Aspiring Bakers #31 - Bao Ho-Chiak 包好吃 (May 2013)


Next coming up in the month of June, a curry event organized by my humble blog. Just make any baked or cooked dish with ready-bought or home-made curry powder or curry paste. Details are available HERE.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

端午节快乐 Happy Dumpling Festival !




Today is 端午节 (Duan Wu Jie) or what people call the Dragon Boat Festival (Dumpling Festival)

These are the products of my "hard work" yesterday, haha! Actually I didn't do anything much, just stood there and watch the expert doing all the hard work. Can you guess the origins of this type of rice dumplings?

I posted a 3.5 minute video of the dumpling-wrapping session on my recently setup facebook page, you will able to see more clearly how the dumplings were wrapped. But don't ask me how, bcos I am still an apprentice! :)

Monday, June 10, 2013

Finally I am online on FB !!!

It's final.

No, I am not gonna end my blog, not yet. Over my dead body.

But I have finally jumped on the bandwagon and created a FB page dedicated to this blog. I think some of my personal friends maybe sick and tired of me posting delicious food pictures on my personal FB, but they are probably too polite to say that to me. On the other hand, there will be many others, bloggers and non-bloggers alike, who will appreciate what I am posting, so this FB page is dedicated to them.

Go ahead and like my page if you want to receive instant notifications on FB, but this blog will still be the primary place where I upload my recipes. Sorry but no prizes are gonna be handed out for liking my page, unless I get some sponsorship in future. :)

So here is the link, pls go say Hi to me, I have very few friends at the moment, so feeling a little bit lonely :)
https://www.facebook.com/EverybodyEatsWellInFlanders/

I am still in the process of uploading pictures of my past recipes, starting from year 2013, and going backwards until the very date that I first started this blog. So do bear with me, it's still a little bare at the moment. :) 

Maybe I will close down the page if I don't gather enough likes at the end of the week, very "paiseh" (lose face) if only a few supporters, hehe :p

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Is this what you called Singapore Noodles? (Little Thumbs Up)

I was pondering whether I should put up this post. I had to serve dinner quickly, so I was given literally a split second to snap a photo just before serving to my very hungry family members, and hence the photo turned out to be quite sloppy. I hope you see what I was trying to serve. :)



Anyway, this was what I tried to re-create, based on what I have eaten at chinese restaurants in Belgium, they call it "Singapore Noodles". BUT, here is a big BUT, I used egg noodles instead of bee hoon (chinese rice vermicelli) because I only realised I ran out of rice vermicelli when I had all the chopped ingredients ready and was about to start frying. Moral of the story, always check you have everything before you start! Since I have already baked my own char siew just for this dish, there was no turning back, unless I make fried rice instead. Luckily, I still had 2 packets of egg noodles I bought from ALDI, that was the saving grace for today :)

By the way, in case you are not from Singapore, this dish does not originate from Singapore! We, in Singapore, do have something called 星洲米粉 (xinzhou mifen) but that is not fried with curry powder. When I first ate this noodle dish in Belgium, I was aghast, and I told the restaurant owner I am from Singapore but I have never tasted anything like that. He gave me a very sheepish answer, oh that was how I was taught to cook this dish. Apparently almost chinese restaurants overseas serve "Singapore Noodles" with curry powder and it is apparently quite a famous dish, even more famous than our world-famous Hainanese Chicken Rice, which of course the overseas chinese restaurants run by non-Singaporeans will never be able to replicate. :p

Reminds me of the noodle dish 香港面 (Hong Kong noodles) which I always order at tze-char stalls in Singapore coffee shops. I think Hongkongers will laugh at us if we try to order Hong Kong noodles in Hong Kong, there is probably no such dish there. :p


Recipe adapted from Sunflower Food Galores

(For 4 servings)
Ingredients
2 eggs
300g egg noodles (should use rice vermicelli)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 red chilli, chopped
1 tbsp curry powder (ready-made)
1 - 1.5 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp sauce from char siew
200g char siew, thinly sliced
100g prawns, shelled and deveined (forgot to add)
1 carrot, julienned
salt and pepper to taste
cooking oil

Method
1. Cook the egg noodles in boiling water according to packaging instructions (for 4 min), remove and drain in colander. Then rinse with cold tap water and drain again. Set aside for use later.

2. Drizzle 1 tsp of cooking oil in a hot frying pan and fry the beaten eggs into an omelette. Remove and cut into strips, set aside for use later.

3. Add 2 tbsp oil in hot frying pan, add in garlic and onions and fry till fragrant. Then add in chopped chilli, prawns, char siew (together with char siew sauce) and fry till the prawns turn pinkish.

4. Add in the egg noodles and julienned carrots, and try to loosen the noodles in the pan. 

5. Add in curry powder, light soya sauce and oyster sauce, keep stirring and tossing until everything is well-mixed, making sure that the noodles and ingredients do not stick to the pan. Drizzle a little cooking oil if necessary. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve the dish while still hot.

Verdict:
Surprisingly, this dish turned out to be quite nice. I tried not to make it too spicy for my 2 small kids, so I only added 1 tbsp curry powder, but my hubby said it was not spicy and quite tasty. Next time I should try it with the real thing, bee hoon aka rice vermicelli. :)


I am submitting this dish to the Little Thumbs Up event (curry powder / curry paste) hosted by myself, Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders at this link, and organized by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids and Doreen of my little favourite D.I.Y.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

RCC #5 - Rice Cooker Steamed Butter Cake

This is yet another new addition to my rice cooker cake creations! I was planning to do a new flavour of rice cooker cake after receiving so many positive feedbacks for my rice cooker banana cake. It's amazing how many people are interested to "bake" cakes using the rice cooker!


Then I happened to see this steamed butter cake from HomeKreations, and I thought this is it! My rice cooker banana cake was also inspired by her steamed banana cake recipe, so I am quite confident that if I adapt this recipe from her, it will work out well again. So I looked at her steamed butter cake recipe, decided to take 3/4 of the ingredients and add in a little baking powder, then cooked it in the rice cooker for 1 hour (62 minutes to be exact).

Here is the result, doesn't it look just like a moon-crater cake from outer space?


The omnipresent little hand of my baby girl, always appearing at the right time to touch my cake!

This is a very simple yet delicious butter cake, I assure you it doesn't taste like a steamed cake at all, in fact it can even pass off as a baked cake if you don't look at its golden brown crunchy crust and the moon-crater-like surface. This recipe is highly recommended, try it if you have a rice cooker at home and if you would like to try rice cooker baking for the first time. This cake is made from a toshiba rice cooker (model RC10L-MI, 5.5 cup capacity) without baking function.


Recipe adapted from Roz@HomeKreations, ingredients reduced to 3/4 and steaming method changed from steamer to rice cooker.

Ingredients
3 eggs 
90g castor sugar (just nice, not too sweet)
140g cake flour, sifted (original recipe used superfine flour)
3/4 tsp baking powder (not present in original recipe)
1/2 tbsp ovalette
165g unsalted butter
2 tbsp condensed milk (v impt, not to be omitted)
3/4 tsp vanilla essence

Method
1. Beat eggs, sugar (and ovalette if using) until it becomes thick and fluffy, about 2-3 min using cake-mixer on highest speed. Add in sifted flour and baking powder and mix well using spatula.

2. In a separate bowl, use cake-mixer to beat butter, condensed milk and vanilla essence until fluffy.

3. Add in butter mixture into the egg mixture little by little and mix very briefly using cake-mixer on lowest speed. Do not over-mix.

4. Pour the cake batter into the lightly-greased rice cooker pot, press "COOK" and allow it to cook for 1 hour. (In my case, I pressed "COOK" 3 times. Each time my rice cooker has finished cooking, it will beep and automatically switch to "KEEP WARM" mode, so I just have to press "CANCEL" and press "COOK" again. It took me 29 min + 17 + 16 min = 62 min in total. This is a cake that works in a rice cooker without the cake baking function. Note that cooking time may vary based on the capacity of your rice cooker. Mine has a 5.5 cup capacity. )


5. Allow the cake to cool for a while, before turning it out. (The cake should flip out easily in a split second even without using a knife to loosen the edges.)


Notes:
- The original recipe asked for 1/2 tbsp ovalette, which is a sponge cake stabiliser / cake emulsifier commonly found in Singapore and Malaysia, and frequenty used in sponge cakes to give a light, fluffy texture. I used to have ovalette brought back from Singapore, but it has long expired and I have thrown it away. But I remember reading somewhere that condensed milk can achieve the same effect as cake emulsifier, so instead of using 1.5 tbsp condensed milk which is the amount required after reducing to 3/4, I used 2 tablespoonfuls and it worked quite well for me, the texture of the cake was not dense at all. 

- This recipe also requires the use of superfine flour as it has a high ratio of butter+sugar to flour. I used cake flour since I can't find superfine flour (superlite flour/top flour) in Belgium. If you don't have cake flour, you can substitute 140g cake flour with 116g of plain flour plus 24g of cornstarch /corn flour, and then sift it together a few times. 

- For those of you who wants to try this cake without cake-mixer, it maybe possible since HomeKreations did not state whether to beat by hand or by mixer, but if you are beating by hand, you would have to beat the eggs and sugar until thick and pale yellow in step 1, and in step 3, make sure you fold and mix the egg mixture and butter mixture thoroughly. The batter is quite thick and not so fluid, hence I found it better to use a cake-mixer at low speed to mix for a few seconds in step 3.



I had a little scuffle with His Majesty (my 4 year old boy) while trying to take pictures of the cake in our garden. The sun was shining (finally) and I wanted to grap hold of this good opportunity to take some nice pictures in natural lighting. But he insisted on taking a bite of the 2 slices of cake, before I could even snap a picture. In fact he had already eaten a few slices a while ago, so I flew into a rage and I ordered him to stand under a tree. Papa who had just come home had to act as mediator and later papa told me that he couldn't stop crying because he also wanted to be in the picture. So here is a picture of His Majesty, enjoying the cake while still in tears. :p

Now you know, how difficult it is for me to take any pictures without any "drama" from either His Majesty or Her Majesty! :p

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Little Thumbs Up - It's Curry Time!

It's already June, but yet the weather is still moody (no thanks to global warming!), and that generally makes the people moody too. We, in Belgium, have been experiencing one of the coldest and wettest month of May in 50 years and European countries such as Austria and Czech Republic are experiencing severe flooding! I am thumbing for better weather this week, hopefully the temperature will "soar" to twenty degrees. 

Having just finished the Aspiring Bakers Bao Ho-Chiak event (phew!) and having suffered some serious "bao overloading", I have hardly rested for a day but now I need to immerse myself in the curry mood, quickly kickstart my curry event asap and make the inlinkz linky code available on my blog. Why? Because I have already received the first curry recipe submission via email even before I penned this post! Thank you, Kimmy! :)

By the way, if you are not already aware, the Little Thumbs Up, is a blog hop event organized by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids and Doreen from my little favourite D.I.Y. , where an ingredient is selected each month and everyone is welcome to join by using the selected ingredient either in cooking or baking. I am the host for this month, and my selected ingredient is curry powder / curry paste

The reason why I chose curry powder / curry paste is simply because I like curry, and there are many health benefits associated with curry spices  (tumeric, cumin, coriander, ginger, chilli powder), so I would like to see how creative one can be with curry. It's not just the curry dish we are talking about, you can submit recipes of curry rice, curry noodles, laksa, curry buns, curry puffs, samosa, murtabak, roti prata, otak-otak, rendang, basically anything under the sun that uses curry powder or curry paste. And it can be ready-made or home-made powder or paste. If it is home-made, we would appreciate you listing the ingredients and method of preparation of your powder or paste.
 Photobucket

So please join us this month, cook or bake any recipes using curry powder /  curry paste as one of the ingredients, post it in your blog within this month, (1 June to 30 June 2013), and link to Little Thumbs Up, by submitting via the inlinkz tool provided at the bottom of this post. 
  • Feel free to display the Little Thumbs Up badge in your post.
  • Last date of linking will be on 30th June 2013.

Note: Pls check and make sure you link to my site using this link, otherwise it will get buried under my new postings in no time, thank you!
http://everybodyeatswell.blogspot.be/2013/06/little-thumbs-up-its-curry-time.html

If you are interested in last month's theme (mushrooms), don't forget to visit Joyce of Kitchen Flavours.

Monday, June 3, 2013

[Roundup] - Aspiring Bakers #31 - Bao Ho-Chiak 包好吃 (May 2013)

Hi everyone,

After hosting the AB #25 - Steaming Hot Cakes event in Nov 2012, I am glad to be back hosting AB #31 - Bao Ho-Chiak (包好吃) event in May 2013, thanks to Small Small Baker for giving me this opportunity! As I received only 37 entries as of 23 May, I thought I may only get 40 to 50 entries due to the school exam period. Then all of a sudden, I was overwhelmed by a spike in submissions within the last 10 days and I finally received a total of 88 entries as of 2 June! Thank you so much for your great support!

I would like to thank all the bloggers who have spent their precious time and effort to test out and submit their bao recipes. It made me REALLY happy (and hungry) everyday by just going through and admiring all the baos that you gals made. I know it usually takes half a day to make all these baos: you have to prepare the fillings in advance, knead the dough, wait for the baos to proof, add in the fillings, do the pleating and finally the steaming (or baking or frying). Hence each bao is truly a labour of love! I hope you gals enjoyed your bao-making journey as much as I did. For those first-timers who are interested in making their first baozi but who are still procrastinating, look no further! This repertoire of 80+ bao recipes represents the collective wisdom of 39 bloggers! And you will probably be able to find the best chinese steamed /baked /fried buns in this list too! But before you start, do remember to get the right type of flour^-^

Coming up, I will be hosting the "Little Thumbs Up" event for June, and the theme for this month is curry powder/curry paste. Do watch this space for more news. :)

最近这个月肚子经常呱呱叫,每天看到这么多玲琅满目、型型色色的包子从我的电邮飞进来,不流口水才怪。终于挨过了一个月"包好吃",下个月又要饿肚子了,因为每天都要欣赏咖哩。:p

非常感谢网界各路英雄娘子纷纷鼎力相助,献上这么多不同款式不同口味的包子。希望你们和我一样,在网上串门子的当儿能从中学习很多关于做包子的窍门。所谓熟能生巧,只要勤学习,再包一两下就"包好吃",可以开包子店了,不是吗? :p

话不多说,请好好享用这80多道包子吧,一定包好吃,包你吃到笑!  :)

Enjoy your buns,  Bao Ho-Chiak! :)
######################


1. Smiling Char Siew Bao HK Style (港式叉烧包) by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders


2. Black Sesame Yam Pau by Kimmy of Cooking Pleasure


3. 芋头鲜奶馒头 by Pet猫猫 of petsleepingpig.blogspot.com


4. Mini Custard Buns by Victoria Kua of bakingintotheether.wordpress.com


5. Chia Seeds & Wholemeal Mantou by Peng of pengskitchen.blogspot.com


6. Steamed Chicken Bao (鸡肉包) by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders


7. Carrot 'Ling Yung' Paus (Carrot Lotus Paste Paus) by Kimmy of Cooking Pleasure


8. 芋泥四角包 by Pet猫猫 of petsleepingpig.blogspot.com


9. Char Siew Steamed Paus by Kimmy of Cooking Pleasure


10. 烧包 by Qi Qi of Qi Qi in the House


11. Siew Pau, Roasted Buns by Peng of pengskitchen.blogspot.com


12. Carrot Black Sesame Steamed Buns by Kimmy of Cooking Pleasure


13. Pan Fried Buns 生煎包 by Peng of pengskitchen.blogspot.com


14. Purple Sesame Steamed Paus by Kimmy of Cooking Pleasure


15. 叉烧包 Steamed Cha Siew Pao by Xing Hui of 美味情缘


16. Char Siew Bao by Genie of honeybee916food.blogspot.com


17. Polo Bao/Pineapple Bun (菠萝包) by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders



18. 五月五黑糖番薯包食谱 (Black Sugar Sweet Potato Pao Recipe) by MnYFoodTalk of www.mnyfoodtalk.com


19. 南瓜甜玉米馒头小包子 by Pet猫猫 of petsleepingpig.blogspot.com


20. Pork Bao 大包 by Moon of FoodPlayground


21. Barbecue Pork Steamed Buns (Char Siu Bao) by Charlotte of The Land of Bakerie


22. Steamed Custard Bun (Nai Huang Bao 奶黄包) by Tze of Awayofmind Bakery House


23. 双色馒头 by Bernice of Bernice's Kitchen


24. 卡通~ 南瓜喜粄 by Anna Tay of 小雨伞的天空


25. Red Bean Pumpkin Bao by wvfy of Wendy's Small Small World 


26. 南瓜咖椰包 by 雷切儿 of 简单 の 生活


27. 黑芝麻核桃花卷 by Pet猫猫 of petsleepingpig.blogspot.com


28. Mini Pumpkin Mantou 南瓜小馒头 by SSB of Small Small Baker


29. Lotus Leaf Buns 刈包 by SSB of Small Small Baker


30. Sesame Potato Sausage Buns by Kimmy of Cooking Pleasure


31. Green Tea Kaya Pau 绿茶甜包 by Moon of FoodPlayground


32. 番薯喜粄 by Jozelyn Ng of jozelynng.blogspot.com


33. 全麦豆沙包 by Qi Qi of Qi Qi in the House


34. Steamed Bun/Pao Chicken Filling with a Twist by Nasifriet of nasifriet.wordpress.com


35. 蒸:长豆馅包子 by Ling Yuen Chin of Chin's Baking Dairy


36. Pandan Vegetable Paus by Kimmy of Cooking Pleasure


37. Char Siew Pau by Yueky of Desperate Housewife in Holland


38. Pan-fried Buns (生煎包/水煎包) by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders 


39. 椰丝素包 by Jocelin of Butter, Flour & Me


40. Wholemeal Mantou by Fiona Lee of eelmsthenovicebaker


41. Nostalgic Tau Sar Pao by Nasifriet @ By the Way


42. 蒸:箭猪包 by Ling Yuen Chin of Chin's Baking Dairy


43. Polo Buns by Jasline of Foodie Baker


44. Curry Potato Buns 咖哩马铃薯包 by SSB of Small Small Baker



45. 蒸:黄番薯包(cream cheese 馅) by Ling Yuen Chin of Chin's Baking Dairy


46. 沙葛包 by Bernice of Bernice's Kitchen


47. 番薯喜粄 by Bernice of Bernice's Kitchen


48. 蒸: 菜包(粉丝馅) by Ling Yuen Chin of Chin's Baking Dairy



49. Steamed Luncheon Meat Buns by Peng of pengskitchen.blogspot.com


50. 咖喱鸡肉包 by Qi Qi of Qi Qi in the House


51. Char Siew Bao/Pau (叉烧包) by Esther Lau of Copycake Kitchen


52. 红萝卜花卷 by 雷切儿 of 简单 の 生活


53. 像在做手工的~菜肉包 by Cat Chee of 只想让自己快乐~


54. 黑芝麻班兰豆蓉包 by Cat Chee of 只想让自己快乐~


55. 香菇竹筍鸡肉包 by Pet猫猫 of petsleepingpig.blogspot.com


56. Cherry Blossom Mantou by Ellena of Cuisine Paradise


57. Pumpkin Hee Pan by Jess @ Bakericious


58. Pumpkin Brown Sugar Buns by Kimmy of Cooking Pleasure


59. (Purple) Sweet Potato Mantou with Black Sesame & Black Bean Filling by Sherie @ Maameemoomoo


60. Mini Condensed Milk Steamed Mantou (炼奶馒头) by Victoria Bakes of bakingintotheether.wordpress.com


61. Baked Char Siew Bun (Siew Pao) by Corlin Woung of Simple Delights


62. Steamed Rose Bun by Hankerie of http://www.hankerie.com


63. Steamed Assorted Buns by Genie of honeybee916food.blogspot.com


64. Steamed Meat Bao with Preserved Vegetables by Anncoo of Anncoo Journal


65. 娘惹咖喱包 by Cat Chee of 只想让自己快乐~


66. 黑糯米包子 by  茄子 of 袅袅烘焙香


67. 虾米韭菜包子 by  茄子 of 袅袅烘焙香


68. 鸡肉咖哩包子 by  茄子 of 袅袅烘焙香


69. Baked Siew Bao/Pau (烧包) by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders


70. Traditional Steamed Bao with Otak-Otak and Luncheon Meat Crabstick Filling by Hankerie of http://www.hankerie.com


71. Steamed Scallion Flower Buns (Hua Juan) by Kit of I-Lost In Austen


72. Pumpkin Steamed Buns aka Pumpkin Mantou by Doreen/Mui of my little favourite DIY


73. 豆沙包 (Red Bean Bun) by May Law of 厨苑食谱


74. Purple Sweet Potato Bao with Kaya Fillings (紫薯加椰包) by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders


75. Purple Sweet Potato Rose Bao (紫薯玫瑰包) by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders


76. Salted Egg Yolks Custard Pau by DG of Tested and Tasted


77. 南瓜喜粄 by Jozelyn Ng of jozelynng.blogspot.com


78. 香葱肉松卷 by Qi Qi of Qi Qi in the House


79. Taiwanese Street Food - Gua Bao 刈包 by Moon of FoodPlayground


80. Chocolate & Cheese Steamed Buns by Alice of ILove.ICook.IBake


81. Steamed Buns With Pork & Salted Egg Filling by Alice of ILove.ICook.IBake


82. Purple Sweet Potato Pao by Annadinna of Homemade Heartmade


83. Chinese Pan Fried Chive Pork Bun ((菲菜猪肉煎包) by Corlin Woung of Simple Delights


84. 南瓜椰丝喜粄 by May Law of 厨苑食谱


85. Steamed Sweet Potato Mantou by DG of testedandtasted.blogspot.com


86. Chocolate Polo Buns by Doreen/Mui of my little favourite DIY



87. 沙葛虾米包子 (Steamed Pao with Vege Filling) by Xing Hui of 美味情缘




88. Nestled Bao by Doreen/Mui of my little favourite DIY





I hope I have not missed out any of your submissions. I have tried my best to reply each of your emails or leave a comment on each blog, but if I forgot to reply or comment, do accept my sincere apologies! Thank you once again for joining Aspiring Bakers, I hope you will continue to lend your support to the future events.


If you wanna participate in the next AB event, hop on to Aspiring Bakers #32 - World of Mousse Cake hosted by Hankerie of www.hankerie.com.

If you are interested in the previous AB event, hop on to Aspiring Bakers #30 - It's Tea Time hosted by Moon of FoodPlayground.

Print Button

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails