PinkyBerry High-Tea

This will be a long post that consists of 3 short recipes that might come in handy for any teatime treat. Since recently there is a lot of fresh and nice strawberry available at the supermarket, I really cannot resist the temptation to get a box too. And moreover, I also wish to do a post of “PINKY” theme whereby I can include a few short and sweet recipes for my guests. So here you go…….. welcome to my “PinkBerry High-Tea”……

For starter, let's have a cup of Berry Smoothie to cool down from the summer heat. Smoothie is a blended beverage made from fresh fruit (fruit smoothie) or vegetables. In addition to fruit, some smoothies might include crushed ice, frozen fruit, honey, yogurt or fresh milk. This "Berry Smoothie" here is pretty easy to whip up, what you require are:- fruit blender, some strawberries, honey(optional) and fresh milk.

Ingredients: (serves 2 - 3)
5 - 6 Medium Size of Strawberries
200ml of Strawberry Milk
50ml of Fresh Milk
1/2 Tablespoon Honey, optional

Method:
1. Rinse and trim the strawberries, cut it into halves then blend it together with fresh milk and honey till smooth and creamy.
2. Transfer it to serving cups and top with extra strawberry slices as garnish.

Note:
~ You can use mixture of strawberry & plain milk or either one type for this smoothie.

Chocolate usually goes pretty well with strawberry as it perfect it with an extraordinary flavour. It is not difficult to make this beautiful treats, but you may take a bit of practice on how to dip and yet not drop the strawberries in the melted chocolate.

After our Berry Smoothies, let's have some Chocoberry to start off this afternoon high-tea. These are some easy to make and yet presentable sweet treats whereby you can impress your guest with different kind of decoration design. I am sure this will help you to score more points no matter your guests are Kids or Adults, they will definitely loves these.

Ingredients: (serves 3 - 4)
8 Medium Strawberry
80g 70% Dark Chocolate
30g White Chocolate
Some toothpicks, optional

Method:
1. Gently rinse the berries with tap water then spread them out on a clean dish towel to dry
2. Dry completely before you start dipping and make sure not a drop of water should be left on the berries.
3. Chop/break the dark chocolate bar into small pieces, put the chocolate pieces in a small microwave safe dish.
4. Melt chocolate in the microwave, for about 1 minute at 20 minutes interval on medium power. (Give a quick stir at each interval to even out the melting process)
5. If it still did not melt, continue melting in 15 second increments in the microwave. Stir the chocolate. It should be smooth and have no lumps.(because sometime it depend on the voltage of your microwave)
6. Once the chocolate is melted, start dipping by cover about 2/3 of the strawberry with chocolate.(this looks prettier than covering the entire strawberry)
7. Put the dipped berries on some greaseproof paper and set them in the freezer for about 5 to 10 minutes before decorating it with the white chocolate.

Note:
~ If you are having difficulty holding the strawberry, skewer it just under the green bit with a toothpick just like what I have done in the photo shown above.
~ If you don't prefer white chocolate, you can used chopped nuts, shredded coconut, colour bits and etc to decorate your chocoberry.
~ These Chocoberry should be stored in the refrigerator and eaten at room temperature within 24 hours.


For snack, we will be having this “Strawberry Cupcake” which is made from Strawberry Milk and freshly diced Strawberry. The texture of the cupcake will be slightly moist due to adding of fresh strawberry and when put it near your mouth; you will be able to smell that sweet and fragrance strawberry milk aroma in it.

This simple recipe can bakes about 8 mini cupcakes within 30 minutes including the preparation and baking time. In this way, you can get everything ready and bake it just a few minutes before the guests arrive. I am sure they will be impressive by your little healthy “Strawberry Cupcake”.

Ingredients: (makes 8 mini cupcakes)
100g Cake Flour/Top Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
60g Caster Sugar
50g Butter, melted
1 Medium Egg
30ml Strawberry Milk
3 Medium Strawberry, diced
Extra Slices of Strawberry for topping, optional

Method:
1. Sieved the flour and baking powder together and set aside.
2. Use the electric beater, beat the egg and sugar till white and creamy.
3. Slowly add in the melted butter and continue to beat the mixture.
4. Next add in strawberry milk while the mixer still still beating, then gradually beat in the sieved flour mixture till well combined.
5. Use a spoon or spatula to stir in the diced strawberry and carefully not to over mixed it. (don't worry the mixture will be kind of gluey)
6. Spoon the mixture into the cupcake case till 3/4 full, top with a thin slice of strawberry and bake in a pre-heated 180 degree oven for about 15 minutes.
7. The surface of the cupcake will not be golden in colour so do not over baked it, test it with a skewer or toothpick check whether the center is cooked through.

Note:
~ You can replace Strawberry Milk with plain milk and 50g of butter with 50ml of corn/olive oil.
~ The texture of the cake will be slightly moist and the surface will be a bit sticky due to the adding of milk and fresh fruit.


Since today’s theme is “PinkyBerry High-Tea”, all the items we have will be based on Pink/Strawberry. So after some light refreshment and snack, we can relax and let go ourself in some heart to heart conversation with a pack or two of "Strawberry Flavour Pocky" to spice up the some discussion topics.

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Seah's Herbal Chicken Soup

Soup! Most reader of this blog knows that I can't do without Soup and I love to boil soup. I believed a bowl of hot and comfort soup will make a great different for rainy days meal or even to revive your soul from tiring days at work. Chicken soup is always the best and comfort soup found in every home whereby you can see almost all the mothers will boil chicken essence/soup to strength our body and soul during our school time or staying up late at nights.

White Fungus - 雪耳 nourishes the Kidney, invigorates the Qi and benefits the Blood. It is also rich in iron, vitamin C, calcium and phosphorous. Its elastic protein and fibres also ease constipation, lower blood pressure and nourish the skin effectively.

As you have read from my posts, I have tried Seah's Bak Kuet Teh herb pack in one of my post a few months back. (click Here) To me, I feel that their quick and easy pre-packed herbs pack do easy the trouble of whipping out homecook soup in a easier way. Today I am going to share with you another type of their Soup Pack which is known as "Herbal Chicken Soup Spices" that will enable you to have comfort soup without storing up your pantry with different types of Chinese herbs.

Ingredients: (serves 3 - 4)
1 Packet of Seah's Herbal Chicken Soup Spices
3 Chicken Drumsticks
1 Small Can of Button Mushroom
1 Cluster of White Fungus
6 Red Dates
1/2 Tablespoon Wolfberries
1.2 Litre Boiling Water

Method:
1. Rinse and soaked the white fungus in warm water for about 10 - 15 minutes till soften, trim off the bottom stem and take only the soft portion. Rinse and let it soaked in water for another 15 minutes or so before cooking.
2. Clean and trim the fat of the chicken drumstick, blanched in boiling water, rinse and set aside.
3. Bring 1.2 Litres of water to boil, add in all the ingredients, except wolfberries. When the mixture comes to boil again, let it simmer for another 5 minutes before transfer it to the Slow-cooker and let it cook for at least 2 to 3 hrs on AUTO till the white fungus soften. OR
Alternatively you can simmer it on the stove for at least 45 minutes on medium low heat.
4. Serve hot with steam rice.


So you see with only 4 steps, anyone can whip up a pot of homecook chicken soup at anytime of the day. Just put everything into the slow-cooker, set the timer and within a few hours, you can enjoy a bowl of hearty comfort soup with your love one/family at home.

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Kau Kee Mee Suah - 九杞面线

Kau Kee - 九杞 (wolfberry leaves) is a kind of leafy vegetables that comes in long stalks and sharp thorns on it. You can get this from most local supermarket or tradition wet market near your area. Usually this vegetable is cooked as a soup using minced meat and egg. But today, I am going to use the soup idea to transform it into a noodle dish.

In order to make the soup more tasty and nutritious I added in some fresh prawn to give it some natural sweetness. Since Mee Suah/Mian Xian - 面线 is available in my pantry drawer; I decided to add it into the soup instead of using other type of noodles. As you might have read about my previous post on “Herbal Fish Mee Suah”, you will get to know that Mee Suah is actually made from rice flour and is very brittle in uncooked form as the strands are really thin.

Ingredients: (serves 2)
2 - 3 Strands of Mee Suah, 面线
8 Medium Fresh Prawn
1 Packet of Kau Kee Leaves
150 Minced Pork
4 Slices of Ginger
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
2 Eggs
1200ml Hot Water

Method:
1. Carefully removed the leaves from the Kau Kee stalks and soaked them in water for a few minutes, rinse well and set aside.
2. Season the minced pork with some light soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper, corn flour and minced ginger(optional) for at least 15 minutes or so before cooking.
3. Preheat a small saucepan with 1 teaspoon of oil, saute 2 ginger slices and half minced garlic till fragrant, add in half of the minced meat and roughly break them out and cooked till slightly golden in colour.
4. Next add in half of the kau kee leaves and continue to stir till the leaves wilted and cooked through, add in 600ml of hot water and wait for the mixture to come to boil.
5. Add in half of the prawns and let it simmer on medium heat till the colour changed slightly red and begin to cook through.
6. Remove the string from the mee suah, rinse it with water then add it into the simmering soup, give it a quick stir before breaking in an egg.
7. Use a chopstick, stir the egg through the mixture and let it simmer for another 30 second before dishing up.
8. Lastly, top with extra cut chilli and dried shallot before serving.

Note:
~ Mee Suah must to be cook just a few minutes before serving or else it will soaked up all the soup and became soggy.
~ Usually I will cook individual portion rather than all so that it will be cook easily and the mee suah won't dried up too fast due to the cooking time.


This is another quick and easy meal that required less than 30 minutes of cooking time which is what working mum like me prefer to prepare for my family. Although it might look simple but I can guarantee you that the taste is really good and it's full of flavour from the vegetable, meat and prawn. Do give it a try! Ok I shall leave you with this recipe till I am back from my trip next week. Cya!

p/s: For more details/photo of Kau Kee, click HERE.

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Char Kway Teow - 炒粿条

Char Kway Teow - 炒粿条 is one of the popular hawker food that is "flat rice noodles" being stir-fried over high heat together with dark soy sauce, Chinese sausage, deshelled cockles, egg and etc. Traditionally this dish is stir-fried in pork fat, with crisp pork lard, and commonly served on a piece of banana leaf on a plate.

Although at home, we might not be able to achieve that traditional taste of Char Kway Teow due to the wok, fire and ingredients used, but I am sure we still can whipped up something tasty and healthier using our modern utensils or choice of ingredients.

Ingredients: (serves 3 - 4)
500g Thin Flat Rice Noodle
10 Medium Prawns, shelled
200g Bean Sprouts
1 Chinese Sausage, cut into thin slices
1 Piece of Rectangle Fishcake, cut into thin slices
2 Eggs
2 Stalks Spring Onion, cut into section
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 1/2 Tablespoon Olive Oil

For those staying overseas, if you cannot get hold of most of these ingredients shown above, you can always reduce the ingredients to the simplest 3 which is rice noodles, egg and choy sum/bean sprouts. As you can read from the list, I have omitted cockles which are not to our liking.

Sauce/Seasoning:
1 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
1/2 Tablespoon Sweet Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Dark Soy Sauce
1/2 Tablespoon Water

Method:
1. Combine all the sauce ingredients and set aside.
2. Saute the Chinese sausage for a few second till fragrance, dish up and set aside.
3. Heat up the oil and fry minced garlic and spring onion till slight brown, add in rice noodles stir for a about 30 seconds before adding the prawn and fish cake.
4. Fry the prawns and noodles over high heat until prawns are seared then drizzle in the seasoning sauce.
5. Continue to toss them over high heat for a couple of minutes before spreading the noodle out over the wok.
6. Make a well in the center or push the noodles to aside , add in 1 teaspoon of oil at the side before cracking the eggs into it.
7. Stir to scramble the eggs and then combine with the noodles.
8. Add in the bean sprouts and season to taste with a pinch of salt(optional) and some ground pepper.
9. Add in the Chinese sausage, stir fry over high heat for a minute or so just to wilt the vegetables but retain their crispness.
10. Dish up and served with some cut chilli and soy sauce.

Note:
~ This dish is best fried in small batches(to achieve better flavour so that the rice noodles are evenly cooked, unless you are using a big wok then you can cook them in one batch) so divide the ingredients to be fried in two equal portion.

Now you can have your favourite Char Kway Teow at anytime of the day with minimum used of ingredients and seasons to achieve a healthier version that satisfy your crave for this dish.

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Ginger Vinegar Trotter

All the mothers out there, when you look at this dish does it brings back some of your wonderful memories and dishes that you craved for during your “Confinement - 坐月” days? I am sure most of us have tried this traditional confinement dish that is good for expelling the wind and at the same time the calcium found in the trotter and the heat from the ginger helps to revitalize and replenish nutrients in the mother’s body.

The two key ingredients are matured (old) ginger and black vinegar. Matured ginger is used because it imparts a stronger and more intense flavour for the dish. The old folks believed that Black Vinegar purifies blood and cleanses the arteries of stale blood while Old ginger drives out the wind in the body. In order to prevent the vinegar being too acidic & therefore weakening the stomach, the glutinous ligaments and collagen of the pig's trotters are to serve as a lubricant.

Ingredients: (serves 2 -3)
1 Pig's Trotter, ask for the front trotter
2 Big Piece Of Old Ginger, about 500g
1 Small Bottle Of Black Rice Vinegar, 375ml
1 1/2 Bottle Of Water, use the same vinegar bottle
1 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
50g Rock Sugar/Brown Sugar
4 Hard Boiled Eggs

Method:
1. Scrap, wash and cut the old ginger into big pieces then flatten slightly.
2. Heat up sesame oil in a large claypot to saute old ginger till fragrant.
3. Pour in vinegar and water, covered and bring to a boil. Reduce to low heat, cook for about 45 minutes to an hour, remove from heat and leave it to stand over night.(alternatively you can transfer the boil mixture to a slow cooker and cooker for AUTO for about 3 hours then switch off and let it stand over night)
4. Rinse the pig's trotter pieces, wash and blanch into boiling water.
5. Add 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, saute the blanched trotter pieces for a few seconds to seal the meat.
6. Next bring the vinegar soup to boil, add in pre-fried trotter pieces and cooked for 30 minutes on low heat then add in the hard boiled eggs. (or you can transfer the mixture back to the slower cooker and cook over AUTO for another 2 hours before adding in the egg and cook for another 30 minutes or so)
8. Continue to simmer for another 15 - 20 minutes then add in sugar to taste.
9. Remove from heat, soak the trotter pieces until tenders and the flavour has be absorbed. Serve hot.

Note:
~ Cooking in Slow Cooker prevent the soup from drying out compare to simmer over the stove.
~ Ask for front trotter as it contains more meat than bones.

Although this seems to be a rather time consuming dish to prepared but you can always stored the unfinished broth in the fridge and re-cooked it with extra totters as when you feel like eating it again.




P/s: This dish can be served as a common table dish too, which is not necessary for Confinement Mothers only :)

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Seafood Bee Hoon Soup

One dish meal is always the best dish to be served on the dining table during weekday’s menu. If you are bored with rice or bread perhaps you can try out this quick and easy Seafood Bee Hoon Soup. You can add in whatever seafood that you prefer to give the soup its natural sweetness.

That day I managed to find some very big and fresh "Clams - 蛤蜊" in the wet market and instantly I knew I want to use them to add extra flavour to my seafood soup. This clam is very cheap and good which cost about $4 per kg and you can also use it to cook herbal clams soup, pasta with clams and etc.

Ingredients: (serves 2)
1 Piece of Dried Bee Hoon
500g of Clams
8 Medium Fresh Prawns
1 Bunch of Choy Sum
2 - 3 Slices of Ginger
1 Stalk of Spring Onion, cut into section
1.5 Litre of Water
1 Ikan Bilis Stock Cubes, optional

Method:
1. Soaked the dried bee hoon in water for about 30 minutes till it soften. (you can cut it into a few session for easy consumed)
2. Trim the choy sum and cut it into sections and soaked in water for a few minutes to wash away the dirt. Rinse then set aside.
3. Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a soup pot, add in ginger and spring onion, saute them until fragrance then add in water and bring it to boil.
4. Simmer the soup for about 5 minutes, then add in stock cubes and season to taste. Set the broth as side while blanching the seafood.
5. Bring another pot of water to boil, add in the clams and cook for about 30 seconds or less, when it opens removed it from the water immediately and rinse with cold/ice water.
6. When the clams are done, turn off the heat, and add in the prawns into the hot water. Let it soaked for about 1 minutes, removed and rinse with water.
7. Next bring the soup broth to boil, add in the soft bee hoon, when it comes to boil again add in the prawn and choy sum and cook for another 1 minutes or so.
8. Lastly, served the bee hoon and other ingredients in a big bowl, top with some clams and pour over some hot broth and serve immediately with some cut chilli and dried shallot.

Note:
~ You need to soak the clam in some salt water for about 10 - 15 minutes to remove the soil and dirt in it.
~ Blanching of the seafood before cook is to retain their crunchiness especially for the prawn so that it will not be overcooked and the soup broth will be clear.


So with all these wonderful ingredients, you can also served your very own Seafood Bee Hoon Soup at home in less than 30 minutes time. And most important you can assure that all ingredients used are fresh and full for bursting flavour. If you don't preferred clams, you can always replaced it with fish slices, squid or etc that suits your family preference.

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Matcha & Chestnut Chiffon Cake

It has being almost a year for chiffon cake baking since my last tried on “Banana & Passion Fruit Chiffon Cake”. While preparing the ingredients I was still kind of worry and nervous whether the texture of the chiffon cake will turn out with desire outcome.

Today’s combination idea came from my Matcha Madeleines. After using that new Matcha powder that I bought a few weeks ago, I was delighted to try out another recipe using it. So in order to have something light and healthy I decided to bake this Matcha & Chestnut Chiffon Cake.

As usual for a healthy version, I replace corn oil with olive oil and water, less sugar to tone down the sweetness and add in some ready to eat pre-packed chestnut for that extra texture. The chestnuts that I used over here are not those sweetened “Candied Chestnut” that is used for baking so the taste is rather neutral.

Ingredients: (7"/18cm Mould)
100g of Ready To Eat Chestnut
3 Large Egg Yolks
40g Castor Sugar
50ml Olive Oil
50ml Water
80g Top Flour/Cake Flour
1.5 Teaspoons Matcha Powder
4 Large Egg Whites
30g Caster Sugar

Method:
1.Roughly cut/break the chestnuts into chunks and set aside.
2.Separate the egg yolk and white into two separate mixing bowls. (carefully do not leave any trace of egg yolk in the egg whites mixture) then use a balloon whisk to whisk the egg yolk and castor sugar(add in 3 separate additions) till thick and sticky.
3. Slowly drizzle in the oil while continue to whisk at the same time then follow by the water till the mixture is well combined.
4. Add the sifted flour and matcha powder into the egg mixture and continue to whisk till the flour is fully incorporated into the batter.
5. Next stir in the chestnuts(reserved some for toppings) using a spatula till combined.
6. Use a kitchen paper towel to wipe off the oil from the cup then grease the tube-pan lightly with the oil and set aside for later use.
7. Preheat the oven to 180 degree.
8. Beat egg whites and 1/3 of the caster sugar with an electric mixer until mixture becomes frothy and foamy. Then add in another 1/3 of the sugar and continue to beat on medium speed until almost soft peaks form then add in the last 1/3 of the sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. (the whole process takes about less than 5 minutes)
9. Add the beaten egg whites into the egg yolk batter in 3 separate additions, with the 1st addition using the balloon whisk to incorporate it into the yolk mixture till combine without trace of whites.
10. Next fold in the 2nd and 3rd addition of whites using the balloon whisk in a gentle manner in order not to knock off the air in the whites, just fold till no trace of whites and the mixture are well combined.
11. Before pouring the mixture to the greased pan, use a spatula to give a final stir to make sure there is no flour or egg whites mixture at the bottom of the mixing bowl.
12. Lift up the bowl to height, then pour the mixture into the pan and tap the pan 2 - 3 times on a table top to get rid of any trapped air bubbles in the batter.
13. Scatter the reserved chestnut chunks on top of the batter, baked the cake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes or when the surfaces turns golden brown. (you can insert a skewer into the centre and test if it comes out clean)
14. Remove from the oven and invert the pan immediately and let it rest on top of a cup. Let it cool completely before unmould.
15. To remove the cake from the pan, run a thin-bladed knife(i use a small rubber saptula) around the inside of the pan and the center core.
16. Release the cake and run the knife/spatula along the base of the pan to remove the cake.
17. Cut into serving size and serve with a cup of tea or coffee.

Notes:
a) You can get the ready to eat chestnuts from most supermarket or grocery stores..
b) To test whether your beaten egg white is of stiff peak form, turn mixing bowl upside down, the white will remain without falling.(refer to the photo above)
c) Preheat the oven half way through while whisking the egg whites so that the oven temperature will be ready and not over heated when you have all the mixture done and ready to bake.

The cake is infused with the natural green colour and aroma from the matcha powder, which makes it a great afternoon, tea-snack that you can impressed your guest with. If you are not a fan or Chestnuts, you can always replace it with some Japanese Sweet Potato, Azuki Bean or even chocolate chips. I am sure there is something that will compromise everyone’s taste.

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Matcha Madeleines with Azuki Bean

Madeleines are very small traditional sponge cakes with a distinctive shell-like shape which traditional recipes always include ground almonds and lemon zest. But for these Madeleines that I am going to share with you, I did not included the above two ingredients but rather I used Matcha - 抹茶(Green Tea) powder and cooked Azuki Bean - 紅豆 instead.

The idea of making these Matcha Madeleines comes from my favourite “Green Tea & Red Bean Bread” from Break Talk. Mum and I love to get their green tea bread whenever we feel like having it for morning breakfast or tea-snack. I can say this Matcha Madeleine is very addictive, it is full of Matcha fragrance that accompany with a sweet scent of azuki bean which makes it a great afternoon tea-snack to share with friends while catching up with some girls’ talk.

This is a pretty easy and straightforward recipe whereby it takes about 30 minutes or so from preparation to baking. You can also prepared the ingredients and starts the whisking and baking just an hour or so before your guest arrived so that the Madeleines will still taste warm while serving.

Ingredients: 18 Small Madeleines
90ml Melted Butter
100g Plain Flour
1.5 Teaspoon Matcha Powder
80g Caster Sugar
2 Medium Egg
3/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
Some Cooked Auzki Bean

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degree and grease the madeleine pan with some melted butter. (you do not need to grease it if you are using the silicon baking tray shown above which is similar like mine)
2. Sieve the flour, matcha powder and baking powder together and set aside.
3. Whisk the eggs and sugar together for about 5 minutes on medium high speed or till the mixture is pale and thicken.
4. Mix in the flour mixture in two or 3 batches then slowly add in the melted butter and stir till well combined.(the mixture shall be a bit glue and not too runny)
5. Spoon the mixture to fill the Madeleine pan to 3/4 full then top about 1/2 teaspoon of cooked Auzki Bean in each Madeleine mould.
6. Bake in the preheat oven for about 10 - 15 minutes depending on the size, the madeleines are ready if it spring back when lightly pressed.

Note:
~ You can get those can/packet type of Japanese cooked Auzki Bean most supermarket(Japanese prodcuts deparment)/daiso(food department).
~ Click Here for more details on Matcha Powder.


Other than the Matcha flavour, I also make a batch with extra dose of Dutch Cocoa Powder and Chocolate Chips especially for my dear son. As for the dual colour madeleines, it is made of the mixture of the remaining Matcha batter mixed with some cocoa batter and topped with extra chocolate chips to pamper my craving for Matcha and Cocoa.

Ingredients: 6 Small Madeleines
45ml Melted Butter
45g Plain Flour
3/4 Tablespoon Dutch Cocoa Powder
40g Caster Sugar
1 Medium Egg
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
Some Chocolate Chips

Method:
~ Follow the Matcha Madeleines steps above.


So after seeing this post, are you tempted to get some Matcha and Azuki Bean to start off your bakes? No matter which combination you choose, what kind of ingredients you add in, I am sure this will make a wonder tea-time snacks.

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