Persimmons!

It's persimmon season again! I remembered my mom used to buy it from Singapore when I was little. We stayed in J.B. during my primary school days and always drove to Singapore weekly to shop. Now it's the other way round huh? I simply love this fruit and would definitely buy some every year when it's in season.

Guess how much I paid for the above? I was shopping at the Asian grocery store and spotted this persimmon on sales for 68 cents/pound and grabbed a pack without exactly knowing the total cost of it. I have nine persimmons total and it only costs me $1.44!! What a steal considering I always paid 88 cent each at WalMart. Now I know where to buy my persimmon already and definitely not WalMart or any of the angmoh retail store (always $1 each!!). :P

Stir-fry Lotus Root with Snow Peas & Ground Pork

What did I do with the extra lotus root?

I have been seeing stir-fry lotus root in some food blogs and thus I was thinking why not? The above was the first for me because I mainly bought it to make soup. Coincidentally I also bought some snow peas and had some marinated ground pork at home, so why not? The one fool proof way of cooking this will be using oyster sauce, can't go wrong with this and I didn't want to be too adventurous for my first time trying a new dish (shush...picky eater hubby here!).

Verdict: The lotus root is crunchy and actually quite tasty.

I would also like to thanks my girlfriend V at East Meets West Kitchen for awarding me with this Schmooze Award. Not sure whether I have done enough schmooze, but I gladly accept any award throw at me! LOL!


" The POWER OF SCHMOOZE AWARD is the award for bloggers who effortlessly weave their way in and out of the blogosphere, leaving friendly trails and smiles, happily making new friends along the way. They don't limit their visits only to the rich and successful, but spend some time to say hello to new blogs as well. They are the ones who engage others in meaningful conversations, refusing to let it end at a mere hello - all the while fostering a sense of closeness and friendship." and so I would like to pass this award to:
More than Words
Kooky Culinary
Food Lover's Journey
Daily Affairs

Lotus Root Soup

Lotus root soup is a comfort soup for me because my mom used to cook it for us. So, when moving here and started to learn cooking and starting to buy my own grocery, of course I couldn't resist not buying the lotus root to cook it myself. I realized that a lot of people cook this soup differently and this is how I cook mine. Pork ribs is definitely a plus in this soup instead of chicken drumsticks because it added the extra sweetness to the soup and matches so well with the lotus root.

Long Meme

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night?
Evy.

2. What were you doing at 0800?
Eating my breakfast while doing this meme.

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
Put Edda down to sleep some more.

4. What happened to you in 2006?
Produce an addition into the family.

5. What was the last thing you said out loud?
Why is Edda crying? Did you hit your sister? (from yesterday)

6. How many beverages did you have today?
Still with my morning cup of coffee.

7. What color is your hairbrush?
Blue.

8. What was the last thing you paid for?
Groceries at WalMart.

9. Where were you last night?
At home with my family.

10. What color is your front door?
Maroon.

11. Where do you keep your change?
Coin purse.

12. What’s the weather like today?
Still too early to tell.

13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor?
Too many to list.

14. What excites you?
Receive surprise package through the mail.

15. Do you want to cut your hair?
Yes!

16. Are you over the age of 25?
Yes.

17. Do you talk a lot?
No. Kinda quite actually.

18. Do you watch the O.C.?
No.

19. Do you know anyone named Steven?
Yes.

20. Do you make up your own words?
Probably yes...hahaha....

21. Are you a jealous person?
It depends.

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’.
Agnes.

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’.
Kow.

24. Who’s the first person on your received call list?
Hubby.

25. What does the last text message you received say?
What text message!

26. Do you chew on your straw?
Not really.

27. Do you have curly hair?
Nope!

28. Where’s the next place you’re going to?
Back to M'sia for a holiday I hope!

29. Who’s the rudest person in your life?
People who don't matter (stole it from V here, hahaha).

30. What was the last thing you ate?
Blueberry bagel spreads with yummy plum jam from V. :)

31. Will you get married in the future?
Hope Not!

32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks?
Nanny McPhee.

33. Is there anyone you like right now?
Yes.

34. When was the last time you did the dishes?
Yesterday.

35. Are you currently depressed?
Nope!

36. Did you cry today?
Nope, I haven't started watching my Chinese series yet!

37. Why did you answer and post this?
Because my very good friend sent me this.

38. Tag 5 people who would do this survey.

Baking Fiends Unite!

Daphne- More than Words

Edith's Precious Moments

PoPo Cooking

Retno's Kedai Hamburg, Germany

Green Beans Sweet Soup

Spotted anything different?

The last couple of days had been cold. I had to dress my girls in those footed sleeper to keep them warm. And what a great way to warm up the body with some warm sweet soup. 

I added mini tapioca pearls into my green beans soup. No, I didn't think of this myself but I ate it in one of the Chinese restaurants we frequent in Denver. They added tapioca pearls into the red beans soup dessert and it was really good, a change from the normal red beans soup. Since I didn't have any red beans at home, I made it with green beans instead. I also added Gula Melaka with rock sugar for extra flavor. My girls loved it especially Evy because she liked the texture of the tapioca pearls.

Note: It will be excellent with some added coconut milk before serving. But I want to keep it healthier and thus omit the coconut milk.

First Snow of the Season

We received our first snow of the season yesterday. We had an accumulation of about 5-6 inches in our yards. Evy enjoyed playing in the snow, even in the freezing weather of 30s'F. She played until her cheeks and nose were red and finally I had to call her in when I spotted she had the running nose. She was so happy when she woke up this morning and the snow was still here. She was shouting, "The snow is still here, the snow has not melt yet, can I go out and play?" Of course I let her played til her heart content this afternoon. She came in and said, "Look mommy, I built a mountain!" Luckily today was not as cold and the sun was shining, that's why I let her play on our deck so that I could see her. I took the picture above when the snow has melted about 50% away! Didn't think of taking a picture before but I want to show V how much snow we got.

MeMe: Five Things

I had been tagged by Big Boys Oven to do "5 Things meme".

A. Found in my room
1. Desktop computer
2. Harry Potter 7
3. Lotion
4. Banana chips
5. Water

B. I have always wanted to do
1. Travel around the world
2. Married & have kids
3. Good at cooking & baking
4. Try other cuisine
5. Own a big house in a big piece of land

C. Found in my bag
1. Diapers
2. Wipes
3. Purse
4. Keys
5. Snack and extra clothing for my girls
(Boring I know! LOL!)

D. Found in my wallet/purse
1. Credit cards
2. Driver licence/ID
3. Zoo membership pass
4. Tea Zone stamped card
5. Cash

E. I am currently into
1. Blogging
2. Facebook
3. Trying new baking recipes
4. Cooking healthy food
5. Trail biking

5 Candidates to tag
1. Beachlover
2. Baking Fiends Unite!
3. Blurmommy's Kooky Culinary
4. Retno's Kedai Hamburg, Germany
5. Tigerfish - Teczcape

Gochujang Soup

I am crazily in love with this soup! This is my latest tofu seaweed Gochujang (Korean red pepper paste) soup. Everything that is good for us are in this soup and it's so tasty with a hint of spiciness. I can have a big bowl of this soup as it's soooo good.

I have already posted my recipe here. But this latest version is with the seaweed instead of napa cabbage. They match so well together. You should give this spicy soup and the combination above a try (if you haven't already)! *wink*

Hmmm...next time I should add Udon noodle in it and make it a Spicy Udon tofu & seaweed soup huh? Then, my lunch is "kau tim".

Another Gift

Am I the lucky one or not? I received this as a gift all the way from Singapore from one of my blog readers. She decided to remain anonymous and I respected that. But how nice right? In case you were wondering, the butterfly one is for making Konnyaku jelly and the bear and face molds are for making sushi rice molds. Cute right? She said it's a gift for my girls, so that this lazy mommy can make pretty lunch boxes for them. :P *Ok, I added the lazy mommy end, lol* This package really made my day and I was grinning from ear to ear. Not only me, Evy was excited as well. Thank you so very very much from the bottom of my heart on your thoughtfulness, you know who you are! *muak* ^o*

Wife Cake (Lao Por Bing)/(Lor Por Peng)

Lily gave me two to try on Edda's birthday and I guess I'm too "thiam jiak" and two was not enough and thus I decided to look into Florence's recipe (she included step-by-step pictures), which was the recipe Lily used. I realized I actually have all the necessary ingredients and thus my hands started to itch again, or my mouth being "thiam jiak". LOL! So, I made it!!


I did some modification because I don't use shortening in my household. I used spreadable butter in the water dough and filling and I used 45g canola oil in the oil dough. This recipe yields 12 small wife cakes.


A closer view. This pastry is supposed to be soft and flaky but I like it crispy and flaky like on the day it was baked. Look at all the crumbs when I cut it open in half, so crispy and flaky! This pastry turns soft the next day so if you like it crispy, finish it on the day it is baked. But, if you like the original soft pastry just keep it til the next day. However, if you like me who couldn't finish all in a day, you get to enjoy both texture. *wink*

Verdict:
I love it! Even though this is the first time I tasted this kind of filling. I think in Malaysia we made the filling differently and also called it a wife cake. Click here to view. Hey, next time I can sprinkle some black and white sesame seeds on top eh. Will certainly make this again. Florence, thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe so that those of us who live overseas will get to make and enjoy this Chinese pastry too! :)

Breakfast for Lunch

Once in a while I would cook breakfast for lunch. I called this my sinful lunch because it has one fried whole egg, a cheese, 2 slices of Canadian bacons and English muffin slab with butter and then pan fried in a pan ! So sinful right? I think I tried to make myself feel better by buying the whole grain English muffin...*wink*...Anything whole grain or whole wheat sounds so much better for us, makes it sounds healthier.

This is for Evy, drizzled with Ketcup!


This is for myself, top with Lingham chili sauce. Oh soooo good!

Butter Cream Frosting

My simple design birthday cake for Edda. I just stick to something simple because on that day itself I made a few other cakes, kuih and a lot of chopping and slicing for the next day. No energy left to decorate something fanciful.



The slice view of the cake. I love the icing for this cake so decided to share it here and for my own record. I memorized the recipe while watching the American Test Kitchen T.V. show.

Recipe from American Test Kitchen:

3 sticks of unsalted butter, soften (1 stick=113 g)

1- 16oz/1lb icing sugar a.k.a confectioner sugar/powder sugar

1 Tbsp. milk

1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

Method:

Put all in a bowl and beat until soft and fluffy. Frost the cake as desired. If too soft, put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before frosting again.

Edda's Birthday Party (Part 1)

My little girl turned one year old few days ago. I had a birthday party for her because turning one is special for Chinese. So, I invited a couple of my friends to celebrate with us. Sharing some pictures of what I cooked with my readers here.

I learned a lesson from Evy's birthday. That is not to wait until the last minute to stir-fry because I was still cooking when my guests showed up and I had to finish cooking and setting the table in front of my guests. So, for this I told myself I got to get everything done before my guests arrived. So this time, I got everything cooked two hours prior and keep warm in my oven ready to bring out 5 minutes before the designated time. However, I also learned a new lesson with this arrangement, will spill in my part 2 post when I show the close up of my dishes.


The spread without the cheese pizza (still baking in the oven)


Another view of the spread


Dessert section: pandan cream cheese pound cake, strawberry butter cake, brownie (can see from the 1st. picture), kuih bingka ubi and mixed fruit konnyaku jelly.


Party table with goodies bags for the kids, red eggs for each family to take home and snack.


The red eggs gift bags for adults


Mixed fruit konnyaku jelly in assorted fish molds. My girlfriend A got this for me from M'sia, nice right? :)


The Pandan cream cheese pound cake. Recipe here, just used pandan paste instead of green tea powder. And yes, thanks for the tips from my readers, my cake turned out beautiful from the bundt pan.


Edda's birthday cake. I used this for the chocolate cake and as for the frosting, will post it in another post. Stay tuned!

Edda's Birthday Party (Part 2)

Stir-fried Udon Noodle Asian Style with Chinese Mushroom


Fried Spicy Mee Siam Malaysian Style


Delimas Chicken Curry with Potatoes. You can buy the Delimas Chicken Curry Paste here. Very easy, just add chicken, potatoes and coconut milk. Taste just like the Malaysian curry without all the work.


Claypot Beef Rendang, can also see it here. Oops! I forgot to add kaffir lime leaves. Anyway, you can buy it at MyTOA. But I think it's currently out of stock since I couldn't find it. Just check back often for new stock. For this, even easier, just add beef! I simmered this for a tad too long and some of the beef were broken into pieces. Well, at least it showed how tender the beef is.

Mixed Vegetable. I made a mistake of putting it in the oven to keep warm for 2 hours. Why? Because my broccoli turned soft instead of crunchy (the way I like it) and also it lost the vibrant green color and turned a bit yellow. Learned a lesson here, never put your veggie to keep warm in the oven. Half an hour should be fine, just not two hours. So, this is the new lesson learned.

Easy Stir-Fried Shrimps with sweet soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil and black pepper. I just sprinkled some dried parsley for decoration. This dish which I whipped out while cooking, just an okay dish for my standard. I think I shouldn't add rice wine since the smell is pretty strong.

Lastly, Edda smiling for the camera before lighting the candle and singing the birthday song. Happy One Year Old my little girl! Ugh, why she got rabbit ears? :P

Strawberries Butter Cake

I bought some strawberries the other day because it was on sales. And I always wanted to try Strawberries Butter Cake. So, I reserved some strawberries for my little experiment. Hehe...

My experiment was a success! This cake turned out soft and moist with a little bite of strawberry bits. Evy loved it and ate 3 pieces for breakfast!

Simple Dinner

Simple stir-fry bok choy with oyster sauce.


Sliced chicken breast with wood ear fungus and dried lily buds.

Recipe for Chicken with Wood Ear & Lily Buds:
Ingredient:

1 chicken breast, sliced (marinated with salt, pepper, rice wine & cornstarch)
About 3/4 cup of dried shredded wood ear, soaked in warm water to soften, drained & set aside
About 3/4 cup of dried lily buds, soaked in warm water, drained and set aside (cut off the black hard tip)
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
Canola oil to stir-fry

Sauces, (A):
1 Tbsp. sweet soy sauce, 1 circle over the wok soy sauce, 1 Tbsp. rice wine, 1 dash of sesame oil

Method:

1. Heat canola oil, add in chicken, stir well. Add in garlic and cook until chicken no longer pink.

2. Add in wood eat and lily buds. Stir-fry well, add in (A). A little water to make sauce, simmer for 5 minutes and serve hot.

A Gift

I received this as a gift from a friend from China. Guess what it is?


This is how the inside looks like. It's like a glutinous rice dumpling. But it is wrapped like a huge log (first time I have seen this, thus not sure whether it's common in China). The filling is a tiny bit of pork wrapped with mung beans and then the glutinous rice.


And the way to enjoy it is to cut it into slices and then pan-fried until crispy.


Very interesting hor? Taste wise, not too bad because it is well seasoned and when it's pan-fried, it gives the crispiness to the bite. Good with Sriracha chilli sauce!


Look at her enjoying herself to a piece! Yummy!


Update: Edda can walk a few steps by herself now. It will be soon before she takes off. :) Hopefully!

Tofu & Seafood Dish

I love to buy those cylinder shape Japanese tofu because I have fond memory of them while in Malaysia. My parents used to order this dish while dining out and I was really impressed by how silken soft it is (10+ years ago) and I especially loved the deep-fried one served in a clay pot. Nowadays, there are variety of tofu sold in the Asian market ranging from extra firm to silken soft. So, this tofu is not that special anymore, except for the unique shape.

I pat dry my cut out tofu, coated it in potato starch and deep-fried til golden brown. I tried one while it was still warm and it was delicious just as it is, crispy outside and silken soft inside. However, I sort of ruin it by cooking the seafood sauce and later added the fried tofu in to simmer. Why? because the potato starch turned gluey, transparent starch when simmering in the sauce. Oh man! I should have just pour the sauce on top as I have planned instead of thinking of warming up the tofu and thus placed it in the sauce to simmer together. Big mistake! So, I pen it down here so that I won't make the same mistake again.

Fried Tang Hoon

I soaked some tang hoon ('bean thread noodles') the other day for making soup noodle. And I was left with one bowl of leftover tang hoon. So, I was cracking my head of what to do with it, either use it for Vietnamese fresh spring roll, making soup with dried bean curd or what. After much thought, why not stir-fry it for lunch since I have some leftover bean sprouts, cut out carrots and tofu & fish balls mix-in-one packet recommended by Lily. Oh Lily, if you are reading this, thanks so much for recommended me to this Korean tofu and fish balls mixed. It is delicious and not to say very convenient to have at home since I can just take it out frozen and boiled it for soup noodle, or defrost it in warm water and sliced it to stir-fry. I have since done both and totally love this product!

MmmMmm... a delicious lunch indeed!

This is the picture of the frozen fried fish cake. It has fried tofu, variety of fried fish cake and fish balls inside.

Another Award! Yay!

Thank you Peony for awarding me with this,



It's an honor and I'm happy to accept it, even though I am creative as in providing links for her to access other food bloggers. LOL! :P

Joke aside, I would love to pass this award on to:


Lily - for her passion in perfecting a recipe and unselfishness in sharing her knowledge.

Big Boys Oven - For their ever creative juices in baking beautiful cakes and bakes.

KookyCulinary - For her creative way of preparing lunch boxes for her daughter.

Fresh from the Oven - For taking beautiful pictures and bakes store-bought quality cakes and bakes.

Tigerfish - For her creativity in dishing out new dishes.

Enjoy the award ladies and gentlemen! :D

Happy Mid-Autumn/Lantern Festival

Tomorrow is Mid-Autumn or Lantern Festival. It is a day celebrated by all Chinese to welcome the abundance of harvest and togetherness. A day where we enjoy mooncakes under the full moon while children happily carry lanterns and walk around the neighborhood. I'm not going to bore you with the long winded detail, just click here for the full story if you are interested.

Look what arrived just in time for me to celebrate it? MOONCAKES!!! A gift from big boss Ray, owner of mytasteofasia.com to thanks me for supporting and doing business with him, how nice huh? I was touched and so very happy because I love mooncakes and it is my yearly treat. Ray, a big THANK YOU for thinking of me while sending this gift. :) It's great being your friend and doing business with you. Love the products you sell and it will keep me coming back for more for sure.

For those who miss Malaysian mooncakes and not as lucky as me, you can buy it online at mytasteofasia.com. It comes in White Lotus with Double Yolks and Pandan Lotus with One Yolk. Check it out! :)

Lastly, happy mooncake/lantern/mid-autumn festival to all my readers! :D

Deep-fried Fish with Soy Sauce

I haven't bought a whole fish for ages. And see what happen when I shopped with Lily (yeah, I get to shop with her a lot these days, :D), I ended out bought two fishes, one was white Pomfret which I steamed it but was too eager to eat it hot and thus didn't take any picture. But since this fish was deep-fried and looking so yummy (not that my steamed pomfret was not yummy), I decided to record it in my blog. Hehe...

I served my deep-fried fish on a bed of scallions in plain soy sauce. I wanted my fish to remain crispy instead of soggy laden with soy sauce. So, I pour soy sauce on a plate, piled the scallions on top and then placed my deep-fried fish on top of the scallion and then drizzled a little hot oil on top.