Mum's Experiments: Faux Tiramisu!

Mum saw this quick tip on making "Faux" Tiramisu on TV, and we tried it out!

It's really simple and easy to make! All you need is some full cream, mascarpone cheese, sugar and some chocolate swiss roll from your nearest cake shop. Just beat the full cream, mascarpone cheese and fine sugar until it becomes smooth and velvety, then layer it on top of slices of chocolate swiss roll. Alternate and finish with the cream layer. Chill and before serving, sprinkle some cocoa powder on top! Alcohol is optional.



Try to use a smaller container, or there won't be enough for multiple layers, like what happened in the picture above! You can see why it's called "Faux" Tiramisu. There's no coffee, egg or liqueur in it, but it's just so easy to make!

And I has fun making the cream! :D

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Chinese New Year: Yu Sheng

We had a rather delicious Yu Sheng (Lo Hei) during the Chinese New Year festivities at Imperial Treasure Nan Bei Restaurant. (During "Ren Ri" or the birthdate of all men in Lunar calendar) To tell the truth, I've never liked Yu Sheng as 1) I still couldn't get used to raw fish except Aji; 2) Full of veggies! But strangely this one actually got us finishing the entire plate!

The syrup was not too cloyingly sweet, and I liked the fact that they added crunchy shredded yam. Oh oh and there were (a few strands of) jellyfish!



Mixing the ingredients together and drawing it high for good luck!

Click here for more information about Yu Sheng and Lo Hei!

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Tomato

I've added a new Category called *FoodScoop, where I will post some food facts starting with the humble Tomato!

I got these beauties from Sixth Avenue Cold Storage! Very juicy and not the slightest bit acidic! The less red/orange ones are usually rather tasteless. These are On-Vine Tomatoes, the ones you see in the local supermarket are usually plucked before they are fully ripe, then ripened artificially with ethylene.

I also love Japanese Momotaro Tomatoes, but they're really expensive... I like them chilled and eaten raw, as an appetizer or dessert. Cherry Tomatoes may be sweet or sour, depending on the quality and specie, but the recent stock of yellow cherry tomatoes proved to be delightfully sweet! (:

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Mum's Birthday: Shabu-shabu and Cheescake!

Wednesday was Mum's Birthday, so we celebrated by having a delicious Shabu-shabu (シャブシャブ) dinner at home. Just dip the thinly sliced beef in the hotpot for a few seconds' and it's ready to eat! The soup base is made from Konbu 昆布 , White Radish and Assorted Mushrooms. Besides beef and pork slices, we also had some Beancurd, Glass Noodles, Veggies, Kelp, Assorted Balls including Hakka Beef Balls.

And for desert, we had Japanese Cheesecake from Uncle Miki @ Liang Court! Yummy! (:



Happy Birthday, Mummy! :D

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Dim Sum at Wah Lok Cantonese Restaurant

One of those special occasions where we went to eat dim sum at a grand Chinese restaurant. My favourite dim sum restaurant has always been Ah Yat Abalone Forum restaurant at Allson Hotel, and my family always go there during special occasions since young. Their standards are still good, and being a regular, we are known by the warm and friendly staff there. I am known as the "Goose Web Girl" for setting record high of downing 8 goose webs in a row when I was a kid.

Anyway, we decided to try out the other dim sum restaurants and decided on Wah Lok Cantonese Restaurant at Carlton Hotel for lunch. We had lots of dim sum, cold dishes and a couple of heavenly double-boiled soups plus sago dessert.

Cold Pig's Trotter with Jellyfish is a must-order cold appetizer dish. It's slippery, QQ texture is delicious! I also love cold jellyfish! As you can see, I really enjoy food with a good bite to them.



Har Gao, a prawn dumpling dim sum, is a must-order for us. The prawns are really "crunchy" and plump, and the skin translucent.



Crystal Vegetable Dumpling, just the way Mum likes it: Lots of veggies and little meat!



Another favourite order: Steamed Chicken Feet!! Yes, I love feet of all kinds, be it chicken, duck, goose or pig! Meat with bones in them really do bring out the carnivore within! :D



This is something new we ordered; if I remember correctly, it is Abalone Pastry. A very unique dim sum which my Mum loved at first bite!



Shown above is some sweet pastry dim sum...



The soup Mum had (and I stole quite a bit of) is Double-boiled Winter Melon Soup. This was really fantastic. I've always appreciated Cantonese cuisine for their amazingly good double-boiled soup and superior stocks. Rich in flavour yet not overwhelming or too heavy. (:

Wah Lok Cantonese Restaurant
Address:
76 Bras Basah Road
2F Carlton Hotel

Tel: 6311 8188 / 6311 8189

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Experiment：Red Rubies and more Jewels!!

This image has only been resized; otherwise there is no other editing done to the photo.

Ingredients
Water Chestnuts, skin removed
Tapioca Flour (about 2 heaped Tbsp for 2 Water Chestnuts)
Drop of Food Colouring
Ice Water

For Thai Red Ruby Dessert:
Sugar Syrup (Dissolve sugar in boiling water)
Coconut Milk
Shaved Ice


Method:
1. Chop Water Chestnuts to about 1cm3 cubes.

2. Add a drop of food colouring and mix with hands. Add a bit of water (just a bit!!) and leave it for 5 minutes.

3. Put the Tapioca Flour in a plastic bag. Dry the Water Chestnuts before adding them in, and shake the bag to coat the Water Chestnuts. Make sure they are fully coated with the Tapioca Flour.

4. Use a sieve to rid any excess flour. Don't do this too vigorously, or too much will fall off, exposing the Water Chestnut.



5. Cook the Water Chestnuts in boiling water for about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, I use chopsticks to separate rubies that start sticking to each other.

6. Gather the rubies in a sieve and quickly dump in Ice Water.

7. Drain the rubies and soak them in Sugar Syrup for sweet taste.

8. For the Thai Tub-tim Krob dessert, drain Rubies from Sugar Syrup and serve with Coconut Milk, Shaved Ice and a little extra Sugar Syrup.

P.S. Here's a tip from Thai Table: Spray the Water Chestnuts with water after taking them out from the bag and coat them with flour again for bigger rubies! Also, you can have natural food colouring such as beet juice from boiled beets.

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Original: XY's Ni-Tamago

Ni Tamago is a special Stewed Japanese Egg where the egg white is firm, but the egg yolk inside is still slightly runny. It is usually an accompaniment to Japanese Ramen, and it takes quite a few hours to make. Here is Chubby Hubby's recipe to making Ni Tamago.



My Ni Tamago's yolk was far too raw compared to the authentic, but when I ate it really cold, it turned out extremely delicious like Onsen Tamago with a firm egg white. The yolk literally slides down your throat along with the tasty white. Extremely refreshing served really chilled.

Here's my Version
Ingredients:
3-4 (Chicken) Eggs

Soy Sauce Liquid:
2 parts Light Soy Sauce
1 part Oyster Sauce
1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
Water
[You can replace Oyster Sauce with mirin for a sweeter taste)

Method:
1. Bring some water to a light boil and add eggs from refrigerator directly in.
2. Make sure it's bubbling but not boiling too hard so that eggs do not bobble around.

Timing: (I like this best, it's just right!)
Medium Egg: [5.5 minutes]
Quail Egg: [3 minutes]

Timing: (For doneness pictured above)
Medium Egg: [5 minutes]
Large Egg: [6 minutes]

3. Remove from water and immerse eggs into a container full of icy-cold water for about 3-4 hours. Chubby Hubby uses an ice bath with vinegar though.
4. After that, dry the eggs and carefully (really carefully, you don't want to break the yolk) peel the shell.
5. Immerse the peeled eggs in the seasoning liquid for at least 3-5 hours, or overnight.
6. Serve really chilled!

Note: Be prepared to do this many times to get the timing/heat right! I failed many times before I got the results I wanted, so experiment and practise! Some may prefer a more well-done yolk, others might like it a little raw. Be patient and the result will be worth it!

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