dccokinn

I didn't bake any CNY goodies last year as our whole family "escaped" for a holiday (??) :p This year I was contemplating not to bake again, since we are unlikely to have visitors and being lazy and all, but I kept seeing home bakers sharing their baked goodies in FB groups, Instagram etc, and it's so infectious my hands became itchy! Decided to challenge pineapple tarts again since the hb likes it. In the past years that I baked pineapple tarts, I always made the closed type and this time when I checked with the hb what style he likes, he told me open faced type?! Wow, after knowing him for almost 20 years, now then I know huh! Ok, open faced pineapple tarts it shall be. Since it's my first time making open faced pineapple tarts, once again, lots of reading and research to find a recipe that suits me. As usual I refer to my fellow trusty blogger friends like Annielicious Food , Table For 2 or more , TravellingFoodies and a few other popular bloggers like Anncoo ...

My kiddo loves salmon and I'm constantly looking for new ideas of serving his favourite food since salmon is nutritious and boosts of several health benefits. This dish was inspired by a member of the Singapore Home Cooks FB Group; she used salmon to cook a creamy chicken soup and I had this light bulb moment, hey why didn't I think of creating a chowder with salmon? I mean I have cooked clam chowder before and even a cabbage and seafood chowder ! Silly me :p Once again I decided to use CP chicken broth concentrate as the chowder base, because after using this broth to cook Mille-Feuille Nabe last week, I found it very convenient and the taste was rich, yet not overwhelming and enhanced the overall flavour of the dish.  Decided to make it a one-pot meal and also to use up some leftover ingredients in fridge. I thought potato goes very well with salmon, and so does veggie like celery and carrot. I have some mushroom so added that as well. Bacon fried to a crisp is to add a smok...

I've been exploring different methods of baking bread and have attempted straight-dough, tangzhong, Yudane and old dough methods so far. Not sure why but I have no luck with straight-dough method, usually the breads turn out not as fluffy as I desired. Still prefer the tangzhong or old dough methods which yield soft fluffy breads with rich aroma and remain nice the next day. Recently, I bought a newly launched pull-apart bread book (from Taiwan) and attempted another sponge-dough method of baking bread which yields equally soft and fluffy breads. Actually I have read about sponge-dough method before; it's more tedious than any other methods by dividing flour and water into a large and small proportion and pre-fermenting the larger proportion for a longer period of time before making the dough proper. The proportion of flour and water is about 70-30%. The 70% of flour/water is first kneaded into dough, proof for 30 mins and then transferred to the fridge for low temperature ferm...

I have bookmarked this dish for the longest time and procrastinated in preparing/cooking it because I thought it looked quite complicated with a long list of ingredients. But I realised how simple it is to prepare after trying out today, especially when I "cheated" by using store-bought broth :p  Mille-Feuille Nabe is a Japanese-style hot pot that is cooked using napa cabbage and pork belly/collar slices in a savoury dashi broth. But traditionally, "Mille-Feuille" means a thousand leaves and is actually a French pastry made up of three layers of puff pastry, and two layers of cr�me p�tissi�re. Somehow the Japanese adopted the idea for cooking nabe by packing many layers of napa cabbage and pork slices into a pot :) Whatever it is, it is just sooooooo pretty to look at, isn't it? And surprisingly easy to prepare. Main ingredients are just napa cabbage and pork slices (either pork belly or collar), whereas mushrooms and carrots are there to enhance visual appeal :...

Oh My ?! ?????????... ????????, ??????!  ???????????????????? "???? ??" ???????, ???? ????. ?? ??????, ?? ?? (????) ????????????, ????????! OMG, the weather really hotdieme! I'm literally drenched in sweat all day long, making me super frustrated and quick tempered! When I went to Hong Kong for holiday last December, I tried this particular dish "Bittergourd & Pork Ribs in Black Bean Sauce" at a restaurant and fell in love with it. Since the weather is so hot, and bittergourd has cooling properties, this gave me the opportunity to try cooking it =D ??????????, ?????????! ???????? ??! ?????? ???????, ???????????, ??????. ?????????? :) I used to hate bittergourd as a kid, but nowadays totally love it. Is it a sign of aging? LOL! The dish is salty with tinge of bitterness, and if chilli is added, slightly spicy as well, perfect to go with a big bowl of rice! This recipe is definitely a keeper for me :) Bittergourd & Pork Ribs in Black Bean Sauce ???? ?? (Se...

Happy New Year! Haha. I know I'm super late here :p But I've been busy with my kiddo as he officially commences his formal education journey i.e. Primary One. Saying which, frankly I am the one who needs time to adapt to the new routine and lifestyle more than him. And so, finally I have time for a first formal bake of 2017 (last Friday) and posting recipe today :p After a few days of new year and new term frenzy, I am seriously in need of some chocolate therapy and alcohol to perk me up. Nah, just joking about the alcohol. Actually I don't drink alcohol but I do love the aroma and like to use some in cooking and baking. Since I've not baked chiffon cakes for a long time, probably a light and tender cocoa chiffon (spiked with a little rum) can do =D I'm not really a chocolate person, and don't take much rich chocolate bakes :p I'm not sure whether to call it chocolate rum chiffon, because only cocoa powder is used, but cocoa is chocolate right? Oh, whatever....