Monday 27 May 2013

Cuisine Paradise | Singapore Food Blog - Recipes - Food Reviews - Travel: Cherry Blossom Mantou vs Steamed Sakura Chicken With Choya

Cuisine Paradise | Singapore Food Blog - Recipes - Food Reviews - Travel
I write about Food Recipes, Food Reviews and Travelogues!
thumbnail Cherry Blossom Mantou vs Steamed Sakura Chicken With Choya
May 27th 2013, 14:57

My experiments with using pickled cherry blossom continues after my first recipe on Matcha Cherry Blossom Chiffon (抹茶盐渍樱花戚风蛋糕) in April. And also with the extra packets of supply that Joyce (ahpoohbear) loop back for us from her recent Osaka trip, I am able to try out more fusion recipes using pickled cherry blossom.

In this post I am sharing two recipes such as Cherry Blossom Mantou (Asian-style steamed bun with pickled cherry blossom) and Steamed Sakura Chicken With Choya (Steamed chicken mid-joint using picked cherry blossom and choya).


CHERRY BLOSSOM MANTOU
(樱花馒头)


Here I am making a two-tone colour steamed bun (mantou) using Sakura Leaf Powder for the green portion but you could always replace it with Matcha powder according to your preference. The sakura leaf powder added a distinctive taste to this steamed bun leaving it with a sweet and savoury flavour that makes you go for second helpings.


(Make: 6 pieces  | Preparation: 55 minutes | Cooking: 15 minutes)

Ingredients:
250g All-purpose Plain Flour
1/2 Teaspoon (2g) Baking Power
3g Instant Dry Yeast
110ml Lukewarm Water
10g Milk Powder
1 Teaspoon Sakura Leaf Powder
Some Salt Pickled Cherry Blossoms (盐渍樱花), soaked in water
25g Caster Sugar
10g Unsalted Butter, soften


Method:-
1. Add dry yeast into the lukewarm water and give it a quick stir, set aside for about 2-3 minutes till bubbles appeared.

2. In a big mixing bowl, stir in sift plain flour, milk powder and baking powder together with caster sugar till combined.

3. Next slowly add in yeast water into the flour mixture and stir using a metal spoon or clean hand till it forms soft dough.

4. Knead soft butter into the dough till it does not stick to your hand and divide the dough into 2:1 ration size.

5. With the smaller dough, knead in Sakura Leaf Powder till combined then proof the two doughs in a warm place for 20 minutes.

6. Next, flatten the doughs to release the air in it. Place the green dough on top of the plain, roll it up into a oblong shape and proof for another 15 minutes.

7. Cut the dough into equal portion, place each portion on the steamer rack with greaseproof paper below. Place some drained sakura flower on top and rest for another 15 minutes.

8. Sprinkle some water on the mantou before placing the steamer rack into the pot of boiling water and steam them over medium heat for about 10 - 12 minutes (depending on the size of the mantou). When done, removed and served hot/warm.



STEAMED SAKURA CHICKEN WITH CHOYA
(樱花梅酒鸡)


My inspiration for this Steamed Sakura Chicken with Choya (樱花梅酒鸡) comes from our all-time favourite; Steamed Rice Wine Chicken (蒸黄酒鸡) which I would prepare at least once a month. And with some pickled sakura on hand as well as Choya (plum wine) that mum bought during her recent trip, I decide to use these two special ingredients to try out this dish.


(Serves: 2-3  | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 20 minutes)

Ingredients:
6 - 8 Chicken Mid-joints
1 Teaspoon of Grated Ginger
1 Stalk Spring Onion, cut into sections
100ml Choya (Japanese plum liqueur)
Some Salt Pickled Cherry Blossoms (盐渍樱花), soaked in water

Method:-
1. Lightly marinate chicken mid-joint with grated ginger, cornflour and pinch of salt.

2. With some ginger slices and spring onion below, arrange the mid-joints on top and place the drained sakura flowers that had being soaked for 5 minutes (rinse well) on it (refer to the photo above).

3. Lastly pour in choya and let it stands for 5 minutes before steaming the mid-joints over medium heat for 20 - 25 minutes till tender.


The mid-joints were infused with the combination of Choya and pickled Sakura leaving it with a refreshing and fragrance after taste. Also after steaming, the soup broth was full of flavour due to the essence from the chicken and choya. Do give this a try if you happen to have a bottle of Choya at home and don't worry about the pickled cherry blossom as you could always omit it for a new recipe.

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Thursday 23 May 2013

Netvibes Blog: Maintenance: some minor disruption of service expected

Netvibes Blog
Tips for your startpage, best widgets & latest news about Netvibes
Maintenance: some minor disruption of service expected
May 23rd 2013, 13:25

To ensure an ever better service, we're going to perform large database operations and do some maintenance work on our servers.

This maintenance is scheduled for Tuesday 05/28 morning (5:30am CET) and should not exceed 4 hours. Analytics for Netvibes Premium will not be available during that period (though data will still be collected).

Thanks for your understanding.

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Wednesday 22 May 2013

Savory Sweet Life - Easy Recipes from an Everyday Home Cook: Rustic Strawberry Rhubarb Tart

Savory Sweet Life - Easy Recipes from an Everyday Home Cook
Easy Everyday Recipes from an Everyday Home Cook
Rustic Strawberry Rhubarb Tart
May 23rd 2013, 04:38

Watching the news and reading stories about the devastation in tornado-ravaged Oklahoma has been both heart-breaking and sobering.  Events like this put life into perspective in only a way tragedy can – unfortunately.  Seemingly important things all of a sudden don't seem very important anymore when images of homes, entire neighborhoods, are flattened or parents [...]

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Tuesday 21 May 2013

Top 3 posts for you on Google+ this week

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Thursday 16 May 2013

Cuisine Paradise | Singapore Food Blog - Recipes - Food Reviews - Travel: Omurice and Pork Cutlet With Japanese Curry

Cuisine Paradise | Singapore Food Blog - Recipes - Food Reviews - Travel
I write about Food Recipes, Food Reviews and Travelogues!
thumbnail Omurice and Pork Cutlet With Japanese Curry
May 17th 2013, 03:50

Curry (カレー) is one of the most popular dishes in Japan and it is often make into Curry Rice (カレーライス), Curry Udon (thick noodles) and Curry Bun. The ingredients used for Japanese curry are vegetables like onions, carrots, potatoes and meat such as beef, pork, and chicken. Sometime you could also find Katsu-karē / Tonkatsu (カツカレー) which is a breaded deep-fried pork cutlet served with curry sauce too.

For this recipe I have combined 3 of our family favourite such as Omelette Rice, Japanese Curry and Deep-fried Pork Cutlet into one dish and we just simply love this dish even though we are having it second time for this week.


OMURICE AND PORK CUTLET WITH JAPANESE CURRY


Although we have a mad rushing week but finally the mid-year school examination has ended (on Thursday) and now we can start counting down for June school holidays. And also since I could not help my kid to sit for the exam, all I can do as a mum is to prepare his favourite food to shower my love and encouragement to him during this stressful week.

I know there are many mothers out there sharing the same thoughts as me during this stressful exam month but I believe we would get it through and enjoy the sweet moments with our kid(s) no matter how good or bad they scored for the exam.  After all family support and love are also one of the greatest secret to score well too. 


(Serves: 2-3 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 25 - 30 minutes)

Ingredients:
  • 2 Servings Of Cooked Rice
  • 2 Pieces of Butterfly Pork Cutlets
  • 1/2 Cup of Breadcrumbs
  • Oil For Deep-frying

  • Japanese Curry
  • 3 Medium Potato, cut into 1" cubes
  • 1 Medium Carrot, cut into 1.5 cm chunks
  • 1 Medium Onion, diced
  • 100g Of Pumpkin, cut into 1.5 cm chunks
  • Half Chicken Breast Meat (optional), cut into chunks
  • 1/2 Tablespoon of Cooking Oil
  • 700ml Boiling Water
  • 3 - 4 Cubes of Japanese Curry Sauce Mix

  • Omelette Skin
  • 2 Eggs (55g each)
  • 2 Tablespoons of Fresh Milk

Method:-

For Japanese Curry:-
1. Saute diced onion with 1/2 tablespoon of cooking oil till soft and fragrance.

2. Stir in chicken breast (lightly marinated with 1/2 teaspoon each of light soya sauce, cooking wine, cornflour and dash of ground pepper) add cook for 30 seconds before adding in carrot and potato.

3. Give the mixture a quick toss, pour in 700ml of boiling water and bring it to boil. Lower the heat and simmer the mixture for about 7 minutes, add pumpkin and continue to cook for another 5 - 7 minutes until all the vegetables are cook to your preference.

4. Remove the pot from heat. Slowly stir in 3 - 4 cubes of Japanese Curry Sauce Mix till dissolved.

Tip:
~ I would advise you to taste the curry after adding the 3rd cubes and decide whether would you still like to add in either half/whole of the 4th curry cubes to suit your preference.

~ I use 2 curry cubes each from the above sauce mix so that the curry will taste better with the sweet and hot mixture, but you could also use just 1 type instead of two.

My boy loves this type of deep-fried pork cutlets which could be purchased from any of those Hainanese Scissor Cut Mixed Vegetables Rice Stalls in Singapore which cost around S$1.00 - S$2.00 each depending on it's size. For this quick recipe, I marinate the pork cutlet with egg and cornflour together with other seasonings and coat with a layer of dried bread crumbs before deep-frying it till golden brown.

You can find the recipe on how to make this deep-fried pork cutlet as well as how to use it to create dishes such as Hainanese Pork Chop Rice and Pork Katsudon at this post here.

For Omelette Skin:-
1. Lightly beat 1 egg with 1 tablespoon of milk till combined. Pour mixture into preheated grease pan and tilt the pan to coat the base. Cook until eggs are almost set but still a little runny in the middle (refer to the photo label no. 4 above).

2. Remove the pan from heat spoon about 1 serving of cooked rice (1/2 cup) on the omelette (refer to the photo label no. 5 above). With a spatula, flip one side of the egg omelette over the rice mixture

3. Slide the wrapped omelette rice to the edge of the pan and flip the pan against the plate for the omelette to land upside down on the plate.

4. Shape the omelette rice using kitchen paper towel and repeat steps with remaining portion of the rice and egg.

Depending on your preference, you could served the curry together with the omurice rice and pork cutlets or serve them in separate plates. For me, I love everything to be on the same plate and with decent amount of curry sauce to go with it. What about you?


Other than Omelette rice, you could also served the Japanese Curry with some cooked spaghetti or penne for quick meal idea. And if you have any interesting ways of pairing Japanese Curry, please do share with us by leaving your comments/suggestions in this post. Thanks.

Lastly, have a great weekend and hope you enjoy making this quick and easy Omurice with Japanese Curry for your family and loved ones too.


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Wednesday 15 May 2013

Savory Sweet Life - Easy Recipes from an Everyday Home Cook: Food Adventure: A Recap of Honolulu’s SPAM JAM 2013

Savory Sweet Life - Easy Recipes from an Everyday Home Cook
Easy Everyday Recipes from an Everyday Home Cook
Food Adventure: A Recap of Honolulu's SPAM JAM 2013
May 15th 2013, 17:30

Just over 2 weeks ago I was one of over 25,000 people walking along Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki enjoying SPAM Jam, one of Hawaii's largest and most popular food festivals.  This year's 11th annual SPAM Jam included 15 popular local restaurants dishing out their most creative bites that featured SPAM, and with the proceeds benefiting [...]

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Tuesday 14 May 2013

Cuisine Paradise | Singapore Food Blog - Recipes - Food Reviews - Travel: [Wordless Wednesday] Double Chocolate Loaf Cake Recipe

Cuisine Paradise | Singapore Food Blog - Recipes - Food Reviews - Travel
I write about Food Recipes, Food Reviews and Travelogues!
thumbnail [Wordless Wednesday] Double Chocolate Loaf Cake Recipe
May 15th 2013, 03:23







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