Stuff I ate in KL

Indian Banana leaf meal

Lala (pipi's)

Dry wonton noodles

Assam fish

Hor Chien (cockle omelette)

Tau Fu Fah

Golden soft shell crab on curry leaf spaghetti

Jong Tau Fu (vege stuffed with fish paste in broth)

Popiah

Vegetable filling 

Ipoh Sar Hor Fun 

Ginger cat biscuits

Using my faithful gingerbread man dough recipe. 

Herman the German Friendship Cake

Hello my name is Herman.
I am a sourdough cake.
I am supposed to sit on your benchtop for 10 days without a lid on me.
You cannot put me in the fridge or I will die.
If I stop bubbling I am dead.

Day 1 : Put me in a large mixing bowl and cover loosely with a tea towel.
Day 2 : Stir well.
Day 3 : Stir well.
Day 4 : Herman is hungry. Add 1 cup of sifted plain flour, 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of milk. Stir well.
Day 5 : Stir well.
Day 6 : Stir well.
Day 7 : Stir well.
Day 8 : Stir well.
Day 9 : Add 1 cup of sifted plain flour, 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of milk. Stir well. Divide into 4 equal portions and give 2 portions to friends. Keep 1 portion for later and use 1 portion to cook me tomorrow
Day 10 : I am ready for the final stage.

Add the following to me: 1 cup of sugar, 2 cups of sifted plain flour, 2 heaped tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 2/3 cup of cooking oil, 2 eggs, 1 tsp of vanilla esssence, 2 heaped tsp of cinnamon. Mix well then mix in 2 chopped cooking apples and 1 to 2 cups of sultanas.  Pour into a prepared cake pan. Sprinkle 1/2 cup melted butter and 1/4 cup brown sugar on top of the cake, then bake for 45 minutes at 170 to 180 degrees Celsius.  Test the middle with a skewer.  You may need to cover with aluminium foil and bake for a further 20 minutes until set.  When baked I can be frozen.

Tis the season to eat trifle

Merry Christmas!

This year has been a helluva year. Lots of change and I'm sadly feeling a bit drained.  However one must still chip in for the festive feasting. So this year the good old trifle reborn in a few ways. I've rehashed two English trifles, one tropical trifle and a mango coconut trifle in the past 4 weeks. This is a recipe for the latter as requested by my cousins.

There's not really much cooking in a trifle.  You prepare the jelly ingredients night before so it has time to set.  Then whip the cream and assemble a few hours before the party.  

The layers from the bottom to top are:
Pieces of Swiss roll, Chantilly cream, fresh mango, coconut agar jelly, mango jelly, custard and shredded dry coconut.

I use packet mango jelly and reconstitute according to the packet.  Generally you stir one cup of boiling water while sprinkling the jelly crystals slowly.  Then add 200mL of cold water and pour into a rectangular container of some sort. I use a rectangular Pyrex dish.

Coconut agar jelly is made with packet clear unflavoured agar (sold at Asian grocers), a can of coconut milk, about 125g(?) of sugar.  I'm not really sure about the quantities.  Basically I half the recommended amount of sugar recommended on the Agar Jelly packaging. I also subtract the volume of coconut milk ( 400mL ) from the amount of water needed.  To make the jelly you bring all the ingredients to the boil and pour into a rectangular container and put it in the fridge.  If you do not bring to the boil it will not set. If you cool to room temperature before refrigerating your jelly will separate into a clear layer and an opaque layer. However this is still edible but I guess it lets the presentation down a bit.

I make Chantilly cream immediately prior to assembling the trifle.  This is made by whipping 300mL of whipping cream, 3 tablespoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.

I used 2 ripe Kensington mangoes in the trifle shown in the picture.  I grabbed a store bought swiss roll but if you cant' get any sponge slab will do.  I also used store bought custard from the dairy section.  The topping is shredded dry coconut which you can buy at Woolworths under their Macro brand.  I like it better than dessicated coconut which is too fine.

Enjoy!

USDA Recommended Intenal Temperatures for Meat

I thought I'd post this up because I can never find it when I need it. It's basically the temperature the thickest part of a piece of meat should reach when using a meat thermometer.

Beef / Lamb / Veal
Medium Rare ............................ 62.7C (145F)
Medium .................................... 71.1C (160F)
Well done ................................. 76.6C (170F) - Please never eat beef well done! :(

Poultry (ie chicken, turkey, duck)
At the thickest part of the leg..... 73.9C (165F)
Rolled Roast ............................ 73.9C (165F)
Not the actual cavity of the bird!

Pork
Medium .....................................71.1C (160F)
Well done ................................. 76.6C (170F)

Ham
From Raw ................................ 71.1C (160F)
Precooked (ie reheating) .......... 60C    (140F)

Minces/Burgers/Sausages
Poultry ...................................... 73.9C (165F)
Beef/Lamb/Pork/Veal ..............  71.1C (160F)

Happy cooking! 

Gastronomic Sightseeing from a past trip to Singapore Malaysia Hong Kong

Some people like to take picture of scenery when they travel. I derive much more joy from capturing the beauty of a plate of food.  Here's what I managed to find from a recent trip to South East Asia.

Tropical Trifle

This is my spin on a traditional trifle with a tropical themed twist.  It made its first appearance last Boxing day at the family BBQ but I forgot to snap a picture of it in the chaos.  This trifle was commissioned by Mum for a BBQ.

The layers from bottom to top

• Sponge cake drizzled with rum
• Custard
• Pineapple Jelly
• Kiwi fruit
• Mango
• Coconut Agar Jelly
• Whipped cream
• Passionfruit Pulp