4 Dates Health Drink

Red Dates or jujuba fruits, 

commonly known as Chinese dates, 

is a popular traditional herb 

used in China long ago, 

both for food and health. 

TCM believe that it helps to prevent anemia 

and

 improve the complexion because of it’s iron content.

 As it is high in fibre it helps in overall health, 

improve bowel movement and strengthen the immunity and liver function. 

Both black dates and blue dates are good for the skin and hair.  

Blue dates are more expensive and they are longer 

whereas the black dates are rounded as shown in the photo.

The candies or honey dates is used to sweeten the drink.

To make 2 to 3 cups of this nutritious drink

You will need:

4 red dates

2 black dates

2 blue (nan) dates

2 honey dates

4 cups water

1) cut the dates in half. Some will advise to remove the seeds before boiling. 
2) Put everything into a slow cooker to boil for 2 hours. 
3) When done, Use the back of the spoon to press the dates to squeeze out the nutrients if you are not eating the pulp. 
4) Strain and drink either warm or chilled. 
5) You will be surprised how nice is the taste of the drink! You will love it.

 Drink

Discard

HOMEGROWN BEAN SPROUTS

Do you like beansprouts?

I do, especially those cruncy ones!

Some say Ipoh produces the best beansprout!

How far is this true?

Well, if you are not from Ipoh,

try this recipe to confirm otherwise. 

I have 75g of green beans in my pantry.

Let's start...

How to grow beansprouts?

Carolyn Chan advised to grow it in a kettle because:

1) can rinse the beans easily

2) the spout of the kettle prevents the beans from coming out when rinsing

3) no need & should never try to open the cover to peep inside

Method:

1st Day: soaking
wash the beans & soak them in the kettle overnight

2nd Day: Rinsing 2-3 times
1. rinse beans by pouring out the water through the spout
2. fill water through the spout also,
3. shake GENTLY to make sure all the beans are rinsed, drain the water

3rd Day: repeat the rinsing process 2-3 times

4th Day: Harvesting

Open the kettle cover

and

you see this!

Fat fat tau geh, haha!

1. in the morning, prepare a basin 1/2 filled with water

2. pour the beansprout into the water

3. use your hand to shake the water, some husk will rise to the top, remove them

4. take a handful & clean it & put into another basin of water

5. look at these, perfect for eating - white & crunchy

Tips:
1. do not add salt to beansprout when you fry because it will lose its crunchiness.
2. best method is to run it into a pot of boiling water, then season with prepared sauce.

Sauce: mix together
2 tsp garlic oil
2 tsp light soya sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp boiling water
dash of pepper

with 75g green beans

I made 2 plates like this!

BRAISED SEAFOOD

Braised Seafood

This is an elaborate seafood dish,
not to be missed, especially during celebrations and festive seasons.
It was my late mom's favourite.

There is a variety of seafood used.
Many of these need tedious preparation.
Luckily all these can be prepared well ahead of time.

Sea Cucumber - takes 3-4 days to prepare

1. pour boiling water over the sea cucumber and soak overnight

2. next day, change the water & bring it to a boil, leave to cool

3. need to repeat (2) until the sea cucumber is soft enough to slit open

4. slit open the sea cucumber & clean the inside

5. boil in clean water again, cover & leave to cool

6. repeat (5) until the texture is right for cooking

7. once done, freeze the sea cucumber until required

Chinese Mushroom - 1 day ahead

1. soak the mushroom overnight

2. next day, drain and cut away the stems

3. add clean water to boil or steam until soft

Dried Scallop - 1 day

1. clean & steam the scallop with water until soft

2. freeze in its water

Fish Maw (I used fried ones) - prepare the same day

1. soak in hot water to soften

2. cut into bite size

Roast Pork

used for added flavour & fats (makes the mushroom soft & smooth)

Chicken Broth

Canned Abalone

1. open when ready to serve

2. keep the water & slice the abalone, or cut into cubes

3. no cooking required as cooking will toughen it

To bring together:

1. in a claypot, heat up a little oil

2. fry some whole cloves of garlic & few slices of ginger

3. add a few pieces of roast pork to fry

4. add the rest of the ingredients

5. pour in chicken broth, and bring to a boil

6. add abalone water from the can

7. taste & adjust the flavour with oyster sauce & dark soya sauce

8. if your prefer thick soup, add some corn flour mix with water to thicken

9. mix in the sliced or cut abalone to serve

CRANBERRY JAM

Freshly made Cranberry Jam

Sweet but with a tint sour and fragrance of Lemon

Cranberry Jam
can be used as a spread on bread and filling in cakes.
When diluted, can be used as a sauce for roast meat, yummy!

I have some dried cranberries left over from the Chinese New Year baking.
So, I decided to make some jam with it.
If you like the sourish taste of cranberry,
you will like this jam.

Here is the recipe of you are interested:

Cranberry Jam

250g dried cranberry

150g boiling water

125g sugar

30g fresh lemon slices

1) pour boiling water over the cranberry, cover & soak for 30min

2) blend the cranberry in its soaking water

3) combine the blended cranberry, sugar & lemon slices

4) boil over medium heat & stir often, until it reaches jam consistency

5) leave to cool, remove the lemon slices

6) store in bottles, in the fridge

TAIWAN CASTELLA CAKE

Taiwan Castella Cake 

Is a very soft and fluffy cake.

Recipe is from Cynthia’s Kitchen Adventures

Yields a 10” square cake

Ingredients:

100g cake flour, sifted

100g unsalted butter

100g fresh milk

6 eggs, separated

100g castor sugar

Vanilla essence

Method:

1) warm milk & butter on low heat until butter is melted

2) add sifted flour, mix well

3) add egg yolks & vanilla essence, mix well

4) prepare a very hot water bath for baking & preheat oven to 150’C

5) whisk egg whites till frothy, add sugar & beat until stiff peaks

6) fold in 1/3 of the meringue into yolk batter to loosen the batter

7) gently fold in the remaining meringue into the batter

8) pour the batter into a lined cake pan, smooth top with a spatula

9) put the cake pan onto the hot water bath 

10) bake for 60min @ 150’C

Bentong Ginger Drink Paste

Bentong Ginger Drink Paste

文冬姜紅枣茶

This is a ready to mix and drink Tea Paste.  The herbal ingredients can be obtained from the local Chinese Medical Shop. Genuine Bentong Ginger may not be easily available though it is known for its potency. 

If you are interested, here is the recipe:

125g bentong ginger, cleaned & cut

20 pieces red dates, clean & seeds removed

50g dried longan

50g wolfberry, washed

1 cup water

200g organic brown sugar

1. Blend together Ginger, red dates, longan & water
2. Pour into a pot and cook over low to medium heat 
3. Stir often and cook until quite dry
4. Add sugar and continue cooking until it thickens
5. Add wolfberry & allow to cook awhile
6. Let cool before storing 

To drink:

Just add 1 or 2 heaped tea spoon into hot water, stir and drink.

VANILA CUPCAKE

Basic Vanilla Cupcakes

adapted from kitchen cookbook.net

I don’t usually bake cupcakes because I find it to be time consuming. However, this recipe is so simple following the steps of making muffins. As such, I expected the texture to be like muffins too. Well, with the melted butter, it makes the cupcakes more flavourful though the texture remains as expected. 

As recommended, I used a spring released ice-cream scoop to fill my cupcakes so that I could get all evenly sized cupcakes.

Ingredients;

Dry ingredients, sifted together

• 250g all purpose flour
• 130g granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Wet ingredients, beat together

• 2 egg, room temperature
• 110g fresh milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 113g butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 C. Line a muffin tin with muffin liners or spray with nonstick spray.
2. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Alternatively, the ingredients can be whisked together well.
3. Any spices you might be adding would be added into the dry ingredients.
4. In a separate bowl, stir together the egg, milk, vanilla, and oil until well combined. If using any extracts they would be added into the wet ingredients.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a spoon or rubber spatula until just combined.
6. Do not over-mix or the muffins will become tough. If using, fold in any add-ins.
7. Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups.
8. Bake at 400 F (205 C) for about 13-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs.n

PITA

B

Recipe adapted from RED STAR active dry yeast 

1/2 tsp instant yeast 

120g water 

1/4 tsp sugar

25g oil

1/4 tsp salt

180g bread flour

1. All ingredients into the bread machine, dough cycle 15min, let proof 60min 
2. divide dough into 4 balls. 
3. Roll out each ball into a circle & place on a parchment lined baking tray.
4. Cover and let rise 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 225’C 
6. Bake for 15min @ middle rack. 
7. The pita is ready when Puffed up and the edges slightly browned. Pitas will collapse and soften upon cooling.

ALMOND CHIA SEED CRUNCH

Almond Chia Seed Crunch

110g unsalted butter, at room temperature

80g brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

125g cake flour

1 .25 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp chia seed + 50g water, leave aside for 15min

60g almond, toasted & ground

1. Sift together flour & baking powder 
2. Add ground almond, salt & leave aside
3. cream butter & sugar until light
4. Add vanilla essence & chia seed+water,
5. Fold in dry ingredients 
6. Scoop onto parchment lined baking sheet
7. Bake in 170’C for 30min

Note:

1. Makes 16 cookies
2. To crisp, toast before eating 
   

JEMPUT PISANG