Breakfast in a jar: chia oat pudding with coral glass jelly

I love making beautiful ensemble for breakfasts. Something like this. We feel jolly looking at it and eating it. The lil' fella was so happy when he saw this. He finished them all. 

This is an easy one, almost like the overnight oat and chia pudding that we've been eating daily, but it has an additional layer, which is the coral g;ass jelly as the bottom layer. Coral glass is a type of seaweed. It is also commonly known as sea bird-nest or the poor man's birdnest, as it resembles birdnest in terms of their dense collagen and high nutrients content. 

According to an info by Matanjun et al, 2009, coral glass jelly contains 10times richer amount of collagen than birdnest, 37 times more calcium than cod liver. It is low in fat and calories but bursting with nutrients like magnesium, iron, sodium and calcium. 

You can see more about it in this previous post. 

To prepare the bottom layer

*2-3tbsp soaked and cleaned coral glass jelly (see previous post on instructions to clean them)

*1/2 cup of fresh milk 

*1tbsp dark muscovado sugar 

Or here's another recipe using apple juice 

*2-3tbsp soaked and cleaned coral glass jelly 

*1 cup of apple juice 

Boil everything in a pan and continue to stir until the coral glass jelly dissolves. Pour into glass jar to set in the fridge. 

In another container, prepare the chia seed and oat pudding with 

*2/3 cup of rolled oat 

*1 cup of fresh milk

*2tbsp chia seeds 

For more idea on the chia seed or overnight oat recipe, please refer here. 

Combine everything and stir until the chia seeds are distributed evenly. Let set in the refrigerator. 

The next morning, pour the chia and oat pudding onto the coral glass jelly. Top with chopped fruits or nuts. 

Chia seeds bun

Mulberry and Chia Seeds Bun

My quest of cooking with chia seeds everyday (ie. to incorporate chia seeds into everything I cook or bake) started last Friday. Then on Saturday I made a beautiful banana and chia seeds cupcake. On Sunday morning, I made chia seeds omelette for the lil' fella. Oh, on a side note, it's amazing how fast kiddos grow. At 22month old, the lil' fella is already having two-way communications with us. When we picked up his grandma and grand-aunty from their house, his grand-aunty just casually asked him, have you eaten? To all our surprise, he answered, egg-egg and 'choi-choi' (which is vege in Cantonese), which was exactly what he ate that morning. I was in awe! 

Guess I need to be very careful what I feed him. Hahahaa.. not that I would feed him much sort of unhealthy stuffs anyway. Actually, I'm getting nervous if he would complain to his grandma that I only feed him oat and salad. Oppssss..

Oh yes, this was his breakfast which he described to his grandma. 

Today I baked some very very soft and fluffy chia seeds buns. I didn't have anything fancy in this bun, only chia seeds. Hahaa.. Chia seed is the fancy stuff then. Well, that's because I wanted to bake these and bring some to our very dear family friend, now in Palliative Care Unit in the Hospital Duchess of Kent in Sandakan. I didn't know about Palliative Care.  Palliative Care is a specialized medicare care for patients with serious illnesses (yet without guaranteed cure). It focuses on providing patients with relief from pain and stress of the serious illness, whatever the diagnosis. I felt down everytime I think about it. 

Anyway, I wanted to bake these for her, because the last time I saw her, she was telling me about this method of baking bread that yields really soft bread (ie the scalded dough method) and she had been wanting to try it but she couldn't because of her condition. I told her yes, this method works and I have been baking with it all this while. Refer to this previous post if you want to know more about this method. The addition of chia seeds into this recipe, combined with the method of scalded dough, made these buns super soft and fluffy. I hope Aunty R will get to try it and she'll love it. 

Scalded dough 

• 100g bread flour 
• 70g boiling water 

To prepare the scalded dough, pour boiling water over flour and stir with folk until combined. Cover and chill in the refrigerator. Keep for 20min before use, can keep up to 12hours in refrigerator. 

Main dough 

• 50g rice bran oil / grapeseed oil
• 250g water 
• 1.5tsp chia seeds soaked in 2tbsp water 
•  3tbsp dark muscovado sugar 
• pinch of salt 
• 300g bread flour (Hi-protein flour) 
• 100g all purpose flour 
• 1tsp instant active dry yeast 

Instructions 

1. I kneaded this using my trusty breadmaker. 
2. Add all the ingredients in the order listed above in breadpan. Select mode for dough. Press start. 
3. When the ingredients have combined together (about 5min into kneading), add in the scalded dough by pieces. 
4. After 1hr30min, a beep alert will sound indicating that the dough is ready. 
5. Remove the dough from the breadmaker. 
6. On a floured surface, punch the dough and knead a few times to remove trapped air. Form into about 200-230g (oh, I made four big buns with this dough). Brush top of buns with water, sprinkle with choice of topping (in my case, it was pumpkin seeds). 
7. Preheat the oven to 50deg for 3min. Turn off the oven. 
8. Place the bun in the oven for second rise (about 30min) or until the buns double their original size. 
9. Preheat the oven to 175degC. Bake the buns for about 15-20min. 

Banana and chia seeds cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting

Who could resist a beautifully frosted cupcake? Definitely not the lil' fella. 

The texture is soft and fluffy, even on the next morning. 

My buddy Flora whatsapped me and asked if I would like to have some banana, she has abundant of them harvested at home. Immediately, I said yes. We haven't baked banana cupcakes for some time. And today, I felt like making something beautiful for the lil' fella and since I still have a little cream cheese and butter left over in the fridge, I decided to frost my delicious banana and chia seeds cupcakes. I frosted the cupcakes in front of the lil' fella. He was so amused. He shouted, 'Ice Cream!!' 'Ice Cream!!'.. Hahaa.. it does look a little like a mini ice cream. 

The cupcake is made from the best banana muffin recipe I tried out sometime back. You should try it if you're looking for a simple, yet delicious banana muffin. This time, I added 2 teaspoon of chia seeds into it and 2tbsp milk into the recipe, knowing that chia seeds does soak up some liquid. Now what is chia seeds? It's a small seed that comes with mighty nutrition, it has 3x more iron than spinach, 5x more calcium than milk, 7x more vitamin C than oranges and 8x more Omega 3 than salmon. I have shared about it in detailed in my previous post here. You should definitely take it if you hadn't. 

Recipe for cupcakes

• 3 medium banana, cut into small cubes 
• 1/3 cup brown sugar (or less than this if I have sweet banana) 
• 1 egg, beaten 
• 2teaspoon chia seeds soaked in 2tbsp milk for 10min 
• 1/3 cup rice bran oil 
• 2tsp baking powder 
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 1.5cup all purpose flour

Instructions 

1. Using an electric hand mixer, whisk together chopped banana, egg, milk and chia seeds and oil until frothy. Set aside. 
2. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. 
3. Combine wet and dry ingredients. 
4. Pour into muffin liner. 
5. Preheat an oven to 170degC. Bake for about 15-20min or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. 
6. Let muffin cool down prior to frosting. 

Recipe for cream cheese frosting 

• 100g cream cheese, roughly chopped 
• 100g butter, at room temperature, roughly chopped
• 3tbsp icing sugar 
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon 

In a bowl, using an electric hand mixer, whisk all the ingredients until soft and fluffy. Frost when the cupcakes has cooled down to room temperature.

NOTE:
I have baked few different variations of this recipe, among them include:

• Banana and cream cheese cupcakes (omitted the chia seeds, replaced with 2tbsp of chopped cream cheese) --> this version is super yummy!! 

This post is linked to the event Little Thumbs Up (August 2014 Event: Flour) - organised by Zoe (Bake for Happy Kids) and Mui Mui (My Little Favourite DIY) and hosted by Diana from Domestic Goddess Wannabe.

{Foodie Review } Kyoto Sushi Japanese Restaurant (Sandakan) - Best salmon sashimi in Sandakan

Today I'm in the mood for Japanese food. I've been doing some clean-eating this week, since it's TGIF, I've decided to treat myself to some nice Japanese gourmet. On a weekday we always go to Kyoto because (1) it's just few steps away from my shop, convenient (2) it produces fairly decent Japanese food, one of the very few ones I would be comfortable with, in Sandakan. FYI, I live in Sandakan, where we are restricted by choice in terms of international cuisines available. Japanese is one of the most easily found. 

We did not order a lot cos there were just the two of us. I went for my usuals ie the very freshly sliced thick and succulent salmon sashimi and a nabe dish. The thing I love about Kyoto is that its serving is pretty generous for the price we pay. Half of this plate of salmon sashimi already fills up half of my tummy. Usually when I frequent Japanese restaurant, I have this habit of checking with the waiter if the salmon used for sashimi is fresh. Over here at Kyoto, I almost don't need to check cos it is usually fresh. This round, we are lucky to get a very vibrant freshly sliced cut. I can taste the omega goodness in it. Feeling very nourished as I write about it now. Check out the photos on its color (hahaa.. that's all you can savor, cos you can't smell nor taste it from photos). I have not edited the color. That's exactly how vibrant it is. Or maybe .. I do have good camera. 

My second favorite from Kyoto is its Nabe. I usually go for seafood nabe or the niku (beef) nabe. This time, as you realize, I went for the beef nabe. It does not come with rice, so for rice-lovers, you may need to order a bowl of rice to go with it. Again, its portion is generous! My hubby and I share it while he also finished his Tori Katsu Curry Don. 

Salmon Sashimi RM26

Thick and succulent sashimi. Check out the vibrant color. I didn't edit this pic. 

Niku Nabe RM23 (right) Tori Katsu Curry Don RM15 (left)

So again, if you're in Sandakan and in a gastro-mood for Japanese, try Kyoto Sushi Japanese Restaurant. 

Here's their details: 

Kyoto Sushi Japanese Restaurant 

089 236 318 

Lot 132, Block 14, Prima Square, Mile 4, Sandakan 

Tips: for lunch especially on weekends, I usually go just before 12noon, before the lunch crowd to guarantee myself a table. If you have their Kyoto membership card, you will also entitle yourself to 10% off the total bill. 

This is me, fooling with my camera. I also took photo of my hubby. But he told me not to post it cos he hasn't shaved. Since he was the one who paid for our lunch, I guess I would just follow suit :p 

  

Breakfast: A vibrant start

Breakfast spread for the lil' fella and I. 

Brunch take-away packed for dear hubby. 

Every once or twice in a week, I 'treat' our body to breakfasts like these. See the way I use the word 'treat'? I'm not sure if my hubby will agree with the use of word 'treat', he may think it's a torture to eat breakfasts like these, but all I know, our body will definitely thank us for it. Raw vegetables are bursting with enzymes and antioxidants. The cooking / heating process destroys or deactivates these enzymes. By eating them raw, we are actually helping our body to digest them and absorb the good stuffs much easier and quicker. We're also helping our liver and kidney to lessen their workload-of-the-day for having less chemicals to be processed. The more processed the food is (more additives added into it) the more work our organs need to do. When there's less work to do, our body will channel the energy to other important tasks like detoxifying or rejuvenating (repairing). Now you get why I describe this as a 'treat' to the body? 

My hubby suffers from the occasional build up of uric acid near his joint (which he complains of the very subtle aches on his wrist). Even though he exercises on a regular regime, it is still not possible to flush out the uric acid build-up effectively. This shows, staying fit - is more than just exercise. It also involves diet of fresh fruits and vegetables (more vegetables than fruits, to be exact, no point stuffing ourselves with durian or mangosteen that does more harm than goodness), drinking little or no caffeine (which would not happen for my case - am a caffeine addict), having a low intake of alcohol (checked!) and a lifestyle with minimal stress (hopefully, checked too!). 

Now .. you wonder why this post. This isn't what I usually blog about. This week has been quite gloomy. We've been bombarded with news of close friend and distant friends diagnosed with cancer, dying of cancer and passed away. Obviously there are more than two cases here that I'm referring to. More and more people are diagnosed of cancer. It must have got something to do with the toxins build-up in our body. So do your body a favor. Treat them an occasional retreat by having a rejuvenating breakfast. 

P/S: the lil fella is turning 22month old in a few days time. Guess what? He actually loves eating the raw salad leaves. He loves munching on the tomato and of course, the croutons were his favorite. Instead of finishing his portion of overnight rolled oat with yogurt topped with his favorite cereals, he helped me cleaned up my plate of raw salad. 

Easy vege stew rice

My mommies network of friends would rejoice when they see me preparing rice dishes for my little boy. Out of convenience and my own 'lazziness' I always prepare pasta for my little boy, so I seldom share on recipes for rice dishes. Recently the mommies in Healthy Food for My Baby facebook group has been talking about how they fried rice or prepare rice stew using some prepared vege puree. So I decided to try it with my rice stew this morning. Interestingly, it did turn out nice. It made the rice stew extra creamy and very fragrant. There were leftover after I packed them in the thermal container for my boy's lunch, so I also packed the balance for my lunch. 

I love cooking my rice dishes for my boy this way. It makes it soft and a little mushy. My mom dislike it, probably my hubby wouldn't like it cos they like their rice dry with good bite. I hope my son likes it this way. I am not sure yet, cos so far he hasn't shown much preference for neither dry cooked rice or rice simmered in stew or stock. 

Recipe 

• 4tbsp super rice grain (which I prepared by mixing together brown rice, millet, quinoa, red lentils and amaranth), soaked for overnight in the fridge. Soaking makes it easier to cook and to be absorbed. 
• 1-2tbsp rice bran oil (for cooking) 
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced 
• 1/4 onion, finely minced 
• 1/4 medium carrot, finely cubed 
• 3cups of chicken and vege stock 
• 3tbsp roasted vege puree (for recipe, please refer here)
• Seasoning of your choice (I used a little liquid amino by Bragg's)  

Instructions: 

1. Heat up the wok with rice bran oil. 
2. Stir in garlic and onion. Fry for about 1-2min. Stir in cubed carrot, fry for another 2min. 
3. Stir in soaked rice grain. Fry for another 2min. 
4. Pour in stock and vege puree. 
5. Simmer for about 20-40min or until all the liquid are absorbed. 

Animal pasta bake with creamy roasted veg sauce (Safari pasta by Mogli)

Encourage healthy eating and active learning at the same time 

My boy loves animals. I think now at 21mo, he knows at least 50 animals' name if not more. I love this organic animal pasta by Mogli (product of Germany). It only needs about 10 minutes of boiling and the pasta is soft. The thing about my son, he wants to know what he's eating. For every bite he takes, he will look at it, and tell out it's chicken or fish, or egg, in this case, it's animal's name, ie lion, crocodile, monkey, bear bear, elephant etc. I found it difficult to identify the animals when it isn't cooked. But interestingly, they are more easily distinguished once cooked. 

This recipe was made for his Sunday's late lunch. I prepared the sauce in the morning and baked it around noon time while he was having nap with his dad. When it was done, I just left it out on his little dining table so my hubby could let him eat it when he woke. Oh.. I went out with my mom to the hospital to visit a close family friend who got hospitalized. When I got back, I found out that he almost finished (okay.. he ate about 80% of the dish) which was great (that means he loved it) and it was quite a decently big portion for his little tummy. 

Here's the recipe 

First, prepare these vege to be roasted 

• 3 tomato, skinned and cubed 
• 80g pumpkin, cubed 
• half a cob of sweetcorn, kerneled 
• half a zucchini, cubed
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced 
• half an onion, finely minced 

Thoroughly combine these prepared vege in a baking tray with the following marinade and cover with alum foil

• 2-3 tbsp basil-infused olive oil 
• pinch of salt and pepper 
• 1/2 tsp pizza and pasta seasoning herbs (optional) 

Preheat the oven to 180deg C. Roast the above veg for about 45min to an hour or until all the veg are soft. 

Leave to cool. 

Once cooled, puree the veg to turn into sauce. Add water or milk if the veg is too thick to be pureed. 

Cook the safari pasta (about 2-3 tbsp) in boiling water. 

Once cooked, combine the pasta with the roasted vege sauce with a tablespoon of cream cheese and serve. 

*I baked it a little in order to keep the dish warm. 

Coffee chiffon cake (scalded dough/ cooked flour method)

Here's the lil' fella and my mom enjoying their chiffon cakes for breakfast. 

Yea, it's chiffon cake again. I love to bake and eat chiffon cakes. It's so light and feels much 'healthier'. It is still delicious even though I cut the sugar by quite a lot. And best of all, it's the only kind of cake that everyone in the family loves (even my MIL who doesn't eat cakes loves eating my chiffon cake) and it gets eaten up in a few hours, so I have no problem of leftover or food wastage. 

Even though this is called Coffee Chiffon Cake and made using the 3-in-1 instant coffee sachet, but it is not that intense in terms of its coffee flavor. Instead, the aroma of dark muscovado sugar 黑砂糖 is more pronounced. 

This is a recipe that I've been using a lot lately, just used the same recipe to bake Orange and Mango Chiffon few days ago. I like it cos it doesn't use a lot of egg (my hubby had been wondering why the eggs get used up so fast... :p) and it fits my 18cm chiffon tube pan just right. 

Here's the recipe, adapted from Happy Home Baker. 

Ingredients:(I used an 18cm chiffon pan)

4 egg yolks (medium)
2tbsp dark muscovado sugar
3tbsp rice bran oil
90g coffee made up with 3-in-1 coffee sachet
80g cake flour (I actually used 65g all purpose flour and 15g corn flour)

4 egg whites (medium)
3tbsp dark muscovado sugar


Instructions:

1. Sieve cake flour and set aside. 
2. Combine rice bran oil with coffee. Heat up to simmering in a pan. Remove from heat. Add in sifted flour. Add into egg yolk mix. Whisk to combine. Leave in fridge to chill. 
3. In a clean, dry mixing bowl, beat egg whites with a handheld electric mixer on low speed until mixture becomes frothy and foamy.  Add half of the sugar amount and turn to high speed and beat the mixture. Continue to add in the remaining sugar and beat until the egg whites reaches the soft peak stage.The soft peak stage is reached when the peaks of the whites curl over and droop slightly. The egg whites should appear smooth and glossy, and if you overturn the bowl, the egg white meringue doesn't drop.
4. Add the beaten egg whites into the egg yolk batter in 3 separate additions, each time folding gently with a spatula until just blended.
5. Pour batter into a 18cm tube pan (do not grease the pan). Tap the pan lightly on a table top to get rid of any trapped air bubbles in the batter.
6. Bake in pre-heated oven at 140 degC for 40 mins (every oven differs, my oven has been a very friendly one, after about 20min in the oven, I had to tent an alum foil loosely oven the chiffon to avoid the top from getting too brown), bake until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, when lightly pressed the cake will spring back. Invert the pan immediately and let cool completely before unmould (I usually wait for at least an hour before I unmould the cake from the pan).  

Here's a youtube video link on how I unmould the chiffon cake from its pan. This is the part I love the most about baking chiffon cake, aside than eating it. 

This post is linked to the event Little Thumbs Up (August 2014 Event: Flour) - organised by Zoe (Bake for Happy Kids) and Mui Mui (My Little Favourite DIY) and hosted by Diana from Domestic Goddess Wannabe.

Japanese milk tea bun with raisin & cinnamon sugar

Here's a very beautiful yet soft and fluffy Japanese milk tea bun with very generous amount of raisin. I replaced the liquid in this recipe with Japanese milk tea (as in photo). I have also replaced the sugar in this recipe with cinnamon sugar (made up with 1:1 ratio of brown sugar and cinnamon powder). The bun turns out smelling very fragrant and soft. A friend of mine A whom had this wasn't sure if her son would like it due to the alien spice (ie cinnamon) in it, the next morning she called me up and told me that her son loved it! Made my day :) 

Take more cinnamon. It's great. Cinnamon may help lowers risk for diabetes. It also helps fight against fungal and bacterial infection. Some researchers had also done research which revealed that diets rich in cinnamon can help reduce the body's negative responses to eating high-fat meals (Source). 

Here's the recipe 

Prepare scalded dough

• 100g bread flour (Hi protein flour) 
• 70g hot water 

Combine both in a bowl. Stir with a chopstick or folk to ensure both combine thoroughly. Cover and keep in fridge for about 15-25min. 

Prepare the main dough (I kneaded this in my breadmaker) 

• 3tbsp rice bran oil 
• 250g Japanese milk tea (made up with one sachet) 
• 2tbsp cinnamon sugar (made up with 1tbsp brown sugar and 1tbsp of cinnamon powder) 
• pinch of salt 
• 300g bread flour (Hi protein flour) 
• 100g all purpose flour (plain flour) 
• 1tsp instant active dry yeast 

4tbsp raisins, chopped

2tbsp butter, melted with 1tsp cinnamon powder and 1tbsp brown sugar  

1. Add all the ingredients (in the order listed above) in bread pan, except for scalded dough and raisins and butter. 
2. Select mode for dough 发面。 The display panel will display defaulted time of 1hr30min. Press start. 
3. When the ingredients have combined together (about 3min) add in the scalded dough by pieces. 
4. After 1hr30min, the breadmaker will beep to indicate that the dough is ready. 
5. Remove the dough from the breadmaker. 
6. On a floured surface, punch the dough to remove trapped air. Knead and throw a few times. Divide into 6 equal portions weighing about 130-150g each. 
7. With a rolling pin, flatten the portioned dough into a flat oval disk. Spread 1tsp of butter-cinnamon spread on the disk. Sprinkle with chopped raisins. Cut the flat disk into 4-5 strips but leaving one end intact (not cut). Roll up the entire strip disk to form a long twig. Twist one end, 3-4 times, and form the twisted twig into coil. Place the bun on a baking tray. Repeat with the remaining portioned dough. See my facebook link for a short video clip on this step. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10154491536890352&set=vb.577660351&type=2&theater&notif_t=like 
8. Brush top of bun with water. Sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar. Let rise until the bun double their original size (takes about 30-45min). 
9. Preheat the oven to 170deg C. Bake the buns for about 18-20min. 

The last 2 steps are re-illustrated using table cloth in the following diagram. 

This post is linked to the event Little Thumbs Up (August 2014 Event: Flour) - organised by Zoe (Bake for Happy Kids) and Mui Mui (My Little Favourite DIY) and hosted by Diana from Domestic Goddess Wannabe.

Black sesame and oat mantou (steamed bun)

Here's the recipe

Recipe modified and translated from Carol.

*old dough 100g (see following for preparation of old dough) *I did this step too, according to her, it improves the fragrance and texture to great extent. But I had to leave mine in room temperature for about 3hours for it to double its size. It didn't proof when in the fridge.

*300g Cake flour/  superfine flour (I didn't have cake flour at home. Instead, I used 270g all purpose flour with 2tbsp corn flour)

*1.5tbsp black sesame powder

*1tsp Instant active yeast

*100g fresh milk (lukewarm) 

*3tbsp rolled oat in 50g fresh milk (soaked for at least 15min)  

*30g Brown sugar

*1/8tsp Salt

*50g Rice Bran Oil

Preparation of old dough

*120g all purpose flour 

*1/2 tsp instant active yeast 

*80g warm water  

*pinch of salt 

1. Place all ingredients in a bowl and knead till it becomes a smooth dough (about a few minutes, max). 
2. Cover bowl with cling film and let proof for 6-8hours under room temperature, or let proof in fridge until the next day.  

• Old dough that is not used up can be kept in the fridge for 3-5 days or in the freezer for at least 1 month. Thaw before use. 

 Instructions:

1. Combine all ingredients and knead. I used my Donlim breadmaker to knead. Knead until the dough is stretchy and has smooth surface (about 10min in my bread machine).

2. Leave to proof in an oiled bowl till it double its size. (i did this in the bread machine using the Proofing mode, about an hour)  

3. On a floured surface, punch the risen dough to knock out all the trapped gas.

4. Using a rolling pin, roll into a thin flat dough. Roll up like rolling up a swiss roll  

5. Cut into 10 equal pieces. (I made some into bun some, since he loves the round bun)

7. Place onto non-stick parchment paper.

8. Let proof for another 30-40min.

9. Steam in vigorously boiling water for about 12min. Wrap the lid with a tea towel to prevent the condensate from dropping back onto the pau, which will uglify the outlook. Do not open the lid right away. Let cool gently so that the skin of the pau wont turn wrinkly.

Wholemeal bun with raisins (straight dough) / Why bake your own bread?

Last Satuday, I had a bake-a-bread class at my organic shop Just Health. More and more people resort to baking their own loaves at home these days. The compelling reason was mostly heath-related. During the class, I also made extra effort to educate the clients on the 'not-so-healthy' stuffs that are used in baking commercial bread, including 

• shortening / trans-fat (a cheap alternative to butter or plant oil, but carry the risks of clogging the arteries. The FDA had once mentioned that trans fat is a unique powerful promoter of heart disease. So ditch those margarine from your kitchen. They are not easily metabolized or digested, thus may accumulate in our body, causing further harmful effects on our liver).
• bread improver (which consists of a variety of chemicals, including azodicarbonamide ADA, a type of chemical used to make yoga mat or base of our shoe. When used in baking bread, it allows bread to raise higher, stay soft for longer period of time and form an attractive looking crust. Prolonged exposure of this additive may cause asthma or skin sensitization).  
• bleaching agent used to turn flour white (when the flour is bleached it produces alloxan. Alloxan is a poison that is used to produce diabetes in healthy experimental animals (primarily rats and mice), so that researchers can then study diabetes “treatments” in the lab. There is no other commercial application for alloxan, because it is so highly toxic) - here's the primary reason why I woud encourage you all to use unbleached flour to bake your bread. Unbleached flour are commonly found in premium supermarket or organic shops in Malaysia. 

Here' the recipe for this nice, soft and fluffy wholemeal bun. It's a straight dough recipe, unlike the normal scalded dough recipe that I always do. But it yielded very fluffy bun which was still good the next morning. I adapted this recipe from a fellow blogger, unfortunately, I copied the recipe and forgot whom I got it from. 

Recipe makes 10 buns

*I kneaded and proved the dough using my trusted Donlim breadmaker.  

• 2tbsp rice bran oil 
• 350ml water 
• 1tsp salt 
• 3tbsp molasses sugar 
• 450g bread flour (Hi-protein) 
• 100g plain flour / all purpose flour 
• 50g wholemel flour (Hi-protein) 
• 3tsp instant active dry yeast 

• 2tbsp raisins & 4 black apricot, chopped (organic)

Instructions 

1. Add all the ingrediens (in the order listed above) in breadpan, except raisins and apicots.  

2. Select mode for dough 发面. Press start. When the dough has kneaded for about 25min, add in raisins and chopped apricots.

3. After 1hr30min, the breadmaker will beep indicating that the dough is ready. Remove dough from breadmaker.

4. On a floured surface, punch the dough to remove trapped air. Knead afe times. Divide into 10 buns and form into ball shape. Brush top of buns with water and sprinkle with white sesame seeds (optional).

5. Place the bun in the oven for second rise until the buns double their original size (about 45-60min).

6. Preheat oven to 170degC, bake the buns for 18-20min.

This post is linked to the event Little Thumbs Up (August 2014 Event: Flour) - organised by Zoe (Bake for Happy Kids) and Mui Mui (My Little Favourite DIY) and hosted by Diana from Domestic Goddess Wannabe.

Pasta with creamy mushroom and oat sauce (5 ingredients pasta sauce)

The happy lil' fella :)

Aside than the creamy tomato and pumpkin sauce, this is my favorite pasta sauce that I always make for the lil' fella. It's easy to prepare with just a few simple ingredients and it is yummy especially when served with shaved parmesan or just grated cheese. Sometimes, I add more milk or water to it, and turn it into a soup, served with toast. I have also used it as sauce for pasta bake. Very versatile indeed. I don't add salt into it, still standing firm that his food shall not need to be seasoned with salt, before he reaches two year old. The garlic and onion gives it the mild savory note. Of course, the final addition of cheese (but it's optional) makes it yummilicious!

I have made this sauce with potato and mushroom. This time, I added in rolled oat instead of potato. The addition of rolled oat makes it thicker and creamier without the need of adding in flour. It also boost up its nutrition count and dietary fiber content.

All you need for this creamy and healthy pasta sauce are:

• 3tbsp rolled oat soaked in half cup of full cream fresh milk
• 1 cup of water or stock
• 5 - 7 fresh brown button mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• Half an onion, finely minced

Instructions:

1. Heat up 1-2 tbsp cooking oil (I used rice bran oil) in a heated frying pan. Stir in minced garlic and onion till onion turns translucent. Stir in chopped mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms sweat.
2. Add in rolled oat with the soaking milk and water or stock.
3. Simmer on low heat for about 10-15min or until the mushrooms turn soft. Season with pepper and salt (optional).
4. In a food processor or blender, blitz the sauce till creamy. Serve with cooked pasta sprinkled with shaved parmesan or grated cheddar.

Options:

• Serve with cooked vegetables eg broccoli, carrot or sweetcorn that is pre-cooked in another pot of boiling water or steam-cooked.
• This sauce is suitable for freezing for 2-3 weeks. Prior to serving, thaw in refrigerator and heat till piping hot.



Orange & mango chiffon cake

Somehow, today didn't feel like a Saturday. Time seems to fly by so quickly these days. I had a class at Just Health today to teach the new Donlim breadmaker clients on their new machines. After the class, I went home and baked my favorite 'tang mian' (scalded dough) chiffon cake so that mom can try it. Mom loved it. The lil' fella loved it too.

This is adapted from a chiffon cake recipe that I tried out sometime back, but this round, I turned it into a 'cooked dough' (tang mian) version. It turned out fantasticly soft, in fact, a little on the moist side. I actually love my chiffon to be a little moist, it seems to give that 'melt-in-your-mouth' sensation.

Here's the recipe, adapted from Happy Home Baker. 

Ingredients:(I used an 18cm chiffon pan)

4 egg yolks (medium)
2.5tbsp dark muscovado sugar
3tbsp rice bran oil
90g freshly squeezed orange juice
80g cake flour (I actually used 65g all purpose flour and 15g corn flour)

4 egg whites (medium)
3tbsp dark muscovado sugar

60g chopped mango


Instructions:

1. Sieve cake flour and set aside. 
2. Combine rice bran oil with freshly squeezed orange juice. Heat up to simmering in a pan. Remove from heat. Add in sifted flour. Add into egg yolk mix. Whisk to combine.
3. In a clean, dry mixing bowl, beat egg whites with a handheld electric mixer on low speed until mixture becomes frothy and foamy.  Add half of the sugar amount and turn to high speed and beat the mixture. Continue to add in the remaining sugar and beat until the egg whites reaches the soft peak stage.The soft peak stage is reached when the peaks of the whites curl over and droop slightly. The egg whites should appear smooth and glossy, and if you overturn the bowl, the egg white meringue doesn't drop.
4. Add the beaten egg whites into the egg yolk batter in 3 separate additions, each time folding gently with a spatula until just blended.
5. Add in the chopped mango.  
6. Pour batter into a 18cm tube pan (do not grease the pan). Tap the pan lightly on a table top to get rid of any trapped air bubbles in the batter.
7. Bake in pre-heated oven at 140 degC for 40 mins (every oven differs, my oven has been a very friendly one, after about 20min in the oven, I had to tent an alum foil loosely oven the chiffon to avoid the top from getting too brown), bake until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, when lightly pressed the cake will spring back. Invert the pan immediately and let cool completely before unmould (I usually wait for at least an hour before I unmould the cake from the pan).  

Yep, this is me letting my clients know why it is now more important to bake our own bread rather than buying from outside.

For enquiry related to the breadmaker that I sell at Just Health, please email justhealthsandakan@gmail.com