Sticky Date Pudding

Makes 10 - 12 muffins

Ingredients

270g dates (pitted)

312ml or 1 1/4 cups water

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

60g butter 

2 eggs (lightly beaten)

1 tsp vanilla extract

160g flour

100g light brown sugar

Method

- Pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees C. Greaseproof the muffin tray with abit of butter/oil. 

- Boil the dates with water. Once done, turn off the heat, melt the butter and baking soda with the boiled dates. When the date mixture is cooled off abit, use a hand grinder to chop up the dates.

- Add the eggs and vanilla extract. Do not over mix.

- Sieve the flour with the baking powder. 

- Add the brown sugar into the flour mixture, remove lumps if any.

- Fold in the dry with the wet mixture. Add walnuts/pecan nuts if you will like.

- Pour into muffin tray (3/4 full will do) and bake for about 25 - 30mins.

- Serves best with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream! 

Braised beef cheeks with red wine sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients
Marinate beef cheeks overnight:
1 kg of beef cheeks
1/2 bottle of red wine (preferably full bodied wine)
1 large carrot, chopped up into large pieces
1 large brown onion, chopped up into large pieces
4-5 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 celery stalk, cut into small pieces
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs of thyme

Braising liquid
1 large brown onion, diced
2 cups of beef stock
Plain flour, for dusting
Vegetable oil
Butter
1 heaped tbsp full of tomato paste
Italian parsley, chopped finely

Method
- Mix all the ingredients for marinating the beef cheeks and refrigerate covered overnight.
- Remove the beef cheeks and pat dry, set aside the red wine marinate.
- Season the cheeks with salt and pepper on both sides, dust with flour and shake off the excess.
- Heat the oil in a casserole pot over medium/high heat and brown the cheeks on both sides. Leave abit of gap in between each cheek, fry in batches if necessary.
- Fry the onions in the same pan until translucent. Add the tomato paste and fry for another 2 minutes until fragrant. Add the cheeks, beef stock and red wine marinate, along with all the marinated vegs. Season with salt and pepper.
- Turn up the heat until simmering, cover with parchment paper or lid and transfer to the oven, cook at 160 degree C for about 3-4 hours until tender, turning the cheeks every hour.
- Remove the cheeks and strain the sauce, keep the cheeks tightly covered with clingfilm to prevent drying).
- Heat the sauce in a saucepan until reduced by half and thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the butter until you see a rich/glossy consistency. Season with salt and pepper if necessary.
- Slice and serve the beef cheeks with chopped parsley and sauce. Goes very well with pasta or mashed potato. 

Carrot Cake

Cuts into 8-10 slices

Ingredients
200g plain flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmug
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
140g light brown sugar
200ml vegetable oil
3 medium eggs (in room temperature)
250g carrots, peeled and grated
50g chopped walnuts / pecan nuts (optional)

For the frosting
250g cream cheese
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
1 tsp vanilla essence
150g icing sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice

Method
- Preheat oven to 150 degree C. Lightly oil and line the base of a 7 or 8 inch round cake tin with greaseproof paper.
- Sift and combine all dry ingredients, except sugar.
- Beat the eggs, sugar and oil for about 1 minute in a mixing bowl. Add in all the dry ingredients and mix well.
- Add the carrots and walnuts, mixed thoroughly and pour into cake tin. Bake in oven for about 50 mins - 1 hours (half the baking time if the batter is separated into 2 cake tins), until a skewer inserted into the centre of cake comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool in the tin for 10mins before turning out to a wire rack.
- To make the frosting, beat together the cream cheese, lemon rind, juice and vanilla essence. Take note that the cream cheese and butter should be at room temperature.
- Sift the icing sugar first and stir into the cream cheese mixture, until it reaches a thick and smooth consistency.
- When the cake is completely cooled, spread the frosting over the top/side. Best to chill in the fridge for a day/overnight before serving.

Stir Fried Bean Sprouts with Salted Fish

Serves 2-3

Ingredients
- 200g of bean sprouts (washed and roots removed)
- 1 piece of dried salted fish (washed, pat dry and cut into 0.5cm slices)
- 3 cloves of garlic (skin peeled and chopped up)
- 3-4 sprigs of spring onions (washed and cut into 4cm lengthwise)
- 1 thumb size ginger (sliced thinly)
- Red cut chilli

Seasoning
- Light soya sauce
- Pepper
- Salt

Method
- Fry the salted fish in hot oil until it turns crispy. Set aside.
- Pour away the oil and use fresh hot oil to fry the garlic and ginger till fragrant.
- Add in the bean sprouts and fry using medium/high heat. Put in the fried salted fish and mix well.
- Add seasoning, taste and add more if required.
- When the bean sprouts are about cooked, add in the chilli and spring onions. Serve hot.

Hong Kong Style Steamed Fish

Serves 2-3

Ingredients
- 400g of fresh fish (I used red snapper fillets)
- 1 thumb size ginger
- 4 - 5 cloves of garlic (more if you like garlic)
- light soya sauce
- chinese hua diao wine
- sugar

Garnish
- spring onions
- ginger
- red chilli

Method
- Wash and clean fish. Pat dry. Rub salt on the fish and place it on a steamer plate. Put a few slices of ginger on the fish. Steam 10-15 minutes. Do not overcook the fish as the flesh will turn hard.
- While the fish is steaming, prepare and heat up the sauce - made up of 2 tbsp of light soya sauce, 2 tbsp of water, 2 tbsp of hua diao and 1 tsp of sugar.
- When the fish is cooked, remove from steamer and pour away the liquid and discard the ginger. Pour the hot sauce over the fish.
- Fry the garlic in hot oil until it turns golden brown, you can also add sliced ginger and spring onions just before you turn off the heat. Immediately drizzle over the fish and serve hot. 

Mee Hoon Kueh 麵粉粿

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

For the dough
- 250g plain flour
- 100ml water
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 egg (lightly beaten)
- 1/2 tsp salt

For the soup
- I use frozen chicken soup stock as the soup base.

Others
- 4-5 dried chinese mushrooms (pre-soaked and cut into smaller pieces)
- 1 clove of garlic (rinsed and bruised)
- leafy vegetables, any type will do (I used chye sim)
- 150g minced pork (pre-marinate with light soya sauce and pepper, rolled into small balls)
- 3-4 heaped tbsp dried split fish (washed/rinsed with boiling water, do not soak, dab dry with kitchen towel)
- fried shallots

Method
- For the dough, combine all wet and dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and using your hands, knead for about 10mins until it forms a smooth soft dough. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour. If too dry, add a bit of water. Once you get a springy dough that does not stick onto your fingers, shape it into a ball and set aside for an hour, wrapped with clingwrap.
- Prepare the soup base. I used frozen chicken soup stock diluted with water. Alternatively, you can cook ikan bilis soup by boiling about 150-200g of ikan bilis with water for about 45minutes. Add a few cloves of garlic to the soup.
- Using 2 tbsp of oil, fry the dried split fish till crispy. You can add abit of salt if you want. Set aside to cool for garnishing.
- Using the remaining oil (add more if need be), fry the mushroom till cooked. Set aside.
- When the soup is hot and boiling, tear the dough using your hands into thin bite size pieces. Drop each piece into the boiling soup. Add the minced pork and mushrooms. When the dough is cooked (they will float) and the soup is boiling, add the vegetables. Season with light soya sauce and pepper to taste.
- Top with the crispy split fish and fried shallots, served hot.

Braised pork in dark soya sauce

Serves 3-4

Ingredients
- 500g pork shoulder meat (cut into big chunks)
- 10 chinese mushrooms (pre-soaked)
- 10-15 dried chestnuts (pre-soaked)
- 8-10 pieces of dried oysters (pre-soaked)
- 1 star anise
- 2 cloves
- 1.5 whole cloves of garlic (with skin and lightly bruised)
- 4 eggs (pre-boiled till cooked and shell removed)

Seasoning
- Light soya sauce
- Pepper
- Dark soya sauce
- Sesame oil
- 1/3 tsp of five spice powder
- Rock sugar, 4-5 small pieces

Method
- Pre marinate the pork with light soya sauce, pepper and sesame oil.
- Heat the stew pot with cooking oil, and dry fry the meat till half cooked.
- Remove from pot and set aside, leaving the meat juices in the pot to saute the garlic cloves till fragrant. Add more oil if too dry.
- Add the mushrooms and fry for 2-3 minutes. Combine with pork, dried chestnuts and dried oysters. Season with pepper, dark soya sauce, five spice powder. Add enough hot water until the meat is fully submerged. Simmer for 10mins in medium heat. Turn down the heat to low and simmer for 2hours till the meat has softened and the sauce has thickened in texture. If the sauce runs low, add more hot water. You can also add rock sugar half way through the cooking.
- If you will like to add vegetables like carrot and potatoes, add them after 1-1.5hours.
- If you like it saltier, add more dark soya sauce. If you like it sweeter, add more rock sugar. If it's too salty, add more water.