Matcha Muffin

These matcha muffins are really easy to make. Soft and moist, they are delicious. I like that they are not so sweet and love the taste of matcha. The colour and taste of the muffin may vary depending on the type of matcha powder you are using. My favourite matcha powder is this.

 

Matcha Muffin (makes 6)

Wet Ingredients

1 egg

50g natural yoghurt

50g unsalted butter, melted

50g sour cream

60g castor sugar 

 

Dry Ingredients

1 teaspoon or more matcha powder (your preference)

120g plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

 

Method

1. Preheat oven at 180 degree. Combine dry ingredients in a big bowl. Set aside.

 

2. In another bowl, whisk yoghurt, sour cream, sugar and egg together using a balloon whisk. It should take just 1 minute.

 

3. Add melted butter and mix to combine.

4. Make a well in the middle of the dry mixture.  in the wet mixture and mix using a spatula or a whisk to combine. Stop when there is no visible flour. Do not over mix.

 

5. Fill 6 muffin liners till 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes until skewer comes out clean and lightly golden brown.  

Japanese Pickled Ginger

This is the pickled ginger you normally eat with sushi. We like it as an appetizer too. This is my first attempt and it is rather easy to make. I bought a few pieces of young ginger from the market. When I weighed them at home, they are about 70g only. I divided  the recipe portion accordingly and ended up with about 1/2 a small jar which will probably last a week. I will make more next time since they can keep up to 3 months in the fridge.

Japanese Pickled Ginger

(Recipe from GoodFood magazine)

Ingredients

300g young ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup caster sugar

1 cup Japanese rice vinegar

Method

1. Wash the ginger. Remove the skin and slice thinly.

2. Place the ginger slices in a bowl and sprinkle salt over it. Toss to combine and let it sit for 1 hour at room temperature.

3. Pat the ginger dry with a paper towel and pack them into a sterilised jar or bottle. To sterilise a jar or bottle, place it in a pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes. Remove and let it cool.

4. Heat the rice vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan over high heat until sugar dissolves and bring to a boil.

5. Pour the solution into the jar or bottle, set aside to cool before keeping it in the fridge.

6. The ginger is ready the next day. It can keep up to 3 months.

Cucumber Kimchi

My family loves to eat kimchi. We usually buy kimchi from a Korean restaurant or supermarket. I never thought of making kimchi because it seems so complicated. I was at the library and chanced upon a kimchi making book. Cucumber Kimchi seems like the easiest among the lot. I took a snapshot of the recipe and decided to give it a shot. After 3 days, we finally got to taste it . The cucumber is crunchy and taste great. I tried with only 2 cucumbers in case we don't like the taste. Now I can make a big batch.

Source : Kimchi: Essential recipes of the Korean Kitchen


Cucumber Kimchi  (1 large jar, about 3 litres)

Ingredients

10 japanese cucumbers

125g coarse sea salt

Kimchi paste

75g gochugaru ( Korea chilli powder )

200g finely chopped leek

100g shredded fresh daikon ( radish )

1 teaspoon grated ginger

1 teaspoon minced garlic

3 tablespoon sea salt

2 teaspoon sugar

Method

1. Cut cucumber into pieces about length of 5cm. Place them in a big bowl. Sprinkle salt and fill with water. Let stand for 1 hour at room temperature. If you are in a rush, you can skip the water and let them soak up the salt for 30 minutes.

2. Rinse the salt off thoroughly and drain. The cucumber should taste slightly salty.

3. Mix all ingredients for the Kimchi paste.

 
4. Mix the cucumber and paste together and mix well. 

5. Keep them in a air-tight container or jarand put it in the fridge. It is better to use a container with bigger base. Liquid will be released gradually and the kimchi will taste better if they are in contact with the liquid.

6. The kimchi is ready after about 3 days and will keep fresh for maximum 2 weeks. 

These are the red pepper powder that I used. I like to mix half spicy and half mild. 

Zucchini Fritters

I always have zucchini in my fridge. I use it for baking cakes/muffin and for making soup and pasta regularly. Today I tried a new way of cooking zucchini. These fritters are loaded with zucchini and is crispy on the outside and soft inside. We love it !

 

Zucchini Fritters ( make about 8-10 pieces)
 

Ingredients

2 medium zucchini

salt

3 tablespoon plain flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon curry powder (or cayenne peppers)

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 garlic clove, minced

 

Method

1. Grate the zucchini coarsely, lengthwise. Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon of salt and let stand for 5 minutes. Using a cheesecloth or your hand, squeeze out the excess water. Remove as much water as possible so that the fritter will be crispy.

 

2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, a pinch of salt, baking powder and curry powder. 

 

3. Add beaten egg and minced garlic into the dried zucchini and mix well. Add the flour mixture and mix until combined.

 

4. Place a  skillet over medium-high heat. Add some vegetable oil. Once the oil is hot, drop a spoonful of the mixture and flatten slightly with the back of the spoon. Cook for about 3 minutes until golden brown. Flip over and cook for another 1-2 minutes.  Repeat process to cook the remaining fritter.

 

 

5. Serve immediately. You can serve with some sour cream if you like.   

Popovers

 

I first made popovers 5 years ago. I had lots of milk to clear and chanced upon a popover recipe on the papers. Not knowing exactly how it taste like, I gave it a try as the steps are rather simple with few ingredients. My children love them and they still love them now. They like them with drizzled honey or maple syrup. These popovers are rather plain as there is no sugar in the batter. They go well with butter and jam/ honey/ maple syrup/chocolate sauce/nutella ..etc..  

Popovers (makes 10 pieces)

Ingredients
2 extra large eggs
250ml whole milk
140 g plain flour
1 tablespoon butter, melted and cooled (about 15g)
lemon zest of a lemon (optional)
A good pinch of salt
5 teaspoon of vegetable oil ( for the 10 muffin holes)

Serve with butter and jam/honey/maple syrup/chocolate sauce/nutella

Method
1. Using a blender, blend eggs and milk till smooth. Add flour, melted butter and salt and continue to blend at high speed until batter is bubbly and smooth. This should take about 1 minute.

 

2. Pour the batter into a jug. Let it rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes or until it is about room temperature.

 

3. While the batter is resting, scoop 1/2 teaspoon of oil into each muffin hole, leaving the middle 2 empty. Place the muffin pan into the oven and set temperature to 230 degree. (Popovers needs very hot oven).

 

4. When the oil in the muffin pan is hot ( you can hear some sizzling),  remove the pan from the oven and close the oven door. Pour the batter about 2/3 filled into each of the 10 holes.

 

5. Bake for about 15-20 minutes till well risen. Reduce temperature to 180 degree and bake for another 5-10 minutes till golden brown.

  

6. Flip over the popovers onto a cooling rack . Let cool for 2-3 minutes and serve warm with butter and jam or with honey or maple syrup. They do flatten a bit once out of the oven.

Japanese Pickled Cucumber

This is a simple no cook appetizer. It is crunchy with a sweet and sour tang. You can have it with rice or meat dishes or even as a snack. Very refreshing ! 

Recipe adapted from GoodFood magazine.

Ingredients
2 japanese cucumber
2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 cup rice vinegar (about 50ml)
2 tablespoon of sugar
2 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds
A pinch of salt
A dash of chilli pepper flakes (optional)

Method
1. Wash and thinly slice the cucumber. Sprinkle 2 teaspoon of salt over it. Mix slightly and set aside for 5-10 minutes.

2. Rinse off the salt and drain. Give it a gentle squeeze to remove excess water.

3. Combine vinegar, sugar, pinch of salt and sesame seeds in a bowl. Mix well to dissolve sugar and salt. Pour over the drained cucumber and keep them in a lidded jar/bottle/container. I prefer to use a container with bigger surface area, so that the cucumbers are in contact with the liquid.

4. Let it sit in the fridge for at least 24 hours before eating. If you prefer fuller taste, leave it for 3-4 days. Add a dash of chilli pepper flakes before serving if you like it a bit spicy.

Rice Vinegar that I used

Chilli Pepper Flakes

Blueberry Orange Muffins

I like to make muffins with yoghurt because yoghurt muffins are moist. For a change today, I am using orange juice and olive oil. The ingredients, in my opinion, are rather healthy. As expected, these muffins are not as moist as those made with yoghurt, but my kids like them anyway. They smell really fruity and taste fruity too. I used 1/3 wholemeal flour, hence darker in colour as in the picture above.

Blueberry Orange Muffins (makes 12)

Dry Ingredients
275g plain flour
100g castor sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder

Wet Ingredients
2 medium eggs
80ml extra virgin olive oil
180ml smooth orange juice
Zest of 1 orange

Toppings
150g blueberries

Method
1. Preheat oven to 190 Degree Celsius.

2. Whisk all wet ingredients in a bowl.

3. Combine all dry ingredients in another bowl. Mix well.

4. Make a well in the middle of the dry mixture. Pour the wet mixture and mix to combine until no trace of flour. Do not over mix.  

5. Fold in the blueberries and fill muffin liners to 2/3 full. You can sprinkle a little extra sugar over the top if you like. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until risen and crusty.

6. Cool on a rack.