Calmness

Roath Lake, Jan 2014

Calmness
Roath Lake, 6 April 2014

芋头雪糕

以下是Liew Siew Choo妈妈的食谱，括号里面是我自己调整过的分量：

材料A：

芋头 100g （我用了200g）

Dutch Lady 牛奶 250ml (其他牌子的牛奶也可以）  

材料B：

蛋黄 3粒

幼糖 40g （这是微甜的分量，可根据自己喜好增加）

芋头香精 1小茶匙 （我没有芋头香精，以香草香精取代）

紫色色素 少许 （我没放）

材料C：

植物性奶油 350g （我用同等分量的double cream鲜奶油）

做法：

1）先将芋头蒸熟，倒入牛奶用搅拌机打至滑。

2）蛋黄和糖搅拌至滑，倒入（1）搅拌均匀。

3）开小火煮至起小气泡，煮时要不停的搅拌，过滤待冷。（我省略了过滤的步骤）

4）把植物性奶油打发，加入香精和紫色色素（我没放香精和色素）。

5）将打发过的植物性奶油加入芋头混合料搅匀。

        6）倒入容器里，放入冰格冷藏隔夜或至凝固即可。（我每隔一个小时那出来搅拌均匀再放回冰格，总共搅拌了三次，这样做是为了避免有冰沙）

Magnolia in Bute Park, Cardiff

昨天和德国来的Carol去卡迪夫市中心的Bute Park观赏盛开的木兰花。满园盛开的木兰花，可以与樱花媲美！ 

我们两个花痴不停地拍照!

Singapore Day London 2014

First time went to Singapore Day in Victoria Park at East London. Indeed, it was very well organized, can see that a lot of thoughts and efforts have been put in to make it an enjoyable day for everyone there! Although the queue for all the food stores were very long, but everyone was patient, you will get what you want eventually. What I like most is the goodie bag, many useful staffs in it, especially the calender floor mat, it is so creative! The best part is that everything is free, no entrance fee, no charges for food, entertainment, exhibition and activities. 

We were lucky to find a parking place just next to the park and it was parking free on Saturday! The weather were superb, the food was yummy, best ever goodie bags,  what else could we ask for? I must say we really have a wonderful outing at Singapore Day! 

Singlish! And I hate the 
parking coupon!

PM Lee was there too!

Chilli Crabs!

Surprise to meet Mei Ming while queuing for chilli crabs.

Meet De Cheng while queuing for Satay.

Love this calender floor mat! So Creative!

We were lucky to have the last few pieces of loti prata!

Me and Bheng

Nice to meet Hanisah.

Surprise to meet Xiong Hee. 

Matcha Azuki Bean Ice Cream 抹茶红豆雪糕

请到以下网站观看录像，每个步骤都交代得很清楚：　

I took the recipe from youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wzb2DwOLKcI 

In the video, you can see how this ice cream is made step by step. However, it did not add azuki beans, I add it myself because I like the combined taste of matcha & azuki bean.

Ingredients材料:

2 Tbsp Green Tea Powder  抹茶粉2汤匙

¾ cup of Fresh Milk牛奶3/4杯

2/3 cup of Sugar (I reduced it to 1/3 cup instead) 幼糖2/3杯（可减至1/3杯）

¾ cup of Heavy Whipping Cream (I used light double cream) 鲜奶油3/4杯

3 Egg yolks蛋黄三个

½ cup of Cooked Red Bean, lightly pressed 煮熟的红豆半杯（稍微压扁,要不然冰冻后的红豆会很硬）

做法：

１）将抹茶粉、一汤匙幼糖和两汤匙牛奶放入小碗，搅拌均匀。

２）将其余的牛奶放入一小锅中稍微煮热，然后将先前搅拌好的抹茶粉倒入锅中的热牛奶，搅拌均匀。

３）将蛋黄和其余的幼糖用打蛋器打发至两者完全融合在一起，然后将之倒入装热牛奶的锅中搅拌均匀，稍微起泡后就可以关火。用筛将锅子中的混合物过滤到另一个锅子，然后将锅子放在另一个装冷水的容器中，等锅中的混合物冷却后，将之放在冰箱里大约20分钟。

４）用打蛋器稍微打发鲜奶油。20分钟后，将锅子从冰箱取出，将打发过的鲜奶油倒入锅内，然后搅拌至完全均匀，将混合物放入有盖的盒子，放入冰冻格４小时，间中每隔一个小时把盒子从冰冻格取出来搅拌均匀。最后一次才加入压扁的红豆再放入冰冻格。

注：如果嫌麻烦，可以省略掉红豆。　

Methods:

(1) Add one table spoon of sugar with matcha tea powder together in a cup, add 2 tbsp milk and mix well with a spoon or small spatula.

(2) Put remaining milk in a saucepan, heat it up a little, then add the mixture from (1) and mix well.   

(3) Mix egg yolks with the remaining sugar using hand-held mixer.

(4) Add the mixture from (3) into the milk in saucepan and stir until all ingredients mix well thoroughly, then sieve it with a siever, after that cool it with cold water, put in the fridge for 20mins.

(5) After 20 mins, take out the mixture from fridge. Use a hand-held mixer to lightly beat whipping cream, then add it into the mixture taken out from fridge and mix them well with a spatula.

(6)  Place the mixture into a container, cover it with lid or aluminium foil. Place it in the freezer for 4 hours, take it out every hour and stir it thoroughly and return it to freezer. At the last round, stir in cooked & pressed azuki beans (red beans) and mix well.

(7) When it is done, scope out the ice cream, if you like, add a teaspoon of azuki bean paste on the plate then serve. It tastes really nice! 

Remarks: To save work, you can just make this matcha ice cream without adding the azuki bean. 

花园

 这棵不知名的树，长满花朵，是我们和邻居后花园的花篱。最喜欢它还未盛开的样子，花团下面像是镶着红宝石的坠子。

可怜的花儿被虫欺负成这个样子。据说把黄瓜放在铝箔纸上会散发出虫子不喜欢而人却闻不到的气味，姑且试一试吧。

Chilli Lemongrass Chicken 干炒香辣香茅鸡

香辣香茅鸡

谢谢Ah May Lee的食谱，以下是根据我自己的口味稍稍做了些调整：

材料:

鸡一小只，斩件待用

A: 小葱仔25粒

     蒜头15粒

     红辣椒10条

     小辣椒100g（我没放）

     兰姜10g

     黄姜10g （我买不到黄姜，只好用普通的姜）

B: 香茅3支拍扁

    枫甘叶5片（Lime leaves稍微撕碎）

    番茄1个(切丁)

调味:  ABC醬油３汤匙

          生抽3 汤匙

          盐半茶匙

          糖半茶匙

做法:

将A 材料搅烂；

热油锅，用小火把A 和B 材料炒出香味；

放入鸡肉翻炒均匀，再加调味搅均匀；

用小火焖至鸡熟（约25-30分钟）即可；
间中要不时翻炒一下，无须加水。

注1：大家可根据自己的口味加减盐和辣椒的分量。
注2：鸡肉别切得太大块，比较容易入味。
注3：上午煮这道菜，到了傍晚（或隔夜），风味更佳。

Mee Rebus

人在国外，想吃Mee Rebus，这里的Cafe Malaysia也没卖，

只好自己动手做咯！

Mee Rebus

Recipe from: 

http://www.asianfoodchannel.com/recipe/2618-mee-rebus

The quantity of the original recipe is very large, so I reduced it to 1/4 of the original quantity. However, after reducing, the quantity is still quite big in my opinion, I think it could serve up to 6 - 7 pax. 

  

Ingredients

30ml cooking oil

1.5 small packets Meat Curry Powder ( I used about 5 table spoons)

250gm pork, cubed, include bones and fatty meat (I use chicken instead)

1 Tbsp fermented Soy Bean Paste

1 ripe Tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 ripe Tomatoes, cubed

1 cm Galangal (Lengkuas or Blue Ginger), lightly bruised

400gm Sweet Potatoes, boiled until soft and mashed until smooth (I suggest to use blender)

400gm Potatoes, boiled until soft and mashed until smooth (I suggest to use blender)

1/2 cups  Roasted Pounded Peanut

2 sticks of celery – finely chopped

Water (as much as is required to make the gravy) – I suggest abt 1.2 to 1.5 litre

Paste Ingredients  ( to be finely pounded)

4 Shallots (Small Red Onion), finely pounded

2 Garlic cloves, finely pounded

0.5 cm fresh Ginger

Garnishing Ingredients

700gm  Yellow Egg Noodles

100 g Bean Sprout (Tau ge), blanched

1 blocks Bean Curd (Tofu, Tau hu), fried and cut into small cubes

1 hard-boiled Eggs - halved

2 Coriander (Cilantro, Chinese Parsley or Ketumbar), finely chopped

1.5 Spring Onion (Scallions), finely chopped

1/4 cup  crisp-fried Shallots

2 Calamansi Lime

1.5 Chilies, sliced thinly

Methods

Heat Vegetable Oil in a pot and stir fry the Paste, till light brown.

Add in Meat Curry Powder Paste, mix well, and then add in the Beef.

Render all ingredients in pot well.

Add in fermented Soy Bean Paste, and sauté the Beef until the oil begins to surface.

Add in water, Cubed Tomatoes, Galangal, Mashed Potatoes, and Mashed Sweet Potatoes.

Stir until the Mashed Potatoes and Mashed Sweet Potatoes dissolve into soup.

Add in Celery, Toasted Pounded Peanuts, and Tomato. Stir evenly and let simmer for approximately 20 minutes until the gravy thickens and meat becomes tender.

Note:

If gravy is not thickening, add in some cornstarch to thicken it. Mix a tablespoon or two of cornstarch and mix them thoroughly with some water, and pour into the gravy. Serve gravy with the Garnishing Ingredients.

March 2014 Disc Meeting

March Discussion Meeting

Theme: Believe in Your Infinite Potential 

Moderator: Nia 

So happy that we have a new Italian MD, who used to work in S'pore for 3 years, joining our district. We could speak Singlish to each other! He said that he used to go to Telok Blangah Soka Centre to chant, and I shared with him about opening of SPC. There is no coincident that we are all living in Cardiff now and practising in the same district! Cheers! 

Cheese Strawberry Ice Cream 芝士草莓雪糕

平时极少吃冷食品的我也忍不住试一试这个食谱，简单又好吃！谢谢Karen Ling的食谱：
http://www.dodocook.com/recipe/48987

以下是我自己调整过的食谱：

材料A

低脂奶油奶酪(light soft cheese) 250g

低脂希腊优格(low fat greek yogurt) 200g，也可用一般的原味优格

白糖 30g（这是微甜的分量，可随自己的喜好增加）

香草精华(vanilla extract)1茶匙

材料B

新鲜草莓100g，切丁

低脂鲜忌廉(light double cream) 100ml

材料C

甜饼干(Digestive biscuit) 2片，掰成碎塊

1) 将soft cheese于室温软化待用。

2) 将材料A (soft cheese、yogurt、白糖、vanilla) 用电动打蛋器搅拌蓬鬆均匀。

3)  加入材料B（草莓丁和鲜忌廉）搅拌均匀后，冰凍4小时，但每隔1小时要拿出来徹底搅拌一下，再放回冰冻格。这样做是为了使雪糕滑嫩，没有冰渣。

4)  4小时后，加入甜饼干搅拌均匀，继续冷凍1小时即可。

注1：要serve的时候，如果冰冻的雪糕太硬，可以拿出来等雪糕稍微软一点儿再serve。　

注２：这个食谱用的糖很少，草莓多，所以味道偏酸。大家可以随自己的喜好增加糖或减少草莓。

土耳其餐馆 Oz Urfa

今天随便去了这家样子看起来不怎么样的土耳其餐馆Oz Urfa，可是食物的味道和服务却是意外的好。喜欢它开放式的厨房，坐在餐桌上就可以看到厨师和其助手在准备食物的情况。厨师很友善，也很专业。

喜欢它开放式的厨房，坐在餐桌上就可以看到厨师和其助手在准备食物的情况。厨师很友善，也很专业。一名顾客告诉我们，厨师喜欢用传统的方式烹煮食物，例如烧烤时，他还是喜欢用扇子扇风（像我们烤沙爹），他说用电风扇，食物的味道不一样。

我们叫了两个前菜，两个汤，一个主菜。结果厨师端来了一盘腌橄榄，超大盘的沙拉，一篮土耳其面包，一大瓶矿泉水，都是我们没叫的（因为份量很大，我们心里想不晓得这些算不算钱的）。后来才端来前菜和汤，份量也好大。主菜来的时候，我们真的吓到，因为真的是超级大盘。厨师看我们两人吃一盘主菜，还主动给了我们两份米饭（在中餐馆可是要另外付2.5英镑)。我们两人努力地吃，也只吃了一半的份量，剩下的打包，后来再叫了一杯茶。

付钱的时候共22英镑，价钱非常合理。原来面包、矿泉水、沙拉、腌橄榄都不收钱的，他们还请我们喝茶，所以茶也没收钱。要走的时候一位抱着小孩的印度妇女走来问我们觉得食物如何，还问我们是哪里的人，原来她是老板娘，也是马来西亚人，我们交流了一会儿，她还主动给我她的私人手机号码呢！

Macha Pancake 自制红豆馅抹茶煎饼

抹茶和红豆真是绝配！

抹茶红豆煎饼

材料（可做大约28小煎饼）：

自发面粉self raising flour 180g、鸡蛋4个、幼糖40g、蜜糖2大匙、牛奶6大匙、抹茶粉1-1/2 汤匙

做法：

1） 将鸡蛋打入一个大容器，将之搅拌均匀（无需打发），加入蜜糖与糖搅拌至糖完全溶解。

2）另外拿个大容器，放入自发面粉，再加入抹茶粉，搅拌均匀成抹茶自发粉。

3）将抹茶自发面粉慢慢筛入（1），轻轻搅拌至完全无颗粒。

4）加入牛奶，轻轻拌均匀。

5）用保鲜膜包着放入冰箱冷藏半小时。

6）取一平底不沾锅（无需放油），开小火，勺入一汤匙的粉浆，煎至表面起很多小气泡（要有耐性），翻面略煎一会儿即可拿起。

7）把红豆馅涂在煎饼内即可享用。

注1：糖分可随个人喜好增减，个人喜欢尝到绿茶的微苦，所以减少糖的分量。
注2：如果嫌麻烦，可以买现成的红豆馅。

红豆馅的做法：

材料；红豆200克、糖（约60克) 、清水、30ml食油
做法：

1）将红豆用清水浸隔夜，然后倒掉清水。

2）将红豆放入锅内，加约800ml清水，煮至红豆全软。如果水煮快干了，红豆还没熟透，可再加些水继续煮至红豆软。

3）将煮软的红豆放入搅拌机，加入糖，将红豆搅拌成泥状。

4）将食油倒入不沾锅，油热后加入红豆泥，用中小火炒至水分蒸发即可。

注：糖的分量可随个人喜好增减。喜欢吃甜的人，也可以在将红豆馅放入煎饼的同时加些蜜糖增加甜度。

红豆馅参考食谱：http://chuancai.abang.com/od/xiaochi/ig/hongdousha/

Nutella Energy Bites

Yield about 24 energy bites

Ingredients: 
1-1/2 cups old-fashioned oats

·      
      2/3 cup Nutella

·      
     1/2 cup shredded coconut

·     
      1/2 cup honey

·      
      1/2 cup roasted hazelnuts

·      
      2 Tbsp. ground flax seeds

·      
     1 Tbsp. chia seeds

·     
     2 tsp. vanilla extract

·          
     1/2 tsp. salt

Method 1:

- Combine all ingredients together in a food processor and pulse until combined. Cover mixture and transfer to the refrigerator, and let cool for about 30-60 minutes. (This will slightly harden the mixture and make it easier to form into balls.)

- When mixture is cool, remove and roll into balls of your desired size. (Mine were about 1-inch in diameter.) Enjoy immediately, or refrigerate in a covered container.

Method 2:

Combine all ingredients together in a food processor and pulse until combined. Put the mixture into the silicon ice cube and press it so it will form the shape of the ice cube. Put the ice cube into refrigerator for an hour. After that, remove the mixture from the ice cube and coat it with macha powder or coco powder, serve immediately, or refrigerate in a covered container.

Ref: http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/nutella-energy-bites/

萝卜糕

炒萝卜糕 Pan fried radish cake

虽然口感稍微软了一些，但味道还不错。

材料：

白萝卜300克，切片

米饭 150克

粘米粉150克

干香菇6朵

虾米一把

葱油酥 （炸葱油）

清水

做法：

1) 将白萝卜、白饭和600ml水加入搅拌机打至米浆。

2) 干香菇和虾米泡軟後切小丁，然后放入热油锅里爆香。

3) 将先前打好的米浆倒入爆香的香菇和虾米锅中煮到沸騰。

4) 将粘米粉用300ml水拌勻，然后加入沸腾的锅中，再加盐，然后直接在锅中炒熟，再加入油葱酥搅拌均匀。

5) 不斷拌炒至濃稠後、取一小團放入冷水中不會化開就是熟了。

6) 倒入抹一層油的便當盒中、待冷卻放冰箱冰隔夜。

取出切塊，热油锅，用油煎至兩面金黃。

7)如果要，也可以将蛋汁淋在煎至金黄的萝卜糕上（切小块些），煎至闻到蛋的香味，再继续翻炒至蛋全熟，撒上青葱就可盛盘了。

注：阿基師教的這個版本萝卜糕做起來相当軟, 如果喜歡有點硬度的, 個人建議可再加些蘿蔔和粘米粉，增加硬度。