Chocolate-dipped Strawberries

If you love Strawberries AND chocolate, you have to make these yourselves. It looks delicious, tastes amazing, and sOOO much fun to make. It's pretty easy....although it does require some tidious steps. It's basically a fruit fondue that you can do with grapes, apples, or bananas. It reminds me of school days, during school fairs where there will be stalls selling choc-dipped apples and marshmallows everywhere... So here's what you'll need:

Ingredients :
Baking chocolate bar ( I prefer going for the dark chocolate, slightly bitter sweet)
Fruits

Instructions:

1. You'll need to wash the fresh fruits thoroughly and then air dry them or pat dry with kitchen towels.
2. Bring a small pot of water to simmer on low-medium heat. Place a glass bowl over it, making sure it sits perfectly well on top of the pot, and the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water surface.
   
3. Once chocolate melts, you can start coating the fruits. (IMPORTANT: the fruit has to be absolutely dry when dipping into the chocolate sauce, as any moisture would turn chocolate grainy, and it would not give the fruits a shiny smooth coating)
4. Gently swirl fruit until excess chocolate is dripped off the fruit, then gently place it on a plate and cool it in the refrigerator for approx 30 minutes.
   
5. Best eaten within 24 hours.

Difficulty level: easy

Time : 1 hour

Oven-Baked Curry Puffs Recipe

Recently had cravings for some curry puffs.....and making these reminded me of the good ol' times on Samada Street, Melbourne with my dear friend Sam, how we used to make them together in our tiny little kitchen =) This recipe happens to be a cheat since i didnt make the puff pastry on my own (used the ready made ones from the frozen section at Coop, heh)....but you could probably easily make them your own if you want to. But to make the fillings here's what I used:

Ingredients:
Chicken (diced; omitted if vegetarian version preferred)
Oil for frying
half cup water
Peas
Potatoes (diced, pre-boiled)
Onions (finely diced)
Curry mixture (3 tbsp curry powder + 1 tsp tumeric powder + 1tsp chili powder + salt and pepper to taste + half tsp sugar)
Hard boiled eggs (diced, generously sized)

Instructions to make fillings:

1. Heat oil in a sauce pan. Add in onions and stir till brown then add in curry mix.
2. Stir fry curry mix until fragrant (about 2 minutes, on medium heat).
3. Add in meat, potatoes and peas. Stir in a little while then add water. Lower heat and let it simmer for about 15-20 minutes until mixture is mushy.
4. When folding in fillings into pastry, add in pieces of eggs to give it extra texture and taste.
5. Place puffs on baking paper, brush a little egg wash to give them colour. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 150 degrees (oh dont forget to preheat oven first )

Bon appetit!

Difficulty level : moderate

Time : 1.5- 2 hours

SoyBean Jello Pudding Recipe

This is a rather refreshing dessert, simple to make to. All you'll need is the following (make about 10 cups):

1 litre soy milk, unsweetened / less sugar
3/4 can of evaporated milk/ cream
1.5 tbsp gelatin powder dissolved in 3tbsp water (add to increase firmness of pudding)
3-5 tbsp sugar (depending on how sweet you like it)
Pandan leaves (tied into a knot)
one can of longan in syrup (a type of tropical fruit)

Instructions:

1. Add Soy Milk into a pot on low to medium heat, add in sugar and stir until dissolved. Throw in pandan leaf to give it fragrance.
   
2. Add evaporated milk and stir well. simmer for a few minutes then add in dissolved gelatin powder. Mix well and make sure there are no clumps.
3. optional: add 0,5dl longan syrup. Mix well and turn off heat and leave it to cool for about 5 minutes.
4. Pour mixture from pot, through a sieve, into a bowl to attain smooth silky liquid. Let cool for 5 minutes.
   
5. Pour even amount of mixture into pudding containers/cups/ moulds. Set them aside until cooled and then store in refrigerator for at least 5 hours before serving.
   
6. To serve: Check if pudding is set and firm enough to be served. Top pudding with few pieces of juicy longan fruit (pre-chilled in fridge).

Note: Pudding is best served chilled. Enjoy!

Prep time: 30 minutes

Difficulty level: Easy

Guacamole - Chunky

My first attempt to Guacamole made from scratch..not too bad, but I would have liked it less watery and less raw onion flavour (Tip next time: Use more avocado, ONLY use solid part of tomatoes to avoid wet guacamole, use half a red onion only).

This is great if you like avocados. It is really healthy too. Dipping sauce for your friday night nachos or spread on your tortillas, with some melted cheese and grilled chicken slices...yummers..

All you will need are:
3-4 ripe avocados
1 tomato, deseed
half a red onion, finely diced
bell pepper, finely chopped
jalapenos, finely chopped
coriander leaves, finely chopped
1 lime
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
*optional: 1 garlic clove, minced; few drops of tobasco sauce

Instruction:

1. Scoop avocado into a medium size bowl. Mash well.
2. Add all other ingredients and mix well. Squeeze lime juice and add olive oil, season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish if you like.
3. Tip: if you dont like it chunky, finely chop all ingredient or grind them in a food processor. To ensure that Guacamole does not turn brown too quickly, add a whole avocado seed into the mix.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: easy peasy

Home-made Pepperoni Pizza Recipe

Ingredients (2 portion):
A)To make Dough
300 g wheat flour
1.5 tsp yeast
1.5 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1.5 tbsp olive oil
180 ml warm water

B)To make pizza sauce
300g crushed tomatoes
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp olive oil
1 big onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
2 tbsp tomatoe puree
salt and pepper to taste

C)Toppings
grated cheese, Mozarella cheese
mushroom
pepperoni slices
onions, sliced
jalapeno (optional)
olives
bell pepper
olive oil
etc

Instructions:
A) To make Pizza dough

1. sieve flour into a large bowl, then add salt, sugar and yeast, mix well. Make a cavity in the center of bowl.. pour in olive oil and then warm water slowly.
2. mix well and knead until a smooth ball of dough. place in a clean empty medium sized bowl and cling wrap/cover with damp cloth.
3. set it aside for about 2 hours/ until dough has risen twice its original size
4. dust working surface with flour. split dough into two halves. Use rolling pin to roll out pizza dough into a thing, round pizza base.
   
5. Use a fork and gently pierce holes onto the surface of dough, then flip it over and place it on a baking tray.

B) To make Pizza sauce

1. heat a sauce pan and melt in butter and olive oil. Add in onions and stir until translucent.
   
2. add in crushed tomatoes and puree, stirr well.
   
3. add the others : oregano, basil, salt, pepper, garlic. Let simmer for about 10 minutes on low heat.
4. remove from sauce pan and let cool before using on pizza

C) Decorating your pizza

1. spread pizza sauce unto pizza dough. placed all ingredients (C) evenly, and drizzle a little olive oil all over. Then cover with cheese.
   
2. In a preheated oven at 210 degrees, bake for approximately 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Voila, ready to be served =)

prep time : 3 hours
Difficulty level : easy-moderate

Home Made Popiah/ Asian wraprolls

This is not really a recipe, as I would call it more of a "main masak-masak". You can basically use any sort of fillings to your own liking. As long as you have the Popiah Sheets (available at your nearest asian grocer, frozen section). Popiah is a popular snack that comes in all shapes and sizes (similar to spring rolls). But I like the home made version, where everything is fresh and it is so much fun making each roll as you eat, artsy. I remember I used to frequent Aunty Sherrys home made popiahs...delish...

I love to have mine with the following:
Popiah sheets
salad leaves
fried beansprouts
fried long beans, chopped
omelet with pickled radish, strips
shrimps
hoisin sauce
chilli sauce

Instructions:

1. lightly fry beansprouts with chopped garlic and soy sauce. Set aside
2. lightly fry green beans with a pinch of salt. set aside
   
3. fry omelet with pickled radish. slice thin long strips. set aside
4. stirfry shrimps with garlic and tamarind sauce, salt to taste. set aside
5. wash salad leaves cleanly and drain.
   
6. To prepare popiah: lay a sheet of popiah skin onto a plate, spread hoisin sauce and some chilli sauce thinly across sheet. first place salad leaves, then followed by the other ingredients, amount to your liking. The trick is to not overfill your popiah otherwise you will find it tricky when you wrap. Use your imagination when proceeding with the wrapping. I normally fold lengthwise first, followed by the two sides, then closing in with the final side. (it should look like the shape of regular springrolls). Voila!

* the popiah filling is really up to your own liking. You may opt for fried tofu cubes, cucumber, turnip, carrots, etc.


Prep time: 30 min
Difficulty : easy

Onde-Onde (nyonya desserts) Recipe

Had a craving for Onde-Ondes, so I googled for the recipe and delighted to know it's so easy to make.... I love this because of the delightful sweet surprise you get on the inside. When you sink your teeth into the fragrant chewy ball you'll get liquid sugar oozing out....yummers.. but it's not any ordinary sugar, you'll need Gula Melaka (Palm sugar) (found mainly in south east asia/ sometimes your favourite asian grocer).
Here's all you'll need:
palm sugar (chop and shaped into tiny balls of sugar balls, about the size of a peanut, personal preference)
250 g glutinous rice flour
50 g tapioca starch flour
80-100 ml pandan juice*
grated coconut ( I used coconut flakes)

(* pandan/ screwpine leaves : juice can be extracted by blending 8 leaves with 1 cup of water. It is important to make sure you chop the leaves finely before blending. Then over a sieve, further squeeze juice from leaves with hands into a glass and set aside. Then with the same blended/drained leaves, blend them again with another cup of water to get slightly less concentrated juice.Pandan juice will give the dish a natural green colouring and fragrance)

Instructions:

1. Slowly add Pandan juice to flour mixture. adjust amount of juice according to the consistency desired. You want to knead the dough to get a smooth, green coloured dough.
2. Tear the dough to make approximate 1 inch balls. Make a cavity in center of ball ,place 'palmsugar-ball' and cover up neatly and give it a good roll to get a smooth ball.
3. Place balls into a pot of boiling water. Boil until balls start to float on the surface, further boil for 2-3 minutes to get sugar to melt inside.
4. Remove ball from pot into a bowl of coconut flakes/grated, roll the ball to give it a thorough coating.
   
5. Serve when cooled. Do not keep overnight / in the fridge as they will get very hard to chew.

Cook time = ~ 10 minutes per ball
Difficulty = tricky

Cream of Mushroom Recipe

Nothing fancy to warm your belly. I like them chunky, with loads of mushrooms...For this recipe I simply used the regular white/ brown fresh mushrooms. You may opt to use other types to your fancy.

Ingredients:
5 cups of chopped mushrooms
half cup of diced onions
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
1 cup of cooking cream+ milk
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp all purpose flour (dissolved in water)
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsbp salt
grounded black pepper

Instructions:

1. Heat butter in a sauce pan. Add in onions and fry till translucent, then add in mushrooms. Let simmer for 2-5 minutes then remove and let cool. (you may choose to save some mushrooms for the chunky bits later)
   
2. Blend ingredients from (1) with chicken broth. Blend until smooth.
   
3. Pour mixture into a pot, add cream+ milk, flour, thyme, salt and pepper to taste. Stir well and let simmer for 15 minutes.
   
4. In the last 5 minutes, add in remaining chunky mushrooms (finely diced). Garnish and serve warm.

Prep time : 30 minutes
Difficulty level : easy

Pumpkin Steamed Rice-Cake Recipe

MY ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE...
I'll admit it's lots of work, but so worth it. Kaj and I both had 2nds and 3rds. This is a common absolutely mouthwatering, to-die-for snack in Asia (to me at least). It's one of my favourite childhood dish which I used to beg my mom make all the time. It's more commonly made with Yam (Taro) - 'yam ricecakes'. Since it's so hard to find yam here in Sweden, I've learnt that you can make equally yummy ricecakes with Pumpkins (slightly sweeter).


To make this heavenly dish, you'll need the following:

Rice-Cake
pumpkin ( I used butternut squash)
400 g rice flour
2 1/2 tbsp tapioca starch
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
2 cups warm water

Toppings
Pork Belly/ Chicken fillet, thin strips (premarinated with splash of soy sauce and sherry)
6-8 pieces Shitake Mushrooms, soaked in warm water till soft, finely diced
2 red chillies,finely chopped
2 stlk green onions, finely chopped
a handful pickled turnip/ salted veg, finely chopped
a handful dried shrimps, soaked and softened then finely chopped
soy sauce
sherry (optional)
fried onions/ shallots

Instructions:

1. Skin pumpkin and boil for 30 minutes/ until soft. thoroughly mash pumpkin flesh. Set aside to cool.
   
2. To make rice cake: mix flour + starch+ salt + sugar. Slowly add in warm water whilst stirring to avoid clumps. You want to get a silky milk-like texture (adjust water amount). Set aside for 15 - 30 minutes.
3. Add mash pumpkin into flour mixture.
   
4. Prepare steamer at high heat. Place flour mixture into a tray unto the steamer. Steam for at least an hour.
5. Meanwhile, prepare the toppings for garnishing later. Heat 4 tbsp of oil in a wok and fry pickled turnip for ~ 5 minutes. Add in chopped dried shrimps and fry til crispy and fragrant. Add green onions and stir fry for abit. Remove and set aside.
6. Add in meat into the wok (avoid adding oil if using pork belly). Fry until meat changes colour and slightly crispy (personal liking). Add in mushrooms and a few splash of soy sauce (to taste). Stir fry for a few minutes. Remove and set aside.
7. Now to plate : Remove rice cake from steamer and let cool for some time. Slice out serving portion and garnish with fried toppings. To further enhance flavour and appearance add freshly chopped chillies, green onions and fried shallots.
8. Voila, ready to be served. I like mine with some chilli-garlic sauce. Smaklig maltid!
   

Prep Time: ~ 2 hours.
Difficulty level: moderate

No-Bake Cheese Cake Recipe

When you feel like having a snack, like say a cheesecake, and you dont know much about baking (like me) here's a simple basic 'no-bake' cheesecake recipe you can follow.

Ingredients (20cm baking tray):
1 package Soft Cream Cheese (Philadelphia)
1/2 pack of McVites Digestives biscuits (1 whole pack for thicker crust, as in picture)
150g butter, softened
250g whipped cream
lemon
vanilla essence
2 1/2 tbsp gelatin powder
1 tbsp sugar

Instructions:

1. Blend/ finely crush biscuits and add soft butter. Mix thoroughly and firmly fill bottom of tray (making sure it's compact, avoiding air pockets - brittle cake)
2. Beat the cream cheese, whipped cream and sugar together. Add 1-2 drop of vanilla essence.
   
3. Dissolve gelatine with 3-5 tbsp warm water. Add into cheese mixture and continue beating.
4. Add 2 tbsp lemon juice and some grated lemon zest. Pour mixture onto biscuit layer.
   
5. Chill in fridge for a couple of hours. Voila, best served chill.

*optional: you may top the cake with blueberries/strawberries/ raspberries.

Prep Time: ~30 minutes
Difficulty level : Easy

Simple Chinese Corn Soup Recipe

I want to share this with my dear BFFL who requested for a 'lazy-people's-recipe'.
This is a simple ordinary Chinese soup recipe yet wholesome, delicious, warm, perfect for a cold weather.



Ingredients (Portion ~ 10 small bowls):
chicken/pork bones (or you can use chicken stock if your mom's not watching)
6-8 pieces of dried longan (from asian grocers)
6-8 pieces of dries red dates (from asian grocers)
Corn (equally good with raw papaya, chinese cucumber, radish)- cut to pieces
Salt to taste (~2 tsp)

Instruction:

1. Bring a big pot of water (3/4 filled) to boil then add in meat (bones). Be sure that water is boiling before adding in bones/meat to avoid murky soup.
2. Add in corn, dates and longan.
3. Boil for at least 1 hour on medium heat. Add salt then serve.

Cooking time : 1 hour
Difficulty level : N/A...a chimp can do it, so can you!

PongTeh Bak Recipe (Nyonya braised pork Dish)

Daddy came for a short (2 days) visit here in Lund, Sweden after his business trip in Copenhagen, Denmakr (30 minutes away from where I live). I decided to make some home cooked meal to welcome his arrival couple of days ago (since he's rather picky with his food, tak boleh tahan angmo food)...tsk...

So anyways I decided to make ponteh bak (this is a typical Nyonya recipe works fine with chicken too, tastier if the meat is fatty). I remember this was one of my favourite dish prepared by granny.. She knew, and everytime we went visiting her she would make this for me....

Ingredients:
Pork Belly (sliced)/ Chicken (wings/ thighs/drumstick, cut) - portion for 4
Potatoes, peeled, cut into 1x1" cube pieces
Shitake mushroom, 5-6 pieces (soaked in warm water for 2 hours/ until soft, cut in half/quarters)
1 tbsp minced garlic
3 tbsp minced red onion/ small onions
1.5 tbsp salty bean paste ('teochew')
1 tbsp soy sauce
2x thumb size palm sugar ('gula melaka')
2-3 small cups of water
few sheets of dried beancurd skin, soaked till soft (optional)

Instruction:

1. Heat up wok with 3 tbsp of cooking oil. Stir in minced garlic and onion (minced as fine as possible to avoid chunky texture in gravy). Fry until fragrant/ changed colour, then add in meat and the bean paste. Stir well for a couple of minutes til meat changes colour. (high heat)
   
2. Next, add in potatoes and mushrooms and stir well together to allow flavours absorbed into ingredients. Then add water, enough to submerge ingredients, and add soy sauce. Bring to a boil, add in palm sugar. (Allow to boil on high heat for about 10 minutes/ until 1/4 water evaporates).
3. Then lower heat, Cover wok/pot with a lid and let it simmer for over 1 hour. You want the potatoes to be soft but not mushy.
4. Serve with a plate of warm rice, drenched with gravy.

*optional: add in beancurd skin only towards the end.



Prep + cook time : ~1.5-2 hours
Difficulty level : Moderate

EggTarts Recipe

I love eggtarts, but I never knew how to make them. Matter of fact, I am terrible at seldom do Baking. But this recipe is EXTREMELY easy. CREDITS to a dear Singaporean friend who's an amazing cook, her blog is inspiring! (source: http://singlishswenglish.blogspot.com/)

Here's all you'll need:

premade frozen butter pastries
eggs
whipped cream
sugar
vanilla essence
tart mold - foil
THAT's IT!

Instructions:

1. Use rolling pin to slightly roll-out defrosted pastry sheets. Then roll the (rectangle) sheets (lenght-side) into a long tube-like shape (see picture). Cute pastry into ~1 inch long cylinders.
2. Whilst pastry 'cylinders' facing upright, flatten with palm (you should see the swirl-pattern on the pastry) and roll out pastry until approx 3 inch in diameter (or enough to cover base of tart mold). Do the same for all the other pieces, and place pastry sheets firmly and neatly onto the molds.
3. Next to make the eggtart filling : add 3-4 eggs into a bowl + 2.5 dl cream + 0.5 -0.75 g sugar + 2 drops vanilla essence. Mixwell until sugar fully dissolves.
4. Pour mixture into pastry, and then bake in (preheated) oven at 180 degrees for approx 25-35 minutes. Voila!

Difficulty Level : Easy