My New Toy- Air Fryer

After hearing about the Air-fryer for two years, I decided to buy one from Costco when it went on sales.  I hope this turned out to be a good investment for me as my readers probably know that I am a pretty health conscious individual and I really sold to the idea of deep-frying with no or minimal oil.  What makes this great is it only took few minutes to cook and it doesn't leave my house smelling like I have just deep-fried some food.  As of now, I am loving my deep-fryer!

I tried it with Alexia's sweet potato tots, 400'F for 13 minutes, shaking half way and it turned out great.

I also tried it with mini Asian spring rolls that I bought at Costco.  400'F for 8 minutes, turn over half way.

Ling Ling's pot stickers.  I think I need to brush it with egg wash to produce the golden brown effect, other than that it does taste crispy and the inside is cooked through.  400'F for 10 minutes.

Lastly, I used it to bake Cod fish.  It cooked great, just be aware that lots of water came out from the fish.  So, perhaps line the bottom of the air fryer with a parchment paper for easy cleaning.

I also tried it with deep-fried tofu and it turned out well as

Matcha Yogurt Cake

I remembered I made yogurt cake before and it was pretty good.  A co-worker gave me a big tub of Brown Cow vanilla yogurt so it gave me an opportunity to make this cake again.  I told her I am going to make a yogurt cake and give it to her.  She didn't know we can use yogurt to make a cake hence just had to let her try it herself I guess.  I decided on the Matcha flavor just because I liked it. This is another one bowl and a whisk recipe that I liked very much.  Easy and not a lot of things to wash later.  This cake is best the next day, a soft and moist cake with vanilla and matcha flavors.

Swirl Green Tea Vanilla Pound Cake

I have a block of cream cheese sitting in the refrigerator so I had to find a recipe for it.  I remembered I once made a orange cream cheese pound cake that was really good.  I should have follow that recipe with I adapted instead of trying this new recipe at allrecipes.com.  It is still good but it was not as good as it could be as I have tasted better.  I was kind of disappointed.  Next time I will use the recipe in my blog for cream cheese pound cake instead of trying another recipe.

I added green tea powder for the middle layer.  Next time I probably make it all green tea flavor as this high quality matcha powder is really fragrant.  I took half to my work place and they all loved it. It felt great to share your food to someones who appreciated it.  :)

No-churn Green Tea/ Matcha Ice-cream

Yay!  I don't have to pay more for green tea ice-cream anymore!  Creamy and delicious green tea ice-cream can be easily made at home.  Since I learned the method for no-churn ice-cream, I have been making my own ice-cream with the flavor that I loved!  With the basic no-churn ice-cream recipe, you can create any flavor ice-cream that you could think of! If you can think it, you can make it!  I would definitely experiment more flavors in the future.

My Pullman tin finally came into good use!  The ice-cream fit nicely in this tin plus it came with a cover.  So convenient and so lovely!

Matcha Cranberries Cookies

I created this matcha cranberries cookies with matcha icing on Sunday.  Sunday is my rest day and also a day for my girls and I to make cookies or cake.  I need to let them practice more so that they can improve their skills in all areas, such as rolling, cutting and icing.  Have to train them to become little helpers in the kitchen and be independent!

Sorry, I won't be sharing this recipe.  :P

Matcha Kaya

This idea came about when I was talking to my girls.  I asked them what would be a good filling for swiss roll that I was planning to make.  I told them I have blueberry jam or should I make some kaya?  What else that we can use as a filling and then Evy said green tea.  I was like hmmm green tea... what about green tea kaya and thus this idea was born.  Gotten excited and made this recipe right away (that's the plus point of having a bread maker!)  Tada!  Present to you matcha kaya!  This kaya is sweet, fragrant and hint of green tea flavor.  I thought it was sweet and going to cut down the sugar to 1 cup in my next batch.  Trying to reduce the sugar if I can.  But lots of people like their kaya sweet, so it's up to you!

After I was done making the kaya and browsing over my sponge swiss roll recipe, only then I realized that my electric beater was broken and couldn't possibly make any sponge cake!!  Oh well, no sponge cake at the meantime until I buy a new electric beater.  Thus far, the cake and muffin that I make only required a hand whisk.

Matcha Mochi Cake with Sweet Potatoes/Yam

 

Why green tea you asked?  It's simply because I adore the Redman green tea powder, it's so fragrant and make your baked good vibrant in this beautiful green color.  I made sure I bought some when I went back to Malaysia few months ago. There is no substitution for me!  Not disappointed, my house smelled like green tea when this was baked and this mochi cake really fragrant packed with green tea smell.  If you just want a plain matcha mochi cake, just omit the sweet potatoes.

The texture of this mochi cake is sticky and chewy with the fragrant of green tea and sweetness from the sweet potatoes.  My next experiment will be with taro mochi cake, wait til I get my hands on some taro!

Green Tea Pudding without Eggs

I called this green tea pudding without eggs because this pudding was not made with eggs and baked in a water bath.  I used gelatin to harden it.  I got the inspiration from Nasi Lemak Lover's Soymilk Pudding and a commercial I watched on youtube.  That commercial featured vanilla pudding, coffee pudding and green tea pudding and it just caught my eyes.  Since I have one last packet of powder gelatin to use and all other ingredients at home, I set to work.  I revised the recipe using my Reduced Fat Panna Cotta that I made earlier.  The difference was no heavy cream was used in this pudding.

If you loved green tea, you would love this.  Just make sure you use a good quality green tea powder or matcha so that the color will come out green and the taste of green tea will be strong.  It does makes a difference so don't buy a cheap green tea powder for baking or making dessert (I had learned my lesson).  I recommend Redman's green tea powder for baking if you live in Malaysia.

This pudding is delicious and all of us loved it.

Green Tea Pumpkin Seeds

I always wanted to roast some pumpkin seeds.  My opportunity came when I had a bag of pumpkin seeds given by a library event (pumpkin carving) that we went to.  I loved green tea flavor and so automatically I wanted to try green tea flavored roasted pumpkin seeds.  This is definitely good and make a great snack.  Me and my girls all loved it.

Since this was slow roasted for an hour, we can certainly pop the whole thing in the mouth.  It's totally edible with extra fiber and crunch.  You can taste the green tea and salt.  Of course if you choose to just eat the seed, you can do that too. I did that while watching my korean drama.  LOL!

Green Tea Buns with Green Tea Crusted Topping

My twist on Rotiboy (or Mexican Buns)! Instead of the coffee flavored that we have known and loved, I made it into green tea flavored. As my readers know, I love green tea powder or matcha and I had done some baking based on it as well. This recipe came about while I was looking at my previous Rotiboy's post, I thought of this idea, why not experiment it in a different flavor and green tea just stood out. So, I have this recipe in file for me to try for months, but just never gotten to really make it (blame my laziness). I finally made it today because my store-bought bread is running low and I am short of posts to post in my blog. So, that did it, I had to take my breadmaker out and start working. :P

These green tea buns came out so good, soft and fluffy (it even left a dent when my fingers picked out the buns to cool) with the crusty sweet topping that I loved. Simply delicious! If you love green tea, you should give this bun a try! I will certainly make more of this. :)


Resting and proving until double in size.


Then, pipe the topping into spiral on top of each bun.


Add a little black sesame seeds in the center of each bun.


Like this! Don't spread the sesame seeds all over, just place it in the center as the topping will spread out when baking.

Iced Matcha au Lait

I always used matcha in my bakes, didn't know it can be so refreshing and tasty in a drink too, such as this iced matcha au lait recipe from matchasource.com. I was surprised at how tasty it was and my girls just drank it up especially Edda who even asked for more.

Matcha is a powdered green tea from Japan. It is naturally sugar free, rich in nutrients, anti-oxidants, fiber and chlorophyll-a renowned detoxifying agent. Matcha contains caffeine which stimulated the body and amino acids which relax the mind. Tea plants are covered with bamboo screens several weeks prior to harvest. Under the screens, plants must work harder to grow, and they increase their levels of chlorophyll and amino acids. Harvested tea leaves are then steamed, air-dried, de-veined and stone-ground into powder. Therefore, with matcha, whole tea leaves are consumed, thus the vibrant green color, and why the taste of matcha is grassy and full-bodied. I always have readers asking me where they can purchase matcha in the states. Well, you can visit matchasource.com to order, read about the traditional way of serving matcha, for more tips and browse through the recipes or interviews.

Recipe provided with courtesy from matchasource.com:

Ingredients: Serves 1

1 tsp. matcha
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup hot water
3/4 cup cold milk
3-4 ice cubes
6-inch stalk of lemon grass (I omitted this)

Method:

1. Mix the matcha with the sugar, add the hot water, and stir until the paste becomes smooth.

2. Add the cold milk and stir. Add the ice cubes.

3. Serve with the lemon grass for added flavor.

Green Tea Castella or Matcha Kasutera

We were going away for a three days two nights camping trip and I wanted something easy to serve as breakfast. What easier than having two pieces of cake and a cup of instant 3 in 1 coffee or milk tea? Since I made the Castella cake earlier and we all loved it, that sponge cake was my easy picked. I read that the original Japanese sponge cake does not called for oil/butter/margarine so I was interested in experimenting. However, I was too careful to remove all the oil because I was afraid that it might be too dry thus I reduced half of the oil and some sugar. I added 1/2 tablespoon of green tea powder for a change too. Since I reduced the oil, I also tried the method mentioned in my previous post that was to place the cake in the refrigerator while still warm but I didn't brush the top with honey water (I didn't want it to be sticky).

The resulted cake had fine crumbs and more compact than my previous one. Still soft and light like a sponge cake with the tint fragrant of green tea. Still tasted good after reducing the oil.

Green Tea Muffin with Red Bean Paste

Received this as a suggestion from a reader. And since I have some canned red bean and water chestnut paste in my pantry, I decided to give it a go. I used my green tea yogurt muffin recipe and added a dollop of red bean and chestnut paste in the middle before baking. I thought red bean paste pair better with green tea flavor, so I tried it with green tea muffin. It yields 18 muffins for me, so again I have to give some away and freeze some for later consumption. I will take it out a night before and let it defroze and be ready for breakfast the next day.

Green Tea Flavored Baked Donuts

Adding green tea powder for a change. You can add cocoa powder for a chocolate flavored donuts as well (recipe won't be the same as you will need more cocoa powder to bring out the flavor).


I split it open to share the texture of this donuts. It's still soft the second day.

Green Tea Yogurt Cupcakes/Muffins

Looks like I am addicted in baking yogurt cake right? Actually it is also I bought a big tub of plain yogurt so I have to finish it. This time I tried adding green tea powder into the yogurt cake. This cake has a slight fragrant of green tea and not too sweet.

Steamed Green Tea Cupcakes

I love the steamed banana cupcakes so I decided to make other variety of steamed cakes. Since I really love green tea flavor so this was an easy choice. For sure I will try out different flavors in the future. I steamed this in my newly acquired diamond shape Wilton's silicon cups. Hmmm...looks like these steamed cakes want to play "pee ka boo" with me! LOL!


How it looked when I took it out from the silicon cups and turned it the other side so that it didn't look like these cuppies were saying "pee ka boo". These steamed cuppies are soft and light, I really loved it. I also made it healthier by using skim milk and oil.

Green Tea Oats Cookies

I was browsing through food blogs and then some and then I felt my hands itchy again. Itch to have some action and then my mind started to wander. I wanted to make something very easy without taking out my electric beaters and incorporating green tea powder (as I love it) and sort of healthy at the same time and thus this was created.

If you like crunchy oats cookies with green tea fragrant, this is the recipe for you. I used this Oats Cookies but instead of vanilla extract, I used 1/2 tsp. of green tea powder, omitted the raisins and choc. chips and used 1 cup of oats instead.



The resulted cookies of the day! The color and shape of this cookie seem to me very suitable to serve on Halloween. :P I can imagine adding two tiny choc. chips as eyes and I will have myself a plate of little green goblins starring at me. LOL! Surprisingly, this cookie was well received by my hubby and two girls.

Green Tea Milk Loaf

No bread at home but want to eat bread with the pork floss I bought so how? Have to take out my breadmaker and start making bread. Since it's freezing cold over here and I'm too lazy to shape and prove my bread, the easiest way is to let the breadmaker do everything. Yeah, I don't want to wash the extra pan nor turn on my oven!



I decided to play around with the recipe again and turned this milk loaf bread into Green Tea flavor. This is the recipe I used because I'm out of heavy cream and I really like milk loaf. I used 1 whole egg instead of 35g of egg, what am I going to use with the leftover half an egg huh? I also used 2% fresh milk instead of skim. In addition, I also added 1/2 tsp. green tea powder and 1 tsp. bread improver. Set my breadmaker to Basic, Light Crust and 1.5 lb. and have my bread ready in 2.5 hours.



Not bad at all. It's soft and fluffy with green tea flavor. My girls ate half of the bread while it's still warm so only got five pieces left for tomorrow breakfast. By the way, I find cutting the bread is a challenge, when do you supposed to cut the bread, when it's still warm or when it's cool down completely? The bread is so soft so I basically have to squeeze the bread to cut it with my serrated knife when it's still warm (the side crust is still a bit hard so I can grab hold on it). I'm afraid when it's all soft I will have no way to slice it. So, I sliced my bread when it's still warm and put them in an air-tight container. When and how do you normally slice your bread?

Hmmm...should have used the timer so that I can wake up with a fresh loaf of bread huh?

Green Tea Daifuku/ Mochi

Daifuku is a Japanese sweet consisting of a small round glutinous rice cake/mochi stuffed with sweet filling. Most Daifuku are covered in a fine layer of corn or taro starch to prevent them from sticking to each other, believe me this is one sticky dessert without the flour. I adapted my Green Tea Daifuku from Hugbear aka LeeLee and used the basic red bean paste as filling. I have tried it plain with toasted ground peanuts before and it was yummy as well.

Green Tea Powder (Baking)

Since a few of you asked me about green tea powder, I thought I just post up a picture for you to see. So that whenever you are back in M'sia/S'pore you can go buy it yourself or ask someone to buy and ship it to you. :) This is the one I have been using and I really like the green tea fragrant it has.