Vietnamese Honeycomb Cake

Thanks tt for this wonderful recipe. :) I first saw him posting this recipe at Jo's Deli a couple months back. The picture and simple recipe just attracted me to it. Got to copy it and put in on my to-do list.

I have a tea party next Sat. and thus have to think of something to bring. And I saw this recipe again while surfing through tt's blog. So, why not this!



This is my trial & test version because I have not make it before and I just don't want a last minute disaster and plan B kinda thing going on next Sat. Glad to say that it turned out great. I just have to grease and flour my bundt pan the next time I make it. (If you just grease it alone, it will stick to the pan)



This is a close up picture of the cake. This cake tasted like a kuih, chewy with a hint of pandan and the sweetness is just nice. It is called a honeycomb cake because it has holes all over inside of the cake and looks like a beehive.

Note 1: Use 1 tsp. of Pandan paste for more pandan flavor. I only used 1/2 tsp. and my hubby complaint not enough flavor. He wanted it sweeter too.


Note 2: Made my second batch yesterday using a 8" square pan. Added 1 tsp. pandan paste and 1/4 cup more sugar. This definitely more to my liking as the flavor and sweetness go. (added 12/17)

The recipe is posted here:
tt's blog

Coconut Shrimps

After I tried a coconut shrimp in a seafood restaurant here, I have been thinking of how to make it myself. It's very popular here, normally served as an appertizer or your choice of main side dish.

This is my version of it, shouldn't be too far off from the real thing and very easy to make. It's crunchy with a hint of coconut, even my hubby said it's good.

Homemade Chicken Floss

This is my first time making chicken floss, all the while I have been making pork floss. Why the trouble of making my own floss right? I just have no idea how long the floss here have been sitting on the selves because the one sold here are just not fresh like the one we buy in M'sia. And since it's a meat product, I just couldn't bring myself to buy it. My life would be easier if I can take the leap isn't it? Haha...

Anyway, the method is the same as my pork floss just that it only takes an hour or less to simmer. I added some curry powder and no dark soy sauce in this. Since chicken meat is fairly tender, it's very easy to shred and I got the flossy texture that I want in a floss.



However, I have encountered a few problems on the way that I have no idea what went wrong. I got the flossy texture but the floss turned out to be hard and chewy!! Thinking that my heat must be too high, I added some water and turned the heat to low and stir-fried it some more. To cut the story short, I did that twice in order to save it but still ended out with chewy floss, the one that's hard to swallow.

Think...think...think....finally my last attempt of saving my chicken floss, I placed it on a baking sheet and baked it at very low temperature (200'F) for 30 minutes. Now I have crispy chicken floss. Still not the fluffy one that Lily and I wanted but better than hard & chewy anytime. A failure chicken floss! :(

Questions:
1. Not sure why it takes longer for me to stir-fry the chicken floss compared to pork floss? I thought it should be shorter.

2. Why the flossy texture didn't produce a fluffy taste? *scratching head*

I think it will be a while before I attempting to make any meat floss again. Hahaha....

Bah Kut Teh

Made this bak kut teh for dinner yesterday. I used the Yew Chian Haw bak kut teh premix. I love this brand as it comes with pieces of herbs and got a herbal flavor. I added tau pok in mine.

Vietnamese Influence Turkey Noodle Soup

The best way to get rid of the turkey bones or the drumsticks and wings is to make stock or soup. If you make a lot of the stock, you can freeze it in some containers and take out one to defroze overnight in the fridge for next day use.

For this noodle soup, I used one back bone, two drumsticks and a wing and did a Vietnamese twist to it by adding lemon grass, star anise, 5 spice powder, roasted onions and ginger, fish sauce and salt & sugar to taste. I simmered it for four hours. I got the inspiration from tt's beef noodle. :D



As to serve, I got some fresh basil, saw tooth herb, quick blanched bean sprouts and onion, turkey meats and DoDo fish balls. Oh tt, if you read this, the saw tooth herb really won't hurt my mouth. Hahaha... Thanks!



After the noodle had been assembled. The herbs gave it such a nice fragrant and the crunchy bean sprouts gave it an extra bite to the noodle soup. I served it with Sriracha Hot sauce and Hoisin sauce.

BoBoChaCha

I made this as a dessert on Thanksgiving night since I have some leftover yam from the yam kuih. Bobochacha is actually very easy to make and here's my version.

Ingredients:

~Yam, cut into cubes and steamed for 30 mins.
~Sweet Potatoes, cut into cubes and steamed for 10 mins.
~Gula Melaka or the yellow hard sugar, to taste.
~Coconut Cream/ Thick Coconut Milk.

Steps:

1. In a saucepan, add in the amount of water you want. When boiled, add in the gula Melaka, add to the sweetness you like (need to taste test, if too sweet, add some hot water, if not sweet enough, add more gula Melaka). Stir until sugar dissolved. Lower the heat and add in the coconut cream and the steamed yam & sweet potatoes, stir to mix well, about 5 mins. Turn the heat off. Serves hot or cold. Enjoy!