Simple HoneyMato Pork Chop

"Special 'HoneyMato' pork chop, simple but superlicious!"

This is a super simple and delicious pork chop dish. You may make this pork chop for rice meal dinner, and even as filling of burger. I do not recommend this pork chop as western dish where you eat only the chop without rice as the sauce topping might be too sweet to taste without any rice to go along. This pork chop with honeyed tomato sauce complements steamed white rice very well.

Simple to make, delicious to taste:

Serves 4 - 5
Ingredients
5 slices of loin pork chop, thinly sliced (no more than 1cm thick)

Seasoning:
1 tablespoon of light soy sauce
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
Sprinkle of sesame oil
Sprinkle of ground white pepper

Coating for pork chop:
2 eggs, briefly beaten
10 pieces of plain/ butter cream crackers (cream biscuits), mashed

1 large cup of cooking oil (for frying)

Topping Sauce:
3 tablespoons of honey
6 tablespoons of tomato sauce/ ketchup
* Mix them together in a small bowl

2 cloves of garlic, minced




Method
1) Season pork chops with the listed seasoning. Combine well and marinate for at least 30 min. You may keep it refrigerated while marinating.

2) Break and beat eggs briefly. Mix well with seasoned pork chops and set aside.

3) Mash and coat mashed crackers with pork chops.

4) Heat wok with oil over medium fire, fry pork chops till crisped and golden browned. Drain on kitchen towel, and place on large serving dish. Reserve for later.

5) Remove excessive oil in wok and left only a little (about 1 teaspoon) will do. Heat oil with low fire, and add in garlic and stir fry till fragrant and lightly brown. Add honey mixture and stir briefly while heating the sauce mixture. When sauce appears light bubbly, heat off. Pour sauce over pork chops on the serving dish. Serve warm.

Sauce topping should not be too much as it might taste too sweet and over-whelmed.

A slice of honeymato pork chop counts about 260kcal.

Tips: Add 1 tablespoon of water into honey and ketchup sauce mixture, if find it too thick.
* For even softer meat texture, sprinkle some meat tenderizer onto the pork chops before frying, if desired.

Single Yolk White Lotus Paste Moon Cake

"Homebaked traditional moon cakes ~ the most special gift for your family this year.. And celebrate a heart-warming Mid-Autumn Festival this year!"

Traditional (baked) moon cake has to have more effort to make, as compared to snow skin moon cake. As mentioned, you need to bake it! Extended hour will also be needed to prepare the moon cake dough. Some of the ingredients used in baked moon cake may even sound alien to you.. But, you won't know how heart warming it could be, if you do not try making one for your loved one with your own hands. Well, I used ready lotus paste and red bean paste for my moon cakes (2 flavours). And it made the making process much easier this way.

So, start making moon cakes now! I made single yolk white lotus paste moon cakes and red bean paste moon cakes the other day! What I wish to share here is the single yolk white lotus paste moon cake...

Please see:
Yields 10 - 12 large moon cakes
Ingredients
280 gram of Golden syrup (糖胶)
100 ml peanut oil
½ tablespoon of alkaline water (碱水)
380 - 400 gram of multi-purpose flour/ top flour or Hong Kong flour

1 kg of white lotus paste
10 - 12 salted duck egg yolk, brushed yolks with sesame oil and baked at 150°C for 10 min
100 grams of melon seed, toasted at 150°C for 5 - 6 min

1 egg yolk mixed with a little egg white (for brushing purpose)

Utensil:
large wooden/ plastic moon cake mould (about 3" - 3.5" in diameter), with design of your preference

Method

1) Weigh 280 gram of Golden syrup (with weighing scale). Then, mix syrup, peanut oil and alkaline water together in a large mixing bowl and beat with electrical mixer at medium speed for 2 - 4 minutes, or until shinny and smooth consistency. Slowly add in flour and beat at low speed till just well combined. Texture of dough should be moist, soft, greasy and chewy-like. Let dough rest for at least 5 hours, or longer. Need not to refrigerate the resting dough, if it is to be rested not longer than 2 days. You may simply cover dough with a piece of dry cloth, and leave it at room temperature up to 2 days, before use. (My dough was rested a night long.. about 12 hours.)


2) Cut the rested dough into parts of 40 - 60 gram each, for big-sized moon cakes (depends on how big your mould is). You may form each part into ball, for easy making into moon cakes.


3) Same to the lotus paste. Mix melon seeds into lotus paste. Then, form lotus paste into large lumps of about the size of tennis ball (try one out to see if the amount is correctly used).


4) Roll out each dough ball (flatten it using finger tips will do) into thin sheet with the size of the sheet not too much larger than your palm size.


5) Place the thin sheet on your clean and lightly floured palm, and place one lump of lotus paste ball on top of the sheet. Lightly press and spread it out on the sheet. Place and wrap 1 yolk at the centre of the lotus paste.

If without adding yolk, simply wrap a lump of lotus paste and seal with the dough skin.


6) Wrap and seal the lotus paste and yolk in the dough. Lightly flour the moon cake dough after sealed and shaped circularly.


7) Clean moon cake mould and dry it completely beforehand. Then, lightly flour the mould before placing the moon cake dough into it.


8) Place moon cake dough in and press firmly to get a clear indention of design on the surface of mooncake. The dough should be completely occupied the space of the mould without any excess around the border.


9) Now, be ready to knock out the moon cake dough. Place a thick book or large wooden chopping board on a solid table top. Overturn the mould and knock out moon cake dough with strength.

To knock out the cake easily: You may first knock the top of the wooden mould against the thick book or chopping board, followed by the sides, one hit each of left and right side, before overturn the mould to remove moon cake from it. I personally think it is easier to use the plastic mould. Less flour should be dusted on it.


10) Place moon cakes on a greased baking tray. Bake the moon cakes on the top rack at 190°C, for about 10 minutes, or until light brown. Remove from oven, brush (lightly) the surface of lightly browned moon cakes with egg yolk. Place moon cakes back to the oven and bake with same temperature for another 6 - 10 minutes, or until moon cakes are golden brown.


Remove moon cakes from oven to cool before serve, or store in a nice packaging as festive gift to you family and friends! This traditional baked moon cake can be stored up to 2 weeks.

One large lotus paste with single yolk moon cake counts about 800kcal! Eat moderately, please, especially with yolks in it, even if you are eating it just once a year.

Tips: If you prefer darker moon cake skin colour in appearance, you don't bake it longer for the darker tone effect as it won't help. What you do is to place the completed moon cakes dough (already wrapped with lotus paste in it) on the table to 'breath' for 2 - 3 hours, before placing into the mould to shape, and bake. After breathing the dough, the baked moon cakes will be presented in darker skin colour.
* May reduce oven temperature to 180°C, if dough rested for more than 12 hours.
* How to measure how much lotus paste to use for one moon cake: gauge and take 1 lump of lotus paste, and place inside the mould. The lump of lotus paste should not occupied the whole mould but leaving a small gap around the mould for moon cake skin. If add egg yolk, reduce the weight of lotus paste with the weight of egg yolk added. For examples: 1 mooncake requires 200 grams of lotus paste. If add 1 egg yolk weights 20 grams, 200 grams minus off 20 grams = 180 grams of lotus paste to be used for 1 single yolk lotus paste moon cake. It's also ok, if you realise insufficient lotus paste used only when you already pressed it into the mould, just open up the dough skin to stuff in more lotus paste (need not to remove whole dough from mould), and seal it back again will do. Even if it's not nicely shaped, remove and reshape it, too!
* Weight of golden syrup should be measured in term of gram (g), NOT mililitres (ml).
* Alkaline water is available in major baking supplies stores or supermarkets (baking section). It has to be added for smoother skin texture.
* Type of flour can be low-protein flour, multi-purpose flour, top flour or Hong Kong flour. Sift or not sieved, both are OK.
* Add 380 gram of flour first, if texture appears too dry (like bread crumb texture), add 20 gram more, to make up to 400 grams and use bare hand to knead and form into dough.
* Do not over-brush the egg solution on top of the moon cake as it might affect the design on its surface.

Pandan Flavoured Lotus Paste Mini Snowskin Mooncake (香兰莲蓉迷你冰皮月饼)

"Simple and delicious homemade Snow Skin Moon Cake (Non-baked) warms the hearts of your loved ones"

Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节) is approaching. Lunar calendar 15th August,  which is English calendar, 3rd Oct 09.

Mooncakes from all brands, hotels and bakeries, are selling hot and fast in the market. I personally think moon cake is overly priced, just for the season, but no choice. Mooncake is the main festive food we have to have for this festive celebration, for self consumption as well as for gift to family and friends.

I am not a big fan of mooncake, but of course, I MUST have mooncake every year since it can only be eaten once a year (smile). However, I thought unless you are going for really famous one or unique flavour which can't find anywhere, make your own mooncakes! From basic lotus paste or red bean flavour to green tea flavour, you can make it your own at home!

Snow skin is very easy to make. Called it snow skin, I guess it's because this non-baked mooncake has smooth and light layer of skin resembling snow. And it is also to serve chilled. It's fast and easy to make.. but many details have to be noticed (See my below listed tips). To warm the heart of your loved ones this year, make your very own mooncake to impress them!

Yields 20 mini cakes
Ingrediens
For snow skin dough:

150 grams of FRIED glutinous rice flour - 糕粉/ 熟糕粉/ 加工糕粉/ 熟糯米粉 (*Prepare extra 50g for coating and flouring purposes later, so total of 200 gram)
100 grams of icing sugar, sifted
100 grams of snow powder
80 grams of shortening fat (I used Crisco brand)

150ml of water
3 pandan leaves, tie into a knot
1 teaspoon of pandan paste

For filling:
1 kg of lotus paste, pandan flavour (*Get ready paste from the supermarket/ baking supplies shop)
100 grams of melon seeds, toasted at 160°C for 10 minutes

Method
1) Boil water with pandan leaves for 10 minutes. Heat off and leave to cool. Add in pandan paste and stir till disolved. Leave in refrigerator to chill before use.

2) Add toasted melon seeds with lotus paste and form into each small ball (about 60 - 70 gram each lotus paste ball).

3) Place fried glutinous rice flour, icing sugar, snow powder and shortening far into a large mixing bowl. Mix well with spatula, or electrical mixer at low speed, till mixture turns into crumb-like texture.

4) Add cold pandan water into crumb-like flour mixture. Mix well with spatula, or mixer at low speed (about 1 - 2 min), to form soft dough. Remove soft dough from mixing bowl and place it on a floured (with fried glutinous rice flour) table top and knead for few seconds to form into a dough ball. Rest dough for 10 minutes.

5) Cut dough ball into halves and roll it out. Cut the rolls into required size (about 10g each) and flatten each small dough into thin layer.

6) Fill in lotus paste, seal and shape the cake into ball. Lightly pat just a little fried glutinous rice flour all over the cake ball. Also flour the mooncake mould before placing cake ball into the mould and press firmly.

7) Over turn the mould to knock the cake out from mould. Repeat steps till all ingredients used. Ready to serve chilled.

Soft, chewy and fragrant snow skin mooncake. I liked it not too sweet. It can be served at room temperature or chilled. 1 mini snowskin mooncake counts about 200kcal.

Snow skin moon cake can be stored in refrigerator, and it may last up to 2 weeks. However, snow skin might be harden if store for too long. To reduce/ prevent harden skin, place mooncake in a box and wrap the box with newspaper.

For traditional baked mooncake, check it out now..

Tips: Mix with snow powder is to reduce sweetness of the mooncake skin. If do not wish to add snow powder, use 200 grams of icing sugar instead. Same thing, if wish to reduce sweetness further, use 200 gram of snow powder and completely omit icing sugar.
* Shortening fat is vegetable fat with less grease. Other brands besides Crisco, can be found in major supermarket stores and baking supplies shops.
* Flour used for skin making as well as coating and flouring table, all must be the fried glutinous rice flouw and not the normal glutinous or plain flour. Only the fried one is edible without baked/ cooked. Even though it is called fried rice flour, but it is still look pretty much ike normal rice flour in white colour (NOT brown colour nor fried crisped texture). Ready fried glutinous flour can be found at major supermarkets.
* Rest the soft dough to turn it into moist and pliable textured snow skin. If rest soft dough longer than 10 minutes, cover dough with dry cloth or cling wrap when resting it.
* Snow skin can make into different flavour and colour by changing the flavour/ essence, according to different filling used.
* If you wish to add salted egg yolk, reduce amount of lotus paste to half. Salted egg yolk and lotus paste can be found at major supermarkets.

"Du Zhong" Kidney Supplement Tonic Soup with Pig Tail（杜仲猪尾补腰汤)

"Chinese tonic soup that relieves your backache problems. "

Du Zhong, you pronounce this in Chinese, and in Chinese word, it's written as 杜仲. This Chinese herb is categorized as a yang supplement that helps in low backaching problem, especially for men. It is also well-known in tonifying the kidney function, strengthening muscle and bones, nourishing liver blood, and many more effects. Some say it is a men's tonic soup (cheeky smiles). However, don't get it wrong that only men could drink this soup, it is good for both men and women to drink. Even older children are fine to drink it in moderate.

Taste of this soup is pleasant. Do not be mistaken that good tonic soup must taste bitter and awful. This tonic soup yields subtle taste. Neither too sweet nor bitter, it has this pleasant Chinese herbal flavour, even my girl likes it.

I cooked this with pig tail which complements the soup pretty well. However, you may try to get those skinned tails as the soup might be oily if cooked with skin. Alternatively, use lean pork meat or prime ribs.

Serves 4
Ingredients
10g - 15g each of the following Chinese herbs:
Du zhong aka Cortex Eucommiae (杜仲)
Ba Ji Tian aka Morinda Root or Radix Morindae Officinalis (巴戟天)
Chinese Yam Root/ Huai Shan aka Radix Dioscoreae Oppositae (淮山）
Wu Dou aka Glycine soja Sieb. et Zucc. (乌豆)
Gou Qi Zi orWolfberry aka Fructus Lycii (枸杞子)

300 grams of pig tails, preferably skinned, chopped and blanched
1 teaspoon of salt

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

Method:
Add blanched 300grams of pig tails or meaty pork ribs and Chinese herbs into a pot of boiling water. Simmer for 2 hours or longer, with low heat. Add salt to taste when about to heat off, and stir well. Serve hot.

You may even choose to boil with slow cooker, like I did. I place all ingredients and normal tap water in the croak pot, and adjust heat button to low (or Auto shift). I had it boiled from morning about 8am till right before serving it in our dinner at about 7.30pm.

Cereal Prawns (麦片虾)

"Cooking is about versatility. Save your bucks, cook this scrumptious cereal prawn dish with 3-in-1 cereal sachets which already are available in your kitchen or drinks pantry!"

Learn how to cook cereal prawns is definitely a plus point to save your bucks as having cereal prawns at the restaurants could cost you at least S$30 for the dish. However, if you cook this at home, it will simply shack off a $10 note from your wallet for the ingredients. Moreover, it's easy to cook, and delicious to eat!

There are many ways to cook cereal prawns. With or without eggs, with or without creamer, with premix or original plain cereal.. I used what I've gotten in my kitchen cabinet, the usual cereal drink comes in 3-in-1 sachets which I bought to make drink for the family in the mornings. Yeah, unless what you have is the original cereal in tin packaging, just mix your own non-dairy creamer and sugar moderately. Otherwise, use those you already have in your drinks pantry! Yes, I have 3-in-1 sachets (I bought NesVita 3in1 Low Fat cereal drink by Nestlé brand).

I cooked this a few times, and tried to cook with and without egg. This recipe I am sharing now is the one without eggs. Hence, it looks less greasy as less butter was used.

You might think it will be slightly less fragrant since those two main 'fragrance contributors', butter and eggs, were lessen or absent in the dish. However, I preferred this version as like what I said, it was much less oily! I loved this eggless Cereal Prawn, and still found it very fragrant with a hint of curry leave scent.

Serves 5 - 6
Ingredients
500 - 600 grams of medium prawns, trimmed and deveined
Handful of curry leaves (from about 2 stems)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 bird eye chilli aka chilli padi, julienned
1 knob of butter (about 40 - 50 gram)

3 sachets of 3-in-1 Low-fat Cereal
Sprinkles of salt
Generous dashing of white ground pepper

Seasoning of prawns:
Sprinkle a mixture of sesame oil, pepper and light soy sauce

2 cups of cooking oil (for deep-frying)

Alternative: If you are NOT using 3in1 sachet, but having the original plain cereal, add the below:
6 tablespoons of cereal (Nestum)
4 teaspoons of non-dairy creamer (Nestlé)
3 teaspoons of sugar
* Mix all together, with salt and pepper.

Method:
1) Clean prawns with shell intact, trim legs. Use scissors to cut a slit at the back of prawns to devein. Pat dry the prawns with kitchen towel. Season prawns and leave aside for 10 minutes. You may leave it in the refrigerator.

2) Heat wok with oil over high heat. Add some salt into the oil. Make sure oil is heated till really hot before deep frying prawns for 1 minute or until pinked and crisped (You may fry prawns in deep fryer, as desired). Drain on kitchen towel and set aside.

3) In a clean small bowl, pour out and place the sachets of cereal all into it. Mix in salt and pepper. Set aside.

4) Remove exessive oil from the wok and heat up with butter over medium-low heat. Brown garlic, and add in chilli padi and curry leaves, stir fry till fragrant (beware of pungent scent of chilli padi). When done, heat off and immediately add in cereal mixture and crisped prawns. Stir vigorously to combine well. Serve hot.

A portion of fried cereal prawns counts about 500 - 600kcal! Yes, without the egg even.. So, you have to really try to limit your intake with this sinful savoury, if you are watching out your weight or having relatively high cholesterol level in your body.

Tips: If you are not confident to well mix the cereal and prawns quick enough upon heat off, you may choose to reduce heat to very low fire and do the mixing, just before heat off.
* Deep fry the prawns till really crisped in extremely high flame, so that you may chomp the whole prawn with its crispy shell altogether. **Beware of splashing oil when frying.
* Lightly coat the prawns with corn flour before deep frying for crispiness, if you intend to eat also the shell, optional. Otherwise, just fry prawns till cooked.

Simply Healthy Green & Red Apples Salad in Yogurt Dressing

"Delicious Apples meal make me healthy!"

Actually I like green apple. However, my little one does not as it tastes a little sourish, to her. How to make her eat green apple? I did it this way, so that my purchase of bucket-full of green apples will not go to waste when unable to finish within short period, all by my own!

With this way of making, my girl devoured this apple salad, even the green ones.. And it's healthy as I used yogurt cream. Delicious and healthy as snacks or before/ after-meal fruit dessert! I eat this as my lunch replacement, sometimes.

Serves 3 - 4
Ingredients
2 green apples, chilled
1 red apple, chilled
1 teaspoon of dark raisins
2 - 3 tablespoons of Low-fat plain yogurt (I used Marigold's brand)
1 tablespoons of orange juice
1 teaspoon of honey

Method:
1) Peel and cut the apples into bite-sizes. Rinse with salted water.

2) Add orange juice (or 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to further delay apples from oxidation) and honey. Then, add yogurt and combine well.

3) Sprinkle raisin, and serve.

A large portion of this apple yogurt salad counts about 100kcal. Healthy and low fat!

Tips: If eat this after meal, make sure you have your fruits at least 30 minutes after meal.