Japanese strawberry shortcake recipe

I'm so excited that I can't wait to tell everyone I baked a cake today! And the cake is a Japanese strawberry shortcake. Well, this is not the first time I have baked a cake but this is the first time I have ever frosted the whole cake! How exciting!

As usual, there are so many recipes around. The recipes that I have short listed are from ochikeron, cooking with dog and dailydelicious. Actually, I would love to try out kitchen tigress's recipe but I don't have glucose in my pantry. As I couldn't decide which recipe to follow, I decided to do some experiment.

Both cooking with dog and dailydelicious used a 18cm round cake pan and ochikeron used a 16cm cake pan but the smallest I have is 20cm. Hence, I decided to bake the sponge cake using the ingredients and the respective ratio from daily delicious but following the steps from cooking with dog simply because it looks easier! LOL. I expected a shorter cake given that I was using a 20cm cake pan. The sponge cake turned out to be about 1.5 inch tall and the sponge was soft.

Considering that it might be tedious to slice the sponge cake into half due to its height, I thought why not bake another sponge cake for another layer using another recipe! I used ochikeron's recipe for the second sponge but I increased the ratio to be the same as dailydelicious which uses 3 eggs. To my surprise, this sponge cake was very much shorter then the former - only 3/5 of its height! And it isn't as soft and moist but dry. Oh well, I thought maybe I didn't beat the eggs and sugar long enough so I decided to bake another one using the exact same recipe and steps. Guess what? The result was the same. The cake was still not as soft. I suppose this is because ochikeron's recipe doesn't contain milk and the method in beating eggs is slightly different? Anyway, I continued to prepare the syrup and whipped cream using ochikeron's recipe. Both were pretty simple.

Well, when came to assembling the cake, I was in a dilemma whether to use the second sponge cake for the other layer or try to slice the 1.5 inch soft sponge cake. Worrying I might fail to slice the cake properly, I decided to use the second sponge which was a tad dry as the bottom layer. It became quite a big cake and the whipped cream was actually meant for a 6 inch cake not 8 inch. Luckily it was just enough to frost a thin layer of cream all over the cake. Besides that, I only have a 250g pack of strawberries which I need to use it prudently or else it won't be enough.

It was fun to assemble the cake. I am quite happy with my first cream frosted cake although it's not perfect. Taste wise, it was good as the cake was not too sweet and the cream tasted great with a hint of rum. However, the dryer sponge cake layer was a bit disappointing. It brought down the overall quality of the cake. A good sponge is very important to make a good cake. I will certainly try out kitchen tigress's recipe when I make this cake again. Her sponge cake recipe is supposed to create a soft, fluffy and moist cake.

Recipe:

Sponge cake (adapted from dailydelicious and cooking with dog):

3 eggs

90g granulated sugar

90g cake flour

20g melted butter

20ml milk

The steps I followed to make the sponge cake are from cooking with dog with slight alteration when adding the flour. I added them in a few batches to avoid deflating the mixture. You might check out the video as a video says more than a thousand words.

Syrup (adapted from ochikeron):

20ml hot water

1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon rum

Dissolve the sugar in the hot water. Add rum and mix well. Leave it to cool.

Whipped cream/icing (adapted from ochikeron):

300ml whipping cream

1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar

A few drops vanilla extract

1 tablespoon rum

Pour whipping cream onto a chilled mixing bowl over a bowl of ice water. Add in sugar, vanilla extract and rum. Beat until the cream is stiff.

To assemble the cake:

250g or more sliced strawberries

1. Slice the sponge cake into two.

2. Lay first sponge cake layer on a plate. Brush syrup on the sponge cake layer before spreading whipped cream on top of it evenly.

3. Arrange a layer of strawberries. Cover the strawberries with a layer of cream.

4. Brush the other sponge cake with syrup before adding it on top of the cream layer.

5. Frost the whole cake with the remaining whipped cream.

6. Decorate the cake with strawberries.

7. Store in the fridge for 1-2 hours.

8. Cut and serve while it's cold.

Home style easy three cup chicken recipe

Three cup chicken is a popular Taiwanese dish. The name always sounds interesting to me. Why three cups? Apparently it was because 3 cups of sauces were used to make this dish when it was first created. Well, this is a home style version where the chicken is stir fried. The traditional three cup chicken is cooked/simmered in a clay pot.

Recipe:

(3 servings)

4 chicken thigh fillets

8 cloves garlic

8 slices ginger

A bunch of Thai basil leaves

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

1 tablespoon shaoxing wine

Salt

Marinade for chicken:

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

3/4 tablespoon soya sauce

3/4 tablespoon oyster sauce

3/4 sweet dark soya sauce (kecap manis)

Few dashes of pepper

1/2 tablespoon corn flour

1. Cut the chicken into small pieces and marinate with the marinade for 5 mins.

2. Heat frying pan or wok with sesame oil. Add in garlic, follow by ginger. Stir fry until the garlic is a bit brown.

3. Add in chicken and continue to stir fry.

4. Add shaoxing wine. Mix well.

5. When the chicken is about to cook, add in Thai basil leaves and add salt to taste.

6. Continue to stir fry until the Thai basil leaves are cooked. Dish out and serve with rice.

New Shanghai restaurant (Emporium Melbourne) review

I was so excited that I wanted to blog about New Shanghai restaurant immediately after the meal. It was super awesome! A must try if you're into Shanghai cuisine such as xiao long bao (steamed mini pork buns) and dumplings.

Located at Emporium Melbourne, New Shanghai is a modern Chinese restaurant serving Shanghai style cuisine. They have a chain of restaurants in NSW but this is the only restaurant in Melbourne for now. I'm glad that we were early. Although there was a queue, we were seated not long after a short wait. The decor of the restaurant is modern yet full of Chinese character. It is vibrant with cozy lighting. I was quite surprised to find out that it is actually a big restaurant despite the entrance looking like it is just part of the food court.

There were so many tempting choices that at the first glance of the menu, I found it hard to decide my order. We finally settled with New Shanghai xiao long bao, pan fried pork dumplings as well as stir fried Chinese rice cake with XO sauce and shredded pork. The food came amazingly quick especially for the xiao long bao.

The xiao long bao looked really good with thin skin. You can almost see the broth through the 'semi transparent' skin! It was indeed perfect on the first bite. The scrumptious broth was tasty with a balance of flavours that a xiao long bao should have. The pork was soft and tender with just right amount in each xiao long bao.

Next came the pan fried pork dumplings. They were actually quite big as compare with those from the normal dumplings shops. The pork dumplings were pan fried so evenly that every pieces looked almost the same. Guess what? There's actually broth in the dumplings too! This was the first pan fried dumpling I have had with hot broth inside. It was again so yum. The pork was as tender as the xiao long bao's and the thickness of the skin was just right.

Lastly, our stir fried Chinese rice cake arrived not too long after the first two dishes. It was quite unique as it wasn't the traditional style but with XO sauce. Needless to say, it was good. I was particularly impressed that they actually used fried shallot in this dish. It's not usual to see fried shallot used in traditional Chinese restaurants but it is widely used in Malaysian restaurants.

Well, overall the food was two thumbs up and the price was pretty good for such a location. New Shanghai has overtaken Hutong Dumplings Bar to top my list of xiao long bao/dumplings restaurants.

Website: http://www.newshanghai.com.au/

Green tea Hokkaido sponge cupcakes recipe

While exploring the sponge cake world, I bet one would never miss the green tea sponge. I reckon it's one of the must have sponge in the sponge cakes baking journey. Besides that, green tea is full of nutritional benefits and is widely used in food, health products and even cosmetics! How can we not make a good healthy sponge cake out of it?

As usual, there are many green tea sponge cake recipes around. I have actually tested a few. Most of them are okay. Some recipes are almost gluten free as they use so little flour, thus making the cake super light and airy. Well, nice sponge indeed but too airy for me. After a few experiments, I think I still like the Hokkaido cupcake sponge that I used in making the blueberry Hokkaido cupcakes. Hence, I modified it further for green tea. Guess what?! It turned out to be my favourite green tea sponge so far. Of course, I made them into cupcakes to save baking time!

Recipe:

(12 cupcakes)

60g egg yolks

25g castor sugar

50g corn oil

80g milk

5g green tea powder mixed with 4 teaspoons of hot water (about 20g) just enough to dissolve the green tea powder into thick green tea mixture. Let it cool before using.

90g cake flour

180g egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

55g castor sugar

1. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl until pale and thick.

2. Add corn oil and whisk to combine.

3. Add milk and stir to combine.

4. Add green tea mixture and stir thoroughly.

5. Sift in cake flour and mix well. Leave the batter aside.

6. Beat the egg white in a mixing bowl.

7. Add cream of tartar as soon as the beaten egg white starts to foam.

8. Gradually add in the sugar when the egg white starts to thicken. Beat until stiff peak stage.

9. Add the egg white mixture onto the egg yolks mixture in 3 batches. Mix until they are almost combined on each addition. Lastly, scrape down and fold until every thing is evenly combined. Bang the batter on the table for a few times to release the big air bubbles.

10. Pour the batter into the cupcake cases, about 3/4 full each.

11. Bake in the preheated oven at 165c for about 25mins on the lower rack.

12. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool on the wired rack.

Easy Thai basil chicken (Gai Pad Grapow) recipe

Thai basil chicken a.k.a Gai Pad Grapow is a common dish in Thai restaurants. It is a dish where chicken is stir-fried with Thai basil leaves. I love this dish particularly the aroma of the Thai basil leaves. Please note that Thai basil is different from the usual basil. It is stronger and more distinctive in flavour. Thai basil is not hard to find in Melbourne. You can literally get it from Woolworths supermarket.

Well, this is another quick dish you can cook when you’re too busy to serve up a feast! Just serve it with rice and some salad vegies and you’re done – quick and easy!

Recipe: 

(3-4 servings)

450-500g of minced chicken

5 cloves garlic

3 shallots

6 bird eye chillies

A bunch of Thai basil leaves

2-3 tablespoons oil

1 tablespoon fish sauce

3/4 tablespoon Indonesian sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)

3/4 tablespoon oyster sauce

Salt and pepper 

1. Chop garlic and shallots finely. Cut the chillies.

2. Heat oil in a frying pan or wok. Add garlic and shallots. Stir fry until lightly brown.

3. Add in chillies. Briefly mix.

4. Add in minced chicken; follow by fish sauce, sweet soy sauce and oyster sauce. Stir fry and mix thoroughly.

5. When the chicken is almost cooked, add in Thai basil leaves and stir fry until the Thai basil leaves are cooked.

6. Add salt and pepper to taste.

7. Serve with rice.

Oven steamed chicken 白斩鸡 recipe

Chicken rice is a popular dish in Malaysia. It can easily be found in any hawker centre or food court in Malaysia. The traditional style is using poached chicken and served with oily rice and dipping sauce. Timing is very important to produce a good poached chicken as it should be tender and smooth. Hence, it is not an easy dish as it looks. In fact, it consists of multiple steps and ingredients to bring out a great poached chicken.

Don't worry, I'm not going to create a complicated dish. Instead, I'm sharing a simplified version of steamed chicken that could be served as chicken rice using an oven. Besides that, your kitchen would remain clean after cooking.

Recipe:

1 whole chicken

1 piece of ginger

A bunch of spring opinions/scallions

Seasoning for chicken:

Sesame oil

Shaoxing cooking wine

Salt

Pepper

1. Cut ginger into slices and spring onions into shorter stems.

2. Rub salt and sprinkle some pepper on the chicken including the inner part (stomach of the chicken).

3. Brush shaoxing cooking wine on the chicken. Follow by sesame oil.

4. Lay enough aluminium foil on the kitchen top or table where you're going to wrap the chicken. Lay sufficient parchment paper on top of the aluminium oil. Bear in mind that there will be chicken stock after cooking. Make sure both the aluminium foil and parchment paper are big enough to wrap the whole chicken and contain the stock.

5. Put 2 slices of ginger and 2 stems of spring onions on the parchment paper. Arrange chicken on top. Put another 2 slices of ginger and 2 stems of spring opinions on top of the chicken. Stuff all the remaining ginger slices and spring onions into the stomach of the chicken.

6. Wrap the chicken with the parchment paper, follow by the aluminium foil.

7. Baked at 190c for 1 hour 35 mins. The baking time depends on the size of the chicken. In this recipe, a 1.1kg chicken is used.

8. Rest the chicken in oven for 5-10mins when it's done.

9. Cut the chicken and serve with rice and dipping sauce.

Note: The stock produced from the oven steamed chicken can be used to cook oily rice.

Dipping sauce:

1 tablespoon oil

8 cloves garlic

4 shallots

3/4 jar of Masterfood fresh ginger or you can mince a piece of ginger

A bunch of spring onions and corianders

Light soya sauce

Sesame oil

1. Chop garlic and shallot finely.

2. Chop spring onions and corianders.

2. Heat oil in the frying pan. Add garlic and shallot. Stir fry until lightly brown.

3. Add ginger and stir fry until mix well.

4. Add spring onions and corianders and mix well.

5. Add light soya sauce and sesame oil to taste.

Shizuku Ramen and Craft Beer review

It was last year when I last eaten at Shizuku on Abbotsford St in Richmond. Hence, I decided to drop by the place again when I was on my way to IKEA. While driving past the restaurant, I noticed that the restaurant signage has changed to 'Ramen & Craft Beer'!? It used to be Shizuku! My first thought was that the business has changed ownership. After seeing that they are still serving ramen, I stayed on my original plan to have my lunch there. Luckily, it was just a rebranding of the restaurant.

Okay, a number of changes I observed when I stepped into the restaurant after so long. First the signage. Later I found that there are a lot of wine/alcohol bottles around the register counter as well as at a corner of the restaurant. There's also a beautiful used alcohol bottle on each tables which is used to store plain water for the customers. Looks like they are serving various alcohol drinks nowadays. Besides that, they also have new menu which has a lot more choices than before. Well, I'm glad that they still offer the lunch menu.

There are five choices on the lunch menu. Each options comes with a combination of food. I ordered shoyu ramen, fried rice, gyoza and pickle set. It is quite usual to find similar combinations where a bowl of ramen comes with a small bowl of fried rice in the ramen restaurants in Japan.

As far as I could remember, the food still taste as great as before. The shoyu soup was almost perfect except that it's a bit oily. The noodle has the right texture and the char siew was soft and melts in the mouth. I particularly love the fried rice. It is one of the tastiest Japanese fried rice I have had in Melbourne. The gyoza and pickle simply made this a complete meal.

In my opinion, the lunch menu is very good value for money. I will certainly visit Shizuku Ramen & Craft Beer again whenever I'm craving for ramen.

Shoyu ramen

Japanese fried rice

Gyoza and pickle

Website: http://shizuku.com.au