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Check out my other dishes created with Huiji Waist Tonic: Steamed Red Date Huiji Layer Cake ??????????? Stir-fry Pork & Kidney in Huiji sauce ??????? This dish is inspired by a lunch I had at a restaurant specialising in Korean Royal Cuisine when I visited Seoul last year. That particular dish was Abalone with huai shan (aka wild yam), eryngii mushroom, ginko nuts and chestnut braised in an umami seafood sauce. After that Royal Cuisine meal, I was already thinking of re-creating a vegetarian version with just the wild yam, eryngii mushroom and ginko nuts. As for the sauce, I had a vague idea, probably along the line of vegetable stock and vegetarian oyster sauce, but couldn't figure the umami kick I was looking for. In case you are wondering, am I a vegetarian? Nope, I love my meat and seafood but sometimes I do like to explore vegetarian dishes using some of my favourite ingredients like fresh huai shan and eryngii mushroom. Huai Shan ?? or Wild Yam ?? or Nagaimo ?? (Japanese)...

Check out my other dishes created with Huiji Waist Tonic: Fresh Huaishan and Eryngii Mushroom in Huiji Sauce ???????? Stir-fry Pork & Kidney in Huiji sauce ??????? I was introduced to the Steamed Red Date Layer Cake ????? in Hong Kong by the HB who had tried it during a previous business trip. Apparently it's quite a popular dessert in Hong Kong and usually sold in Dim Sum restaurants. We both love the chewy texture of the cake which bears a resemblance to the local Kueh Lapis Sagu or Nian Gao but made using red dates. This steamed cake is not common in Singapore and so far I only found it at Tai Cheong Bakery, Holland Village. So as usual, I decided I must try to make this at home, adding it to my long-list of to-makes (since more than a year ago) :p. Been procrastinating until recently where I was offered a complimentary bottle of Huiji Waist Tonic ????? and try to introduce it to any cooking/baking dishes. I've heard about Huiji Waist Tonic, supposedly good for strength...

Thai Tea series - Part I Thai Milk Tea Chiffon Cake For part II of my Thai Tea series, I decided to do a simple Thai Tea Cookies because I was craving for some munchies :p Instead of exploring new recipes, I just use my Teddy Bear Cookies recipe and add ground tea leaves instead. Thai Tea Cookies (makes 20-25 cookies) Ingredients 100g cake flour 25g icing sugar 50g unsalted butter 1 tsp Thai tea leaves 1 tbsp egg 1 tsp Thai milk tea Steps Sieve cake flour and icing sugar together. Set aside. Pound/grind the tea leaves into fine powder. Melt butter in a small pot and add tea powder. Let the tea infuse in the butter while the butter cools down for about 10-15 mins. Chill the infused butter in the fridge till it solidifies. Remove the infused butter from the fridge and scrap the butter into the flour mixture. Use the finger tips to rub the butter with the flour mixture till it resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg and milk tea, bring the dough together using spatula till dough forms. P...

Did anyone visit Artbox Singapore at Marina Bayfront last weekend or intend to go this weekend? I've not been to the one in Bangkok; thus it was a must-go for me and I did last Friday. Didn't expect such a huge crowd and by the time I finished browsing all the merchandise stalls, the queues for the food stalls were horrendous that we didn't even know how to start? In the end, only managed to buy a "Dragon's Breath" puff cracker snack which is actually over-rated, more for the novelty. And so, while I was happy with my shopping loot, was quite disappointed that I didn't get to eat some of the more famous Thai street snacks and desserts like egglet with Thai Milk Tea ice-cream or even any Thai Milk Tea. I digress. So recently I was madly in love with Thai Milk Tea; bought 2 canisters of the red and gold tea from my previous trip to Samui and have been making the drink every other day. Didn't make it as sweet as the authentic ones but the fragrance alone ...

One of my favourite Hawker Centre is Changi Village and I believe many would agree with me that there are lots of good food (besides Nasi Lemak) there. To name a few, like my HB's favourite Sambal Fish Head with Bittergourd and Fish Slice Soup (Guang Xing), Deep Fried Cempedak and Banana Fritters (Million Star), Beef Noodles (Bedok Beef Noodles), Pork Belly Satay etc etc (there are many other stalls we have yet to try). This Chicken Chop Ipoh Hor Fun is a signature dish of two particular stalls (Amigo and Wing Kee)and we used to eat it every time we go Changi Village. The rendition by both stalls are almost similar, the chicken chop is very crispy and savoury with a tinge of sweetness, the Hor Fun has a smooth texture and the braised sauce is gooey and savoury with a tinge of sweetness as well. Anyways, these days we hardly have a chance to eat the Chicken Chop Ipoh Hor Fun anymore because we discovered Guang Xing Fish Soup and Sambal Fish Head and we're hitting Changi V very o...

Last month, our family went to our favourite destination in Thailand, Koh Samui, for my birthday getaway! It's been 2 years since we last visited and all of us missed the island dearly. As usual, I'll share my travel experience in parts because there are too many photos! Part I - Centara Grand Beach Samui, room and facilities Part II - Dining at Centara Grand Part III - Market tour and cooking class at Centara Grand Part IV - Dining at Samui (street food, Krao Chao Ban, Sabienglae, dessert) and night market We took the afternoon flight by Bangkok Airways and landed in Samui close to evening. This time, we rented a car so that it's easier to travel around (used to rent a motorbike when only 2 of us). By the time we settled the car rental procedures and drove to Chaweng Beach, it was nightfall. We've been to Samui many times and have stayed in different properties at Chaweng, Lamai and Bophut. ( Check out my past travels to Samui here ). This time we wanted to stay at Cha...

Wow! It's already April 2017? I must say these past 3 months really whizzed by fast and furious yah? I've seemingly lost track of time! 2017 has been quite an exciting year for me so far, with many new experiences and opportunities. As usual, my January is always packed because of the festive season and kiddo's birthday. But this year is exceptional because my kiddo goes to Primary One and I was (and still am) having a tough time adjusting to his routine. With his birthday celebration/cake, CNY baking (for personal consumption) and all, I didn't take any orders in January as I didn't want to stretch myself too much. After getting hang of the school routine and building it into my routine, things got better from February onwards and I was able to do more test-bakes and explore new recipes. One such recipe is a Teddy Bear cookie which I adapted from a newly-bought recipe book that comes with a free cutter. I posted the cookie photos and recipe on my blog , F...