How to make Korean Seafood Pancake

Bitten by the k-bug? Well... not sure about you, but I sure am... Nua-ing at home and binge-watching "Goblin"~

To complete the whole package, I tried making Korean pancakes too! I am a total fan of their pancakes. It's a side I always order when I eat at Korean restaurants.

Nope, you don't need to buy Korean pancake flour to make this dish. Adapting from Nami's recipe, we will use cake flour instead.

Ingredients needed

• 5-6 prawns
• 1/2 sotong in thin slices
• 2 sausages in thin slices
• 5-6 stalks of green onion, cut into half of its length
• 4 crabmeat sticks in slices
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup & 1 tablespoon of cake flour
• 1/2 cup of cold water
• 1 teaspoon of light soya sauce
• 1 tablespoon of abalone sauce
• 1 teaspoon of honey
• Pepper
• Oil

Method
1. De-vein and slice the prawns into halves.

TIP
This makes the prawns less thick, hence a thinner and crispier pancake.

2. Marinate the prawns in a mixture of light soya sauce, abalone sauce, honey and pepper.

TIP
This marination mixture can be customised to your liking. You can change abalone sauce to oyster sauce, or add/ reduce any of the ingredients or the quantities.

3. Oil the pan. Heat up the pan.
4. Once the pan is ready, add the green onions.

TIP
I didn't lay out the green onions neatly as Nami did. Instead to ensure that the ingredients help the pancake stick together, I carefully laid out the other ingredients, like prawns, sotong, sausages and crabmeat sticks. I ensured that the ingredients are kinda of interlinked with each other.

5. Add prawns, sotong, sausages and crabmeat sticks.

6. Mix cake flour with cold water. Nami warned about overmixing batter creates gluten, so do not whisk it too much.

7. When the prawns turn reddish, add in the batter, bit by bit, ensuring that it covers all the ingredients in the pan.

8. Beat the egg. Add in pepper for taste. Mix it well.

9. Leave the pancake for 3 minutes, add in the egg, bit by bit, ensuring that it covers most of the pancake area.

10. Leave the pancake for another 3-5 minutes. Check that the bottom is not burnt.

11. Flip it over. This is the hard part. (>_<)

12. Flatten it. Leave it for another 3-5 minutes.

13. Flip it again, if required, for another 2-3 minutes.

14. Serve it hot. Tastes good with chilli sauce.

Well.. I tried making it four times already... and I am still learning how to flip it perfectly. There is only that one time that I managed to flip it perfectly out of the multiple flips, without tearing it into halves. Orz

Hope you do better than me! Taste-wise, I am quite confident though :)

How to make Deep Fried Coconut Shrimps

Bookmarked this recipe from Tastemade for ages, and finally I had time to try it! Presenting you the deep fried coconut shrimps. Tasty looking shrimps enveloped in the fragrance of coconut. Delicious~

Here's how I made it. I made some adjustments to the recipe.

Ingredients needed

• 10-12 shrimps
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup of beer
• 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce
• Pepper
• Oil
• 1 cup of breadcrumps/ panko
• 1 cup of shredded coconut

Method
1. De-vein and butterfly the shrimps.

TIP
You can leave the tail tip on for better presentation.

2. Marinade the shrimps in light soya sauce and pepper.

TIP
You can change the marination ingredients to a combination of oyster sauce, pepper, cooking sake and/ or light soya sauce.

3. Mix flour, beer and eggs in one bowl. [Bowl A]
4. Mix breadcrumps and shredded coconut in another bowl. [Bowl B]
5. Heat up the oil.

TIP
To test that the temperature is right, you can drop a bit of the batter in the oil. If it crisps immediately and floats, it is ready.

6. Coat the shrimps one by one with batter in Bowl A and then with crumbs in Bowl B, then deep fry it in the oil.
7. When it turns golden brown, it is ready to serve.

Surprisingly it stays crispy and fragrant even after an hour or so :)

There you go, hope you enjoy these shrimps as much as I do.

How to make Honey Baked Chicken Wings

QQ is back from her hiatus. I'm now a proud owner of an oven~ I will be exploring different dishes using my oven every weekend. *keeping fingers crossed.* Well, there are hits and misses, so I will only share the "hits" with everyone. So far, I have tried baking honey baked chicken wings, potato chips, egg tarts and Chinese-style roast pork. I still have a long list of food that I want to try baking! Gambarimasu!

Now sharing with everyone, my first hit with my new toy-- Honey Baked Chicken Wings.

Ingredients needed

• 16-18 Chicken Wings
• 2 tablespoons of Manuka Honey or 6 tablespoons of Honey
• 3 tablespoons of Oyster Sauce
• 2 teaspoons of Sesame Oil
• 0.5 teaspoon of Light Soy Sauce
• 2 teaspoons of Chinese Cooking Wine

Method
1. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.
2. Marinate the chicken wings and leave the mixture overnight in the refrigerator.
3. Preheat oven to 220*C.
4. Place the chicken wings on the grills.

TIP
Coat the tray with aluminium foil and place it at the bottom of oven, to collect dripping sauces and oil.
-QQ learnt this the hard way-

5. Bake the chicken wings at top 1/3 of the oven.
6. Bake for about 15 minutes.
7. Lower the temperature to 180*C and bake for another 15 minutes.

TIP
You may adjust the timing according. Do check the colour of the chicken skin. When it is slightly brown and charred, it's ready.

And there you go, a very fuss-free oven dish. Perfect for potluck parties~

How to make Braised Radish (Daikon no Nimono)

Daikon no Nimono 大根の煮物 is one of my favourite radish dishes. It's a flavourful side dish that goes well with rice. I've always wanted to learn how to make it. Thanks to Tjin Tjin, I managed to get the recipe for this dish. The following recipe is my adaptation of the original recipe from the NHK website.



Ingredients needed

• Half a Daikon/ Radish
• Rice
• Water
• 6g of Bonito Flakes
• 3cm by 5cm of Kelp
• 1 tablespoon of soya sauce/ shouyu
• 2 teaspoons of mirin

TIP
Depending on your preference, you can adjust the amount of soya sauce. My version is not as salty as the Japanese version.

Method

Rice water
1. Wash the rice.

2. Collect the water that has been used to wash the rice. I used the water that was used for the second and third rinse. Ensure that the volume is enough to cover all your daikon pieces when you boil them.

Dashi
1. Boil water.

2. Add bonito flakes and kelp into the boiled water and continue to boil the mixture.

3. Sieve out the contents, leaving the dashi soup.

Daikon no Nimono
1. Boil the rice water.

2. Peel off the skin of the daikon and cut it such that they are about 2-3cm in thickness.

3. Cut a cross across both sides of the cut daikon.

4. Add the cut daikon pieces into the boiling rice water. Boil till the daikon becomes softer.

5. Pour away about half of the rice water.

6. Add the dashi soup to the mixture.

7. Add soya sauce and mirin to the mixture.

8. Continue to cook the mixture for about 30 minutes.

And it is ready to serve~

How to make Pan-fried Scallops with Crispy Toppings

While queuing to take photographs with Rie Fu (Japanese singer who sings many famous anime songs, including Gundam Seed Destiny, Bleach etc), ah.. I sidetracked... anyway, while queuing up, I saw this video which is on loop in the JCC Library. It is a cooking programme sponsored by Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Japan) [MAFF, for short], which shows how we can whip up many simple yet delectable dishes using Japanese agricultural and fishery produce.

And I was deeply attracted to the Herb Roasted Scallops recipe by MFAA. That led me to buy scallops from the supermarket on my way home, and the rest is history... tada...

Sidetrack: Most of my images hosted on this blog are linked via my facebook albums... so when facebook decides to change the links, my images get de-linked... :( Pardon for the disappearance of my images.. It will take time to restore them...

Based on the available ingredients & equipment (or lack-of, I do not have any oven) at home, I combined Gordon Ramsay's recipe with MAFF's recipe, to create the above Pan-fried Scallops with Crispy Toppings.

Here's how I did it:

Ingredients needed

• Scallops
• Cooking oil
• Pepper
• Salt
• Butter
• 1/2 clove of garlic, chopped
• Wholemeal Cracker Crumbs ( 2 - 3 crackers)
• Chopped Spring Onions
• Parsley

TIP
The original recipe uses breadcrumbs. As I did not have breadcrumbs at home, I substituted with wholemeal cracker, which I pounded to make crumbs.

Method

Scallops
1. Season the scallops with salt and pepper.

2. Heat up the frying pan. Ensure that it is hot.

3. Add cooking oil.

4. When the cooking oil is heated, add the scallops in clockwise directions. Pan-fry each side for about 1.5 to 2 minutes.

Watch the video below for Gordon Ramsay's instructions:


Toppings
1. Melt the butter in the frying pan.

2. Add the chopped spring onions and garlic.

3. Add pepper for seasoning.

4. Add the wholemeal cracker crumbs. Stir and mix well.

To Serve
1. Add the toppings on the scallops. Add parlsey as garnishing to serve.

There you go~ Pan-fried Scallops with Crispy Toppings.

I will try with breadcrumbs the next time.

Hope you like this dish!

How to make Carbonara Pasta

If you would like to try making the carbonara pasta from scratch and not from using the readymade sauce sold at supermarkets, then do try out this recipe. This recipe is based on the Creamy Bacon Carbonara recipe from The Recipe Critic.

I always make carbonara pasta after making the non-bake oreo cheesecake, as I would have a leftover of 750ml of whipping cream. Ah.. sorry for sidetracking~

Back to the recipe~ Here's the successful product. I have made several attempts before achieving the creamy texture. Be careful not to get the scrampled-egg-like texture.


Carbonara Penne

And here's how to do it:

Ingredients needed

• Penne
• Boiling Water
• 1 cup of Whipping Cream
• 1/3 cup of Parmesan Cheese
• A pinch of salt
• A pinch of pepper
• Onion Slices
• Mushroom Slices
• Bacon Slices (thick cut & thin cut)
• Cooking oil

TIP
You can replace penne with any pasta of your choice.

Method

Bacon
1. Fry the bacon slices.

2. Fry the thick cut bacon slices until they turn crispy on the sides. These will be stir-fried with the other ingredients.

3. Fry the thin cut bacon slices until they turn very crispy. This will be for the toppings.

Penne
1. Add a pinch of salt and a few drops of cooking oil into the boiling water.

2. Add penne to the boiling mixture and cook for the duration that is stated on the pasta packaging. Stir at times to prevent the penne from sticking to each other.

3. Drain the penne from the mixture.

Carbonara Sauce
1. Mix the whipping cream, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper together.

Carbonara Penne
1. Add cooking oil to the frying pan.

TIP
Though maybe not as healthy, but nevertheless very delicious... try to replace the cooking oil here with 2 to 3 tablespoons of the oil retrieved from frying the bacon slices.

2. Add onion slices and fry them till slightly brown.

3. Add mushroom slices and bacon slices (thick cut) and stir-fry them.

4. Add penne and stir-fry the mixture.

5. Add the cabonara sauce mixture, and stir-fry at low heat.

TIP
Here's the most tricky part. Remember to use low heat. And stir continuously to prevent the mixture from clumping together. Else it will end up looking like scrambled eggs instead.

6. Serve, and topped the carbonara penne with thin cut bacon slides.

And there you go~ Carbonara Penne made from scratch.

How to make Soya Sauce Chicken Wings

My parents have been lamenting that I seemed to cook primarily Japanese dishes, though they prefer Chinese cuisine. So, I heed their advice and decided to check out the recipe collection at the National Library. And I got my hands on this book 《懒人最爱：电饭煲美食》. This title really speaks to me as I really like fuss-free, simple recipes. Rice cooker dishes are great, as we normally just have to prepare the marination or the sauce mixture, and then we just need to dump all our ingredients in the rice cooker, and viola~ the dish is done. And of course, without compromising on the taste too.

The recipe I picked from the book is 香菇焖鸡翅 Soya Sauce Chicken. I varied the recipe to achieve the taste that the family likes: Juicy, savory, but not too salty.

And here's the eventual product:



And how I achieve it:

Ingredients needed

• 10 Chicken Mid Joint Wings
• Onion slices
• Ginger Slices
• Mushroom Slices
• 45ml of Chinese Rice Wine
• 30ml of Dark Soya Sauce
• 15ml of Light Soya Sauce
• 50ml of Water (for soaking)
• 50ml of Water (for cooking)
• Pepper (to taste)
• Sugar (to taste)
• Sesame Oil
• Cooking oil

TIP
If you can replace the chicken mid joint wings with winglets, that will be perfect. But of course, you will need to adjust the quantity of the wings to match the sauce mixture. Try not to use drumsticks/ drumlets though. They don't taste as good. And that's speaking from experience.

Method

1. Mix chinese rice wine, dark soya sauce, light soya sauce, 50ml of water, sesame oil, sugar and pepper together.

2. Soak the chicken mid joint wings in the mixture. Leave it in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

3. Add cooking oil and sesame oil to the rice cooker.

4. Add the ginger slices, onion slices and mushroom slices into the rice cooker.

5. Add the marinated chicken mid joint wings into the rice cooker.

6. Add the marination mixture into the rice cooker.

7. Add 50ml of water into the rice cooker.

8. Cook for about 30 minutes.

9. Serve~

There you go... Isn't it very simple and easy~

How to make Ebi No Umani 日本版的醉虾

Thanks to JETAA Singapore, I have learnt 3 new Japanese recipes (^_^). Thanks, Keiko-san, for teaching us these recipes!

This year's cooking workshop focuses on osechi, which is a set of special dishes that Japanese make to welcome the New Year. There are many types of osechi, and for this workshop, we learnt 3: Kouhaku Namasu 紅白なます,Ebi No Umani 海老のうま煮 and Chukuzen Ni 筑前煮.

Ebi No Umani 海老のうま煮, somewhat reminds me of a Chinese dish, Drunken Prawns 醉虾, so that perks up my interest to learn how to make this.



I revised the given recipe, to make dashi soup from raw, instead of using powder.

Here's how to make the Japanese version of Drunken Prawns 日本版的醉虾:

Ingredients needed

• 8 Prawns
• 500ml of Water
• 4cm by 3cm of Kelp
• 6g of Bonito Flakes
• Boiling water
• 30ml of Sake/ Rice Wine (for soaking)
• 50ml of Sake/ Rice Wine (for cooking)
• 100ml of Mirin
• 1 toothpick

Method

1. Cut the tips of the prawns' heads and tails slightly.

2. Using the toothpick, poke through the shell at the second or third segment of the prawns' bodies, and pull out the dark veins.

TIP
Compare and contrast the above deveining of prawns with the Chinese method. For the Chinese dishes, we will slit the back of the prawns using a knife and then pull out the dark veins.

3. Soak the prawns in 30ml of sake.

4. Add boiling water to the mixture, just enough to cover the prawns. Leave it for 10 minutes.

5. To make dashi soup, add kelp and bonito flakes to 500ml of water. Once it boils, and the mixture turns brownish, sieve out the kelp and bonito flakes to retrieve the dashi soup.

6. Add 100ml of mirin and 50ml of sake to the dashi soup. Stir well while cooking the mixture. Cook the mixture till boiling point.

7. Add the prawns into the above mixture. Cook for 2 minutes.

8. Serve the prawns dry.

TIP
This dish is meant to be served when cooled, so it would be good to make this dish first before others, so that it has time to cool down.

There you go, do you find any similarities and differences between Ebi No Umani and Drunken Prawns?

Hope you enjoy the Japanese version of Drunken Prawns as much as I do. (^^) Bon appetit~

Other recipes of homemade Japanese food which you may like to try:

• Agadashi Tofu
• Sushi
• Mochi Pizza
• Omu Rice
• Hiyashi Chuuka Soba
• Zaru Soba
• Teriyaki Salmon

How to make Teriyaki Salmon

This is an improvised recipe which I learnt in JETAA cooking class last year. The recipe was originally for the making of teriyaki chicken toppings for the teriyaki chicken pizza.

After several attempts to perfect the taste, here's the recipe for teriyaki salmon. I could proudly say this is one of my most confident dishes, at least, taste-wise. It is not easy to capture a beautiful shot though.



Ingredients needed

• Salmon fillet with skin
• Cooking oil

TIP
Give some cuts to the salmon fillet so that it will be cooked faster.

Teriyaki Sauce

• 100ml of Mirin
• 15ml of shouyu/ light soya sauce
• 1 teaspoon of sugar

Method
1. Mix the ingredients for the sauce.

2. Add the salmon fillet into the mixture, and leave it in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.

3. Add cooking oil and lightly pan-fry the salmon fillet (skin facing downwards).

4. Add the mixture that the salmon fillet is marinated in, and sauteed till cooked.

TIP
Be careful not to overcook the salmon fillet.

5. Ready to serve~

There you go, a very simple recipe for teriyaki salmon.

Other recipes of homemade Japanese food which you may like to try:

• Agadashi Tofu
• Sushi
• Mochi Pizza
• Omu Rice
• Hiyashi Chuuka Soba
• Zaru Soba
• Ebi No Umani 日本版的醉虾

How to make Zaru Soba

Another favourite for summer~ and for all of us living in tropical countries~ Zaru Soba. "Zaru Soba" is loosely translated as "Cold Soba noodles with dipping sauce".



It is a very simple dish, and you can prepare it under 30 minutes. (^-^) Here's how:

Ingredients needed

Soba

• Soba (Quantity- as you like)
• Sesame oil (for flavour)
• Boiling water

Tsuyu/ Dipping Sauce

• 250ml of water
• 1.5 tablespoon of soya sauce/ shouyu
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1.5 tablespoon of sake
• 6g of bonito flakes
• 1 piece of konbu (approx 7cm by 3cm)

Garnishing

• Sliced seaweed
• Sliced spring onion

Method

Soba

1. Add a few drops of sesame oil to the boiling water.

2. Boil the soba. Remember to stir them to prevent them for clumping together.

3. Drain away the water to retrieve the soba.

4. Run the soba under cold water to cool it.

Tsuyu/ Dipping Sauce

1. Add all the ingredients into a pot.

2. Boil them.

3. Drain away the bonito flakes and konbu.


Ready to serve

To serve

1. Add garnishing to the soba.

2. Dip soba into the tsuyu/ dipping sauce for taste, before eating.

Enjoy~

Other recipes of homemade Japanese food which you may like to try:

• Agadashi Tofu
• Sushi
• Mochi Pizza
• Omu Rice
• Hiyashi Chuuka Soba
• Teriyaki Salmon
• Ebi No Umani 日本版的醉虾

How to make Hiyashi Chuuka Soba (Cold Soba with Toppings)

冷やし中華らめん Hiyashi Chuuka Ramen is a common dish during summer in Japan. One of my fondest memories of Japan’s summer during my JET years was enjoying my cold Hiyashi Chuuka Ramen from the nearest convenience store from the school. Refreshing!

Though it is not uncommon to find cold soba 冷やし蕎麦 (Hiyashi Soba), but冷やし中華らめん is rather difficult to find in Singapore restaurants. Interestingly, one would think since Singapore is a tropical country, with summer all-year round, we should have abundance of cold dishes like cold soba, cold udon, etc. However, we don’t. The more predominant one is probably cold soba, a concept we imported from Japan. Not so much for the rest. I think Japan’s array of cold dishes is more varied than Singapore’s. Mmm.. I think we, Singaporeans, probably prefer our desserts chilled than main course chilled. :P

Nevertheless, do give Hiyashi Chuuka Ramen a try on a hot summer day. You might change your mind about chilled main course.

Giving it a slightly different twist, I prepared Hiyashi Chuuka Soba 冷やし中華蕎麦 instead for my lunch bento. Using soba, which is more easily available, instead of ramen.  It’s a very easy dish, just a bit more work, especially if you like to add more colours to the soba.



Ingredients needed

Soba

• Soba
• Sesame oil
• A pinch of salt
• 3 tablespoons of Roasted Sesame Dressing

TIP
For the Roasted Sesame Dressing, I uses Mizkan's Kinogomadare 金のごまだれ.

Toppings

• Sliced carrots
• Sliced Japanese cucumbers
• Crab meat stick
• Sliced ham
• Corn kernels
• An egg

Garnishing

• Pork floss
• Sliced seaweed

Method

1. First, prepare the soba as we need to cool it. Boil soba in hot water with a pinch of salt.

2. Once it is boiled, run it under cold water and mix the soba with some sesame oil, so that they will not stick.

3. Boil the sliced carrots and corn kernels. Leave them to cool when cooked.

4. Boil the crab meat stick and sliced them when cooked. Leave them to cool.

5. Fry sliced ham. Leave them to cool when cooked.

6. Mix the egg white and egg yolk to make omelette. Slice the omelette when ready. Leave to cool.

7. Add the soba in the serving boil/ plate. Add 3 tablespoons of roasted sesame dressing to the soba.

8. Add the rest of the toppings: Cucumber, carrots, corn, sliced ham, omelette and crab meat, side by side on the soba.

9. Add garnishing like pork floss and seaweed.

10. Serve with love~ Remember to mix the soba with sesame dressing and the toppings well before eating.

TIP
According to your preference, you can change the choice of toppings. I usually pick a range that has different colours to make the dish more appetizing. I tried adding edamame, too.

Have a cool summer with 冷やし中華蕎麦!


Other recipes of homemade Japanese food which you may like to try:

• Agadashi Tofu
• Sushi
• Mochi Pizza
• Omu Rice
• Zaru Soba
• Teriyaki Salmon
• Ebi No Umani 日本版的醉虾

How to make Agedashi Tofu

Agedashi Tofu 揚げだし豆腐 - one of the very common dishes in a Japanese meal. This seemingly simple dish, is actually, not simple at all! Probably coupled with my lousy skills in deep frying, it took me several attempts to get it right.

Tada~ I'm now proud to present to you my successful attempt of the Agedashi Tofu~



Now, here's how to re-create it:

First, let's make the sauce that accompanies the Agedashi Tofu.

Ingredients needed

• 250ml of Water
• 6g of Bonito Flakes
• 3cm by 5cm Kelp 昆布 (konbu)
• 2 tablespoons of Rice Wine 白米酒 / Sake
• 2 tablespoons of Light Soya Sauce / Shouyu 醤油
• 1 tablespoon of Sugar

TIP
You might have noticed, I have replaced some Japanese ingredients with Chinese ingredients, like rice wine replacing sake, and light soya sauce replacing shouyu. Don't worry, the sauce still taste as good. :)

Method

1. Add all ingredients together into a pot.

2. Heat the mixture, until it boils.

3. Set it aside, while we continue to make the Agedashi Tofu.


Now for the main character~ the tofu~

Ingredients needed

• 1/2 cup of Tempura Flour
• 150ml of Ice Water
• Some excess Tempura Flour
• Cut Spring Onion
• Seaweed slices
• Chinese Tofu

TIP
It looks like silken tofu, but be careful, look for the tofu that states "suitable for frying". It usually has a picture of the Agedashi Tofu on it as well. This is because we need firmer tofu to deep fry.

Method

1. Using kitchen towels, remove the excess moisture from the tofu.

2. Mix 1/2 cup of tempura flour and 150ml of ice water to form the batter.

TIP
The temperature difference between the batter and the oil used for deep-frying will maintain the crispiness of the agadashi tofu.

3. Pour some tempura flour on a plate for initial coating.

4. Cut the tofu into cubes.

TIP
For beginners, it is easier to manage, if the tofu is cut into smaller cubes. It helps in the coating and deep frying later.

5. Coat the tofu cube with loose tempura flour. Just roll it along the plate of flour.

6. Dip the tofu cube into the batter and coat it.

7. Heat the oil. Ensure it is hot enough for deep frying. You can test the temperature by using some batter.

8. Deep fry the tofu cubes until golden brown.

9. Use kitchen towels to soak away the excess oil.

10. Add the tofu cubes into the bowl of sauce prepared earlier.

11. Serve with garnishings of cut spring onion and seaweed slices.

TIP
If you want a truly authentic Japanese experience, you can serve with grated daikon/ white radish and grated ginger. These can be mixed into the sauce for taste.

And there you have it, Agedashi Tofu.
If QQ can do it, so can you!

P.S: If you prefer chilled tofu dishes, you can try this: Chilled Tofu Topped with Spring Onion, Preserved Turnips and Century Egg, instead. :)

Other recipes of homemade Japanese food which you may like to try:

• Hiyashi Chuuka Soba
• Sushi
• Mochi Pizza
• Omu Rice
• Zaru Soba
• Teriyaki Salmon
• Ebi No Umani 日本版的醉虾

How to make Non-Bake 'Chocolate-tee' Oreo Cheesecake

Craving for some dessert to beat exam blues? I tried making Oreo Cheesecake again. But it is different from the last one I made.

You might have observed from cafes and bakeries that there are 2 kinds of Oreo Cheesecake. The snowy creamy one with Oreo cookie chunks and the "chocolate-tee" creamy one topped with Oreo cookie shavings.

This time, I tried my hand at making the "chocolate-tee" one.



Actually, the ingredients are almost identical. It's just that I divided the Oreo cookies for different uses.

Here's my recipe for the "chocolate-tee" Oreo Cheesecake, without any baking:

Ingredients needed

• 250g Cream Cheese (Just nice, one block of Philadelphia Cream Cheese)
• 24 Oreo Cookies
• 55g Butter
• 50g of Sugar
• 2 teaspoons of Vanilla Essence
• 250g Thickened Cream
• 2 sheets of gelatine dissolved in 100ml of boiling water
• Oreo Cookie Chunks

Method

1. Separate the cream from the biscuits for the Oreo Cookies.

2. Divide the Oreo Cookies into this proportion:
    - 6 for toppings
    - 9 for mixture
    - 9 for crust

3. Grind all the Oreo biscuits.

4. Mix the Oreo biscuits crumbs with butter, using an electrical mixer. This forms the base mixture.

5. Line the bottom of the containers with the base mixture.

6. Refrigerate it for 30 minutes.

7. Leave the cream cheese in room temperature for a while to let it soften.

8. Beat the softened cream cheese, sugar, Oreo cream and vanilla essence using an electrical mixer.

9. Once the above mixture becomes smooth, add in the thickened cream, 3 tablespoons of gelatine mixture and beat it using an electrical mixer.

10. Add in the Oreo Cookie chunks, and stir it manually, using a spoon.

11. Pour the top mixture onto the Oreo base.

12. Refrigerate it overnight.

13. Serve with ❤

Enjoy "non-baking" this Oreo Cheesecake!

How to make Non-Bake Snowy White Oreo Cheesecake

Not armed with an oven, but yet would like to try "baking"? After my last project of baking using a rice cooker (check out my recipe for a banana-chocolate cake baked using a rice cooker), now, it's time to take on another project.

Making a Non-Bake Oreo Cheesecake.



Here's how:

Ingredients needed

• 250g Cream Cheese (Just nice, one block of Philadelphia Cream Cheese)
• 235g Oreo Cookies
• 55g Butter
• 1/4 cup of Sugar
• 2 teaspoons of Vanilla Essence
• 2/3 cup of Thickened Cream
• 2 sheets of gelatine dissolved in 100ml of boiling water
• Oreo Cookie Chunks
• Mini Oreo Cookies (for decoration)
• Strawberries (for decoration)

Method

1. Separate the cream from the biscuits for the Oreo Cookies.

2. Grind all the Oreo biscuits.

3. Mix the Oreo biscuits crumbs with about 10 servings of Oreo cream (1 serving= 1 Oreo cookie's worth of cream) and butter, using an electrical mixer. This forms the base mixture.

4. Line the bottom of the containers with the base mixture.

5. Refrigerate it for 30 minutes.

6. Leave the cream cheese in room temperature for a while to let it soften.

7. Beat the softened cream cheese, sugar, the rest of the Oreo cream and vanilla essence using an electrical mixer.

8. Once the above mixture becomes smooth, add in the thickened cream, 3 tablespoons of gelatine mixture and beat it using an electrical mixer.

TIP
Gelatine helps to harden the cheesecake. The cheesecake tends to soften when placed in room temperature for too long. Hence, do adjust the gelatine amount if you prefer a firmer one.

9. Add in the Oreo Cookie chunks, and stir it manually, using a spoon.

10. Pour the top mixture onto the Oreo base.

11. Refrigerate it for at least 3 hours.

TIP
According to recipe, it can be served after 3 hours, but I found out accidentally that it actually tastes best after one day of refrigeration. If you leave it in the freezer, then it will taste like Oreo Cheesecake flavoured ice cream.

12. To serve, top it with a strawberry and a mini Oreo cookie as decorations.


Do give it a try. It tastes wonderful~

If you prefer the 'chocolate-tee' type instead, do try this Oreo Cheesecake recipe instead.

How to make Sushi

Interestingly, during my one-year stint in Japan, I had never tried making sushi, nor take up any sushi making classes. Nevertheless, armed with my farewell gift from my excolleague in Japan, the recipe book "Sachiko's Japanese Cooking Lessons in English", I tried sushi-making. :)



There are 6 types of sushi in all, of which maki sushi 巻寿司 (circular in shape, with filling in the middle), nigiri sushi 握り寿司 (cylindrical with toppings) and inari sushi 稲荷寿司 (rice in sweet beancurd skin) are the most common in Singapore. This time I made futomaki 太巻, a type of maki sushi. Futomaki is larger in circumference, with 2 or more fillings.

The toughest part about sushi making would probably be the sushi rice making part. I used to think it's just cooking shorter rice grains in the rice cooker, but nope, it is actually more complex than that.

Equipment needed

• Rice cooker
• Rolling mat(Available at Daiso)
• Steaming cloth (Available at Daiso)
• Hangiri (Wide wooden tub)
• Spatula
• Fan
• Sharp knife
• Cutting mat

TIP
I did not have a hangiri, so I just used a wide porcelain bowl to substitute. This is used to mix the rice with sushi vinegar evenly. Do note has to be non-metal.

Ingredients needed

(Sushi Rice)

• 2 cups of Short grain rice/ Japanese rice
• 60ml Sushi vinegar (Available in Cold Storage)

(Sushi filling)

• Omelette strips
• Japanese cucumber strips
• Crab meat strips
• Pork floss
• Fried ikan bilis
• Seaweed (Large sheets)

Method

1. Cook the short rice grains in the rice cooker.

TIP
Add a piece of kelp with the sides cut in the rice cooker, while cooking the short grain rice to add flavour.

2. While the rice is still hot, quickly transfer them to the hangiri. Mix it with sushi vinegar. Remember while mixing the rice, to fan the rice simultaneously. This is to remove the excess moisture and to give the rice a glossy look.

TIP
If you prefer homemade sushi vinegar, you can mix 50ml of rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of salt to make sushi vinegar.

3. Cover the sushi rice with a damp steaming cloth once done.

4. Place the rolling mat, such that the flat side is facing downwards. Place a piece of seaweed on top, with the smooth side facing downwards.

5. Distribute sushi rice evenly on the seaweed, leaving about 1-2cm of circumference free.

6. Add the filling on the rice, leaving about 3cm free from the top and bottom of the rice area.

TIP
The filling ingredients above are just some suggestions. Be creative! I had fun mix-matching the ingredients.

7. Roll the sushi. Remember to tighten it, so that the roll will be firm.

8. Cut the maki sushi roll.

TIP
If you are a beginner like me, it helps to cut the sushi thicker. It is easier to manage :P

And there you go, sushi~

With my mum's help, we took 2 hours to complete our maki sushi project- 4 rolls in all. Lots of fun~ Have fun making sushi, too!

Other recipes of homemade Japanese food which you may like to try:

• Agadashi Tofu
• Mochi Pizza
• Omu Rice
• Hiyashi Chuuka Soba
• Zaru Soba
• Teriyaki Salmon
• Ebi No Umani 日本版的醉虾

How to make Muah Chee

Muah Chee, a common snack at our pasar malam; I never once thought I could replicate this dish at home.

After hearing about @stabbeee's successful attempt at making muah chee, I decided to give it a try with the shared recipes too.

If you have a Happy Call Pan, then there are altogether 3 recipes which you use:

• Munch Ministry - Flipping Method - with 2 recipes
• Munch Ministry - Stirring Method

As I do not have a Happy Call Pan, but armed with an ordinary non-slick pan, I tried the stirring method and customise the recipes a little.


Home-made Muah Chee

Ingredients needed
(for the dough)

• 200g Glutinous rice flour
• 300ml Water
• 1 tbsp Sesame oil
• 1 tsp Sugar
• pinch of Salt

(for stirring)

• Chopped onions
• Cooking oil

(for mixing)

• Grated peanuts
• Sugar

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients for the dough in a huge bowl. Mix it well.

2. Heat up the frying pan with chopped onions and cooking oil.

3. Remove the onions, leaving just the oil.

4. Pour the dough mixture.

5. Mix and flip the dough mixture in the pan over low heat.

6. It's done when the dough turns slightly transparent.

TIP
The recipes indicated about 5 minutes. Actual cooking is more than that though. Maybe because the surface area of my frying pan is not as big as the Happy Call Pan, so I had to split my dough mixture to 3 shares so that they can be thoroughly cooked. Hence, I would suggest that you use a non-stick frying pan which has a wider surface area, so that you can spread your dough thinner.

7. Cut the freshly cooked muah chee into pieces and mix them with the grated peanuts and sugar.

TIP
I grounded the grated peanuts, which is already available in my kitchen. To achieve the best "peanut-y"effect, I would suggest mixing with peanut powder, grated peanuts and sugar.

Ready to serve~

There you go, a very common snack, do-able within the comforts of our home kitchen. :)

How to prepare Mochi Pizza

Mochi Pizza~
I got the inspiration from a Japanese cooking segment, whereby the chef demonstrated frying mochi in a pan. Usually, I would add them in 鍋 nabe dishes. (somewhat like steamboat, in Singaporean terms)



Slurps... appetizing-looking, isn't it? It's really easy to make as well, albeit a little tedious, if you only have a frying pan like me. (I don't have a toaster oven, oven nor microwave at home. Yeah, I am serious. (>_<) )

Ingredients needed:

• Mochi (Cut in blocks)
• Vegetables (Leafy)
• Mushrooms (diced)
• Garlic (diced)
• Onion (diced)
• Ham (cut into slices/ squares)
• Ikan Bilis
• Cheese
• Seaweed (precut into kawaii shapes)

Seasoning for vegetable dish

• Mirin 味醂
• Light Soya Sauce
• Pepper
• Water

Method

1. Prepare the vegetable dish first. Brown the diced garlic and diced. Add the vegetables and mushroom. Add seasoning to flavour.

2. Pan fry ham.

3. Pan fry ikan bilis.

4. Pan fry mochi block.

TIP
Cook till it is soft. It is easy to overcook, hence be careful. You can use an oven instead to toast it.

5. On the soft mochi block while in the frying pan, add cheese.

6. Once cheese is melted, transfer mochi blocks to serving plates.

7. Add toppings in this order: Stir-fried vegetables, fried ham, fried ikan milis, pre-cut seaweed.

Ready to serve :)

You can explore with other toppings and create your own mochi pizza!

Other recipes of homemade Japanese food which you may like to try:

• Agadashi Tofu
• Sushi
• Omu Rice
• Zaru Soba
• Hiyashi Chuuka Soba
• Teriyaki Salmon
• Ebi No Umani 日本版的醉虾

How to Bake Cakes Using the Rice Cooker

The rice cooker is an amazing machine~

Tonight, I went beyond making varieties of rice dishes, and ventured into the baking arena with the rice cooker! I have been wanting to try this banana cake recipe which I received from Shaunna sempai when I had just moved to Japan. However, in the end, I didn't have a chance to try it with my Japanese rice cooker.

This time, inspired by Shar's recent post about her rice cooker banana cake attempt, I decided that I shan't procrastinate further. It's time to give the rice cooker a try.



Not bad isn't it? \(^_^)/


Ingredients needed

• 300g Pancake Mix 
• 1 Egg (beaten) 
• 2 tablespoons of Sugar 
•  200ml of Milk 
• 1/3 bar of Butter (for mixture) 
• 1/3 bar of Butter (for greasing) 
• 1 Banana (mashed) 
• Chocolate Bits Almond bits 

Method
1. Cut the baking chocolate bar into bits.

TIP
It's probably easier to use chocolate chips. I had to chop the bar into bits as there's what i already had. :P

2. Melt 1/3 bar of the butter for greasing the rice cooker.

3. Mix the rest of the ingredients, till a smooth mixture is formed.

4. Grease the rice cooker.

TIP
Grease well, otherwise the cake may stick to the cooker, and disintegrate when you try to serve it on a plate.
Alternatively, you can use parchment paper.

5. Pour the mixture into the rice cooker.

6. Press "start". You may need to keep repeat a few rounds. To know when it is cooked, test with a toothpick/ chopstick. If it does not stick, it's done. :)

Tada~ There you have... now you can bake without an oven!

How to prepare Cabbage Wraps

This dish was inspired by a Chinese cooking book as I was window-shopping at a bookstore one weekend. Again, it's really easy to make, and yet looks great on presentation.

Btw, if I have not mentioned yet. I love flipping through cooking magazines and books, especially those with pictures. However, I don't memorize the recipes, but I will try to recreate the dish on my own, trying to create the same look as that in the pictures. Though I may not succeed at first try, but part of the fun is figuring out the best recipe :P



Ingredients needed:

• Cabbage (the part nearer to the roots, cut off, as we need the leafy portion)
• Long spring onions (run through hot water)
• Mirin 味醂
• Rice Wine 白米酒
• Light Soya Sauce
• Sesame Oil
• Water
• Cooking Oil

Filling

• Minced meat
• Chopped chestnuts
• Chopped yam
• Sotong (diced)
• prawn (diced)
• Garlic (diced)
• Onion (diced)
• Eggs
• Corn flour

Seasoning for Filling

• Light Soya Sauce
• Sugar
• Pepper

Method:
1. Mixed all ingredients listed in the filling segment. Add seasoning to flavour.

TIP
You can customise your own filling. :) The filling recipe is based on my mum's recipe.

2. Soak the prepared cabbage in hot water for a while, so that it will be soft.

3. Add a spoonful of filling.

4. Wrap the filling like a parcel.

5. Tie the cabbage roll with the prepared spring onions.

6. Pan-fry the cabbage roll, with seasoning like light soya sauce, mirin and rice wine, and some water. Serve when cooked.

Done~

How to prepare Chilled Tofu Topped with Spring Onion, Preserved Turnips & Century Eggs

Some say this dish originated from Shanghai, some say it originated from Taiwan. And just earlier, while researching, I found that the Japanese have a similar dish and they called it the 冷奴 (Hiyayakko = Chilled Tofu). Guess, it's very safe to call it a Asian dish. :P

I first tried this dish at a Shanghainese restaurant, and then attempted to recreate it at home, of course with some alterations of my own to cater to Singaporean taste :P



Ingredients needed:

• Silken Tofu (Chilled)
• Preserved Turnips 菜脯碎
• Century Eggs 皮蛋 (diced)
• Spring Onion (diced)
• Pork/ Chicken Floss
• Sesame Oil
• Light Soya Sauce
• Cooking Oil
• Water

Method:
1. Cut the silken tofu into cubes.

TIP
Leave the chilled silken tofu unattended for a while, and the accumulated water within the tofu will slowly seeped out, remove the water before serving.

2. Wash the preserved turnips.

TIP
If you prefer less salty, run hot water through the preserved turnips.

3. Add a little cooking oil and preserved turnips to stir fry. Add sesame oil and light soya sauce (skip this if you prefer less salty food) for seasoning. Add some water when necessary.

TIP
In the picture above, I stir-fried my spring onions too. But that's a personal preference :P

4. Top the tofu with the freshly stir-fried preserved turnips, diced century egg, pork/ chicken floss and finally, the spring onions.

Ready to serve. :)