BANANA BREAD

 

Ingredients:-

• 2-3 very ripe bananas, peeled
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup of sugar (can easily use 3/4 cup, or drop it down to 1/2 cup if you want it less sweet)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Method:-

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C), and butter a 4x8-inch loaf pan.

In a mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork until smooth. Stir the melted butter into the mashed bananas.

Mix in the baking soda and salt. Stir in the sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla extract. Mix in the flour.

Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes (check at 50 minutes) at 350°F (175°C), or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and cool completely on a rack. Remove the banana bread from the pan. Slice and serve. (A bread knife helps to make slices that aren't crumbly.)

Source: simplyrecipes.com

ROJAK

 

Ingredients:-

• handful of bean sprouts 
• handful of water spinach, ends trimmed
• 2 large fried tofu puffs 
• 1 fried dough stick
• handful of peeled, sliced green mango 
• handful of peeled, sliced pineapple 
• handful of peeled, sliced yam bean (jicama)
• handful of sliced cucumber 
• ½ cup roughly crushed roasted peanuts

Dressing:

• 2 tbsp tamarind pulp 
• 1–2 tsp crushed red chilli (small or long chillies depending on desired heat) 
• 1 tbsp shrimp paste from a block (belachan), roasted in foil for about 20 minutes
• 2 tbsp shrimp paste from a jar (see Note)
• 2–3 tbsp grated palm sugar 
• ½ lemon, juiced

 

Instructions:-

To make the dressing, soak the tamarind pulp in a little water until soft. Strain it into a large bowl – it should be a thick puree. Add the remaining dressing ingredients and mix well to a thick sauce consistency. Taste to see if you have added enough chilli and palm sugar.

Blanch the bean sprouts for 10 seconds in boiling water. Remove with a slotted spoon and leave to drain. Repeat with the water spinach. Drain and roughly cut.

Place the tofu puffs and dough stick under a griller or in a hot oven for a few minutes to crisp up. Leave to cool, then cut into bite-sized pieces.

Add the sliced fruit and vegetables to the dressing along with the bean sprouts, water spinach, tofu and dough stick. Mix well, coating everything in the dressing. Spoon into serving bowls and scatter with the crushed peanuts.

Recipe by: Helena Lee

PRAWN MEE

Ingredients

For the stock:

 
500g medium size prawns
600g pork bones
150g pork loin
2 chicken carcasses
1 inch knob ginger, peeled and sliced
2 tsp chicken stock powder
1 small piece of rock sugar
2 litres of water
Salt and white pepper to taste

For the toppings:

 
½ packet of dried rice vermicelli, or any noodle of your choice
2 hard-boiled eggs
½ packet of beansprouts
Small bunch of kangkung
Chili sambal

Method:

1. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and par boil the chicken bones and pork bones.  Rinse under running water to remove any remaining scum, set aside. 

2. Remove the heads and shell from the prawns and devein them. Keep the prawn meat in the fridge. 

3. Heat one tablespoon of oil in a pan, add the ginger slices and fry with the prawn heads and shell until the oil turns a bright orange hue. Drain the prawn heads and shell and put into a big stock pot together with the chicken and pork bones.  Reserve the prawn oil in a bowl. Pour two litres of water into the stock pot and bring to a boil.  Sift out any floating scum and turn down to simmer for 1½ hours. 

4. Add in the pork loin and continue to simmer for 10 - 20 minutes until the pork is cooked. Remove and let cool before slicing into thin, bite sizes. 

5. Season the soup with salt and pepper, chicken stock powder and rock sugar.  The flavour should be quite strong and salty as the toppings will dilute the taste. 

6. Using a deep sift, gently blanch the prawn meat over the simmering stock to further flavour the soup. 

7. Strain the stock over a muslin cloth and keep on a slow simmer whilst preparing the toppings. 

8. Bring another pot of water to boil and blanch the noodles, kangkung and bean sprouts separately. Divide into 4 serving bowls, top with slices of hard boil eggs, prawn meat, and pork loin slices. Ladle a good portion of soup onto the noodles and serve immediately with some sambal on the side.

Recipe By Esther Chong

RAINBOW CAKE

Ingredients:

Main ingredients:
227g butter, softened at room temperature
370g sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1 Tbsp vinegar
3 Tbsp water
313g plain flour
1½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Mint food colouring
Pink food colouring
Peach food colouring
Blue food colouring
Yellow food colouring
Purple food colouring
Other food colours of your choice (optional)

For the frosting:
500g cream cheese, softened at room temperature
230g butter, softened at room temperature
1¼ cups icing sugar, sifted
3 Tbsp sour cream or light sour cream

Special equipment:
2 x 9-inch cake tins
Standing mixer or electric hand-held mixer

Method:

1. To make cake, preheat oven to 180°C. Cut out 6 pieces of parchment paper to fit the bottom of a 9-inch cake tin. Grease and line two cake tins with parchment paper.

2. Using a standing mixer, beat butter and sugar till pale and fluffy on high speed, about 3 minutes, then add the eggs. Beat for a minute, scraping down the sides as necessary.

3. Add vinegar and water and beat on low speed for another minute (the mixture might curdle, don’t panic. It’ll fix itself when you add the flour).

4. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a dry bowl. Set aside.

5. Mix the buttermilk and vanilla extract in another bowl and set aside.

6. Add one-third of the flour mixture into the batter. At this point, it’s best to start mixing with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula as the electric mixer tends to overbeat the batter and yield a tough cake. Beat in the flour lightly, until it is just incorporated into the batter.

7. Pour half of the buttermilk mixture into the batter and mix again till just incorporated.

Add half of the remaining flour, mix lightly and the rest of the buttermilk mixture, mixing lightly again.

8. Finally, add the remaining flour mixture and stir lightly till just combined — don’t worry if the batter looks lumpy.

9. Weigh the cake batter and divide them into six equal parts in individual bowls.

10. Tint each bowl with a few drops of food colouring and stir to mix evenly.

11. Scrape a portion of batter into the cake tins and bake for about 10 to 12 minutes. To check if the cakes are ready, prod the centre of the cake with your finger — the cake should spring back to the touch and your finger shouldn’t leave a distinct dent.

12. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool in its tin for about 5 minutes, on a cooling rack. Remove the cakes from the tins and cool completely on the cooling rack.

13. Wash the tins and line them with paper again. Scrape another portion of cake batter into the tins and repeat steps 11 and 12. Repeat again with the last remaining portions of cake batter.

14. To make frosting, place all the ingredients into a clean mixing bowl or food processor and blitz till smooth. Taste and add more sugar if necessary or more sour cream if you want it runnier.

15. Once frosted, the cake can be kept in the fridge for up to a week.

Recipe By Annette Tan

CRAB CURRY

Ingredients:

For the crabs:
3 pieces XXL-sized crabs, cleaned and halved
1 tsp turmeric powder
Salt

For pounding:
3 inches ginger
8 cloves garlic

Other ingredients:
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 large onion, sliced
1 sprig curry leaves
2 green chillies, sliced
3 Tbsp fish curry powder
1 Tbsp chilli powder (to make paste with some water)
1 tsp seedless tamarind paste
1 large tomato, sliced into 6
50ml coconut milk (purely optional)
Salt Water (depending on gravy thickness)
Cooking oil

Method:

1. Rub the crab pieces with turmeric powder and salt. Leave aside for 30 minutes.

2. Heat up the wok with oil and sauté fenugreek seeds. Add sliced onion, curry leaves, and green chillies. Stir for 1 minute.

3. Add pounded ginger and garlic. Stir for 2 minutes and add in the marinated crab pieces

4. Mix thoroughly and cover with lid.

5. Allow the crab pieces to change colour to slightly red and the juice from the crab to dry up a little. Keep stirring once in a while to avoid burning the bottom. Leave to cook for about 10 minutes.

6. Allow the gravy to boil for another 10 – 15 minutes.

7. Add tomatoes and coconut milk, and boil again. Add salt if needed.

8. Dish out and serve with plain rice.

Recipe By Venisri Senthan

PRAWN FRITTERS

Ingredients:

For the fritters:

150g plain flour

½ tsp baking powder

 ½ tsp salt 50g onion, sliced thinly

30g carrot, finely shredded

30g Chinese chives, cut into 4cm lengths

150g prawns, shelled and de-veined

200ml water

For the chilli sauce:

6 fresh red chillies or 120g, sliced

3 cloves garlic, sliced

1 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp white vinegar

2 Tbsp tomato ketchup

2 Tbsp water

Method:

1. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a mixing bowl. Add the onion, carrot, Chinese chives and prawns. Stir in water and mix well.

2. Heat the oil in a wok or shallow pan on medium heat. Test by placing a small drop of batter into the oil – if it sizzles, the oil is ready. Drop tablespoonfuls of batter into the oil, leaving at least 1cm of space between them. Fry until lightly puffed and golden brown on both sides. Drain well in a wire basket. Fry fritters in batches until all the batter is used up.

3. Meanwhile, measure all the ingredients of the chilli sauce into an electric chopper/blender and blend finely. Transfer into a small bowl. Serve the fritters hot or warm, accompanied with chilli sauce.

Recipe by:  Rohani Jelani

DHAL VADAI

Ingredients:

½ cup or 100g chickpea dhal

1 Tbsp rice

½ tsp salt

1 Tbsp roughly chopped ginger

 ½ green chilli, thinly sliced

1 dried red chilli, thinly sliced

1 small purple onion or 50g, coarsely chopped

1 sprig curry leaves, coarsely chopped

 Oil for deep-frying

Method:

1. Combine chickpeas and rice in a bowl and wash in several changes of water – until water runs clear. Add fresh water and soak for 1 hour. Drain and place chickpeas/rice in an electric chopper/food processor and pulse to grind coarsely – there should still be some whole pieces of dhal but the bulk of it should be ground fine enough to allow mixture to bind together.

2. Transfer mixture into a bowl and add remaining ingredients. Stir until well-combined. Using moistened fingers, form into small patties roughly 4cm across.

Recipe by:  Rohani Jelani