar
5 gram of yeast (about 1- 1.5 teaspoon)
¼ teaspoon of salt

100 gram of whipping cream
40 gram of fresh or skimmed milk (I used low-fat skimmed milk)
1 large egg yolk

15 gram of butter, softened at room temperature (about 1 tablespoon)

Filling:
½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1.5 - 2 tablespoons of brown sugar

20 gram of semi-soft butter, cut into 12 – 15 thin stripes

Utensil:
Large mixing bowl
Wire Whisk
Small/ medium paper cups/ 3x8” loaf pan or slightly larger

Method:
1) Sieve bread flour, mix flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a large mixing bowl. Combine well.

2) In separate bowl, mix in milk, whipping cream and yolk.

3) Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, and pour in milk soluton. Stir with wire whisk to combine all ingredients.

4) When the mixture has become thick and lumpy, get rid of the wire whisk, use your clean bare hand to knead it until it forms dough.

5) Dough will be sticky and rough initially, but it will become smooth after 15 minute of kneading. It’s ok if it does not stick to the bowl/ kneading board, but still appear very sticky on your hand. It will be ok after mixing in butter.

6) Yes, after 15-minute of kneading, rub in butter (bit by bit) till the entire dough is fully incorporated. Dough should appear smooth and a little dampness. Continue kneading the dough for 30 minutes.

7) Now, dough should appear smooth and flawless. It will not be sticky on both the bowl and your hand. Dough should be the texture of your earlobe. Check if dough is kneaded enough by pulling a little of it, the right textured dough should be elastic and not too easily tear.

8) Put dough in a large slightly greased (with butter or olive oil) pan, and cover with cling wrap. Let it rise in a warm place for 1 – 1.5 hour long. Dough should be doubled in size by the time it's finished.

9) Punch the dough down to deflate. Then, divide it into 2 parts. Let it rise again in the pans (covered), for another 20 minute.

10) In the meantime, let’s prepare the filling. Simply mix ground cinnamon and brown sugar well. Reserve for later.

11) When the rise is done, roll each part of dough into flat rectangular sheets. Sprinkle generous amount of cinnamon mixture evenly on the entire sheet of each dough. Then, place thin strips of butter each with 1 inch apart in a row.

12) Then, roll it up.

For tiny cinnamon rolls: Divide the roll into 1.5 - 2 inches wide each, lengthwise. Place each tiny roll on its side facing upwards, in medium sized paper cookie cup.

For swirl loaf: Simply fold down both ends, and place the entire roll into a slightly greased loaf pan.

13) When both completed rolls are nicely place. Leave them aside, covered with cling wrap, for 15 minutes.

14) At the same time, just preheat oven (top and bottom heat) to 170°C, for 15 minutes. Place the loaf pan(s) into the oven, bake them for 20 minutes.

15) After 20-minute bake, top crust of the loaves/rolls should be lightly browned. Pull the loaves/ rolls out, and let them cool for 15 - 20 minutes, before slicing the loaf, or serving the rolls.

Yes, done! Easy? Uhhmmm.... I think it was fun! The fragrance of these sweet cinnamon loaves/ rolls were irresistable. You can smell the fragrance of bread even when doing the knead. After only 15 minutes of baking, the fragrance of the bread which emarges with sweet cinnamon flavour will make your drool instantly!

Tips: Knead the dough, and not throwing it against the kitchen table top or the mixing bowl!
* Flatten the dough to thinner sheets to create more swirls for better presentation, as desired. Mine was too thick and less swirls of each roll.
* Dough of making mini roll should not be cut too big for each paper cup, remember to leave some space in the cup for expansion when baked. But I guess my paper cup was too big for a tiny roll (Laughing). Use of small cup is recommended.
* Use the whipping cream directly poured from its package, need not to whip it. I used whipping cream of Emborg Brand or whip topping cream of Red Man Brand.

Mei Cai Kou Rou with Yam (梅菜芋头扣肉)

"Preserved Vegetables with Yam and Pork Belly (Mei Cai Yu Tou Kou Rou 梅菜芋头扣肉)"

Not just the 'Mei Cai' (Preserved vegetables) and 3-layer pork belly, it's with the delicious yam slices!

My previous post on Mei Cai Kou Rou was done without the yam which complements this pork belly dish so well. This time, my second time of making Mei Cai Kou Rou, I added with yam slices.

I think adding the yam to 'Mei Cai Kou Rou' dish was Teochew style. It made the dish simply fuller, and wonderful!

Just peel and slice the yam into 1cm thick, place one slice each of the yam before/after every pork belly slice, before putting them to steam. The rest of the steps remained. Click to see full recipe of my 'Mei Cai Kou Rou' (梅菜扣肉).

I loved the yam slices as it absorbed most flavour from the sauce when steamed. Need not to season the yam, the rich flavoured sauce made the yam super tasty!

With full flavouring from the sauce, the yam has turned purplish colour into dark brown. Don't mistaken it as luncheon meat, it was genuinely the root vegetable, yam! Texture of the yam was soft, too, after 1 hour steaming.

I have also done a step different from my previous pork belly dish where I have thicken the sauce before pouring on the final pork belly dish. This is optional, to have the sauce thicken with cornstarch slurry or not.

Without thickening the sauce, the overall dish will look more moist, just as my the other cooking previously. But I did the thickening this time, as I thought thicker sauce would be helpful to 'tack' to the pork belly. Just a preference.

The thickened sauce was even darker in colour, almost like the dipping sauce. Yes, it was also treated as dipping sauce, the meat tasted even more terrific!

Pork Belly with Preserved Vegetables (Mei Cai) Recipe (梅菜扣肉)

"Homemade 'Mei Cai Kou Rou' (梅菜扣肉) can be as good as restaurant standard"

Hey, it may not be as good as restaurant chef, but it is for sure very delicious for a homemade version (chuckling)!

I cooked it at home as outside is selling expensive for this pork dish. I could understand why as its preparation and cooking methods are kinda complex.

I took me for than 2 hours to get this dish done, from steeping of preserved vegetables (梅菜) to steaming the pork belly. Well, it was because each detail has to be executed in orderly manner for great result. However, it may look deceptively complicated, but after the frying step, it should be alright, as it left only the steaming, and then, the presentation part that matters.

It takes longer preparation time, but it's not a dream to have it well executed and delicious!

If you wish to impress your loved one, cook this dish. You'll surely be awarded with the credits you've gained from this highly presentable pork dish.

Serves 4 – 5
Ingredients
600 gram of 3-layer pork belly with skin intact, clean its skin by scrapping it.

Seasoning for pork:
1 - 2 tablespoons of dark soy sauce
2 - 3 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of Chinese rice wine (米酒)
½ tablespoon of fermented broad bean paste (豆瓣酱)
½ small cube of fermented red bean curd (红腐乳/ 南乳)
1 thin slices of ginger, about thumb size
5 cloves of garlic with skin intact, coarsely mashed
2 star anise (八角)

150 grams of preserved (dried) vegetables (梅菜干)
1 teaspoon of light soy sauce
2 tablespoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of Chinese rice wine

1 cup pf cooking oil (for frying)

Method:
1) Steep preserved vegetables in warm water for at least 3 hours in order to extract excessive salt from it. Rinse the vegetables, and change water after every 2 hour of steeping. Therafter, drain the vegetables a little by squeezing it, and then, chop into little pieces (bite size). Reserve for later.

2) Marinate whole 3-layer pork belly with all seasonings, for at least 1 hour.

3) Remove pork from the seasoning mixture, and pat it dry a little using kitchen towel (to avoid oil splashing when frying it). Do not discard the seasoning mixture. Set aside.

4) Heat wok with oil over medium heat. Fry or sauté pork till slightly browned, or about 80% done. Remove from wok to drain and cool on chopping board.

5) Coming back to the preserved vegetables while waiting for pork belly to cool. Season preserved vegetable with sugar, soy sauce and rice wine. Heat up a clean wok, pan fry vegetables for about 2 minutes, or until fragrant. Remove from work and set it aside for later.

6) When pork belly is cool, slice it into 1cm thickness, lengthwise. Lay pork slices neatly after each piece on a medium-sized porcelain wide bowl (or deep plate), with pork skin facing downwards.

7) Return the seasoning mixture and pour over pork slices. Top preserved vegetables evenly on the pork slices.

8) Heat wok with plenty of water over medium fire, place in metal steam rack. Steam pork dish for 45 minutes.

9) When it is done and meat is soften, heat off and remove bowl from the wok. Use a large deep serving plate to cover the bowl filled with pork dish. Use hands (with glove or table cloth) to lift up and 'lock the pork dish between' both plate and bowl, hold tightly and tilt them to drain the sauce in a separate bowl. Then, over-turn the whole bowl, and now large serving plate should be at the bottom, while bowl is on top of the plate. Remove bowl, the pork belly should be nicely presented with the preserved vegetables underneath.

10) Return the sauce and pour over the pork dish to serve. If desire, heat wok to slightly thicken the sauce with 1 teaspoon of corn starch slurry, before pouring over pork belly dish. Serve warm.

Just a note: I did not thicken the sauce for this dish.

Tips: Remove star anise, ginger slice and garlic cloves when serve for better presentation, as desired.
* When choose preserved dried vegetables (梅菜), get those without additional salt on top of the vegetables. It should be just the dried vegetables alone, without trace of visible salt on it.
* To check if the steeping is sufficient, taste and chew a little to determine if it is still too salty in the palate. The leaf of the vegetables should be steeped until almost bland, while it's OK if the root taste a little saltish. Be reminded that the root is always more salty than the leaf part.
*Add yam slices into this pork belly dish. I love it! Check it out in my next post.

Chinese ABC Soup with Fresh Chinese Yam Root (Huai Shan) and Dried Anchovies

"Super flavoursome and healthy vegetable soup which you have to cook it for your family. Trust me, it's much likeable by everyone!"

There is't special for cooking Chinese ABC vegetables soup (assorted vegetable soup) with pork ribs. But I just learnt a different way to cook it more delightful!

Maybe not to you, but it was new to me.
My friend cooked the ABC vegetables soup with dried anchovies (dried ikan bilis 江鱼仔)!
I thought the taste of dried achovies would not complement the vegetables in soup, but it does, indeed.

I added fresh Chinese Yam Root/ Huai Shan (淮山) as one of the vegetable ingredients in the soup. We liked to eat fresh Chinese Yam, eating it for its valuable nutrition contents, too (it's good for the man.. chuckling)!

Taste of the soup cooked with dried anchovies was terrific! Soup was clear, and yet, thicker & richer flavour. I liked the natural sweetness in the soup yielded not just from the vegetables, but also the achovies. The overall taste of the soup was so attractive, and lovable by my family.

The vegetables were also cut into bite size. To have its cooking time shortened, and also appear in a 'cuter' way. It was indeed more appealing with the tiny cubes in the soup. My girl loves it!

Since this is cooked for the family, get better quality kind of dried anchovies. Best if those types with its internal organ cleaned, and huge ones.

Serve 3 - 4
Ingredients
2 large potatoes, cut into bite-sized cubes
2 carrots, cut into bite-sized cubes
1 fresh Chinese Yam (淮山), peeled and cut into bite size crosswise
1 ear of fresh corn, cob breaks into quarters crosswise
250 grams of pork ribs, blanched
Handful of premium dried anchovies (dried ikan bilis), about 80 grams.
Slab of salt to taste
1 pot of water, 50% filled (about 1500ml)

Method
Heat pot of water with high fire. When boiled, add in blanched pork rib, dried anchovies, and all vegetables. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 45 min - 1 hour. Taste salt to taste, 5 minutes before heat off. Serve hot.

A bowl of assorted vegetables & Chinese yam soup with counts about 120kcal.

Simple method to cook healthy soup, so you can have it regularly!

Dessert Paradise in Hong Kong (2)

With two fabulous experiences we had, as mentioned in previous post, we set off for more just to satisfy our taste bud with the following stores:

3) Yee Shun Milk Company (义顺牛奶公司) If you wish to have dairy product and milky dessert, don't miss out the Double-steamed Milk Pudding (双皮奶) and Steamed Egg Pudding (炖蛋). The well-known dairy shop, Yee Shun Milk Company (义顺牛奶公司) sells terrific milk dessert.

Double-steamed Milk Pudding is served piping hot, or chilled. I prefer the warm one as it yields smoother and softer texture in palate. It has also stronger milky taste than the chilled pudding. Moreover, hot milk pudding usually served with a layer of 'milk skin' which created from the "double-steaming" effect (see above).

Season diners and milk pudding lovers will make sure that they are served with the extra layer sits atop its soft and smooth milk pudding. Smile.

Steamed egg pudding was fragrant, smooth and runny that melts almost instantly in the mouth. I loved its strong egg scent in the palate.

I heard that frequent consumption of these two desserts will improve skin condition and create radiant facial complexion.

There are two (or more?) branches in Hong Kong. We went to the branch at Jordon @ 63 Pilkem Street, Jordan (佐敦庇利金街63号). Just along the main road which can be seen easily.

4) Moon Kee Dessert (满记甜品)Moon Kee (满记) has rival challange to Hui Lau Shan (许留山) offerings some similar food products, but we came here for hot dessert soup instead.

We went Lantau Island for a visit to the Big Buddha statue. And, spotted this small dessert shop was lively by an influx of diners, and it was still when we returned and passed by the shop. Hence, we decided to give it a try with a hot dessert soup to warm our body in this cool place, to complete our visit here at the Big Buddha.

Since we just had vegetarian lunch at the temple, hubby and I shared a hot red bean soup with glutinous rice balls served in nice funny squarish bowl accompanied by matching spoon, all in bright yellow colour. Yes, the use of its bright colour appears on dark wooden coloured tables set off nicely on the overall appearance of the shop, at one glance.

Coming back to the dessert, this should be one of the best red bean soup I have ever tasted. It was served Thick red bean soup with plentiful red beans in it, the taste was so intense and flavoursome. Not too sweet, and it was so fragrant in the palate.

We loved the glutinous rice balls. The taste of the balls was slightly different from any other stores as it has a hint of salty taste in these sweet balls stuffed with peanut paste. Very special, very delightful, and it was terrific!

One bowl of it was never enough, but we were really over-filling with food for that whole day there.

We went to Moon Kee at Ngong Ping Cultural themed village, Lantau Island (大屿山仰平市集). I loved its new wooden interior decor, feeling cosy and comfortable when dined in.

Dessert Paradise in Hong Kong

"It's Not Just Food, it's Dessert Paradise!"

How can you ever missed the dessert in Hong Kong?? From hot steamy sweet potatoes soup to chilled icy sweet dessert, you should not miss any of those as I have to push you to having dessert in Hong Kong! Smile.

We tried a few well-known dessert shops in various locations.

1) First one, the famous chain stores named Hui Lau Shan Healthy Dessert (许留山).

A dessert store/ shop within your sight almost everywhere in Hong Kong, even branches in the New Territories (新界区)! We went to Hui Lau Shan in Causeway Bay (銅鑼灣)@ 24-30 Percival Street, Po Hon Building, the 26th G/F (波斯富街24-30號寶漢大廈地下26號舖).

I ordered one of their recommended dessert, 芒之恋, simply means Love of Mangoes.. It came in 3 different types of petit-sized mango dessert. 1 serving of mango glutinous rice ball decorated with fresh mangoes; 1 serving of tiny rice balls in sweet creamy mango juice, and 1 serving of mango sorbet. I loved the handmade mango glutinous rice ball. Its skin was soft and springy, and the mango stuffing was not too sweet. My hubby loved the tiny balls, to be taken together with the mango gravy. This dessert dish was nicely executed, and so appealing.

Besides the famous "Mango Trisome", we had this chunk-sized glutinous rice balls topped with mashed peanut. They called it 糖不甩 (read it in Cantonese as Tong But Luck), simply means undetachable sugar, just like the mashed peanut will never be detached from the sticky rice balls.

Look at their beautiful menu illustrated with colourful pictures, you will surely find something you like from here!

2) Sweet Dynasty (糖朝)Moving forward, here's come another mango dessert from another place. It is a restaurant, selling not just dessert, but mains, snacks, and even supper. This is Sweet Dynasty (糖朝)!

This is a MUST-TRY dessert in Hong Kong, the mango and pamelo dessert (杨枝甘露). We loved the one here in Sweet Dynasty. Creamy, and flavoursome chilled dessert was imaginatively presented before us. The fresh mango paste and pamelo pulps in the creamy soup yielded interesting mouthfeel.

They were having a promotion when we were there. Table with orders more than HK$50 will be given a complimentary delightful sweet corn pudding.

Since we were there in the early evening, was feeling a little empty in the stomach, yet, not our dinner time, we order a tofu dish, just to fill us up a little. Tasty gravy cooked with egg white, scallops and prawns topped over steamed egg tofu, this special dish was a smart choice by my hubby.
This 2-storey restaurant is easy to locate with its address here @ Ground Floor, 100 Canton Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon. Business opens till 1am. Check out detailed location here: My Note Book on the Web.

Hong Kong-Style Cafe Food

"Tsui Wah Restaurant (翠華餐廳) serves Best Hong Kong-style Local Food"

Tsui Wah Restaurant is the most famous local style cafe in Hong Kong. It's the Hong Kong Cha Chan Ting (茶餐厅). Tsui Wah has many branches located island wide. We visited the one at Wellington Street, Central, by our own. And, the branch at CWB with our HK friend.

We were so impressed with this simple-yet-delicious dish, the soft-boned pork meat noodles! Taste of the meat was superb and it was flavoursome. Meat texture was almost creamy as it was so tender where you can even chew the bone. Yes, soft-bone (chuckling)!

Of course, you will, too, impressive with their extensive menu. From HK local delicacies, to world-wide famous food, such as, Singaporean Hainan chicken rice, Italian pasta dishes, and Western meals. And, having a meal here does not need a fortune on your wallet, not to mention that it is located right at the Central district!

I had their famous handmade fish balls with flat rice noodles. Noodles was soft and smooth, and fish balls were fresh, but not so springy though. I liked its chunky-sized ball!

Don't miss this soft-boned pork bun, too! It was indeed too nice a bun with flavoursome juicy pork meat in it. Can you imagine the warm bun with slightly crisped outer layer, but cottony soft inside.

One serving comes with 2 halves of chunky burger. So, you can share it with another person if you are just eating it as tea time/ snack, like us! Yummy...

Of course, iced coffee with tea mixture (冻鸳鸯) has to be one of our drink orders. My hubby loves it!

As for me, hot drink is always my first choice, especially in cold weather, even if it reaches 25°C temperature. I love the fragrant silken milk tea. Thick and smooth consistency which soothes my throat and warms my body, just a cup of it!


Tsui Wah Restaurant. Try this at G/F 15-19 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong by Central MTR Station, exit C or D2. For any other branches, check it out here: Tsui Wah Branches

Try to avoid lunch and tea hours, if you are not prepared to share table with strangers.

Needed much narration, you'll what to order here. As for us, we loved these few items!

Stir-fried Chinese Spinach with Goji Berries (清炒枸杞子苋菜)

"Healthy Stir-fried Chinese Spinach aka Yin Choi (Leaf Amaranth) with Goji Berries (Wolfberries). Don't forget it's nutritional values!"

If Chinese Spinach does not sound familiar to you. Try read it in Cantonese - Yin Choy, or in Mandarin as Xiàn Cài (苋菜). It's Amaranth leaves.

This is a well-known 'baby vegetable'. When baby starts taking solid or semi-solid meal, Chinese Spinach has always been the first vegetable choice to be cooked in porridge. Mince or blend the vegetables, before adding into baby's porridge cooking.

Healthy Vegetables and its values:
It has high nutritional values, which contains Vitamin A, B2, B6, C, K, minerals such as folate, calcium, iron, potassium, zinc, manganese and etc.

For growth of teeth and bones, prevention of muscle cramps, increase red blood cells and improve capacity of oxygen.

So, for adult, we eat Chinese Spinach very often, too. However, it's not suitable to be taken by people who suffers from gout and rheumatism due to its high content of organic acid.

Chinese Spinach segregated into different kinds. The most common ones should be completely green Spinach and the one bearing some purplish or redish colour marks in the middle of the leaf.

Not only in Asia, many Europe countries use this vegetable (with purple colour in the middle of the leaf type) to make salad dish. We, Asian, prefer to have it in soup or stir-fried with minced garlic.

I cooked Chinese Spinach with Wolfberries, in addition to minced garlic. My girl loves the natrual sweetness of wolfberry. By adding extra wolfberries into the dish, it makes the overall bitings more interesting and better mouthfeel in the palate. It also presented more appealing with the additional colour on top of the greens.

Not only for the sweetness of Wolfberry that makes the dish even tastier. Wolfberry has valuable nutrients of traceable dietary minerals, vitamins and amino acids, which should not be overlooked. Chinese says it is important to consume for maintaining good vision. Smile.

It takes less than 20 minute to prepare. It's so simple to cook:

Serve 3 - 4
Ingredients
About 500 gram of Chinese Spinach (苋菜)
1 spoonful of wolfberries
4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced or minced
Sprinkle of salt
1 tablespoon of cooking oil

Method
1) Cut off root edge of Chinese Spinach. Wash and remove the outer layer of fiber on stems. Cut vegetables, lengthwise.

2) Heat oil in wok over high heat. Place garlic, stir-fry for 30 seconds, or until fragrant and lightly browned.

3) Quickly add in vegetables, sprinkle some water, and stir fry for 1 min.

4) Add wolfberries, and stir-fry for another minute. Sprinkle salt, and continue to fry for 20 seconds before heat off. Serve warm.

Since Chinese Spinach claimed to promote blood circulation, it helps in weight watching, too. The calorie-count in this Chinese Spinach dish with a decent portion yields less than 50kcal. Yes, it's very low-fat!

Yes, one more thing. I read somewhere that this vegetable should not be reheat for consume, especially to young children. Remember ya..

Tips: Use high heat to fry vegetable quickly to avoid diminishing of nutrients. Do not over-cook it to retain bright greenish colour.
*Sometimes, I choose to remove the fiber on the outer layer of the vegetable stems as the fiber makes it harder to bite. It's optional!