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. 

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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. ;)

Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol iPad Wallpaper

Yes... I've turned my iPad into MI4 iPad as well... :D
As mentioned in my previous post, I'll post the iPad 2 Wallpapers that I've created.

I used Dropbox to save the wallpapers in my iPad.
iTunes or other software can also be used to copy to iPad.
To get the wallpaper, just right click on the photo and select "Save Image As".
(Please don't repost them without linking back to this post!)


MI4 Wallpaper #1:

MI4 Wallpaper #2:

MI4 Wallpaper #3:

 
MI4 Wallpaper #4:

MI4 Wallpaper #5:

Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol

I've watched the MI4 movie yesterday.  I really like it.  Part of the reasons could be Tom Cruise.... hahahaha...
I would give the movie 5/5.  ;)

Inside the movie, Tom Cruise was driving the BMW i8 concept car in Mumbai.
The car is really cool.  In the real world version, I don't think it'll have the wind shield touch screen feature.
According to 3D-Car-Shows, this car will be in the Detroit Car Show next year. :)

MI4 used a lot of Apple technologies too.
Check out this article:
How Much Does Mission Impossible 4′s Director Love Apple? Let Us Count The Ways


I've created 2 MI4 wallpaper for my iPhone 4.  I am using 1 for my main screen and 1 for my lock screen.

MI4 Wallpaper #1:

MI4 Wallpaper #2:

I used Dropbox to save the wallpapers in my iPhone.
iTunes or other software can also be used to copy to iPhone.
To get the wallpaper, just right click on the photo and select "Save Image As".
(Please don't repost them without linking back to this post!)

I have also created some MI4 wallpapers for iPad as well.... will post them later.


The MI4 ringtone can be downloaded from Zedge.
http://www.zedge.net/ringtone/1359706/

I am planning to turn my iPhone into a complete MI4 iPhone.... hahaha  :D


Here is the official trailer:

楊枝甘露 (healthy version)

If you have been to any Chinese dessert place, you would definitely know 楊枝甘露.  It's a Mango, Pomelo & Sago sweet soup dessert.

Sago tastes good in dessert, but sago contains more than 90% carbohydrate.  It's not that healthy.
Also, Philippines mango is hard to get in winter times.  It's easier to get Mexico mango in grocery stores.
So, I've decided to make a healthier version of 楊枝甘露 that can be made in winter times.

The recipe originated from Miss Jubie's Blog and I've made some changes to it.


楊枝甘露 

Ingredients (serves 5-6)
2 Mangoes (Philippines or Mexico)
3/4 Honey Pomelo
120ml Coconut milk
120ml Evaporated milk
400ml Mango Puree
2 Rock sugars
4 cups water



Directions
1) Peel the honey pomelo and remove all membrane from the pulps.  Use hand to take apart the pulps into individual pulp.
2) Cut Mango into small cubes.
3) Boil water in a pot.  After water has been boiled, add rock sugars.  Turn down to medium heat and keep boiling until all rock sugars have been dissolved.  I've added 2 rock sugars:  one rock sugar the size of ping pong and another rock sugar 1/3 size of ping pong.  After rock sugars have been dissolved, you can taste it.  The sweet water should be a bit sweeter than what you would like the dessert to be.
4) Add coconut milk into the sweet water.  Bring it to a boil and turn off the heat. 
5) Wait until the sweet water is completely cooled down.
6) Add mango puree and evaporated milk into the sweet water.  Stir well.
7) Add mango cubes and pomelo pulps.  Stir well.
8) Put it in the fridge for a few hours.

Note: You can adjust the amount of Coconut milk, Evaporated milk, Mango Puree, and Rock sugars based on your taste.  For example, if you want more coconut taste, you can add more coconut milk.   If you want a thicker sweet soup, you can add more evaporated milk.  I like mine with more mango taste.  ;)


Overall
I would give this dessert 4.5/5. 
It would've tasted even better if Philippines mangoes were used.

生炒糯米飯 (Pan-Fried Sticky Rice)

Last night was my first attempt to make 生炒糯米飯.
I'd made sticky rice before, but I'd not tried "生炒".

生炒糯米飯 means you pan-fried glutinous rice from raw rice.  You don't cook the rice in rice cooker first. 生炒糯米飯 will take a lot of time and energy.

I'd looked at different recipes on the web, combined them, and came up with the following recipe with a little secret to speed up the process.


生炒糯米飯 (for 2-3 people)

材料：
糯米(glutinous rice or sticky rice)　      1碗
臘腸 (chinese sausage)　 2條
冬菇 (dried mushroom)　3隻
蝦米(dried shrimp)           8  (I used the big dried shrimp and not the little one)

蛋 (egg)                            2

調味料:
糖                                   1 tsp
老抽                               1 tbsp
蠔油                               1 tbsp

事前準備：

1) 浸糯米最少半天, 其間要換水。
2) 浸冬菇最少半天

3) 浸蝦米最少半天

做法:
1) 臘腸, 冬菇, 和蝦米切細粒
2) 浸冬姑的水和浸蝦米的水可以留用
3) 煲一大煲水，水滾後，把浸好的糯米倒入，不停攪拌。1分鐘後，撈起糯米，用清水沖洗，瀝乾水份備用。
4) 打蛋, 用易潔鑊煎蛋。煎好後切絲。
5) 炒臘腸, 冬菇, 和蝦米。 炒到聞到香味後, 即可撈起備用。
6) 之前炒臘腸已讓易潔鑊大部份的地方沾上油。 將糯米放入鑊炒。
7)  感覺到糯米水份已收乾時，加入浸冬菇/蝦米的水。 每次下1-2 湯匙，沿鑊邊下。要不停炒約5分鐘。
8) 放入臘腸, 冬菇, 蝦米, 和蛋絲。當所有配料拌勻後，加調味料。繼續炒。拌勻後即成。

My Review
The sticky rice was very good. :D
The rice made using this recipe was more sticky, more chewy, and less soft than the sticky rice made using rice cooker.
Comparing this to the restaurant/food court ones, this sticky rice was already better than a lot of them.
I find it still a bit soft compared to the one I ate at 味全茶餐廳.
Winter is coming.  I'll have plenty of time to experiment with this recipe to make the best 生炒糯米飯.  ;-)


Updated - Jan 1 2012
Since I put this recipe, I've tried making this sticky rice a few times and refined the recipe above:
   - step 3: change from 2 分鐘 to 1 分鐘 
   - step 7: change from 炒約9分鐘 to 炒約5分鐘