Homemade Wanton

Always made them and freeze for fast meals but always never write down hw much seasoning to put in. Thus some attempts is bland, some attempts just nice. So this round I make sure to record down what I added. Its jus a simple documentation for myself! 

Serving them with corn & meatball soup for tonite’s dinner! Yumss!!

Filled with ingredients! 

Homemade wanton (Makes 40)

250g minced pork

6-8 prawns, chopped

3sprig of spring onions, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

4Tbsp light soy sauce

3Tbsp sesame oil

2Tbsp huatiao

1.5Tbsp cornflour

Pepper

Wanton wrappers

1) Mix above ingredients together and wrap in your preferred style.

2) Boil for 8-10mins til wanton floats and colour of skin lighten. Serve warm

Carrot Cake Sticks

Been wanting to eat this but this is so old school that its so rare to see. Tried it at Shunfu market before but still prefer the ones I always eat at Lorong Ah Soo market since I was a teen. 

I google and read a couple of recipes, it uses water, rice flour and salt for taste. Some cook the mixture before steaming, some just steam it directly. I choose the latter, to steam directly as I am worried about the sticky pots to deal with. 😂😂😂

I am using 3:1:1 ratio for radish:water:rice flour. I omit salt as I wanted to try seasoning it with ikan billis powder. Apparently it is not saltish enough but then the kids enjoyed so much. I guess anythinf fried doesnt go wrong with kids right?! Heee... 

For me I enjoy it with some thai chilli as suggested by my group of friends. It makes it taste better than on its own. The texture is crispy and soft inside. If i had added salt, I think it would somewhat taste quite similar to those selling outside. The insides can be a bit more softer to resemblance those that sells from Lorong Ah Soo. Perhaps I can up the lower the ratio of rice flour to 0.5 and see if it makes any difference to the texture. 

My 3 kids, including the youngest had it plain and still want to go for more. Enjoying it so much! Kept another portion for stir frying them. Lets wait and see how it goes! 

Carrot Cake 

A) 300g grated radish 

100ml water

B) 100g rice flour

100ml water

1tsp ikan billis powder, can be replace by 2tsp salt

1) Grate radish and squeeze dry. Put on plate with 100ml water and steam for 30mins. Cool

2) Mix (B) and put cooled steamed radish in and mix it well.

3) Prepare wok for steaming. Put baking paper on baking tray and pour mixture in.

4) Steam on med-high fire for 45mins til it sets

5) Cut cooled carrot cake into strips n panfry each side til browned. Serve warm!

Windsor Bread

Recently I bookmarked this recipe as I really love to see those soft fluffy buns with the shreds when you pull them apart. And most interestingly is that this bread only need 1 proof! Super good for me to use when I can just prepare and shape then leave it to proof while I go busy with other stuff!  

Today I prepare and make the dough while having lunch. By the time it has done its job, i left it to rest before start to shape and leaving it for another rest. And I need to mention, the dough is super easy to work with! Not overly sticky and minimal amount of flour dusting needed!!

I am making mini burger buns and sausage buns. Planning to have them for dinner. I got some mini beef sliders and burger cheese, has been wanting to strike them off my ‘to-do’list! ✌🏻✌🏻

I send them to bake when I was still struggling to make my youngest nap. Arrgghh. I think I could have overbaked by 5mins as the top has browned too much. But the inside is still soft n fluffy. Love it! Perhaps need to try it again and monitor the baking. Tastewise, I love the mild sweetness that comes with it! 

Topping it with my beef sliders, cheese, tomato and mayo dressing! Serving with a sides of hash browns and fries! Lovely!! 

Windsor Bread (adapted from Oladybakes)

225g Bread flour 

25g Cake flour (I use top flour) 

8g Milk powder

25g Sugar

140-150g water (I use 140g fresh milk)

1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp yeast

25g Butter

1) Using my breadmaker to knead. I dump all ingredients except butter and yeast. 

2) Once it forms a dough, you can add in yeast and knead for 5mins

3) Add in butter and knead for another 10-15mins or til it forms an elastic dough and let it rest for 10mins

*I added a tbsp of bread flour here as it was too wet

4) Cut dough in preferred portions and shape into a ball. Rest for 10mins

5) Roll out dough to release air and shape accordingly. Proof for 40mins

6) Bake at 180deg for 20mins

梅菜扣肉 (Preserved vegetables w/Pork belly)

Been craving for this 梅菜扣肉 since 2 weeks back and decided to cook myself. Outside usually more sweet or salty which i dont really like. 

I love to stew mine with pig intestine and chicken liver as I love to eat them! Everytime i braise or stew something, I need to add them to my dish! Lol! 

The preserved vegetable comes salted. So you need to wash and open up the leaves stalk by stalk ti make sure you wash them clean of sand, and also to blanch them after washing to get rid of the saltish-ness. There was once i forgot to blanch, oh my, its so salty til i had to keep diluting with water!! After that I wash and rinse them again, squeeze away excess water then cut into portions. Approx a thumb length each. 

Love to have then with plain rice, serve warm and with my favourite. If you like braised eggs, do boil some n leave it in the stew ❤️❤️

梅菜扣肉 (Preserved Vegetables w/Pork Belly)
300g Pork Belly, blanch and wash before cut into strips
300g Pig intestine, blanch
300g Chicken liver, clean
2 packets of sweet preserved vegetables
1 clove garlic, washed
3 thick slices ginger
1Tbsp sesame oil
2-3Tbsp oyster sauce
4-5Tbsp Dark Soy sauce
1Tbsp huatiao
Pepper
Water, enough to cover the ingredients tip.

*Adjust the oyster sauce and dark soy sauce according to your taste
**Add more if drying up.



1) Stir fry ginger and garlic in sesame oil
2) Add in pork belly and fry til turns whitish in colour
3) Add in dark soy, oyster sauce, huatiao and mix
4) Add in enough water to cover pork belly and bring to boil
5) Add in preserved vegetables and mix well. Add more water to cover ingredients and bring to boil
6) Add in pig intestine and stir. Simmer for 30-45mins and check on pork belly.
Once chopsticks can poke through easily means its cooked. Take out n cut into smaller pieces. Do the same for pig intestines
7) Add in chicken liver and let it cook til done, scoop out and add before serving

Baked chicken with creamy mushroom sauce

Decided to grill chicken since weeks back, ordered from my usual poultry supplier and got them to ‘butterfly’ the chicken for me. 

This round i decided to try marinating with this BBQ seasoning that I chanced upon. I added some those spices in the pic, approximately 2/3Tbsp each, 1.5Tbsp sesame oil & lemon juice. Massage them well and leave it to freeze overnight. Thawing them the next morning so that it will ready by dinner time! 

I decided to make my own creamy mushroom sauce, as a backup if the chicken is not tasty enough and also to make the meal not too dry for the kids. I blanch some pasta & serve with salads on the sides too! 

Stir fry the onions til transparent in olive oil then dump in the nushroom to fry til change colour. Adding in the oyster sauce, cooking cream, pepper, parsley flakes. Added 2Tbsp water and thicken the suace. 

Baked the chicken for a good 1.5hrs or less. Need to keep looking at it to make sure top dun charred. Lovely colours it turns out. Yummy!!

Baked Chicken with creamy mushroom sauce

1 chicken, butterfly cut, wash and trim off fats

1Tbsp BBQ seasoning

1Tbsp parsley flakes

1Tbsp grounded ginger

1Tbsp grounded garlic

1Tbsp Pepper

1.5Tbsp sesame oil

1.5Tbsp lemon juice

1) Marinate chicken, preferably overnight or at least 4-6hours

2) Bake 200deg for 1-1.5hours til chicken is nicely browned

Creamy mushroom sauce

3 Shitake mushroom, sliced thinly

1/2 Onion, sliced

1 box cooking cream

2Tbsp water

Cornstarch

Pepper & Parsley flakes, moderate

1) Stir fry onion with olive oil til transparent

2) Add mushroom and stir fry til soft

3) Add oyster sauce and cooking cream

4) Add water, pepper and parsley flakes

5) Bring to boil, thicken sauce

Durian Chiffon

Totally need to try this MSW durian chiffon as I always wanted to bake but couldnt leave some behind to make as always finish up the fruits! This round hubby bought me 5 MSW so I took some for making them! 

 Love how they rises in the oven! But then I forgot to overturn them after baking as I was busy fighting with the youngest for his nap. The center sunk badly. So sad! 😭😭

Luckily it didnt affect the taste. Texturewise, I think cos I added 30g more of the durian flesh, it is slightly more on the moist side. Not the usual dry texture whereby you may choke if u gobble it down fast. (Not sure if u get what I mean) Tastewise, love the fragrance of the durians and the bits off durian fruits in it. Slightly on the sweet side, wondering if its cos of the MSW is really sweet or becos of the extra 30g!

Managed to bake 2 6” cakes so gifting them to my neighbours for snacks! Hope they enjoy it! Will definitely bake again as I still have MSW in the fridge! Yummy!! 

Durian Chiffon (adapted from AuntyYochana)

5 whites (using grade AA big eggs)

100g sugar

5 yolks (using grade AA big eggs)

140g plain flour

150ml coconut milk

180g durian flesh *(original recipe calls for 150g)

50g sugar

1tsp vanilla essence

4Tbsp corn oil

Pinch of pink salt

1) Mix egg yolk batter well

2) Beat egg whites & sugar til still peaks

3) Fold in whites in 2 addition and bake at 180deg for 40mins or til top is nicely browned

Oreo Chiffon cupcakes

Using back this old recipe for my mini chiffon cupcakes lately! Easy to put together and so far the texture I love it. I did 2 versions, 1 oreo chiffon and 1 oreo chocolate chiffon. 

The cupcakes need to be filled just at the brim so that it will rise nicely during baking and collapse nicely after cooling.. love them! So nicely baked.. (for my standard la 🙊)

Since I have friends asking me about the recipe, I decided to write down what I added and change to the original recipe for new bakers. Hopefully can understand how to mix it up! 

Oreo Chiffon cupcakes

7-8pcs oreo, without cream crushed

7-8 oreo cream

4 egg yolks

115g milk

100g sugar

150g flour

75ml corn oil

1tsp baking soda

1tsp vanilla essence

4 whites

90g sugar

Oreo Chocolate Chiffon cupcakes

7-8pcs oreo, without cream crushed
7-8 oreo cream
4 egg yolks
115g chocolate milk
100g sugar
150g flour
1.5tbsp cocoa powder
75ml corn oil
1tsp baking soda

4 whites

90 sugar

1) Seperate oreo cookies and cream. Crush the cookies and leave aside.

2) Put ingredients for cake batter in a boil n whisk it well

3) Beat whites and sugar til stiff peaks

4) Fold in whites to batter in 2-3 addition then fold in crushed cookies

5) For cupcakes: scoop and fill to brim and top with a mini oreo or cracked oreo cookies chunk

For chiffon cake: Fill tin to almost 3/4 full

6) Bake at 160-180deg at 30mins for cupcakes and 50-60mins for cake or til top browned nicely

Huaishan Chicken Soup

Today made the usual huaishan soup for dinner.. Using a mix of big bones, chicken feet and drumsticks as base. Still feel nicer with ikan billis soup base then adding the chinese dried stuff to simmer!! If you wanna try the ikan billis soup base, refer to my notes below! I feel it taste slightly sweeter! 

Tried the fresh huaishan before and it taste like potatoes to me. But the kids dont fancy so I used the dried ones instead. Apparently, the huaishan benefits people with conditions related to stomach, kidney, lungs or skin! Its definitely good for the ‘growing older’ me. And of cos for the kids! This us 1 of the staple soup that I always cook for the family! Try it!! 

Huaishan Chicken Soup

3 Chicken Drumsticks

300g Pork Bone

8-10 Chicken feets

2 handful of red dates

1 handful dried huaishan

2tbsp 南杏北杏 (dried almonds)

1 carrot, chunks

1 garlic clove, washed

1 slice ginger, washed

1handful wolveberries

Enough water to cover top of ingredients, or can replace with ikan billis soup

1) Blanch chicken feet, drumsticks and pork bones. Rinse and put in pot.

2) Wash n rinse all dry ingredients except wolveberries and add to pot. Fill water enough to cover top of pot.

3) Bring soup to boil and lower heat and simmer for 30-45mins.

4) Bring to boil and simmer another 30mins and add wolveberries just before serving.

Notes for using ikanbillis stock:
1 ricebowl of ikan billis, washed n rinse 2-3x
1 garlic clove
1 slice ginger
2 shallots, deskin
5 bowls of water
*can add the pork ribs, chicken feet or bones you plan to use for ur soup.

1) Boil everything and simmer over low heat for 45mins.
2) Strain off ikan billis and keep stock + whatever bones you add to the soup

DTF-alike Prawn Cake

Over the weekend, we normally go to our fav joint to have our breakfast/brunch and I will order my fav mee pok dry. Lately they started selling those fried stuff and the kids were fighting over the fried beancurd skin. Barely anything inside in the beancurd skin and cost $1 or $1.50 per pc, so I stopped hubby from ordering more and volunteer to make them. 

This dish is a must-order when going ‘DTF’ and seriously for that piece of prawn cake, I do feel slightly overpriced. (Too auntie already so decided that I must make 1 day for the kids since they love it so much) 

Each sheet is thinly spread with fish and prawn paste. Then panfried over small-medium fire  til crispy. Yummy and easy to make at home. And I am using the ready fish paste and prawn paste from NTUC too. Barely cost me even $8 to make so many pieces of them. Try it! 

Prawn Crackers

1 packet beancurd skin

1 packet frozen prawn paste (*see notes for replacement) 

1 packet of Bobo Fish paste (200g)

1) Jus cut beancurd sheets into desired sizes and wipe 1-2 times per sheet with a kitchen towel to get rid of the salt. 

2) Mix prawn & fish paste together

3) Spread paste thinly each sheet n close it

4) Pan fry over slow-medium fire with a little oil til crispy

5) Serve warm with chilli sauce for dipping

Notes:

200g grey prawns, cut into cubes and smack with chopper to make into paste

Add sesame oil, pepper, 1tsp light sauce, 1tsp cornflour

Prawn Crackers

Bookmarked and decided to fry them with my small prawns. Today finally have time so bring myself to work. Works as a great snack after school with my home-brewed chrysanthemum tea. 

Setting aside my prepared ingredients and I am ready to get to work! Love the crispy prawns and only regret not adding the salt (as I am making them for my 3yo as well) The crackers was not saltish enough and definitely need a dipping sauce to enhance the taste. Well, I believe the saltiness wont stop the kids from having more as they love crispy food! 

The fussy eater says ‘GOOD’ despite eating it on its own. So well, shall be good enough for the kids then!  And the older kids will have them on the sides with their rice bentos for lunch. 😊😊 Perhaps next round shall make 2 portion of batter, adding in an extra 1.5tsp salt and increase ikan billis powder to 2tsp instead. But shall see when I will fry them again as the oil really splatter like mad. (Guess my helper must have been in a love hate situation with this crackers as shiok to eat but not shiok with the cooking aftermath) 

Thank goodness its FRIDAY! Love the weekends!! ❤️❤️

Prawn Crackers (adapted and modified from 清闲厨房)
150g rice flour
50g plain flour
1tsp baking soda
1tsp ikan billis powder
1tsp pepper
1tsp parsley flakes
3tbsp oil
1 egg
200ml water
Approx 300g sualor & red prawn
Approx 200g baby spinach

1) Rinse and cut away sharp parts of prawn head
2) Boil in water with salt for 1.5mins. Drain and leave aside
3) Mix dry ingredients together and stir well. Add oil and mix gently.
4) Add in egg and water and stir til no streaks of flour.
5) Add in chopped baby spinach and leave aside.
6) Put some oil and heat up with ladle
7) Scoop 1 spoonful of batter and place prawns on top and place whole ladle in oil
8) Prawn crackers will slide off once its shapes up, overturn n fry for 10-20secs and remove
9) Serve warm with dipping sauce