Happy Anzac Day with homemade Anzac Cookies!

This is the first time I actually tried my hands on making these cookies, and I must say they are really simple and quick to make! I love the freshly baked smell of the desiccated coconut! Since it's Anzac day this coming Friday, I decided to put up this recipe in case anyone want to get into the holiday mood and make their own Anzac cookies.

Oaty Anzac Biscuits from Donna Hay's Modern Classics 2 (again)
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup desiccated coconut
2 tbs golden syrup
125g butter
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbs hot water

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees. Place the oats, flour, sugar and coconut in a bowl. Place the golden syrup and butter in a saucepan over low heat and allow to melt. Mix the bicarbonate of soda with the water and add to the butter mixture. Pour the butter mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well.
Place tablespoonfuls of the mixture on baking trays lined with nonstick baking paper, allowing room for the biscuits to spread, and flatten slightly. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden. Cool on wire racks. Makes 22.

Sticky Date Pudding

The first time I had sticky date pudding was when I was in my first year of University and staying at a residential college, and I fell in love with it instantly. It was during winter back then, so the warm and sticky pudding was really comforting. The weather has been getting colder in Melbourne now, so I decided to make this pudding to keep myself warm and reminisce about my University days.

Sticky Toffee Date Pudding from Donna Hay's Modern Classics 2

200g pitted dates, finely chopped
1/3 cup boiling water
100g butter, softened
1 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup milk

toffee sauce
200 g butter, chopped
1 cup cream
1 2/3 cup brown sugar

Place the dates in a bowl and pour over the boiling water. Set aside until the water has been absorbed. Preheat the oven to 180 c. Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy. Add the eggs gradually and beat well. Sift the flour and baking powder over the mixture, add the milk and dates and stir to combine. Spoon the mixture into a greased 8 inch square cake tin and bake for 40 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. While the pudding is cooking, make the toffee sauce. Place the butter, cream and sugar in a saucepan over low heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Increase the heat and simmer rapidly for 5-8 minutes or until the sauce is thick. To serve, cut the pudding into thick slices and pour over the warm toffee sauce. Serves 6.

Some people prefer to soak their cake inside the toffee sauce, but I find that overly sweet. Feel free to put as much sauce as you want, or none if you love the cake plain. I can say that the cake is great by itself too! Enjoy!

Strawberry Mousse Cake

I think this cake is also known as Strawberry Mirror Cake. I've made these in an 8 inch cake tin before, this time I decided to make the cake into individual portion. I think this Mousse cake so versatile and presentable, which made them great as an after-dinner desserts. I made some in ramekins, and others in plastic coverings, both were equally delicious. I've also put two layers of cake in some and one in others, it depends on how much mousse to cake ratio you like. As I said, it's all really versatile and you can adjust it to your liking!

Strawberry Mousse Cake Recipe Adapted from Khun Jum

Cake base: Use your favorite sponge cake recipe. Bake in a swiss roll pan and cut out using a cookie cutter to fit your ramekins.

Strawberry Mousse:
250 g strawberries
100 g water
160 g caster sugar
4 tsp powdered gelatin
400 g cream

Wash and hull the strawberries and place in a sauce pan. Add the water, caster sugar, and gelatin and simmer until all the gelatin dissolves. Cool the mixture and blend the mixture in a blender or food processor until the mixture is pureed.
Beat the cream in a separate bowl until just thickened, not soft or stiff peaks! Be careful not to overbeat the cream which will result in a stiff mousse. Fod in the strawberry puree mixture and mix until well blended.
Place a layer of the cake at the bottom of the ramekin, and pour the mousse mixture on top. Chill for 2-3 hours. Add the strawberry jelly on top for decoration. I was lazy so I used the store bought jelly powder instead of making it from scratch. Chill for 4 more hrs or overnight and decorate with strawberry fans.

Quick Lunch @ Pacific BBQ Cafe

After reading about Pacific BBQ cafe opening on Lonsdale Street from Tummy Rumbles while I was in Bangkok a few months back, I finally got to try it on Friday. The restaurant is bigger than its Richmond and Toorak siblings, with brighter lightings. The place is still as busy as ever, but the turnover is very fast which was good.

I ordered the roast duck on rice while my cousin had the roast pork on rice. Their roast duck is still as good as ever with the duck being succulent and moist! They also have special chili sauce which contained fried anchovies or ikan bilis!

The service here was better than I'd expected. I asked for extra sauce for the rice and the waiter happily gave it to us. The waitress even thank us after we finished our meal which was different from the usual ' Pacific House' service! I'm so glad Pacific House opened a branch in the city. Now I don't have to drag myself to Toorak or Richmond whenever I have a duck craving anymore!

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes with Chocolate Mint Frosting

Since I had leftover mint from making Laab (a Thai minced pork salad), I decided to make use of them and made these little cupcakes. This is the first time I used mint in desserts. I have always thought that I had to blend in the mint, but from this recipe, I simply had to soak it in hot water! The feedback from my friends were quite positive, so I guess this recipe is a keeper. Reduce the mint in the frosting if you don't want the mint taste to be overpowering.

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes with Chocolate Mint Frosting
Adapted Australian Good Taste - February 2006 , Page 18

Recipe by Sarah Hobbs

Ingredients
2 sprigs fresh mint
1/2 cup boiling water
50 g good quality dark chocolate, finely chopped
65.5 g butter, at room temperature
127.5g brown sugar
1.5 eggs
75g self-raising flour
27g almond meal
15g cocoa powder
6 small fresh mint leaves for decoration

Chocolate Mint Frosting
92.5 g thickened cream
1 sprig fresh mint
100g good quality dark chocolate, finely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Line twelve muffin pans with paper cases.
2. Place the mint in a medium heatproof bowl. Pour over the boiling water and set aside for 30 minutes to infuse.
3. Strain the water through a sieve into a small saucepan, pressing the mint with the back of a spoon to release any excess water. Discard mint. Add the chocolate to the water and stir over low heat for 5 minutes or until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool.
4. Use an electric beater to beat together butter and brown sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, beating well after each addition until just combined. Use a wooden spoon to stir in the flour, almond meal and cocoa. Add the chocolate mixture and stir until just combined. Spoon mixture among prepared muffin pans. Bake in oven for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centers comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and set aside for 30 minutes to cool.
5. Meanwhile, line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Brush both sides of a mint leaf lightly with egg white. Sprinkle both sides of the leaf with caster sugar and place on prepared tray to dry. Repeat with the remaining mint leaves, egg white and caster sugar.
6. To make the choc mint frosting, place cream and mint in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil over high heat. Remove from heat and set aside for 15 minutes to infuse. Place the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Strain the cream through a sieve into the bowl with the chocolate, pressing gently with the back of a spoon to remove any excess cream. Discard mint. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (make sure the bowl doesn't touch the water). Stir occasionally with a metal spoon until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Set aside for 15 minutes to cool slightly. Pour frosting into a jug.
7. Pour frosting over cakes, tapping cakes lightly on a level work surface to spread the frosting. Place a sugared mint leaf on each cake to serve.

Taiwan Eating Trip Vol IV

This is probably the final post for my Taipei eating trip. Overall, I had a great time there and would love to go back!

Japanese Ramen at Taipei 101 Food court. This was a huge bowl, and I saw lots of Taiwanese girls ordering it! Again, emphasizing that Taiwanese girls can eat!

We also dropped by Din Tai Fung again for their Xiao Long Bao before we left. This time, we also tried their Ja Jiang Mien, however it was very different from what I'd expected. Didn't taste like the same dish to me. Maybe it was Taiwanese style.

Famous Croissant ice cream at one of the 'Old Street'. Be aware if you were to try this in Taipei, there are several shops selling the 'famous croissant'. Make sure you buy from the stall that has lots of customers or the ones that allow you to sample their croissant. We learned it the hard way as we got too excited and bought it from the first shop we came across. It tasted horrible, and I almost had a bad impression about the croissants in Taipei. However, after we've samples the croissants from some other shops, I must say they are pretty good!

Beef Noodle at Taipei Airport! It was surprisingly good! The noodles had a nice chew.

One of my favorite snacks in Taiwan was pineapple shortbread. I've discovered 2 brands that I like after trying a few, and bought some back to Bangkok for souvenirs. These 'real' pineapple shortbreads are very fresh and they have a fairly short shelf-life, around 30-45 days. Unlike the ones I find in the Asian Groceries in Melbourne, which tasted dry and has a shelf life of 1-2 years!

This one has a prettier packaging. The shortbread itself was nice and crunchy and buttery.

This was wrapped in waxed paper. The crust is slightly chewier and less crunchy. The pineapple filing is not overly sweet.

I personally preferred the latter one as I like the softer/chewier texture of the shortbread. It also doesn't leave a floury after-taste like the first one. My sister, however, preferred the first one. Despite the differences in texture, these two brands are still the best I've had so far. Do check them out if you are ever in Taiwan!

The Famous Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made these famous Neiman Marcus cookies a few days ago when a friend complained to me that he was hungry. Ok, that was really just an excuse for me to try out new recipe. Since I had all the ingredients on hand and the recipe looked easy enough, I decided to give them a go! I think they are quite famous for being Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, but somehow I ended up with a different result. The cookies were nice and chewy, with a crispy edge when they first came out of the oven. To my horror, when I gave them to a friend a day later, it turned into crunchy chocolate chip cookies! The cookies were actually well-packed in airtight containers too!

I suspect I may have overbaked them! Another reason I could think of was probably that there are less fat content inside these cookies, compared to the other ones I've tried. Nevertheless, they still tasted great, crunchy or chewy! Especially with the lovely hint of the espresso coffee!

Do give these cookies a go and let me know how they turned out for you!

Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe

Join the world of Foodie!

Hungry Hamster's Food Adventure has become a member of the Foodie Blogroll!

I still remember the days where my friends thought it was funny whenever I take photos of food I made or at restaurants. Little did they know there is a whole community out there in the cyber world who has the same interest as me! I've made a lot of friends from different countries after I started this blog, it's awesome! You get recipe recommendations, new restaurants to try out and more!

Now there are more chances to make even more friends with the same interest @ The Foodie Blogroll! If you are interested in getting to know other bloggers or making friends across the globe, just click on the Foodie Blogroll link on the right side of my page!

Taiwan Eating Trip Volume III

Melbourne has been so hot these past few days! This made me miss Taiwan even more, lovely food with lovely weather! I'm really looking forward to Easter break this weekend, probably an excuse for me to bake more sinful creations.

Back to my eating trip in Taiwan. We started our third day with breakfast from the same stall where we had the rice vermicelli soup. This time we decided to try out their porridge. We were told there were two types of porridge, one with century egg and the other one with the baby fishes (I don't know what they are called in English, please educate me if you do. ). I was imagining Cantonese style porridge with minced pork and century egg, so I decided to go with the century egg, while my mom chose the baby fishes one. To our surprise, the only difference in the porridge was the toppings. The century egg was actually one whole century egg. The rest of the ingredients were the same! It was funny I had to remind myself that I was in Taiwan and not Hong Kong.

The Century egg porridge


The baby fish porridge

After breakfast, we went to this "Lao Jie" or "Old Street" slightly further out of Taipei. I was told the area was colonized by Japanese before, therefore was very popular amongst the Japanese tourists. There were quite a few snacks and souvenir shops.

Mochi shop


Caramel candies


Caramelized Fruits, I've seen these in China too


handmade traditional desserts made from glutinous rice flour (Tang Yuen)

After a few hours of walking and photo-taking sessions, we stopped by a random noodle shop for lunch. It was not bad actually, the noodles were homemade so it had a nice chew to it. The portion was also quite large, similar to the Australian size!

We visited museums and residences of the British ambassadors in the olden days. We also walked along the beach area which was very romantic and extremely popular amongst couples. My dad spotted Starbuck's and decided to some coffee-fix. My sister saw the Chocolate Fondant and could not resist.

According to my sister, it was really good. It wasn't over cook and the chocolate flowed out as you cut into it. Would be perfect with Vanilla ice cream!

For dinner, we decided to try out a famous restaurant called Shin Yeh. My parents tried out the one called Green Leaf on their previous visit, which was recommended by lonely planet but they were not impressed, so we were told to try out this one instead.

When we first arrived there, it was quite busy and we were told to wait around 40 minutes. However, we managed to get our table after around 20 minutes. The restaurant was quite packed, very popular with local and Japanese businessmen. I was not impressed with the service here at all, probably the only place in Taipei with below average service. This might be because they were too busy. We were pressured into ordering before we finish looking at the menu and decide what to eat.

Chinese style wrap with shredded pork, vegetables and preserved vegetables fillings

This was quite average, similar to what I had at the night market.

We ordered porridge to eat with the other dishes. The porridge here had some sweet potato added to it. Quite a nice touch.


Stir Fried Vegetables in Garlic Sauce


Steamed Fish


Braised Pork Belly


Stir Fried Beef


Bean curd with mushrooms and vegetables

To be honest,I wasn't impressed with the dishes at Shin Yeh at all. It was slightly bland, and tasted mediocre. Maybe I was too used to Cantonese cuisines, but I really prefer Taiwanese Street food than the ones in proper restaurants, with the exception of my beloved Din Tai Fung.

Steamed buns with pork belly and preserved vegetables filling.

This was probably the best dish of the night!

Muah Chee for desserts (Glutinous rice cakes coated with ground peanuts)

This ends my 3rd night in Taiwan. There are still more food pictures from Taipei to come, so do drop by soon when you are free :)

Taiwan Eating Trip Vol II

We started our next day with some local breakfast near our hotel. There were several interesting choices, but we decided to stick with something safe so we tried out the rice vermicelli soup.

The lady scooping the vermicelli into a bowl for me

My breakfast, vermicelli soup and Soy milk

The soy milk was actually very nice, it doesn't have the burnt soy bean taste that I hate. We also spotted the same lady selling some rice rolls, and thought it would be quite interesting to try.

The rice roll tasted nothing like its Japanese relative. There are two varieties, either with black glutinous(sticky) rice or normal white glutinous rice. The fillings consisted of preserved vegetables, omelette, and dried shredded pork. Perhaps a great way to incorporate all the food groups into one meal.

We thought we were done with our breakfast until we walked past this little stall with several people waiting for their food.

Not surprisingly, we decided to join the queue and got ourselves one of the little omelette/crepe looking food.

It was served with chilli sauce. This was quite good, and the lady was very generous with the fillings. There were lots of lettuces with some creamed corn and other unidentifiable ingredients. It tasted pretty good overall, but also slightly oily.

With our full tummies, we spent the day visiting the mountains and the sceneries. Taiwan is really clean and there were tissues in all the toilets! I'm very impressed!

For lunch, our driver took us to try out some clear Taiwanese beef noodles. I have to say I still prefer the previous type.

Clear Beef Noodle Soup

Stir fried vegetables in curry sauce (ordered by the driver)
I am not a big fan of curry, so this did not appeal to me.

Another stir fried noodles with curry powder
As above, I didn't really enjoy this either

For dinner, at first we decided to take a look at a smaller night market which was recommended by the driver as he thought that the Shi Lin Night Market was too commercialized. However, we were quite disappointed with the size and varieties of food available at the smaller night market, so we proceeded to the Shi Lin Night market.

Though it's true that the Shi Lin night market is quite commercialized, but I think there are still a lot of authentic food you can get there. The whole market was packed with people, mostly teenagers. There was a whole shopping street that shopoholics would go crazy over. The street was so crowded because the shop owners also open their 'temporary' stalls in the middle of the road. Every once in a while, you would see the shop owners pack their belongings up and pushed them back towards their shops because there were rumors that the police were coming to check. It happened around 4 times while I was there which I found very amusing.

Next snack has a very interesting name. The owner is taking a rest from his rigorous deep frying.

This is probably one of my favorite snack during this trip

It's a deep-fried thick sliced white bread filled with creamed corn, mayonnaise, shredded dried pork, and a starchy sauce. It might not sound very appetizing but I really loved it. I know it's not the healthiest food, but let's face the fact, most good food are not that healthy. Moderation is the key! (I'm no where near that)

The crunchiness of the deep fried bread went surprisingly well with the starchy sweet/salty fillings.

Baked mashed potatoes with Cheese. This was my sister's choice and she loved it.

We also queue up for this famous fried chicken. There were easily 20 people in the queue, so we decided to try it out to see what's so good about the fried chicken.

They are flattened-crumbed- and deep-fried chicken pieces.

I thought it was way too greasy for me, but my sister who is a fan of oily food loved it.

Shi Lin Market has more things that I can imagined

I spotted this old man receiving some sort of treatment in the middle of the food areas

Oyster omelet. This was very different from the Thai or Malaysian one that I've tried.
The sauce tasted like it was made from preserved Tofu.

We also tried a lot of other food that night but due to poor lighting, I will not be putting up the photos. This shall be it for my Taipei eating trip Vol II, there will be more posts to follow so do drop by and check it out soon!