The Unforgettable First Love Chocolate Cookies

Sweet chocolate cookies for your loved ones...
Got this recipe from CY. Had a great time with bloggers piggy, queenyee, cy, and dear friends miss tan, and ec.

Ingredients:
- cooking chocolate (x1 bar)
- Marie biscuit (x1 small packet)
- egg (x2)
- dried fruit - raisin
- chocolate powder
- vanilla oil

Method:

1) Break the chocolate bar into small chunks and put them into the Double Boiler to melt. The water should be warm and not boiling like below.

2) Stir the chocolate as it started to melt.

3) Keep stirring so it wont seize into lumps.
4) Prepare 2 egg yolks.

5) Beat the egg yolks to look like this.
6) Pour it into the hot chocolate.

7) Stir well.

8) Cook the mixture for a while to remove the egg smell.

9) Crunch the biscuit into the hot chocolate mixture just now.

Sorry the mixture suddenly transform to white chocolate.

10) Cover the biscuit with the chocolate mixture. Add some raisins.

11) Arrange them horizontally on an aluminium foil.

12) Fold and roll the foil like rolling sushi.

13) Fold the side of the cylinder as well.

14) Make it as compact as possible so there won't be any empty space inside.
15) Keep them in the refrigerator over the night to let the chocolate harden.

16) When it is ready, remove the aluminium foil.

17) Put cocoa powder all over it and cut them into pieces.

18) Tadaaa.... First Love Chocolate Cookies.....

Hope eating it will remind you of your first love, sweet as ever.. ^O^

You can substitute the chocolate with dark chocolate or white chocolate. Dried fruit can be strawberry, blueberry, or any types of fruit of your preference. Perhaps some kinda nuts in my next round of experiment.

Enjoy~

Red Bean Soup

Yesterday, my housemate was cooking red bean soup and I was her helper. Nothing to help though. Just look and take some snapshot so I can share the recipe with you girls. It is an easy and fast dessert to prepare.

Ingredients:
- red beans
- dried longan
- brown sugar
- pandan leaves


Method:

1) Boil a pot of water.

2) Put pandan leaves into the boiling water and boil till fragrant. Then remove the pandan leaves.
3) Add red beans and dried longan. Boil in low heat until the beans are softened or beginning to split apart.

4) Add brown sugar and stir until dissolved.

5) Serve the red bean soup hot or cold. :)

Got from this site, for the beauty-conscious, it is rumored to be great for getting rid of dark circles under the eyes! OMG is this true??? I am going to get a sack of red bean tomorrow.

Hotdog Salad

I have invented a new kinda food.. I was not sure whether this is a correct combination but I just dumped all the food that I bought at the store. I wandered around the store without a list and just picked whatever that took my fancy. As a result, they couldn't make a complete set of ingredients if I were to follow the proper recipe from the book.

Ingredients:
- sausage
- cucumber
- tomato
- egg
- Thousand Island dressing
- mayonnaise

Method:

1) Cut the sausages, cucumbers, tomatoes and eggs into bite-sized cubes.
2) Mix them all together.
3) Add thousand Island dressing and mayonnaise.
4) Stir well.
It looked ugly... hahaha... The white rats who ate this experimental dish are still alive. So this experiment is tested to be positive!

Today's Menu: Teriyaki Chicken

I always love teriyaki chicken and if I to go to a restaurant, and there is chicken teriyaki in the menu list, I will surely go for that one first! During my last visit to a Japanese restaurant, I tried on their teriyaki chicken.. but the taste is not up to my expectation... so im gonna try to make my own version.. V(^v^)V

This is only a rehearsal due to the reason that I haven’t really got myself the recipe.. just can't wait to try out the sauce after I have bought it... I will improve the method and provide more info next time.. so a quick one..here we go...

Ingredients:
- chicken breast or thigh
- Kikkoman Teriyaki Honey & Soy Marinade

Method:

1) Cut the chicken breast into slices.
2) Marinate the chicken with the sauce for 20 minutes. Marinate for 2-3 hours for richer flavour.
3) Heat a little bit of oil in the frying pan. Cook the chicken in low heat. Pour the sauce that is used to marinate into the pan.

4) Dish and serve.

Now Kikkoman has this ready-made sauce, it is all in one.. soy sauce, vinegar, honey, wine, spices and everything you need to brew teriyaki sauce in one bottle. Easy isn’t? Plus, it comes in a variety of flavours, mine is Honey & Soy...

For this experiment, I choose no other than my brother to become the white rat. He is indeed very proud to be my guest of honour. Okie here is his comments:

When I was washing the pan...
Jason: Eh, sis u cook already ar the tendari chicken?
Me: What tendari? Tandoori u mean?
Jason: Tendari la
Me: No tendari or tandoori la.. it is teriyaki! Ya I cook d, it is on the table
Jason: Oh no wonder la, smell so good

While eating…
Jason: I want the biggest one!
Me: Nah take it. Wait! Let me take a snapshot first!

After the first bite, his facial expression changed
Jason: Why bitter one?
Me: Got wine ma.. let me try.. no bitter la.. so ok ornot?
Jason: BOLEH TAHAN (Jason is really saying this malay word out)
Me: How is it? (asking Moon)
Moon: Delicious ar..
Me: I am afraid it is not fully cooked..

Papa walked by….
Papa: Not cooked also can eat one...

So the conclusion is NOT BAD! Thanks to the judges for being soo supportive… i love this comment "no cooked also can eat!" :D Although the comments might be a little biased, my chicken teriyaki fully cooked and edible, at least!! Due to the fact that this piece of chicken travelled all the way from Penang to SP (I marinate it in penang, cook it in SP) I think it deserves more point right? haha... Have fun!

*Moon is my little sis.*

My New Creation

Is this a pizza? Is this roti canai? ohno.. it is actually my new creation.. introducing..........

Pizza-like Cheesy Sausage Omelette

CNY Delicacies: Ngaku

It was Monday evening, after office hour that I suddenly had the mood to make ngaku. So on the way back home, I stopped by at Tesco and get some of the ingredients needed. I searched high and low and finally got it. ee..didnt know that the ngaku is wet and and slimy. I dont really have the idea in choosing good and fresh ngaku, so i kckc went near a girl who was also busy selecting there. I braved myself and asked her how to choose. Luckily, she was kind enough to teach me how to pick good ngaku and also gave me some secrets on how to make delicious crispy ones! Thanks alot :D So I decided to help her to spread her ajaran to you guys.. lets cook and enjoy this seasonal delicacies together.. :D

Ingredients:
- arrowhead (ngaku/chiku)


Method:

1) Clean the ngaku.


2) Remove the outer skin. Clean again and pat dry.

3) Peel the skin.

4) Slice them.

5) Now you have a bowl of have sliced ngaku.

6) Heat up the wok with plenty of oil. Throw one raw ngaku into the oil to test the temperature. (hahaha... TSD)

7) Deep-fry at low heat until it turns golden brown and crispy.

8) Dish and drain. Use a kitchen towel to absorb the excess oil. Add a pinch of salt to taste.

9) After the ngaku is cool, store in a air-tight container.

Tips:

1) So how to pick good ngaku? Normally people wll think that big is good, maybe they prefer big as it is easier to slice... but bigger means older. So choose the one that is not too big and not too small.. Moderate size is the best.

2) If you want to keep it for some time before cooking, choose a harder one. And also, dont remove the stick beneath. (fyi, it looks like garlic but the stick is at both top and bottom)

*Credit goes to the Girl at Tesco & Pui Fun*

Soup of The Day: Misoshiru

In my previous post, I have shared on how to make Japanese potato salad. How about learning another Japanese dish which is much more easier yet highly nourishing? Dont worry, it takes only minutes to prepare.. can be served as breakfast or part of the main meal. Let me introduce the soup of the day.... MISOSHIRU!

Before we start, let me tell you some nutrition fact about misoshiru. It is interesting to know that misoshiru contains anti-cancer characteristics. Long-term population studies in Japan revealed that people who eat misoshiru daily were statistically less likely to get several types of cancer and other chronic diseases. This is mainly because of the soybeans as the key ingredients in misoshiru. Soybeans are high in essential fatty acids, vitamin E, and saponins, cholesterol-like plant compounds. All of these compounds are involved in fighting, preventing and curing cancer.

So the ingredients that we are need to prepare today are miso (soybean paste), tofu (beancurd), and wakame seaweed. You can easily get all these ingredients from the groceries store.

Miso is actually a rich, earthy paste made from fermented soya beans. It can be categorized into white (shiromiso), red (akamiso) or black (kuromiso). So what is the difference? White miso has mild and sweet flavour while akamiso is saltier. The black one has even saltier and stronger in taste. If the label is not clear or in Japanese, trying spotting the color of the paste. White miso is pale gold in colour and red miso is more caramel brown. Black is even darker. Well, in this experiment, I used the red one simply because I like salty taste than sweet.

So what is wakame? It is actually curly-leafed seaweed, usually dehydrated and broken into small pieces. It swells quite fast when added into the water and has a soft texture. Hence if it's left soaked for too long, it can become slimy (liam liam). Tofu is soybean curd, pressed into blocks as fresh tofu or processed further. Tofu is often an ingredient in soups and stews.

Ingredients:
- miso (soybean paste)
- wakame seaweed
- tofu (beancurd)


Method:

1) Prepare a pot containing water. Boil it.

2) After the water is boiled, rinse the wakame quickly.

3) Put 2 tablespoon of miso paste into the pot containing boiling water. Stir well. Add in the wakame and tofu.

4) Tada!!!! Here is the misoshiru!

Mistake Made:

1) Rinse the wakame in the first step

By rinsing the wakame, you are extending the duration of exposure to water. It will only make the seaweed more slimer.

Lesson learnt: To prevent it, dont rinse it or if you have to, just immerse it in the water quickly after your pot of boiling water is ready..

2) Put in the wakame in the water first then only wait for it to boil

By the time the water boils, the wakame already swell till very big.. :(

Lesson learnt: Again, put the wakame into the water after the it is boiled.

3) Lack of ingredients

When the soup is served, we suddenly realized there is something lacked.. misoshiru without tofu is not like a real misoshiru..

Lesson learnt: Remember to get all the ingredients before start cooking. During shopping, dont sembang till forget to buy the necessary things!!! (im actually scolding myself :P)

But still, it tasted delicious... Dont believe? Ask my housemates :) For those who are too lazy to get the ingredients, wash the pot or even to boil the water, you can try out the instant miso soup. But warning! It might contain up to 3 times the amount of MSG of my recipe :D

*Again, credit goes to VM*