Chow Mein, Asian stir-fried noodles 炒麵

I think every Chinese household has a different versions of chow mein. This kyliekwong 's version (as seen on Tv Paprika) uses ginger, which I've never included in my version before this. Also, her soy base sauce was much more straight forward to prepare than mine. Anyway, here's how I tweaked her recipe based on what is available in my kitchen .

Chow Mein 炒麵

Serves : 1

Ingredients :-

One serving of spaghetti pasta (kw's recipe uses flat rice noodles)

few slices of ginger

2 cloves of garlic

half of red onion

cabbage (kw's uses chinese cabbage)

spring onions

white pepper to taste

thick soya sauce

light soya sauce

oil for stir-frying

* sesame seeds omitted (totally forgotten about it!)

* bean sprout was omitted (not available in my kitchen)

* You may also add any kind of meat / seafood of your choice.

Preparation :-

1) Cook spaghatti pasta according to your brand's instruction.

2) In the mean time, prepare sliced ginger, chopped onion , garlic, spring onions.

3) Heat oil in a wok, sauté ginger, onion and garlic until fragrant. Next in the same wok, put the dark soya sauce (enough to cover the pasta) , simmer it for a bit. Then toss-in the cooked pasta and stir-fry until soya sauce colour pasta fully. Next , toss-in cabbage, spring onion and neam sprout and continue to stir-fry for a bit. Add light soya sauce and white pepper to taste. Stir-fry for a about 3 minutes and it's ready.

4) Serve with toasted sesame seeds.

Moist Chocolate Cake

MMmmmmm..the taste does live up to the name - moist! The recipe made me 3 small alum. foil trays and I alone finished 3/4 of a tray..help, someone please hide it

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My normal practice whenever baking a cake is reduce the qty. of sugar stated, but somehow for this one I followed to the T and the sweetness was balanced with the after taste of cocoa / coffee...simply perfect!!

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Head over to Pusiva's for the recipe.

Moist Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp hot water
1 tsp instant coffee powder or granules

1 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence

3/4 cup water

Method:

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.

Dissolve the coffee with hot water. Set aside.

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Beat well. Beat in the coffee and vanilla essence. Gently fold in the flour mixture alternating with water. Start and end with the flour mixture.

Pour the batter into a greased baking pan. Bake at 175° C for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Cool completely before serving or frosting it with your favourite cream, as per desired. The cake tastes better the next day. 

Coconut Yellow split peas dhal with Flat Breads

I've always dreaded making bread; however, this recipe is so easy I know it will be featured frequently on our dinner table. The breads were to accompany the coconut dhal (recipe below) but we had some left over of which we sandwiched the flat bread by spreading cucumber tzatziki and baked beans .... simply yummy!

Flat breads
adapted from BBC Good Food
Serves 8

Ingredients
140g plain flour
140g bread flour
1 tbsp vegetable oil
200ml water

Method
1) Put the flours and 1 tsp salt into a large bowl and mix. Stir 1 tbsp vegetable oil into 200ml water into , then mix this into the flour, stir until you have a smooth dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface for 5 mins, then return to the bowl, cover and leave in a warm place to rest for 20 minutes.

2) Divide the dough into 8 balls. Roll out each ball on a lightly floured surface to a rough 18cm circle the thickness of a 10p coin. Prick each one well with a fork to stop them rising. To cook on a barbecue: put the breads on the centre of the grill. Cook for a few mins, then turn and cook the other side.

3) Brush the breads with more melted butter. Reheat the griddle between batches and stack them on top of each other to keep warm

Coconut Yellow Split Peas "Dhal"Receipe from BBC Good Food

I've substitute red lentils with yellow split peas which works fine. This recipe is also a keeper :)

 

I've also served the with simple Sambal made with
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium-sized Onion
a touch of erős pista (hunagrian ground chilli)
a touch of fish sauce
sugar (to taste)

Hungarian Magic Cake { Tejes Pite }

credit: puszta.com

When I saw the photo above at the mentioned site, I knew I have to make this dessert. It looked delicious plus I haven't tasted one before :) Another reason I like this recipe is that the ingredients could be easily available in one's pantry.
So, yesterday I woke up early morning (4.30am) to make this custard cake in order for it to cool in time to bring along with us when we visit my M&FIL.
The recipe has been scaled down based on 2 eggs instead of five. Just do simple math to get the appropriate portion of each ingredients. Also, the baking time needs to be shorten in view of lesser liquid involved.
Verdict
It was indeed an easy dessert to whip up but with satisfying result. In fact, my MIL loved it! She told us that it brought back some childhood memories when her mom used to bake it for her. We found out that she doesn't have the recipe (No wonder she hasn't baked this for us!) So, I'll be printing the Hungarian version of this recipe for her to try out.
 

Tejes Pite
Puszta.com 

Ingredients:
5 egg yolks
30 g vanilla sugar
150 g sugar
100 g margarine
250 g flour
1 liter milk
5 egg whites
salt
zest of 1 lemon
margarine to grease baking pan
breadcrumbs

Method:

In a large bowl mix egg yolks, vanilla sugar, sugar, pinch of salt. Add margarine and the lemon zest. Add flour and milk gradually to sugar mixture, beating to a thin smooth batter.
Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt, until stiff peaks form, then add it carefully to the pancake dough.
Coat the bottom of a 26 cm baking pan with margarine, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and pour the dough into it. Sprinkle the top with small pieces of margarine. Put into a cold oven, then turn on the heat to 150 ºC and bake it for 1 hour.
When the pie is done, cool for a few minutes, then cut into 8-10 bars. Serve it with apricot jam, but it tastes delicious by itself as well.

Tips:

• Use hand mixer to get a smooth batter.
• Do not add baking powder or baking soda.
• Cool the egg whites before beating.
• Add a pinch of salt or a few drops of lemon juice to the egg whites, to make it easier to beat.
• Mix only half of the beaten egg whites to the dough, then carefully fold in the other half, without breaking it up much. 
  

Mango and Apple Salad

This salad was adapted from salt n tumeric 's recipe with couple of substitutes. The combination of aroma of lime , spiciness of Erős Pista , sweet and soury apple and mango make this a great dish as an appetiser.

Mango and apple salad

Ingredients:-
1 mango , roughly grated or julienned
1 apple , roughly grated or julienned
1 red onion, chopped
1 juice of lime
sugar , to taste
fish sauce , few dashes
Erős Pista (Hungarian sambal oelek ?) , to taste - substitute for Thai chilli
Peanuts , roughly ground

Prepare all ingredients and toss them together. Voila!