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!