Fried Carrot Cake on 27 Sep 2013

This is a continuation from my last post on http://jenniferphua.blogspot.sg/2013/09/carrot-cake-on-25-sep.html.

I fried the condiment - garlic and chye poh, which smells so nice!!!

I fried the carrot cake with the garlic chye poh condiment, prawn, and egg, sprinkled some spring onions and added a dash of pepper. Having fried the garlic chye poh condiment first before adding it to the fried carrot cake tastes better than what my mum does, which is simply adding the washed chye poh to the carrot cake and fries together.

Overall, it's a successful first attempt to steam carrot cake and fry it, but definitely room for improvement as I find the carrot cake a bit soft, so I'll probably have to adjust the recipe a bit to add in lesser water. 

Carrot Cake (1st attempt) on 26 Sep 2013

My mum has been a great cook, and she's been steaming carrot cake for the past many years. I did not learn from her how to do so, but I've been wanting to learn to do it for quite some time. Since I've been into a cooking mood lately and found this appetising looking recipe on http://ieatishootipost.sg/2013/05/carrot-cake-chai-tow-kueh-recipe-with.html, I went hunting for the ingredients and finally made it. Hopefully it tastes nice as it had smelled nice!

The raddish that I bought was much bigger, weighing approximately 750g. Hence, I adjusted the recipe accordingly, and the amount of mixture that I got was just nice to almost filling up a 10" by 3" round tin pan.

The steamed product (not the final product yet as it still need to be put into fridge to set it overnight and fried it):

Hopefully, I have time to fry the condiment - garlic and chye poh tomorrow. I would not be putting pork lard though as it's better to be a bit health conscious, especially cooking for my young ones. After frying the condiment, hopefully I can fry the carrot cake and taste it! 

To be continued...

Muah Chee on 24 Sep 2013

Not sure why but I've been into a cooking/steaming/baking mood, so I tried out making some muah chee, with help from my little chef again.

The recipe is from Angela Chia, which you can find it from http://chiaangela.blogspot.sg/2013/09/easy-home-made-muah-chee.html?spref=fb and https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151723670424858&set=a.10151385916854858.1073741828.607144857&type=3&theater.

The final product:

The preparation was easy. The challenging part was actually removing it from the pan as the cooked dough is so sticky! If you would like to make your life slightly easier, can oil the pan before putting the uncooked mixture in for steaming, but to be a little bit health conscious about oil, just take up the challenge, lol! 

It's a rather big portion for my husband, my 6 years old son and me as my little 18 months old girl was asleep by the time this was done, but even if she was awake, doubt we could finish up this big plate of muah chee without my hubby stuffing himself with it, haha... I would probably adjust the menu a bit to make it "just enough" for us. :)

Steamed Egg Cakes (1st attempt) on 22 Sep 2013

I made these steamed egg cakes with some help from my little chef (my son). 

The recipe is from Angela Chia, and you can find it on http://chiaangela.blogspot.sg/2013/08/cute-ladybug-steamed-egg-cakes.html and https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151630744344858. I fine tuned it a bit to make it less sweet, so mine is only 150g of sugar.

Before steaming the egg cakes:

Steaming done:

The design doesn't look as good as it's my first time using a piping bag, but at least it was a success with the design able to stay on top.

I noticed that the 1st batch of steamed egg cakes tasted less sweet than those in the 2nd batch, so probably would have to stir the mixture a bit before scooping and putting the mixture into the cupcake liner each time.

I shall try it again soon. :)

Learning Points from a Cooking Workshop

I recently attended a Cooking Workshop at my boy's child care centre, and it was very informative for me. Here's what I learnt and remembered, hope you find them useful.

By changing the diet, it can improve the child's health. The child would have stronger immunity and it can cut down the visits to a doctor. However, it would take 120 days to see the effect.

What makes up a meal? Imagine a circle shaped plate divided into 4 quadrants - 1st quadrant, it is 1 fist size of fruit; 2nd quadrant is 1 fist size of vegetables; 3rd quadrant is 1 fist size of protein; and 4th quadrant is 1 fist size of grains. 

At a meal, it is recommended to serve only 1 type of fruit. Fruit should be taken before meal; if it is taken after food, it would cause wind. Banana is a good source of calcium, and has high potassium. The high potassium causes heart to beat faster, and hence, it is recommended to take in the morning and avoid taking at night to avoid having difficulty sleeping at night. When choosing a banana, it is recommended to choose those with some black dots instead of smooth shinny ones without black dots. This is because the shinny ones have too much chemicals on the banana skin that even the fruit ones do not want to go near them. Take green apple and carrots help to improve eczema (it is no wonder I have very good skin back then when I took a green apple with 3 carrots juice for 3 times a day on everyday basis under a diet programme).

One should take different colours of vegetable for different meal as they provide different vitamins and minerals. Protein for each meal should be just 1 type of meat, i.e. chicken, fish, pork, etc. It is not recommended to take too much of chicken, especially for women.

Do not wait till you feel thirsty and drink water. By the time you feel thirsty, you are actually already dehydrated.