tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41257152469904443052024-03-18T17:48:10.758+08:00singapore shiok!denise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125715246990444305.post-33701825072373348412013-07-08T14:17:00.002+08:002013-07-09T19:05:16.233+08:00nutella kahlua pound cake<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; line-height: 16px;">
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I promised you a chocolate pound cake way back when I published <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2013/06/kalio-ayam-padang-chicken-curry.html#.UdstL_lQG1M">this post</a> and I'm a woman of my word. I don't want or need to say much today, because the pictures will do the talking for me. I will tell you this - it's a marvellous cake, even if you don't like Nutella (heresy I know, but they do actually exist, these deviants) and if you do, then you'll want to make two.<br />
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The four slices I cut for photography, were pounced upon and vanquished within single digit minutes by son number two. He was lying in wait, pretending to enjoy fetching props and holding up white boards for me. It's adorable, isn't it, when your kids really believe you can't see through their actions?</div>
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Of course I knew his real intent; I only ever have goffers when the subject is made from, stuffed or covered in chocolate. The minute I went, "Got my money shot!", the plate was whisked away and the slices snuffled down like chocolate would be outlawed by dinner time, that very night.<br />
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The last photo in this post, was taken 3 1/2 minutes after the plate went whizzing under my nose, to the dining table. Twenty seconds more and my subject would've been a crumb covered plate. Seriously, make two. This one had a 7-hour lifespan.<br />
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Before I go, about that slightly disconcerting dark skin around the edge of the cake; it's the cocoa powder that I asked you to coat the tin with to prevent the cake sticking. I went a bit overboard as the deep clefts in my bundt tin often make my cakes difficult to dislodge. This is a rich and moist cake that tends to stick. To avoid a cake tin as thickly powdered as a trollop, use a non-stick tin and yes, grease and coat it too, just not as enthusiastically as I clearly, should not have done. </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">nutella kahlua pound cake </span></div>
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prep 30 mins cook 50 - 60 mins makes 12 slices</div>
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200 g (1 1/3 cups) soft but cool butter (not melting)</div>
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150 g (1 cup) Nutella</div>
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200 g (1 1/3 cups) fine grain sugar </div>
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2/3 level tsp fine salt</div>
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4 tbsp full cream (full fat) milk powder</div>
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4 egg yolks</div>
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150 g (1 1/2 cups) plain or all purpose flour, sifted at least 3 times (use self raising flour for a less dense cake)<br />
40 g (1/2 cup)pure unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted if lumpy</div>
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1 1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract or paste </div>
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6 tbsp Kahlua (or cooled unsweetened black coffee)</div>
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4 egg whites</div>
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1/2 tsp cream of tartar</div>
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Preheat oven at 140 C (285 F). Generously grease and evenly coat a 23 cm (9 in) tube pan with sifted cocoa powder.</div>
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Combine butter, Nutella, sugar and salt in bowl of standmixer and beat with paddle attachment on medium speed until smooth and well combined. Add milk powder and continue to beat on medium speed until mixture is very pale and fluffy. This will take at least 8 minutes.</div>
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Reduce speed slightly and beat in one egg yolk at a time, beating after each yolk until yolk is no longer visible before adding the next.</div>
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Turn off machine and scrape mixture down sides of bowl. Sift over a third of the combined flour and cocoa and mix in on minimum speed, by turning the motor on and off until flour is no longer visible. Add the vanilla and Kahlua and mix in again by turning the machine on and off on minimum speed, until liquids are no longer visible.</div>
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Add the remaining flour mixture in two lots (sifted over), using the same turn on/turn off method. Scrape down sides of bowl again. Do not overmix or you will develop the gluten in the flour and your cake may turn out heavy.<br />
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Combine egg whites and cream of tartar in another clean and grease free deep mixing bowl and whisk until peaks form but egg whites are not dry or grainy. Fold a third of whites into batter and fold in with whisk. Add remaining whites and fold in until whites are no longer visible. Do not overmix or you will deflate the batter and your cake may not rise well.</div>
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Scrape batter into prepared tin and and tilt pan to level batter. Bang tin once sharply on work surface to dispel any large air bubbles. If you don't do this, your pound cake slices will look like Swiss cheese. Bake at lower centre of oven for about an hour. Test with skewer after 45 minutes and if not done, again at 50 minutes. When skewer comes out clean (a few tiny crumbs sticking on the skewer is fine), remove from oven and leave cake for 15 minutes before turning out onto a rack. </div>
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While cake is still very warm, but not too hot to handle, wrap in cling film and leave until cake is cold. Keep overnight before slicing. This softens the crust and makes the crumb more moist, which is how I like my pound cake. If preferred, cool unwrapped cake completely on rack then keep in a lidded container and eat within 5 days.<br />
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<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/singaporeshiok/nutella-kahlua-pound-cake">click here for printable recipe</a></div>
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denise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125715246990444305.post-47463368800230854902013-07-03T18:12:00.004+08:002013-07-04T21:19:41.763+08:00vegan vegetable biryani Biryani needs no introduction. It's as well known and loved around the world as it is in Singapore. But, versions abound and vary significantly from the original and from each other, and surprisingly, for such a popular dish, many aren't aware that it came from Persia. Its very name is derived from the Persian word <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biryani">berya</a></i> meaning roasted or fried, a reference to the traditional way of preparing biryani (dum biryani) by 'roasting' the partially cooked rice and meat together over and under hot coals piled on the lid of the dough-sealed pot, during the final step in the proceedings.<br />
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Further proof of its origin is the fact that it was the Mughals who brought it to India and today, the ambrosial Hyderabadi version is perhaps the most renowned in India and in this region. The Singaporean take on biryani is a hybrid influenced by both the Indian and Arab diasporas and features very local inflections like pandan, lemongrass, evaporated milk and even coconut milk, in place of yoghurt.<br />
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Delicious though it undeniably is, I love <i>cooking </i>biryani, much more than I enjoy eating it. The grains, when handled and cooked properly, are a sight to behold - I measured one of them and it reached a whopping 2 cm or four-fifths of an inch!! Proof below. Each time I make biryani, hubs will utter his usual mantra, "Stop sighing over the grains, get your head out of the pot, and let me eat it already!!" To achieve such mesmerising lengths, buy the best quality basmati rice you can afford, wash the rice very gently and until the water runs almost clear, and, always, but always, soak your rice for at least 30 minutes then drain thoroughly, prior to cooking. In fact, once you've decided to make biryani, wash and soak your rice first, before you do anything else.<br />
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Hubs loves chicken or mutton biryani, but I wanted something different and had a hankering for red peppers, of all things. With a chorus of groans from the men of the house, and accusations of being a closet hippie, ringing in my ears, I resolutely bypassed the butcher and made a beeline for the vegetable seller. Those accusations are not entirely untrue; I do harbour dreams of going vegetarian, possibly vegan when my boys no longer depend on me for their meals, and it's just hubs and I, in our near empty nest. I'm no noble minded animal rights crusader, but I will admit those graphic videos all over the internet, waiting to jump out at you and scare you meatless, are very disturbing; they make me <i>want</i> to be a veg head.<br />
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The truth is I do enjoy a good rib eye steak, and cheese makes me weak in the knees. BUT, cleaning and preparing raw meat when cooking, turns my stomach enough to make me happy with a largely vegetarian diet, that includes the occasional tuna sashimi treat or KFC fix. Hubs still needs convincing about trading in his rib-eye for grilled tofu slabs. In any case, he did enjoy this vegan friendly take on his favourite rice dish, as it was garnished with a generous shower of his favourite nut, crisp, buttery cashews. Hmmm... Confucius say, a journey of a thousand miles, begins with a first step ;)<br />
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There are thousands of biryani recipes out in the wild, wild, WorldWideWeb. What's so great then, about this one? Unlike most Indian recipes, it features a pretty short spice list, but the finished dish is fragrant without being pungent and the grains are light, fluffy and beautifully golden with saffron and tomato. I think it looks quite beautiful, even more so than a meat biryani as the colour saturated vegetables make the rice look bejewelled. And oh my, don't those grains look as ridiculously pretty as giraffe eyelashes!<br />
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This <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2013/02/easy-lemon-pickle.html#.UdTMfPlQH0w">easy lemon pickle</a> from a previous post makes a very agreeable accompaniment as the pumpkin, red pepper, green beans and onions all add plenty of natural sweetness to the rice. If you prefer subtle hits of citrus in each mouthful of biryani, rather than a sharp, assertive punch of lemon, slice the lemon chunks into slivers and serve alongside the biryani. I enjoyed my plate with big, sunny bursts of unsliced pickle and washed it all down with this <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2012/05/lime-drink-with-pandan.html#.UdTL8PlQH0w">refreshing lime drink</a>, but a mug of hot frothy<a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2012/06/teh-tarik-and-giveaway-results.html#.UdTMJ_lQH0w"> teh tarik</a> is equally good, for those with sturdier stomachs.<br />
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Hubby's favourite side when enjoying meaty biryani, <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2013/03/roti-mariam-fried-bread.html#.UdTLpflQH0w">roti Mariam</a>, a lip smackingly delicious crisp and blistery fried bread, also makes a magnificent accompaniment here. I couldn't be more pleased about how gorgeous and scrumptious my veg biryani turned out. So besotted was I by its visual splendour (those colours, those bewitching colours!) I forgot to turn off the heat on time and damned near burned the bottom of the rice. Mind you don't follow suit.....<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">vegan vegetable biryani</span><br />
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prep 45 mins cook 35 mins serves 3 - 4<br />
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Cashew Milk<br />
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60 g (1/2 cup) unroasted cashews<br />
200 ml (1 cup) water<br />
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<br />
Split cashews and soak in water for 6 hours. Drain cashews and combine with 1 cup water in a blender. Process until very smooth. Set aside until needed.<br />
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Vegetables<br />
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2 medium onions, sliced into thick rounds and separated into rings<br />
1 tsp cumin seeds, rubbed between finger tips to release aroma<br />
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped<br />
4 light green chillies, sliced (the dark green ones tend to be bitter with indigestible skins)<br />
2 tbsp concentrated tomato paste<br />
150 g green beans, topped and tailed, cut or snapped into short lengths<br />
1 red pepper, peeled (with a vegetable peeler) and cut into stamp sized squares<br />
1/2 a small pumpkin, thickly peeled, cored and cut into stubby batons (like short, very chunky fries)<br />
1 tsp salt<br />
100 ml (1/2 cup)<a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2013/03/cashew-milk.html#.UdTcPPlQH0w"> cashew milk</a> (or coconut milk)<br />
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2 large pinches saffron strands, crushed between finger tips<br />
3 tbsp very hot water (or milk)<br />
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Rice<br />
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6 green cardamom pods<br />
2 small sticks cinnamon<br />
4 pandan leaves, knotted<br />
400 ml (2 cups) vegetable stock (or 1 vegetable stock cube dissolved in very hot water)<br />
130 ml (2/3 cup) <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2013/03/cashew-milk.html#.UdTcPPlQH0w">cashew milk</a> (or coconut milk)<br />
1 tsp salt<br />
300 g (2 cups) basmati rice, washed thoroughly, soaked for 30 minutes, thoroughly drained in a sieve<br />
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Coriander leaves (cilantro)<br />
Roasted cashew nuts<br />
<a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2013/02/easy-lemon-pickle.html#.UdTc4_lQH0w">Lemon pickle</a>, <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2011/11/acar-mixed-vegetable-pickle.html#.UdTdX_lQH0w">acar </a>or your favourite pickle<br />
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Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil until moderately hot. Fry the onion rings until fragrant and lightly browned. Remove from pan, draining off all the oil and set onion rings aside. To the same pan, add the cumin seeds. Stir for half a minute, making sure it doesn't burn.<br />
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Add the garlic and green chillies and stir for 3 - 4 minutes or until limp. Stir in the tomato paste until it darkens and separates from oil. Add green beans and stir for 1 minute before adding the red pepper and pumpkin. Stir for just about 1 minute more or just until vegetables are heated through but still crunchy. Do not cook beyond this stage as vegetables will steam over the rice later. Stir in milk and salt and quickly turn off heat. Set vegetables aside.<br />
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Sprinkle crushed saffron strands over the hot water or milk and leave to soak until a deep golden yellow.<br />
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Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a separate medium heavy based pot that's wider than it is high. When moderately hot, add the cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks and pandan leaves and stir for about half a minute or until fragrant, taking care not to burn the cardamom pods. Be careful as the pods may explode if they overheat.<br />
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Gently pour in the stock and cashew milk (so it doesn't splutter) and stir in the salt. Bring to a boil then gently tip in the thoroughly drained rice. Shake the pan gently to submerge the rice and cook over moderately high heat until liquid is absorbed by rice and steam holes appear on top.<br />
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Lower to minimum heat immediately and sprinkle saffron liquid and strands over the rice in streaks. Put the fried onion rings and vegetables along with every bit of the spice paste over the rice in an even layer and cover pan tightly. Cook for 10 minutes over gentle heat without opening pot.<br />
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Turn off heat and leave pot covered and undisturbed for 20 minutes. When ready to serve, gently fluff up rice and mix lightly with vegetables so rice remains streaked with colour rather than turning a uniform orange.<br />
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Dish out rice and garnish with coriander and cashews. Serve with lemon pickle or your favourite achar, on the side.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/singaporeshiok/vegan-vegetable-biryani">click here for printable recipe</a></div>
denise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125715246990444305.post-87542058785542419142013-06-23T20:08:00.002+08:002013-06-24T22:09:09.115+08:00techie troublesHi guys! Just wanted to let you know I haven't updated for a while because my poor overworked netbook crashed the week after my last post. I took it to the laptop hospital. The prognosis wasn't good and sure enough, my poor overworked netbook, which was supposed to have been a temp stand-in for my prima donna (and now lobotomised* laptop), but which had been chugging its little hard drive out for the last year and a half, finally breathed her last. *sniff* She will be missed. <br />
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I'm currently on the prowl for a lean, mean (read CHEAP) blogging machine and will update here, the minute all the celestial bodies line up, just......so (again, CHEAPPPP), and I'm successfully hooked up!<br />
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In the meantime, check out some of my <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/p/link-love.html">favourite bloggie reads here.</a><br />
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Toodles!<br />
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xoxo<br />
Denise<br />
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p/s * that's what happens when you have a teen <em>studying</em> Infocom Technology, in the house :Pdenise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125715246990444305.post-76552050534388565532013-06-06T00:23:00.002+08:002013-06-06T12:24:30.146+08:00kalio ayam (padang chicken curry)Last week I had three pound cakes on my kitchen counter. Hubs and second son love cake, a well documented fact on this blog, and I love baking. Still, a chocolate pound cake stacked on a coffee pound cake, atop a <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2013/05/cream-cheese-vanilla-rum-pound-cake.html#.Ua9lqtKouSo">rum pound cake</a>, may be a bit much. Even then, I'm toying with the idea of a mocha glazed walnut poundcake or perhaps, one riddled with nutty nibs and scented with the sweet, almost syrupy fragrance of almonds. Hi, My name is Denise... and I'm a bakeaholic.<br />
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No, no more cake, at least not for another few posts. But, I have to tell you, that chocolate pound cake was an absolute dreamboat. A deep tan coloured cake of indescribable chocolatey dampness. I won't unleash the adjectives as yet, but I solemnly swear to share the recipe with you soon. It would be a sin to keep something so good, all to myself.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>For today's post, I'll show you how to make the second most loved curry (<a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2012/12/curry-devil.html#.Ua9ojNKouSo">click here to find out which curry is a fiery numero uno</a> in our house) in my home, Kalio Ayam. It's Indonesian, Padang to be exact and it's as authentic as you can expect an Indonesian curry to be, when taught by an Indonesian born sister-in-law, who was in turn taught by her born and bred Indonesian mother. Unlike many of my favourite dishes, this one is relatively mild, but no less delicious though modestly spiced.<br />
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I love this curry ladled over rice and mixed with <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2012/06/sambal-belacan-chilli-and-shrimp-paste.html#.Ua9qh9KouSo">sambal belacan</a> before being despatched to the depths of my ever hungry belly, but, my mum in law always gently reminds me that belacan has no place in Padang cooking, when she sees saucers of sambal belacan beside the communal bowl of kalio on my dining table. What can I say? I'm Singaporean and I'm Kristang to the marrow in my bones. Give. Me. My. Sambal. Belacan. Of course you can forego the pungently feisty relish and serve it over rice and with a plethora of other delicious sides like prawn crackers, acar and the long and winding list of Padang vegetable or belado (chilli) dishes.<br />
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The reason I love this fabulously fragrant curry is that it's devoid of powdered spices. The spice base consists entirely of fresh spices which yields a curry that trips the light fantastic, across your tongue, delighting every tastebud in its wake. No matter how much I partake, and even if my plate of rice is sodden with gravy, I never suffer the discomforts of indigestion later. Sadly this is something all too common when I overindulge in curries which rely heavily on powdered spices.<br />
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If you like Thai green curry, you will love this fragrant and light curry. The herbs are a must and give the dish its signature aroma and flavour so do your best to include them all and avoid substitutions if you want a taste of Padang cuisine, as close to the real thing as possible, without having to splurge on an air ticket. Be sure to drown your rice in the gravy, and don't worry, the sambal belacan will be our little secret. What my mum in law doesn't know, won't hurt her ;)<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">kalio ayam (padang chicken curry)</span><br />
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prep 30 mins cook 40 mins serves 4 - 5<br />
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spice paste<br />
<br />
6 fresh red chillies (seeded)<br />
6 shallots, peeled<br />
5 cloves garlic<br />
3 cm (slightly over 1 in) length fresh ginger, peeled and thickly sliced<br />
2 cm length fresh turmeric (kunyit) peeled and sliced<br />
4 candlenuts (buah keras), toasted and bashed<br />
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2 stalks lemongrass (serai), trimmed, root end bashed<br />
3 cm length galangal (lengkuas) peeled and bashed until split<br />
1 chicken, thoroughly cleaned, cut into 12 pieces, washed and drained<br />
6 leprous lime leaves (makrut lime/limau perut leaves)<br />
1 large turmeric leaf (daun kunyit), rib discarded, leaf torn into large shreds<br />
3 large fresh Indonesian bay leaves (daun salam)<br />
150 ml (3/4 cup) thick coconut milk<br />
100 ml - 150 ml (1/2 - 3/4 cup) water, depending on the desired gravy consistency<br />
2 small slices tamarind (asam keping/asam gelugor)<br />
1 tsp salt (or to taste)<br />
1/3 tsp sugar (optional)<br />
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<br />
<br />
Combine spice paste ingredients and pound or process (with a small amount of water if necessary) to a smooth paste. Set aside.<br />
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Heat about 5 tablespoons vegetable oil and when hot, fry the lemongrass and galangal for about half a minute. Add the spice paste and cook stirring over moderate heat until very fragrant and oil separates from mixture.<br />
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Add well drained chicken pieces, lime, turmeric and bay leaves and turn up the heat. Cook, turning and stirring to prevent sticking and scorching, until chicken pieces are coated with spices and lightly browned.<br />
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Pour in half the coconut milk and stir until evaporated. Pour in remaining coconut milk and stir again until evaporated. Pour in water, add tamarind slices and stir. Bring to a boil then lower heat, cover partially and simmer until chicken pieces are cooked through and tender. Season to taste with salt and sugar and give curry a good final stir.<br />
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Turn off heat and dish out. Serve with white rice.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/singaporeshiok/kalio-ayam">click here for printable recipe</a></div>
<br />denise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125715246990444305.post-70819147973799767672013-05-29T09:15:00.000+08:002013-05-29T15:10:48.457+08:00cream cheese vanilla rum pound cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It started with a <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2012/07/sugee-cake-semolina-butter-cake.html#.UaVhBtKouSo">sugee cake</a> craving, that morphed into a prune lapis (Indonesian layered cake) longing that finally evolved into a raging desire for vanilla pound cake. This cake kept me up nights for a week, flipping through every baking book in my possession and every pound cake recipe good ole google laid at my feet, from Ina Garten's, to Martha Stewart's to Paula Deen's to Pichet Ong's. Why the anguish over a simple pound cake? Because in all my baking life, I've never been happy with the pound cakes I've made. They've always peaked and cracked horrifically and they've always been either on the dry or greasy side, never just right. And this time, I wanted my pound cake perfect. Plain but absolutely, non-negotiably, perfectly... perfect!<br />
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Bakers these days are straying from the classic 1:1:1:1 pound cake ratio, as in 1 pound each butter, flour, sugar and eggs in surprising and inspiring ways. Additions to the time honoured classic pound cake batter of the above proportions and ingredients, run the gamut from sour cream and yoghurt to heavy cream, cream cheese, condensed milk and even instant pudding. Baking powder and baking soda have also become commonplace ingredients in pound cake recipes, to the extent that many are unaware a true pound cake does not have any leavening apart from the air creamed (beaten) into the butter and sugar at the beginning of the process.<br />
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My newest version is no different. It has quite a few additions to the classic recipe though I didn't stray far from the traditional ratios and didn't include any chemical leavening. I've probably baked about a hundred pound cakes by now, and I've always included either baking powder or soda, just in case. I couldn't bear the thought of a flat, sad, brick heavy cake and was never confident enough that my pound cake technique alone was good enough to lift such a dense cake without some help from the magic powder jar.<br />
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This is the first time I've given the baking powder a miss and I am ecstatic at the outcome.When it came out from the oven, I was surprised at how evenly the cake had risen and how minimal the cracking in the crust was. I cut disbelievingly into the dense, buttery ring and was gobsmacked at how soft and moist it was, though it was undeniably firm textured, as a good pound cake should be. And oh, heavens! The rich, milky, buttery aroma, deeply punctuated with vanilla and rum almost made me swoon. </div>
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The crust is a thing of beauty - not too thick, not too thin, intense both in flavour and aroma, tender, golden and an eloquent summation of the perfection that is this simple but sublime cake. I always eat a slice of cake from the bottom up, saving the crust for last. I wish I could eat every bit of the crust from every cake I meet, and leave the rest for everyone else ;) This is doubly true for good sugee and pound cake. The beauty of a pound cake is you can eat it plain with coffee, tea or milk for a deliciously simple snack or doll it up with any syrup, glaze or frosting, toppings of whipped cream, custard, sauce and fruit or even grill a nice thick slab before adding any of the above for a truly decadent treat fit for a dinner party finale.<br />
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You probably have your own benchmark for your pefect pound cake, so I won't make any sweeping claims about mine. I will tell you what kills a pound cake for me; a badly cracked crust, a crust that separates or flakes off from the cake, a dramatically domed or peaked top, an eggy smell or flavour or an unrisen crumb with rubbery, damp and dark patches: textural hell. In local parlance, an unrisen and rubbery cake is known as "kueh bantat". It sounds awful and it tastes worse. </div>
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Now what I LOVE in a pound cake; a dense but soft and moist, nicely risen crumb, a lightly crisped and golden crust that cools to a buttery, tender and not too thick skin which tastes and smells like a more intense version of the crumb, a soft squelcing sound when I gently prod the crust (this means it's mmmmmmmmmoist!) NO EGGY SMELL, a rich buttery flavour, clean slices that don't leave trails of crumbs and..... uh no, that's it really. No! Wait.... NO EGGY SMELL!!!!! This one's the deal breaker. I gag on cakes that smell or taste of egg. </div>
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This here plain jane of a damned near pefect pound cake has ended my streak of sleepless nights. It magically managed to sidestep all the pitfalls and tick every right box for me. I've been having a slice every night, before bed. It's not what the doctor ordered, but ohhh.....the pound cake-fuelled dreams I've had ;)<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">cream cheese vanilla rum pound cake</span></div>
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prep 30 mins cook 50 - 60 mins makes 12 slices</div>
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200 g (1 1/3 cups) soft but cool butter (not melting)</div>
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150 g (1 cup) soft cream cheese</div>
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200 g (1 1/3 cups) fine grain sugar </div>
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2/3 level tsp fine salt</div>
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4 tbsp full cream (full fat) milk powder</div>
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4 egg yolks</div>
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200 g (2 cups) plain or all purpose flour, sifted at least 3 times (use self raising flour for a less dense cake)</div>
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1 1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract or paste (I used Nielsen Massey vanilla paste - no egg can stand up to it)</div>
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6 tbsp dark or Malibu rum (use milk, your favourite liqueur or citrus juice if preferred)</div>
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4 egg whites</div>
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1/2 tsp cream of tartar</div>
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Preheat oven at 140 C (285 F) and grease and flour a 23 cm (9 in) tube pan.</div>
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Combine butter, cream cheese, sugar and salt in bowl of standmixer and beat with paddle attachment on medium speed until smooth and well combined. Add milk powder and continue to beat on medium speed until mixture is very pale and fluffy. This will take at least 8 minutes.</div>
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Reduce speed slightly and beat in one egg yolk at a time, beating after each yolk until yolk is no longer visible before adding the next.</div>
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Turn off machine and scrape mixture down sides of bowl. Sift over a third of the flour and mix in on minimum speed, by turning the motor on and off until flour is no longer visible. Add the vanilla and rum (or preferred liquid) and mix in again by turning the machine on and off on minimum speed, until liquids are no longer visible.</div>
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Add the remaining flour in two lots (sifted over), using the same turn on/turn off method. Scrape down sides of bowl again. Do not overmix or you will develop the gluten in the flour and your cake may turn out heavy.<br />
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Combine egg whites and cream of tartar in another clean and grease free deep mixing bowl and whisk until peaks form but egg whites are not dry or grainy. Fold a third of whites into batter and fold in with whisk. Add remaining whites and fold in until whites are no longer visible. Do not overmix or you will deflate the batter and your cake may not rise well.</div>
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Scrape batter into prepared tin and and tilt pan to level batter. Bang tin once sharply on work surface to dispel any large air bubbles. If you don't do this, your pound cake slices will look like Swiss cheese (see pictures). Bake at lower centre of oven for about an hour. Test with skewer after 45 minutes and if not done, again at 50 minutes. When skewer comes out clean (a few tiny crumbs sticking on the skewer is fine), remove from oven and leave cake for 15 minutes before turning out onto a rack. </div>
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While cake is still very warm, but not too hot to handle, wrap in cling film and leave until cake is cold. Keep overnight before slicing. This softens the crust and makes the crumb more moist, which is how I like my pound cake. If preferred, cool unwrapped cake completely on rack then keep in a lidded container and eat within 5 days.</div>
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<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/singaporeshiok/cream-cheese-vanilla-rum-pound-cake">click here for printable recipe</a></div>
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denise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.com12Singapore1.352083 103.819836000000010.84410649999999987 103.174389 1.8600595 104.46528300000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125715246990444305.post-17472510977876750072013-05-24T00:21:00.000+08:002013-05-24T00:43:12.877+08:00matcha vertical swiss roll<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today's post is my ode to green tea, beloved of my tea cup and my palate, and it will be one crammed with pictures to facilitate the making of this involved cake. I cannot live without green tea, but don't take my word for it. The proof's in this <a href="http://quickiesonthedinnertable.yolasite.com/recipes/where-in-the-world-is">baumkuchen</a>, this <a href="http://quickiesonthedinnertable.yolasite.com/recipes/green-tea-chicken-noodle-soup">chicken noodle soup</a> like no other, <a href="http://quickiesonthedinnertable.yolasite.com/recipes/matcha-vanilla-and-almond-sables">almond sables</a>, this stupendously easy and delicious <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2011/11/bee-tai-bak-in-green-tea.html#.UZ4_46KouSo">bee tai bak in green tea</a> and last week's luscious <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2013/05/matcha-white-chocolate-chip-shortbread.html#.UZ5AkqKouSo">matcha shorbread</a>.I have green tea on the brain. Hence, the back to back matcha posts.<br />
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This cake is <i>not</i> difficult, though it looks a little intimidating, but it's at least a half-day undertaking because there's a lot of waiting for this or that to set or gel or consolidate. But take heart, I made this in almost impossibly hot and humid weather, without pulling my hair out, so, if I can, <i>you </i>can.<br />
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You may feel dizzy after what will seem like endless rolling, rolling, ROLLING (six times) and you may even feel a wee bit cheated, when you end up with a cake barely 7 inches (17. 5 cm) across for your considerable efforts, but, when you cut your first slice and behold its splendour, I'm willing to wager, you will forget to breath, for about three seconds, before you are overcome with a sense of wonder that you actually made that goddamed gorgeous cake in front of you.<br />
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I had to make the sponge twice, as I realised too late that one layer wouldn't be enough to make a sizeable cake. First time around, I separated the yolks and whites (see the picture with the meringuey looking batter?) but second time around, I felt lazy and more than a bit annoyed that I didn't have the foresight to see that a 6-egg batch of sponge batter wouldn't go far enough, so I skipped the additional step of separating the eggs. The sponge in the second round came out softer, higher and fluffier (egads!) and was a heck of a lot easier to make.<br />
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But, as with all in life, there's a purpose to everything. I screw up, so <i>you</i> don't have to ;) Don't waste your time separating the little buggers. Just be stingy and lighthanded with the strokes when folding in the flour and use the detached balloon whisk attachment, or a large hand held balloon whisk to fold, instead of a spoon or spatula. Why the term "folding"? Because when correctly done, the motion of cutting diagonally into the egg mixture and incorporating the flour is akin to (very deliberately and painstakingly) folding fabric. Use your imagination. It helps.<br />
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It's probably down to some highfalutin principle of physics, but I'm no physicist, so I'll just tell you the whisk gets the flour into the whisked eggs faster, gentler and better, without knocking out all that precious air your standmixer whacked into the eggs. The cream of tartar also helps - it has a neutralising effect on the fatty yolks (fat is the arch nemesis of fluffy meringue) and stabilises the egg foam so it won't disintegrate at the slightest touch.<br />
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There's no need for any raising agent. Just whisk the life out of those eggs and yes, this is what I've been building up to; if you don't have at least a hand held electric mixer (standmixer definitely preferred) don't even bother to read the recipe.<br />
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But, please, feel free to defy me and take up your hand held ballon whisk, if you are made of sterner stuff. You will be richly rewarded with a verdantly elegant and irresistibly delicious cake that will get you unbelieving "oohs" and "ahs" when you cut it open and hand out the beautifully linear slices.<br />
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For maximum effect, and the loudest "ooohs", cover and chill the cake at least 6 hours (overnight is best) before cutting and use a really sharp and big straight edged knife. If you can manage it, once the cake is all rolled up, sandwiced with the circular sponge base and neatly trimmed, wrap it in double layers of cling film and freeze for 1 - 2 hours before unwrapping and frosting. This will prevent a cake that bulges out at the sides like a barrel. Happy baking and let the good times ROLL!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">matcha vertical swiss roll</span><br />
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prep 6 hrs cook 12 mins serves 6 - 8</div>
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<u>filling and frosting</u></div>
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225 g (2 1/2 cups) icing (powdered or confectioner's sugar)</div>
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1 1/2 - 2 tbsp matcha (powdered green tea)</div>
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75 g (1/2 cup) softened butter</div>
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60 g (3/4 cup) milk powder</div>
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450 g (3 cups) cold cream cheese (Philly cheese is best)</div>
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1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)</div>
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1/2 tsp clear pandan flavour (optional)</div>
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Sift the icing sugar and matcha together at least twice. Set aside.</div>
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In standmixer bowl combine butter and milk powder and beat with paddle attachment on low speed until well mixed and creamy.</div>
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Add the cream cheese, vanilla and pandan (if using) and beat until smooth and fluffy. This will take barely a minute. Beat in the sugar and matcha mixture in 2 or 3 lots on low speed. As soon as frosting is well combined and an even green colour, stop mixer. Do not beat beyond this point or the cream cheese will break down and the frosting will become runny. Transfer frosting to a covered container and chill until needed.</div>
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<b>The following recipe will yield 3 cakes and requires an extra large oven or 3 racks in a regular sized oven. If you have only one regular oven with two racks, follow the recipe amounts at the end of the post.</b></div>
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<u>sponge cake</u></div>
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180 g (1 3/4 cups) plain or all purpose flour</div>
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20 g (7 level tsp) matcha</div>
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10 eggs (60 g or slightly over 2 ozs each)</div>
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200 g (1 1/3 cups) fine grain sugar</div>
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3/4 tsp cream of tartar</div>
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3 tbsp milk</div>
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2 tbsp light vegetable oil </div>
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3 tsp vanilla extract</div>
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2 tsp clear pandan flavour (optional)</div>
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Extra matcha for dusting</div>
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Preheat oven at 190 C (375 F). Grease and line <b><i>two </i></b>25 cm (10 in) by 33 cm (13 in) baking trays or Swiss roll (jelly roll) pans and<b><i> one</i></b> 20 cm (8 in) round layer pan.</div>
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Sift together the flour and matcha three times. Set aside.</div>
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Combine eggs, sugar and cream of tartar in mixing bowl of a large standmixer (for sponge batters using more than 8 eggs, I use my Kenwood Major mixer). Whisk on medium-high speed for about 8 minutes using the balloon whisk attachment or until mixture is very pale and mousselike and ribbons of the mixture hold their shape on the surface of the mixture in the bowl, when dropped from the whisk.</div>
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Fold the flour and matcha mixture into the egg mixture in three lots, using the detached balloon whisk or a hand held balloon whisk. Do this lightly and quickly until well incorporated.</div>
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Combine the milk, oil, vanilla and pandan flavour in a cup and pour this mixture down the side of the bowl. Fold in with the whisk as above. </div>
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Gently scoop 1 2/3 cups batter into the round layer pan and tilt gently to level batter. Divide remaining batter between the two rectangular pans and pans to level batter. Bang each pan sharply once on table or counter top to release large air bubbles and place pans in oven. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes. After 12 minutes, check centre of each cake with a fine skewer. If done, remove from oven. Do not overbake or cakes will crack when rolled.</div>
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Cool cakes for 10 minutes then run a blunt edged knife around edges of cakes before turning out onto large sheets of parchment paper. If you use regular greaseproof paper, the skin of the cakes will stick and you may have difficulty rolling and frosting them. </div>
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<u>assembly</u></div>
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Gently peel off paper from cakes and leave until cold. Using a sharp serrated knife, trim of edges of rectangular cakes keeping them straight. Divide each rectangular lenghtwise into 3 equal strips (use a ruler if necessary) to make a total of 6 strips.</div>
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Remove frosting from fridge and transfer about 2 1/2 - 3 cups to a bowl. Work frosting lightly with a spatula cover until spreadable and cover each sponge strip with a thin layer of frosting. Use a tea strainer to dust each strip lightly with matcha. </div>
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Starting from the short end of the first strip, roll up firmly like a Swiss roll. Spread a little frosting at the seam of the first roll and join to second strip. Roll up as before and apply frosting at the seam before joining to the third strip and rolling up to the end. Repeat and join and roll with the fourth, fifth and sixth strip to form a large roll. Don't forget to spread a little frosting at the seam of the main roll each time, before joining to the next strip. Set roll aside.</div>
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Spread a layer of frosting on the round cake and place the roll, swirl side down onto the round cake. Trim off the edges of the round cake to fit the base of the roll. Wrap cake up securely in two layers of cling wrap and freeze cake for 1 - 2 hours. </div>
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Unwrap cake and place on a flat plate. Slip small squares of parchment or greaseproof paper under perimeter of the cake (not too deeply or you will have trouble pulling them out after frosting cake) to keep plate clean. Cover cake with a thin layer of frosting. It doesn't have to be neat. Just be sure to cover cake entirely. Freeze cake for 1 hour.</div>
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Cover cake with a thicker, even layer of frosting. Neaten top and sides with a large pastry scraper. Using a tea strainer, dust top of cake evenly with matcha. Cover cake and chill for 6 hours or overnight before slicing with a large, sharp straight edged knife.</div>
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<b>Recipe amounts for bakers with one regular oven and two racks or only one rectangular pan. Pan sizes are the same as above. No changes necessary for frosting amounts.</b></div>
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<u>first batch (divided between<b><i> one </i></b>of the rectangular pans and the single round layer pan)</u></div>
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100 g (1 cup) plain or all purpose flour</div>
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12 grams (4 tsp) matcha</div>
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6 eggs</div>
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120 g (3/4 cup) fine sugar</div>
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1/2 tsp cream of tartar</div>
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2 tbsp milk</div>
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1 tbsp light vegetabl oil</div>
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2 tsp vanilla extract</div>
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1 tsp clear pandan flavour</div>
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Follow method as above and transfer 1 2/3 cups batter to the round layer pan. Transfer remaining batter to <b><i>one </i></b>of the rectangular pans. Bake and assemble as above.</div>
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<u>second batch (baked in the remaining rectangular pan)</u></div>
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80 g (3/4 cup) plain or all purpose flour</div>
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8 grams (3 tsp) matcha</div>
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4 eggs</div>
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80 g (1/2 cup) fine sugar</div>
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1/4 tsp cream of tartar</div>
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11/2 tbsp milk</div>
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1 tbsp light vegetable oil</div>
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1 tsp vanilla extract</div>
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1/2 tsp clear pandan flavour</div>
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Follow method as above. Bake in one single rectangular baking pan. Assemble as above.</div>
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<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/singaporeshiok/matcha-vertical-swiss-roll">click here for printable recipe</a></div>
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<br />denise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125715246990444305.post-40957070655847974332013-05-16T12:04:00.002+08:002013-05-16T18:19:11.321+08:00matcha white chocolate chip shortbread<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLgTfT_uL5dNtIDmzKmw7XNed350EP9y1531wGQ5jnj36xpd2pmyFMqhsRi409f6y9dBjb4rnfqMQLiziUquiDnZ2u0bRhmI8-W81la46fdHO54AJBhH2ar1lokHw_KlNLm_2PQhSd-40/s1600/6093+ed+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLgTfT_uL5dNtIDmzKmw7XNed350EP9y1531wGQ5jnj36xpd2pmyFMqhsRi409f6y9dBjb4rnfqMQLiziUquiDnZ2u0bRhmI8-W81la46fdHO54AJBhH2ar1lokHw_KlNLm_2PQhSd-40/s1600/6093+ed+2.jpg" /></a></div>
I remember the first time I ever put a piece of shortbread into my mouth. I was thirteen and visiting my mum in hospital after she'd had some pretty major surgery. She was still woozy from anaesthetic and as I sat there, watching her chest gently rise and fall, my eyes strayed to the gift laden table beside her.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Amid the clutter of fruit baskets and artfully arranged bouquets, stood a pale blue tin with a painted smiling Dutch girl in traditional head dress. Bader Shortbread. How many of you are old enough to remember? I steathily opened the tin and popped a cookie. I swear to you, it just crumbled into the sweetest, creamiest, most delectable stream of vanilla flavoured molecules of near nothingness between my tongue and the roof of my mouth. Bells went off, the earth moved, and angels sang. At least, that's what it felt like at the time, though, yes, it could've been low blood sugar. It was a big tin, and I'd eaten about a quarter of the cookies before my mother stirred. So lost was I in the rapture of those memorable cookies, I jumped and dropped the lid with a mortifying clatter, onto the mercilessly amplifying tile floor.<br />
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Since then, I've never seen another tin of Bader Shortbread. I've searched up hill and down dale. I've made a trip to the unholiest of unholies - Mustafa's, where it's said, if you take a wrong turn, you'll never find your way out again.... but if you dare enter, you can find anything, ANYTHING your heart desires. No dice. No Bader's. I did get lost though.... just for a while ;) </div>
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That blue tin's to blame for my shortbread obsession. I don't know who left it on the table beside my mum. Even she doesn't know who put it there. Could've been Jack Nicholson for all anyone knows. Whoever it was, I'd like you to know I've been a tortured soul since; haunting supermarket aisles like a wild eyed ghoul, hunting down recipes and tweaking them to within an inch of their short, buttery lives, baking endless batches of fingers, squares, discs and <a href="http://www.smokedsalmon.co.uk/shop-baker-recommended-biscuits-200g-inverawe-petticoat-tails+sp+gc39">petticoat tails</a>, all of which my family maddeningly insisted were no different from the last.<br />
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I finally realised I was chasing shadows and would never replicate those cookies, because, they were a Dutch rendition of shortbread, and I had been tirelessly and rather ridiculously, using mostly Scottish recipes with slight variations here and there. Dutch shortbread recipes are in um... short supply and the few I've tried produced cookies nowhere near Bader's. I've learnt a lot though about Scottish shortbread, enough to wonder if "Scottish" and "shortbread" should even be in the same sentence, seeing as how the Scots invented the damnably delicous thing. </div>
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Am I still lusting after those whispery light cookies? I actually can't remember what they taste like anymore, except that they were indescribably tender and fragrant with vanilla. I've tried every other type of shortbread out there, including Walkers shortbread and they've left me most unimpressed, to be honest. After decades of eating Scottish shortbread, I have come to love it, as the Scots intended it to be: flavoured and held together purely and unabashedly by butter and butter alone, frugally and wisely sweetened with just enough sugar, no more, dense as bricks yet still miraculously, wondrously... crumbly. I'm usually not persnickety about food, but every piece of shortbread I've ever eaten out of a package or tin, apart from those magical ones out of the blue Bader tin, have reeked and tasted of stale butter. So I only eat my own; you'll never understand its charms or love it, until you've eaten shortbread made with really good butter, fresh out of your oven.<br />
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And, nothing could be easier than making shortbread. It literally is as simple as 1-2-3. Three ingredients and a ratio by weight of 1 part sugar to 2 parts butter to 3 parts flour. No mixers, no creaming, no rolling pins, no cutters. I won't say "authentic" because the word annoys me. I'll say this is how Sean Connery's presumably Scottish great grandma likely made it, had she been so inclined. Anyway, there's nothing authentic about these buttery tea flavoured squares, but they are devilishly delicious and each time I make shortbread, tarted up or otherwise, I feel the weight of the collective spirits of countless Scottish bakers before me, pressing upon my shoulders, in case I should dare to add more sugar, less butter... or just one egg ;)<br />
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Now, how about a slice of double cosmic irony, along with those shortbread squares? I've long assumed I have English ancestry and being estranged from my father's side of the family since early childhood meant there was no one to set me straight. Between the raging rows, my father's regular walk outs and the brevity of their marriage, even my mum barely managed to really know my father. Thanks to a very recent family reunion of sorts, courtesy of Facebook, I was told in no uncertain terms by a paternal cousin (a lovely, vivacious woman), "you're of Scottish descent darling, NOT <i>English</i>!" After 45 years, it felt a bit strange to know I'm not exactly what I thought I was. Hmm... should the shortbread and scone fixations now make more sense? Must've been <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Donald">Black Donald</a> then who left that blue tin behind. Sorry Jack ;)<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">matcha and white chocolate chip shortbread</span><br />
prep 50 mins (includes chilling) cook 50 mins makes 35 small squares<br />
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375 g (3 3/4 cups) plain or all purpose flour (remove a generous tablespoon and replace with equal amount of cornflour)<br />
125 ((3/4 cup) fine sugar<br />
3 level tsp matcha (I used bakeable matcha that retains its colour and flavour after baking)<br />
Generous pinch salt (optional)<br />
250 g (1 2/3 cups) cold firm butter, cubed then chilled again until firm if it's a warm day<br />
1 tsp pure vanilla extract (optional)<br />
80 g (2/3 cup) mini white chocolate chips<br />
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Line base and sides of a 30 cm by 20 cm (12 in by 8 in) rectangular baking tray with parchment paper.<br />
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Combine flour, sugar, matcha and salt in a large mixing bowl and whisk thoroughly.<br />
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Add butter and cut in with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles fine, very damp crumbs.<br />
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Add vanilla and chocolate chips and toss lightly until vanilla and chips and well distributed. There shouldn't be any dark, damp patches of vanilla. Do not knead mixture at all.<br />
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Transfer the crumbly mixture to the tin and press down quickly and firmly until it looks like a dough. Chill for 15 minutes then press down again until even and compact. Chill a further 20 minutes and preheat oven at 145 C (290 F).<br />
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Deeply score dough almost to the bottom, into as many squares or rectangles as you like and prick each piece right through to the base of the tray, with a fork. Bake for 50 minutes or until you can smell a toasty, buttery aroma. Shortbread should be slightly puffed and very lightly coloured on top.<br />
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Remove from oven and wait 20 minutes before cutting into pieces along the score lines. Leave in tin until just warm before transfering to a cooling rack. If you remove them while hot, they may crumble. Once cold, store in an airtight container and eat within 5 days. Serve these buttery squares with milky black tea, hojicha (Japanese roasted green tea) or vanilla ice cream for dessert.<br />
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<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/singaporeshiok/matcha-and-white-chocolate-chip-shortbread">click here for printable recipe</a></div>
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denise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125715246990444305.post-16209446004661693382013-05-10T19:41:00.001+08:002013-05-11T23:07:58.197+08:00chocolate and vanilla zebra cake (eggless)<br />
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Finally got up the nerve to sign in to my blog dashboard this morning. Couldn't believe the vicious beating my visitor stats had taken since my last post about a month and a half ago. Still, it warmed the old cockles to see that a surprising number of you continued to visit, despite the lack of updates. Thank you for your loyalty or curiosity, and for the lovely notes some of you sent to find out where the dickens I've been hiding and what the devil I've been up to. You know how blogging can be a consuming passion, an addiction? Well, so can life, lived normally. My neck's on the block here, but it's true to some extent, that food bloggers are a breed apart. Our families will attest to how we're slightly batty about our food, table settings, garnishes, props, kitchens and all our related 'toys'.<br />
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What's "normal" then and what's so darned consuming and addictive about it? How about a meal freshly cooked and eaten while it's hot, like macaroni and cheese, still bubbling and molten instead of cold and congealed? Or being able to cook food and <i>not</i> immediately think "Horrors!!! I forgot the step-by-step pics"... or "should I put that on the celadon green plate, or the embossed floral white one?" Would that look better with some cherry tomato wedges... or two sprigs of cilantro?"And what about my all time favourite - "bloody hell.... could the sky be more grey?!? Ugh!! When will I ever learn to use a lightbox?"<br />
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Of course there are other little things, like ohhh..... a well dusted and sparkling home, living without the visual assault of blogging clutter everywhere you turn, quality time spent with your family or the love of your life, daily, leisurely chats with your maker, 30 minutes spent in meditative silence to mend your frayed soul, a proper manicure, or slathering tea rose body lotion from shoulder to toe, and suddenly remembering... you can't remember the last time your lover boy slid his hand down your bare arm and sighed at the silken wonder that <i>was </i>your skin. The luxury of falling ill and recovering <i>leisurely</i>. You know..... insignificant, "normal" things like that, which elude most dedicated food bloggers unless they have an entourage comprising shopper, cook, food stylist, photographer, writer, editor, marketing and promo exec and food trendspotter.<br />
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Do I sound resentful? I'm not. But, machines break down, and humans tire. I'm happy to say though that ideas still worm their way into my brain and gnaw unrelentingly until I cave and get into the kitchen. I still feel a crackle each time I pick up my camera. My heart still pounds when I look through the viewfinder and I still scrutinise every frame, agitated, cagey and on edge, until I find <i>the one</i>. Even after a break, even though blogging's still a b**l buster (if I had them, they'd be busted) of a mistress who will take your soul if you let her, I'm still in love. She's got me in her grip, she demands I be a tireless multitasker, she doesn't even pay minimum wage, she expects me at her beck and call, she has no concept of time, but I still love her and I can't stay away, for long.<br />
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These last 6 weeks or so, have been a wonderful respite of delicious hot meals, eaten greedily, without thought or reservation, or a hefty, flour speckled camera swinging from my neck. Of time attentively and wholeheartedly spent with loved ones, reconnecting, reaffirming, appreciating anew. I've actually been watching tv *gasp*, going to bed at a godly hour and making some nice, real money for a change! I don't do puns, but call it what you will ;) I've been feeding my family cake, cookies and gateaux, like dessert's going out of style, all happily wolfed downed, blissfully, none photographed, except for the last two, one of which was this very pretty and easy zebra cake. How easy? Think preschooler art lesson. That easy.<br />
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I've been wanting to make one, since I saw a recipe for a bundt cake version in a cookbook my mum gave me when I was 14, eons ago. Of course, back then, it wasn't called a <i>zebra </i>cake. Uhmm.. the magic of marketing, even when there's no money to be made! Anyway, better 32 years late then never, right? :) The same, now worn and yellowed cookbook also inspired <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.be/2013/03/tea-brack-tea-soaked-fruit-loaf.html#.UYzcv6JTaSo">this delicious teatime treat</a>.<br />
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This isn't a difficult cake but the usual pitfalls are a cracked top, dramatically domed centre, a rapidly rising then collapsing cake or indistinct stripes. Some tips to help you get it right without too much grief :<br />
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*Follow my recipe without changes. Stick to one style of measurement, preferably the metric one. If you use a cup, make it a <a href="https://www.google.com.sg/search?q=standard%20english%20teacup&aq=f&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=ta&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=zp-MUa77LsnorAfmmIHADQ&biw=1024&bih=475&sei=2Z-MUajXHsH5rAetooGICw#imgrc=BNjkflBkftbPFM%3A%3BTuR5pnuZDwZC3M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fna.wwrd.com%252Fcontent%252Febiz%252Fwwrdus%252Finvt%252F091574153452%252F091574153452_lg.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fna.wwrd.com%252Fae%252Fus%252Fmugs-teacups%252Bsaucers%252Fwedgwood-english-lace-teacup%252Finvt%252F091574153452%252F%3B321%3B321">standard English teacup</a>, NOT a measuring cup or any other type of cup or mug.<br />
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*Don't add too much cocoa to the chocolate batter to make it more chocolatey. This will make the chocolate batter thicker than the vanilla batter, which will affect the spreadability/expansion propensity of the chocolate batter. It will also make the chocolate batter denser but drier (cocoa has a drying effect and makes your cake likelier to crack) than the vanilla batter, which will result in different cooking times for the two batters ie, the chocolate batter will take longer to cook through than the vanilla batter. Having two batters of different densities, cooking times and expansion propensities baking side by side in the same pan is what causes the domed centres and cracking between the lines of different batter.<br />
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*Too thick a batter will prevent it from spreading as it should, too thin and the two batters will spread too quickly and bleed into each other, thus resulting in indistinct stripes. As far as possible the two batters should have the same consistency and spreadability.<br />
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*When pouring the two batters alternately into the pan, start with larger amounts of batter (I used a little espresso/demitasse cup for each batter) and use incrementally less batter as you near the end. Don't wait for each cup of batter to spread before pouring the next. Just keep going. Always aim for the centre of the baking tin as you pour each cup or spoon (towards the end) of batter. Don't EVER shake, tamp (bang on the counter) or tilt the pan attempting to level or centre the batter. This is another reason you get indistinct stripes and also a low rising cake. Just keep calm, keep pouring, keep aiming for the centre and if both your batters are the right consistency, you WILL get the beautiful, striking stripes and an even, uncracked top.<br />
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*I got a softer, higher rising cake when I made the two batters separately, rather than make one main batter then divide it and flavour it accordingly. I attribute this to the fact that making two separate batters from the start results in less stirring and mixing and less gluten development of the flour.<br />
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*Keep the oven temperature on the low side to prevent a rapid rise and consequent collapse, cracking and a domed centre.<br />
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*Use a straight sided pan with an equal base and rim circumference rather than a slant sided one that is smaller at the base and gradually expands to a bigger circumference at the rim. Some will disagree, but in my experience, a straight sided pan helps to prevent doming or peaking of the cake.<br />
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The cake you see above is my second attempt and I'm happy with the visuals, but, you need to know that zebra cakes in general, are mildly flavoured and their true virtue is their striking appearance rather than rock-my-foodie-world flavour. Tweaking with the batters may yield a more flavoursome cake, but you will almost certainly trade off visual impact for "wow!" flavour.<br />
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Sorry there are no "step-by-steps"; it's gonna take a few posts before I'm in full blogging battle mode. For now, I'm back, (wetting my feet in the blogging pool again) and I hope you will be too :) Won't you join me for a slice of cake and a cup of tea?<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">chocolate and vanilla zebra cake (eggless)</span><br />
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prep 40 mins cook 55 - 65 mins yield 8 - 12 slices<br />
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<u>chocolate batter (dry ingredients)</u><br />
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150 g (1 1/2 cups) plain or all purpose flour<br />
4 level tbsp pure dark unsweetened cocoa powder (I like Van Houten or Valrhona if cost is no issue)<br />
1 tsp baking powder<br />
3/4 tsp baking soda<br />
1/3 tsp fine salt<br />
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2 tsp best quality chocolate extract you can afford (if you want to amp up the chocolate flavour)<br />
3 tbsp light vegetable oil<br />
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<u>vanilla batter (dry ingredients)</u><br />
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150 g (1 1/2 cups) plain or all purpose flour<br />
4 level tbsp full cream (full fat) milk powder<br />
1 tsp baking powder<br />
3/4 tsp baking soda<br />
1/3 tsp salt<br />
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3 tsp best quality vanilla extract you can afford<br />
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l<u>iquid ingredients (for both batters)</u><br />
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200 g (1 1/3 cups) fine granulated sugar<br />
350 ml (1 3/4 cups) buttermilk or regular milk + 1 1/2 tbsp cider vinegar or lemon juice<br />
150 ml (3/4 cup) cooled melted butter (about 120g or 3/4 cup softened butter will give this amount melted butter)<br />
100 g (1 cup) unsweetened smooth applesauce (Heinz or Gerber is perfect)<br />
3 tbsp maple syrup (you can use honey but maple syrup tastes much better)<br />
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Grease and line with parchment paper, a straight sided 20 cm (8 in) round cake tin. Do not grease the parchment, only the tin so the parchment stays in place. Preheat oven at 160 (310 F).<br />
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Combine and whisk together in a large bowl the dry ingredients (except for chocolate extract and vegetable oil) for chocolate batter. Set aside.<br />
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In another large bowl, combine and whisk together the dry ingredients (except for vanilla extract) for vanilla batter. Set aside.<br />
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In a large measuring jug, whisk together all the liquid ingredients until sugar and maple syrup dissolve and butter is emulsified with other ingredients.<br />
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Pour half of liquid into the chocolate dry mix, add chocolate extract and vegetable oil and whisk gently until smooth and well combined. Do not over mix.<br />
Pour remaining liquid mixture into vanilla dry mix, add the vanilla extract and whisk gently until smooth and well combined. Do not over mix.<br />
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If chocolate batter seems thicker than the vanilla batter, gently whisk in 2 - 3 tbsp milk or water until it's closer in consistency to vanilla batter.<br />
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Using two separate cups, pour about 1/3 cup (standard English teacup) or about 1 espresso cup (those tiny coffee cups called "demitasse) of one batter into the centre of the tin, trying your best to form a neat circle. Next pour the same amount of the other batter as far as possible into the centre of the first circle of batter, without waiting for the first batter to spread out. Keep doing this, contiuously, alternating between the two batters, gradually using less and less batter as you go, until both are used up and the batter in the pan looks like a target board.<br />
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Gently transfer baking pan to oven and bake for 55 minutes before testing with a skewer. If not done, continue baking until skewer comes out almost clean from centre of cake.<br />
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Remove cake from oven and cool in tin for 10 minutes before gently turning out onto a cooling rack. When cold, slice cleanly with a very sharp straight edged knife so the beautiful stripes are not marred. Admire appreciatively, before tucking in!<br />
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<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/singaporeshiok/chocolate-and-vanilla-zebra-cake-eggless">click here for printable recipe</a></div>
denise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125715246990444305.post-79584471545190853522013-03-28T00:40:00.003+08:002013-03-29T16:25:39.591+08:00chocolate chip hot cross buns<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After days and days of delicious fruit filled tea brack with mug after mug of tea in the afternoon, my original plan to make traditional fruit speckled hot cross buns at some point during Holy Week, began to loose its lustre. I had loved every fruity slice of dark, moist, spicy tea brack but it felt more and more like hot cross buns would be more of the same, albeit in adorable itty bitty yeasty bun form.<br />
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Then a friend came a knocking, asking if she could stir up some hot cross buns in time for Good Friday with me, for her sweet little bubs. Her question turned on about a dozen light bulbs in my head and I knew I wanted to make chocolate chip hot cross buns. She was thrilled with the idea as most kids turn their cute button noses up at all manner of dried fruit, and most especially, at candied peel.<br />
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That most people get cagey around raisins, prunes and family I can understand but when anyone (ok, bubs and babies exempted here) disses candied peel, it just plain hurts. They're tiny bombs of citrus perfume and flavour. What's not to like?! Maybe I'm pushing it, or maybe, the only people who get it are the kind of people who love marmalade; my kinda people.<br />
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It was fun baking with a friend, though the between kneading and proofing gossip was so engaging, I forgot to take pictures until midway through the process. The buns turned out beautifully tender and moist and the fact that they were riddled with chocolate instead of the often reviled raisins, currants or peel, meant that more than half the batch had disappeared long before dinner.<br />
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The milk powder makes the crumb moist yet feathery light and imparts a rich and creamy flavour. You could replace the milk powder and water with liquid milk but I must tell you the buns will not taste as good or have as satisfying a mouth feel. I can't say why this is so, but so it is. Could be that milk fat or sugar is more concentrated in milk powder and this contributes to both flavour and texture. Whatever the case, it ain't broke so I wouldn't fix it.<br />
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For some reason, hot cross buns are often served on Easter morning, for breakfast. I find this a bit strange, to be honest, as in the relatively modern context, they are meant to be eaten on Good Friday morning, in commemoration of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, rather than as part of an Easter spread, a decidedly more joyous occasion. Yes, I am just a little bit of a proper food for the proper occasion geek. Then again.... maybe someone who replaces the dried fruit in a bun, meant as a marker for an occasion as solemn as Good Friday, with something as decadent and possibly irreverent as chocolate (oh horror!) without an ounce of compunction, should not be too bothered about propriety or tradition. In any case, to all who observe and celebrate, I wish a Blessed Holy Week, and a Very Happy Easter!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">chocolate chip hot cross buns</span><br />
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prep 4 hrs cook 25 mins makes 16 buns<br />
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Dough<br />
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500 g (5 cups) bread flour<br />
4 tbsp milk powder<br />
75 g (1/2 cup) fine sugar<br />
1 1/2 tsp salt<br />
1 1/2 - 2 tsp ground cinnamon or mixed cake spice<br />
3 tsp yeast<br />
300 ml (1 1/2 cups) water<br />
2 tsp vanilla extract<br />
75 g (1/2 cup) soft butter<br />
200 g (1 1/3 cup) mini dark chocolate chips<br />
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1 egg, lightly beaten for egg wash<br />
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Paste for Crosses<br />
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75 g (3/4 cup) plain flour (or bread flour if it's all you have)<br />
4 - 5 tbsp water<br />
11/2 tsp sugar<br />
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Sugar Glaze<br />
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50 g (1/3 cup) fine sugar<br />
50 ml (1/4 cup) water<br />
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Combine flour, milk powder, sugar, salt and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl and stir with whisk until well mixed. Stir in yeast.<br />
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Pour in water and mix to a shaggy dough. Cover and leave to rest for 15 minutes. Knead in butter a third at a time, until well combined. Knead dough until smooth and elastic. Remove from bowl and shape into a neat ball. Grease inside of bowl and return dough to bowl.<br />
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Cover and leave to rise until dough is slightly more than doubled in volume. This should take about 1 hour.<br />
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Gently knead chocolate chips into dough and form into a neat ball. Place on a lightly greased surface, cover and rest for 15 minutes. Divide dough into 16 and form each into a tight neat ball. Place seam side down on a lined baking sheet.<br />
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Cover lightly with a clean cloth or plastic sheet and leave to rise for about 40 minutes or until doubled in volume. While buns rise, preheat oven at 200 C (400 F). When buns are ready for oven, brush each gently with the egg wash.<br />
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Combine paste ingredients (for crosses) until smooth and transfer to a piping bag. Pipe a cross on each bun. Bake buns for about 20 minutes or until well risen and golden. If they darken too quickly, lower temperature to 190 C (375 F).<br />
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Remove from oven when done and transfer to a cooling rack with a sheet of baking paper or tray beneath to catch the glaze drips. Combine sugar and water for glaze in a small pot and bring to a boil. When sugar melts, keep boiling until it thickens to a light coating consistency. Turn off heat and allow glaze to cool slightly.<br />
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Brush top of each bun generously with warm glaze, including crosses and leave to set before serving.<br />
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<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/singaporeshiok/chocolate-chip-hot-cross-buns">click here for printable recipe</a><br />
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denise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125715246990444305.post-34171274878148508282013-03-25T00:10:00.000+08:002013-03-25T10:40:23.640+08:00tea brack (tea soaked fruit loaf)<br />
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You must be thinking, I've got an Irish fetish, this being the second Irish recipe I'm posting in barely two weeks. What I have is an indescriminate (in the best possible way) food fetish and as I see it, every community has culinary gems that await discovery by the hungry and the curious. You could though, blame part of it on the lingering after effects of St Patrick's Day and the fact that I stumbled on a fabulous deal too good to pass up, while killing time trawling a supermarket, waiting for a friend to show up for lunch.<br />
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What did I spy between "coffee" and "jams" but boxes of my favourite everyday brew, <a href="http://www.yorkshiretea.co.uk/blog/">Yorkshire tea</a> (thanks <a href="http://www.rotinrice.com/">Biren</a> for for the introduction) going for twice the usual amount at the regular price. After lunch, I scuttled back to the tea aisle and bought as many boxes as I would be able to squeeze into a rush hour train, packed tighter than a can of sardines. As I hugged my booty, nestled a little too snugly between my front and the back of a woman, a head taller than I, my one, sustaining thought was, "TEA BRACK! Once slice covered in butter, another dunked into my steaming cup of liquid ambrosia! Drive faster, dammit!"<br />
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I first learned to make tea brack from a cook book my mother bought me when I was 14. It was the first and last recipe I tried out from <i>that </i>book. Of all the recipes in the collection, it was one of the very easiest and I was irresistably drawn by the fact that I had to pour scalding hot tea over the fruit and let it sit overnight. What further piqued my interest was the exclusion of butter. A cake without butter. To fourteen year old me, brought up on a steady diet of stupendously buttery chocolate, sugee and pound cakes, the very idea was radical.<br />
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My very first attempt, I was so charmed by the Irish Tea Brack, I never got round to making anything else from between the covers of that now tattered and yellowing book. I fell hopelessly in love and have since made tea brack times out of number; each time, it comes out a little different from the last. What can I say? I'm really not a stick to the recipe kinda girl. Does that sound strange, coming from a recipe developer and cook book writer? Blame it on the long and twisting track of rebellious and easily bored cooks that forms my culinary bloodline.<br />
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The dried fruit selection changes according to what I have in my cupboard (raisins, dried currants and candied peel are traditional), sometimes I add eggs, other times, an egg substitute made with ground flax seeds and water. There's no telling if it's cinnamon, nutmeg or allspice I'll sprinkle on the flour. I've made it with white, light and dark brown sugar to no ill effect. Would it shock you to know that I've even subbed bread flour for plain, when I ran out, and that sometimes, I don't even soak the fruit overnight?? *gasp* Two things though, remain sacrosanct; the tea has to be good, strong and hot, and no skippin' on the whisky, though Irish or Scotch works just as well, for me.<br />
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If you've never had a slice of tea brack with your afternoon cuppa or tried stirring up a loaf yourself, you are in for a treat! It's a one bowl recipe and all you need is a big, sturdy spoon. In fact, I'm thinking now, as I write this, why break my back over a fussy, musty traditional fruit cake at Chistmas, when an easygoing, boozy tea brack packed to the gills with succulent fruit is what I'd actually rather eat?! A marzipan draped and icing cloaked tea brack. Maybe I do have an Irish fetish, after all....<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">tea brack (tea soaked fruit loaf)</span><br />
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prep overnight cook 1 hr 10 mins makes a 12 slice loaf<br />
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3 bags good, black tea (Yorkshire Red Label or any good Assam based blend)<br />
300 ml (1 1/2 cups) freshly boiled very hot water<br />
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150 g (1cup) pitted prunes, diced <br />
100 g (1cup) chopped candied citrus peel <br />
100 g (1/2 cup) glace cherries, diced<br />
4 tbsp whisky<br />
90 g -120 g (3/4 - 1 cup) molasses sugar or any soft, dark sugar<br />
2 eggs<br />
2 tsp vanilla extract<br />
200 g (2 cups) plain flour<br />
1 1/2 tsp baking powder<br />
1 tsp baking soda<br />
1 1/2 tsp ground allspice or your favourite cake spice blend<br />
1/2 tsp salt<br />
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Preheat oven at 150 C (300 F). Line a 23 cm (9 in) by 10 cm (4 in) by 7.5 cm (3 in) loaf tin.<br />
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Make tea with the tea bags and hot water, steeping for 5 minutes, to get a strong brew. Gently squeeze tea bags into teacup, before discarding.<br />
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Put diced fruit and whisky into a large mixing bowl and pour over the hot tea. Stir and cover. Keep overnight or at least 8 hours. If in a rush, soak for 1 hour or until mixture is cold.<br />
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Stir sugar into fruit mix until more or less dissolved. Stir in eggs and vanilla until thoroughly blended. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, spice and salt and sieve in 2 or 3 lots over egg and fruit mixture. Fold in lightly but thoroughly with a large, thin, flat spoon until no flour is visible. Don't overmix or loaf will be heavy textured.<br />
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Transfer batter into tin and level top. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until a small pointed knife comes out clean from the centre. Remove from tin and cool on wire rack. Slice when slightly warm or cold and serve with strong milky tea. Slices may be eaten plain, or spead with butter. I like it with butter and a little golden syrup.<br />
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<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/singaporeshiok/tea-brack-tea-soaked-fruit-loaf">click here for printable recipe</a><br />
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denise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125715246990444305.post-77181192491232594892013-03-21T09:28:00.000+08:002013-03-21T12:18:50.833+08:00roti mariam (fried bread)<br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">This is the bread that spawned my <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2012/11/easy-yoghurt-naan.html#.US8n3qJkTSg">easy yoghurt naan</a>, which spawned my <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2013/02/easy-garlic-herb-and-sesame-naan.html#.US8pZKJkTSg">easy garlic herb and sesame naan</a>. So I guess you could say she's now a grandma? Hubs was having an evil craving, but I convinced him pan fried naan was what he <i>really </i>wanted, instead of fat sodden discs of deep fried dough. He bought it, for a while, but the beast once again reared it's greasy head and hubs would no longer be denied. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I recently made a biryani and the first words out of hubby's lips were, "Got roti mariam?" When I grinned sheepishly, he glared and declared, "Enough with the freakin naan! I want roti mariam!". </span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">He can't seem to enjoy his biryani without a pile of these crisp, bronzed and blistered breads beside his mound of golden rice and spiced meat. </span><br />
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">He picked up the habit from years of eating biryani at the iconic Islamic Restaurant along North Bridge Road, close to Singapore's famed Arab quarter. Right up to the early 1990s, it was <i>the</i> place to go to, for just about the best biryani in Singapore. Sadly, this is no longer true and the dish of biryani served up at Islamic today, is a wispy shadow of its former glorious self.</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Thankfully, the one thing they still do magnificently, is roti mariam. It's also known as roti meriam (canon in Malay) and the name remains a mystery. I'll be damned if I know what bread and canons have to do with each other! Prior to eating it at Islamic, I had no knowledge or experience of this wonderful bread and even today, no one, as far as I know, sells it. I have recently learned though, that a version called roti maryam exists in Indonesia that resembles our prata or Malaysian roti canai.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Roti Mariam may be an Indian bread, or it may be something created at the restaurant itself, influenced by North Indian or Middle Eastern cooking and local culinary sensibilities. It's more like a fried pastry, rather than bread and resembles the Indian puri but is heartier in texture and richer in flavour. In fact, it bears an even closer resemblance to Navajo fry bread, strange as that may sound. After years of tinkering in the kitchen, I've come up with my own recipe, which I think is as close to Islamic's original version, as I will ever get.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I love making roti mariam for the sheer pleasure of watching it puff up beyond all reason and logic, in the hot oil, because it contains not a grain of yeast or any other leavening. Of course, it's also incredibly delicious and extremely moreish, at least for hubs. I can't eat more than one, much as I love it, as I find it far too rich to eat with impunity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I also prefer it plain, with just a little curry gravy or <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2012/11/keema.html#.UTL4hqKouSo">keema</a> to take the edge of the crisp hand torn shards. Roti mariam is undeniably delicious, but beyond that, it has a special significance for me as hubs took me to Islamic Restaurant for dinner, early on in our courtship. He was attentive and achingly gallant, until the roti mariam arrived at our table. For a whole six seconds, I was completely forgotten as his eyes zeroed in on the oil slicked, brittle and smoking rounds of bread, wide as the dinner plates they came on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">His eyes glazed over as he reached for one and tore off a piece. He looked at me and said, "This is what I've been wanting you to try. It's amazing!", as he teasingly brushed my lower lip with it. It <i>did</i> smell wonderful and I eagerly parted my lips to accept the morsel. It tasted amazing; I involuntarily closed my eyes. When I opened them, he was looking at me, eyes gleaming, face slightly flushed. "Can you make these for me, some time??!" Can't say there wasn't a part of me that had suspected it all along. Sure was nicer though, thinking I had reeled him in with my rapier wit and irresistible charm. Damn.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/singaporeshiok/keema">click here for printable recipe</a></span></span><br />
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denise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125715246990444305.post-34147130817121916022013-03-18T13:00:00.000+08:002013-03-19T17:35:48.381+08:00cashew & potato curry<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">Hi all! It's time for our monthly <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/p/nona-nona.html#.UUWtZheouSo">Nona Nona</a> feature and this month's theme, chosen by me, is cashew nuts. It should be no surprise, if you've read my <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2013/03/cashew-milk.html#.UUaSVheouSo">cashew milk</a> post, which started the cashew craze in my kitchen. Biren of <a href="http://www.rotinrice.com/">Roti n Rice</a> and <a href="http://www.teatattler.com/">Tea Tattler</a>, my blogger buddy, personal friend and Nona Nona partner as always, gamely agreed, though she admitted cashews were a stumper as apart from Indian cooking, you won't find them in many traditional Asian dishes, the few exceptions being Kung Pao chicken, or cashew cookies.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Courier New, Courier, FreeMono, monospace;"><span style="line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">This month marks our ninth Nona Nona collaboration, and next month, when Biren takes the wheel, will be our first Nona Nona anniversary. For a peek at our <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/search/label/nona%20nona#.UUWt7heouSo">past Nona Nona features</a>, click on the link. </span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">I can't believe Biren and I have been at this for almost a year and I can't wait to see what she has simmering for us next month! </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">It's been fun, at times, nerve wrecking. I look forward to another year of nail biting fun with both trying to avoid featuring the same dish each time, as we have been striving to and mostly succeeding at, since April 2012. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Courier New, Courier, FreeMono, monospace;"><span style="line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">It's true that cashews are not heavily used in the southeast Asian kitchen, so I took the easy way out and settled on a simple but moreish and satisfying curry featuring cashews and potatoes. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Courier New, Courier, FreeMono, monospace;"><span style="line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">Whether your preference in Indian food is northern, southern, central or coastal, meaty, vegan or just plain lazy, the broad appeal of this curry should take care of your spice craving, with a few simple tweaks if desired. No recipe is written in stone, but here's my two cents worth on cooking good Indian food, and especially <i>vegetarian</i> Indian food. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Courier New, Courier, FreeMono, monospace;"><span style="line-height: 17.77777862548828px;"><i><b>"Ungodly"</b></i> amounts of onion and garlic are exactly what make a rock-your-socks-off curry, that doesn't need additives to kick up the flavour. That's a fact and Indian (and Asian) kitchens are stacked to the rafters with both. No matter what any politically correct cookbook or recipe blog, Indian or otherwise, may say, no Indian mother in an Indian kitchen, will <i>ever</i> cook a family sized pot of curry with two cloves of garlic and half an onion. Alliumphobes are best served exploring other, more subtle cuisines that handle uber sensitive noses or tastebuds with kid gloves, or revisiting their definition of "ungodly amount". </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Courier New, Courier, FreeMono, monospace;"><span style="line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">The actual ingredient that needs restrained use in a curry, is cumin. It's not uncommon to see curry recipes that serve 4, specifying upwards of a tablespoon of ground cumin. That's just too much of a good thing. Cumin is a richly savoury spice. Unfortunately a pinch too much and your curry smells like a sweaty locker room. In seed form it's more forgiving, but still best used with caution.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Courier New, Courier, FreeMono, monospace;"><span style="line-height: 17.77777862548828px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Courier New, Courier, FreeMono, monospace;"><span style="line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">Back on the subject of tweaking, yoghurt will add a rich creamy tang reminiscent of northern cooking, coconut milk and curry leaves give a definite southern slant, while toasted, ground mustard seeds give it more of a coastal character. If you'd like to venture a little beyond, but not too far from India, coconut milk, some fresh grated coconut, curry leaves <i>and</i> pandan leaves make a curry that would sit comfortably on a Sri Lankan dinner table.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Courier New, Courier, FreeMono, monospace;"><span style="line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">Indian cooking features a plethora of cashew dishes both sweet and savoury. Unlike most other cuisines, where cashews are usually a garnish as they are frankly a costly ingredient, these creamy and tender nuts, proudly take centrestage in this and many other Indian dishes. If you have until now only thought of cashews as a cruncy nibble to go with your beer, I think you will enjoy the unexpected but delicious texture of these spicy, gently cooked nuts.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Courier New, Courier, FreeMono, monospace;"><span style="line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">The curry is a very simple one and quickly done. The only involved part, if you can even call it that, is the hour long soak to soften the cashews, necessary because they really should be tender as opposed to crunchy. Soaking them cuts the cooking time dramatically, so I recommend that you don't skip it. Just pour boiling water over them, cover and leave for an hour, while you trim and water your plants, vacuum the floor or paint your toenails. Of course, you could also put the time to good use by chopping the onions and getting a headstart on grating that ungodly pile of garlic ;)</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Courier New, Courier, FreeMono, monospace;"><span style="line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">You could use any type of potato but I like Russets as they tenderise so quickly and break down obligingly while cooking, imparting a lovely creaminess to the curry. It's almost like a spicy chunky potato mash, riddled with mildly sweet, tender cashews and juicy peas. As always, on everything I cook, solicited or otherwise, the brood weighed in with opinions. Hubs loved it, though he initially grimaced when I told him it was meat free (I deliberately avoided the word vegan). I made my usual batch of 10 naans, and he eventually ate six of them with a third of the curry. Having detected not a shred of meat in the spicy melange, none of my three boys would touch it, despite hubby's spirited endorsement.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Courier New, Courier, FreeMono, monospace;"><span style="line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">It's delicious with regular or basmati rice, and even dreamier with soft, fluffy <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2012/11/easy-yoghurt-naan.html#.UUWYaxeouSo">naan</a>, <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2013/02/easy-garlic-herb-and-sesame-naan.html#.UUWYpReouSo">garlic naan</a> or chapati. </span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">Round out such a meal with a fresh salad and <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2013/02/easy-lemon-pickle.html#.UUWY3ReouSo">lemon pickle</a> and close it with <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2012/06/teh-tarik-and-giveaway-results.html#.UUWZTxeouSo">hot frothy tea</a> and a simple Indian dessert for a feast that would please a (not too picky or meat obsessed) Maharajah! Now let's head over to <a href="http://www.rotinrice.com/2013/03/chicken-korma-with-cashew-nuts/">Biren's warm and cosy kitchen</a> for another helping of Nona Nona goodness...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: x-large;">cashew & potato curry</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">prep 1 hr 20 mins (plus soaking) cook 50 mins serves 4</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">2 sticks cinnamon</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">6 large green cardamom pods</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">2 large onions, peeled and coarsely chopped</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">6 large cloves garlic, peeled and finely grated (best done on a Microplane)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">3 cm ((1 in) length ginger, peeled and finely grated as above</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">4 green chillies, sliced</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">2 tsp chilli powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">1 tsp turmeric powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">1 tsp ground cumin</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">2 tbsp tomato paste</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">120 g (1 cup) raw cashews, soaked in very hot water for 1 hour, then drained</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">100 ml (1/2 cup) </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;"><a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2013/03/cashew-milk.html#.UUXRHxeouSo">cashew milk</a> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">500 ml (2 1/2 cups) water</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">750 g (about 4 medium Russet potatoes) peeled and boiled till tender, then cubed</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">1 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste - you will need more than usual because of the large amount of potatoes)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">100 g (1 cup) thawed frozen baby green peas (optional)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">coriander leaves for garnishing</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">Heat 5 tablespoons vegetable oil and when hot, add the cinnamon and cardamon pods. Stir for about half a minute. Add the onions, garlic, ginger and green chillies. Stir over medium heat until fragrant and translucent.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">Add the chilli powder, turmeric and ground cumin and stir for a few seconds, until fragrant, then stir in the tomato paste. Cook for 2 minutes or until deep red. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">Add drained cashews, cashew milk and stir over medium heat until most of the liquid has evaporated. Pour in water and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until cashews are tender and gravy has thickened. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">Add potatoes, salt and peas and stir well. Cover and cook gently for 4 - 5 minutes or until potatoes and peas are heated through. Taste and adjust seasoning and thin with a little water if necessary. Stir then turn off heat.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">Dish out and garnish with coriander leaves. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">Serve with rice, baguette, naan, garlic naan, or chapati. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;"><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/singaporeshiok/cashew-potato-curry">click here for printable recipe</a></span><br />
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denise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125715246990444305.post-48917158984503210352013-03-14T00:15:00.000+08:002013-03-17T18:08:04.450+08:00guinness and cheddar soda bread<br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Can you tell where I'm going with this? I'll give you a hint. Leprechauns love green almost as much as they love gold. Ok, so I'm not Irish, not even Irish-descended, which is why I've refrained from calling this "Guinness and cheddar <i>Irish</i> soda bread". But maybe Scotland's close enough? No? </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Well I guess the only way I could make this even remotely Irish then, is by pouring one half of a Guinness into the mixing bowl, and the other down my gullet?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I've had an ongoing and passionate affair with scones, since I first started messing around in my mum's kitchen at the age of thirteen. So, soda bread is just three degrees left of my scone obsession. If you're Scottish or Irish and you're reading this, forgive me for what I'm about to say. Soda bread (to me) is a big, fat, easy scone, perfect for cooks too lazy to cut the dough into smaller bits. Which makes them, a very close contender, alongside scones, for my quick bread affections.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">They're traditionally made with baking soda and buttermilk because baking soda requires an acid to bring about the reaction which produces carbon dioxide, to aerate the dough and make the baked bread light and airy. Buttermilk contains the lactic acid needed to produce the chemical reaction. It was originally plain, affordable fare, cooked in a covered iron pan over glowing embers, for simple folk, with few resources, so even eggs, butter or sugar, all considered luxuries in the past, were not originally included, let alone raisins, or any of the embellishments now commonly added.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhb9DsheSG82mRyPJAxx9iDXkxIaI7lsHNk6nUrc5WGAriFpwMbLeOYgCTyMsPw6HcRpEKl6txACJcbaMVVuESPPk7a4WuXYhyKH6Xj9R6aeTOvkZaYnixSmHwVOVe-y5dQWCmMSMe8gE/s1600/PicMonkey+Collage+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhb9DsheSG82mRyPJAxx9iDXkxIaI7lsHNk6nUrc5WGAriFpwMbLeOYgCTyMsPw6HcRpEKl6txACJcbaMVVuESPPk7a4WuXYhyKH6Xj9R6aeTOvkZaYnixSmHwVOVe-y5dQWCmMSMe8gE/s1600/PicMonkey+Collage+2.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">This loaf doesn't contain buttermilk as I wanted a heartier, punchier flavour, so in went the Guinness with some sharp aged cheddar, which meant I couldn't include the buttermilk or any kind of soured milk as the stout was hogging just about all of the liquid allowance for the recipe. The tablespoon of cider vinegar is the stand in for the lactic acid in buttermilk. It gives the bread an interesting tang and seems to underscore the beeriness of the stout; always a good thing, if you ask me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">The cross cut on top before baking, according to Irish lore, is "to let the Devil out of the bread", so the loaf won't be jinxed and fail to rise. It may or may not be true, but in a largely Catholic country like Ireland, it had and still has a resonance with a still deeply Catholic sensibility. It does however, prevent a haphazardly cracked loaf, helps the oven heat penetrate to the loaf's core for quicker, more even cooking and aids in dividing the loaf, without a knife. So, everyone's happy, but the Devil, of course ;)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">It may not win any beauty titles with its rough hewn craggy looks, but how I love this ugly little loaf for its rich, malty flavour, the mad crunch of its crust and the tender, fluffy crumb. It's not the kind of soda bread I'd eat with butter and jam (though the big boy gobbled 3 toasted chunks <i>with</i> butter and jam) but it makes a beautiful match with even more cheese or a hearty, steaming bowl of beef stew. Hubs kept hacking off slices to nibble plain. His verdict (verbatim)- "intriguing, unexpected, complex.... mmmmmmm!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">St Paddy's Day is just three days away, and if you're making corned beef and cabbage, or Irish stew, nothing would go better with either than this gorgeous, cheesy, savoury bread. How can I convey, just how delicious it is? I think I may never make any kind of bread with water again...or without cheddar.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Before I go, did you know that Oscar Wilde is one of my favourite authors and Rory Gallgher is my guitar god? I can't get through the day without a dose of coffee, The Chieftains or Two Door Cinema Club? Still no dice? Ok, then. I tried to be nice about it, but now I'm taking out the big guns. Don't say I didn't warn you...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">There once was a young lass named Tristan </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Whose Guinness she ordered was pissed in </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">She said "I don't think," </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">As she spat out her drink, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">"On the menu that this one was written."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">And NOW, this loaf is Irish! </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Happy St Patrick's Day!!!</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-large;">guinness and cheddar soda bread</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">prep</b> 10 mins c<b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ook</b> 40 mins s<b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">erves</b> 4 - 6</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">300g (3 cups) plain or all-purpose flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">1 tbsp fine sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">1/2 - 1 tsp salt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">2 tsp baking powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">1 tsp baking soda</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">75 g (1/2 cup) cold, firm butter, cubed</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">100 g (1 1/3 cups) coarsely grated aged Cheddar (mine was aged for 18 months)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">175 ml (3/4 cup) foamless Guinness </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">1 tbsp cider vinegar</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Preheat oven at 200 C (400 F) and line baking tray with baking parchment (non-stick baking paper).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a large mixing bowl. Stir with a whisk until thoroughly mixed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Add grated cheese and butter and cut both into the flour quickly and lightly until the mixture resembles very coarse crumbs with bits of butter and cheese still visible here and there. Stir in Guinness and vinegar until you have a shaggy, messy dough.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Bring everything together with your hands, into a cohesive dough that holds together, while trying your best not to knead it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Shape into a dome and transfer to baking tray. Gently score a cross into the top without deflating the dough. Brush the top lightly with egg, milk or water and bake for 35 - 40 minutes or until golden and crusty and bottom sounds hollow when tapped. You can also dust the top with flour before scoring, for an attractive rustic look.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Transfer immediately to a cooling rack and cool completely before slicing, or just break into quarters along the score lines. Eat thickly buttered on its own, with a meat stew or top thick slices with sharp cheddar or your favourite British cheese and toast until crusty and bubbling. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/singaporeshiok/guinness-and-cheddar-soda-bread">click here for printable recipe </a></span><br />
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denise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125715246990444305.post-78387882519000196252013-03-11T00:15:00.000+08:002013-03-13T11:10:59.643+08:00cashew milk<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A huge bag of unroasted cashews landed in my lap a few days ago. They're expensive and I didn't want them to go to waste so, I've been putting them to every imaginable use in the kitchen. Nuts tend to go rancid quite quickly in warm, humid weather and if kept in the fridge, haphazardly packaged, they will absorb odours from other foods very easily.<br />
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Amongst the things I've made with them, and probably my favourite so far, is this cashew milk. I never would've thought that making a nut milk could be so easy, and so satisfying an undertaking, had I not tried it. Cashews are especially suitable for a nut milk as they are amongst the softest of nuts and when well soaked, are easily crushed by blender blades into a creamy and silken milk that tastes surprisingly, no, shockingly delicious!<br />
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I've never liked dairy milk, and though I love Asian style soy milk, cashew milk is a delicious and welcome change. It makes a fabulous substitute for coconut or diary milk in cooking, tastes fantastic with coffee, drinking chocolate, tea and hot or cold breakfast cereal. Of course, the very first thing I tested it on was a cup of coffee and as you can see from the pictures, it gives the coffee a pretty head of creamy foam, or crema as the Italians call it. And you don't even need a coffee machine!<br />
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The recipe below yields a very thick and creamy milk that's best for creaming beverages and thickening soups or curries. If you want a thinner milk that you can drink straight, like a glass of dairy milk, use three or even four cups of water to every cup of nuts. You may not want to add any salt, but I find it amplifies the creaminess of the milk and I recommend that you do add a little and correspondingly increase the amount of salt if you increase the amount of water.<br />
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As this is a raw food (if you discount that most commercially processed nuts are actually steamed out of their shells and that I used <i>boiled </i>water) that spoils easily, please be mindful of food hygiene with regard to all your equipment, implements, hands and storage containers, at every stage of the process and use boiled or distilled water when liquidising the nuts. I wouldn't want you to have any tummy troubles!<br />
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I'll be sharing more recipes that use either cashews or cashew milk in upcoming posts, so keep a look out for them. In the meantime, I hope you give this gorgeous nut milk a whirl and enjoy both the process and the fruit of your labours :)<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">cashew milk</span><br />
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prep 6 hours makes 3 cups thick cashew milk<br />
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120 g (1 cup) unroasted cashews, each split into halves<br />
2 cups cooled boiled (or distilled) water<br />
1/5 tsp salt (optional)<br />
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Wash split cashews in several changes of water and drain. Soak in cold water for 6 - 8 hours.<br />
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Drain cashews and combine with water and salt in blender jug. Process until very, very smooth. A powerful blender will be able to blend this fine enough so that filtering out the solids is unnecessary.<br />
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If you feel the milk is a little gritty, strain through double layers of very clean muslin or cheesecloth. The solids make a fantastic face or body scrub or mask and works wonders on dry scaly knees and elbows.<br />
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Decant into a very clean, dry covered container or bottle and refrigerate until needed. Consume within 3 days.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/singaporeshiok/cashew-milk">click here for printable recipe</a></div>
<br />denise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125715246990444305.post-627023167624063772013-03-08T08:45:00.000+08:002013-03-08T14:04:07.548+08:00sambal bendi (okra sambal)<br />
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Okra is a sadly misunderstood vegetable, the operative word being "misunderstood", because, as much as it is reviled by many, it is equally loved by Indian, Nyonya, Malay and Louisiana Cajun and Creole cooks. Did you ever wonder how a vegetable with a reputation for being as slimy as a snail trail, or as wooden as a Dutch clog, could possibly be loved by anyone in their right mind?<br />
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I can tell you this much - it's not because these communities love slurping on gluey grub or chewing on kindling, though I have been told that gumbo <i>should</i> be, well..... gummy. That's probably an exception, but it's far likelier that they have figured out how to pick young, tender okra pods and the right way to handle them so they don't release torrents of slime into a curry, saute or stew.<br />
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I grew up eating piles and piles of okra, bendi (or more properly,<i> kacang bendi</i> in Malay) or ladies' fingers in stir fries, gulai, curries, sambal or as part of an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulam_(salad)">ulam</a> meal consisting of myriad vegetables, wild and cultivated, cooked and raw, and loved every single last one. My grandmother didn't have magic fingers, she just knew how to treat them with tender, loving care and bring out the best in them.<br />
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She taught mum and me to pick young pods by bending their tails. If the tails snap off without much effort, the pod will cook up tender and succulent. If the tails are unyielding, you will be chewing on the cooked pods until kingdom come. She also told us never to slice into a raw pod and always rolled them around a blisteringly hot dry pan or dunked into them boiling water until they turned a deeper green, before cutting into them. This simple step of lightly precooking them somehow staunches the flow of goo and transforms the okra into one of the most delicious vegetables I have ever had the pleasure of eating.<br />
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This style of okra sambal was my grandmother's favourite and it appeared on our dining table at least once a week. An alternative method is to slice the seared or blanched okra pods and stir fry them with a paste of chillies, onions, dried prawns and/or belacan. I prefer the fresher, zingier flavour of the raw sambal and the crunch of the very lightly cooked okra, as opposed to the oiled slicked and muskier flavour of the stir fried version. Both are delicious though, with steaming hot white rice.<br />
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I've said my piece, in defence of the much maligned and underappreciated okra. I can do no more to champion the cause of this underdog of the vegetable (fruit?) world except to share my grandmother's wonderful recipe. The delicious evidence would speak volumes more than anything I could write.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">sambal bendi (okra sambal)</span><br />
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prep 20 mins cook 10 mins serves 4<br />
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400 g or about 20 okra (choose light green pods with pliant tails that snap easily)<br />
4 - 5 tbsp <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2012/06/sambal-belacan-chilli-and-shrimp-paste.html#.UTl_ANaouSo">sambal belacan</a><br />
2 tbsp small dried prawns, washed, soaked until softened, squeezed dry, toasted and pounded (reserve some for garnish)<br />
1/3 tsp sugar (or to taste)<br />
Juice from 1- 2 calamansi limes (limau kasturi)<br />
3 shallots, peeled and very thinly sliced<br />
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Wash and drain the uncut okra. Bring a pot of lighlty salted water to boil.<br />
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Cook the okra in the rapidly boiling water for about 1 minute or until the pods turn a deeper shade of green.<br />
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Remove from pot and drain thoroughly. Trim off stalks and tails and transfer to serving dish or bowl.<br />
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Combine the sambal belacan, dried prawns, sugar and lime juice and mix well. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.<br />
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Top the okra with sambal and garnish with sliced shallots and reserved pounded dried prawns. Serve immediately with white rice and fried fish or fried chicken.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/singaporeshiok/sambal-bendi-okra-sambal">click here for printable recipe</a></div>
<br />denise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125715246990444305.post-61180358715700258712013-03-05T00:17:00.000+08:002013-03-05T19:43:47.809+08:00sweet potato and longan soup<br />
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The Cantonese term "tong sui" encompasses a wide range of (usually) hot or warm sweet dessert soups, of which my favourite, is sweet potato and longan soup. Tong sui is uniquely Cantonese, as no other Chinese community is known to prepare them. Unlike most Western style or other tyes of Chinese desserts, tong sui, which literally means sugar water, is almost always fat free, light, refreshing and restoring.<br />
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Herbs and health bolstering or even "medicinal" ingredients are not uncommon additions. Fancy a little <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasma">oviductus ranae</a> in your dessert soup? How about a nice big bowl of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guilinggao">turtle shell jelly</a>? It sounds a little unsettling, but the outcome is frequently delicious and you may be pleasantly surprised to find yourself asking for seconds and even thirds. That's the official party line anyway ;) Personally, if I can't tell what it is, I'll pass, thank you very much! Great thing about sweet potatoes is, you can tell one, a mile away. Now you know why this is my favourite tong sui.<br />
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The exceptions to the rule are the creamy nut or seed based soups made from toasted and ground almonds, walnuts, peanuts or sesame seeds. Even so, these will hardly do any damage to your figure, compared to a slice of layered and frosted chocolate cake, nut pie or coconut laden nyonya kueh.<br />
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You don't need many ingredients for sweet potato soup, and the classic version features only sweet potato slices in a ginger scented syrup sweetened with rock sugar. This version is a local favourite, embellished with pandan, dried longans and rich, fudgy palm sugar, all of which add up to an intensely flavourful and headily perfumed bowl of healthy, delicious goodness.... without the funky amphibious or reptilian bits and bobs.<br />
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Ginger, a proven and trusted digestive aid, is a must as sweet potatoes are believed to be 'windy'. Eating more than a few slices, may cause a gassy tummy and extremely uncomfortable bloating. Trust me, you want ginger in this! Pandan leaves are a wonderful and frequent addition, but can be replaced with vanilla or simply omitted. If longans are not your thing, or difficult to find, dried Chinese dates are a great stand in. If you're working around a bare-bones pantry set up, do it the old fashioned way, with just sweet potatoes, ginger and whatever sugar you have, or like.<br />
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This is a very simple, undemanding dish to prepare, but, the touchstone for a well made bowl is the clarity of the syrup. The Chinese refer to this as "cheng", meaning clear. The sweet potatoes must be perfectly tender, without any hint of mushiness, so they don't disintegrate or crumble into the syrup, thus clouding it. The longans must be cooked until rehydrated to the core, but not simmered so long, that their essence is leached out into the syrup, thus rendering them tasteless. Above all, the syrup that carries both ingredients must be flavourful, fragrant, subtly sweet so as not to overpower the flavour of the sweet potatoes and longans, and crystal clear so as not to visually obscure them. <br />
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The best way to achieve this ideal, is to cook the sweet potatoes separately from the other ingredients. This may seem like a lot of hoo-ha for what amounts to tarted up boiled sweet potatoes, but once you have taken it in with your eyes, your nose and finally, your tastebuds, you will understand why sometimes, it pays to be just a little bit... persnickety. Cantonese cuisine, at its heart, is uncomplicated cooking, showcasing the best of a few good ingredients, but, technique is <i>everything</i>. And, it may be simple, but damn, if it ain't pretty!<br />
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<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/singaporeshiok/sweet-potato-and-longan-soup">click here for printable recipe</a></div>
denise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125715246990444305.post-81270834723276500842013-03-01T00:10:00.000+08:002013-03-01T11:43:59.822+08:00kopi see (coffee with evaporated milk)<br />
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I'm really an americano kinda girl. If you're into coffee culture, you'd probably know that an americano (aka "long black" or "caffee lungo" or "aqua sporca") is what Italians call an espresso that's been diluted by at least an equal amount of hot water, into something the coffee gods of Europe deem suitable only for Americans with soft hands, and no stomach for real coffee. Don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger. It gets worse; "aqua sporca" is Italian for dirty water. *yikes* I am not making this up. And I have absolutely nothing against Americans, soft hands or weak coffee. I mean, I love<i> weak</i> coffee, apparently.<br />
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You're more likely to find me sipping an americano from a Starbucks or Coffee Bean thimble.... er....cup, when I find five-dollar bills on the sidewalk, or more often, slurping my caffeinated home brew out of my trusty cafetiere, rather than enjoying a steaming cup of kopi from the nearest kopi tiam. The kopi tiam or coffee shop is a local institution renowned for unpretentious, sock-it-to-your-solar-plexus coffee and tea based beverages that won't make your wallet cry, even after three mammoth shots, or a round for every one in the house, for that matter. Makes you wonder how these guys can operate, often right around the clock, serving up liquid gold, without charging you the earth for it. Best get your head out of the horse's mouth and pucker up to another cup of kopi instead...<br />
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I love me a steaming, fragrant cup of local <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2012/06/teh-tarik-and-giveaway-results.html#.US2veKJkTSg">teh tarik</a>, but the kopi tiam style coffees, I find a lot less charming because I don't like my coffee beans brassy and brazen, roasted nigh unto death and crusted with virtually carbonised sugar. As you could probably imagine, the kind of coffee that emerges from such beans has nothing in common with the words "nuance" or "bouquet". It's all body - bitter, black, very, very toasty, smack you on the forehead, thick as sludge, BODY. Not my coffee style. Usually.<br />
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There is one, and only one style of coffee I enjoy from the kopi tiam though. Kopi see. It's also the only kind of milked coffee I will touch. All that bitterness and body is tamed by silky, creamy evaporated milk into something quite beautiful. The minute the steaming coffee hits the pool of evaporated milk and sugar at the bottom of the glass, the most gorgeous toasted nut and caramel aromas unfurl from the swirling waves of cold milk and hot coffee, lingering just long enough at the tip of the nose to tantalise and intoxicate, on their heavenward journey, no doubt, to tempt the angels. I'm pretty sure, in heaven, the one thing you remember of your earthly existence, is the smell of coffee, first thing in the morning. That, and possibly...... sizzling bacon. <br />
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<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/singaporeshiok/kopi-see-coffee-with-evaporated-milk">click here for printable recipe</a></div>
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denise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125715246990444305.post-61942198142405414482013-02-25T10:55:00.001+08:002013-02-26T20:55:40.202+08:00easy lemon pickleAbout ten years ago, I fell, with a huge thud, head over heels in love with all things Moroccan. The colours and crafts, the food and architecture, the spare, haunting beauty of the almost lunar-like landscapes, even, the Moroccan sun. I know there's just<i> the</i> one sun, thank you. But, in Morrocco, it casts a different light, it just does, and everything looks more beautiful, under it. I decided that if I were destined to die unexpectedly, in a tragic and dramatic fashion, please, please, please, powers that be, let me be lost in Moroccan Sahara, and never again found.<br />
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I once made a tall jar of Moroccan preserved lemons that believe it or not, still stands in my cupboard with some of the original contents from 2003. I had two lemons left and was curious about how long they could last, as I'd read that these preserved lemons, if made properly could last indefinitely or till Armageddon, whichever came first. Challenge accepted!<br />
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Well, after almost ten years, I have to grudgingly tip my hat to the Moroccans. They know pickles and they know lemons. They now look too alarming to even consider eating (see that ominously dark pointed ovoid in the saucer below?), but in that dark, murky brine, the lemons are otherwise perfectly preserved, I dare say, mummified or should that be lemomified? Having lived to the ripe, old age of ten, a very venerable age for lemons I'm told, I wonder if they might perhaps, cure cancer, or even, the common cold....</div>
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The familiar and appetite sharpening scent of slightly musky and sharp salted citrus from the lemon crypt made my stomach growl for some chicken tajine with cous cous, rice or flatbread. But like I said, no way was I letting those fossilised fruit near my mouth. So, like a hungry wolf, keening for fresh, warm meat, I went lemon hunting and came back with half a dozen.</div>
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I couldn't wait the full 6 weeks I always endure, squirming with impatience, when I make preserved lemons, so this time, I decided to do a quick version which was ready in 7 days. It's not as intense or fragrant, but it's still very good. Unlike Moroccan preserved lemons which are so explosively flavourful they don't lend themselves to casual nibbling and certainly won't play nice with a sandwich and soup lunch, these lemon chunks, tempered with sugar, are much friendlier.<br />
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They add a zesty edge to a toasted cheese sandwich, a stuffed pita or your favourite flat bread and curry combo. I can't resist lifting pieces from the jar and nibbling on them, like buah kana (Asian preserved fruit), favourite snack of expectant mums and those who go green at the gills, after 5 minutes in a trundling vehicle.<br />
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<a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2013/02/easy-garlic-herb-and-sesame-naan.html#.USrT7R1kTSg">My favourite flatbread of the moment</a>, has fallen completely in love with my favourite new pickle, and the two are now inseparable. I'm hurt, but I bear no grudge and wish them both happiness and the patter of tiny, pickled, bready feet very, very soon. Something bound to happen, the way those two have been going at it *ahem* I'll just close the door on my way out.....<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">easy lemon pickle</span><br />
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prep 3 days makes 1 med jar (10 - 12 servings)<br />
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6 medium sized unwaxed lemons (I buy lemons labelled unwaxed and soak them in very warm water - I have trust issues)<br />
100 g (2/3 cup) sugar<br />
60 g (1/3 cup) salt<br />
2 tsp brown mustard seeds, toasted and lightly crushed<br />
2 tsp dry or English mustard (powder)<br />
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Wash lemons well, scrubbing the skins gently. Soak washed lemons in very warm water for 45 minutes 1 hour.<br />
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Drain and dry lemons thoroughly with clean cloth or kitchen paper. Cut off a little of the top and bottom from each lemon. Cut each lemon vertically in half . Cut each half into 6 chunks. Each lemon will yield 12 chunks. Collect and reserve any juice that leaks out when cutting.<br />
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Combine lemons with all the remaining ingredients, including any juice, in a non-metallic bowl and mix thoroughly but gently so lemons don't bruise.<br />
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Transfer lemons and all liquid to a clean, dry sterilised jar and seal. Keep jar away from light and chills. Your kitchen cupboard would be perfect. Shake every 12 hours for 3 days. You could do this for a week for a more intense pickle. After 7 days, always store jar in the fridge (especially in the tropics) and eat it all up within 4 months.<br />
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Always decant pickle from jar with a clean dry spoon. Never touch pickle directly with fingers unless you're eating it, never dip your eating spoon into the jar *tsk tsk*. Serve with North African, Indian or Thai food.<br />
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<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/singaporeshiok/easy-lemon-pickle">click here for printable recipe</a></div>
<br />denise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125715246990444305.post-2253924808514090492013-02-22T12:28:00.000+08:002013-02-22T16:04:55.685+08:00lo bak koh (radish cake)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year, is the single most important festival of the Chinese social and cultural calendar. No expense is spared when marking the occasion, whether it's towards new home furnishings, spanking new outfits for the entire family, travel expenses to reunite with kin, or the most delectable and expensive culinary delicacies to share with both friends and family. So it's no surprise Chinese New Year is so high profile that everyone, Chinese or not, seems to know about it.<br />
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A lesser known, but no less delightful celebration, related to Chinese New Year is Chap Goh Meh or Yuan Xiao, in Mandarin. If you're not Chinese, or have little exposure to Chinese culture, chances are you know little or nothing about it; while the early days of the new year are a celebration that includes inviting friends home to partake of traditional goodies and festive cheer, the last day of the new year has always been more of a family and community centred observance, with celebrations usually confined to family, relatives and community.<br />
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Chap Goh Meh is Hokkien for "the fifteenth night", which is the last day of the Lunar New Year festivities. I know of no other occasion, where the last day is celebrated with a bang, almost equal to the inaugural day. Not even The Feast of the Epiphany, which officially brings Christmas to a close, is marked with so jolly an observance. The highlight of Chap Goh Meh in Singapore, is surely, the visually stunning and boisterous Chingay Procession, a very loud and blindingly colourful parade, not unilke a Mardi Gras parade.<br />
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Chap Goh Meh is sometimes referred to as The Lantern Festival since many homes are gaily lit with numerous lanterns, and often, families take to the streets, carrying lanterns, as a glittering send off to the last day of Chinese New Year, though this is not a common practice in modern day Singapore because of our highly urbanised lifestyle. It's also known as Chinese Valentine's Day, as it is considered a day of romantic potential for single ladies. The most charming and whimsical way to mark Chap Goh Meh, that I know of, happens in Penang, where single ladies, (young or otherwise), enthusiastically toss mandarin oranges into the river, hoping for it to be caught or picked up by a desirable potential beau, who would be besotted enough to seek the hand of the maiden who tossed the orange, in marriage.<br />
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And of course, a day of such significance must be marked by the partaking of delicious and symbolic foods, so families will gather to enjoy a meal together, of the usual Chinese New Year treats. Dessert will almost certainly be <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2012/12/sweet-potato-tang-yuan-stuffed-sticky.html#.USceSR1kTSg">tang yuan</a>, which represents completeness, continuity, infinity, unity and good fortune because of it's circular shape, and the promise of a year ahead, filled with sweetness and harmony for those who eat it.<br />
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If you're Cantonese, one of the must have dishes on the celebratory dinner table, will be Lo Bak Koh or radish cake. It's considered especially auspicious if eaten on the first day of the New Year as the Hokkien name for radish is chai tow which is a homophone for good fortune. But, if you want the last day of the New Year to be as fortune filled as the first, it makes good sense to make and more importantly, eat, this scrumptious treat, don't you think? A simpler version, with fewer and less expensive ingredients, is an expected offering in dim sum restaurants and also a common and favourite breakfast item in Singapore amongst the Chinese or lovers of Chinese food.<br />
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If this looks and sounds familiar, it's because lo bak koh is the Cantonese cousin of the Teochew chai tow kway. Both essentially mean radish cake. For chai tow kway, the radish rice cake is a simple mixture of grated radish, rice flour, water and seasonings. The cake is then cut into chunks which are pan fried with chopped garlic, chopped pickled radish, soy sauce, chili paste and eggs before being dished up and garnished with spring onions.<br />
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Lo Bak Koh is the more lux version, and especially for Chinese New Year, will be richly studded with diced shiitake mushrooms, cured meats like lap cheong or Jinhua ham and dried shrimps or prawns. Once steamed and solidified, it is sliced and served with garnishes and dipping sauces, or pan fried to a light crust before being served. Though both terms mean essentially the same thing, in Singapore, when you say lo bak koh, this is what you'll get while chai tow kway is usually taken to mean the more every day dish of cubed plain radish cake fried up with eggs and seasonings.<br />
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Carrots are usually not included, but I wanted a rich golden colour for my lo bak koh, symbolic of my wishes for a rich, golden cast upon this year, and upon all my undertakings. It's been eons since I had a golden year. I figure I'm finally up for one. I'm a little early for Chap Goh Meh, which falls on February 24 this year, but that's entirely intentional, as this dish is a two day project...... which gives you just enough time, if you start peeling that radish now! To my readers, one and all, a very<br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-large;">Happy Chap Goh Meh!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">lo bak koh</span></div>
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prep 4 hrs (plus cooling time) cook 1 hr 20 mins makes 24 slices (serves 8)<br />
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Radish Mixture<br />
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500 g or 1 medium radish (daikon or mooli) peeled and finely grated<br />
100 g or 2 small carrots, peeled and finely grated<br />
200 ml (1cup) water<br />
1 1/2 tsp salt<br />
1 1/2 tsp white pepper<br />
1 - 1 1/2 tbsp sugar (sugar neutralises the bitterness of daikon)<br />
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Meat Mixture<br />
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2 tbsp vegetable oil<br />
1 tbsp fragrant sesame oil<br />
6 shallots, peeled and chopped<br />
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped<br />
1 pair lap cheong (I used chicken lap cheong) soaked briefly then skinned and diced<br />
4 dried shiitake mushrooms, rinsed, soaked until soft then squeezed dry and diced<br />
30 g (1/2 cup) small dried prawns, rinsed, soaked until soft then squeezed dry and coarsely chopped<br />
3 tbsp Shao Xing wine<br />
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Rice Flour Batter<br />
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225 g (2 1/4 cups) rice flour (not <i>glutinous</i> rice flour)<br />
700 ml (3 1/2 cups) water<br />
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Combine ingredients for radish mixture and stir to dissolve salt and sugar. Cook over medium heat until vegetables are tender, pulpy and almost dry. Turn off heat and set aside.<br />
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Heat vegetable and sesame oil in another pan and fry the shallots and garlic until golden and fragrant. Add remaining ingredients, except for wine and stir over moderate heat until lightly browned. Pour in the wine and immediately cover with lid. Allow ingredients to steam in the wine vapours for 2 - 3 minutes. Open lid and stir until ingredients are dry. Turn off heat and set aside.<br />
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Prepare a large steamer and oil the bottom and sides of a 20 cm (8 in) square tin<br />
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Combine batter ingredients and whisk thoroughly. Pour batter into radish mixture in pan. Add meat mixture to radish and batter in pan. Stir until thoroughly combined then cook batter over moderate heat until mixture thickens enough to stand a spoon in.<br />
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Transfer mixture to oiled tin and lightly smooth top. Don't compress too much or cake will be heavy. Steam over high heat for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until solidified, but still wobbly in the centre. Remove from steamer and leave on counter until it reaches room temperature. Chilling cake overnight makes the cake easier to cut.<br />
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Run a blunt knife around edge of cake and gently invert onto a plate. Cut into slices and pan fry with a little oil over moderate heat until golden and crisp outside and soft inside.<br />
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Transfer slices to plate and garnish with spring onions before serving. The slices are tasty enough to eat asthey are, but some people like them with chilli garlic sauce, dried prawn sambal or sriracha.<br />
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<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/singaporeshiok/lo-bak-koh-radish-cake">click here for printable recipe</a></div>
<br />denise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125715246990444305.post-37668048505964129292013-02-18T00:15:00.000+08:002013-02-26T14:02:11.588+08:00easy garlic herb and sesame naan<br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">When I posted my recipe for <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2012/11/easy-yoghurt-naan.html#.USD4jR1kTSg">easy yoghurt naan</a>, last year, I had no idea it would be so well received and eventually become one of the most popular recipes here on Singapore Shiok. I have had very positive and heartwarming feedback on it. Clearly, Indian food is one of the most loved in the world, and rightly so, for such a varied, sophisticated and flavourful cuisine. Personally, I love naan because apart from being utterly delicious, it suits my unimpressive dough rolling skills perfectly; irregular tear drops preferable, perfect circles optional...</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">The naan post continues to garner an encouraging number of views daily, much to my surprise and almost every week since its publication , I have gotten requests for a garlic flavoured version. I've so far resisted posting another naan recipe as I felt insufficient time had passed since I posted the first. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">Two weeks ago however, I found out that a reader had tried my recipe, for her Indian food loving husband, with trepidation, as she's not well versed in Indian cooking at all. Much to her surprise, and my delight, the naan turned out "absolutely wonderful" in her own words. They were, apparently, her first Indian food triumph</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">, and one which she has since repeated with equal success.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">She wrote me a warm and appreciative email, requesting a garlic and herb version. Under such circumstances, how could I possibly refuse? The recipe below is my basic yeast free naan recipe, jazzed up with home made garlic butter, fresh coriander and toasted sesame seeds, all gently kneaded into the dough itself, not just sprinkled on top.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">Its tender,fluffy and flavourful crumb makes it delicious enough to eat on its own, as a light meal or substantial snack, with a mug of thick, frothy <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2012/06/teh-tarik-and-giveaway-results.html#.USD5OR1kTSg">teh tarik</a>. Pairing it with your favourite curry, sambar, my <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2013/01/green-chilli-chicken.html#.USD5nx1kTSg">green chilli chicken</a> or <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2012/11/keema.html#.USD6Mx1kTSg">easy keema</a> will make it an even more delicious and satisfying meal. If I have no curry, I'll happily eat it with Indian style mango pickle, <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2013/02/easy-lemon-pickle.html#.USw3AR1kTSg">lemon pickle</a> or lime pickle and crushed green chillies. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">You could use commercially prepared garlic butter, which makes this even easier. I prefer to make my own gently cooked version as it infuses the naan with a more subtle and layered garlic flavour and aroma compared to the single note pungency of raw garlic, which is what your average store bought garlic butter contains. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">Feel free to use either, but whatever you do, make at least a full batch of these gorgeous breads; </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">they are even better than my original recipe and one per person will almost certainly not be enough! Halve the recipe and you may </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">find yourself back in the kitchen, sleeves rolled up, wrist-deep in another bowl of flour, stirring up more, at your family's insistent request. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: x-large; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">easy garlic herb and sesame naan</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">prep 25 mins cook 35 mins makes 10</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;" /><br />Garlic Butter</span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">3 tbsp soft butter</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">8 cloves garlic, peeled and very finely minced</span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">300 g (3 cups) plain or all purpose flour</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">2/3 - 1 tsp fine salt</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">1 1/2 tsp sugar</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">2 tsp baking powder</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">1/2 tsp baking soda</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">3 tbsp lightly toasted sesame seeds</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">1 cup chopped fresh coriander, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plectranthus_amboinicus">Indian borage</a> or flat leaf parsley<br style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">60 ml (1/3 cup) plain unsweetened yoghurt</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">140 ml (2/3 cup) water</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">5 tbsp runny garlic butter (cooled)</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">A little extra garlic butter or plain melted butter for brushing</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;" /><br /><br />Make garlic butter by combining butter and garlic in a small pot and cooking over very gentle heat for about 5 minutes, stirring often, to prevent burning. When fragrant and garlic is limp, turn off heat and leave until cold.<br style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">Combine flour, salt, sugar, baking powder,baking soda and chopped herb in a large mixing bowl and mix well with fingers. Add yoghurt and water and mix into flour until well incorporated. Mix in the garlic butter and knead for a minute or two, or just enough to form a ball of soft dough. Do not overknead or breads will be tough.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">Snip dough into 10 pieces with scissors and flatten them into discs. Dust both sides of discs generously with flour and stretch each out into small oval or tear drop pieces.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">Roll out a piece into a thin ovoid or tear drop shape. If dough resists rolling and keeps stretching back (not likely unless dough was overkneaded) cover and rest for 15 minutes then roll again.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">Heat a heavy pan or griddle until very hot. Put naan on griddle and cook about 1 minute or until top of naan puffs and bubbles. Flip over and cook other side for 1 minute. Flip over and cook each side a further 1 minute each, until puffed and lightly scorched here and there.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">Remove from pan and brush top lightly with melted butter. Keep warm and repeat for remaining pieces of dough.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">Serve warm with curry, tandoori chicken, keema, green chilli chicken or sambar.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/singaporeshiok/easy-garlic-herb-and-sesame-naan">click here for printable recipe</a></span></span><br />
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denise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125715246990444305.post-63620661003367456472013-02-15T01:11:00.000+08:002013-02-15T16:22:36.452+08:00sticky rice & red bean cake<br />
The thing about sticky rice or pulut is once I start, I find it very hard to stop. It started with the <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2013/01/serundeng-spiced-grated-coconut.html#.URdfrh38mSo">serundeng post</a> I did, which begged the <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2013/02/pulut-serundeng-glutinous-rice-with.html#.URdf9R38mSo">pulut serundeng post</a> and after that, of course I couldn't stop till every grain of sticky rice was gone from my pantry.<br />
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What makes it even stranger is the fact that I really am not a rice person on any given day. There's just something really moreish though, about the tender, succulent and swollen grains of pulut that makes it near impossible to stop reaching for another, then yet one more piece.<br />
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The fact that it's pandan scented and riddled with mealy, sweet red beans would have made it even more dangerous, had I not made it figure friendlier. It's amazing how my sluggish metabolism is so gifted at calculating (and revealing) calorie damage, when I can barely add up three and three and come up with six *grrrrrr*<br />
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Sticky rice by itself is pretty benign but it always cries out for luxuriant, creamy coconut milk, moist, fudgy palm sugar or maddeningly fragrant oil slicked spices and fatty meat. I'm still packing excess 'baggage' from Christmas, Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day, so I had to draw the line before I split my pants. I was toying with the idea of using coconut water instead of a coconut milk and water cocktail, but I thought it would make the rice taste too lean and downright mean, so low fat coconut milk was a happy and delicious compromise.<br />
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The slices were soft, chewy, moist and wonderfully beany, recalling both Japanese <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagashi">wagashi</a> and Nyonya kueh. I had slice after slice, for breakfast, afternoon tea and dessert. Didn't bust the zipper or the seat of my pants, though I ate about three quarters of it myself over the course of a few days. The delicately delicious and spare flavours meld perfectly together and have an almost zen-like elementalism, so easy to appreciate after the inordinate richness of the past seasons' celebratory foods.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">sticky rice and red bean cake</span><br />
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prep 6 hours (includes soaking) cook 1 1/4 hrs makes 24 thick slices<br />
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225 g (1 1/2 cups) red beans (ang tow or adzuki beans)<br />
2 tsp baking soda<br />
300 g (2 cups) sticky rice (pulut or glutinous rice)<br />
200 ml (1 cup) low fat coconut milk<br />
400 ml (2 cups) water<br />
150 g (1 cup) sugar<br />
1 tsp salt<br />
4 pandan leaves, cut into short lengths or knotted<br />
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Remove any impurities from beans and wash several times. Drain well. Bring a large kettle of water to boil.<br />
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Put beans and baking soda into a large container and pour over boiling water until beans are completely covered in water. Stir to dissolve baking soda then cover and leave to soak for 6 hours to tenderise. In a separate container, wash, drain and then soak rice in cold water for 4 hours then drain and set aside.<br />
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Drain beans and wash several times to get rid of all traces of baking soda. Drain thoroughly. Prepare a steamer and bring to the boil.<br />
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In a mixing bowl, combine drained beans, drained rice, coconut milk, water,sugar, salt and pandan leaves. Stir gently but thoroughly to dissolve sugar and salt.<br />
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Line a 20 cm (8 in) square cake tin with double layers of cling wrap. Pour rice and bean mixture into tin and level ingredients so rice and beans are completely submerged in liquid.<br />
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Steam over high heat for 30 minutes then turn rice and beans over from bottom to top and vice versa. Rice should be cooked but still firm now. Level top of rice and steam again until rice and beans are tender. Remove from steamer and leave until comfortable enough to handle without burning your hand.<br />
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Using a gloved hand, press down firmly on surface of rice to pack down into tin and compress. Leave until competely cold then cut into slices with a wet or lightly oiled knife. Serve with black or green tea, coffee or soy milk, for breakfast, afternoon tea or at any time as a snack.<br />
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<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/singaporeshiok/sticky-rice-and-red-bean-cake">click here for printable recipe</a></div>
denise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125715246990444305.post-78255110985283147472013-02-11T00:15:00.000+08:002013-02-11T08:03:37.319+08:00chocolate swirl hearts (egg and dairy free)<br />
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Valentine's Day has come to be seen as a day for lovers but the truth is that it doesn't have very romantic origins. In fact, it's a day originally intended to commemorate the execution and sacrifice of a Christian priest named Valentine, (and possibly several other Christian priests so named) who was imprisoned for his spiritual convictions and the things he did, to uphold them, in the early days of the Christian church. It really wasn't so much about hearts and flowers as it was about martyrdom, back in the day.<br />
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So what did he do that was terrible enough to warrant his imprisonment and eventual death? Well, the story goes that he secretly married underground Christians, many of whom were soldiers in the Roman army, at a time when the Roman Empire was still in its glory days. Roman soldiers were prohibited from marrying as marriage was seen as a distraction from their military duties.<br />
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The Romans wanted to keep their stranglehold on power and saw still nascent Christianity as a significant threat to their supremacy, because of its popular message of equality, love, and a single, merciful and benevolent godhead, in stark contrast to the Roman regime of slavery, crippling taxation, and religion of multiple deities, many of whom were often depicted as petty, jealous, even sadistic.<br />
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Apart from conducting secret Christian weddings, Valentine also administered spiritually to the early Christians and the Romans decided he had to be stopped before he sowed further discontent and possibly stirred up rebellion. It's believed that he was asked to stop his ministering in exchange for his freedom. In response, Valentine tried to convert the Roman big wig who offered him freedom if he denied his God. That was deemed the last straw and his head soon came rolling off the chopping block. Poor guy.<br />
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How did this tradition of romance, love letters, candy and gift swapping spring up from such tragic circumstances? The story further goes that during his imprisonment, he befriended the daughter of his jailer, a blind girl, and through prayer, cured her of her blindness. On the eve of his execution, he wrote her a farewell letter, in which he signed off as "Your Valentine". The rest is romantic, rose hued and candy coated history. Perhaps the romantic celebrations that have become synonymous with Valentines' Day are an appropriate commemoration and acknowledgement of Valentine's sacrifice after all, as a large part of his life's work, apart from spreading the message of Christianity was to clandestinely unite couples in love, in a time of persecution and secrecy.<br />
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Still feeling romantic? May I suggest these delightfully doable and delicious swirly hearts for your sweetheart then? Way cheaper than criminally overpriced roses and candy and so much more meaningful because you made them yourself. I wanted a brioche-like, rich, sweet bread that was quicker and easier than the traditional version and I also made them dairy free so hubs would be able to enjoy them without reprisal. If you prefer, use butter and dairy milk instead. These are very easy and are part scone, part <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugelach">rugelach</a> and part brioche, but much prettier than any of them. Pretty enough in fact, to give roses a run for their money, or, should that be, <i>your</i> (hard earned) money....<br />
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<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-large;">Happy Valentine's Day!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">chocolate swirl hearts</span><br />
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prep 25 mins cook 20 mins makes 12 hearts<br />
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300 g (3 cups) plain or all purpose flour<br />
2 tsp instant yeast<br />
2 - 3 tbsp sugar (I used 2 tbsp and I loved it but my boys said it needed more sugar)<br />
1/2 tsp salt<br />
75 g (1/2 cup) cold firm margarine (I used unhydrogenated olive oil margarine), cubed<br />
180 ml (1 scant cup) cold unsweetened soy milk (or use rice or nut milk if preferred)<br />
2 tsp vanilla extract<br />
1/8 - 1/4 tsp red food colour (I used 1/8 tsp of very concentrated artificial cochineal - bug free)<br />
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Filling<br />
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40 g (about 1/4 cup) soft margarine<br />
150 g (1 cup) semi sweet mini dark chocolate chips<br />
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Glaze<br />
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45 g (1/2 cup) sifted icing sugar (sifted before measuring)<br />
2 tsp soy milk<br />
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Line a baking tray with parchment or non stick baking paper. In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly whisk together the flour, yeast, sugar and salt.<br />
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Cut in the margarine cubes with two knives or a pastry blender/cutter until mixture is coarse and crumbly, with lumps of margarine still visible here and there.<br />
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Stir together milk, vanilla and colouring and pour mixture all at once into the flour mixture. Quickly and lightly stir together with a spatula until mixture comes together in a shaggy dough.<br />
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Gather together into a cohesive dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured board or work surface and pat or roll out to a rectangle measuring about 30 cm (12 in) by 20 cm (8 in).<br />
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Spread dough with soft margarine. Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over and gently press chocolate chips down onto dough with rolling pin. Starting from one of the longer edges, roll dough up tightly like a Swiss roll only to the middle of the rectangle. Repeat with the other long edge so both rolls meet in the middle.<br />
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Press down gently on dough, all over and cut across roll into 12 slices. Each slice should be 2.5 cm (1 in) thick. Place each slice flat on work surface with cut swirly side up. Grab top of each slice between index finger and thumb and hold together, while pinching bottom of slice into a point.<br />
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Transfer each roll to baking tray and cover lightly with a clean cloth or plastic wrap. Leave to rise for about 30 - 45 minutes or almost doubled. The actual rising time will depend on the ambient temperature of your kitchen or work area. It will be longer in a cooler area and shorter in a warmer area. Don't over rise or hearts will go out of shape.<br />
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Half way through rising time, preheat oven at 190 C (380 F). When sufficiently risen, remove cover and bake hearts for 15 - 20 minutes or until slightly crusty and nicely puffed. Remove from oven and cool on a rack.<br />
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When hearts are cold, whisk together the glaze ingredients until smooth. It should be of a coating but drip-able consistency. Do not glaze hearts when still warm or the glaze will be absorbed into the crumb, instead of setting to a snowy glaze. Drizzle across the swirly top of each heart. Leave to set before serving.<br />
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<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/singaporeshiok/chocolate-swirl-hearts">click here for printable recipe</a></div>
denise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125715246990444305.post-18538418709841030442013-02-06T14:39:00.000+08:002013-02-07T12:02:03.411+08:00hup toh soh (chinese walnut cookies)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hi guys! It's <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/p/nona-nona.html#.URDBBR38mSo">Nona Nona</a> time again, and this month's theme, Chinese New Year, was picked by Biren, who helms <a href="http://www.rotinrice.com/">Roti n Rice</a> and <a href="http://www.teatattler.com/">Tea Tattler</a> and is my blogger BFF and partner in crime. We've been at this for almost a year now, since <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2012/04/kerabu-kacang-botol-or-spicy-winged.html#.URCMbR38mSo">our first Nona Nona collaboration</a>, the object being to present two different dishes each month, on the same theme, without revealing to each other, what dish we're preparing, until the day of the reveal.<br />
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So far we've mostly managed to avoid colliding in the dark, save for our last two collaborations <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2012/10/chinese-braised-peanuts.html#.URCNDh38mSo">first here</a> and then <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2012/12/sweet-potato-tang-yuan-stuffed-sticky.html#.URCNbh38mSo">again here</a>, when we both presented the same dish.<br />
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This time, I'm pretty sure we won't be duplicating each other, but fingers firmly crossed, all the same. Now that we're done with the intros, let's roll up our sleeves and get those aprons on!<br />
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These delightful and easy cookies are a Cantonese creation, which is no surprise, as the Cantonese do seem really fond of walnuts, turning them not only into amazingly fragrant and crunchy cookies, but also lovely sweet soups, and moreish caramel coated nibbles.<br />
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But, back to these cookies - they're my absolute favourite Chinese New Year treat, though I am firmly in the chewy cookie camp. I can't resist their crumbly and light texture, and the intoxicating aroma of toasty walnuts and sweet, creamy vanilla. But, the tipping point for me, is the salty-sweet flavour juxtaposition of these pretty morsels; it makes them irresistible and alarmingly addictive.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>I don't know how far this is true, but I've been told these cookies were traditionally made without walnuts (say what??) and with lots of lard. The lard bit I get as it has long been associated with Chinese pastry making, seeing as how much they love the very tasty pig and how butter has never been a part of the traditional southern Chinese diet. The no-walnut rule though, has me puzzled. Why call it a walnut cookie if it's not supposed to have walnuts in it?? One of my boys likens the fissured surface of the baked cookie to the appearance of a walnut kernel, but his brother shot him right down with his insistence that they look more like dried shiitake mushroom caps. Hmm, the doughy plot thickens...<br />
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Chinese New Year is a very big deal in Singapore as more than eighty percent of the local population is of Chinese origin. In fact, not so very long ago, in busy bustling Singapore, many Chinese owned businesses would close for an entire week during Chinese New Year, to mark the occasion. Even street traffic would decrease dramatically as celebrants prepared to be reunited with family members and relatives not seen since the previous year's reunion dinner, often crossing the border into Malaysia, to do so. These days, with the demands of burgeoning enterprise, expansion and globalisation, the wheels of commerce keep turning regardless, so Singapore no longer takes on the veneer of a ghost town, during Chinese New Year.<br />
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Still, some things never change and you will still see cheery red lidded plastic containers filled with all manner of treats, that herald the galloping approach of the Lunar New Year, at neightbourhood shops, Chinese New Year bazaars and supermarkets, gaily dotting the island, for weeks before the actual day. It's almost like red tide sweeping the country, though I have to admit, it's an uplifting sight, and my blood pumps faster, walking between walls of red lids, at the supermarket. These treats, though never as wonderful as home baked versions, are a godsend for those too busy or unable to bake their own. But, I noted while perusing them, a conspicuous absence of hup toh soh, amidst the avalanche of charcoal cookies, pineapple rolls, love letters, kueh bangkit, cashew, peanut and green pea cookies. All very well, but no representation for my favourite Chinese cookie??! Shocking, and unacceptable.<br />
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So, here is my recipe for them, in case you miss them and bemoan their glaring exclusion from store shelves and festive bazaar displays, as much as I do. Many recipes specify butter which gives wonderful flavour but oil gives them incredible lightness and flakiness and walnuts are so flavourful that I don't miss the butter very much. And, I am not kidding about how crunchy and delicate these cookies are - you'll need a saucer under your chin when eating them or be prepared to sweep up showers of crumbs.<br />
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These are usually glazed with beaten egg or egg yolk, for a richer colour, but I brushed them with a mixture of soy milk, vegetable oil and sugar instead, because I just don't like how the cookies smell when they are baked with an egg glaze. If you prefer the thicker, glossier lacquer of the traditional egg glaze, feel free to crack one open. My cookies are darker than most Chinese bakers make theirs, because I have doubled the amount of walnuts usually called for. If you want a more traditional, paler cookie, reduce the walnuts and correspondingly increase the flour to make up a total of 300 g or 3 cups of flour and nuts combined. I'll always go for taste over looks, buuuuut... that's just me.<br />
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How do you not love a cookie that not only tastes wonderful, but is also an undertaking as easy as it is enjoyable? I find pinching off, rolling and pressing down the dough induces a state of almost zen-like serenity. Just what the doctor ordered and what the hectic season demands.<br />
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Now, if you're as curious as I am about what's going on in <a href="http://www.rotinrice.com/2013/02/fah-sung-thong-peanut-and-sesame-brittle/">Biren's kitchen</a>, click here to find out what Chinese New Year treat she has for you. I hope you enjoy these scrumptious cookies, as much as my family relished every single one of the three batches I made. For more seasonal treats to make your family smile, check out my recipes for <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2012/10/chinese-braised-peanuts.html#.URGomx11_Sg">Chinese Braised Peanuts</a> and <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2012/12/sweet-potato-tang-yuan-stuffed-sticky.html#.URGpBB11_Sg">Sweet Potato Tang Yuan</a>. Before I go, I'd like to wish all my lovely Chinese readers,<br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">A Very Happy New Year</span></div>
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or as we say around here, </div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">Gong Xi Fa Cai, Hong Bao Na Lai! </span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">May this year's snake be venomless and vegan, with a sunny disposition. Yeah, go ahead, laugh. You're not a tasty, juicy goat, are you? I didn't think so....</span></div>
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<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/singaporeshiok/hup-toh-soh-chinese-walnut-cookies">click here for printable recipe</a></div>
denise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125715246990444305.post-61448480754054795462013-02-01T09:18:00.003+08:002013-03-10T14:18:02.914+08:00pulut serundeng (glutinous rice with spiced grated coconut)<br />
I promised in my last post, to show you one of my favourite dishes which uses <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2013/01/serundeng-spiced-grated-coconut.html#.UQsVMx38mSo">serundeng</a>, so here I am, with a treat tempting enough to send your diet to Brokenresolutionville. Mine's already there, head hanging in shame. I thought it could use some company. Pulut serundeng is a favourite tea time treat, breakfast or snack item, especially in the Malay and Indonesian communities, either one or both of whom we owe thanks to, for this inspired creation. Now that I've painfully twisted my tongue, your brain and possibly, English grammar, let's get to the good stuff.<br />
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It's extremely moreish and I've never been able to stop at just one or two soft, chewy, coconut topped mounds. Making it is a bit time consuming, but most of it involves leaving the rice to soak for a few hours. If you have your serundeng ready and waiting to crown the mounds of lightly compressed rice, it's not too much of a bother to put together.<br />
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I've inherited my love for pulut from my grandmother who could never resist pulut panggang (baked stuffed glutinous rice rolls) putri salat (kaya topped steamed glutinous rice) or pulut inti (coconut and palm sugar topped steamed glutinous rice). Because she had lost all her teeth long before I was even born (thank you wartime nutrition), she always cooked it very tender, and this has become my preference as well.<br />
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When undercooked or cooked without adequate liquid, it tends to be quite firm and springy and I find that as such, it contrasts unpleasantly against rather than complements whatever it is paired with. I do think for pulut serundeng the grains should be very tender and moist so they present a more adherent base for the crumbly serundeng. If you prefer firmer pulut (honestly, I <i>do not </i>recommend it for this recipe) reduce the ratio of rice to water to 1 : 2/3 rather than 1 : 1. But, whatever you do, do not skip soaking the rice, to guarantee that it cooks evenly and perfectly, without annoyingly crunchy grains amidst the fully cooked, tender grains.<br />
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No description I could muster, would do justice to how truly delicious pulut serundeng is. Perhaps, the best endorsement I could give is to tell you that I don't really like rice and prefer noodles or bread, but a platter of these delicious treats, can bring me to my knees and make me shamelessly stuff my face. Never mind, how criminally fattening they are. Like I said in my last post, they're a very special treat, for when I've been very, very good. I also make them very, very small, so<i> I</i> don't end up very, very big.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">pulut serundeng</span><br />
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prep 8 hrs (includes soaking) cook 40 mins makes 24 small pieces<br />
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300 g (2 cups) white glutinous rice, washed several times, soaked for 6 hours then thoroughly drained<br />
200 ml (1 cup) thick coconut milk or coconut cream<br />
200 ml (1 cup) water<br />
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)<br />
4 pandan leaves, cut into short lengths<br />
Desired amount<a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2013/01/serundeng-spiced-grated-coconut.html#.UQsVMx38mSo"> serundeng</a> (for topping)<br />
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Prepare a steamer that will accomodate your steaming tray.<br />
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Combine all ingredients except for the serundeng and mix thoroughly but gently so rice grains don't break.<br />
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Pour mixture into tray and level the top to ensure all rice grains are submerged in the liquid. When water in steamer boils, put in tray and cover. Steam over high heat for 20 minutes then open cover and turn rice over, top to bottom and vice versa.<br />
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Cover and steam for a further 20 minutes or until rice grains are evenly tender and translucent. fTurn off heat and remove from steamer. Discard pandan leaves and cool rice until comfortable enough to handle but still very warm. Do not wait until rice is too cool or it will be harder to shape.<br />
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Using gloved hands, form rice into small dome shaped mounds and top each mound generously with serundeng. Gently press on serundeng to help it stick.<br />
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Transfer to platter and serve immediately with tea or coffee, for breakfast, afternoon tea or as a snack at any time.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/singaporeshiok/pulut-serundeng-glutinous-rice-with-spiced-grated-coconut">click here for printable recipe</a></div>
denise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125715246990444305.post-22682173451989823042013-01-28T00:15:00.000+08:002013-02-18T20:28:42.760+08:00serundeng (spiced grated coconut)One of the most pleasurable aspects of Asian food, for me, is the dizzying array of condiments and side dishes that often take up as much space on the dinner table, as the main dishes themselves. Like skilful use of punctuation, these little culinary accents, usually saturated with colour, flavour and texture, add just the right punch, in exactly the right places, to a meal and make it that much more memorable.<br />
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From amongst the wide range you will find in the south east Asian region, one of my favourites is serundeng, a side dish of spicy sweet and intensely aromatic fresh coconut shreds, that is unfortunately not prepared or seen as commonly these days, except around Hari Raya (Eid).<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Once upon a time, no self respecting lontong seller would serve his lontong without a generous sprinkle of serundeng atop the rich and flavourful melange of rice cakes and tender vegetables stewed in spiced coconut milk. Its rich golden hue, speckled with flecks of green and red, make it as beautiful as it is delicious. I'm not certain if serundeng originates from Malaysia or Indonesia, though most believe it should be credited to Indonesia. You will find it in both countries though, as well as here in Singapore, in each case, with slight variations.<br />
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When you ask for serundeng in Singapore, you will get spiced grated coconut with either dried krill or belacan added for flavour. Some local cooks will also add minced beef, chicken or fish, though the main component remains grated coconut. A more lux version, called Serundeng Daging is made from beef, cooked long and slow, then pounded and shredded finely. The beefy shreds will then be cooked yet again with spices and coconut milk until quite dessicated and deeply infused with the spices.<br />
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In Malaysia, serundeng refers to the shredded beef version while serundeng kelapa denotes the grated coconut version. Indonesians on the other hand say serundeng when they mean spiced grated coconut (as do we) but call the beef version abon sapi. Interestingly, the Indonesians also include peanuts in the coconut version. All are delicious and well worth exploring, if you enjoy south east Asian food.<br />
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It takes some time and effort to make good serundeng but when you sniff in it's gorgeous aroma, even before you taste this ambrosial treat, any fatigue will melt away. It's also wondrously versatile and can make the simplest meal of just white rice and fried eggs or fish, unforgettable. I call it fairy dust, because everything it touches becomes culinary gold, and I will not eat lontong without it! It adds sparkle to nasi lemak, <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2011/12/beef-rendang.html#.UQTj7R38mSo">rendang</a>, paru goreng (spicy fried beef lung) bergedel (potato croquettes) complements <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2011/11/acar-mixed-vegetable-pickle.html#.UQTqmh38mSo">acar</a> and <a href="http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2012/06/sambal-belacan-chilli-and-shrimp-paste.html#.UQTq6R38mSo">sambal belacan</a>, and is a heaven appointed match with glutinous rice. In Indonesia, it's also a common garnish for dishes like mee soto in addition to being a favourite topping for rice.<br />
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As it goes with so many dishes, it's really worthwhile making a large batch. In fact the amount I made for this post, lasted barely 4 days in my house. My boys pour it on EVERYTHING, and love it beaten into eggs for a serundeng omelette. It will easily keep for 2 weeks, in a dry, securely lidded container in the fridge. Always take portions with a clean dry spoon and avoid touching directly with fingers as coconut once contaminated, spoils very easily. The longer you fry the serundeng, the drier it will be and the longer it will last. To dry it out, stir continuously over gentle heat until toasty and crumbly.<br />
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If there is one 'secret' to good serundeng, it's to use fresh, skinned, unsqueezed grated coconut, still saturated with all it's natural juices and milk. Dessicated coconut, while easier to handle and much faster to cook, will produce a clearly inferior version, if you have tried one made with fresh coconut. To make it more manageable and extend it's shelf life a little, the coconut is lightly pre-roasted to dry off some of the moisture so it will be less clumpy and easier to mix with the fried spices.<br />
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In my next post, I will show you my favourite use for serundeng, and the one dish that is guaranteed to derail any diet I try to stay on, even more so than cheesecake or anything covered in chocolate. So, I make it very infrequently as a very special treat, when I have been very, very good, or when I want to show off Singapore's culinary treasures ;)<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">serundeng (spiced grated coconut)</span><br />
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prep 35 mins cook 25 mins serves 15</div>
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Spice Paste</div>
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8 fresh red chillies</div>
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3 onions, peeled and cut</div>
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8 cloves garlic, peeled and cut</div>
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4 cm length fresh turmeric, peeled and cut</div>
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3 thick slices peeled galangal, thinly sliced</div>
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2 stalks lemongrass, discard coarse outer leaves and thinly slice soft, pale inner core</div>
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1 tbsp ground coriander</div>
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1 tsp ground cumin</div>
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6 tbsp dried krill, rinsed, squeezed as dry as possible</div>
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6 kaffir (makrut) lime leaves</div>
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2 slices tamarind (actually dried garcinia slices, not tamarind pod pulp)</div>
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600g (6 cups) fresh grated, skinless coconut, lightly dry roasted until light gold</div>
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1 tbsp soft brown sugar</div>
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1 tbsp red sugar</div>
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1/2 - 1 tsp salt</div>
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2 small turmeric leaves, ribs discarded, leaves finely shredded</div>
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Combine all spice paste ingredients and process or pound to a smooth paste.</div>
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Heat 5 tbsp oil in a pan or wok and when moderately hot, add the krill, lime leaves and tamarind. Fry for 3 minutes or until krill is golden and beginning to crisp.</div>
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Add the spice paste and fry, stirring constantly, until oil seeps out and the mixture is fragrant. Add the coconut, brown and red sugar and salt.</div>
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Stir continuously over moderate to low heat until coconut is evenly coloured, light and fluffy. Don't stop stirring for longer than half a minute as coconut is oily and burns very easily.</div>
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Do not cook for too long or the coconut will be too dry and grainy. If preparing as a topping for savoury snacks, leave the coconut a little moist so it will adhere and not crumble off easily. When coconut is almost done, add the shredded turmeric leaves and stir through for about 2 minutes.</div>
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Turn off heat and keep stirring until bottom of pan is no longer hot to prevent the coconut at the bottom from over browning. When cold, store in a clean, dry, air tight container and keep refrigerated until consumed.</div>
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<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/singaporeshiok/serundeng-spiced-grated-coconut-2">click here for printable recipe</a></div>
<br />denise fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05307457105004478777noreply@blogger.com15