Easiest Most Delicious Kek Batik!

Kek batik is one of my favourite desserts ever. All this while I've been buying this cake not knowing that it is toooo..and I mean toooo easy to prepare! It's so easy you don't even need an oven...and to my surprise..this recipe uses so little ingredients..and the ingredients too are easy to find. I have tried other recipes that use eggs...but after trying many recipes..with and without eggs...I've decided to keep to just this recipe...unless another great recipe is found. But overall I think this recipe provides a perfect overall taste of sweet.. salty.. chocolatey.. crunchy.. chewy... GOODNESS! hahha. 

From my own experience..the egg based chocolate batter makes the biscuit go softer faster. As for this recipe..it keeps the biscuit crunchy for days! (if it even last a day or two...its really addictive..I have to warn you ..haha). My kids love it..adults love it...once you have had a slice, I'm sure you would want more. Oh yes, one more tip for you readers, I've done some research and I personally feel that the choice of biscuit used is truly important. I have used other brands but I always end up buying LEE brand Marie biscuits. It doesn't become soggy and the crunch factor is very important.

In preparing this kek batik, you could either dump all biscuits(broken into smaller pieces in advance) into the chocolate batter...or you could layer it one by one as I have done. But honestly, I prefer dumping everything and pressing it down..being the busy mom I am (excuses excuses...) or it could be the laziness in me. This has only been my first try at layering the biscuits, but I have made this kek batik many times before by dumping everything into the pot. This recipe does not call for any coffee but there are times when I feel the urge to eat something chocolatey...something with coffee...mocha as we call it...then I will put some coffee into the chocolate mixture. I think that you can even put it in roasted nuts if you like. I've even seen some people put in different types of biscuits and even malteasers! Yummm! Give it a try, you will love it I promise.

Kek Batik

Source: Hasue and Milla

Ingredients:

200g milo

250g butter (I used salted butter for the sweet salty taste..you could use the unsalted one if you like)

3 tbsp cocoa powder

1/2 a can of condensed milk (or less)

1 packet of marie biscuits (use less or more..depends on how you like it..I usually use 3/4 of a 300g packet)

1-2 teaspoon instant coffee granules (optional)

Instructions: 

1. Line a baking tin with high sides with parchment paper or you could use foil or cling wrap. I prefer to use parchment paper for a smooth finish on the sides and bottom of the cake. 
2. Melt the block of butter in a pan over low heat. (I used a wok for easy stirring when I add the biscuits)
3. Add in the milo, cocoa powder, coffee and stir really fast.
4. Add in the condensed milk as you go along and stir till the mixture is smooth and no more lumps are visible. I used a whisk.
5. At this stage you could either add all your broken pieces of biscuits into the milo mixture or you could layer the biscuits. If you are putting your broken biscuits into the milo mixture, make sure you mix well till all the biscuits are covered. I used two large wooden spoons. It makes it easier and faster.
6. Place the mixed biscuits and milo mixture into the prepared pan. If you are planning to dump everything in to the prepared pan, get another piece of parchment paper and press everything down till you have and evenly square cake.
7. Leave to cool and place in the fridge for 1 hour or better overnight. 
8. Cut into slices and serve cold. You can keep the remainder of the cake in the fridge for up to a week but I doubt you would still have any left by the weeks end :). Yummy too with a glass of cold milk.

Fried Noodles - Mums way is the winner!

Fried noodles with prawns

Ever since I could remember...my mum would cook fried noodles. She would put different main ingredients in them but the best one to me would be thinly sliced beef..ohhhhhhhhhh..I'm drooling already. Ok enough of that..haha. Anyway, I've followed through her footsteps and started cooking fried noodles for my kids ever since they were 4 years old (when I say this..I suddenly feel so old when in fact my eldest is only 5 years old!..haha). I have adjusted the level of heat from the blended chilli to my kids tolerable level :) By the way, I only use home blended chilli as I believe that the ones sold in shops use too much coloring and preservatives. I also usually blend my dried chilli that has been cut and boiled, with onions and garlic for more flavour. Try this out ok readers..its a sure winner in my home and I hope it will be a winner in yours too.

the ingredients

mee kuning that has been rinsed under running tap water

sweet soy sauce and tomato sauce

Fried Noodles Jamilah (my mum)
Source: Jamilah

Ingredients:
1 packet yellow egg noodles - mee kuning
5-6 prawns cleaned (more if you like)
carrots - julienned
2 medium tomatoes - diced
1 stalk spring onion or a few stalks chives
1 tablespoon or less of blended chilli
1/2 a small onion cut into wedges
1 large clove of garlic
1 teaspoon of ikan bilis stock
1 1/2 tablespoon of tomato sauce
3 tablespoon of sweet soy sauce
2 tablespoon oil for cooking
*i didnt add any salt or sugar as the noodles are already flavourful and I get the salty taste from the tomato and soy sauce as well as ikan bilis stock.

Instructions:

1. Heat oil in a wok. Add in the blended chilli paste and onion and garlic. Fry till fragrant. (take a little bit of time so that the blended chilli is not too spicy)
2. Add in the diced tomato. Fry till the tomatoes become mushy and soft. This stage takes time..but its very well worth the wait as it adds a lot of flavour.
3. Add the prawns, carrots,  ikan bilis stock, tomato sauce and sweet soy sauce. Stir to mix well and leave to cook for 1 minute.
4. Add in the rinsed noodles and spring onion. fry till the noodles are fully cooked and absorb some of the sauce. I prefer to fry the noodles at a higher heat. I have no idea why but it somehow tastes better :)
5. Ready to serve! Serve hot with some freshly cut spring onion on top. Enjoy!

Fried Noodles with beef..my favourite version!

Delicious Tuna Mayo Buns/Roll

Tuna Mayo buns

Tuna and mayo is one of my favourite combinations. Add a little bit of diced onion, a pinch of salt and sugar, lime or lemon juice..diced tomatoes..yummm! Spread on toast and I'm in heaven! When made into a bun or roll it's even better! Melted cheese on top...and swirl extra mayo...ok ok..enough said. It's a favourite recipe which I stumbled upon in Che Mat's Blog..Dapur Tanpa Sempadan. I fell in love with his blog ever since I stumbled upon it and I've never looked back. Visiting his blog is part of my daily ordeal. A MUST. Just look at his food presentations, the fool proof recipes, the gorgeous bowls and plates..and not forgetting his beloved TEAPOTS! Ye tak Che Mat???hehe..

Anyway, his blog is very informative, and the link above actually shows a step by step to make these lovely buns. I did make some changes to the recipe, but I stay true to the bun recipe as its very crucial to get light airy cottony soft buns. I make these buns a few times a month, and even sell some upon order. So far only praises for these buns by my friends who have tasted them. 

So far, I've tried various canned tuna's...some in water, some in oil, some in chunks and some shredded or flaked. I would suggest you get the ones that are not already in mayonnaise as I prefer to add just enough mayonnaise of my choice to the tuna flakes. We all have our favourite mayonnaise right? Besides that, I prefer to use tuna flakes so as not to get bits that are too chunky when I roll the buns..and it makes it easier to spread too. Ok, now for the recipe...and readers...this recipe is a keeper. Even better than the ones sold in bakeries....well to me at least :)

Tuna Cheese Roll / or as I call it..Tuna Mayo buns

Source: Mat Gebu

Ingredients:

250g bread flour (high protein flour)

50g castor sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

10g powdered milk 

1/4 teaspoon bread improver

1/4 teaspoon bread softener

30g egg (crack 1 egg, stir a bit and weigh the correct amount needed - the remainder can be used as an egg wash for the tops of the buns before baking)

6g instant yeast

20g butter

125ml warm water (if you are going to use a breadmaker, just use normal filtered tap water)

Ingredients for the tuna mayo:

1 tablespoon butter melted

1 tin tuna, discard all liquid and fork through the big pieces

2 1/2 tablespoon mayonnaise

1 onion diced (I used 1/2)

1 spring onion / chives ( I used fresh minced parsley, dried versions too are ok)..save some for the topping

1 limau kasturi ( I used lime juice or lemon juice - just enough to the taste)

1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

salt and sugar ( I added a little bit of sugar to give it an all round flavour) 

Just enough shredded cheddar cheese

* I added 1 medium tomato diced and sometimes I add finely chopped red chilli pepper

Instructions:

For the Dough: Put the yeast into the warm water and leave aside till it bubbles. Put all the other ingredients together except the butter. Add the yeast mixture and mix evenly till it forms a dough. Add the butter and knead the dough till elastic and firm (just around 20 mins). Make sure the dough is gathered around the side into a round ball, and place in a bowl and wrap with plastic cling wrap. Leave for 45 mins until risen.

Other Methods: (MY ONLY METHOD I FOLLOW) only because I'm lazy..haha

Combine all ingredients above in a breadmaker, choose the setting "dough" and press the "on" button. Wait till finished (my panasonic breadmaker sets the time for dough around 2 hours 20 mins).. follow your own breadmaker setting for dough.

Tuna Roll Instructions:Combine all the ingredients for the tuna filling except for the melted butter. Stir to combine and set aside. Take out the proofed dough, punch down the dough to remove the air, dust some flour on the bottom and top of the dough and roll flat till you get a square shaped flat dough. Brush melted butter all the square shaped rolled out dough. Spread the tuna filling evenly..but leave some space at the ends of the dough. Roll the dough as you would a swissroll and pull it tightly. Cut into 10 pieces. placed the cut rolls into paper cups that are of 4 inch diameters...enough space for the dough to rise further. Leave to rise for another 45 mins. When it has fully risen, brush the remaining egg wash on the tops, sprinkle the extra chopped parsley and shredded cheese and black pepper. Bake in the a preheated oven of 190C for 25 minutes. (from my experience, it took only 14 mins for me until the tops are a lovely rich golden brown). If you are not too sure about the timing, best best to take out the buns are when the tops are golden brown. Place on cooling racks after removing from the oven

 

Tuna Mayo buns in cupcake cases fresh from the oven

Tuna mayo buns in bun cases..more room to rise

I decorated mine with a squeeze of chilli sauce and extra mayo..sooo good!

Easy Peasy Basil Rice Porridge - Bubur Selasih

Basil Rice Porridge - Bubur Selasih with fresh local basil and fried fish..yumms!

Don't you just love the smell of basil. It's so refreshing. Every time I go out into my 'garden-in-the-sky' (I live in an apartment..hence the word sky appears..haha), I will pick a basil leaf and tear it and take a whiff....just wonderful! So far, I have 3 types of basil plants in my garden. Italian basil, Lemon basil and the local basil known as 'daun selasih'. The biggest leaves are definitely from the lemon basil plant..smallest being the local ones...but ALL very very fragrant. As I have learnt from the lady at the herb nursery, the local basils need plenty of water and sunshine as for the Italian and lemon basil, need not be watered too much and indirect sunlight or partial sunlight is sufficient. I'm pretty much new at gardening, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong as I go along..haha. 

on the left is our local basil known as daun selasih and on the right is lemon basil

Anyway, as for the basil porridge..it's something I think I first saw my aunty make. My mother makes the same too. But there are many variations to this recipe and you don't have to stick to the same old recipe. Be creative, use up what ever is in the refrigerator or freezer, make it to suit your baby and make it to suit adults. I find my mother put in dory fillets in hers and it tastes wonderful! As for me, I didn't have any dory so I either put in prawns with their shells (for better flavor), or plain as it is and eaten with pan fried fish or chicken fillets. By the way, my 1 year 5 month old (young..hahha) baby loves this! Every time I make this porridge, I don't have to chase him around the house to get him to eat. He was more than willing to sit quietly on my lap as he ate this wonderful..(or magical...hahha..works wonders on his attention span) porridge. In my opinion, put in more vegetables if your baby loves carrots and peas and even diced potatoes. You can even put spinach in it too. As for the basic version..I like to keep it simple for newbies and you can add as you like. Here is the recipe and have a go at it!

Basil Rice Porridge - Bubur Selasih

serves 1-2 persons

Ingredients:

1/2 - 1 cup uncooked rice

2 cups filtered water or more. Depending on how thick you want your porridge.

1 handful or basil leaves - left whole or chiffonade(fancy terms!haha)

2 thin slices ginger (can be grated or cut into matchsticks but I couldn't be bothered, slices are easier to remove before serving the porridge for babies)

1-2 cloves garlic (I like mine whole or cracked..not sliced or easy removal..you could do otherwise)

1 medium onion (whole for me..hahha..reasons as above..or you can thinly slice it)

1-2 tablespoons of fish sauce *optional

1 dash of white pepper

salt

*optional: add diced carrots, peas, spinach, corn, prawns, chicken fillets, dory or other boneless white fish fillets, tuna

Instructions:

1. Wash uncooked rice under running water
2. Put the clean rice in a pot on the stove over medium fire, add the water, garlic, ginger and onion and leave to cook. At this stage you can add your diced carrots too)
3. As the porridge becomes thicker and the rice has lost some shape (no longer the shape of individual grains of rice), add in the basil leaves, fish sauce, salt and pepper. You can also add in your chicken fillets, boneless fish fillets or prawns too. I don't like to add in earlier as it takes time to cook the rice. If you put it in too early the prawns will lose their juiciness and the fish or chicken will dry out.
4. Leave to cook until the fish/prawns/chicken is cooked.
5. All done..?? yes..all done...haha. Serve warm with pan fried fish or chicken if plain or serve as it is if you have cooked it with the chicken/fish or prawns. Top of with fresh basil leaves. Ohhh..and meat or chicken floss on top would be great too..yummmmy on a cold rainy day.

Is that banana fritters on the side there? hmm..I'm feeling hungry already.

Simple Spicy Fried Rice

Fried rice is a weekly affair in my home. My kids love it. Easy to prepare and simple ingredients. This time around I was thinking of what to do with the abundance of bird eye chilli peppers or better known here as 'cili padi/cili api', and I was thinking of how yummy my mum makes her fried rice. She loves to put cilantro in her fried rice and since I had some wilting cilantro (more like half-dead cilantro..haha) in my fridge waiting to be used and some Chinese parsley growing in the pot outside my kitchen..I decided why not fry up some rice for the kids. You would be surprised how lovely and aromatic the rice is with the addition of cilantro in it. The only difference this time would be the chilli pepper I'm using. I have no idea what's the name of this chilli pepper but I'm going to give it a try.

Since I'm cooking for the kids (mind you...they eat spicy food without a wince! Even my 1 yr 4 month old baby too!) I'm going to reduce the amount of chilli peppers I put in my fried rice to just one small chilli pepper and 1 whole green chilli. I learnt to put in green chillies in my fried rice from my mum too! It gives the rice a subtle but lovely flavour. She is always coming up with alternatives to put in traditional recipes and taking short cuts to prepare the food, which I find extremely convenient in our day and age..hehehhe..thank you mum ..love you to bits!

I find that there is no sure one way of making fried rice. The variations are limitless. Play around with the ingredients you have. Great way to finish up old stock in your fridge too. Have it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Today, I've packed the kids with fried rice for school. When I told them what's in their lunch pack, they were both excited! Can you believe it? Excited over fried rice?? Amazing! Hahaha.. :) I wonder if they would still be excited over fried rice once their bigger..hahha. Anyway, have a go at my mum's version of fried rice and play around with the ingredients according to your own taste buds. Oh one more note before I jot the recipe down. I know many of you in Malaysia will opt for the mortar and pestle for making your chilli paste but me being the lazy one and having a baby who wants my attention, I can't afford to have chilli on my fingers and hands. I don't want him to accidentally touch my hands and get the burning effect of chilli on him...so this is what I do...opppsss the cats out of the bag..hhahha.

Lazy me. hahaha

Mummy Dearest's Simple Spicy Fried Rice
serves 2 persons

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked rice to be cooked -I just cook my rice in the rice cooker few hours ahead of making the fried rice. Left over rice would be good too
1 medium onion
2-3 cloves garlic
1/2 - 1 green chilli
1 birds eye chilli pepper
2-3 tablespoons dried anchovies a variety of small and medium
coriander leaves chopped
chinese parsley chopped
salt
1 egg lightly beaten
2-3 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoon vegetable oil for frying

Instructions:

1. Cook rice and set aside to cool.
2. Put onion, garlic, birds eye chilli pepper, green chilli, dried anchovies in the food processor and pulse everything until no big chunks are visible. You can use the mortar and pestle if you like.
3. Heat oil in wok/ frying pan. Pour the blended onion and chillies into the hot oil and fry till fragrant and a deep golden brown color and the blended ingredients are dry and slightly crispy.
4. Add in the lightly beaten egg and stir vigorously almost like the texture of scrambled eggs.
5. Add in the rice and stir to coat with the fried paste and egg.
6. Add in the fish sauce, coriander and chinese parsley.
7. Stir fry the rice till everything is incorporated.
8. Serve hot with cucumbers and eggs sunny side up.

Butter buns using Japanese-style sweet bun dough recipe

Snowy butter buns

I love butter buns! Just imagine a soft bun with butter and sugar melted in the centre and soft snow powder on the top almost like a doughnut. When you bite into the bun, you get the soft bread..some sweet salty butter and a white moustache. Hehehe... Anyway, it's one of my favourite recipes in my collection. I first stumbled upon this recipe in Mamafami's blog. I love to go to her blog for scrumptious looking bread and great recipes. Then I followed her link to another wonderful blog My Kitchen Snippets. After doing my homeowork a little on how to make the water roux, I decided to give it a try. Since then, I've never looked back and I use this recipe almost every week but with different fillings and toppings! Here is the recipe, enjoy!

Japanese style sweet bun dough recipe

Source: Mamafami and My Kitchen Snippets

Makes 16 buns

Ingredients: 

375g bread flour
100g plain flour
35g milk powder
75g caster sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 sachet (7g or 2 1/2 tsp) instant dry yeast
1 egg, lightly beaten
150ml (approx.) lukewarm water – adjust according (I need only 130 ml)
40g butter, cubed

1 egg + a bit of water (for egg wash the buns)

Water-Roux Paste/Tang Zhong:
25g (just under 2 tbsp) bread flour
125ml (1/2 cup) water

Preparation for the Water-Roux

1. Mix the flour and water in a small saucepan. . Cook over low to medium heat, stirring continuously until it reaches 65ºC. It should have thickened to a paste at this stage, which is when you stir you can see the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat; place a cling film over the paste and leave until lukewarm, or room temperature, before using. (Alternatively if you don’t have a thermometer, cook as before until it starts to thicken, then continue to cook for about 1 more minute before removing from heat.)

Note: This water roux can be kept in an airtight container after cooling in the refrigerator for 1 day if not used immediately. However DO NOT USE if it turns grey in color, that means it has gone bad.

Preparation for the dough:

1. Fit the mixer with the dough hook attachment. Sift bread flour, plain flour, milk powder, caster sugar and salt the mixing bowl. Add in the yeast and mix well. Add in the water roux and beaten egg. Turn on the mixer and slowly add in the lukewarm water until the dough form into a nice ball of dough. (You might not need all the water. I used only 130 ml of it)
2. Continue to knead for 10 minutes and add in the butter. Continue to knead until all the butter is incorporated into the dough and the dough is smooth and elastic. Take the dough out from the mixing bowl and give it a final few kneading by hand. Form it into a round ball and let it to rise until double in size in a large greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a wet towel or cling wrap (It took me an hour to proof the dough but it all depend on the weather and environment on the day you make the bread)
3. Punch down the dough gives it a few knead and divide the dough into 16 equal portions. The easiest way to divide is to cut the dough into 4 parts and from there divide each into another 4 portions. Form each into a ball and let it rest for another 10 minutes.
4. Shape and fill the buns with fillings. Place the buns in baking sheets that line with parchment paper. Cover the buns and let it rise until double in size (it takes another 30-40 min) Brush the buns with some egg wash.
5. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

                                       

                                  Various buns using the same Japanese-style sweet bun dough

How to make the butter buns.

1. Prepare the dough using the recipe above. As I use a breadmaker, remove the dough after the allocated time for dough function. Cut the dough into 16 even portions. Roll them into individual balls and let sit for 10 mins.
2. Cut butter into cubes (up to you how much butter you want.Well I like mine really buttery).
3. Flatten the dough balls slightly and put a teaspoon of sugar or brown sugar in the centre. Put the butter cube on top of the sugar and gather the sides of the dough to the centre to seal the buns. Make sure you seal the buns well or else the butter will leak out in the oven. 
4. Another option would be to score the top (making a pocket at the top) of the buns after putting in the filling..so that the butter won't leak to the bottom.
5. Leave to rise double in size and bake as stated in the original recipe above, till golden brown. Remove from oven and place on racks to cool.
6. After leaving to cool on the racks, sift snow powder on top.

* you can also fill the buns with various fillings such as red bean, kaya, spicy curry chicken and potato..custard, cream cheese..anything your heart desires. You can even leave it plain if you like.

                                      

Cheese stick buns and plain buns using this recipe

Buttery Garlicky Dill Potatoes and Simple Tomato Salsa with Basil and Parsley

Buttery Garlicky Dill Potatoes
source: me..hahah..just chucked in what ever was available
serves: 1-2 persons

Ingredients:
2 medium potatoes - peeled and cut into wedges and boiled/steamed till 3/4 cooked
fresh dill chopped more or less according to own taste
2-3 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic minced, if you want a milder taste, use roasted garlic
salt and pepper to taste
dash of lemon juice for a little tang to the potatoes *optional

Instructions:

1. Prepare potatoes by peeling and cutting them into wedges. Steam or boil till 3/4 cooked.
2. In a pan, heat butter and sauté the garlic till fragrant.
3. Add in the potatoes and the dill. Sauté till potatoes are cooked through.
4. Serve hot with chicken or fish dishes.

Simple Tomato Salsa with Basil and Parsley
serves 1-2 persons

Ingredients
1 large red crunchy tomato -  cut into wedges and de seeded, then cubed
1 large lemon basil leaf / 2-3 daun selasih, chopped
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley (dry parsley flakes can be used too)
2 tablespoons of lime juice / lemon juice
salt and cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon diced onion
sugar to taste

Instructions:

1. Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix.
2. Can be chilled before use. Serve cold or as is with chicken, seafood, beef..whatever you like :)