Cranberry Orange Scones

Made cranberry orange scones past Saturday using a recipe a friend sent me...
They're really good!
They were the best on the first day!   Crunchy on the outside... Moist and soft on the inside...  Yummy!

Cranberry Orange Scones (recipe from NPR) Makes 8 very large scones 2 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1/3 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup fresh or dried cranberries Grated zest of 1 orange 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 8 to 10 pieces 1/2 cup cold nonfat buttermilk 1/2 cup cold creme fraiche 1 cold large egg 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten 2 tablespoons granulated sugar Position a rack in the center of the oven, and heat the oven to 350 degrees . Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a hand-held mixer), mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, granulated sugar and cranberries on low speed for 10 to 15 seconds, or until combined. Scatter the butter over the top and beat on low speed for about 30 seconds, or until the butter is somewhat broken down and grape-size pieces are still visible. In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, creme fraiche and whole egg until thoroughly mixed. On low speed, pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour-butter mixture and beat for 20 to 30 seconds, or just until the dough comes together. There will still be a little loose flour mixture at the bottom of the bowl. Remove the bowl from the mixer stand. Gather and lift the dough with your hands and turn it over in the bowl, so that it starts to pick up the loose flour at the bottom. Turn over the dough several times until all of the loose flour is mixed in. Dump the dough onto a baking sheet and pat it into an 8-inch circle about 1 inch thick. Brush the egg yolk evenly over the entire top of the dough circle. Sprinkle the sanding sugar evenly over the top, then cut the circle into 8 wedges, as if cutting a pizza. (At this point, the unbaked scones can be tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 1 week. Proceed as directed, baking directly from the freezer and adding 5 to 10 minutes to the baking time.) Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until the entire circle is golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes, then cut into the prescored wedges (the cuts will be visible but will have baked together) and serve. The scones taste best on the day they are baked, but they can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. If you keep them for longer than 1 day, refresh them in a 300-degree oven for 4 to 5 minutes. Or, you can freeze them, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, for up to 1 week. Reheat, directly from the freezer, in a 300-degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes.

I also have a lot of fun with the photos I took from iPhone... ;)

And more fun....

Word Clouds

What is Word Cloud?
It's basically a visual representation of words and their frequencies.  The more a particular word appears within a context, the bigger the word is.

I wanted to see what kind of words appear in my blog most often.
So, I looked around for a free online word cloud generator and found 2 that I think are the best:

1. Wordle
2. Word It Out

(I didn't spend a lot of time on my search so there could be other better ones.)

When I enter my blog address to generate word cloud, both site give me different results. 
According to Wordle, the most frequent words are teaspoon, onion, recipe, etc.
According to Word It Out, the most frequent words are went, like, lake, teaspoon, etc.
I wonder how each site look for words.
Anyway, I think Word It Out is closer to what I think is the word frequencies in my blog.
However, Wordle has a nicer graphical representation of words.


My site from Wordle:

My site from Word It Out:

Ada's Mini Slaw

I really like the Singapore Slaw dish at Susur Lee's Lee restaurant.
After searching on the web, I've found his recipe.
However, it contains too many ingredients that are not easily available in average grocery stores.  It also needs a lot of work.
So, I've came up with my own little Mini Slaw using ingredients that can be easily found.
If I want the full version, I can eat that at Lee.  ;)


Ada's Mini Slaw

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
Pickled Red Onions (see recipe below)
Salted Apricot Dressing (see recipe below)
1 large English cucumber, julienned
1 large carrot, peeled and julienned
2 large Roma tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and thinly sliced
4 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
1 bag of Terra Veggie Stix

To serve:

1. Mix cucumber, carrot and tomatoes in a big bowl
2. Divide the veggie mixture between plates
3. Use a small colander to drain the pickled red onions and put them on top of the veggie mixture
4. Add 1 cup of Terra Stix per plate around the veggie mixture. 
5. Serve with Salted Apricot Dressing alongside

Depending on each person's taste, they can add different amount of dressing.
For me, I like to add approx. 4 teaspoon of dressing per 750 ml of salad.


Pickled Red Onion

Ingredients:
2 small red onions
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black peppers
1/4 teaspoon thyme

Directions:

1. Peel and julienne red onion and set aside in a medium bowl. 
2. In small saucepan, bring vinegar, water, salt, black peppers, and thyme to a boil. 
3. Add onion into the small saucepan and stirr occassionally until it boils. (You'll see bubbles from the sauce and smoke coming out.)
   
4. Turn off the heat, cover the saucepan, and let it sit for 30 mins.

Note: I like my onions cooked.  If you like your onion more raw, then turn off the heat after adding onions and let it sit for 1 hour.


Salted Apricot Dressing

 Ingredients:
1/4 cup ume (plum) paste 
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon mirin 
1 teaspoon dashi
2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon freshly grinded ginger
A pinch of sea salt (approx. 1/8 teaspoon)

(Ume paste can easily be found in any Japanese store.  Mirin and dashi can easily be found in any Chinese or Japanese store.)

Directions:

1. Mix ume paste, vinegar, mirin, dashi, olive oil, sugar, ginger, and salt in a bowl until it is well mixed.

Note:  If you like your dressing to be less sour, you can add less rice wine vinegar.


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Here is Susur Lee's Singapore Slaw recipe from New Asian Cuisine:

Singapore Slaw

By Susur Lee, Author of Susur: A Culinary Life

Serves 4

1 Pickled Red Onion (see recipe below)
1 1/2 cups Salted Apricot Dressing (see recipe below)
2 green onions, both white and green parts, julienned
2 ounces rice vermicelli, broken into 3 pieces
1 large English cucumber, julienned
1 large carrot, peeled and julienned
1 small jicama, peeled and julienned
2 large Roma tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and thinly sliced
4 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
6 teaspoons crushed roasted peanuts
4 teaspoons edible flower petals
4 teaspoons fennel seedlings
4 teaspoons purple basil seedlings
4 teaspoons daikon sprouts
4 teaspoons fried shallots

Pickled Red Onion
1 red onion
1 cup rice wine vinegar
1cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 bay leaf
1 sprig thyme

Salted Apricot Dressing
1 cup salted apricot (ume) paste
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon mirin
1 teaspoon dashi
1 1/2 tablespoon onion oil
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

For Pickled Red Onion:
Peel and julienne red onion and set aside in a medium bowl. In small saucepan, bring vinegar and water to a boil. Season with salt, peppercorns, fennel seeds, bay leaf and thyme; continue boiling for another 5 minutes. Pour mixture over onion while hot and let sit for 1 hour.

For Salted Apricot Dressing:
In blender, combine apricot paste, vinegar, mirin, Dashi, Onion Oil, sugar, ginger, and salt. Puree until smooth.

For Singapore Slaw Salad:
Soak green onion in very cold water to keep crisp. Meanwhile, heat large pot of oil. When temperature reaches 400°F, deep fry taro root, half the amount at a time, for 2 minutes until crisp and light gold in color. Remove slices from oil, place on paper towel, and lightly salt. At same temperature, quickly deep fry vermicelli, half at a time, for 2 seconds, or until they curl. Remove vermicelli from oil, place on paper towel, and lightly salt.

To serve:
Remove julienned green onion from bowl and drain. Divide vermicelli equally between 4 plates and arrange green onion, cucumber, carrot, jicama, tomatoes, and pickled red onion around noodles. Top with fried taro root. Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds and crushed peanuts over each salad. In small bowl, combine edible flower petals, seedlings, sprouts, and fried shallots. Sprinkle flower-sprout-shallot mixture on salad and serve with Salted Apricot Dressing alongside.

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Old HK Commercials

It's interesting to look at old HK commercials.  Actors looked different now and then...

Andy Lau - THEN
劉德華 - 1983年 - 永安旅行社



Andy Lau - NOW
劉德華 2011 - 道地玄米茶廣告




Bosco Wong - THEN 
張柏芝,黃宗澤 - Hi-C陽光檸檬茶 1998



Bosco Wong - NOW 
黃宗澤 - UNIQLO 廣告 2011





Tony Leung - THEN 
梁朝偉 - 妙蓮2號眼藥水 1987



Tony Leung - NOW
梁朝偉 - 香港影視娛樂博覽 (第七屆,2011) 廣告

蒸水蛋 Steamed Eggs

Read an article today from Yahoo News about steamed eggs.... a very traditional Chinese dish... 

It's another example of No Pain No Gain!!  ^o^


The amount of time spent on whisking the eggs is very important. 
If you want to have smooth steamed eggs, you need to whisk the eggs for 20 mins.   (No pain no gain!!!  I guess my hand will be sore after the whisking. :P   )
Also, you need to slowly add water while whisking.  On average, for each egg, you need to add water that's 3 times the amount of an egg.
After whisking is done, let it sit for 5 mins and then use a spoon to scoop away the surface bubbles.
The plate holding the egg mixture should be less than 1 inch in dept and let it steam for 8-10 mins.

I wonder how long I need to whisk the eggs if I use a electrical mixer... ;-)



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蒸水蛋

星島日報 – 2012年3月5日

 (綜合報道)(星島日報報道)在中菜入面，有很多簡單的菜式，但這些被人認為是家常小菜的菜式，其實都是易做難精，其中有一個菜式我們經常都會食到，就是蒸水蛋，但好多人都覺得在家中吃到的蒸水蛋不夠滑、不夠香，而在食肆食到的，總是又滑又香的，當中是否有甚麼秘訣是大家不知道的？

 　　說明白一點，蒸水蛋其實沒有甚麼秘訣，有的只是技巧。在很多飲食節目中，節目主持人都教大家如何做一個好的蒸水蛋，大部分都是教大家用保鮮紙將水蛋封好再蒸，這個方法只可以令到蒸出來的水蛋沒有倒汗水，對水蛋的香與滑根本沒有影響。

 　　要做一個最香最滑的水蛋，技巧在於耐性。我記得在我初入行的時候，曾經向酒家負責蒸菜的師傳請教，如何做好一個蒸水蛋，他第一句說話就問我，一般打發蛋的時間要多少？我說三至五分鐘，他便告訴我，這就是做不出好的蒸水蛋問題所在。要做一個又香又滑的蒸水蛋，一般打發蛋的時間是二十分鐘，而在打發的時候，要慢慢加水，要加多少水，就要視乎你想做的水蛋要淡味一點，還是濃味一點，一般我們行內的標準是一隻蛋加三隻蛋分量的水。打發好了的水蛋在拿去蒸之前，要先放平，靜止五分鐘，在入爐前，把浮在蛋漿面層的小氣泡挑走。至於蒸的時間要多久，就要視乎你用來蒸水蛋的容器深度，最好是不超過一吋深，因為太深的容器會導致水蛋面層過熟而入面未熟的問題，而太淺的容器就是太難控制火候，一般用一吋深的容器，大概蒸八至十分鐘即可。 　　（男煮角 黃永幟）

====================

Banana and Kiwi Muffins

Made a batch of banana & kiwi muffins today...  :)

The muffin tasted really good. 
It was moist and not too sweet.  The slightly sour taste of the kiwi added a twist to the banana muffin.

My only complain is the look.  The muffins looked very good in the oven... nice and puffy...  But they shrinked after getting out of the oven, so the muffin tops had wrinkles. 

=======================
Banana and Kiwi Muffins
(original recipe from Food.com)

Ingredients:

    1/2 cup sugar
    2 cups flour
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1 tablespoon baking powder
    1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    3/4 cup vanilla yogurt
    6 tablespoons milk
    3 tablespoons oil
    1 egg
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    2 large ripe bananas , mashed
    3 ripe kiwi , chopped into small cubes

Directions:

1. Combine the first 6 ingredients (DRY) in a large mixing bowl; set aside.
2. Mix yogurt, milk, oil, egg, vanilla and mashed bananas together in a smaller bowl until well-combined (WET).
3. Add WET mixture to the DRY mixture, mix until just combined (DO NOT OVERMIX) - lumps are ok.
4. Now stir in chopped kiwi gently.
5. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375°F or 180°C for 25-30mins (mini muffins take about 20mins).
6. Cool in pan for 10mins, then remove and cool thoroughly on wire rack.

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唂咕

During Christmas holidays, my Dad told me that he missed a drink called "唂咕" (音: 谷古) in HK.  He used to drink it when he was small, but he couldn't find it anymore. 
Out of curiosity, I did some googling....

唂咕 is cocoa... hahaha...  I guessed correctly.  ;) 

Hong Kong Style Tea Cafe (港式茶餐廳) used to sell this drink many years ago.   Some tea cafes called it "荷蘭唂咕".  I guess it's because those tea cafes used Dutch-processed cocoa powder.  However, 唂咕 was not as popular as hot chocolate due to its bitter taste.  So, most tea cafe in HK don't sell this drink anymore.  Only some very old tea cafes still sell 唂咕.  In Canada, I haven't seen any tea cafe selling this drink.


How to make 唂咕?

• Add cocoa powder into hot water and then add sugar.
• Some people add condensed milk as well.

What's the difference between 唂咕 and hot chocolate?
唂咕 has a higher cocoa content.
唂咕 uses cocoa powder, which has 70% cocoa.
Hot chocolate also contains cocoa powder, but it only has 20% cocoa.


Nowadays, people use cocoa powder mainly for baking.

Natrel Dark Chocolate 1% Milk

I like dark chocolates, so when I saw this dark chocolate milk at grocery store, I had to buy and try. ;)

I normally don't like chocolate milk, because they are usually too sweet.  This dark chocolate milk, on the other hand, is not as sweet as regular chocolate milk and I like the slightly bitter dark chocolate taste.  :D

However, after checking on the label, this dark chocolate milk actually has more sugar than regular chocolate milk.  I guess it needed more sugar due to the bitter dark chocolate taste.  This milk also has more calories per cup than regular chocolate milk.  I guess I would only drink this once in a long, long while.

Second thought... This milk would be good for chocolate muffins/cookies or other chocolate desserts. ;)