Char Siew

This is a recipe from Makansutra. Have tried many char siew recipes and although they tasted ok, the oomph factor was still missing from those recipes.

So when I saw this recipe, I just had to try. And instead of using pork belly (I did use pork belly second time round) I used pork ribs and it turned out great.

This recipe is a keeper, so for all those out there still looking for a good char siew recipe, try this!

And for my muslim friends, if you are reading this, you can try with chicken thighs and omit the Shaoxing wine.

Char Siew - Recipe from Makansutra

Ingredients:

2kg Pork neck (cut into long strips)

1 thumb of Ginger (peeled and puréed)

10 cloves Garlic (finely minced)

Char siew marinade/sauce:

5 tbsp Soy sauce

5 tbsp Hoisin sauce

1 tbsp Five spice powder

8 tbsp Honey

4 tbsp Shaoxing wine

1 tsp White pepper powder

Methods:

1) Heat up all the char siew marinade sauce ingredients in a pan and bring to a boil over low fire till combined. When it becomes slightly thickened and sticky, it’s ready. Remove from the heat and let cool.

2) Mix in the garlic and ginger.

3) Marinate the pork neck strips with this sauce for at least one night.

4) When ready to cook, heat the oven to 200˚C.

5) Remove the meat from the marinade and shake off of excess sauce. Put the strips in a foil-lined pan (for easier clean up later), leaving a bit of space around each piece so that the meat roasts as opposed to steaming it.

6) Cook the char siew for about 30 minutes, turning the meat over halfway through.

7) Meanwhile bring the leftover marinade to a boil for about 5 minute. Brush this sauce onto the pork while grilling (every 5-10mins) until the char siew gets nice and charred. Optional: you can brush the meat with a bit of honey the last 5 minutes of cooking for extra sweetness and gloss.

8) Slice the char siew into bite-size pieces, drizzle the remaining char siew sauce over and serve immediately with the carb of your choice. Just add slices of cool cucumber. Makan time!

Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcake

This cupcake has been on blogsphere for ages and I only made them sometime in summer. Although the actual recipe calls for adding custard cream filling, I decided to add lemon curd instead and that worked so well.

I think this recipe is from Nasi Lemak Lover. Made this ages ago, so don't really remember where I copied it from.

Ingredients:

50g egg yolks (3 eggs)
1/8 tsp of salt
20g corn oil
20g milk
25g self-raising flour

105g egg whites (3 eggs)
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
45g castor sugar

Custard cream filling:
30g non-dairy whipped fresh cream
1tsp custard powder
*just mix these together

Method
1. Whisk egg yolk with salt. Add in oil and milk and mix well.
2. Sift flour and baking powder into the egg yolk mixture.
3. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy and then add in sugar and beat till soft peak.
4. Fold in half of the egg whites into the mixture and mix well. Then add in the other half and mix them evenly.
5. Fill the mixture into the cups
6. Bake at pre-heated oven at 160c for 20mins. Leave cool.
7. Make a small hole at the middle, pump the custard cream into the chiffon. (I used a piping bag with a nozzle and piped the lemon curd into the cupcake)
8. You can either chill before serving or have it straight after filling in the cream.

Vanilla sponge cake

Think I got this recipe from Zu and I agree with her, the sponge is so soft and light. This is a keeper.

I had an order again from my friend to make a simple sponge cake with jam. 

This is for the same lady that I made the mango mousse for. Yep, 1 year has gone by already and this time she asked for a bigger cake as she said the last time I made the cake, she nearly could not have any!
And as this was a last minute order, I could not make anything elaborate.

Ingredients:

(A)
150g cake flour/superfine flour
1/2 tsp (2g) baking powder
1/4 tsp (1g) salt
10g milk powder

(B)
60g cooking oil
50g water
4 (75g) yolks
80g castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

(C)
4 (150g) whites
90g castor sugar (original 100g)
1/4 tsp (1g) cream of tartar

Method
1. Sift ingredients (A) and put it aside
2. Whisk yolks and sugar till it turns lemon colour
3. Add oil, water and vanilla and mix till well blended
4. Add ingredients (A) and mix it slowly till it forms a smooth batter
5. Whisk (C) till stiff
6. Fold in 1/3 of egg white mixture into egg yolk mixture and gently stir, then fold in the remaining egg white mixture and mix well gently

7. Pour batter into a lined 9" round cake tin
8. Bake in a preheated oven 180C for 35-40 mins or till it springs back when touched
9. Once cooked, remove from oven and invert the cake on the wire rack until completed cooled
10.Remove from mould and decorate it
* I cut the cake into 2 horizontally and added jam and then covered with butter cream.