Cinnamon Pear and Ginger Crumble

This is a quick update post for a newly adapted recipe that I experimented based on the previously uploaded apple/plum crumble recipe. Recently I created a pear crumble and thought I shall update you guys as it is a really delicious recipe and I can't wait to make more! The procedures are exactly the same as in the previous post but I have included here for your convenience:)

Didn't take any nice shots before I gulp down my crumble. Bare with me just this time:) Now straight into the recipe!

You will need:
(2-3 servings)

3 conifer pears
honey or sugar
some cinnamon
grated ginger
half cup of water

For the crumble:
200g plain flour
120g butter
60g sugar

Method:
1. Peel and dice the pears, heat and stew on medium heat in a saucepan. Add also some honey and water along with some cinnamon, These ingredients can be adjusted depending on personal paste, feel free to taste along the way as you cook. If you want a more spicy flavour, more ginger can be added. Sweetness depends on the pears itself and can be adjusted by adding honey or sugar. Once you are satisfied with the taste, take it off the heat let it cool.
2. Meanwhile, mix in the sugar and plain flour, add in the butter in small chunks and then with your hands, melt the butter and mix it until they become crumbs, you can also put pressure to the crumbs to create slightly larger crumbs.
3. Preheat the oven to 150C. Spread your apple mixture on a baking tin or gratin dish, then sprinkle your crumbs on top. Place it in the oven until you see the crumbs turn golden brown. This should take about 30-45mins.
4. Take it out of the oven when it is done and allow to cool. Serve with ice cream/ custard/ double cream. (Ice cream and crumble is my fav combo:P)

Oyako Donburi （親子丼）

If you haven't already guessed by the picture, today's recipe will be on a Japanese dish called Oyako Donburi. I actually made this awhile awhile back in January, but have not had the time to type up this post. But here it is! While procrastinating from uni work, might as well do something more productive! Hence another blog post updated after such a long time. 

You will need:
(2 servings)

3 chicken thigh fillets
1 onion
2-3 eggs
some spring onions
cooking oil

For the sauce:
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp of mirin
half cup of water


Method:
1. Cut the chicken thighs bite sized. Cut the onions into thin strips, and chop up some spring onions.
2. Add some cooking oil to a frying pan and gently fry the chicken until half cooked.
3. Add the onions and continue to fry for a few mins, add in all the sauce ingredients and let it cook till boiling.
4. Meanwhile, gently beat two eggs ( do not fully mix the yoke and white), pour in 3/4 of the whisked eggs into the pan evenly.
5. Let the egg cook till yellow and white are seen, then pour in the remaining egg. Cook for 1-2 mins.
6. Serve with rice and decorate it spring onions.

Post Exam Baking :D

Just had my one and only Jan exam yesterday, finally I could have some rest time after some intensive revision the past few days. Could have done better in the exam but oh well, it's done and dusted. I shall not think about it anymore and enjoy my little break before uni starts again. Yesterday, as soon as I got home after exam, I did a big clean up in my room since I hadn't had time to keep to my cleaning routine during exam period, but now, it's all nice and shinny and smells of the signature Dettol fragrance! haha! AND, finally, I got to do some baking:) I have been longing to bake especially when I was revising. ( I swear I am not the only one who just finds everything else other than revision so much fun when I revise for exams!) Since there were a few apples that had been sitting in my kitchen for quite a while now, so I decided to make apple crumble with it! While my sister was here during the Christmas holiday, I let her made plum crumble for me and my flatmates for the first time, it turned out to be quite easy to make and so it was a great success and we all enjoyed it a lot. So, I decided to try it out myself this time using apples instead.

You will need:
(4-6 servings)

6 red apples
~70g sugar
some cinnamon
1/4 cup of water

For the crumble:
200g plain flour
120g butter
60g sugar

Method:
1. Peel and dice the apples, heat and stew on medium heat in a saucepan. Add also the sugar and water along with some cinnamon, These ingredients can be adjusted depending on personal paste, feel free to taste along the way as you cook. Take it off the heat until the apples are soften and let it cool.
2. Meanwhile, mix in the sugar and plain flour, add in the butter in small chunks and then with your hands, melt the butter and mix it until they become crumbs, you can also put pressure to the crumbs to create slightly larger crumbs.
3. Preheat the oven to 150C. Spread your apple mixture on a baking tin or gratin dish, then sprinkle your crumbs on top. Place it in the oven until you see the crumbs turn golden brown. This should take about 30-45mins.
4. Take it out of the oven when it is done and allow to cool. Serve with ice cream/ custard/ cream. (Ice cream and crumble is my fav combo:P)

       

                                                                                          

I shall share the recipe for the plum crumble as well.

Ingredients:
(4-6servings)

~ 600g riped plum
~60g of sugar
1/4 cup of water

For the crumble, please refer to above mentioned.

Method:
1. Dice the plum and mix in the sugar with 1/4 cup of water , spread it directly on a baking tin or gratin dish.
2. The crumble can be made as mentioned above in the apple crumble recipe. Preheat the oven 150-160C and bake for 45mins.

Korean Street Food - Rice cakes 떡볶이

While my sister was with me last week, the last night before she left for university. We made korean style rice cakes! Spicy and filling food that is perfect for the winter!



























You will need:
(2-3 servings)

2 handfuls of rice cakes
3 fish cake sticks ( usually it is in a flat sheet form, but I only found the ones in long stick form from my local asian groceries store, which works equally fine.)

We also added some assorted chinese fish balls, homemade dumplings, and a pack of instant noodles to give more variety.

For the sauce:
1 tbsp of hot pepper flakes
1tbsp of sugar
1.5 big spoonfuls of korean hot pepper paste
4-5 cups of water
some spring onions and sesame

Method:

Note: If your rice cakes are frozen, defrost it at room temperature, and then wash it under cold water. Do not cook directly from frozen, as it will be hard to fully cook the inside. Defrost any other frozen ingredients as well in room temperature.
1. In 4 cups of hot water, add in the hot pepper flakes, sugar and hot pepper paste and bring it to a boil.
2. Add in the rice cakes, fish cakes and fish balls and let it cook till soften.
3. Meanwhile, fry the dumplings on a seperate and also cook the instant noodles. It is best to cook the noodles separately then add it in at the end to the main, since the noodles will be hard to cook as the sauce starts to thicken, but if you add too early before it thickens, it will become soggy for leaving it cooking for too long.
4. As the sauce starts to thicken, taste it and adjust the sauce accordingly, If the consistency becomes too thick, add a bit of water.
5. Finally add in the dumplings and noodles, and add the spring onions on top and some sesame which is optional.
6. Grab your cutlery and dig in!!

Made a little edit on instagram :P

3-in-1 Deep Fried Chicken for Boxing Day

So it is Boxing Day today, and my little sister is around to spend the holiday with me, we thought why not do something more fun! Deep fried is not something I do very often purely because it is quite unhealthy as it uses a lot of oil and the oil splashing as it sizzles makes it a hazzle to clean afterwards but afterall it is a guilty pleasure to have some deep fried chicken once in a long while. We deep fried a whole kilogram worth of chicken so we thought we should spice it up by creating more flavours rather than just having original flavour with ketchup. Korean style marinate sauce has always been my favourite out of all the korean style deep fried chicken flavours. We also have some quite ripe plum and my sister thought of experimenting with these plums for a refreshing plum sauce which actually goes surprisingly well with the chicken! Without further ado, let me introduce you to this 3-in-1 combo!

To prep the chicken and create the batter,

You will need:

(4 servings)

1kg of chicken (choice of mini drumsticks and chicken wings)

some salt and pepper

milk

110g cornstarch

55g plain flour

55g glutinous rice flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 egg

1. Marinate and tenderize the chicken with some milk, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl.

2. Beat an egg, add it into the mixing bowl and mix it thoroughly so all the chicken surface is covered with egg mixture.

3. Add in the dry ingredients and mix it thoroughly so that the batter reaches every part of the chicken pieces.

4. To deep fry, in a saucepan, add in enough oil that can cover at least half of the chicken. Heat it and to test the temperature, test it by dropping some batter pieces into the oil and if it sizzles, it is good to go!

5. Deep fry one side of the chicken for about 10mins till it turns golden brown. Then flip over and repeat the same procedure. Once it is done on both sides, then remove it from the pan and let it chill for a few mins and then deep fry the second time to make it more crispy.

For the sauces, 

a) Korean style marinate

Ingredients:

1.5 tbs korean red pepper paste

3 tbs ketchup

1 tbs honey

1.5 tbs vinegar

Mix all of these ingredients and you may heat it to serve it warm (optional). You may serve it as a dipping sauce or directly coat the chicken with the sauce for a more thorough taste.

b) Plum sauce

Ingredients:

5 plums 

sugar

~2tbsp honey

1. Mash up the plums.

2. Add in some sugar to balance out the sourness of the fruit and put it in the microwave on low heat to allow the sugar to melt.

3. Add in some honey to create a thicker consistency.

Don't forget your good ol' ketchup! As another bonus tip, you may also eat your yummy chicken in another way that is very common in Korea - with some thinly sliced spring onions!Its fragrance goes extremely well with the chicken!

So my sister and I ended Boxing Day by watching anime - Totoro while enjoying our chicken with smoothie. ^•^

Belated Merry Christmas and Happy Boxing Day Everyone!

Pork Chop kinda Night~

It's been a long while again since I posted a recipe. Finally, this year's Christmas is soon arriving, finally some time to rest after another hectic term. Today's main is going to pork chop cooked with herbs served with rice and veggies.

You will need:
(2 servings)

2 portions of rice
2 pieces of pork chop
1 potato ( or half if the potato is massive)
1 carrot
1/2 tomato
1 sprig of rosemary
salt and pepper
basil herbs
1 onion

1. Marinate the two slices of pork chop by sprinkling it with salt, pepper and some basil and massage the seasonings in. Leave it for 15-20 mins while prepping for other ingredients.
2. Cook two portions of rice in the rice cooker.
3. Peel and cut the potatoes into small chunks, carrots into jardiniere and tomatoes into wedges. Cut also the onions into thin pieces.
4.  Heat the pan with some oil. Then place the pork chops in the pan and onions on the side along with the rosemary sprig. Cook on medium heat.

5. Allow one side to cook and then flip over once it is slightly golden brown.
6. Remove off the heat when the meat is fully cooked and golden brown on both sides.
7. Boil the carrots till soft. Drain the water.
8. Heat the pan with some oil and fry the potatoes with some salt and basil. Add in the rosemary that was used for cooking. Once the potatoes are slightly golden brown, add it some water and cook it till the inner is soft. Pour away any excess water once its cooked. Add in the boiled carrots and tomatoes.
9. Add more basil and salt to give the veggies more flavour.
10. Serve it on a plate. Bon Appetit!

Mapo Tofu~

I recently bought a jar of doubanjiang (Broad bean paste) from my local Asian groceries store. So I thought, why not make some Mapo tofu? I have only had it in restaurants but never made it myself. I had a look at recipes online and realised it's actually much more simple than I thought! 1-2 spoonfuls for broad bean paste does the magic! So let's begin!

You will need:

(2 servings)

300g of tofu

~150g mince pork

1 onion

1 stalk of green spring onions

1 clove of garlic

2 tbsp doubanjiang

1/3 cup of water

1 tbsp of soy sauce

1 tsp of sugar

1tsp of corn flour.

some ground black pepper

Method:

1. Marinate the mince pork with soy sauce, ground pepper sugar, and corn flour.

2. Finely chopped the spring onions, onions and mince the garlic.

3. Cut the tofu into small cubes.

4. Heat a wok/pan with oil. Add in the garlic and onions. Fry until you can smell the aroma.

5. Then add in the mince meat. Fry until 60% cooked then add in the spring onions. Cook until 90% cooked. 

6. Add in the doubanjiang and fry for a minute or two. Then add in the water.

7. Add in the tofu and gently mix it with the sauce. Fry until the sauce thickens.

8. Serve it with rice.