Today's tea break

The tiramisu I made the other day tasted fine. : ) Not as horrible as my previous attempt. No more experimental ingredients for me.

Today's Dinner and tomorrow's dessert

Cooked szechuan hot and sour soup for dinner after tasting a horrible version in Taipei. Food in Taipei is generally good but the one I tasted was really a 'what is this again' version. Bad especially because it was my last meal in Taipei before I headed for the airport. Tsk tsk.

Soup and noodles eaten together with cold appetizers I prepared, cold sesame cucumber appetiser and sesame garlic spinach.

and DESSERTS!

Made tiramisu to eat over the next few days. I will find out if this is any good tomorrow. The last version I made has too little alcohol, I hope this version will be yummy. Left it in the fridge for the flavours to develop overnight. There goes my diet. More double classes  at the yoga studio.

Szechuan hot and sour soup

Good dose of Woh Hup concentrated chicken stock, I think it's 4-6 tbsp as I poured from the bottle. Taste the stock to check whether it is salty.
4 cups water, 960ml (includes the water used for soaking the mushrooms)
1 cup of dried black tree ear fungus 黑木耳, soaked and sliced into thin strips
1 cup of fresh bamboo shoots, cut into strips
1 cup of dried shitake mushroom, soaked and sliced into thin strips
1 carrot, sliced into thin strips
1 cup of siken tofu, cut into strips carefully
1 large egg, beaten
3 tbsp white rice vinegar
3 tbsp Zhejiang black vinegar 浙江黑醋
1 tbsp chili oil
1 tsp sesame oil
½ cup cornstarch liquid (water and 2 tablespoon of cornstarch mixes)
salt and white pepper to taste
2 stalks coriander as garnish

Cut shitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, black fungus, carrots, tofu into strips. They should be cut evenly. Add Woh Hup chicken stock into pot of water together with the soaked mushroom water. Bring stock to boil over high heat. Add carrot, shiitake mushroom, bamboo shoots, black cloud ear fungus. Reduce fire to low heat, and simmer for 20 min.

Add in chili oil, white rice vinegar, black vinegar, sesame oil, salt and pepper. Simmer for 5 min. Add tofu. Bring to boil.

Stir in corn starch until consistency is slightly thickened. Stir carefully since the fragile tofu has been added.

Turn off the heat. Add beaten eggs and slowly stir into the soup. Garnish with coriander.

I shall try a vegetarian version another day.

Today's dinner and others

Today's dinner. Dumplings soup.

Lately, I have not been cooking or photographing the food I cooked. I guessed it's just too much spring cleaning. Seriously, I can't believe I have so much belongings and I am ashamed to say I am a hoarder. But here are some of the food I cooked and remembered to photographed before I ate them.

My fav spinach, wolfberries and dried scallops dish

My vegetable and hummus wrap with lots of chilli

Sauteed pumpkin and baby corn.

Bimbibap with lots of vegetables. The ugly fried egg
is the result my decision on giving up non-stick pans
for health reasons.

Tofumisu. Instead of Mascarpone cheese, I used silken tofu
and white chocolate. Subtle taste of tofu with the rum-soaked
sponge fingers. Desserts nightly, it's not that sinful afterall.

Shall I eat the cakes or shall I not?

Four cakes to be eaten. Which should I eat?

I should be sensible and eat one cake and not all four cakes at one go. There are cakes in the fridge waiting to be eaten! Last night, I was really tempted to eat all the cakes after dinner. It was just one of those days I want to eat everything in sight. It was really, "Should I? Should I not?"

Tea break by the balcony. Mango mousse cake

The cakes were from Bakerzin. For nostalgia sake, those who stayed in Marine Drive years ago, you may remember the battle between the two bakeries, Seng Choong Confectionery vs Tip Top. Yes, Bakerzin started from Owner Daniel Tay's dad's humble neighbourhood bakery. I remembered my mum telling me that the son of my favourite baker had returned from his overseas baking stint. Ah, the new beautiful cake display, square sponge cakes with the artfully arranged round shavings of chocolate. It was a world difference from the usual creamy cartoon- character cakes one sees at a bakery. The cakes were really pleasing to the eye. I stopped and stared everytime I walked past the shop.

The look nice but taste not so good tofu tiramisu

Photos are deceiving. Looks nice but taste uh... It was supposed to be a light (skinny!) dessert. Come on, the mascarpone cheese has been replaced with tofu and white chocolate. Alas, the light tofu taste I was looking for did not come through. I have to tweak the recipe again. To bruise my ego further, I was too heavy-handed with the alcohol. I can practically inhale the alcohol as I ate it. Ok, it tasted alright compared to my disastrous foccacia attempt. Next time.