Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Lo Mai Kai (糯米鸡)


Recipe from niece's friend's mum in Chinese, below is my version of translation.

Ingredients:

500 g glutinous rice - I used 400 g
3 dried mushrooms (soaked to soft, then slice) - I used 5
1 Chinese sausage (lap cheong) - I used 2
200-250 g chicken thigh meat, sliced - I used 250 g of chicken breast

Glutinous rice seasoning:
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 bulb of garlic, crushed

Chicken meat marinate:
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp ginger juice - I used grated ginger
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp corn flour
some pepper
1 tsp sugar

Sauce:
Oil, enough to cook
2 clove of garlic, sliced
2 shallots, sliced
200 ml water
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
Pepper to taste
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp shaoxing wine - I added this

Method:
  1. Soak glutinous rice overnight.
  2. Marinate chicken overnight.
  3. For the sauce:
    Saute garlic and shallot till fragrant (in cooking terms), then add in all the ingredients and let boil till thicken. Set aside.
  4. Glutinous rice seasoning:
    Saute garlic till fragrant, put in glutinous rice and glutinous rice sauce. Stir till fragrant. 
  5. Arrange chicken, lap cheong and mushroom into a bowl. Then scoop in glutinous rice
  6. Spoon in 2-3 tbsp of sauce into the bowl which contained chicken, lap cheong, mushroom and rice. 
  7. Steam in high fire for approximately 1 hour. 

Side note: Looking forward to unlimited dim sum on Friday!

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Japanese Cheesecake


I used recipe from ieatishootipost and tried 3 times. The photo above was my third cake. All credits to ieatishootipost.

My first cake was a total failure because I only had duck eggs and picked up a phone call from a friend in the midst of beating egg whites. The cake didn't even bake after an hour in the oven.


The one above was my second cake. I completely scratched the top of the cake when I de-pan it. If you can see the cake was in 2 layers (it is a poor photo). It is likely that I didn't fold the whites into the batter properly. The top part of the cake was light and fluffy while the bottom part was heavy.

Ingredients:
Part A: Yolk
250 g Philadelphia cream cheese (1 block)
6 egg yolks
70 g castor sugar
60 g butter
100 ml full cream milk
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
60 g cake flour (I used the mixture of "1 cup plain flour" - "2 tbsp plain flour" + 2 tbsp cornflour" = 1 cup cake flour)
20g corn flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract (optional) - I added

Part B: White
6 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
70 g castor sugar

Part C: Glaze
1 tbsp apricot jam
1 tbsp water

Method:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 200°C, fan forced --> because my oven is lack of the non fan force option
  2. Coat cake pan with non-stick spray or oil, line bottom with baking paper
  3. Whisk cream cheese till smooth over a warm water bath 
  4. Add yolks and whisk
  5. Add 70 g sugar and whisk
  6. Warm milk and butter in microwave or stove, whisk into batter
  7. Add vanilla, salt, lemon, juice, lemon zest and whisk
  8. Remove from water bath, sift flour and fold into mixture until relatively smooth, don't over mix
  9. Whisk whites at low speed till foamy
  10. Add cream of tartar and beat at high speed till bubbles become very small but still visible
  11. Gradually add sugar and beat till just before soft peaks
  12. Fold whites into batter 1/3 at a time (must mix properly to avoid separation of layer)
  13. Pour into cake pan and tap the pan on the counter to release air bubbles
  14. Line a bigger pan with a dish towel and pour water from the water bath. 
  15. Place the cake pan onto the bigger pan and bake. 
  16. Bake on the middle rack for
    180°C for 18 minutes
    150°C for 12 minutes
    Turn off over and leave in oven for 40 minutes
    --> I tried 30 minutes but the top of cake is not brown enough)
    Open oven door slightly at the end of the baking for 10 minutes for cake to cool.
  17. De-pan when still warm and remember to wrap whatever you are using to de-pan with baking paper ---> my second cake was scratched because I didn't :(
  18.  Glaze top of cake with apricot jam + same amount of water (ratio 1:1) and microwaved it. 

Side note: 揮別錯的才能和對的相逢